The expansion of the Cholas from their base in the Kaveri Delta saw this growing power subdue the kingdoms of southern India as well as occupy Sri Lanka and the Maldives by the early eleventh century. It was also during this period that the Cholas initiated links with Song China. Concurrently the Southeast Asian polity of Sriwijaya had through its Sumatran and Malayan ports come to occupy a key position in East-West maritime trade requiring engagement with both Song China to the north and the Chola kingdom to its west. The apparently friendly relations pursued were however to be disrupted in 1025 by Chola naval expeditions against fourteen key port cities in Southeast Asia. This volume examines the background course and effects of these expeditions as well as the regional context of the events. It brings to light many aspects of this key period in Asian history. Unprecedented in the degree of detail assigned to the story of the Chola expeditions this volume is also unique in that it includes translations of the contemporary Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions relating to Southeast Asia and of the Song dynasty Chinese texts relating to the Chola Kingdom.
