The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka of the Maurya Empire.

As one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam, along with the Chera and Pandya, the dynasty continued to govern over varying territories until the 13th century CE.

They unified peninsular India south of the Tungabhadra River and held the territory as one state for three centuries between 907 and 1215 CE.

The main sources of information about the early Cholas are ancient Tamil literature of the Sangam period (c. 600 BCE),[b] oral traditions, religious texts, temple and copperplate inscriptions.

[8] A commonly held view is that Chola is, like Chera and Pandya, the name of the ruling family or clan of immemorial antiquity.

The annotator Parimelazhagar said: "The charity of people with ancient lineage (such as the Cholas, the Pandyas and the Cheras) are forever generous despite their reduced means".

This word often forms an integral part of early Chola names like Nedunkilli, Nalankilli and so on, but almost drops out of use in later times.

[11] In Tamil lexicon Chola means Soazhi or Saei denoting a newly formed kingdom, in the lines of Pandya or the old country.

[16] These myths speak of the Chola king Kantaman, a supposed contemporary of the sage Agastya, whose devotion brought the river Kaveri into existence.

[22] The Mahavamsa mentions that a Chola prince known as Ellalan, invaded the Rajarata kingdom of Sri Lanka and conquered it in 235 BCE with the help of a Mysore army.

[16][23] There is not much information about the transition period of around three centuries from the end of the Sangam age (c. 300) to that in which the Pandyas and Pallavas dominated the Tamil country.

An obscure dynasty, the Kalabhras invaded Tamil country, displaced the existing kingdoms and ruled during that time.

It is certain that when the power of the Cholas fell to its lowest ebb and that of the Pandyas and Pallavas rose to the north and south of them,[19][31] this dynasty was compelled to seek refuge and patronage under their more successful rivals.

[37] Rajaraja I and Rajendra I would expand the dynasty to its imperial state in the 11th century, creating an influential empire in the Bay of Bengal.

[48] The Western Chalukyas mounted several unsuccessful attempts to engage the Chola emperors in war, and except for a brief occupation of the Vengi territories between 1118 and 1126, allied with Prince Vikramaditya VI.

Rajaraja Chola I launched several naval campaigns that resulted in the capture of Sri Lanka, Maldives and the Malabar Coast.

[citation needed] In continuation of the decline, also marked by the resurgence of the Pandyan dynasty as the most powerful rulers in South India, a lack of a controlling central administration in its erstwhile Pandyan territories prompted several claimants to the Pandya throne to cause a civil war in which the Sinhalas and the Cholas were involved by proxy.

Details of the Pandyan civil war and the role played by the Cholas and Sinhalas, are present in the Mahavamsa as well as the Pallavarayanpettai Inscriptions.

The river Kaveri and its tributaries dominate this landscape of generally flat country that gradually slopes towards the sea, unbroken by major hills or valleys.

[75] Monumental architecture in the form of majestic temples and sculpture in stone and bronze reached a finesse never before achieved in India.

[76] The Chola conquest of Kadaram (Kedah) and Srivijaya, and their continued commercial contacts with the Chinese Empire, enabled them to influence the local cultures.

For example, the great temple complex at Prambanan in Indonesia exhibits several similarities with South Indian architecture.

[78][79] According to the Malay chronicle Sejarah Melayu, the rulers of the Malacca sultanate claimed to be descendants of the kings of the Chola empire.

[83] The revival of Hinduism from its nadir during the Kalabhras spurred the construction of numerous temples and these in turn generated Shaiva and Vaishnava devotional literature.

It was the age in which the great Telugu poets Tikkana, Ketana, Marana and Somana enriched the literature with their contributions.

At the same event, another leading Tamil actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, choreographer, playback singer, lyricist, television presenter, social activist and politician Kamal Haasan, while supporting Vetrimaaran asserted Hindu religion did not exist during the Chola period.

[104] The most important work of this genre is the popular Ponniyin Selvan (The son of Ponni), a historical novel in Tamil written by Kalki Krishnamurthy.

[108] Kalki's earlier historical romance, Parthiban Kanavu, deals with the fortunes of the imaginary Chola prince Vikraman, who was supposed to have lived as a feudatory of the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I during the 7th century.

Sandilyan's earlier work, Yavana Rani, written in the early 1960s, is based on the life of Karikala Chola.

[110] More recently, Balakumaran wrote the novel Udaiyar, which is based on the circumstances surrounding Rajaraja Chola's construction of the Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur.