Raja Raja Chola I

As per records and inscriptions, he is said to have at least 15 wives, apart from Vaanathi or Thiripuvana Madeviyar, Princess of Kodumbaalur, who bore him his only son Rajendra I, his successor.

He is known to have at least three daughters – Kundavai who was married to Chalukya Prince Vimaladithan, Mathevalzagal and Chandramalli.

He was known by various names – Raja Kesari Varman Raja Raja Devar, Peruvudaiyar, and Raja Raja the Great.

Raja Raja Chola was born as Arulmozhi Thevar in 947 in Tirukoilur, as the third child of Parantaka Sundara Chola and Vananan Maha Devi.

He ascended the throne in 985 following the death of Madhuranthaga (Uttama Chola), with which started the Second Golden Age of Tamil Nadu.

During his earliest conquests, he attacked the combined armies of the Pandyas and Cheras, though there is no significant evidence of any campaign in the first eight years of his reign.

With his capital at Thanjavur, he utilized the first few years in building a strong army and preparing for military expeditions.

In 991, the army of the Sinhalese king, Mahinda V, the ruler of Anuradhapura Kingdom, revolted against him with help from professional soldiers hired from Kerala forcing him to escape south to Ruhana.

While he longed for ruling the entire Ceylon Island, the southern region of Ruhana remained beyond his reach, which was later successfully captured by his son, Rajendra.

In 994, he made his first successful campaign by destroying a fleet of Chera King Bhaskara Ravi Varman Thiruvadi at Kandalur port.

He conquered the port of Virinam by overthrowing the Pandyas and capturing its king Amarbhujanga. As a mark of celebration, he took the title ‘Mummudi-Chola’, meaning the three crowns – Chera, Chola and Pandya, worn by the Chola king.

With no head to oversee Anuradhapura after its ruler was expelled, he annexed northern Ceylon in 993 and destroyed the 1400-year old Sinhala capital, declaring Polonnaruwa as the new capital renaming it Jananathamangalam.

Despite his powerful and strong army, he failed to capture the Chalukyan capital, Manyakheta, as a result of which the southern banks of Tungabhadra became a frontier between both the Cholas and the Chalukyas.