During this period of roughly two and half centuries, the Cholas were constantly at war with their neighbours.

But, purportedly, there is a kinder way to look at this since ‘it appears, however, that the true meaning of the phrase is that the vanquished king had to acknowledge his defeat by humbling himself before the conqueror in a particular manner as it were, by placing his head at the disposal of the conqueror’.

On the whole, the Tamil people had a penchant for different types of aggression and war which kept them happily engaged with each other,

Long inscriptions on stone or copper follow a certain pattern. The opening verses invoke either one or more deities of the ruler’s choice. This is followed by a preamble called the prashasti in Sanskrit or meykeerthi in Tamil, which is a short eulogy of the ruler. Then comes a detailed description of the gift and to which institution it was made fo

But for Rajaraja the path to the throne was strewn with the proverbial thorns.

Krishna Deva Raya.

Ashoka called himself devanampiya, the beloved of the Gods, while Rajaraja lent his name to the main deity, Rajarajeswara, of the Thanjavur temple, apt names for the union of the sacred with the secular.

The black deed once done, both the emperors sheathed their respective swords and turned into sober men to propagate peace and religion.

least before 3rd century BCE 235 BCE – Invasion of Lanka by the Chola king Ellalan (Sembiyan) mentioned in Mahavamsa 848 CE – Capture of