Chola Navy - History

History

The Persians are famed for their archers, the Turks for their horsemen, and India for its armies. - An Arab proverb

This proverb could be still true if not for the periods of Chola Empire whose actions heralded India's Naval domination of the sub-continent and beyond. Historians divide the Chola Reign into three distinct phases. The first era is the period of Early Cholas .The second phase is of Vijalaya Cholas and the final phase in the empire was the Chalukya Chola period.

The Cholas were at the height of their power continuously from the later half of the 9th century until the beginning of the 13th centuries. Under Rajaraja Chola I and his son Rajendra Chola I, the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in Asia. During the period 1010–1200, the Chola territories stretched from the islands of the Maldives in the south to as far north as the banks of the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh. Rajaraja Chola conquered peninsular South India, annexed parts of Sri Lanka and occupied the islands of the Maldives. Rajendra Chola sent a victorious expedition to North India that touched the river Ganges and defeated the Pala ruler of Pataliputra, Mahipala. He also successfully raided kingdoms of the Malay Archipelago.

Read more about this topic:  Chola Navy

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis won’t do. It’s an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth-century thought.”
    —Peter B. Medawar (1915–1987)

    “Universal history is the history of a few metaphors.”
    —Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)