“Control Malacca or be controlled: Great Nicobar and the Chola lesson for today’s Bharat”, First Post, May 03, 2026

“History asks every generation a blunt question: do you understand the geography of power, or are you willing to be ruled by those who do?

A thousand years ago, Rajendra Chola I, one of the greatest emperors of his time, answered that question with steel, strategy, and ships. He did what would have seemed impossible in his age: sending an armada across 4,000 km of open ocean to strike the Srivijaya kingdom in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. This had not been done in the past and could only be replicated about five centuries later by the rising European powers.

The Strait of Malacca was then what it remains today — the beating artery of global commerce. Whoever controlled that narrow channel between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula controlled the flow of the world trade, and by extension global wealth……”

Read full article at firstpost.com