What was the largest unit of administration in the Chola empire?

The correct answer is B, Rajaraja I. Rajaraja I, who ruled from 985 to 1014, is regarded as the most powerful Chola ruler. He annexed the northern part of Sri Lanka, led a naval raid on the Maldives, defeated the Cheras at Kandalur Salai, carried out a survey of land for revenue, and built the Rajarajesvara or Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur, completed in 1010. Option A is wrong, though Rajendra I was a great conqueror who reached the Ganga and defeated Srivijaya; he is called Gangaikonda Chola, but the empire's foundation of power was laid by his father. Option C is wrong because Dantidurga was not a Chola at all; he was the founder of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of the Deccan. Option D is wrong because Vijayalaya only founded the imperial line about 850 by capturing Thanjavur and ruled a small kingdom.

The correct answer is B, Rajaraja I. The temple at Thanjavur, known both as the Rajarajesvara temple after its builder and as the Brihadisvara temple, was completed in 1010 during the reign of Rajaraja I. Its vimana is one of the tallest of any medieval Indian temple and its walls carry long inscriptions recording grants, servants and revenue. Option A is wrong because Rajendra I built the temple at his new capital Gangaikonda Cholapuram, modelled on his father's temple but smaller. Option C is wrong because Kulottunga I is remembered for uniting the Chola and Eastern Chalukya lines and for the Kalinga war, not for this temple. Option D is wrong because Rajaraja II built the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram. All three temples together form the World Heritage property called the Great Living Chola Temples.

The correct answer is C, Vijayalaya. Vijayalaya, about the middle of the ninth century, took Thanjavur from the Muttaraiyar chiefs who held the Kaveri delta as subordinates of the Pallavas, and from that base the imperial Chola line grew. Thanjavur remained the Chola capital until Rajendra I built Gangaikonda Cholapuram. Option A is wrong because Karikala belonged to the early Cholas of the Sangam age, who ruled from Uraiyur centuries earlier and are credited with the Kallanai on the Kaveri. Option B is wrong because Aditya I was Vijayalaya's son, who extended the kingdom by defeating the Pallava ruler Aparajita. Option D is wrong because Parantaka I came later and was checked at the battle of Takkolam by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III, in which the Chola prince Rajaditya was killed.

The correct answer is B, Rajendra I. Rajendra I, who ruled from 1014 to 1044, sent a fleet across the Bay of Bengal against the Sailendra kingdom of Srivijaya, in the Malay peninsula and Sumatra, and defeated its ruler Sangrama Vijayottunga Varman. The campaign was fought to keep the sea route to China open for Tamil merchants, and from the conquest of Kadaram the king is remembered as Kadaram Kondan. Option A is wrong because Rajaraja I campaigned overseas against Sri Lanka and the Maldives, not Srivijaya. Option C is wrong because Vijayalaya ruled only a small kingdom around Thanjavur and had no navy of this reach. Option D is wrong because Rajendra III was the last Chola, under whom the empire shrank before the Pandyas; the age of overseas expeditions was long over by then.

The correct answer is B, Chola. The inscriptions on the temple walls at Uttaramerur in Tamil Nadu, of the tenth century, set out in detail how the sabha of that brahmadeya village chose the members of its committees: who was qualified by landholding, house, learning and age, who was disqualified, and how name-tickets were drawn from a pot by a boy, the kudavolai system. They are the standard evidence cited for local self-government under the Cholas. Option A is wrong because the Pallavas, though they ruled the same region earlier and left inscriptions at Mahabalipuram and Kanchipuram, are not associated with these records. Option C is wrong because the Rashtrakutas ruled the Deccan from Manyakheta. Option D is wrong because the Chalukyas of Badami and Kalyani ruled further north-west, in Karnataka.