The Cholas were the most famous of the three dynasties that ruled ancient Tamil Nadu. The other two were the Cheras and the Pandyas.

Early Cholas

The early Cholas ruled between the 1st and the 4th centuries A.D. The first and the most famous king of the early Cholas was Karikalan. He is well known for his great engineering marvel, "Kallanai", a great anaikut (dam used for irrigation) across the river Cauvery which is being used till date. He was succeded by Nedumudikilli. Chola power declined with frequent attacks by the Pallavas, Cheras and Pandyas , but they rose to power again around the 9th century.

Note on etymology

• kallaNai is a Tamil compound word which can be split as kal (stone) and aNai (bund or dam)
• aNaikut is an anglicisation of the Tamil word pair aNai + kattu (structure or construction)
• The Tamil consonant 'N' is pronounced like 'ñ'

Medieval Cholas

The Medieval Cholas rose to prominence when the king Vijayalaya defeated the Pallavas and captured Indonesia. Until around the 13th century, the Chola Empire was the most powerful in South India.

The greatest kings among the Medieval Cholas were Rajaraja Chola-I (reigned 985-1014) and his son Rajendra Chola-I (reigned 1014-42). Under them, Chola power reached its zenith. The Rajaraja conquered Kerala and a part of Sri Lanka. Rajendra later completed the conquest of Sri Lanka, crossed the Ganges and marched across Kalinga to Bengal, and sent out a great naval expedition that occupied parts of Myanmar, Malaya, and Sumatra. For 300 years the Chola kingdom supported a flourishing social and economic life, marked by a flowering of Hindu culture. Rajendra, to commemorate his victory over the Ganges, created a new capital and named it Gangaikonda Cholapuram.

By the 13th century, the Chola kingdom had exhausted its resources and was on the decline. It succumbed to an attack by the Hoysalas from the west and the Pandyas from the south. The last king of the Medieval Cholas was Rajendra Chola-III.

The emblem of the Chola empire was the tiger, which was featured on the Chola flag, coins and in other contexts of political significance.

List of Medieval Chola Kings