War & Conflict :- Cholas the final battle

In 1279 a beleaguered Rajendra III took to the battlefield, leading the Chola army south towards Madurai to meet the Pandya army that had rebelled against Chola rule.

United under Raja Raja Chola, the Pandyas following Raja Raja’s death proved to be a thorn in the Chola side, and in the years that followed Raja Raja’s death, the Pandyas constantly challenged Chola authority.

Chola territory extended mid Tamil Nadu northwards, while the south of Tamil Nadu belonged to the Pandyas.

In 1251, five years after, Rajendra III had ascended to the Chola throne, Jatavarman Sundara Pandya I would acquire the Pandya throne, and he would prove to be a capable leader, and months after he’d acquired the throne, it became clear that war with the Cholas was imminent.

The Chola empire had started to decline at about 1215 AD, and that decline culminated in a weakened empire that was a mere shadow of its former self. By the time Rajendra III had acquired the Chola throne, in 1246, the Chola Empire was on a downward spiral that was almost impossible to reverse.

The Cholas, after a long march arrived at a spot in Sivagangai, close to where the Pandyas had set up camp, and prepared for the battle ahead. Both sides were weary from the march but both sides were eager to meet on the battlefield.

It was a long rivalry that had spanned hundreds of years, and there were old scores that needed to be settled.

For centuries the Pandyas had remained reluctant vassals of the Cholas, and had on numerous occasions, tried to break free, sometimes successfully, but the fact that one army remained was always a threat to the other, and there was no better time for the Pandyas to vanquish their age old foes then the present.

At dawn of the following day, both armies broke camp and marched towards each other. At the head of both armies, were their foot soldiers, followed by their archers, with the cavalry bringing up the rear. It would be a battle, that would be fought in close combat, and it would be a battle that would more often than not be overshadowed by hand to hand melees.

Slightly over an hour later, almost half a million men stood in formation facing each other. At the start of battle, the Chola soldiers formed a phalanx and moved towards the center of the Pandya line hoping to split it right down the middle, while archers on both sides rained arrows on their enemies.

The Cholas tried their best to cut, and hack their way through, but the Pandya lines held, and they were able to repel the initial thrust and things appeared to be at a deadlock, when suddenly, and somewhat unexpectedly, the Pandya lines began to give way and the Cholas started to advance right down the middle.

The Cholas continued to push forward, in the hope of splitting the Pandya army in half, but midway through the battle, the Pandyas began to push back, and the Cholas could not retreat because the Pandyas had cleverly managed to encircle them, and what followed next was a brutal and bloody battle, with half the Chola army encircled by the Pandya’s.

The remainder of the Chola army could not come to their aid because they were having troubles of their own. Outflanked by the Pandya cavalry, they were caught up in a bitter struggle.

The Chola cavalry did come to the aid of the Chola army, but after a fierce and furious battle fought on horsebacks and on occasions from the backs of elephants, Jatavarman Sundara Pandya’s cavalry emerged triumphant, and having forced the Chola cavalry into a retreat turned their attentions to the remaining Chola soldiers, and by the end of the day the Chola army was decimated.

It is unclear if Rajendra III died in the battle but he died the same year, and with his defeat the Chola era ended.

With the exception of their temples, the architectural feats that they’d accomplished, and their devotion to Shiva, the Cholas left behind very little traces of their existence. There were no markers, no gravestones, and there were no scribes that penned down their exploits, on scrolls or parchment.

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