The Battle of Thakkolam was fought in 949 CE between the crowned prince Rajaditya, (son of Raja Paranthaka Chola I) of the Chola dynasty and King Kannaradevan (Krishna Raja III) from the Rashtrakuta Kingdom. The battle was fought at Takkolam in the present-day Vellore District of Tamil Nadu. The battle resulted in the defeat of the Cholas and the death of Rajaditya on the battlefield.
Backgound:
Rashtrakuta King Krishna II was interested in securing the Chola
throne to his grandson Kannardeva. In 910 he tried to force Parantaka Chola to
abdicate with the help of Bana. But Parantaka with the help of the Ganga
Prithvipathi II, defeated the Rashtrakuta’s in the battle of Vallam.
Thereafter Parantaka conquered the Banas for helping the
Rashtrakuta. The conquered Bana territory was transferred to the Ganga
Prithvipathi and made himself Banadhiraja.
Prithvipathi died in c. AD 940 and was succeeded by Butuga II. Butuga
II was a friend of the Rashtrakuta KrishnaRaja III. The Banas and the Vaidumbas
were willing once again to help the Rashtrakuta against the Chola.
Rajadhitya was the crown prince of the later Cholas kingdom under
the King Parantaka I. Knowing about the plan of the Rashtrakuta’s, Parantaka
had stationed his crown prince Rajaditya in the north-western part of the
Kingdom to guard the region, in this Rajaditya was assisted by his younger
brother Arikulakesai and also the Chera king came in support for the Cholas led
by Rajaditya.
Krishna III entered the Chola kingdom supported by the confederacy
of the Banas, the Vaidumbas and the Gangas.
Battle:
A combined army of the Cholas and Cheras was led by the Chola Crown
prince Rajadhitya and the army of the Rashtrakutas and Gangas(the Banas, the
Vaidumbas) was led by the Rashtrakuta king Kannaradevan. It was believed that
both troops comprised lakhs of soldiers, hundreds of elephants and thousands of
horses. Both the armies met at the battlefield of Thakkolam in 949 AD and fought
fiercely. The battle lasted for nearly 10 days and lots of men lost their lives
in this battle. The bloods of killed elephants flowed like river. In spite of
his bravery and Great War skills, Rajaditya was killed unfortunately by the
Ganga king with a poison coated arrow which was a massive blow for the Chola
army, eventually they lost the battle. The victory was Rashtrakuta’s, but did
not result in the ruin of the Chola family.
After Battle:
The defeat of the Cholas at the battle field of Thakkolam, gave a
new dimension to the Chola regime and it inspired the later Chola Kings to
expand their territories beyond limits and build a strong army.
0 Comments