Across South India, the Cholas are remembered for their military might, their staggering wealth and their generous support of art and architecture, including the temples that still cover the South Indian landscape. At the height of their 400-year reign, the reach of their empire extended throughout the South Indian peninsula and across the Indian Ocean.

How did this local ruling family rise from obscure origins to emerge as kings on a global stage? What were the forces that shaped their world-conquering ambitions and led to their eventual decline? How do we make sense of this larger-than-life dynasty, who transformed politics, religion, art, language, agriculture and global trade in South India and beyond?

Drawing on Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions, art and architecture, poetry and legend, Jennifer Clare revisits the history of the Cholas as a set of interconnected stories: of kings and conquests, of land and water, of beauty and devotion, of knowledge, labour and power. We encounter emperors like Rajaraja I and Rajendra I alongside farmers, priests, artisans and merchants whose lives were bound together by temples, irrigation systems and a vast economy of gifts, taxes and trade. At once local and global, the Cholas emerge as master engineers of river landscapes, builders of some of the world's most awe-inspiring temples, patrons of bronze sculpture and poetry, and key players in a pre-modern world stretching from Egypt to Southeast Asia.

Written with narrative appeal and critical insight, The Cholas probes the contradictions of empire. It shows how beauty and bloodshed could coexist in royal power and how key developments under the Cholas – consolidation of castes, burgeoning temple wealth and global trade – fuelled prosperity even as they sowed the seeds of political fragmentation and decline. It offers readers a bold reimagining of South Indian history and a compelling portrait of a dynasty whose legacy continues to shape the modern India.