Home Region:  Southern South Asia (South Asia)

Early Cholas

300 BCE 300 CE
D G SC New SEA  in_cholas_1
Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
1200 BCE 300 BCE Deccan - Iron Age (in_deccan_ia)    [None]

Succeeding Entity:
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Displayed: 291 BCE

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  General Description   The Early Cholas were a northern kingdom in Tamil Nadu and part of the three ruling kingdoms of Early Cholas, Chera and Pandya who ruled over Tamilakam in the late last millennium BCE and early first millennium CE. [1] The Early Cholas had their capital at Uraiyur and their main trading port at Kaveripumpattinam. [2] The Early Cholas practiced Hinduism and it is said that the Chola king Kochchenganan built 70 temples in honour of Shiva. [3] [4] The Early Cholas had important trade connections that linked through all of Tamil Nadu and coins from this period also reveal trade links with the Romans. [2] [5] Sometime in the 3rd century CE, the three kingdoms of the Early Cholas, Chera and Pandya declined and were succeeded by the Kalabhra dynasty. [6]

[1]: (Abraham 2003) Abraham, Shinu A. 2003. ‘Chera, Chola, Pandya: Using Archaeological Evidence to Identify the Tamil Kingdoms of Early Historic South India’. Asian Perspectives 42 (2): 207–23. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/MIRRQD2C/

[2]: (Singh 2008, 384) Singh, Upinder. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. London: Pearson Education. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UJG2G6MJ/collection

[3]: (Agnihotri 1988, 350) Agnihotri, V.K. 1988. Indian History. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PNX9XBJQ/collection

[4]: (Ramachandran 2018, 204) Ramachandran, R. 2018. A History of Hinduism: The Past, Present and Future. New Delhi: Sage. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/XBIURS7C/collection

[5]: (Raman 1976, 55) Raman, K.V. 1976. ‘Archaeology of the Sangam Age’. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol 37. Pp 50-56. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/M3ZPI56I/collection

[6]: (Srinivansan, 2021) Srinivasan, Raghavan. 2021. Rajaraja Chola: Interplay Between an Imperial Regime and Productive Forces of Society. Mumbai: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UGD5HUFP/collection

General Variables
Identity and Location
Temporal Bounds
Political and Cultural Relations
Language
Religion
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Information / Money
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Handheld weapons
Animals used in warfare
Armor
Naval technology
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Early Cholas (in_cholas_1) was in:
Home NGA: None
General Variables
Identity and Location Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Utm Zone 44 P Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Original Name Early Cholas Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Capital Uraiyur Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Alternative Name Sangam Period Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Alternative Name Choda Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Alternative Name Cola Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Temporal Bounds Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
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Duration [600 BCE ➜ 300 CE] Confident Disputed
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Political and Cultural Relations Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Succeeding Entity Kalabhra Dynasty Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Preceding Entity
1200 BCE 300 BCE
Deccan - Iron Age (in_deccan_ia)   [None]  Confident
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Language Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Linguistic Family Dravidian Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Linguistic Family Indo-European Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Language Old Tamil Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Language Prakrit Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Religion Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
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Religious Tradition Hinduism Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Religious Tradition Buddhism Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Religious Tradition Jainism Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Hierarchical Complexity Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Settlement Hierarchy [3 to 5] Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Military Level [3 to 5] Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Administrative Level [7 to 9] Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Professions Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Bureaucracy Characteristics Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Law Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Professional Lawyer Absent Inferred 300 BCE  300 CE
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Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
Specialized Buildings: polity owned Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Market Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Irrigation System Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Food Storage Site Present Inferred 300 BCE  300 CE
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Communal Building Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Utilitarian Public Building Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Knowledge Or Information Building Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Transport Infrastructure Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Road Present Inferred 300 BCE  300 CE
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Port Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Special-purpose Sites Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Special Purpose Site Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Burial Site Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Information / Writing System Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Written Record Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Script Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Non Phonetic Writing Absent Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Sacred Text Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Religious Literature Present Inferred 300 BCE  300 CE
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Practical Literature Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Calendar Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Information / Money Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Precious Metal Present Inferred 300 BCE  300 CE
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Indigenous Coin Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Foreign Coin Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Information / Postal System Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Information / Measurement System Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Weight Measurement System Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Time Measurement System Present Confident 300 BCE  300 CE
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Length Measurement System Present Inferred 300 BCE  300 CE
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Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Military use of Metals Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Projectiles Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Handheld weapons Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Animals used in warfare Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Armor Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Naval technology Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Religion Variables
Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Human Sacrifice Early Cholas (in_cholas_1)
Variable Coded Value Tags Year(s) See More
Crisis Cases
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Instability Data
Power Transitions
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