Pallava-Chalukya Conflict
The Basics
Pallavas of Kanchi and Chalukyas of Badami fought for control of the Krishna-Tungabhadra doab.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsAncient India · Topic 14 of 17
Early Medieval South India
Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas and south Indian administration and economy
Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi
The Basics
Eastern Chalukyas ruled Vengi in coastal Andhra from the mid-8th century.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsWestern Chalukyas of Kalyani
The Basics
Western Chalukyas of Kalyani ruled the Deccan from the 10th to 12th century CE.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsRise of the Chola Empire
The Basics
By the mid-9th century the Pallavas of Kanchi were losing their grip on the Tamil country. They were worn down by wars with the Pandyas, the Rashtrakutas and the Western Gangas. Chola chiefs are mentioned as far back as the Sangam age. Their history between then and the 9th century is unclear, and historians are not sure how the later imperial Cholas connect to those earlier chiefs.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsChola Expansion: Rajaraja I and Rajendra I
The Basics
By the time Uttama Chola died in 985, the Cholas had recovered from the Rashtrakuta blow. His successor, Arumolivarman, took the title Rajaraja I and ruled from 985 to 1014.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsChola Naval Power and Southeast Asian Campaigns
The Basics
Rajendra I sent a naval expedition against Shrivijaya in 1025 CE.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsPandya Kingdom: Medieval Phase
The Basics
Kadungon revived Pandya power in the 6th century by ending Kalabhra rule.
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The Basics
The Hoysalas began as hill chiefs in Karnataka.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsKakatiya Dynasty
The Basics
The Kakatiyas began as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani in the Telugu-speaking eastern Deccan. Chalukya and Chola power weakened through the twelfth century. Like the Hoysalas, the Kakatiyas then won independence and became an active regional power.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsSouth Indian Administration: Nadu and Village Assemblies
The Basics
South Indian kingdoms included the Cholas, Pandyas, Hoysalas and Kakatiyas. They fought for supremacy in the peninsula. Each kingdom also needed a working system of everyday government. This system reached from the capital down to the smallest village. Military victories alone could not collect taxes or manage irrigation.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsChola Central Administration and Revenue System
The Basics
At the start of Chola rule, the king held supreme authority. He was called ko or raja-rajadhiraja. He ruled through a council of ministers and local officials. This pattern resembled earlier Pallava and Pandya rule. Revenue collection rested mainly with local bodies. These included the ur, nadu, sabha and nagaram. They assessed dues and passed them to the centre. So the early Chola state had little elaborate bureaucracy.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsSouth Indian Coinage: Chola and Pandya Issues
The Basics
The Chola kings ruled a wealthy agrarian and trading economy. They needed coins for trade, tribute and temple grants. This was alongside the older system of revenue collected in kind by local bodies.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsChola Local Self-Government: The Uttaramerur Inscription
The Basics
The Uttaramerur inscription is a tenth century Chola record about village assembly rules.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsSouth Indian Agrarian Economy and Irrigation
The Basics
By the time of the Cholas, Tamil Nadu already had an agrarian foundation laid earlier by Pallava land grants to Brahmanas. The Cholas expanded on this by extending cultivation into forested and pastoral land, spreading irrigation, and widening the range of crops grown. This agrarian growth financed the temples, armies and administration that made the Chola state powerful, so irrigation was not a side detail but the economic engine of the empire.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsSouth Indian Trade Guilds: Ayyavole and Manigramam
The Basics
Ayyavole, also called the Five Hundred or Ainnurruvar, began at Aihole in Karnataka around the 8th century.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsSouth Indian Maritime Trade and Southeast Asian Links
The Basics
Kaveripattinam, also called Puhar, was the main early Chola port. It lay where the Kaveri river meets the Bay of Bengal. Excavations show it was active from the 3rd century BCE to the 12th century CE. It grew from a small wooden dockyard into a large port city with two markets and traders of different languages. The Sangam poem Pattinappalai describes it in detail. The epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai are set partly in its streets. They mention yavana craftsmen, cotton weavers, and sea voyages to Sri Lanka and Java. Kanchipuram, inland, was probably linked to the sea through the port of Vasavasamudram near the mouth of the Palar river.
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The Basics
Under the Cholas, temples became centres of urban growth, not just worship.
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The Basics
By the Chola period, caste rank in south India followed landholding. Brahmanas received tax-free land grants called brahmadeya or agrahara. These grants often had royal backing. They also spread Sanskritic social norms into villages. Below the Brahmanas stood the vellalar, the main cultivating group. The vellalar were classed under the Shudra varna. Unlike in north India, this Shudra label did not mean low status. The vellalar held land and wealth. This gave some of them a status close to that of Brahmanas. Among the vellalar, landowning farmers were called kaniyudaiyar, and tenant farmers were called ulukudi.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsArab and Muslim Merchant Communities on the Malabar Coast
The Basics
Arab traders settled permanently on the Malabar and Konkan coast from about the 8th-9th centuries.
Sign up free for the full concept, practice MCQs and PYQsWomen Rulers in Early Medieval India: Didda and Rudramadevi
The Basics
Didda ruled Kashmir as queen, then regent, then sovereign.
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