In his contentions on the components of the Chola Empire and the elements that made it great, public historian Anirudh Kanisetti argued that Chola queen Sembiyan Mahadevi, in many ways, was the “real founder” of the Chola Empire.
In a conversation with author Ashwitha Jayakumar during the session ‘The Mighty Cholas’ in the The Hindu’s Lit for Life 2025, Mr. Kanisetti said if not for the queen Sembiyan Mahadevi “there would not have been the Chola Empire”.
Elaborating on how she patronised temples and built the popular support for the Chola empire, Mr. Kanisetti said she clearly saw temple construction as a very important part of the public persona.
Mr. Kanisetti contended that she saw temple building a way “to appeal to the devotional sentiments of these communities but more importantly it is a way of incorporating people into the edifice of the Chola State.”
Pointing out from historical records on how one could notice that there was not any royals before her, especially in the Chola family, Mr. Kanisetti said she had this very clear well thought out idea of how to build this popular support for the Chola throne.
“I am willing to argue that Sembiyan Mahadevi, in many ways, in the real founder of the Chola Empire, as we know it, because she builds this popular support, she builds this tax base and that is what enables her grand nephew Rajaraja Chola to go out on these extraordinary campaigns of conquests.”
When Ms. Jayakumar was keen to know the historical sources from where he mined for capturing the emotions of these historical characters and how he found humanity in those sources, Mr. Kanisetti referred to the poems in the Sangam era and the “enormous wealth of information that the Chola have left us”.
The poetry in Tamil language in the Sangam era captured the “extraordinarily emotive, emotional reactions” to their world and provided examples of emotions of women grieving over the loss of their sons in the battle, among others, he said. He was only short of using the Sangam peoms in the opening of his book only to ensure that there was no break in the narrative flow.
To Ms. Jayakumar’s request him to elaborate more on contentions in his book over the relationship women in royal family had with each other, Mr. Kanisetti said that the 12 women who married Parantaka Chola, were educated, literate women coming from a wide cross section of society.
These women were not just princesses but were daughters of Vellala gentry, daughters of country magnates, he said. “These are women who have been taught to read, to write and do mathematics and who have a sense of aesthetics, as well”.
Mr. Kanisetti, the author of ‘Lords of Earth and Sea: A History of the Chola Empire’, pointed out that the Brihadeswara temple in Thanjavur was 40 times larger than the other temples built under the Cholas and emphasised the scale of how much the Chola imagination has changed and the kind of resources that they were able to draw on.
While the Brihadeswara temple was built in seven years, it took 200 years to build the Leaning Tower in Pisa in Italy, he said.
Emphasising on the magnitude of the reach of the Cholas, Mr. Kanisetti contended that the Tamil merchant guilds were one of the greatest forces in the history of Indian Ocean. They reached the shores of the East China Sea in the 13 century, they acted as tax collectors in Jawa, had settlements in northern Sumatra, among others, he said.
Rajendra Chola’s wide ranging expeditions were due to his relationship with the Tamil merchants, Mr. Kanisetti. There was no Indian king before the Cholas who had a strong relationship with the merchants and disapora like the Cholas did, he said.
So, did the Cholas really have a Navy? Though there were diverse opinion, Ms. Jayakumar sought to know Mr. Kanisetti opinion. People grew up with the idea that the Cholas had a Navy and if not, how were they able to make conquests overseas, Mr. Kanisetti said.
“But, the astonishing thing is that, if you know at the inscriptions of the Brihadeswara temple, there are dozens and dozens of Army regiments are giving gifts but there is no Navy captains making gifts,” Mr. Kanisetti pointed out. “But, the Naval folks who are making gifts are merchants,” he said and argued Tamil merchants were the greatest force in the Indian Ocean economic history.
The Hindu Lit for Life event is presented by KIA India and is in association with Christ University. Associate Partners: LIC, RR Donnelley, Blue Star, Brigade Group, NITTE Deemed-to-be University, PROchure, Singer, Chennai Port Authority & Kamarajar Port Ltd, Uttarakhand Tourism, Vajiram and Ravi, Indian Bank, Akshayakalpa and ICFAI Group. Realty Partner: Casagrand. Bookstore Partner: Crossword. Food Partner: Wow Momo, Beverage Partner: Beachville, Radio Partner: Big FM, TV Partner: Puthiya Thalaimurai Gift Partner: Anand Prakash. Supported by: US Consulate, Chennai, Water Partner: Repute
Published – January 19, 2025 01:12 pm IST
