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The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History c9.s2.t54: Orissa—Gajapati Kings of

The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History c9.s2.t54

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Orissa—Gajapati Kings of

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When the Kaliṅga-Gaṅga kings of the East coast lost power early in the 15th century, Kapilēndra, said to have been a herd-boy who rose to be minister to the last Kaliṅga king Bhānu IV, seized his master’s throne and established a short-lived dynasty of ‘Gajapati’ Kings, with capital at Cuttack. His usurpation, according to two inscriptions at Śrīkūrmam (*V. R. i. Ganjam 152, 191*), must have been either in A.D. 1429-30 or 1431-1432. By 1455 he had seized all the country as far South as the Krishna river (*I. A. xx. 390*), for in that year a member of his family gave away a village near Bezwada. Before 1459 he had captured Waraṅgal and Koṇḍavīḍu (*110 of 1902*). He seems to have died in 1464-5 (*V. R. i. Ganjam, 225, 243, 244*).

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According to Firishtah’s chronology there was a gap between Kapilēndra’s death and the actual occupation of the throne by the next member of his family; for the chronicler, writing of A.D. 1471-2, says that when the King of Orissa died the throne was seized by Mangaḷa, and on the representation of the late king’s cousin ‘Ambur Ray’ Muḥammad Bāhmanī sent an army, defeated Mangaḷa, and placed Ambur Ray on the throne. This matter requires investigation, for which the present work is no place.

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At present we have information of two kings 1. Kapilēndra and his son 2. Purushōttama between 1429 and 1496. The relationship between 2 Purushōttama and 3 Pratāpa Rudra is not known.

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3. Pratāpa Rudra. A.D. 1496-1539. | Virabhadra. Captured in 1515 by Krishṇadēva Raya of Vijayanagar. | Kaḷuyadēva. | Tirumala-Rāghava or Tiru. Kānta. | 4. Katharuya-dēva murdered by a minister in 1541.

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PALLAVA KINGS—contd.

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19. Narasimhavarman I 630-668. Captured Bādāmi from the W. Chālukyas, 642. Adityavarman

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20. Mahēndravarman II 668-670 Gōvindavarman

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21. Paramēśvara Pōtavarman I 670-690. ‘Destroyed the city of Ranarasika.’ Won battle of Peruvaḷanallūr. Hiranyavarman Md. Rōhiṇī

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22. Narasimhavarman II 690-715 24. Nandivarman II 717-779. Won battles at Maṇṇaikuḍi and Śaṅkaramaṅgai against the Pāṇḍyas. Pāṇḍya records however claim the victory, prior to A.D 769

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23. Paramēśvara-Pōtavarman II 715-717. The line ended with him. Mahēndravarman 25. Dantivarman 779-830. Vanquished by Rāshṭrakūṭa Gōvinda III, to whom he became feudatory, about 804

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26. Nandivarman III 830-854. Md. Śaṅkhā, dau. of Rāshṭrakūṭa Amōghavarsha I

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27. Nṛipatunga 854-880. The Bāṇa chief Bāṇa-Vidyādhara was his tributary Vijaya-Kampa

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28. Aparājita 880 c.-898 crushed by the Chola King Āditya I, and territory annexed

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NOTES.—No. 2. Skandavarman I granted, about A.D. 257, a village in the ‘Sātāhani’ province of the Āndhra country, which had been conquered by his father. (E. I. i, 2.)

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No. 5. Vishṇugopa I’s viceroy in Veṅgi Hastivarma was defeated by Samudragupta (vide the Allahabad pillar inscription), c. A.D. 338. About A.D. 340 Samudragupta conquered and captured Vishṇugōpa himself, and for a time occupied Kāñchi. Then he restored the Pallava king and left Kāñchi. About the same time the Chuṭu-Satavāhana branch of the Āndhra monarchy was brought to an end by the Kadamba chief Mayūraśarma seizing Baṇavāsi. This chief acknowledged Pallava overlordship.

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No. 13. Simhavarman I. The Pallavas at this time (about A.D. 450 by Fleet’s chronology) began to recover the ground they had lost after their defeat by Samudragupta. The Vēlūrpālaiyam plates (S.I.I. ii. 502) imply that they had lost Kāñchi some time previous to their date, since that inscription records the recovery of the city by Simhavarman’s brother Kumāra-Vishṇu, or Vishṇugōpa (E. I. xv, 248). Simhavarman was overlord to the Gaṅgas of the Toṇḍamaṇḍalam and Mysore countries.

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Mr. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, and following him, Mr. C. S. Srinivasachari, make (8) Buddhavarman and (9) Kumāra-Vishṇu II respectively son and grandson of a younger brother of (13) Simhavarman I, and Vishṇugopa, whose name was Kumāra-Vishṇu (‘Some Contributions, etc. . .’ p. 155. History and Institutions of the Pallavas, p. 9).

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No. 18. Mahēndravarman was also called by many other names, viz ‘Pōtaraiyan’ or ‘Pōtarāja,’ ‘Guṇabhara’, ‘Vichitra-Chitta’, ‘Pagāppiḍugu’, ‘Śatrumalla’, ‘Lalitāṅkura’ ‘Avanibhājana’, ‘Purushōttama’, ‘Toṇḍaiyan’, ‘Satyasamdha’ and ‘Matta-Vilāsa.’ His country was swept by the Chālukyas. He excavated many rock-cut temples.

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No. 19. *Narasimha I* also called ‘Māmalla,’ ‘Atyantakāma,’ ‘Śrīnidhi’ and ‘Śrībhara’, is said to have won the battles of Pariyaḷa, Maṇimangalam, and Śūramāra in his war with the Chaḷukyas (*S. I. I. i, p. 144*). He took the title ‘Vātapikoṇḍa’ after his capture of Bādāmi. He gave asylum to Mānavamma, King of Ceylon, in his exile from the island.

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For the wars of No. 21 *Paramēśvara-Pōtavarman I* see *E. I. x., 100, E. C. x. Kl. 63, xi, Dg, 66*. He was also known as ‘Ugradaṇḍa,’ ‘Īśvara-Pōtarāja’ ‘Lōkāditya,’ ‘Atyanta-Kāma,’ ‘Śrīnidhi,’ and ‘Śrībhara’ and ‘Raṇajaya.’

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No. 22. *Narasimha II* was also called ‘Rājasimha,’ ‘Atyanta-Kāma,’ ‘Śrībhara’, ‘Raṇajaya,’ and ‘Kālakāla,’ He built the Shore temple at Mahābālipuram and the Kailāsanātha temple at Conjevaram.

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No. 24. *Nandivarman II*. Suffered severe defeats at the hands of the Chaḷukyas, his capital Kāñchī being captured by the enemy; who, however spared the city. Battles of Śaṅkaramaṅgai, Maṇṇaikuḍi, Nelvēli, Pugaliyūr, etc., against the Pāṇḍya king Arikēsari Parāntaka. In some battles, e.g. at Maṇṇaikuḍi each side claims the victory; and the Pāṇḍya claims a victory over the Pallava at Peṇṇāgaḍam on the Kāvēri river. Nandivarman’s 62nd year of reign is mentioned (*V.R. i. N. Arcot, 330; 76 of 1889*). He was helped in his war by the chief Perumbiḍugu Muttaraiyan (*E.R. 1907, §22; and note below under pedigree of ‘Tanjore chiefs of the 8th century’; and E.I. xiii, 134*). He had other names, viz: ‘Nandipōtaraya,’ ‘Pallavamalla,’ ‘Śrībhara’, ‘Kshatriyamalla’, etc.

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No. 25. *Dantivarman* was also known as ‘Mārpiḍugu,’ ‘Dantipotaraya,’ and ‘Vairamēgha.’

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No. 26. *Nandivarman III* was called ‘Avani-Nārāyaṇa’, ‘Viḍelviḍugu’, ‘Maṇabharaṇa’ and ‘Teḷḷaṟṟerinda’.

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No. 27. *Nṛipatunga*. For events of the reign see the text, s.v. A.D. 862 to 878 (*E.I. ix. 84; Arch. Ann. Report 1903-04, p. 270*). He was known also as ‘Vikramavarman’, ‘Viḍelviḍugu’, and ‘Gaṅga-Pallava’.

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28. *Aparājita*. According to the Anbil grant (*E.I. xv. 44*) he was killed in war with the allied Pāṇḍya Varaguṇa II and Chōḷa Āditya I.

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The principal inscriptions of the Pallava dynasty are the following. The Vēlūrpālaiyam plates (*E.I. ii, 510*); the Uruvupalli plates (*I.A. v, 50*); the Maṅgaḍūr plates (*I.A. v, 154*); the Pīkira grant (*E.I. viii, 159*); the Hīrehaḍagali plates (*ibid. 143*); the Udayēndiram plates (*E.I. iii, 142*); the Cheṇḍalūr plates (*E.I. viii, 233*); the Peṇukoṇḍa plates (*J.R.A.S., 1915, p. 471*); the Ōmgōḍu grants A and B (*E.I. xv, 246*); the Kaśakuḍi plates (*S. I. I. ii. 342*), and the Kūram grant (*S. I. I. i. 144*).

Cites (14)