Person

Vijayalaya Chola

r. c. 848–871 · 9th century

Vijayalaya Chola was the founder of the imperial Chola dynasty of southern India. A local chief claiming descent from the early Cholas, he captured Thanjavur from the Muttaraiyar chiefs around 848 and made it his capital, at first as a vassal of the Pallavas. His successors built from this base the Chola Empire, which came to dominate southern India and the Bay of Bengal.

Vijayalaya Chola — Image: Venu62 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Early Cholas Chola Empire

See also

Cite this entry

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Vijayalaya Chola. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vijayalaya-chola
MLA: “Vijayalaya Chola.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vijayalaya-chola. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Vijayalaya Chola.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vijayalaya-chola.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Vijayalaya Chola’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vijayalaya-chola (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻