The Cholas: Some Enduring Issues of Statecraft, Military Matters and International Relations

The article addresses the deficit in the indigenous, rich historical knowledge of south India. It does this by examining the military and political activities of the Cholas to understand the employment of various supplementary strategies. The article deals with the engagements and battles of the Cholas with other kingdoms of south India, and ‘externally’ with Sri Lanka. It begins with an exposition of various types of alliances that were an integral part of the military strategy of the time. It also seeks to historically contextualize modern diplomatic developments and explains some issues of indigenous historical knowledge of that period that are of relevance even in the twenty-first century: continued phenomenon of changing alliance system in politics; idea of India as a civilization; composition of the army; and the falsehood of the uncontested theory of the Indian defeat syndrome.