Latest / The Chola Empire: How South India Dominated the Indian Ocean — Fexingo History
Chola Empire's Maldives Conquest: Cowries and Naval Power
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna unpack a lesser-known chapter of the Chola Empire: the conquest of the Maldives under Rajendra Chola I around 1020 CE. How did a Tamil kingdom project naval force over a thousand kilometers across open ocean? What do the Srirangam plates and local inscriptions reveal about Chola administration in these coral atolls? And why were cowrie shells—the world's most durable currency—their real prize? From the strategic colonization of the Laccadive Islands to the disruption of Arab-Chinese trade routes, this episode shows how the Chola navy…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.