Picture of Rajaraja I, by one of the greatest historians based on facts & his interpretations of them.
Rajaraja I was the son of Sundara Chola alias Parantaka II by his queen Vanavan Mahadevi. The Tiruvalangadu Plates mention that "at the birth of Arulmolidevan (future Rarajaraja I), the wives of serpent Adisesha. who carries the earth on his shoulders, danced for joy on the belief that he (Arulmolidevan) would relieve their husband of the burder of bearing the earth". (SII,III,I9) He was born under the asterim Satabhishak (Sadayam in Tamil) in the month of Appease. (SII,II,26; also Travancore Archaeological Series, I, p.292).
Rajaraja I made a notable departure from prior practice by introducing in the "prasati" part of his inscriptions an up-to-date account of the conquests and other achievements of his reign, so that, as the years go by, we find the "prasati" increasing in size.
His earliest inscriptions describe him as "Salai-kalam-arutta" or "Kandalur- salai-kalam-arutta" - one who destroyed the (Chera) fleet at Kandulur Salai (on the west coast between kanyakumari and trivandrum). historical introduction of "Tirumagal Pola". The "Prasatis" generally describe his conquests in chronological order, giving particulars of great value for the historian and belying the notion generally prelevant among western historians that Indians had no historical sense.
(Here the author refers to a learned French art critic, Marguerita Marie Deneck, in her recent book, Indian Art, The Colour Libary of Art, Hamlyn (Oxford), 'It is difficult to know anything about Indian History, particularly, early history. It is often considered that the Indian mind does not posses an historical sense because it is unused to thinking of the past in terms of sequence and was slow to record chronological history. External events alone allowed scholars to date certain facts accurately.' -- - My comments - what a joke? ok.. back to the book)
This innovation of his (about Rajaraja's innovative 'Prasati' inscribing method), was happily continued and indeed considerably elaborated by his successors and later by the Pandyas as well, and the 'Prasatis' of these rulers form perhaps the most valuable source for the reconstruction of the history of the land. While the originals (in copper plates or palm-leaf manuscripts) of grants, royal writs and other documents have been mostly lost in the course of the political convulsions that the country passed through, it is fortunate that copies thereof, so assiduously made and preserved for us by having them engraved on the sacred walls of stone- temples built by them in such large numbers, have come down to us for our knowledge and enlightenment.
According to "Prasatis" of Rajaraja I, his first important conquest was over the Cheras already referred to, the Chera contemporary being Bhaskara Ravivarman Tiruvadi (A.D 978 - 1036). He destroyed the Chera fleet at Kandalur Salai and captured Vilijnam and the fort of Udagai ( north-west of Nagerkoyil in the Kanyakumari district). He also defeated the Pandya king Amarabhujanga and annexed the Pandyan territory, after which victory he claims to have "destroyed the splendor of the Pandyas". Certain territories, known as Sitpuli nadu and Pakki nadu, which has been annexed to the Chola Kingdom under Parantaka I, but were lost to the Rashrakutas after the battle of Takkolam, were brought back into the Chola dominion by Rajaraja I, as we learn from a Kanchipuram inscription of his sixth regnal year (ARE 79 of 1921 ). He next conquered the Vengi country and supported Saktivarman and his brother Vimaladitya of the Eastern Chalukyas against their rivals. Rajaraja's daughter (the younger), Kundavai, was given in marriage to Vimaladitya by way of fostering close ties between the dynasties to foil the designs of the Western Chalukyas under Satyasraya on the Eastern Chalukyan kingdom. Gangapadi, Tadigaipadi and Nolambapadi consisting of parts of southern and eastern Karnataka and of the north- western districts of Tamil Nadu (North Arcot, Salem, Dharmapuri etc.) as also portions of Andhra Pradesh (districts of Kurnool, Anantapur etc) were annexed to the Chola empire. So were Kollam and Kudamali Nadu (Coorg). The land of Rashtrakutas, called Irattaipadi-ezhaarai-laksham (Rattapadi - 7,50,000), which has been already overrun by the Western Chalukyas, was also conquered and added to the Chola empire. Then the kingdom of Kalinga, lying between the Godavari and the Mahanadhi rivers, was overrun. Rajaraja I then invaded EEzha-mandalam (Srilanka, referred as Illa-mandalam by author) and annexed it. According to the Tiruvalangadu Plates, Rajaraja I "excelled Sri Rama by crossing the sea, not with the causeway built by monkeys but by using ships and conquering Lanka" (verse 80). By this time, the naval supremacy of the Cholas had been well-established in the Indian Ocean, and his reign culminated with the conquest of the 12,000 islands off the western (Arabian) Sea. Thus his kingdom extended from Sri Lanka in the south to the basin of the Tungabhadra in the north and Mahendragiri (The Mahendra mountains) in the north-east.
Rajarja I seems to have raised and maintained a large standing army. A Western Chalukya inscription at Hottur (in Dharwar district of Karnataka) avers that the Chola army which fought a bloody battle there under the command of his son Rajendra I against Satyasraya of the Western Chalukyas considered of nine lakhs of soldiers. The total strength of the standing army must thus have been considerably larger than this figure, when we take into account his engagements in other sectors such as the Pandya, Malainadu, Vengi and SriLanka. The fact that the commanders of the various armies dreaded defeat and the consequent wrath of the king is evident from the endowments made by a large number of them to the Rajarajesvaram temple at Tanjavur, seeking divine blessings for averting defeat.
Before his accession to the throne, Rajaraja was known as Arulmoli (Devan). His other titles and surnames are : Rajarajan, Kshatriya Sikhamani, Rajendra Simhan, Uyyakondan, Pandya Kulasani, Keralantakan, Nittavinodan, Rajasrayan, Sivapadasekharan, Jana-nathan, Ravikula Manikkam, Nigarili Cholan, Cholendra Simhan, Chola Marttandan, Raja Marttandan, Telunga-kula-kalan, Kirti Parakraman, Mummudi Solan, Chola Narayanan, Jayangonda Solan, Singalantakan, Taila-kula-kalan and others (ARE 78 of 1930-31)