Medieval India: The Cholas | ICSE Class 9 History & Civics Notes

This note covers the Cholas’ origins, rulers, inscriptions, government, village assemblies, agriculture, irrigation, social groups, Brihadishwara Temple, temple life and art.

What was the background to the rise of the Cholas?

The Kaveri setting

The Cholas were a ruling family associated with Tamil Nadu. Their rise centred on the Kaveri delta, the region where the river divides into smaller channels before entering the Bay of Bengal. River water and fertile soil supported rice cultivation.

Agriculture had developed earlier in other parts of Tamil Nadu. It was only from the fifth or sixth century that the delta area was opened up for large-scale cultivation. Agricultural development therefore preceded the rise of Vijayalaya’s kingdom.

The Muttaraiyar, a minor chiefly family, held power in the delta. They were subordinate to the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram, meaning that they recognised the authority of these more powerful rulers. This was the political setting in which Vijayalaya gained control.

Vijayalaya and territorial growth

Vijayalaya belonged to the ancient chiefly family of the Cholas from Uraiyur. In the middle of the ninth century, he captured the delta from the Muttaraiyar. He built the town of Thanjavur and a temple there for the goddess Nishumbhasudini.

His successors conquered neighbouring regions. The kingdom increased in size and power as the Pandyan territories to the south and the Pallava territories to the north became part of it. Chola expansion was a process extending beyond the achievements of one ruler.

Rajaraja I, with I meaning “the First”, considered the most powerful Chola ruler, became king in 985 CE. He expanded control over most of these areas and reorganised the empire’s administration, or the arrangements through which its affairs were managed.

Royal temple construction accompanied this growth of power. Rajaraja completed the great Shiva temple at Thanjavur around 1009, linking his reign with a major achievement in architecture as well as territorial expansion.

His son Rajendra I continued his policies. He invaded the Ganga valley, Sri Lanka and countries of Southeast Asia, developing a navy, or a force of warships, for these expeditions. The geographical reach of these campaigns extended beyond the original delta base.

Note: Vijayalaya’s capture of the delta, Rajaraja’s expansion and Rajendra’s expeditions belong to different stages of Chola growth. An invasion should not automatically be described as permanent rule over every place attacked.

What does the timeline show about Chola rulers and achievements?

Chronology means arranging events in their order of occurrence. The principal rulers discussed here occur in the sequence Vijayalaya, Rajaraja I and Rajendra I. This is a selection of important rulers, rather than a complete list of every intervening king.

Political and cultural sequence

Bronze sculpture uses bronze, a copper-based alloy, or mixture of metals, to make images. Its development forms part of the cultural sequence alongside political and architectural events.

The broad cultural periods overlap individual reigns. The sequence connects political power with construction and artistic production. Vijayalaya is associated with the establishment of a new centre at Thanjavur. Rajaraja is associated with conquest, administrative reorganisation and the great Thanjavur temple. Rajendra continued expansion and built the temple at Gangaikondacholapuram.

A precise year and a broad period communicate different levels of certainty. Rajaraja’s accession is dated to 985, whereas the completion of his temple is placed around 1009. The word “around” must remain attached to the latter date.

Political and artistic developments also overlap. Bronze production during the tenth to twelfth centuries cannot be reduced to a single event in one reign. Similarly, the agricultural background belongs to a longer period than the campaigns of the principal rulers.

How do inscriptions and monuments serve as historical sources?

Reading written evidence

Inscriptions are records engraved on durable surfaces such as stone or metal. Chola inscriptions provide evidence about taxes, land categories and assemblies. Decisions of assemblies were recorded in detail, often on temple walls, linking written records with surviving religious buildings.

The inscriptions at Uttaramerur in Tamil Nadu describe the organisation of a village assembly and the conditions for committee membership. They make it possible to study both the work of local institutions and the restrictions governing participation in them.

A Chola land grant, a formal gift of land, describes boundaries, resources and rights transferred to the recipient. Its contents include wells, canals, gardens, pasture and lakes. The recipient could collect taxes and arrange irrigation, the artificial supply of water to crops, while preventing waste of water.

Prashastis, compositions praising rulers, require a different kind of reading. Their details may not be literally true. They reveal how rulers wanted to present themselves, for example as brave and victorious warriors, rather than providing an unquestionable account of every achievement.

Combining buildings and texts

The Brihadishwara Temple at Thanjavur, also known as Rajarajeswara or Brahadeeshwarar, provides material evidence of Chola building and sculpture. Rajaraja completed this temple to Shiva, a Hindu deity, around 1009. Its tower, sculpture and painted walls reveal aspects of artistic production and worship.

Earlier Pallava monuments provide a comparison for Chola architecture. The Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram was probably built during the reign of Narasimhavarman II, from 700 CE to 728 CE. It contains two Shiva shrines and a central Vishnu shrine.

Comparing this earlier monument with Brihadishwara shows different arrangements of sacred space. The Shore Temple has three shrines, whereas Brihadishwara houses a huge Shiva lingam in a two-storeyed sanctum. The probable dating of the earlier temple should remain qualified.

Inscriptions and monuments do not describe every social group equally. Inscriptions tell us about kings and powerful men. The Periyapuranam, a twelfth-century Tamil work, also gives a description of ordinary men and women living and working near Adanur.

Reading these sources together broadens the picture. Administrative records help explain landholding and committees; buildings show architectural choices; literary descriptions bring labouring households into view. Their different subjects should be recognised when drawing conclusions about Chola society.

Definition: Historical evidence is the material used to reconstruct the past. A record of committee qualifications reveals rules for membership; it does not by itself show that every inhabitant could participate.

How were central authority, taxation and landholding connected?

The king and influential landowners

Central government refers here to authority exercised at the level of the Chola kingdom. Rajaraja, who became king in 985 CE, reorganised the administration. Rich peasants, or cultivators, exercised control over local affairs under the supervision of the central Chola government.

Rulers also demonstrated their power and resources by building large temples. Rajaraja’s completion of the Thanjavur temple around 1009 illustrates royal involvement in building religious monuments alongside the administration of the kingdom.

The kings gave some rich landowners titles as marks of respect and entrusted them with important offices at the centre. Muvendavelan meant a velan, or peasant, serving three kings. Araiyar meant chief. These titles connected influential landholders with royal service.

Local influence and royal authority therefore existed together. The participation of landowners in government does not mean that villages were independent kingdoms. Equally, the existence of a king does not remove the administrative importance of village councils and assemblies.

Resources and obligations

Revenue is income collected by the government or another entitled authority. Chola inscriptions mention more than 400 terms for different kinds of taxes. This describes the vocabulary of taxation; it does not mean that each household paid every listed tax.

The most frequently mentioned taxes were vetti, taken as forced labour rather than cash, and kadamai, or land revenue. Other taxes concerned thatching a house, using a ladder to climb palm trees and succession to family property.

Landholding was also connected with the purposes for which land was assigned. Some land belonged to peasant proprietors, meaning peasant owners. Other land supported Brahmanas, a social group associated with priestly and learned functions, as well as schools, temples and Jaina institutions, institutions associated with Jainism.

Gifts to Brahmanas contributed to the development of their settlements. The land categories distinguish recipients and purposes; they should not be treated as interchangeable names for taxes.

How did the ur, nadu, sabha and nagaram differ?

Village and regional institutions

An ur was a settlement of peasants. Such settlements became prosperous with the spread of irrigation agriculture. Groups of villages formed larger units called nadu. The village council and the nadu carried out administrative functions, including collecting taxes and dispensing justice.

The distinction is one of scale as well as organisation. A peasant settlement and a group of settlements were connected, but were not identical. Rich peasants exercised considerable control over the nadu under the supervision of the central government.

A sabha was an assembly of prominent Brahmana landholders that looked after a brahmadeya. Its decisions were recorded in detail, often on temple walls. It had separate committees, or smaller groups assigned particular responsibilities, for irrigation works, gardens and temples.

Nagarams were associations of traders. They also occasionally performed administrative functions in towns. “Occasionally” matters: it does not turn every trader association into the sole or regular governing body of every town.

A comparison of functions

These institutions show that administration involved more than royal officials. Peasants, Brahmana landholders and traders were connected with different forms of local organisation. Their roles depended on their setting and social position.

The sabha’s responsibilities also connect government with everyday economic needs. Maintaining irrigation could support cultivation; looking after gardens and temples involved managing local resources. Committee work gave these responsibilities an organised form.

Local administration should therefore be explained through named institutions, the people associated with them and their actual functions. A general statement that “villages governed themselves” misses both the differences among institutions and the supervision exercised by the Chola state.

How were sabha committee members selected at Uttaramerur?

Qualifications and restrictions

The Uttaramerur inscriptions describe conditions for becoming a sabha member. Eligible people had to own land from which land revenue was collected and possess their own homes. They had to be between 35 and 70 years of age.

They also needed knowledge of the Vedas, sacred texts associated with Brahmanical learning. They were expected to understand administrative matters and to be honest. Property, learning and character therefore formed part of the stated qualifications.

A person who had served on any committee during the previous three years could not become a member of another committee. Anyone who had not submitted accounts, together with his relatives, could not contest the elections. Accounts were records of financial dealings.

These restrictions distinguish eligibility from selection. Before names could be drawn, the relevant conditions had to be satisfied. Drawing a name did not remove the requirements concerning property, age, knowledge, previous service or financial accountability.

The selection procedure

1. The names of people eligible to serve on the committees were written on small palm-leaf tickets.
2. These tickets were placed together in an earthenware pot.
3. A young boy was asked to take tickets out of the pot.
4. The tickets were taken out one by one for each committee.

The committees had separate responsibilities for matters such as irrigation works, gardens and temples. The drawing procedure therefore selected members for particular tasks within the assembly’s organisation, rather than choosing a king or appointing a ruler over the empire.

The method is commonly described as selection by lot, meaning selection through a draw. It must be understood alongside its restricted pool of eligible landholders. A draw and unrestricted participation are different ideas.

Note: The Uttaramerur procedure did not give every inhabitant an equal opportunity to become a committee member. The property, age, learning and service conditions remained essential parts of the arrangement.

Why were agriculture and irrigation important to Chola power?

From river water to cultivated fields

Irrigation means supplying water to crops artificially when needed. Many Chola achievements were made possible by new developments in agriculture. In the Kaveri delta, river channels frequently overflowed and deposited fertile soil, while their water supplied moisture, particularly for rice cultivation.

Natural advantages still required organised work. Forests had to be cleared in some regions and land levelled in others. Embankments, raised banks that restrain water, were built in the delta to prevent flooding. Canals carried water to fields.

In many areas, two crops were grown in a year. This should not be expanded into a claim that every field throughout the kingdom produced two annual crops. Agricultural conditions and the means of obtaining water varied from place to place.

In some areas, people dug wells. In other places, they constructed huge tanks to collect rainwater. A tank in this context is a reservoir for storing water, rather than a natural river channel.

Organising and maintaining water supplies

1. Irrigation works required planning before labour and resources could be brought together.
2. Workers and materials had to be organised to create the required structures.
3. The works needed maintenance after construction so that they could continue to function.
4. Decisions were necessary about how the available water should be shared.

Most of the new rulers, as well as people living in villages, took an active interest in these activities. Irrigation was therefore connected with administration: creating a structure and managing its use were both necessary.

A sluice gate regulates the movement of water. A ninth-century example in Tamil Nadu controlled water flowing from a tank into channels that irrigated fields. This illustrates how storage and distribution could be linked.

The photograph shows upright supports and crosspieces standing in a body of water, with a green bank behind them. The structure regulated the outflow from a tank into irrigation channels.

See Fig. 5 in your NCERT textbook

The prosperity of peasant settlements grew with irrigation agriculture. This connection helps explain why water management appears alongside village councils, land grants and assembly committees in the study of Chola government.

How did different social groups participate in Chola life?

Peasants and landholders

Peasants cultivated the land, and their settlements benefited from irrigation agriculture. Rich peasants exercised considerable control over the affairs of the nadu. Some wealthy landowners received royal titles and important offices at the centre, connecting local wealth with political influence.

These statements concern particular groups with resources and authority. They should not be extended to all cultivators. The distinction between prosperous landowners and agricultural labourers is important when explaining who held power and who performed work.

Brahmanas and traders

Brahmanas often received land grants. Large numbers of Brahmana settlements consequently emerged in the Kaveri valley and elsewhere in south India. Prominent Brahmana landholders participated in the sabhas that managed these settlements and recorded their decisions.

Traders formed nagarams, which occasionally undertook administrative functions in towns. Their organisation adds a town-based element to a system that also included peasant villages and Brahmana settlements. Different associations had different memberships and settings.

Temple specialists and labouring households

Temple specialists included priests, garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians and dancers. Produce from land given to temples supported these workers, who very often lived nearby. Religious institutions therefore supported a range of occupations and activities.

The Periyapuranam describes a small settlement of Pulaiyas near Adanur. This was a social group treated as “outcastes” by Brahmanas and Vellalas, a Tamil agrarian social group. That label expresses the exclusion imposed on them, not an inherent quality of the people.

The description includes agricultural labourers, a woman putting her baby to sleep, and women singing while husking paddy, or removing the husk from rice grain. It brings household life and labour into the historical picture.

Such accounts make social differences visible. Sabhas worked very efficiently, while membership remained restricted to prominent Brahmana landholders. Temple life could support skilled and service occupations while other workers lived in small settlements outside larger communities. Political authority, economic activity and social status must be considered together.

What makes Brihadishwara Temple an important example of Chola architecture?

Builder, dedication and basic form

The Brihadishwara Temple at Thanjavur was completed around 1009 by Rajaraja Chola, who became king in 985 CE. It is dedicated to Shiva, a Hindu deity. The names Rajarajeswara and Brahadeeshwarar also refer to this temple.

It illustrates the Dravida, or South Indian, tradition of temple architecture. A garbhagriha is the sanctum, the chamber housing the main sacred image. A mandapa is a hall or entrance space associated with worshippers.

The vimana is the main temple tower, rising like a stepped pyramid in this tradition. A gopuram is a gateway tower. In South Indian usage, shikhara refers to the crowning element at the top, rather than the whole pyramidal tower.

Scale and decoration

At Thanjavur, the pyramidal, multi-storeyed vimana rises to 70 metres. It is topped by a monolithic, or single-stone, shikhara in the form of an eight-sided dome. Two large gateway towers form part of the temple’s elaborate sculptural design.

The main deity, or god, is represented by a huge lingam, a sacred form representing Shiva, in a two-storeyed sanctum. The surrounding walls carry stories from mythology through murals, paintings on walls, and sculptures.

Hundreds of stucco figures, figures modelled in plaster, decorate the vimana. It is possible that some were added during the Maratha period and did not always belong to the Chola period. Present decoration must not automatically be assigned entirely to the original builders.

The photograph shows a tall, tapering temple tower with many horizontal tiers and dense surface decoration. Lower buildings extend beside it, emphasising the tower’s height.

Reference: NCERT Class 11, Temple Architecture and Sculpture, page 84

The temple is evidence for several connected activities: royal support for construction, architectural planning, stone sculpture and wall painting. Studying its form explains why Chola art includes entire buildings and decorated spaces as well as separate bronze images.

How did Chola temples and bronze sculpture express artistic achievement?

Architecture and sacred images

The great temples at Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram were built by Rajaraja and Rajendra respectively. Their architecture and sculpture show the close relationship between the building itself and the images decorating it.

The tower narrows as it rises through successive levels. Elaborate stone sculptures decorate the outer walls. The photograph presents both the temple’s stepped form and its carved surfaces.

See Fig. 3 in your NCERT textbook

Bronze-image making was the most distinctive craft associated with Chola temples. Bronze is a copper-based metal alloy, meaning a mixture of metals. Chola bronze images are considered amongst the finest in the world.

Most images represented deities, or gods and goddesses. Sometimes they represented devotees, people devoted to worship. The distinction matters because religious art could portray worshippers as well as the divine figures they honoured.

Nataraja and artistic patronage

Nataraja is the dancing form of Shiva. This well-known bronze image developed fully during the Chola period. Patronage means support given to artists and artistic work; the widowed Chola queen Sembiyan Maha Devi was a distinguished patron during the tenth century.

In the Nataraja image, Shiva balances on his right leg, pressing down the apasmara, the demon of ignorance or forgetfulness. His left leg is raised, four arms extend around his body, and his flying hair reaches towards the surrounding circle of flames.

The upper right hand holds a damaru, a small drum, while the upper left carries a flame. These details combine a dancing figure with objects and gestures that give the image religious meaning.

Shiva is shown with four arms and a raised leg inside a ring of flames. His supporting foot rests on a small figure below, and his hair spreads to either side.

Reference: NCERT Class 11, Indian Bronze Sculpture, page 107

Lost-wax casting is a metalworking method in which a wax model is replaced by metal within a mould. Bronze casting required painstaking work and considerable skill. The medium permitted detailed modelling of bodies, ornaments and complex poses.

What were the consequences of linking temples, land and administration?

Temples as centres of settlement

Chola temples often became the centres around which settlements grew. They were centres of craft production and received gifts of land from rulers as well as others. The produce from that land helped maintain the specialists working at the temple.

This connection gave temples an economic role as well as a religious one. Cultivation supplied produce; produce supported people; and the work of priests, cooks, garland makers, musicians and dancers sustained different aspects of temple activity.

Economic life concerns production and the use of resources. Social life concerns relations among people, while cultural life includes activities such as music, dance and art. Chola temples were centres of all these forms of life as well as places of worship.

Connections across Chola society

Land grants link the temple economy with administration. The categories of land distinguished gifts for Brahmanas, schools, temples and Jaina institutions. The purposes of landholding therefore extended beyond supporting the royal household or individual cultivators.

Local assemblies also connect religious sites with public affairs. Sabha committees looked after temples as well as gardens and irrigation works, and assembly decisions were often inscribed on temple walls. A temple could preserve evidence about government as well as religious practices.

Irrigation links this institutional life with the agricultural base. Its spread supported prosperous peasant settlements, while its construction and maintenance required organisation. Government, cultivation and temple support were connected through land, labour and resources.

The Chola legacy, the achievements left for later generations, includes major temples and highly developed bronze sculpture. These objects also preserve evidence of the workers, patrons and religious practices involved in making and using them.

The main relationships can be followed without treating every village or temple as identical. Temples often became settlement centres; workers very often lived nearby; and most bronze images represented deities. These qualifications preserve the variety within Chola society.

Glossary

• Inscription — A record engraved on a durable surface, such as stone or metal, preserving information about past events or institutions.
• Prashasti — A composition praising a ruler, revealing the image of himself that he wished to present.
• Vetti — A tax taken in the form of forced labour rather than payment in cash.
• Kadamai — Land revenue, one of the most frequently mentioned forms of taxation in Chola inscriptions.
• Ur — A settlement of peasants whose prosperity increased with the spread of irrigation agriculture.
• Nadu — A larger unit formed from groups of villages, performing administrative functions including taxation and justice.
• Brahmadeya — Land gifted to Brahmanas, associated with settlements managed by assemblies of prominent Brahmana landholders.
• Sabha — An assembly of prominent Brahmana landholders responsible for looking after a brahmadeya and organising committees.
• Nagaram — An association of traders that also occasionally performed administrative functions in a town.
• Vimana — The main temple tower, taking a stepped pyramidal form in the South Indian architectural tradition.
• Gopuram — An entrance gateway tower, distinct from the main tower rising over the temple’s sanctum.
• Garbhagriha — The sanctum or sacred chamber of a temple, housing its principal image or deity.
• Nataraja — Shiva represented as a dancing figure, fully developed in bronze sculpture during the Chola period.
• Lost-wax casting — A method of making metal objects by replacing a wax model with metal inside a mould.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Rajaraja established Vijayalaya’s original delta kingdom. Correct: Vijayalaya captured the delta in the middle of the ninth century; Rajaraja became king in 985 and expanded Chola control.
• Misconception: Ur, nadu, sabha and nagaram mean the same thing. Correct: They refer respectively to peasant settlements, groups of villages, Brahmana landholder assemblies and trader associations.
• Misconception: Every resident could enter the Uttaramerur committee draw. Correct: Eligibility depended on property, age, knowledge, honesty, previous committee service and submission of accounts.
• Misconception: Vetti was a cash payment. Correct: It was taken as forced labour; kadamai was land revenue.
• Misconception: Rajendra built the Brihadishwara Temple at Thanjavur. Correct: Rajaraja built that temple; Rajendra built the great temple at Gangaikondacholapuram.
• Misconception: Every visible stucco figure at Brihadishwara must be Chola work. Correct: It is possible that some were added during the Maratha period.
• Misconception: All Chola bronzes portrayed deities and temples served only worship. Correct: Sometimes bronzes depicted devotees; temples were also centres of economic, social and cultural life.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. A record describes vetti as forced labour and kadamai as land revenue. Using these descriptions, distinguish the two taxes in two points. [2 marks]

1. Vetti was collected through compulsory labour, so the obligation was fulfilled through work rather than cash payment.
2. Kadamai referred to land revenue, identifying an obligation connected with land rather than the labour service described as vetti.

Q2. Vijayalaya captured the delta in the middle of the ninth century. Rajaraja I became king in 985 and reorganised administration. Rajendra I, Rajaraja’s son, continued his policies and developed a navy for expeditions. Arrange these rulers chronologically and explain one contribution of each. [3 marks]

1. Vijayalaya comes first in this sequence. His capture of the delta in the middle of the ninth century established Chola control in that region.
2. Rajaraja I follows in the sequence of these selected rulers. He became king in 985 and reorganised the administration of the empire.
3. Rajendra I comes after his father, Rajaraja I. Continuing his father’s policies, he developed a navy for his military expeditions.

Q3. Ur were peasant settlements; groups of villages formed nadu. Sabhas were assemblies of prominent Brahmana landholders looking after brahmadeya land. Nagarams were trader associations that occasionally administered town affairs. Explain four distinctions among these institutions using this information. [4 marks]

1. An ur was a settlement of peasants. Its identity was therefore connected with a village community engaged in cultivation.
2. A nadu was a larger unit made up of groups of villages, rather than a single peasant settlement.
3. A sabha was an assembly of prominent Brahmana landholders associated with managing brahmadeya land, so it had a particular landholding membership.
4. A nagaram brought traders together and occasionally performed town administrative functions, distinguishing its membership and setting from those of the other institutions.

Q4. Uttaramerur rules required ownership of revenue-paying land and a home, an age between 35 and 70, knowledge of the Vedas, administrative knowledge and honesty. Previous committee service within three years barred further committee membership. Failure to submit accounts disqualified the person and his relatives. Explain five restrictions on participation from this evidence. [5 marks]

1. The property requirement restricted eligibility to people who owned land from which revenue was collected and had their own homes, rather than all residents.
2. The age rule restricted membership to people between 35 and 70 years, excluding those outside the stated age limits from this procedure.
3. Learning and character mattered: candidates needed Vedic knowledge, understanding of administration and honesty, so property and age alone were insufficient qualifications for them.
4. Service on any committee during the preceding three years prevented membership of another committee, placing a stated restriction on repeated service within that period.
5. Failure to submit accounts disqualified the individual and his relatives, making financial accountability a condition that affected eligibility beyond the individual concerned.

Q5. Rajaraja completed Brihadishwara Temple at Thanjavur around 1009. Its features include a 70-metre pyramidal vimana, a single-stone eight-sided crowning dome, two large gateway towers, a huge Shiva lingam in a two-storeyed sanctum, and murals and sculptures on surrounding walls. Using these facts, explain six aspects of its identity and architecture. [6 marks]

1. The temple is associated with Rajaraja at Thanjavur and was completed around 1009. The approximate date should be retained when identifying the building.
2. The main tower, or vimana, rises to 70 metres and has a pyramidal form, giving the temple a strongly ascending architectural shape.
3. The crowning dome is eight-sided and made from a single stone. This describes its material construction as well as its geometrical form.
4. Two large gateway towers form part of the complex. These entrance structures must be distinguished from the main tower rising over the sanctum.
5. The huge lingam represents Shiva within a two-storeyed sanctum, connecting the interior arrangement of the temple with its principal object of worship.
6. Murals and sculptures decorate the surrounding walls. Painting and sculpture therefore contribute to the temple’s artistic character alongside its towers and sacred interior.

Q6. Kaveri channels supplied fertile soil and water. Embankments restrained floods; canals carried water to fields; wells and rainwater tanks provided additional supplies. Irrigation required organised labour, maintenance and water-sharing decisions. Explain four connections between agriculture and administration using these facts. [4 marks]

1. Cultivation depended on reliable water supplies, so irrigation had to be planned, including embankments to restrain floods and canals to carry water to fields.
2. Constructing canals, wells and rainwater tanks required organised labour and resources, linking agricultural needs with the coordination of workers and materials.
3. Irrigation structures needed continuing maintenance to keep water reaching crops, making their upkeep an ongoing administrative responsibility.
4. Decisions about sharing available water required collective management so that irrigation supplies could be distributed among cultivators.

Q7. Most Chola bronze images portrayed deities, but sometimes they portrayed devotees. Temples often became settlement centres, received land gifts and supported priests, cooks, musicians and dancers with agricultural produce. Draw three conclusions about art and temple life, preserving these qualifications. [3 marks]

1. Deities were the subjects of most bronze images, but devotees were sometimes represented, so bronze sculpture was not confined entirely to divine figures.
2. Temples often became centres around which settlements developed. This connects religious buildings with the growth of communities without claiming that every settlement developed this way.
3. Land produce maintained varied temple workers, including cooks and performers as well as priests, showing that temples supported economic and cultural activities alongside worship.

Key takeaways

• Vijayalaya captured the Kaveri delta in the middle of the ninth century and built Thanjavur.
• Rajaraja I became king in 985, expanded Chola control and reorganised the administration of the empire.
• Rajendra I continued expansion, invaded distant regions and developed a navy for these military expeditions.
• Village councils, nadu, sabhas and nagarams performed different roles within a system that retained central supervision.
• Uttaramerur committee selection combined a draw of eligible names with restrictions concerning property, age, learning and accountability.
• Irrigation agriculture required construction, maintenance and decisions about sharing water, connecting cultivation with organised administration.
• Brihadishwara Temple at Thanjavur was completed around 1009 by Rajaraja and combines architecture, sculpture and painting.
• Chola temples often supported settlements and varied occupations; bronze images mostly represented deities but sometimes depicted devotees.

Test yourself

Who captured the Kaveri delta from the Muttaraiyar?

Vijayalaya captured it in the middle of the ninth century and built Thanjavur.

What was the connection between an ur and a nadu?

An ur was a peasant settlement; groups of such villages formed larger units called nadu.

Who belonged to a sabha, and what did it manage?

A sabha consisted of prominent Brahmana landholders and looked after a brahmadeya, land gifted to Brahmanas.

How were eligible names drawn for Uttaramerur committees?

Names were written on palm-leaf tickets placed in an earthenware pot. A young boy drew tickets one by one for each committee.

Why should a vimana not be confused with a gopuram?

The vimana is the main temple tower, whereas the gopuram is an entrance gateway tower.

What qualification belongs with the date of Brihadishwara’s completion?

The temple was completed around 1009, so the date should remain approximate rather than being presented as exact.

What did Nataraja represent in Chola bronze art?

Nataraja represented Shiva dancing, with four arms and a raised leg, surrounded by a circle of flames.

Why were Chola temples more than places of worship?

They received land, supported workers and crafts, and became centres of economic, social and cultural life.