Operation Kadaram

The Cholas and the origins of India's maritime strategy 

In my last post on the Strait of Malacca, i tried to vaguely highlight the similarities between modern India's Foreign policy and the Chola expeditions. The post was very brief and was limited to the Chola and SriVijayan empire. In this post ill try to answer the following questions, as to What drove this expedition? What was the bigger picture? Why did Rajendra and his men decide to conquer that shipping lane?

When it comes to monitoring the straits of Malacca, Modern India has its base in almost all the areas that the Cholas conquered before launching 'Operation Kadaram'. Even the simple thought of Rajendra discussing the importance of such geopolitical spots is pullarichufying. Trust me, real history is far more interesting than what you find in the pages of historical fictions like Ponniyin Selvan,Kadal Pura, Vengaiyin Maindhan etc.

To put it into perspective, everything that India is thinking about today in their maritime strategy are probably the same thoughts that ran through the minds of the Cholas, The Cholas too would have discussed the ambitious need for a 200 ship navy like what the current Government is thinking right now, The Cholas too had understood the importance of the six degree channel (an important point in the map, which acts as the primary passage through the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the Strait of Malacca), The Cholas too would have had a naval station Andaman and Nicobar command and many more.

 Everything India is doing today is pretty much what the Cholas did in history. Surprisingly the motives too remain the same, except for the fact that during the times of the Cholas, there was no Chinese encroachment in South Asia, and Cholas made the first move in history to control the sea route and most importantly directly deal with China. 

Cholas operation Kadaram was probably the first time that the India-China geoolitical rivalry had started to affect and influence South, and South East Asia. The SriVijayan empire's survival and Chola empires commerce ambitions played a crucial role in starting this geopolitical rivalry. 

Until the Cholas launched operation Kadaram, SriVijayan empire and the Cholas had a very good relationship. The Nagapattinam Buddhist temple stands as a testimony of this relationship. The Sri Vijayan empire was the intermediary between China and India. Goods from the West and the Middle east would arrive in the Chola ports and will then embark on its journey towards China carrying our products. This journey was facilitated by the SriVijayan empire, as it controlled the crucial Strait of Malacca lane and its survival was dependant on being the intermediary. It was crucial for the survival of SriVijaya that the Cholas and the Chinese never traded directly. So in one way the entire trade relations between the Cholas and China was dependant on the Sri Vijayan empire.

Sri Vijaya acted as a barrier between the Cholas and China and the South Indian merchant guilds were often prevented from maintaining close relationships with China by the SriVijayan empire. Cholas and the Chinese were kept in the dark by the Srivijayan empire so that its monopoly in trade was not harmed. Manipulation, deception and diplomacy were used to prevent these two empires from seeing eye to eye. The SriVijayan empire later asserted its influence by taxing every ship that passed the Straits of Malacca, any ship that passed without paying taxes were attacked. This is where the pirates come into play. These actions of SriVijaya is what led to the Operation Kadaram, and it was this operation that probably created India's first maritime strategy.

-Mr. பழுவேட்டரையர்

5/9/2015