Latest / The Chola Empire: How South India Dominated the Indian Ocean — Fexingo History
The Chola Empire's Diplomatic Mission to Song China
In 1077, the Chola king Kulottunga I sent a formal embassy to the court of Emperor Shenzong of Song China. It was not the first Chola mission—Rajendra Chola I had dispatched one in 1015—but the 1077 embassy was documented with unprecedented detail in the Song Shi, the official history of the Song dynasty. This episode unpacks what the Chinese records actually say: the Chola envoys arrived in Guangzhou, traveled to the capital Kaifeng, and presented gifts including pearls, ivory, and a unique species of elephant. But the embassy was also a commercial venture: Chinese silk, porcelain, and…
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