Chola & Major Southern Kingdoms

c. 850 CE – 1300

Map layer: Southern Empires

The Chola maritime empire alongside the Western Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Kakatiyas and Pandyas.

🗺 Map at start (850 CE) Map at midpoint (1075) Zoomed timeline

Main polities of this period

Name	Type	Span	Region	Capital
Chola Empire ★	Empire	c. 848 CE – 1279	South	Thanjavur / Gangaikonda Cholapuram
Polonnaruwa Kingdom ★	Kingdom	c. 1070 – 1232	Sri Lanka	Polonnaruwa
Chera Perumals of Makotai	Kingdom	c. 800 CE – c. 1124	South	Mahodayapuram
Western Chalukyas of Kalyani	Empire	c. 973 CE – c. 1189	Deccan	Kalyani
Hoysala Empire	Empire	c. 1026 – 1343	South	Dorasamudra (Halebidu)
Eastern Ganga Dynasty	Dynasty	c. 1078 – 1434	East	Kalinganagara / Cuttack
Kakatiya Dynasty	Dynasty	c. 1163 – 1323	Deccan	Orugallu (Warangal)
Seuna (Yadava) Dynasty	Dynasty	c. 1187 – 1317	Deccan	Devagiri
Pandya Empire (Second Empire)	Empire	c. 1190 – 1345	South	Madurai
Kalachuris of Kalyani	Dynasty	c. 1156 – c. 1181	Deccan	Kalyani

Also existing during this period

Kalachuris of Tripuri

Central · c. 675 CE – 1212

Paramara Dynasty

Central · c. 800 CE – 1305

Chandela Dynasty

Central · c. 831 CE – 1315

Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi

Deccan · c. 624 CE – c. 1075

Rashtrakuta Empire

Deccan · c. 753 CE – c. 982 CE

Pala Empire

East · c. 750 CE – c. 1161

Sena Dynasty

East · c. 1070 – 1230

Gahadavala Dynasty

Gangetic Plain · c. 1089 – c. 1197

Thakuri Kingdom of Nepal

Himalaya · c. 750 CE – 1200

Khasa Malla Kingdom

Himalaya · c. 1100 – c. 1400

Malla Dynasty of Nepal

Himalaya · 1201 – 1769

Sultanate of the Maldives

Islands · c. 1153 – 1968

Karkota Dynasty of Kashmir

North · c. 625 CE – c. 855 CE

Gurjara-Pratihara Empire

North · c. 730 CE – c. 1036

Tomaras of Delhi

North · c. 736 CE – c. 1152

Utpala Dynasty of Kashmir

North · c. 855 CE – c. 1003

Lohara Dynasty of Kashmir

North · c. 1003 – c. 1171

Delhi Sultanate

North · 1206 – 1526

Kamarupa

Northeast · c. 350 CE – c. 1140

Ahom Kingdom

Northeast · 1228 – 1826

Abbasid Caliphate — Sindh province

Northwest · c. 750 CE – c. 854 CE

Hindu Shahis

Northwest · c. 822 CE – c. 1026

Habbarid Emirate

Northwest · c. 854 CE – c. 1011

Ghaznavid Empire

Northwest · c. 977 CE – c. 1186

Soomra Dynasty

Northwest · c. 1026 – 1351

Ghurid Empire

Northwest · c. 1175 – 1206

Pallava Dynasty

South · c. 275 CE – c. 897 CE

Western Ganga Dynasty

South · c. 350 CE – c. 1000

Pandya Kingdom (First Empire)

South · c. 590 CE – c. 920 CE

Zamorins of Calicut

South · c. 1124 – 1766

Anuradhapura Kingdom

Sri Lanka · c. 437 BCE – c. 1017

Jaffna Kingdom

Sri Lanka · c. 1215 – 1619

Chahamanas (Chauhans) of Shakambhari

West · c. 650 CE – c. 1194

Guhilas of Medapata

West · c. 728 CE – 1303

Chaulukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat

West · c. 940 CE – 1244

Kachwahas of Amber (Jaipur)

West · c. 1128 – 1949

Marwar (Rathore)

West · c. 1226 – 1949

Events

Year	Event	Polity
c. 850 CE	Amoghavarsha's Kavirajamarga	Rashtrakuta Empire
879 CE	Nepal Samvat era begins	Thakuri Kingdom of Nepal
c. 916 CE	Indra III sacks Kannauj The Pratiharas were temporarily driven out of Kannauj.	Rashtrakuta Empire
949 CE	Battle of Takkolam The Rashtrakutas defeated the Cholas and occupied Tondaimandalam.	Rashtrakuta Empire
973 CE	Tailapa II overthrows the Rashtrakutas The Western Chalukya dynasty of Kalyani was founded.	Western Chalukyas of Kalyani
985 CE	Rajaraja I becomes Chola king	Chola Empire
c. 993 CE	Chola invasion of Sri Lanka Anuradhapura was sacked and the Sinhalese capital abandoned.	Chola Empire
1000	Mahmud of Ghazni begins his raids on India About seventeen raids followed over 25 years.	Ghaznavid Empire
1001	Mahmud defeats Jayapala at Peshawar Jayapala was captured and later abdicated.	Ghaznavid Empire
1008	Battle of Chach Anandapala's coalition was defeated, opening Punjab to Mahmud.	Ghaznavid Empire
1010	Brihadisvara Temple completed	Chola Empire
1014	Rajendra I becomes Chola king	Chola Empire
1017	Chola conquest of Sri Lanka completed Northern Sri Lanka became the Chola province of Mummudi-chola-mandalam.	Chola Empire
1018	Mahmud sacks Mathura and Kannauj The Pratihara capital was plundered.	Ghaznavid Empire
c. 1023	Rajendra's Ganga expedition; Gangaikonda Cholapuram founded Chola armies reached the Ganga and a new capital commemorated the victory.	Chola Empire
1025	Chola naval expedition to Srivijaya Srivijaya's ports were raided, securing Chola trade routes to China.	Chola Empire
1026	Mahmud of Ghazni raids Somnath The Somnath temple was plundered and Mahmud carried vast treasure to Ghazni.	Ghaznavid Empire
1030	Al-Biruni writes the Kitab al-Hind	Ghaznavid Empire
c. 1055	Death of Raja Bhoja Paramara power declined under attack from the Chaulukyas and Kalachuris.	Paramara Dynasty
1070	Vijayabahu I expels the Cholas from Sri Lanka Sinhalese rule was restored with its capital at Polonnaruwa.	Polonnaruwa Kingdom
1076	Chalukya-Vikrama era of Vikramaditya VI	Western Chalukyas of Kalyani
c. 1135	Jagannath temple at Puri begun	Eastern Ganga Dynasty
1148	Kalhana begins the Rajatarangini	Lohara Dynasty of Kashmir
1153	The Maldives converts to Islam	Sultanate of the Maldives
1153	Parakramabahu I rules Sri Lanka	Polonnaruwa Kingdom
c. 1161	End of the Pala dynasty The Senas became the leading power in Bengal.	Pala Empire
1175	Muhammad of Ghor takes Multan	Ghurid Empire
1178	Battle of Kasahrada: Ghurids defeated Muhammad of Ghor was repulsed from Gujarat.	Chaulukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat
1186	Ghurids take Lahore, ending the Ghaznavids The last Ghaznavid ruler, Khusrau Malik, was captured.	Ghurid Empire
c. 1190	Minaret of Jam built	Ghurid Empire
1191	First Battle of Tarain Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad of Ghor, who retreated wounded.	Chahamanas (Chauhans) of Shakambhari
1192	Second Battle of Tarain Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated and killed, opening north India to the Ghurids.	Ghurid Empire
1194	Battle of Chandawar Jayachandra was killed and the Ghurids took Kannauj and Varanasi.	Ghurid Empire
c. 1200	Destruction of Nalanda
c. 1203	Destruction of Vikramashila
c. 1204	Bakhtiyar Khalji takes Nadia Lakshmana Sena fled to east Bengal and Turkish rule began in Bengal.	Ghurid Empire
1206	Delhi Sultanate founded	Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty
1211	Iltutmish becomes sultan	Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty
1221	Chinggis Khan pursues Jalal ad-Din to the Indus Jalal ad-Din escaped across the Indus and Iltutmish refused him asylum.
1228	Sukaphaa founds the Ahom kingdom	Ahom Kingdom
1229	Iltutmish receives caliphal investiture	Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty
1236	Razia Sultana ascends the throne	Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty
1240	Razia Sultana deposed and killed Power passed to the Turkish nobles known as the 'Forty'.	Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty
c. 1250	Konark Sun Temple built	Eastern Ganga Dynasty
1266	Balban becomes sultan	Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty
1279	End of the Chola dynasty The Pandyas became the dominant Tamil power.	Chola Empire
1290	Khalji revolution	Khalji Dynasty
1292	Marco Polo visits the Pandya coast	Pandya Empire (Second Empire)
1296	Alauddin Khalji raids Devagiri	Khalji Dynasty
1296	Alauddin Khalji becomes sultan	Khalji Dynasty
1299	Mongols defeated at Kili Alauddin Khalji's army repelled Qutlugh Khwaja's Mongol invasion.	Khalji Dynasty