via Times of India, 10 September 2022: The naval power of the Chola Kingdom and its relations with Southeast Asia.
Chola ships sailed to the east regularly, conducting alucrative trade with kingdoms as far away as Indonesia(Srivijaya) and China.
Raja Raja had a large fleet of ships,which he used for trade. But it was under his son Rajendrathat the Chola navy really came into its own.Rajendra was a colonizer of ancient times. He establishedsettlements to look after the Cholas’ trade at several portsand kingdoms to the east, including Kedah (Malaysia),Thailand and Indonesia, and had a trade representative inthe Chinese court. And he used his navy to enforce his writ.Not that Rajendra’s fleet was a navy in the modern sense.Historians say the ships did not have catapults or slings to letfly large stones and other projectiles at the enemy. But theships, mainly carrying cargo, were big enough to carryelephants, horses and a cohort of soldiers armed with lancesthat were possibly used for “shock and awe” tactics.
Source: How did the Cholas conquer the seas? | Chennai News – Times of India
