RAJARAJA CHOLA: King of Kings

In this book, Kamini Dandapani explores the man behind the larger-than-life image of Rajaraja and the milieu in which he reigned. The book goes into every aspect of Chola society—the place of women, the flowering of culture, including the making of exquisite Chola bronzes, the spread of religion, and the lives of ordinary people. After the death of Rajaraja in 1014, his son Rajendra expanded the empire; others that followed had mixed fortunes and, a couple of centuries later, the dynasty succumbed to their greatest rivals, the Pandyas. This scrupulously researched and brilliantly told biography brings to vivid and compelling life one of India’s greatest empires and rulers.