Chola Navy

History

Historians divide the Chola Reign into three distinct phases. The first era is the period of Early Cholas .The second phase is of Vijalaya Cholas and the final phase in the empire was the Chalukya Chola period.

The Cholas were at the height of their power from the later half of the 9th century through to the early 13th century. Under Rajaraja Chola I and his son Rajendra Chola I, the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in Asia. 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 Andhra Pradesh. Rajaraja Chola conquered peninsular South India, annexed parts of Sri Lanka and occupied the islands of the Maldives. Rajendra Chola sent a victorious expedition to North India that touched the river Ganges and defeated the Pala ruler of Pataliputra, Mahipala. He also successfully raided kingdoms of Maritime Southeast Asia.

Early activity

The earliest Chola kings of whom there is tangible evidence are mentioned in the Sangam literature. Scholars now generally agree that this literature belongs to the first few centuries of the common era. The Sangam literature is full of names of the kings and the princes, and of the poets who extolled them. Despite literature that depicts the life and work of these people, these cannot be worked into connected history.

Ancient navy

The earliest record of Chola naval activity by an external source dates to around the 1st century, the Roman report of Kaveripoompattinam(presently known as Poombuhar) as Haverpoum and a description of how the Trade vessels were escorted by the King's fleet to the estuary as it was a natural harbor in the mouth of the river Kaveri.

Little archeological evidence exists of the maritime activities of this era, except some excavated wooden plaques depicting naval engagements in the vicinity of the old city (See Poompuhar for more details). However, much insight into the naval activities of the Cholas has been gathered from Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. In this work, the unknown merchant describes the activity of escort-ships assigned to the merchant vessels with valuable cargo. These early naval ships had some sort of a rudimentary flame-thrower and or a catapult type weapon.

Colandia, the great ships which was used by Early Cholas. By this they sailed to pacific islands from Kaveripatnam(as center). At that time, Pattinathu Pillai is the chief of the Chola's Navy.

Interregnum

Little is known about the transition period of around three centuries from the end of the Sangam age (c. 300) up to the time when the Pandyas and Pallavas dominated the Tamil country (c. 600). An obscure dynasty, the Kalabhras, invaded the Tamil country, displaced the existing kingdoms and ruled for around three centuries. They were displaced by the Pallavas and the Pandyas in the 6th century.

This period from the 3rd century until the 7th century is a blind spot in the maritime tradition of the Cholas. Little is known of the fate of the Cholas during the succeeding three centuries until the accession of Vijayalaya in the second quarter of the 9th century. In the Interregnum, the Cholas were probably reduced to Vassals of Pallavas, though at times they switched sides and allied with Pandyas and tried to dispose their overlords. But, there is no concrete line of kings or court recordings.

However, even during this time the Cholas had maintained a small but potent Naval force based inland in the Kaveri river. During this time they dominated the inland trade in the Kaveri basin and Musuri is their major inland port. Dry-docks built during this period exist to this day.

Imperial navy with blue-water capabilities

This phase of the history is the most well documented one, partly due the survival of the edicts and inscriptions from the time along with reliable foreign narratives. This has enabled historians to interpolate various accounts and come up with a clear account of Chola Naval activities of the time.

The Imperial Chola navy took its shape in the aftermath of the resurgence of Chola power, with the rise of Vijalaya dynasty. During the Pallavas rule, the Cholas took control of not only the territories, but the cultural and socio-economic mantle. Thus, the Medieval Cholas inherited the will to dominate trade and control seas from the Pallavas.

The evolution of combat ships and naval-architecture elsewhere played an important part in the development of the Pallava Navy. There were serious efforts in the period of the Pallava king Simavishnu to control the piracy in South East Asia and to establish a Tamil friendly regime in the Malay peninsula. However, this effort was accomplished only three centuries later by the new Naval power of the Cholas.

The three decades of conflict with the Sinhala King Mahinda V came to a swift end, after Raja Raja Chola I's (985-1014) ascent to the throne and his decisive use of the naval flotilla to subdue the Sinhalese.

This period also marked the departure in thinking from the age-old traditions. Rajaraja commissioned various foreigners (Prominently, the Arabs and Chinese) in the naval building program. These effort were continued and the benefits were reaped by his successor, Rajendra Chola I. Rajendra led a successful expedition against the Sri Vijaya kingdom (present day Indonesia) and subdued Sailendra. Though there were friendly exchanges between the Sri Vijaya empire and the Chola Empire in preceding times (including the construction of chudamani Pagoda in Nagapattinam), the raid seems to have been motivated by the commercial interests rather than any political motives.

Trade, commerce and diplomacy

The Cholas excelled in foreign trade and maritime activity, extending their influence overseas to China and Southeast Asia. A fragmentary Tamil inscription found in Sumatra cites the name of a merchant guild Nanadesa Tisaiyayirattu Ainnutruvar (literally, "the five hundred from the four countries and the thousand directions"), a famous merchant guild in the Chola country. The inscription is dated 1088, indicating that there was an active overseas trade during the Chola period.

Towards the end of the 9th century, southern India had developed extensive maritime and commercial activity, especially with the Chinese and Arabs. The Cholas, being in possession of parts of both the west and the east coasts of peninsular India, were at the forefront of these ventures. The Tang dynasty of China, the Srivijaya empire in the Malayan archipelago under the Sailendras, and the Abbasid Kalifat at Baghdad were the main trading partners.

The trade with the Chinese was a very lucrative enterprise, and Trade guilds needed the king's approval and the license from the customs force/department to embark on overseas voyages for trade. The normal trade voyage of those day involved three legs of journey, starting with the Indian goods (mainly spices, cotton and gems) being shipped to China and in the return leg the Chinese goods (silk, incense,iron) were brought back to Chola ports. After some materials were utilized for local consumption, the remaining cargo along with Indian cargo was shipped to the Arabs. Traditionally, this involved transfer of material/cargo to many ships before the ultimate destination was reached.

Combating Piracy in Southeast Asia

The Strategic position of Sri Vijaya and Khamboj (modern-day Cambodia) as a midpoint in the trade route between Chinese and Arabian ports was crucial. Up to the 5th century, the Arabs traded with Chinese directly using Sri Vijaya as a port of call and replenishment hub. Realizing their potential, the Sri Vijaya empire began to encourage the sea piracy surrounding the area. The benefits were twofold, the loot from piracy was a good bounty and it ensured their sovereignty and cooperation from all the trading parties. Piracy also grew stronger due to a conflict of succession in Sri Vijaya, when two princes fought for the throne and in turn, relied on the loot from the sea-piracy for their civil war.

The pirate menace grew to unprecedented levels. Sea trade with China was virtually impossible without the loss of 1/3 of the convoy for every voyage. Even escorted convoys came under attacks, which was a new factor. Repeated diplomatic missions urged the Sri Vijaya empire to curb the piracy, with little effect. With the rise in piracy, and in the absence of Chinese commodity, the Arabs, on whom the Cholas were dependent of horses for their cavalry corps, began to demand high prices for their trade. This led to a slew of reduction in the Chola army. The Chinese were equally infuriated by the piracy menace, as they too were losing revenue.

The culmination of three century's combined naval traditions of Pallavas and Cholas led to the most known accomplishment of the Chola Navy (or any Indian power for that matter)., Namely the 1st expedition of the Chola navy into the Malay peninsula.

In one particular note, the Cholas went as far as to conquer the Kamboja and gave it to the Sri Vijaya kings (as per their request) to ensure cooperation in the curbing piracy.

Cooperation with the Chinese

Chinese Song Dynasty reports record that an embassy from Chulian (Chola) reached the Chinese court in the year 1077, and that the king of the Chulien at the time was called Ti-hua-kia-lo. It is possible that these syllables denote "Deva Kulo[tunga]" (Kulothunga Chola I). This embassy was a trading venture and was highly profitable to the visitors, who returned with '81,800 strings of copper coins in exchange for articles of tributes, including glass articles, and spices'.

The close diplomatics tie between the Song dynasty of China and the Medieval Cholas facilitated many technological innovations to travel both ways. The more interesting ones to have reached Chinese shores are:

Organization and administration

The Ancient Chola navy was based on trade vessel designs with little more than boarding implements, though this changed throughout the history. The later day navy was a specialized force with specially built ships for each type of combat.

The Imperial Navy of the Medieval Cholas was composed of a multitude of forces in its command. In addition to the regular navy (Kappal-Padai), there were many auxiliary forces that could be used in naval combat. The Chola Navy was an autonomous service unlike many of its contemporaries. The Army depended on the Naval-fleets for transportation and logistics. The navy also had a core of marines. Even saboteurs, who were trained pearl-fishermen ,were used to dive and disable enemy vessels by destroying or damaging the rudder.

The Chola Navy could undertake any of the following combat and non-combat missions,

This multi-dimensional force enabled the Cholas to achieve the Military, Political and cultural hegemony over their vast dominion.

Administration

The king/emperor was the supreme commander of all the military forces including the navy.

The navy is organized mostly on role based squadrons & divisions, containing various types of ships assigned for a specific role and home-ported in an associated base/port. This procedure became necessary, especially after the conquest of Ceylon. Normally, a Ganam (Fleet-Squadron) would (the largest individual unit)be commanded by a Ganathipathy (not to be confused with the elephant headed god Ganapathy).

There were numerous sub-units of operational reasons and organizational reasons or otherwise. Some are presented below,

Notes

‡1. Kanni May mean any of the following in Tamil, the application on the meaning is in context of the usage.(கன்னி) Virgin/Unmarried Girl, First timer, the Eastern corner/direction. A trap is also called as 'kanni', that is 'ka NN i'(கண்ணி) which is a different word both pronounced and written differently.

2. Thalam being both the name of a tactical formation of the army and navy. Thalapathy meaning the lord of a Thalam, roughly a division, and the rank is comparable to a modern-day colonel.

Rank structure

The Chola navy used a hybrid rank structure. There were dedicated naval ranks as well as army-derived ranks. The Chola Navy used both naval ranks and army-style ranks. While some of the modern-day convention of ranks did apply, for example, the army captain is equal to a lieutenant in the navy and a navy captain is equal to a colonel in the army; others were totally different. So a small comparison is provided for comparison.

Other naval arms

The auxiliary forces of the Chola Navy In addition to the standing navy of the state, there were other services which had a naval arm of its own. Notable among them are the customs department, militia and the state monopoly of pearl fisheries. In addition to the state services, a small but formidable forces were maintained by various trade-guilds, these guilds are highly regulated and acted as mercenaries and reinforcements in times of need.

Customs and excise

The Customs force, called Sungu (SUNGA ILLAKA) was highly organized and unlike anything in the ancient world. It was under the command of a Director-general like position called Thalai-Thirvai. Thalai - Head, Thirvai - duty (customs). It was highly evolved and had various departments Some are

Coast guard

In the later years of the 1100, the navy was constantly battling in many fronts to protect Chola commercial, religious and political interests. So the home ports were literally, undefended. This led to a change in Chola naval strategy, the sturdier and larger vessels were repeatedly called to reinforce the high-sea flotilla, leading to the development of a specialized auxiliary force of fast and heavily armed light ships in large numbers. The erstwhile Karaipirivu was the natural choice for this expansion and in time they became an autonomous force vested with the duties of protecting the Chola territorial waters, home ports, patrol of newly captured ports and coastal cities.

Privateers

The state's dependence on overseas trade for much valued foreign exchange created the powerful Trade-guilds, some of which grew more powerful than the regional governors. And in the increasingly competitive field of international trade, the state faced with difficulties to reinforce and or rescue stranded Merchant ships in high seas, in a timely manner. This led to the establishment of privateer navies. Like its European counterparts, they had no National markings and employed multi-national crews.

But, they were employed by the Trade-guilds rather than the Empire, giving the Traders an edge in the seas. Normally, they performed path-finding, escort and protection duties. but, in more than a few occasions, these forces had been summoned to serve the Empire's interests.

Notable Trade guilds which employed a privateer navy were,

Vessels and weapons

Even before the accounts of the 1st century BCE, there were written accounts of shipbuilding and war-craft at sea. Professor R. C. Majumdar says that there existed a comprehensive book of naval-architecture in India dating back to the 2nd century BCE, if not earlier.

During the reign of Raja Raja and his son, there were a complex classification of class of vessels and its utility. Some of the survived classes' name and utility are below.

Though all ships of the time employed a small Marine force (for boarding enemy vessels), this class of ship seems to have had a separate cabins and training area for them. This ship also is said to be able to engage in asymmetrical warfare.

Apart from class definitions, there are names of Royal Yachts and their architecture. Some of which are,

In addition to these, we find many names of Ship classes in Purananuru and its application in both inland waters and open oceans. Some of them are,

Campaigns

In the tenure spanning the 700 years of its documented existence, the Chola Navy was involved in confrontations for probably 500 years. There were frequent skirmishes and many pitched battles. Not to mention long campaigns and expeditions. The 5th centuries of conflict between the Pandyas and Cholas for the control of the peninsula gave rise to many legends and folktales. Not to mention the heroes in both sides. The notable campaigns are below

Recruitment and service

The chola emperors gave a free hand to the admirals in recruiting and training of sailors, engineers, oarsmen and marines. There were no complicated tests and evaluation process. Any citizen or even non citizen could sign up for the naval service. But, one did not end up in the work of his choice. Preference were given to ex-servicemen, their sons and noblemen. But, this attitude changed in later days. And many class of soldiers / sailors distinguished themselves, irrespective of rank and class.

Ports and fleets

The most ancient of ports used by Cholas was Poompuhar. Later on, they used many more ports and even built some new ones. Some of the famous ports are:

In addition to these sea ports there were many inland ports and dry dock connected by Rivers Kaveri and Thamarabarani which served commercial fleets and in times of war, to facilitate mass production, ships were built inland and ferried through the rivers to the Ocean.

The fleets were normally named after the dead monarchs and god's name. The most distinguished ones were granted Royal prefixes like Theiva-sovereign's name-fleet name. During the reign of Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I, there were 5 fleets, each catering to particular needs. The main fleet was home ported in Nagapatinam. The other fleets were home ported in Kadalur and a small fleet was also based in Kanchipuram.

In addition to the main fleets of war ships, there were two fleets of logistics and transport ships to serve the needs of the army; involved in a bloody war in Ceylon and later in southeast Asia.

In the later years these numbers increased drastically and a several fleets were created anew. During the late 11th century, there were a total of nine battle fleets, based in various dominians across the vast expanses of the Chola empire ranging from the present day Aceh, Ankorwat to the southern reaches of Ceylon/Sri Lanka.

Political, cultural and economic impact

The Grand vision and imperial energy of the Father and son duo Raja Raja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I is undoubtedly the underlying reason for expansion and prosperity. But, this was accomplished by the tireless efforts and pains of the navy. In essence, Raja Raja was the first person in the sub-continent to realize the power projection capabilities of a powerful navy. He and his successors initiated a massive naval buildup and continued supporting it, and they used it more than just wars.

The Chola navy was a potent Diplomatic symbol,It was the carrier of Chola might and prestige. It spread the Dravidian culture, the literary and architectural grandeur. For the sake of comparison, it was just the equivalent of the " Gunboat diplomacy " of the modern-day Great powers and super powers.

There is evidence to show that the king of Kambujadesa (modern Cambodia) sent an ornamental chariot to the Chola Emperor, probably to appease him so that his strategic attention does not extend further than the Malay peninsula.

Popular culture

From the Sangam age poems to commemorate the victory of the sovereign of the day to the immortalized Kalinga Campaign of the Kulothunga Chola I in the Kalingattuparani. Parani is a special type of literary work, which; according to the traditions and rules of linguistics of Tamizh can only be composed on a king/general whose forces have killed a thousand elephants in combat.

In modern times, more than a few Romance has been inspired by the Chola Navy, and mostly in Tamil Language and literature.

Timeline of events

The major events which had direct impact in the development of the Chola Naval capability are listed here, which is in no case comprehensive. But, some of the events had deep impact nevertheless.

Archeological evidence: The dated excavations,

Literary references and recordings