it was made by Rajaraja. Rajaraja's elder brother died before him, and after the death of Uttama, Rajaraja ascended the throne in June–July 985. Known as Arumoḷi Varman until this point, he adopted the regnal name Rajaraja, which literally means "King among Kings". Military conquests Rajaraja inherited a kingdom whose boundaries were limited to the traditional Chola territory centred around Thanjavur-Tiruchirappalli region. At the time of his ascension, the Chola kingdom was relatively small, and was still recovering from the Rashtrakuta invasions in the preceding years. Rajaraja turned it into an efficiently administered empire which possessed a powerful army and a strong navy. During his reign, the northern kingdom of Vengi became a Chola protectorate, and the Chola influence on the eastern coast extended as far as Kalinga in the north. A number of regiments are mentioned in the Thanjavur inscriptions. These regiments were divided into elephant troops, cavalry and infantry and each of these regiments had its own autonomy and was free to endow benefactions or build temples. Against Kandalur Salai Rajaraja's earliest inscriptions celebrate a major victory at Kandalur Salai (in present-day Kerala) in c. 988 CE, calling him "Kāndalūr śālai Kalam-arutta" ("the one who destroyed Kandalur Salai"). The Salai originally belonged to the Ay chief, a vassal of the Pandya king at Madurai. Involvement of either Chera or Pandya warriors in this battle remains uncertain. The Thiruvalangadu inscription mentions that Rajaraja's general captured Vizhinjam (Viḷinam): this conquest may have been a part of the Kandalur Salai campaign. The engagement seems to have been an effort of the Chola navy or a combined effort of the navy and the army. Conquest of Kerala and the Pandyas Rajaraja's inscriptions start to appear in Kanyakumari district in the 990s and in Trivandrum district in early 1000s. The Chola subjugation of Kerala can be dated to the early years of the 11th century. The Senur inscription (1005 CE) of Rajaraja states that he destroyed the Pandya capital Madurai; conquered the "haughty kings" of Kollam (Venad), Kolla-desham (Mushika), and Kodungallur (the Chera Perumal). Some of these victories in Malainadu were perhaps won by prince Rajendra Chola for his father. After defeating the Pandyas, Rajaraja adopted the title Pandya Kulashani ("Thunderbolt to the Race of the Pandyas"), and the Pandya country came to be known as "Rajaraja Mandalam" or "Rajaraja Pandinadu". While describing the Rajaraja's campaign in trisanku kastha (the south), the Thiruvalangadu