Bakuel's India: Chola, Hoysala and Vijayanagara 2016-10-05

Of Cholas and Chalukyas,

Spoiler :

While all of this was going on in Northern India between the eighth and fourteenth centuries, Southern India was developing along it's own path and two Dravidian powers came to dominate Southern India and the Deccan. The Tamil Cholas and the Kannada Western and Eastern Chalukya dynasties, the most important of these is of course the Cholas, however, the rise and fall of the Cholas is closely related to their warfare with the Deccan Chalukya kingdoms so they must be mentioned.
The Cholas were one of the Tamil kingdoms during the political stalemate which held the region during the Sangam period and around the ninth centuries the Cholas, at this time a vassal of the Pallavas, rose out of obscurity. Raja Raja Chola I would mange to conquer all of the Tamil states and a nice chunk of Southern India and parts of Sri Lanka. He established the Chola navy that his son would go on to subject many states around the Sea of Bengal. He also built the Brihadeeswarar Temple, a temple out of complete granite and a stunning example of Dravidian architecture.
His son, Rajendra Chola I would go to finish the conquest of Sri Lanka and the Chola empire would become the most dominate power in Southern India. The Cholas would send expeditions north east and defeated the Palas and subjected the Eastern Chalukyas, dominating the fertile Vengi region. Rajendra Chola's navy would cross the sea and attack the Srivijaya Kingdom in the Malayan kingdom and sack the capital Kadaram and take the king captive, other major cities were also attacked. The king was forced to pay tribute and become a vassal. Most believe that the conflict arose out of a trading dispute since Srivijaya controlled the trade route to China, but no one is too sure. Rajendra Chola I oversaw the Golden age of the Cholas and during this time they would be the most powerful state in Southern and South-East Asia. Even though after the death of Rejendra Chola I many of the oversees vassals stopped paying tribute, the Cholas were still extremely wealthy due to the trade routes which went through Southern India. The Cholas trade routes also helped spread Southern Indian culture norms to many areas of South East Asia. The Cholas as well as the Pallas had a drastic effect on the culture of Southern Asia. It is said that for the Arabs, India included not just the modern subcontinent but also South East Asia as well due to their cultural similarity.
While the oversees conquests of Rajendra faded away after his death, it was his conquest of the Vengi region which would have far reaching consequences for the politics of the Chola Empire. The Vengi region was a fertile strip of land between the Deccan highlands and the Bengal Bay mainly centered around the Godavari River. After the Cholas dominated the Eastern Chalukyas and intermarried into their dynasty they came to rule this land. Officially, it seems to have been a alliance, but in time, the original family line of the Eastern Chalukyas all but faded away into political oblivion. However the Western Chalukyas would attempt to gain control over the region themselves and the Chola and Chalukyas empires would be stuck in over a hundred years of almost constant warfare. Over time, this would slowly weaken both the Cholas and the Chalukyas.
In 1070, there was a dynastic change after the last Vijayalaya Chola was assassinated and the throne went to Rajendra Chalukya, a descendent of three generations of the intermarriage of Eastern Chalukya Princess and Chola Princes. In 1075, also the last of the pure Eastern Chalukya dynasty, Rajendra Chalukya's uncle, also died and the two regions were officially united under one ruler. Still this did not help the downward spiral, despite the attempts of Rejendra Chalukya and the Vengi region slipped out of Chola hands in 1118. Rejendra Chalukya's descendents also saw their territories diminish due to rebellions and civil wars over succession. In the thirteenth century the Pandya dynasty would briefly revive and conquer the Chola dynasty in 1264, but would not be able to match the glory of the early Tamil state.

On the Hoysalas,

Spoiler :

Now, in the Deccan the Western Chalukyas also begin to weaken at the same time as the Cholas did. As in many cases of prolonged warfare between two powerful states, neither side wins. The Western Chalukyas vassals, the Hoysalas (1026-1343), rose in power and soon overcame them and established the Hoysala empire. Like the Chalukyas the Hoysalas were also a Kannada people and early on they intermarried with the weakening Chola dynasty to strengthen their prestige. The reasons for that the Hoysala kingdom intermarried with the Cholas is somewhat peculiar. Originally, the latter Chola Emperor Kulothunga Chola III (and arguably the Chola leader with any ability) campaigned against the rising Hoysalas which were ruled by Hoysala Veera Ballala II. The Hoysalas had taken over some Chola territory in the Deccan and the weakened Cholas were attempting to get it back. However, after the somewhat stalemate of a campaign relationships improved and Kulothunga married off his daughter to Hoysala Veera Ballala II. Later a aged Kulothunga turned to his son in law for help when the Pandyas suddenly invaded Chola in force and conquered his kingdom in 1217. The Hoysala army forced the Pandyas to restore the kingdom back to Kulothunga, and go through a humiliating ceremony were the Pandyas had to accept the sovereignty of a king they had just utterly defeated. Kulothunga died soon afterwards, and while he was no genius of ability, his descendents were next to worthless. The only reason why the Chola state managed to survive to 1279 was due to the Hoysalas propping them up, and the state failed when the Hoysala ruler broke their alliance.
The Hoysala empire was not as great either as the Western Cahlukyas or the Cholas, however they did managed to dominate their neighbors to a certain extant. They were famous for building temples in a unique Kannada style and had a major influence on Dravidian art. Their temples also have some wonderful sculptures of warriors which are rare in Hindu temple art, so they offer a nice reference to base off Southern Indian warriors.

On the Vijayanagara Empire,

Spoiler :

The Vijayanagara empire was the closest the thing to a war state to exist in Hindu history, its creation was based on the Muslim threat. The Sangama dynasty and the remaining Hoysalas merged together due to the common threat of foreign invasion. Soon even the Tamil speaking states also joined with the empire, the Hoysalas already had familial links with the Cholas, but even the other dynasties soon became apart of the empire. It can be said that many of the Hindu Dravidian states, when faced with a common threat and on the brink of ruin, put aside their differences and joined together, a few were conquered but most of the vassals joined voluntarily. At least during the early years, later, like every empire, it had it's share of rebellious vassals.
Vijayanagara's hegemony in the south truly begun during the rule of it's third ruler, Haruhara II (reigned 1377-1404), consolidated the empires control over southern India and spread it to control from the river Krishna in the north all the way down to Cape Comorin in the South and from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. Sri Lanka became a tributary and he managed to capture the west coast ports of Goa, Chaul and Dabhol from the Muslims. The Sultans of Malwa and Gujarat became important allies on the northern border. Haruhara II became known as the 'Master of the Four Oceans', a legendary title based on the Hindu concept of a universal king. After this the empire was swiftly becoming the main power in the region.
Due to European, Middle Eastern and Asian trade routes through the Indian Ocean, teh empire became fabulously wealthy and the city became known as a place of power, size and wealth. The Italian Nicolo Contri arrived in India around 1420 and visited the capital city of Vijayanagara and stated that,

'The great city of Bizengalia is situated near very steep mountains. The circumference of the city is sixty miles; its walls are carried up to the mountains and enclose the valleys at their foot, so that the extant is thereby increased. In this city there are estimated to be ninety thousand men fit to bear arms.'

A Persian Ambassador 'Abdur Razzaq was more poetic in his praise and stated that,

'The city of Bidjanagar is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it, and the ear of intelligence has never been informed that there existed anything to equal it in the world.'

A Portuguese, Paes, who came in 1522 after visiting the Italian cities of the Renaissance stated that it was "as large as Rome and very beautiful to the sight" and that it was "the best-provided city in the world" and "everything abounds". Of the ivory carvings in the chambers of the palace he stated that "it is so rich and beautiful that you would hardly find anywhere, another such."
The city became known as a place of wonders to many, and though abandoned, it still is. The ruins are known for their solid stone musical pillars amongst other oddities.
The empire was, like pretty much all of the Indian empires described so far, ruled loosely. Though officially the Vijayanagara appointing administrators to govern regions, mostly the ruling families were left in power over their former regions and they ruled autonomously but acknowledged the sovereignty of the emperor.
The empire succeeded in beating back the power of the Delhi sultante and defended the region for some odd 200 years until the Battle of Talikota.
Even though a war state during the early years, the Vijayanagara Empire saw a blossoming of Dravidian culture which was unprecedented. The empire reached it's zenith under the rule of Sri Krishna Deva Raya. Krishnadevaraya was well known for his successes in battle and his tactical mind, however he is most well known for patronizing many Dravidian poets, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil. He also founded Sanskrit poets as well. If there is a need a culture leader for a Dravidian faction, Krishnadevaraya fits this fine.
The Vijayanagara can be viewed as the last major distinctly Southern Indian dynasty, the region would have it's share of kingdoms afterwards, but this is it's last true Golden Age. The empire fell into chaos after it's defeat at the Battle of Talikota against the Deccan Sultanates, the Muslims preceded to capture and sack the city of Vijayanagara. It took over several months to completely raze it and carry away all of the wealth and even now the ruins are impressive. The Vijayanagara empire tried to make a come back after the lost of the capital, but it was already weakened too much. The largest feudatories all proclaimed their independence and the empire was doomed to fade away.

Now, notes on the military of the Southern Indian Kingdoms.

Spoiler :

Pre-Vijayanagara/Islamic Invasion,

The military during the time of the Cholas, Chalukyas, and the Hoysalas, followed the traditional Indian model closely with masses of infantry and elephants with cavalry support. Unlike the Rajputs, they did not managed to get a hold of good horse breeding stock, I may be wrong, but I don't think that south Indians climate is suitable for good horse breeding. However, they imported the horses as needed from the middle east. But their equestrian skill was doubtful. Jacob d'Ancona wrote in 1270 that,

'A good large Saracen horse, which may be had in Cormosa (Bandar Abbas) for fifty marks of silver, sells well in the cities of Greater India, even for four hindred marks, for so it befell later, God be praised. The horses of the Saracens are good runners and much prized by the noblemen of Greater India who ride them like devils. Indeed, so lacking in care are they of their well being, God have pity upon the beasts, that they bring the strongest and swiftest horse to ruin in short time...'

Unlike in Northern India, massed Archers do not seem to have been used as much. Instead, much like the Vakataka pack infantry was meant to get up close to the enemy with sword, spear, javelin and shield and engage the enemy with elephants as rallying/command points. The absence of massed archers seems to be the major difference between the classical Indian warfare tactics between Southern India and Northern India.
The Chola navy was a powerful force and seems to have employed ships very similar to the Song dynasty. So one could get away with using a East Asian model for their warships in the graphics department. Their ability to project navel power was unprecedented in India. However, the other empires never did take to the water like the Cholas did.

Post-Islamic Invasion,

After the Islamic invasions and the rise of the Vijayanagara period their was a massive military reform. No longer could the Southern rulers rely on levies and a relatively few wealthy nobles to fight. It is said that Deva Raya II (1424-1446) called a council together to ask why the Muslims always had a military edge over the Hindus. They decided that it was becuase the Muslims had better horses and they had more numerous and skilled archers in their employment. Immediately he recruited 2000 Muslim cavalrymen to train his cavalry and 10,000 Muslim archers to train his army. He even allowed these military experts to build Mosques and cemeteries in the capital. It is said Deva Raya,
"made all the Hindu soldiers learn the discipline of the bow; in which he and his officers used such exetrions, that he had at length 2000 Muslims and 60,000 Hindus, well skilled in archery, besides 80,000 horse and 200,000 foot, armed in the usual manner with pikes and lances."
This account is by the historian Ferishta from Rober Elgood's Hindu Arms and Ritual, though it should be noted that Elgood states that he is writting long after the fact and should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, the idea of a Hindu Emperor allowing foreigners to train his army and graciously allowing them to build places of worship in his city mirrors the tactics of later Hindu rulers and Europeans. The Vijayanagara Emperor begin to employ a professional cavalry force, though as you read, the infantry still made up the bulk of the army.
The Ramarajyamu describes the army of Rama Raja as being composed of units. One is constructed of one elephant, twenty horses, sixty archers, sixty swordsmen and sixty spearmen. Supposedly he had 3500 of these units. Most of the army was armed with weapons from the imperial armory. There were both levies and paid mercenaries including Muslims.

Now on to the army list,

Spoiler :

Dravidian Longbowman (Headband) (Internet Image, Traditional Clothing)
Dravidian Longbowman (Turban) (Internet Image, Traditional Clothing)
Dravidian Spearman (Headband) (Internet Image, Traditional Clothing)
Dravidian Spearman (Turban) (Internet Image, Traditional Clothing)

These are just generic levy units. They are armored with sleeveless padded jackets and wear common Southern Indian clothing, they could fight for any of the empires listed. I based them off of a group of Chola miniatures created by a company, padded armor was widespread in southern India and the clothing was just simply basic Tamil clothing so it was accurate enough. The other units are much more colorful then these. Basic units are generic.

Dravidian Chola Marine (Padded Vest) (Historical Image, Museum Image, Osprey)
Dravidian Chola Marine (Small Plate) (Historical Image)
Dravidian Chola Marine (Shirt) (Historical Image)

These Chola marines are based off of a memorial depicting Cholas attacking Srivijaya, while they use are very similar to the kind of warriors shown on temples of the period, it shows them dressed very similar to the warriors at Angkor Wat and other South-Eastern Temples. It is very probably that the medieval Chola warriors fought in a very similar manner to the kingdoms they influenced. Besides, it was the only reference for Chola marines I could find. The Padded Vest one is wearing a vest which was a very common armor type in Southern India. Even though most of the examples that exist are from a slightly latter period, one expert believes that the armor was in use before that so I gave it to one of the marines.

Darvidian Chola Heavy Infantry (Chola Temple)
Dravidian Chola Cavalry (Fancy Helmet) (Chola Temple)
Dravidian Chola Cavalry (Turban) (Chola Temple)
Dravidian Chola Cavalry (Helmet) (Chola Temple)

These armored Chola units are based off of a combination of Chola Temple art as well as armor which we know was used in Southern India during this period. Cavalry was in use during this period but since all horses had to be imported it was mostly infantry and elephants. Only the latter Islamic threat would actually force Hindu rulers to buy large numbers of horses for their cavalry.


Dravidian Hoysala Swordsman, (Hoysala Temple,)
Dravidian Crossbowman (Helmet) (Hoysala Temple,)
Dravidian Crossbowman (Turban) (Hoysala Temple,)
Dravidian Maceman (Hoysala Temple, Vijayanagara Temple)
Dravidian Longbowman (Helmet) (Hoysala Temple,)

These ones are based off of a peculiar image from a Hoysala temple were the soldiers are wearing a very weird skull fitting helmet wrapped with a turban. These can be used for either Chola, Hoysala or even early Vijayanagara soldiers. The Maceman wears a longsleeved padded jacket which looks like it could be represented on a Hoysala Temple image, but shows up very clearly in Vijayanagara Temple art.


Dravidian Nayar Swordsman (Osprey, Internet Image)

This is a Nayar swordsman. The Nayars or Nairs were one of the few Kshatriya caste clans in Southern India, but many, such as the Nambudiri Brahmins, also claim that they are Sudras so it is controversial. However, they are one of the oldest warrior clans in the region but, compared with the Rajputs and other Kshatriya clans in the north, they are few in number. The Nayars have traditionally intermarried into many of the dynastic families of Southern India and have always been powerful chieftains based in Kerala. The Nayars are well known for fighting for the Pandayas against the Cholas during the fall of the Chola dynasty. It is their they formed "Suicide Squads" that would attack the main body of Chola troops and keep fighting till they all died. The Nayars also fought for the Vijayanagara latter so this unit could be used with either. The Nayar were always few in number so I wouldn't use the name for any units for a Dravidian civ. Still, I felt they needed to be represented. He is wearing clothes which were common in the Vijayanagara empire and wearing a padded cuirass.

Dravidian Vijayanagara Heavy Cavalry (Museum Piece, Vijayanagara Temple)
Dravidian Vijayanagara Heavy Cavalry (Scale Armor) (Museum Piece)
Dravidian Vijayanagara Heavy Cavalry (Padded Cuirass) (Museum Piece, Vijayanagara Temple)
Dravidian Heavy Infantry (Vijayanagara Temple)
Dravidian Horsearcher (Vijayanagara Temple)


All of the cavalry are based off of surviving museum pieces of padded armor, expect the scale armored one. Padded and scale styles of armor were very popular in Southern India and the padded Indian amour was very effective. Colonel Fitzclarence stated,

The irregular cavalry throughout India are mostly dressed in quilted cotton jackets; though the best of these habiliments are not, as I supposed, stuffed with cotton, but are a number of cotton cloths quilted together. This serves as a defensive armor, and when their heads are swathed round, and under the chin, with linen to the thickness of several folds, it is almost hopeless with the sword to make an impression upon them, They also at times stuff their jackets with the refuse silk of the cocoons, which they say will even turn a ball.

Visitors to the Vijayanagara empire usually noted that the cavalry was armored in padded garments and, though mail was known, it was the padded garment which was generally mentioned or a padded garment covered with metal plates which probably describes a type of scale armor. So I made all of the Vijayanagara cavalry armored with padded garments. Most of the Museum pieces originated with Tipu Sultan's old armory.
The heavy infantry and horse archer are based off of armor shown in Vijayanagara Temples, horse archer was known, but they did not follow steppe tactics.

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