Cholakon was the last Chola king who was defeated and imprisoned, five hundred years ago
In the 1620s, the heir of Cholas, Cholakon,, the last small land king of the Chola dynasty, was defeated and imprisoned by the Telugu Nayaka king Raghunatha Nayak who ruled Tanjore.
Cholakon is mentioned in Raghunathabhyudayam, a book about the history of King Raghunatha Nayak. This book was written in Sanskrit by Ramabhatrama, wife of Raghunatha Nayak
The later Cholas, who lost Tanjore, built a fort on a small island where Kollid meets the sea. In the 1600s Cholakon ruled over a small area near Chidambaram with the Bichavaram forest area as his headquarters.
In this battle, Raghunatha Nayaka seems to have defeated Cholakon using cannons. For this he bought cannons from Denmark and Dutch sailors. It appears that the Europeans were also involved in this war.
The book Raghunathapyudayam describes the defeat of this last Chola king as follows.
Raghunatha Nayakar ordered all his generals to be ready, and appointed proper officers to govern the capital in his absence,
Raghunatha Nayaka left for Kumbakonam along the banks of the Kaverik with his army. He worshiped the deities of the place and went on a procession
Towards Cholakon Island off the coast. Raghunatha Nayak's great army went.
Cholakon fought without surrendering. Raghunatha Nayak ordered his men to build a bridge of boats and he crossed the river on an elephant to the island.
Then they began to besiege Cholakon's fort.
But the defense rampart within it rained stones and fire on Raghunatha Nayak's army and caused heavy damage.
Raghunatha Nayak in great anger ordered his army to either destroy the forts or enter the fort with ladders.
When the castle fell into the hands of the besiegers, Cholakon tried to escape but was captured. Raghunatha Nayak ordered to save Cholakon's life.
After the ministers advised Cholakon not to show any concern and throw him in jail, Raghunather ordered accordingly.
Thus the last petty king of the Chola dynasty and his family were imprisoned in Tanjore.
References:
1. krishnaswamy Iyankar "Sources of Vijaya Nagar history" (the forgotten books). published by the university of madras ,1919.
2.Esther Fihl and A.R. Venkatachalapathy "review of development and change" ,special issue- Indo- Danish Cultural Encounters in Tranquebar: Past and Present,2009.
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aEsFOIh9Xs
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