Lecture on ‘South India Under The Cholas’ by historian and epigraphist Y. Subbarayalu marked the Pupul Jayakar memorial lecture in the city on Friday. The lecture was organised by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to commemorate the 100{+t}{+h}birth anniversary of Padma Bhushan awardee and INTACH founder Pupul Jayakar.
Mr. Subbarayalu said the Chola rule from the 9{+t}{+h}to 13{+t}{+h}century AD had left a lasting impact in socio economic polices, art, culture, literature, buildings and trade – to name a few – to this day. He dwelt in detail on the administrative aspects of Chola dynasty from the village level to the entire kingdom that covered a major portion of South India and a part of Sri Lanka too.
He highlighted the period of kings Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola and their reforms and the areas where they focussed. Their naval expeditions to South East Asian countries and trade not only attracted kings and queens from other countries but had left traces of their wealth at museums globally, even today.
According to him, the land survey across the kingdom conducted during the period of Rajaraja Chola was among the first in the country. He also dwelt in detail on the water irrigation system introduced during that period, tax collection and how they had created revenue for administering the kingdom. INTACH members, heritage enthusiasts, industrialists and students and faculty from the history department in various colleges were present.
