CHAPPIDI ABHIRATH REDDY,g
C/O COL GKS REDDY,
Ancient Indian Coins
Chola Dynasty, Chera Dynasty and Pandya Dynasty
Chola Dynasty.
The Chola dynasty (also called Choda and Cholan) was one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of southern India. Together with the Chera and Pandya dynasties, the Cholas formed the three main Tamil dynasties of Iron Age India, who were collectively known as the Three Crowned Kings. The earliest datable references to the dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE, left by Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, and in the ancient Sangam literature.
The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the Kaveri River, but they ruled a significantly larger area at the height of their power from the later half of the 9th century until the beginning of the 13th century. The whole country south of the Tungabhadrariver was united and held as one state for more than two centuries. Under Emperor Rajaraja Chola I and his successorsRajendra Chola I, Rajadhiraja Chola, Virarajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola I the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South and Southeast Asia. The power of the new empire was proclaimed to the eastern world by the expedition to the Ganges in northern India which Rajendra Chola I undertook and by the occupation of cities of the maritime empire ofSrivijaya in Southeast Asia, as well as by the repeated embassies to China. The Chola fleet represented the zenith of ancient Indian sea power.
During the period 1010–1200, the Chola territories stretched from the islands of the Maldives in the south to as far north as the banks of the Godavari River in Telangana. Rajaraja Chola conquered peninsular South India, annexed parts of which is now Sri Lanka and occupied the islands of the Maldives. Rajendra Chola sent a victorious expedition to North India that touched the Ganges and defeated Mahipala, the Pala ruler of Pataliputra. His army went on to raid what is now Bangladesh.[citation needed] He successfully invaded cities of Srivijaya in Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern Thailand. The Chola dynasty went into decline at the beginning of the 13th century with the rise of the Pandyan dynasty, which ultimately caused their downfall.
My Collection of Chola Coins.
My Collection of Chola Coins.
Chera Dynasty.
The Chera dynasty also known as Kerala Putras, Chera was an ancient dynasty in India, ruling over an area corresponding to modern-day western Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Together with the Chola and the Pandyas, it formed the three principal warring Iron Age kingdoms of southern India in the early centuries of the Common Era.
By the early centuries of the Common Era, civil society and statehood under the Cheras were developed in present day western Tamil Nadu. The location of the Chera capital is generally assumed to be at modern Karur (identified with the Korura of Ptolemy). The Chera kingdom later extended to the plains of Kerala, the Palghat gap, along the river Perar and occupied land between the river Perar and river Periyar, creating two harbor towns, Tondi (Tyndis) and Muciri (Muziris), where the Roman trade settlements flourished.
The Cheras were in continuous conflict with the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. The Cheras are said to have defeated the combined armies of the Pandyas and the Cholas and their ally states. They also made battles with the Kadambās of Banavasiand the Yavanas (the Greeks) on the Indian coast. After the 2nd century AD, the Cheras' power decayed rapidly with the decline of the lucrative trade with the Romans.
The Tamil poetic collection called Sangam literature describes a long line of Chera rulers dated to the first few centuries AD. It records the names of the kings, the princes, and the court poets who extolled them. The internal chronology of this literature is still far from settled, and at present a connected account of the history of the period cannot be derived. Uthiyan Cheralathan,Nedum Cheralathan and Senguttuvan Chera are some of the rulers referred to in the Sangam poems. Senguttuvan Chera, the most celebrated Chera king, is famous for the legends surrounding Kannagi, the heroine of the Tamil epic Silapathikaram.
The Chera kingdom owed its importance to trade with West Asia, Greece and Rome. Its geographical advantages, like the abundance of exotic spices, the navigability of the rivers connecting the Ghat mountains with the Arabian sea, and the discovery of favourable Monsoon winds which carried sailing ships directly from the Arabian coast to Chera kingdom, combined to produce a veritable boom in the Chera foreign trade.
The Later Cheras ruled from the 9th century. Little is known about the Cheras between the two dynasties. The second dynasty, Kulasekharas ruled from a city on the banks of River Periyar called Mahodayapuram (Kodungallur). Though never regained the old status in the Peninsula, Kulasekharas fought numerous wars with their powerful neighbors and diminished to history in the 12th century as a result of continuous Chola and Rashtrakuta invasions. The Chera dynasty was supported by Tamil warriors such as Villavar, Vanavar and Malayar clans.
The Chera rulers of Venadu, based at the port Quilon in southern Kerala, trace their relations back to the later/second Cheras.Ravi Varma Kulasekhara, ruler of Venadu from 1299 to 1314, is known for his ambitious military campaigns to former Pandya and Chola territories.
My Collection of Chera Coins.
Pandya Dynasty.
The Pandyan or Pandiyan or Pandian dynasty was an ancient Tamil dynasty, one of the three Tamil dynasties, the other two being the Chola and the Chera. The Pandya King, along with Chera King and Chola King, together were called as Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam. The dynasty ruled parts of South India from around 600 BCE (Early Pandyan Kingdom) to first half of 17th century CE. They initially ruled their country Pandya Nadu from Korkai, a seaport on the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, and in later times moved to Madurai. Fish being their flag, Pandyas were experts in water management, agriculture(mostly near river banks) and fisheries and they were eminent sailors and sea traders too. Pandyan was well known since ancient times, with contacts, even diplomatic, reaching the Roman Empire. The Pandyan empire was home to temples including Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, and Nellaiappar Temple built on the bank of the river Thamirabarani in Tirunelveli. The Pandya kings were called either Jatavarman or Maravarman Pandyan. From being Jains in their early ages, they became Shaivaits after some centuries of rule. Strabo states that an Indian king called Pandion sent Augustus Caesar "presents and gifts of honour". The country of the Pandyas, Pandi Mandala, was described as Pandyan Mediterranea in the Periplus and Modura Regia Pandyan by Ptolemy.
The early Pandyan Dynasty of the Sangam Literature faded into obscurity upon the invasion of the Kalabhras. The dynasty revived under Kadungon in the early 6th century, pushed the Kalabhras out of the Tamil country and ruled from Madurai. They again went into decline with the rise of the Cholas in the 9th century and were in constant conflict with them. The Pandyas allied themselves with the Sinhalese and the Cheras in harassing the Chola empire until they found an opportunity for reviving their fortunes during the late 13th century. The Later Pandyas (1216–1345) entered their golden age under Maravman Sundara Pandyan and Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan (c. 1251), who expanded the empire into Telugu country, conquered Kalinga (Orissa) and invaded and conquered Sri Lanka. They also had extensive trade links with the Southeast Asian maritime empires of Srivijaya and their successors. During their history, the Pandyas were repeatedly in conflict with the Pallavas, Cholas, Hoysalas and finally the Muslim invaders from the Delhi Sultanate. The Pandyan Kingdom finally became extinct after the establishment of the Madurai Sultanate in the 14th century.
My Collection of Pandyan Coins.
Note:- The information about the Dynasties has been Extracted from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia.
