Coromandel coast is derived from Chozha Mandalam. Cash is derived from kasu. And the Chozha dynasty’s fortunes in the 10th Century C.E. should be attributed to the actions of Sembiyan Mahadevi.

Today Sembiyan Mahadevi’s name is taken along with the glorious Lord Nataraja, the depiction of Lord Siva as Adavallan i.e. the Cosmic Dancer or Lord of Dance. But, what is really unique about the iconic Lord Nataraja is that in the 10th Century C.E, it was a major step in depicting him in anthropomorphic terms from the symbolic Siva Linga. The Chozha Queen and later Queen Dowager was one of the principal proponents in history to popularise this depiction of Lord Siva.

But, how did the pious dowager reverse Chozha fortunes? Well, for that we have to go back to the 10th Century C.E. where the mighty Rashtrakutas of the Deccan had dealt a near fatal blow to the Chozhas of Thanjavur.

The Rise of Sembiyan Mahadevi

At the watershed Battle of Takkolam, when Parantaka Chozhan I’s firstborn son, Kodanda Rama “Rajaditya” Chozhan was killed treacherously atop an elephant by the Rashtrakuta vassal, Butuga II, a Western Ganga prince, the Rashtrakutas overran parts of the northern and eastern territories of the Chozha kingdom (Tondai Nadu). King Parantaka soon followed his son, possibly due to the crushing loss of his son and massive defeat. This catapulted Prince Gandaraditya into the limelight. He ascended the Chozha Throne in 955 C.E. as the next king, making Sembiyan Mahadevi, his wife, as the Chief Queen.

While she was the chief queen of a diminished Chozha kingdom, she did best with what she was bestowed. She was the perfect partner to her pious husband who was a reluctant ruler. The Chozha Queen hailed from the hilly regions of Kongu Nadu and her father, despite being a Velir chief while being aristocratic, was not of royal status. It was for this reason that Sembiyan Mahadevi had to make a name for herself, which she did as a politically astute royal.

In fact, when she first entered the royal household, she donated sheep to two temples; one temple lay within the Kaveri plain territories and the other donation was made to a temple in the north where her father in law, Parantaka was attempting to conquer. A dual purpose was achieved. The Chozhas found their name in the north, thereby increasing their visibility in a region they weren’t present and their piety was known in their core territories. Now people would know the new princess and her devotion to Lord Siva.

While the Chozha kings before Gandaraditya attempted to increase their influence through war and conquest, King Gandaraitya along with his wife, Sembiyan Mahadevi used spiritual belief to increase Chozha influence.

Not much can be said about Sembiyan Mahadevi’s career as the queen of the Chozhas. Gandaraditya’s rule was extremely short-lived and early on during his reign, he had appointed his younger brother, Arinjaya as his co-ruler. This was due to the fact that Queen Sembiyan had borne him a son who was still a minor when his father died. Prince Madurantaka (Madurai Destroyer) or as he was later known, Uttama, would not ascend the Chozha throne for a good fifteen years until 971 C.E.

It was for this reason that while Sembiyan Mahadevi was once again relegated to the shadows, she toured the Chozha countryside, visiting local temples and repairing them. The people knew her personally and for the first time in medieval Chozha history, a Chozha queen was accessible to the people. While Chozha princesses and queens had temples built under their patronage, Queen Sembiyan was the most prolific of them.

During the thirty years from the aftermath of the Battle of Takkolam to the time of their meteoric rise in the 11th century C.E., the Chozha Kingdom was largely diminished. This overlooked period of Chozha history is what allowed the Chozhas to mount their domestic and overseas campaigns during their golden period.

While it was not as quiet as it seemed with King Parantaka II “Sundara” Chozha and his two sons, Aditya “Karikalan” and Arulmozhivarman retaking many of the lost territories of the Chozha kingdom, the assassination of Prince Aditya Karikalan in 971 C.E. once again plunged the kingdom into chaos.

When Uttama Chozha finally came to the throne, Sembiyan Mahadevi was back in the spotlight as the Queen Dowager. During her years as the Queen Dowager, she would establish a legacy that heralded a new age of Chozha Queenship. During her time as the Queen Dowager, the seeds of the international Chozha empire were sown, that are still remembered today.

As Queen Dowager, she had the unconditional support of her son and she used the resources at her disposal to popularise her Ishta Devta, Lord Nataraja through the construction of several unique temples that displayed sculptures of Lord Nataraja on the exterior walls of her patronised temples. Her temples are unique this way. One of her most popular temples located at Konerirajapuram, Tamil Nadu had six magnificent Nataraja sculptures on the exterior walls of the temple, facing the south. It is said that Sembiyan Mahadevi constructed or repaired at least eight temples while making generous donations to several others. This is impressive since the earlier Chozha queens like Queen Kokizhan Adigal (Wife of King Parantaka I) and Queen Nangai (wife of King Arinjaya) each had only one proper temple to their name. Due to Queen Sembiyan’s handsome patronage, Lord Nataraja arrived in the Kaveri floodplains in style.

Further Queen Kokizhan and Queen Nangai hailed from prestigious families like the Cheras and Irrukuvels. However, Queen Sembiyan came from the family of a relatively unknown Kongu hill chief and therefore, made her mark through piety and patronage.

Sembiyan Mahadevi’s measures cut out the middlemen like the Velir chiefs who the Chozhas depended on to exert their influence. She put the Chozha Crown in direct contact with its people and local village assemblies. During her time as Queen and Queen Dowager, the songs from the Tevaram became mainstream as the songs of the Nayanars (the sixty four Bhakti saints of the Saiva fold) echoed within and beyond the temple walls of Tamizhakam.

To initiate her religious measures, Sembiyan Mahadevi needed the appropriate resources both in terms of land and money. Thus, under her son’s reign, the world famous Chozha bureaucracy came to be where land records were maintained according to the obsessive Chozha standard, recording land down to the accurate measure of 0.81 square centimetres and less. Exponents of 1/320 were used and piles of palm leaf records were prepared to account for land and rice. The Chozha Crown became an active acquirer of village lands and tax measures were introduced and effectively imposed. Lands allocated to temples by the Chozhas could also be used for other purposes and effectively became communal property as opposed to private property. Several village assemblies and merchant guilds entered into partnerships with the Chozha Crown to manage and maintain temples and thereby curry favour with the Crown. This led to the development of the Chozha economy which did not need to depend on war and conquest to generate revenue from loot. Under Uttama Chozhan’s reign, the Chozha state was finally galvanised into a country with a great degree of central authority.

This burgeoning bureaucracy led to the handsome temple grants from the Chozha treasury and precise inscriptions found themselves inscribed on the walls of temples that spoke about Chozha generosity and greatness. These inscriptions were another instrument of the state that reminded the people that Chozhas were still relevant and in the game.

The Twilight Years of the Patron Queen

When Uttama Chozha passed away in 985 C.E., history finally welcomed arguably the greatest Tamizh emperor of all time, Arulmozhi “Rajaraja” Chozhan. Emperor Rajaraja burst onto the scene with a Chozha war chest filled by the revenue generated during Uttama Chozhan and Sembiyan Mahadevi’s reign.

Rajaraja renewed the policies of war and conquest and expanded the frontiers of the kingdom beyond the traditional contours of Tamizhakam. He established outposts in Sri Lanka which no Chozha ruler had achieved before him. He defeated the Western Chalukyas, Cheras and Pandyas and took the empire to unachieved heights. But, he ensured that the centralised policies of King Uttama and Queen Sembiyan were religiously followed with Lord Siva becoming the principal deity of the Chozha Crown. Temple complexes which were roughly forty times the size of the earlier Chozha temples rose to touch the skies. The Brihadeshwara Temple, Airavatesvara Temple and Brihadeshwara Temple in Gangaikonda Chozhapuram stand today as proud testaments to the same.

Sembiyan Mahadevi never lived to see Rajaraja and his descendants write the Chozha name in bold letters across the Medieval World, but she can always rest easy in the knowledge that today Lord Nataraja is a household name because of an immortalised Pious Queen.

Vignesh Ganesh is a lawyer and writer. He is interested in ancient history and Itihasa and this interest culminated in his first book, "The Pallavas of Kanchipuram: Volume 1", which he co-authored with Mr. K. Ram, a fellow enthusiast of Indian history and culture.