As much as kings, Tamil merchants are the unsung heroes of medieval India’s global footprint. Sometimes, cultural diasporas can achieve as much, if not more, than an armed force.

In 1024, Rajendra Chola dreamt up the grandest, riskiest, campaign ever planned by a medieval Indian ruler: an attack across the seas on Kedah (in today’s Malaysia). Both Rajendra Chola and the ...

Rajendra Chola I or Rajendra I was a Chola emperor who is considered one of the greatest rulers and military generals of India. He succeeded his father Rajaraja Chola I in 1014 CE.

Rajaraja Chola's successor, Rajendra, built alliances with Tamil merchant corporations: a partnership between traders and government power that foreshadowed the East India Company - a powerful ...

In a couple of decades after Rajendra Chola's raid on Kedah, this great Malay trading emporium, we have archaeological evidence of Tamil merchant settlements in Sumatra. They were present on both ...

The Great Living Chola Temples were built by kings of the Chola Empire ... The Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram, built by Rajendra I, was completed in 1035. Its 53-m vimana (sanctum tower) has ...