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CHOLA (CHOZHA) DYNASTY The  Chola (Chozha) Dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in world history. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka of the Maurya Empire. As one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamizhagam, along with the Chera and Pandya, the dynasty continued to govern over varying territories until the 13th century CE. Despite these ancient origins, the rise of the Chola, as the ‘Chola Empire’, only began with the medieval Cholas in the mid ninth century CE. The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the river Cauveri. They unified peninsular India, south of the Tungabhadra and held as one state for three centuries between 907 and 1215 AD. Under Rajaraja I and his successors Rajendra I, Rajadhiraja I, Rajendra II, Virajendra, and Kulothunga Chola I, the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural powerhouse in South Asia