Kulothunga III


Kulothunga III was a Chola emperor who ruled from to 1218. He ascended the throne after succeeding his elder brother Rajadhiraja II. Kulothunga Chola III gained success in war against his traditional foes. He gained victories in war against the Hoysalas, Pandyas of Madurai, Cheras of Venad, the Sinhalese kings of Polonnaruwa, as well as the Telugu Cholas of Velanadu and Nellore. He also restored Chola control over Karur, which were ruled by the Adigaman chiefs as vassals of the Cholas. He drove out the Hoysalas under Veera Ballala II who had made inroads in the Gangavadi and adjoining areas of Tagadur in Kongu country in an effort expand their territory. However, during the last two years of his reign, he lost in war to the resurgent Pandyas, heralded a period of steady decline and ultimately, demise of the Cholas by 1280 CE. Kulottunga III had alliances with the Hoysalas. The Hoysala king Veera Ballala married a Chola queen called Cholamahadevi and gave his daughter Somaladevi in marriage to Kulottunga III.
According to Sastri, "By his personal ability, Kulothunga Chola III delayed the disruption of the Chola empire for about a generation, and his reign marks the last great epoch in the history of Chola architecture and art as he himself is the last of the great Chola monarchs." He is credited with building a number of temples, including the Sarabeswara Temple at Tribhuvanam in Kumbakonam district, Tamil Nadu, as well as the renovation and repairs to the two temples proclaimed as tutelary deities of the Cholas, namely the Shiva temple at Chidambaram and the Sri Ranganathaswami Temple of Srirangam. Kulothunga Chola III is also renowned for his patronage of art and literature. In some of his numerous inscriptions, including those at the Srirangam temple, Kulothunga Chola III has described in his inscriptions his pride in wearing the crown of the race of the Sun to which the Chola emperors derived lineage from.

Military campaigns

The reign of Kulothunga Chola III is a story of the triumph of the personal ability of the monarch against the forces of disruption that were steadily increasing in their number and in the intensity of their action. Kulothunga Chola III brought order to the besieged kingdom and reversed the weakness in the Chola administration that had set in during the rule of his predecessors Rajaraja Chola II and Rajadhiraja Chola II. During the rule of his predecessors Rajaraja Chola II and his successor Rajadhiraja Chola II between 1146-1178 CE, the hold of the central administration over the outlying parts of the empire was becoming less firm; and even at the centre, the administrative system was beginning to betray signs of weakness. Everywhere feudatory chieftains were becoming more and more assertive. The growing independence of the central power on the part of feudatories noticed in the reign of Rajaraja Chola II became more pronounced under Rajadhiraja Chola II. The Sambuvaraya, Kadavaraya, Malaiyaman chieftains and the Telugu-Chodas of Nellore were making wars and alliances in the northern half of the Chola kingdom without any reference to the ruling monarch.

Campaigns against the Pandyas(1182 CE, 1188–89 and 1205 CE)

affairs first claimed the attention of Kulothunga Chola III. The civil war in the Pandya country had not yet settled when he came to the throne, and the Chola forces were still involved in active fighting there. Kulothunga Chola III succeeded for the best part of his reign to continue the Chola hegemony on the Pandya kingdom. Parakramabahu of Sri Lanka, known as Ilangai in Tamil, renewed his efforts against the Cholas and even persuaded Pandya Emperor Vira Pandya to make common cause with him. Vikrama Pandya sought the help of Kulothunga Chola III against Vira Pandya, which led to an invasion of the Pandyan kingdom by Kulothunga Chola III. The battle resulted in the defeat of the Pandya and Sinhala forces, Vira Pandya was driven into exile, and Vikrama Pandya was installed on the throne of Madurai. This campaign ended before 1182. From his exile, with the aid of his allies, Vira Pandya made another effort to retrieve his fortune, but the attempt was stopped by Kulothunga Chola III on the battlefield of Nettur. Thence, Vira Pandya fled to Ceylon'. This was Kulothunga Chola III's first campaign in the Pandyan kingdom and he met with unprecedented success. The success in this war culminated in there being "no further fighting as both the ruler of Venad and Vira Pandya made up their minds to submit to Kulothunga Chola III and offered their obeisance to the open durbar at Madurai, where Chola emperor performed a "Virabhishekam" and anointment of war heroes, who contributed to the Chola victory against the Pandyas and their allies from Sinhala and Venad kingdoms."
Between 1185-1186, Kulothunga Chola III undertook a second campaign against the Pandya King Vira Pandya following a rebellion by him and non-payment of tribute to his Chola overlord. This time, however, Pandya King Vira Pandya did not get the usual support from the Sinhala and Venad kingdoms. Kulothunga Chola III also seems to have grown from strength to strength, for in his first ten years, in addition to his feuds against his traditional enemies the Pandya and Sinhala kingdoms, he was able to reign on his traditional feudatories, who had taken advantage of the relatively weaker authority of Kulothunga Chola III's predecessors Rajaraja Chola II and Rajadhiraja Chola II and had started to assert their independence.
But even after attaining success while vanquishing the combined armies of his enemies, Kulothunga Chola III showed remarkable poise and dexterity in his conduct and treatment of the defeated adversaries. After being caught with his allies on the battlefield after trying to overthrow the Cholas from his exile, 'Vira Pandya was treated better than he had a right to expect. His life was spared and he was allowed some land and other wealth suited to his new station'. Possibly, Kulothunga Chola III also had a hand in the identification and enthronement of the next Pandya monarch Vikrama Pandya after his victory over Vira Pandya.

A few years after Kulothunga Chola III's campaigns in Kongu country to quell Hoysala incursions and restoration of Chola power in the area, the Pandya ruler Jatavarman Kulasekhara Pandyan, who 'succeeded Vikrama Pandyan in 1190 to the throne in Madurai, provoked Kulothunga Chola III by his insubordination. About 1205, Kulothunga Chola III led a third expedition into the Pandya country, sacked the capital and demolished the coronation hall of the Pandya'. The act of demolishing the Coronation Hall of a vanquished enemy is interpreted by historians as either being a conduct indicative of the weakness of his own position, or recognition by the Cholas of the steadily increasing power from 1150 CE of the Pandyas, who in any case never reconciled themselves to Chola suzerainty or domination, but were for the most part powerless in changing their subordinate position. The last quarter of the period 1150-1225 CE, in which Chola kings Rajaraja Chola II, Rajadhiraja Chola II and Kulothunga Chola III were prominent figures marks some high-points in terms of preservation and extension of traditional Chola territories between 1150-1200 CE, while the last part marks the emergence as the paramount imperial power of the Pandyas, culminating in their becoming the most powerful empire in the region between Deccan in the north, Kalinga in the east, the Konkan and Mysore plateau on the west and south west, and Kanniyakumari and Eelam or Ceylon in the south and south east respectively. The rise of the Pandyas between 1215-1230 CE contrasted directly with the decline of the Cholas which started during the last part of Kulothunga Chola III's reign, mainly between 1214-1217 CE.

War with Hoysalas (1187–1188 to 1215 CE)

After the second Pandya war, Kulothunga Chola III undertook campaign in Kongu to check the growth of Hoysala power in that quarter. Apparently, Hoysala King Veera Ballala II I tried to extend his rule beyond the Kaveri-Tungabhadra basin northwards to the Malaprabha basin in Kannada country. He had gained some success initially against the Western Chalukya King Someshvara IV and against the Yadava-Seuna Dynasty King Bhillama, both of whom he defeated in battle. However, Veera Ballala II had to face hostility initially between 1175-1180 CE from mainly the sons and successors of the Kalachuri king Bijjala of Tardavadi including Sovideva, Someshvara and Sangama between 1175-1185 CE. Though after the rule of King Bijjala, the Kalachuri had not been as strong and ruled in quick succession till 1183 CE, however, they succeeded in keeping up the hostilities against Hoysala Ballala II. The Kalachuris continued to war against the Hoysalas under Veera Ballala II. Faced with reverses from his enemies in the north Kannada country, Hoysala Veera Ballala II tried to expand his territory eastwards and made some inroads into the areas adjoining the Kongu country like Tagadur which were administered by Adigaiman chiefs as vassals of the Cholas.
As a result, by 1186-87, Kulothunga Chola III who wound up his expedition against the Pandyan kingdom, had to deal immediately with the incursion of the Hoysala Veera Ballala II. Kulothunga Chola III set off for 'Kongu to check the growth of Hoysala power in that quarter. He fought successfully against Veera Ballala II in 1187-88, re-established Chola suzerainty over Adigaman chiefs of Tagadur, defeated a Chera ruler in battle and performed a virabhisheka in Karuvur in 1193. His relations with Hoysala Veera Ballala II seem to have become friendly afterwards, for Ballala married a Chola princess'. Kulothunga Chola III's successful diplomacy with the Hoysalas would stand him in good stead in periods of difficulty during the last part of his rule, by which time the Pandyan empire grew into the paramount power in both South India and Deccan
Following his successful campaigns against Pandyans of Madurai, Eelam or Sri Lanka, Cheras of Karur and the kings of Venad, Kulothunga Chola III proudly proclaimed in his inscriptions as the conqueror of these regions and the 'crowned head of the Pandya'. Thus, in terms of military achievements, Kulothunga Chola III rivalled his predecessors. Also, his rule, which was the third longest among the Chola emperors, being for 40 years after Parantaka Chola I, Kulothunga Chola I was for the most part peaceful, stable and prosperous as borne out in his numerous inscriptions found in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada countries.