Chola military

Chola inscriptions mention numerous regiments by specific names. Rajaraja Chola I created a powerful standing army and a considerable navy, which achieved even greater success under his son Rajendra Chola I. The army consisted of the Infantry, Cavalry and Elephant corps. There is no evidence of traditional Chariot corps found in ancient Hindu literature; rather, there were other specialists, like bowmen (villaligal).

At its peak, the Cholan army is said to have had two million soldiers simultaneously fighting for their kingdom. Chinese geographer Chau Ju-kua, writing in around 1225, gave the following account of the Chola Army:

This [Chola] country is at war with the kingdom of the [west] of India. The government owns sixty thousand war elephants, every one seven or eight feet high. When fighting these elephants carry on their backs houses, and these houses are full of soldiers who shoot arrows at long range, and fight with spears at close quarters.[1]

The Army of the Cholas followed the ancient Indian tradition of Chaturangabala for organization and Sadangabala for administration, the fourfold force and sixfold control. In its shortened form, it is called RathaGajaTuraPadai, where Ratha is the chariot, Gaja the elephant, Tura the horses, and Padai the infantry. It was said that an army with proportional growth of the said forces was a balanced and well-composed one.

In addition to the divisions, there were the Nadapu – the commissariat and Payanam – the admiralty and logistics. The addition to these, bureaucratic reforms revolutionized the Chola Army, resulting in victories on a massive scale.[2]

The regiments of the Chola Army had a degree of autonomy and were free to endow benefactions and build temples in their own names. Some regiments were entrusted with the management of minor temple shrines and were expected to provide for them. Others took money from the temple on interest, which they agreed to pay in cash. It is not known for what purposes they used this money, although the transactions serve to reveal the army's interest and involvement in the temples.

The prominence given to the army from the conquest of the Pandyas down to the last year of the king’s reign is significant and shows the spirit with which the king treated his soldiers. Rajaraja evidently gave his army its due share in the glory derived from his extensive conquests. The army composed chiefly of Kaikolars (men with stronger arms), which were royal troops receiving regular payments from the treasury. (e.g. Arul mozhideva-terinda-kaikola padai; in this, arulmozhideva is the king's name, terinda means well known, and padai means regime)[4][5]

The following regiments are mentioned in the Tanjavur inscriptions:

• Uttama- Chola-terinda-Andalagattalar
• Perundanattu Anaiyatkal – Elephant corps.
• Pandita-Chola-Terinda-villigal – Archers
• Nigarili- Chola terinda-Udanilai-Kudiraichchevagar – Cavalry
• Mummadi- Chola-terinda-Anaippagar – Elephant corps
• Vira- Chola-Anukkar
• Parantaka-Kongavalar – Light Infantry
• Mummadi- Chola-terinda-parivarattar
• Keralantaka-terinda-parivarattar
• Mulaparivara-vitteru alias Jananatha-terinda-parivarattar
• Singalantaka-terinda-parivarattar
• Sirudanattu Vadugakkalavar
• Valangai-Parambadaigalilar
• Sirudanattu-Valangai-Velaikkarappadaigal
• Aragiya- Chola-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Aridurgalanghana-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Chandaparakrama-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Ilaiya-Rajaraja-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Kshatriyasikhamani-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Murtavikramabharana-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Rajakanthirava-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Rajaraja-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Rajavinoda-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Ranamukha-Bhima-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Vikramabharana-terinda-Valangai-Velaikkarar
• Keralantaka-vasal-tirumeykappar
• Anukka-vasal-tirumeykappar – Personal bodyguards
• Parivarameykappargal – Personal bodyguards
• Palavagai-Parampadaigalilar
• Perundanattu-Valangai-Velaikkarappadaigal

Velaikkarappadaigal or Velaikkarar is the equivalent of "Guards regiment" or "King's Regiment"—a royal suffix given in honor of their loyalty and bravery. Some historians like Stein also propose that they were drawn from the civilian population during wartime, suggesting they were more like a national guard. They are mentioned in the Mahavamsa; according to that account, the Sinhalese kingdom tried to use them as mercenaries against the Chola empire. They were later silenced and decommissioned when they refused and rebelled.

There are almost seventy of such regiments that have been found in these inscriptions. In most of the foregoing names, the first portion appears to be the surnames or titles of the king himself or that of his son. That these regiments were called after the king or his son shows the attachment that the Chola king bore towards his army.

It may not be unreasonable to suppose that these royal names were prefixed to the designations of these regiments after they had distinguished themselves in some engagement or other. It is worthy of note that there are elephant troops, cavalry and foot soldiers among these regiments.

Top officers took various titles after the different kings such as Rajaraja chola Brahmarajan, Rajarajakesari Muvendavelar, Jayamkondachola Villuparaiyar, Uttamachola Muvendavelar, Manukula Muvendavelar, Nittavinotha Muvendavelar, Atirajendra Muvendavelar, Mummudi chola pallavaraiyar, and Viranarayanan Muvendavelan.[6]

The army was stationed throughout the country in the form of local garrisons and in cantonments called Kadagams. After the troubles in the Pandya country, Kulothunga Chola I stationed his army in a number of military colonies along the main route to Pandya from Chola lands. One such colony was found at Kottaru and another at Madavilagam near South Arcot district in Tamil Nadu.[7]

There are no records of Chola recruitment methods or the number of permanent troops in the army. In feudal times, the children of warriors and soldiers readily joined the army in keeping with the spirit of chivalry and Tamil martial tradition. They were a highly motivated and professionally trained force with a very strong martial tradition. Some of the regiments clearly had martial customs and history of their own and the members of such regiments clearly exhibited high levels of discipline, pride and self-esteem.

The presence of military cantonments called Kadagam in Sangam Tamil indicates that there were regular training and military practices as part of the Tamil martial arts tradition. The Palayam system was based on a feudal class structure of warriors, farmers, artisans and merchants, where the distinctions between the caste statuses of the constituent classes were strictly enforced. To symbolize this society, Tamil warriors wore swords in everyday life because the system was maintained by their military prowess. These martial tradition and practices were later outlawed by the British. The modern Indian army has a Madras regiment that serves as the sole unit for all of South India.

There were military colonies known as nilai puram. A nilaipuram contained a number of forts. In Keralasinga Valanadu of the North Pandya country, there were five nilaipurams. These were named after the five coronational names of the Pandyas: Sundara, Kulasekhara, Vikrama, Vira, and Parakrama Pandya.

The Chola Navy comprised the naval forces of the Chola Empire along with several other naval arms of the country. It played a vital role in the expansion of the Chola Empire, including the conquest of the Ceylon islands and Sri Vijaya (present-day Indonesia), the spread of Shaivism, Tamil architecture and Tamil culture to Southeast Asia, and in curbing the piracy in Southeast Asia in the tenth century.

There is evidence that even in the time of Parantaka I, there was a considerable navy involved in the numerous invasions of Lanka. Rajendra Chola's naval victories in Srivijaya were a culmination of centuries of naval tradition. All the Tamil kingdoms had some sort of navy in their arsenal.

The Cholas continued the ancient tradition and gave much attention to developing their naval strength. The conquest of Sri Lanka and Maldives and the embassies sent to China show the success of the Chola Navy. The Chola Admirals acted as ambassadors in many South-East Asian Kingdoms during this time.

During the reigns of RajaRaja Chola I and his son Rajendra Chola I, it is said that the Cholan navy had over one million naval soldiers.

Many types of ships (including Colandia) and naval weapons were employed in the navy.

Judging from the inscriptions of the Cholas themselves, life was made intolerable for the population living on either side of the Tungabhadra by the bitterness and the regularity of the Chola-Chalukya wars that eventually exhausted both empires. The evidence from Lanka and the Chalukya countries indicates that even the common rules of fair fighting and chivalry were often ignored and wanton injury was inflicted upon the non-combatant population.

The Chola army collected much loot from these conflicts. The treasure collected must have been enormous and were distributed by the king to public endowments and institutions.

• Chau Ju-Kua: his work on the Chinese and Arab trade in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Trans. by Rukuo Zhao; Friedrich Hirth; William Woodville Rockhill
• Hermann, Kulke; Rothermund D (2001) [2000]. A History of India. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-32920-5.
• Nilakanta Sastri, K.A (1984) [1935]. The CōĻas. Madras: University of Madras.
• Nilakanta Sastri, K.A (2002) [1955]. A History of South India. New Delhi: OUP.
• Tripathi, Rama Sankar (1967). History of Ancient India. India: Motilal Banarsidass Publications. ISBN 81-208-0018-4.