SocietySouth Asia
The Chola empire
South India's naval power, with fleets reaching Sumatra
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The Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur carries a sixty-six metre granite tower built without mortar. The Chola bronzes, above all the dancing Shiva, were cast by lost-wax with an elegance never surpassed. Their villages had elected councils chosen by lot and required to render accounts — a local self-government inscribed on temple walls.
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The Chola kings of south India built a navy and sent expeditions across the Bay of Bengal as far as Sumatra. They raised vast granite temples and cast bronze statues reckoned among the world's finest.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org