The multi-starrer blockbuster Ponniyan Selvan did provide the visual treat of Kalki Krishnamurthy's magnum opus novel, eulogising the intriguing political scenario of South Indian history just before the ascent of the benevolent Arulmozhi Varman of the Chola dynasty. Of course, in the film sequence, we are yet to see the crowning of Arulmozhi Varman as Raja Raja. At the movie's end, he was seen struggling to survive in Sri Lanka.
As we know from history, he took over Sri Lanka and completely changed the land's ethnographical profile during the middle phase of his reign. Before the Sri Lankan invasion, lauded as equal to the victory of Rama in inscriptions, Raja Raja engaged with another region which probably empowered the financial enhancement of his empire. Raja Raja I initiated his territorial expansion with the conquest of Kerala as soon as he became king. One of the early epithets he assumed was Keralantaka, the victorious over Kerala.
Parantaka II [SundaraChola], the father of Raja Raja, initiated the Chola incursion into Kerala when he humbled the Pandyans and entered southwestern Tamil Nadu. The Suchindram temple inscription of Parantaka mentions the Chola extension to Pandyan country. Raja Raja continued the Pandya- Kerala conquest within three years of his reign. "This king, a pile of matchless prosperity, majesty, learning, the strength of arm, prowess, heroism and courage invaded and conquered in order, (all) the quarters commencing with the direction of Trisanku (the south)", notes copper-plates from Tiruvalangadu [near Chennai]. The much-referred battle of Kanthaloor Salai was fought around 988 CE, along with the capture of Vizhinjam, a port city around 9 km from Thiruvananthapuram. Scholars have differing views on the exact location of Kanthaloor Salai. There needs to be more clarity regarding the precise meaning of Salai. Some scholars believe that it was the first major naval victory of Cholas under Raja Raja. The Vizhinjam port would have featured in the trade route annals of southern India along with Kollam and Musiris.
As the Kanthaloor Salai war resulted in capturing Vizhinjam as suggested in the Tiruvalangadu inscription, Kanthaloor Salai would not have been far from Vizhinjam port. Some scholars suggest that it was 20km east of Vizhinjam and shifted after the sacking by the Cholas to Thiruvananthapuram to a place presently known as Valiyasala. Most scholars suggest that the original Kanthaloor Salai destroyed/captured by the Cholas was a reputed centre for Vedic studies and weaponry. "It is now clear that the salai (or ghatika or kalakam or kalam) was a peculiar institution, a multipurpose training centre for celibate arms-bearing Brahmins (Chathar/Chathirar) in material and spiritual fields (including military training to equip them to serve the chieftain or the king and Vedic and sastraic studies)" wrote M G S Narayanan. However, some writers before him suggested that the "salai" could have been a naval base, military training centre, cantonment or ammunition depot. Desikavinayakam Pillai considers it a regulation of the Brahmin feeding house at Kanthaloor. Nilakanta Sastri calls it the "destroyed ships at Kanthaloor [harbour/Salai]".
In Tamil, Salai also means a market street, apart from an oblong hall. Anna Salai in present Chennai city and Chalai market in Thiruvananthapuram are perfect examples. While accepting Salai as the brahmin settlement, we also accept Raja Raja as the destroyer of Brahminic settlements, which is quite the opposite of what he was. More acceptable is the destruction of the business centre and the capture of a major port like Vizhinjam. Pius Malekandathil describes the impact of the capture of Kanthaloor Salai among the business community in Kerala thus, "We find several attempts on the part of the Chera rulers and their feudatories to encourage trade of foreign and local merchants operating at different places of Kerala, particularly after the defeat of the Chera naval power at Vizhinjam and loss of Quilon to the forces of Raja Raja Chola. In the war council that was convened, Joseph Rabban, who was the head of the Anjuvannam merchant guild and linked with the Jews of Muyirikkode [Muziris] placed at the disposal of the Chera ruler his ships, men and material to conduct war with Cholas". One can only wonder why the business community is getting agitated about the destruction of the Brahminic settlement at Kanthaloor Salai.
There was a conscious attempt to control the Indian Ocean trade route by the Cholas initiated by Raja Raja, and rather than the land expansion Raja Raja, a sharp reader of the region's geopolitics, tried to capture the major business centres and ports on the eastern and western sea. "These were the transit areas, ports of call for the Arab traders and ships to Southeast Asia and China, which were the source of the valuable spices sold at a high profit to Europe." writes Romila Thapar. One can see the result of these attempts to control trade and the resultant economic empowerment under Raja Raja through the magnificent edifice constructed by Raja Raja at Tanjavur, known as the Bruhadesvara temple.
Like the good-hearted hero of Kalki's Ponniyan Selvan, Raja Raja did not forget to acknowledge Kerala's contribution to his career and wealth. He names one of the main gopurams of Bruhadesvara Temple as Keralantaka Gopuram.
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