985-1279 CE
From 985 to 1279 CE, the Tamils built a maritime empire that turned the Indian Ocean into a Chola lake — Rajaraja's fleets seizing Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Rajendra sending armies to the Ganges and armadas to Sumatra. Their bronze Shivas danced in temples from Thanjavur to Southeast Asia, their merchants establishing colonies wherever pepper and sandalwood could be found. No Indian dynasty before or since commanded such mastery of the seas.