51 Facts About Kulottunga I

Kulottunga I served as the Eastern Chalukya monarch from 1061 to 1118, succeeding his father Rajaraja Narendra.

Kulottunga I is related to the Chola dynasty through his mother's side and the Eastern Chalukyas through his father's side.

Kulottunga I's mother, Ammangaidevi, was a Chola princess and the daughter of emperor Rajendra Chola I Kulottunga I's father was king Rajaraja Narendra of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty who was the nephew of Rajendra and maternal grandson of Rajaraja Chola I According to historian Sailendra Nath Sen, his accession marked the beginning of a new era and ushered in a period of internal peace and benevolent administration.

Kulottunga I had diplomatic relations with the northern Indian city Kannauj and with distant countries like Cambodia, Srivijaya, Khmer, Pagan and China.

Kulottunga I established Chola overlordship over the Srivijayan province of Kedah in Malay Peninsula.

Kulottunga I's records testify to the highly organised system of fiscal and local administration.

Kulottunga I died around 1122 around the age of 97, although this is disputed.

Kulottunga I had a long and prosperous reign characterized by unparalleled success that laid the foundation for the well being of the empire for the next 150 years.

Kulottunga I was born under the star of Pusya around 1025.

Kulottunga I was the maternal grandson of Emperor Rajendra Chola I through the latter's daughter Ammangadevi.

Kulottunga I's father was the Eastern Chalukya king Rajaraja Narendra who himself was the son of Kundavai, the younger sister of Rajendra Chola I and the daughter of Rajaraja I Rajaraja Narendra married princess Ammangadevi, the daughter of his maternal uncle, Rajendra Chola I of the solar ra.

The Teki, Chellur and Pithapuram grants of Kulottunga I's sons, dated in the 17th, 21st and 23rd years of the king's reign, state that in the absence of the king's father, Rajaraja Narendra, Kulottunga I was first crowned as the lord of Vengi where he obtained great fame.

Bilhana goes on to state that his patron, Vikramaditya VI, tried stopping Kulottunga I from ascending the Chola throne by instead installing Adhirajendra as king.

However this arrangement was short-lived and Kulottunga I eventually succeeded in capturing the throne.

In Sastri's words, "the work Vikramankadevacarita does not contain the remotest suggestion that Kulottunga I put his rivals out of the way by secret murder or even by open fighting".

Kulottunga I defeated his enemy kings in Kanthalurchalai, two times and took over the lands of Konganam and Karnataka.

When Kulottunga I was still a prince, he participated in many of the northern campaigns of his predecessor Virarajendra Chola.

The "treachery" that Kulottunga I speaks of is an allusion to the internal politics of the empire and the schemes of his rivals who sought to deny him his rightful inheritan.

That this Vijayaditya was an ally of Vikramaditya VI is evident from an inscription of Rajadhiraja Chola I So at the end of Virarajendra reign, Kulottunga found himself facing Vikkalan, the latter's younger brother Singanan, their elder brother Someshwara II and their younger brother or ally Vijayaditya.

Kulottunga I knew this from the very beginning and accordingly made preparations for the showdown.

Kulottunga I captured a thousand elephants at Navilai and conquered two provinces the Gangamandalam and Singanam as a direct result of this war.

Once he finished dealing with Vikramaditya VI, Kulottunga I turned his attention to the south and first took up the cause of bringing the ancient Pandimandalam, the country of the Pandyas, into his fold.

The Pandyas made use of the confusion in the Chola country during the accession of Kulottunga I and tried to reassert their independence.

Kulottunga I did away with the old system of appointing Chola-Pandya viceroys and instead built multiple cantonments as far south as Kottar, and heavily garrisoned the strategically important locations of the southern dominions.

Kulottunga I's inscriptions belonging to this period are found in Cholapuram, Agastheeswaram, Suchindram, Variyur, Kanyakumari and Kottar.

The Vengi kingdom was a bone of contention between the Cholas, the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani and the Eastern Gangas from the times of Rajaraja Chola I It was a site for proxy war during the times of Virarajendra Chola, who managed to wrest control of it from the Western Chalukyas and bestowed it on Vijayaditya, the paternal uncle of Kulottunga.

Rajaraja Chodaganga, the eldest son of Kulottunga I, was first appointed as viceroy but as per inscriptions, the prince did not feel at home and returned to the Chola dominions in the south within a year.

The records of Kulottunga I contain descriptions of two Kalinga wars.

Kulottunga I was forced to put his sons as the Viceroy of Kalinga.

Rajaraja Deva died in 1078 and Kulottunga I's sons were in-charge of the adolescent Anantavarman Chodaganga, Rajaraja Deva's son.

Kulottunga I is described as a sad-vaishnava and is said to have built a Vishnu temple made of black stone in Alavely.

Therefore, it would seem that the Sinhalese king took the opportunity to attack the Chola forces in the island nation at a time when the kingdom under Kulottunga I was dealing with multiple revolts and attacks in the mainland.

Kulottunga I sent two armies, one from Mahanagakula via Dakkinadesa, and the other via the well known route along Mahavali-Ganga.

Unlike the epigraphs of his predecessors, like Rajaraja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I and Rajadhiraja Chola I, that describe the details of their expeditions to the island nation, Kulottunga I's inscriptions are generally silent in regards to Lanka or with regards to any campaigns or wars against the Sinhalese rulers.

Kulottunga I was slain on the battlefield during the Lankan expeditions of Kulottunga's predecessor, Rajadhiraja Chola I, when the Sinhalese kingdom lost four crowns in quick succession.

Kulottunga I maintained overseas contacts with kingdoms of Sri Vijaya, China and Khmer Empire.

Kulottunga I carried out a massive land survey which formed the basis for taxation.

Kulottunga I promoted free trade by abolishing tolls or transit duties and came to be known as "Sungamtavirrton", that is, "one who abolished tolls".

Kulottunga I did away with the old system of appointing Chola-Pandya viceroys in the southern territories.

Copper-plate grants state that Kulottunga I married Madurantaki, the daughter of Rajendradeva of the Solar ra, and had by her seven sons.

Kulottunga I seems to have died sometime before the thirtieth year of Kulottunga.

Kulottunga I was instrumental in renewing the grant of Anaimangalam in favour of the Buddhist Chulamani Vihara at Nagapattinam.

Kulottunga I seems to have married a Pallava princess called Kadavan-Mahadevi.

The epigraph states that Rajarajan-Kundavai-Alvar, the younger sister of Kulottunga I gilded the Nataraja shrine and gifted a gold vessel, a mirror and made arrangements for the ablutions of the deity.

Kulottunga I was tolerant towards other religions, like Buddhism, and renewed the grants made to the Chudamani Vihara, the Buddhist monastery at Nagapattinam.

One of the reasons for this disagreement is because, Ramanuja is said to have returned to the Chola kingdom from Hoysala Vishnuvardhana's court after an exile of 12 years, whereas Kulottunga I ruled for 52 years.

Some scholars are of the opinion that Kulottunga I was secular through his early and middle years and persecuted Vaishnavites towards the end of his reign, succumbing to Saivite pressure.

Kulottunga I constructed two temples in Siru Madurai, one called Sokkanathar temple for Lord Siva, and the other, a Vishnu shrine called Lord Vinava Perumal Temple or Varadaraja perumal temple.

Kulottunga I was on friendly terms with the Gahadavala kings of central India, who had Lord Surya for their tutelary deity.

Later, inspired by his visits to the Gahadavala kingdom, Kulottunga I built several temples dedicated to the Sun God, especially the Suryanar temples at Pudukkottai and Nagapattinam.

Kulottunga I is called Rajakesarivarman alias Rajendra Chola deva and it mentions his heroics in Sakkarakottam and Vayiragaram.