Was Rajaraja I a Hindu? Let the Historical Evidence speak fr itself

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

 Rajarajesvara Temple, Tanjavur

  Rajaraja I (985-1014), a splendid   monarch, has now become the   centre  of an unseemly controversy   over his depiction in Mani Ratman's   magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan, a   film based on Kalki's novel of the   same name, published more than 70   years ago. Virulent debates over   identity  and ideology are the stuff of Indian public discourse, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. The term "Hindu" was first used by Al-Biruni in his book/kitab on India and he used that term to designate the indigenous people of India, as opposed to the invading Turks/ turushka as they were called in Indian records. Obviously then we cannot hope to find a "Hindu" identity expressed as such in the contemporary Chola records. However, the fact remains that the Cholas were deeply embedded in the practice and propagation of Saiva religion with a pronounced leaning towards Saiva Siddhantha. Aghorasivacharya and Umapatisivacharya were both important commentators on Raurava Agama, a foundational text of Saiva Siddhantha.

In the nineteenth century, Saiva Siddhanta became the ideological armature of the nascent Dravidian Movement and hence tried to distance  itself from mainstream Saivism and the hangover of this ideological rupture exists until this day. Let us look at the contemporary evidence and see where it leads us.

The deity enshrined in the Great Temple consecrated by Rajaraja I on the 20th day of the 26th year of the reign of Rajaesari, the regnal title of the King was Dakshina-Meru-Vittankar. a definite indication of adherence to Isvara/Siva. On the same occasion Rajaraja I assumed the title, Siva-pada-sekara, a potent exhibition of a leaning towards Saiva faith. Another important piece of evidence is the reference to Pasupatas and Kalamukas, radical Saivite sectarian groups who were placed in charge of the funerary shrines built by Rajaraja I (pallippadai) at Melpadi for Arinjiya.

Rajaraja I signature

K A N Sastri on whom Kalki depended for the historical details has stated that Rajaraja I was an "ardent follower of Siva" and the titles that he displayed on the walls of the Temple at Tanjavur stand testimony to his religious faith.

The beautiful mural found in the Temple is a depiction of the king with his Saiva preceptor, and this mural puts paid to any lingering doubts one may entertain about the religious affiliations of Rajaraja I.

The term Hindu carries with it, at least in the medieval period, the sense that the term refers only to the indigenous inhabitants of Bharatvarsha and was not used to express the religious identity. The confusion between an ethnic label with a religious identity which was distinct from Islamic identity was caused by the Turkish Sultans who began to talk of non Moslems as Hindus. And it appears that the confusion still persists.

A Medieval Monarch of South India: Rajaraja I, the Splendid Monarch

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Rajaraja Chola: Interplay Between an Imperial Regime and Productive Forces in Society

Raghavan Srinivasan

New Delhi: Leadstart

2021

Rajaraja I (985-1014) is the subject of the book under review and he is a difficult personality to pin down. Srinivasan has set out to write a biography of a medieval Tamil king and given the extremely limited and fragmented evidence, it is creditable that he has produced a book length narrative. The book is structured around the known events of his reign and are discussed around the themes enunciated by historians such as K A N Sastri, Burton Stein, R Champakalakshmi and others. The evidence extant from the period do not permit an indepth investigation into the Life and Times of Rajaraja I as the Chola monarch lacked a biographer and chronicler like Akbar had in his companion, Abul Fazal. Given this limiting condition, the author has done a reasonable enough job in presenting the political and economic lineaments of the reign of Rajaraja I, the Splendid Monarch as one historian has called him.

The Historian has to depend on Copper Plate Inscriptions as his source for reconstructing the history of the period. Politically the reign of Rajaraja, the Rajaesari, was responsible for rehabilitating the fortunes of the Dynasty that had taken a drastic turn for the worse following the Rashtrakuta invasion and the defeat and death of the heir apparent, Rajaditya in the Battle of Takolam in 949 AD. Rajaraja showed his political skill in ensuring the survival of both the State and the Dynasty by changing the pattern of Chola succession. This important change which imparted a firm institutional foundation to the Chola State has been ignored in the analysis proffered by Raghavan Srinivasan. 

Another important aspect that is argued in the book as per the current historiographical trend is an examination of Kingship as practiced during the Chola period. While there is a great deal of debate on this  issue, the writer has waded into an extremely contentious one by using the concept of Deva Raja to situate Chola kingship. God King in South East Asia, especially for the Khemer kings meant the apotheosis of king as god upon death. Unfortunately the interpretation advanced by  Nilakanta Sastri has gathered vehement traction and needs examination. First, Rajaraja or for that matter no Chola king, claimed the status of gods. The closest that Rajaraja came to divinity was when he claimed the title, siva-pada-shekara in his inscriptions in the Big Temple at Tanjavur. (South Indian Inscriptions vol II No 1 and 2). The Esalam Plates of Rajendra I also attest to the patronage extended to radical Saiva groups like the Kalamukhas and the Pasupatas, a link that we first encounter when the mahavrattins of the Kalamukha order are given custody of the pallippadai shrine of Arinjeya at Melpadi. The evidence that we have goes to prove quite conclusively that the Cholas did not claim divinity as a constituent element of the ideological apparatus of the state.

The very name of Rajaraja's magnificent temple at Tanjavur, the Rajarajes'vara Temple, built in his 25th regnal year encapsulates the enigma of Chola kingship. The double entendre' refers both to the name of the King and Deity and does not indicate an appropriation of divinity by the mortal king. The medieval European monarchs considered Kingship as a union of Two Bodies, the Body of Christ and that of Man, but the Chola conception was resolutely secular.

This book provides a good introduction to the political history of the period and the author has essentially followed the identification of places mentioned in the inscriptions as given by Sastri in his now classic history. The inscriptional rhetoric of taking the head of the king, as the author points out was merely rhetorical as defeated kings were never killed as was the practice under Islamic rulers. The  trade and commerce carried out by the guilds has been discussed, though the extent of coined currency being used in commercial transactions may by disputed.

This is a well written and interesting book and deserves to be read by all those interested in the past of South India.