Aditya I
Aditya I., (c.
871 C.E. " c.
907 C.E.) the son of
Vijayalaya, was the first great
Chola king who extended the Chola dominions by the conquest of the
Pallavas.
During the
invasion of the Chola country, the Pandya king
Varagunavarman II became an ally of
Nripatunga, the eldest son of the Pallava king
Nandivarman III. When Nandivarman died in
869 C.E. differences arose between Nripatunga and his stepbrother
Aparajita, probably owing to the latter's ambition to rule the kingdom on his own right. Both sides looked for allies. Nripatunga continued to have
Varaguna Pandya by his side while Aparajita allied with the
Ganga king
Prithvipathi I and Aditya Chola I.
The rival armies met at Sripurambiyam near
Kumbakonam c.
885 C.E. The armies of Pandyas and Nripatunga were routed by Aparajita and Aditya.
Although the victor of the Sripurambiyam battle was Aparajita, the real gains went to Aditya Chola. This battle ensured the end of Pandya power in the south. Pandya Varagunavarman renounced his throne and turned an
ascetic. The grateful Aparajita not only allowed Aditya Chola to keep the territories won by Vijayalaya Chola, but also to add new territories from the defeated Pandyas.
During
903 C.E., the 32nd year of his reign, Aditya Chola, not satisfied with his subordinate position, planned and carried out an attack his erstwhile overlord, the Pallava king Aparajita. In a battle that ensued, Aditya pounced upon Aparajita when he was mounted on an elephant and killed him. That spelt the end of the Pallava rule in
Tondaimandalam (north
Tamil Nadu) and the whole of Pallava kingdom now became Chola territory. This spelt the effective end of the once great Pallava empire in the history of South India.
The conquest of the Tondaimandalam earned for Aditya the epithet
Tondainadu-pavina Rajakesarivarman (தொண்டைநாடு பாவின இராசகேசரிவர்மன்)- Rajakesarivarman who overran Tondainadu.
Aditya I next conquered the Kongu country in the south west of Tamil Nadu, perhaps from the Pandya king Viranarayana.
Friendly relations appear to have existed between the Cheras and the Cholas in the reign of Aditya I. The
Chera contemporary
Sthanu Ravi is stated in inscriptions to have received royal honours from Aditya. Aditya's son Parantaka I married a daughter of Sthanu Ravi.
Aditya is claimed to have built a number of temples for
Siva along the banks of the
Kaveri. The Kanyakumari inscription gives us the information that Aditya was also known by the surname Kodandarama. There is a temple near the town of Tondaimanarrur called
Kodandaramesvara, also mentioned in its inscriptions by the name
Adityesvara. This seems to have been built by Aditya I.
In an inscription Aditya is distinguished by the epithet
Tondaimanarrur-tunjina-udaiyar (தொண்டைமானரூர் துஞ்சின உடையார் )- the king who died at Tondaimanarrur. Aditya died in 907 C.E. at Tondaimanarrur his son
Parantaka I built a Siva temple over his ashes. Aditya I was survived by his queens Ilangon Pichchi and Vayiri
Akkan alias Tribhuvanamadeviyar. Besides these two queens Aditya I had also a mistress named Nangai Sattaperumanar as evidenced from an inscription.
Aditya I had a long and victorious reign during which he laid the foundation of the future greatness of the Chola empire.
* Tamil And Sanskrit Inscriptions Chiefly Collected In 1886 - 87, E. Hultzsch, Ph.D., Published by Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi
* Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1935). The CōĻas, University of Madras, Madras (Reprinted 1984).
* Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002).
