India’s First Navy in 1000 AD

The Chola King Rajendra Chola, the son of the Epic hero, Rajaraja Cholan alias the 'Ponniyin Selvan' who was throned in 1012 AD had extreme access to the seas. The King built a strong navy force and used it to conquer the territories beyond sea like Sri Lanka, Maldives and even parts of present-day’s Malaysia. The way the strong naval force was built, its conquests and the great structures it had to operate are way beyond imagination and expertise.

A painting depicting Rajendra Cholan; Source: Times of India

"The Cholas are Back"

is the trending propaganda, made by the Ponniyin Selvan team, the movie by ingenious Mani Ratnam. Wondering who the Cholas are yet? The great Cholas, were the rulers who ruled the southern part of India, holding their capital at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The Cholas had a fleet of 1000s of ships that included passenger ships, cargo ships and warships. The Chola emperors had great diplomatic relations with the Chinese and collaborated with them in making those gigantic ships.

During the period of Rajaraja Cholan, the navy bases were strengthened. However, it was his heir Rajendra Cholan who pulled a massive structure out of the Chola Dynasty. Rajendra Cholan who was throned in 1012 AD was a missionary and a great conqueror, he was an emperor who went beyond the sea to conquer lands of SriLanka, Maldives and even some places of present-day Malaysia, which also gave him the title ‘Kadaram Kondan’, the conqueror of the Kedah.

The Chola Navy force had various  departments. The department of the Chola Navy include, ‘Kanni’ -Wartie or Special Purpose Force, which was used by the navy during wartime. This was a small force with a limited number of ships, this was used as a trap to attack the enemy ships, which would be attacked by this ‘Kanni’ force and later the enemies would be attacked by a magnanimous navy force.

The next force was ‘Jalathalam’ or ‘Thalam’ which was the permanent formation or a permanent navy force, with well equipped ships that had room for all kinds of weapons, soldiers and food for them as well. The third is ‘Mandalam’ which was used by the navy when there was a specific need in the battle or an overseas deployment, which would consist of about 48 ships. The next is ‘ Ganam’ which is a permanent formation that monitors the coastal region on a regular basis. On average around 150 ships would be deployed for this purpose.

The other force is called ‘Ani’, the fleet division, which is a group of 3 ‘Ganams’ and would consist of 300-500 ships taking care of the entire coastal border of the country. The last is the force called ‘Pirivu’ that tops the hierarchy and this department would directly report to the King or the Prince about the performance of all the other departments and the coastal activities. The Cholas were very much aware that one cannot fight a war in the ocean like how it is done on land, hence they had specialized techniques and training to make the best practice using the above-mentioned forces to conquer the world.

The Cholas had a civilized navy system where toll taxes were collected from the ships that were from abroad, the main purpose of this tax was to prevent pirates or to act as a channel of due diligence. They had a wide range of tax governance set up to monitor the naval activities which include ‘Thirvai’- the Customs Duty & Excise Department, ‘Aaivu’- the inspection & enforcement department, ‘Ottru’- Intelligence Cops, ‘Karaipirivu’- Coastal Defence and ‘Kallarani’- Pirate squad. Interestingly the Pirate squad is the people who belong to the pirate group who are used by the Chola Navy for espionage and would be ordered to inform the officers about any unusual activity on the coast.

The naval expeditions of the Cholas, like their connection with the Chinese or their coastal territories and undoubtedly confirms the existence of a well-ordered fleet of various ships and boats, marking the Chola Navy as India’s first Navy force.