Context:

• Recently, a rare inscription dating back to the Renati Chola era has been unearthed in a village of Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.

Key Details:

• The inscription was assigned to the 8th Century A.D. when the region was under the rule of Chola Maharaja of Renadu.
• The inscription tells about the record of a gift of six Marttus (a measuring unit) of land gifted to a person Sidyamayu, one of the Brahmins serving the temple at Pidukula village. The last lines are indicative of the priority given to morality in those days.
• It says the people who safeguard this inscription for future generations will acquire the status of conducting Aswamedha Yaga and those destroying it will incur sin equivalent to causing death in Varanasi.
• Language: The inscription was written in archaic Telugu.
• The inscription was found engraved on a dolomite slab and shale, which are part of a fragmentary pillar excavated from a farmer’s field.

Also In News:

• Recently, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched ‘Project Digital Poompuhar’ to recreate the Chola Dynasty port city (Poompuhar) in Tamil Nadu.
• Recently, the consecration (Kumbhabhishekam) ceremony was held at the Brihadisvara Temple after 23 years in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The temple was built by Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I (985-1014 AD) between 1003 AD and 1010 AD.

Back to Basics

• Dolomite is a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of calcium magnesium carbonate.
• Shale or mudstone is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that forms from the compaction of silt and clay-size mineral particles.

About Chola dynasty

• Cholas had ruled between 200 BC and 200 AD.
• Ashoka inscriptions note Cholas as a southern neighbor of the Maurya Empire.
• Cholas ruled around the Kaveri delta, later known as Cholamandalam. 
• Their capital was Uraiyur (near Tiruchirapalli town) and Puhar or Kaviripattinam was an alternative royal residence and chief port town.
• The only notable early Chola king is Karikala Chola, who ruled around 170AD. He fought and won the Battle of Venni and established himself as a firm power in the South. He is also known to have built the Kallanai Dam, which is one of the earliest anicuts in the world.
• Tiger was their emblem.
• The Early periods of the Chola rule saw the onset of the Sangam literature. Kantaman was one of the prominent rulers of this era.
• The Chola Empire was founded by Vijayalaya. He took over the Tanjore kingdom in the 8th century and led to the rise of the mighty Cholas by defeating the Pallavas.
• Aditya I succeeded Vijayalaya to become the ruler of the empire.
• Rajendra Chola succeeded the mighty Rajaraja Chola. Rajendra I was the first to venture to the banks of Ganges. He was popularly called the Victor of the Ganges. 
• His new empire capital was called the Gangaikondacholapuram where he received the title of ‘Gangaikonda’. This period is referred to as the golden age of the Cholas. After his rule, the kingdom witnessed a widespread downfall.

Source: The Hindu & Wikipedia