The History of the World Podcast, written and presented by Chris Hasler. Volume 4, the Medieval World, Episode 56, The Chola Dynasty. Oh, We return to India for the first time since discussing the Gupta Empire, but this time we are in the far south of the Indian subcontinent,

an area rarely penetrated by the mighty Indian empires of the classical period.

Although the Chola Empire existed as a powerful entity between the 9th and 13th centuries.

The Chola ruling dynasty dates all the way back to the time of Ashoka

the Great of the Moorian Empire of the 3rd century

b.C. and it could very likely be even older.

The area of India at the southern tip of the subcontinent is referred to as

Tamilacan and the Chola were just one of a number of kingdoms that existed in

this area at the turn of the first millennium. These kingdoms were fed

by a healthy trade network along the coastlines which aided the urbanization of the

area.

Other significant Tamil kingdoms were the Pandia and the Cera.

Tamil culture developed independently from the powerful kingdoms and empires that came and went

in the north of the subcontinent. The Tamil language is a Dravidian language

and some experts believe that Dravidian languages

may have been displaced to some degree from the Indus Valley

by ancient Indo-Iranian migrations, but this is debated.

We do know that these languages flourished in the south of the subcontinent, however,

and Tamil is still spoken in the south of India to this day.

The origins of the Chola can be found in the writings of the Imperial Chola from the medieval period who claim that the cholera people are

descended from the sun. Many mythical stories of early cholera kings can be discovered in these writings.

The Imperial Chola claimed descent from the early Chola king called Karikala. We're not completely sure if Karikala truly existed, but

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