There is little reliable information on the Cholas during the period between the early Cholas and Vijayalaya dynasties, but there is an abundance of materials from diverse sources on the Vijayalaya and the Later Chola dynasties.

A large number of stone inscriptions by the Cholas themselves and by their rival kings, Pandyas and Chalukyas, and copper-plate grants have been instrumental in constructing the history of Cholas of this period.

Muthurajas are Tamil kings who have ruled parts of Thanjavur, Tiruchy, Pudukkottai, Perambalur, Tiruvarur, Nagappattian, Dindikkal, Karur, Sivaganga and Madurai districts of Tamil Nadu from 655.

They are a longtime feudatory to the Pallavas.

Some historians have suggested that Mutharaiyars may have belonged to the Pandya clan while others have associated them with Pallavas.

Vijayalaya, possibly a feudatory of the Pallavas, takes an opportunity arising out of a conflict between Pandyas and Pallavas in about 850, captures Thanjavur from Elango Mutharaiyar, the final ruler of Mutharaiyar dynasty, and establishes the imperial line of the medieval Cholas.