Long long time ago there were numerous Tamil kings who ruled the hilly tracts of Andhra Pradesh. Since these kings claimed their dynasty from the Karikala Chola of the Chola dynasty, they too named themselves as Chola kings and eventually they identified themselves as Telugu Cholas. There are temples constructed in Andhra by the Chola Kings and Nellore gained a lot of Tamil prominence in this period. But then how Nellore became Telugu? Let’s take it back to the time when Nellore becomes completely Telugu.
There were many Telugu Chola lines which came into existence in Nellore and it’s neighbourhood about the middle of the 12th century CE. They inaugurated an era of much Telugu literary activity and under them Nellore became more of Telugu district than Tamil. Brahmans and men of letters were handsomely patronized. They were in touch with the Tamils and the culture of Tamilians from south. When they ruled the Telugu land they also interacted with the culture from the Deccan plateau through the Kakatiyas.
Adventurers of different nationalities immigrated to the district and contributed to the social, literary and political importance. Politically the immediate result of the establishment of these numerous Telugu feudal houses was the beginning of the decline of the Chola power. This was supported by the study of the events that took place in the time of Vikrama Chola himself. Till 1118 he had been the viceroy of the town of Vengi under his father. During that very same year he went to the Chola capital in the south to be crowned emperor. His departure was however followed by the temporary loosening of the control over the Telugu country.
This is also enlisted in the inscription at Draksharamam which tells us that Anantapalayyam the general of the Chalukyan emperor invaded Vengi. Vengi was then burnt and the capital was destroyed. Velanandu Rajendra Chola was then forced to surrender the capital and the empire . He also had to accept the supremacy of the Chalukyan Kings.
Another account of inscription says that the Vikrama Chola then returned to drive back the Chalukyas and conquer Vengi again. The cholas were reduced to the chiefdoms in the tract of Renadu where they owned about 7000 villages and were called Renadu 7000. The successive wars were fought over the further over the century which shows the eclipse of the Tamil dynasty over the Telugu dynasty. Decline of Cholas and the rise of Kakatiyas and Kanarase kings brought to light a new dimension in the rise of Telugu power in Nellore.
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