Uttama Chola

Uttama Chola was the son of Gandaraditya Chola and the famous Sembian Mahadevi. He was called as Madurantaga Uttama Chola. When Gandaraditya Chola died, he was a small kid. Hence, Gandaraditya's son Arinjaya Chola came to throne. After Arinjaya Chola, his son Parantaka Sundara Chola became the Chola king. Uttama Chola had equal rights for Chola throne similar to Parantaka Sundara Chola.

There is a theory that Uttama Chola would have killed Aditya Karikala Chola, the brave son of Sundara Chola to avoid any further challenges for him to become king. However, there is no solid proof for this. It's true that Sundara Chola made him as the successor in 970 AD, although he had another son Arunmozhivarman aka Rajaraja Chola who was very among the public. There is a possibility that Rajaraja Chola and Uttama Chola would have arrived at a treaty so that Uttama Chola became the king. It was probably as per the treaty that Rajaraja Chola succeeded Uttama Chola, whereas Uttama Chola's only son Madurantaga Gandaraditya was just given an official post.

Uttama Chola should have become the king in 973 AD after the death of Sundara Chola. He ruled the country till 985 AD.

Uttama Chola had many wives. Out of them, Orattanam Chorappaiyar was her queen.

He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva.

The oldest Chola period coins that we have today belongs to his period.

Aditya Karikalan Chola

Aditya Karikalan Chola was the elder son of Sundara Chola. His full name was Aditya II Parakesari Parthivendra Karikalan.

Parantaka I Chola had captured Pandia kingdom. However, in due course, Veera Pandian had started ruling his country as an independent king. As per the Leyden inscriptions and Karandai inscriptions, in a place called Chevur near Pudukkottai there was a battle between Chola and Pandya. Sundara Chola personally killed a lot of elephants in this battle. His son Aditya Chola was very young. Still, he fought bravely with Veera Pandian and got the title 'Veera Pandian Thalai Konda'. Although the inscriptions from Tiruvalankadu claim that the Pandyan king was killed, it need not to be true. It appears he was defeated by Cholas and ran away to Sahiyatri mountain. Pandian got help from Ceylong king for this battle.

Aditya Chola was killed under mysterious circumstances. It appears that Sundara Chola was broken down after his son's death and he was not successful in punishing those who were responsible for his son's murder. There is a theory that Aditya was killed by Uttama Chola, the cousin of Sundara Chola and son of Gandaraditya Chola. Uttama Chola had equal rights like Sundara Chola to become the king; hence, he would have probably killed Aditya Chola so that he could at least succeed Sundara Chola.

Sundara Chola

Sundara Chola was the son of Parantaka Chola I and Kalyani. He became prince in the year of 956 AD. He became king after Arinjaya Chola (in the year 957 AD?). He ruled the country till 973 AD. He had Rajakesari title and his full name was Parantaka II Sundara Chola.

Parantaka I Chola had captured Pandia kingdom. However, in due course, Veera Pandian had started ruling his country as an independent king. As per the Leyden inscriptions and Karandai inscriptions, in a place called Chevur near Pudukkottai there was a battle between Chola and Pandya. Sundara Chola personally killed a lot of elephants in this battle. His son Aditya Chola was very young. Still, he fought bravely with Veera Pandian and got the title 'Veera Pandian Thalai Konda'. Although the inscriptions from Tiruvalankadu claim that the Pandyan king was killed, it need not to be true. It appears he was defeated by Cholas and ran away to Sahiyatri mountain. Pandian got help from Ceylong king for this battle. It lead Chiriya Velalar to conquer Ceylon; however, he was not successful and died in the battle in 965 AD.

During the battle against Veera Pandian, Sundara Chola got help from Poori Vikrama Kesari from Kodumbalur and Parthivendravarman.

Even though the battle against the Pandyas was won by Sundara Chola, it doesn't appear that he had completely controlled the Pandyan kingdom during his period. However, it appears that he was successful to reclaim some of his regions in the north from Rashtrakutas.

He died in his golden palace in Kanchipuram. His wife Vanavan Madevi, the daughter of Malayaman, sacrificed her life through sati practice. Her statue was erected by her daughter Kundavai in Tanjore Brahadeeswarar temple. He also had another wife, a Chera princess.

Sundara Chola supported literature during his period. A poetic book named 'Veera Chozhiyam' was written to praise him during his period.

Sundara Chola's brave son Aditya II Parakesari Parthivendra Karikalan was killed under mysterious circumstances. It appears that Sundara Chola was broken down after his son's death and he was not successful in punishing those who were responsible for his son's murder. There is a theory that Aditya was killed by Uttama Chola, the cousin of Sundara Chola and son of Gandaraditya Chola. To avoid revolt or due to mutual acceptance by Rajaraja Chola, the popular son of Sundara Chola, Uttama Chola was made as the price and the successor of Chola throne in 970 AD.

Arinjaya Chola

Arinjaya Chola was the younger son of Parantaka Chola I. He was also called as Arikulakesari and Arindaman. It appears that he became prince in 956 AD and lived till 957 AD. It looks like he got a chance to rule the country only for a brief period after his elder brother Gandaraditya Chola. There is nothing much known about his reign.

Vengi (Chalukya) king Bheema II's daughter Kundavai was Arinjaya's wife. He also had another wife Kodai Piratiyar by name, who was probably the daughter of Vaanar king. He had a daughter named Arinjinga Piratiyaar through Kodai.

There is a possibility that he would have lost his life while trying to reclaim the southern region from Rashtrakutas. It appears he died in a place named Aattrur near Melpadi.

Gandaraditya Chola

Gandaraditya Chola was the son of Parantaka Chola I. He ruled the Chola kingdom between 949 AD and 957 AD. As the elder son of Parantaka, Rajaditya lost his life in Takkolam battle, he became the ruler.

During his period, Rashtrakuta king Krishna III aquired a lot of places from Chola empire.

His wife Sembian Madevi was very popular devotee. She built a lot of Shiva temples. He had a son named Uttama Chola.

Rajaditya Chola

Rajaditya Chola was the son of Parantaka Chola I and Kokkizhan.

Parantaka Chola had kept an army under his son Rajaditya in Tirumunaipadi permanently to fight back any attack from Vaanars and Vaidumbars. When there was no fight fought, Rajaditya utilized the man power of his army to construct Veera Narayana lake. He also built a temple for Lord Vishnu named Veera Narayana Perumal on the banks of the lake.

Arikulakesari, the brother of Rajaditya was also there in Tirumunaipadi. Rashtrakutas attacked the Cholas and the battle took place at Takkolam near Arakonam. The Chola prince Rajaditya was killed while riding the elephant by Bhutuga . Rashtrakutas won the war. Krishna III was the king of Rashtrakutas during that period. The war happened in 949 AD. Even after this, it appears Krishna kept invading the Cholas. It appears he won even Kanchi from the Cholas.

Butuga II, Ganga

Around 940 AD, the Ganga king Prathvipathi II died. He had already lost his only son Vikkiyannan. Butuga II married to Rashtrakuta king Krishnan III’s sister Revaka. Also, he killed his elder brother Raja Mallan and became the lonely leader of Gangas kingdom. Hence, the Cholas had lost the help of Gangas after Prathvipathi.

Parantaka Chola had kept an army under his son Rajaditya in Tirumunaipadi permanently to fight back any attack from Vaanars and Vaidumbars. Arikulakesari, the brother of Rajaditya was also there in Tirumunaipadi. Rashtrakutas attacked the Cholas and the battle took place at Takkolam near Arakonam. The Chola prince Rajaditya was killed while riding the elephant by Butuga. Rashtrakutas won the war. Krishna III was the king of Rashtrakutas during that period. The war happened in 949 AD. Even after this, it appears Krishna kept invading the Cholas. It appears he won even Kanchi from the Cholas.