Renati Cholas

• The Telugu Cholas of Renadu (Renati Cholas) ruled over Renadu region, the present day Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. The earliest of this family was Nandivarman (500 AD).
• They were originally independent, later forced to the suzerainty of the Eastern Chalukyas.
• The Cholas of Renadu claimed that they belonged to Karikala Chola’s dynasty. 
• They are said to be the first kingdom to use Telugu in administration and inscriptions, instead of Sanskrit.

Why in News?

A rare inscription dating back to the Renati Chola era has been unearthed in a remote village of Kadapa district that has kindled interest among the fraternity of archaeology and history.

Characteristics of the inscription

• It was found engraved on a dolomite slab.
• Dolomite is a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of calcium magnesium carbonate.
• The inscription was written in archaic Telugu which was readable in 25 lines. 
• It was assigned to the 8th Century A.D., when the region was under the rule of Chola Maharaja of Renadu.
• The inscription seems to throw light on the record of a gift of six Marttus (a measuring unit) of land gifted to a Brahmin serving the temple. Some lines are indicative of the priority given to morality in those days.

Related Information

Cholas

• The Cholas controlled the central and northern parts of Tamil Nadu from around the 8th-12th century AD, with Tiger as their emblem.
• Their core area of the rule was the Kaveri delta, later known as Cholamandalam.
• The Cholas maintained an efficient navy.
• King Karikala was a famous king of the Sangam Cholas. Sangam poems mention the Battle of Venni where he defeated the confederacy of Cheras, Pandyas and eleven minor chieftains. Trade and commerce flourished during his reign.
• He also founded the port city of Puhar (identical with Kaveripattinam) and constructed 160 km of an embankment along the Kaveri River.
• Brihadisvara Temple was built by Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I (985-1014 AD) between 1003 AD and 1010 AD.
• In the conquests of Rajendra Chola came almost the whole eastern part of Sumatra, and the central and southern parts of the Malay peninsula. He also occupied the capitals of Srivijaya (Indonesia) and Kedah (Malaysia).

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/rare-inscription-unearthed/article32490807.ece