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History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c11: Chapter IV. Kaliṅga, Oḍra and Utkala in Ancient Indian Literature

History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c11

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Chapter IV. Kaliṅga, Oḍra and Utkala in Ancient Indian Literature

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The ancient history of Kaliṅga and Utkala begins, like that of all other provinces of ancient and mediæval India, with the references to it in Vedic and Epic literature. In the period of the earliest strata in the Vedic literature there is no reference to Kaliṅga, Utkala or Oḍra. It is in the second stage, the Brāhmaṇa period, that Kaliṅga, perhaps, makes its appearance for the first time on the stage of our political history. The earliest reference to Kaliṅga is perhaps to be found in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, though the statement is extremely doubtful. The first specific reference to this country, kingdom or nation is to be found in the Great Epic, Mahābhārata, as well as in the dynastic lists of Vedic kings as preserved in the Vamś-ānucharitas. Though incorporated in books compiled in their present form in the fifth or sixth centuries A.D., the dynastic lists of the Purāṇas contain historic material of the Vedic period as proved by Pargiter on many different occasions. The origin ascribed to the term Kaliṅga is mythical. It is said that the queen Sudeshṇā bore five sons to her husband, the Dānava King Bali, begotten on her by the sage Dīrghatamas according to the well-established Indian law of Levirate. These sons were named Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga, Puṇḍra and Suhma and the countries over which they ruled were named after them. According to the genealogies Pururavas, the son of Budha by the *Kimpurusha* Iḷā was the progenitor of the kings of Kaliṅga.

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The Kaliṅga kings were, therefore, Kshatriyas of the Lunar family. Kaliṅga, the original founder of the kingdom of that name, was a descendant of Titikshu, who belonged to the Ānava branch of the Ailas of Pratishṭhāna or Allahabad. Of the country itself we know, first of all, that Pṛithu, son of Veṇa, gave the country of Magadha to bards, called *Māgadhas* and *Sūtas* and Kaliṅga to the *Chāraṇas*.¹ It is stated that Mahapadma Nanda exterminated all Kshatriyas "and that until then there reigned contemporaneously for the same length of time 24 Aikshvākus, 27 Pāñchālas, 24 Kāśis, 28 Haihayas, 32 Kaliṅgas, 25 Āśmakas, 36 Kurus, 28 Maithilas, 23 Śūrasenas and 20 Vitihotras."² This statement proves that the claim of the kings of Kaliṅga to be regarded as Indo-Aryans is as old as the earliest kings of the Nanda dynasty. The neighbours of the kings of Kaliṅga were the Saudyumnas of Utkala. According to the Paurānic tradition Manu had ten sons, of whom the eldest was Iḷā. Iḷā entered the reed grove of Śiva and was cursed by Umā and became a female. In this stage Iḷā consorted with Budha, son of the Moon and Pururavas was born of this union. Then Śiva favoured him and he became alternately a man and a woman for one month. According to the second tradition Iḷā was a daughter of Manu and gave birth to Pururavas. Then she became a man named Sudyumna but on account of the same curse became a woman. He regained his manhood through Śiva's favour.

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Sudyumna had three sons, named Utkala, Gaya and Haritāśva or Vinatāśva. Manu is said to have divided the earth, that is India, among his nine sons, but into ten portions. "Some Purāṇas imply that Sudyumna had a portion, but others say he obtained none because he had been a woman. Nevertheless, the authorities generally declare, first, that he received the town of Pratiṣṭhāna and gave it to Pururavas; and secondly, that his three sons had territories of their own, thus Utkala had the Utkala country, Vinatāśva had a Western country, and Gaya had the city Gayā and the Eastern region; but according to two Purāṇas, Gaya had only the city Gayā, and Haritāśva had the Eastern region together with the Kurus, that is, the Northern Kurus."¹ After the Kurukshetra war Kalinga is mentioned among the kingdoms that continued in North-eastern India. "A list is given of the note-worthy kingdoms that continued to exist, viz., states in the eastern part of North India, Ayodhyā, Kāśī, the Maithilas (of Videha), Bārhadrathas (of Magadha, which probably included Aṅga), and Kalinga."² The positions of Utkala and Kalinga show that the kingdoms of the sons of Sudyumna and that of Kalinga, son of Bali, were conterminous. The descendants of Manu held (1) all the Panjab (except the N. W. Corner), comprising the kingdoms of Sindhu, Sauvīra, Kaikeya, Madra, Vāhlika, Śivi and Ambaṣṭha;

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and (2) all East Bihar, Bengal Proper (except the north and east) and Orissa, comprising the kingdoms of Aṅga, Vaṅga, Puṇḍra, Suhma and Kalinga.³ "The Sudyumnas were restricted to the hilly country between Gayā and Northern Orissa.⁴

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¹ *Padma Purāṇa*, quoted by Pargiter—*Ancient Indian Historical Tradition*, p. 16, Note 7.

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² *Ibid.* p. 180.

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¹ Ibid., pp. 253-55.

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² Ibid., p. 293.

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³ Ibid., pp. 285-86.

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⁴ Ibid., p. 292.

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The descendants of Iḷā-Sudyumna jointly occupied the whole of North-eastern India from the Bhagalpur and Monghyr districts of Bihar and Orissa in the west as far as the Godāvari Delta in the south. The Aila origin of the kings of Kaliṅga finds corroboration in the Hāthigumphā and Manchapuri inscriptions of Khāravela and Kuḍepasiri. Both of these kings are called Airas which is certainly the equivalent of Aila. It is strange to find Khāravela, whose name is distinctly Dravidian, claiming Aryan origin. The Purāṇas do not say anything about the dynasties reigning in Kaliṅga, but place 32 kings in this country up to the time of Mahāpadma Nanda. The extermination of Kshatriyas by that king indicates that the first dynasty of kings came to an end with the conquest of Kaliṅga by the Nandas of Magadha. The fact that Khāravela belonged to the third dynasty proves that Kaliṅga regained its independence for a short time under the second dynasty of kings after the fall of the Nandas.

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The Mahābhārata mentions Kaliṅga and states that its capital was called Rājapurī. Kaliṅga was certainly known to Pāṇini and it is mentioned several times in the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya. It is mentioned in the first place as one of the countries which produces the best class of elephants ¹. Kāliṅgaka is mentioned as the colour of an elephant in the chapter on the "Superintendent of gold in the goldsmith's office."² Again, the same term is used to denote a poisonous plant and the commentator tells us that this Kāliṅgaka was like barley³. The term is used in the fourth place to denote a species of cotton fabric (*Kārpāsikam*¹). In Tamil the word Kaliṅgam is used to denote cotton cloths².

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¹ Arthaśāstra, 1919, Text, p. 50; Eng. Trans. 1915, p. 56. ² Ibid., Text, p. 86; Trans. p. 103. ³ Ibid., Text, p. 100; Trans. p. 122, Note 16.

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¹ *Ibid., Text, p. 81, Trans. p. 94.*

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² *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society Vol. VIII, 1922, p. 3.*

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Kaliṅga is mentioned in the Mahābhārata as a warrior of Skanda. The king of this country was present at the time of the *Svayaṃvara* of Draupadī in the army of Duryodhana. A king of Kaliṅga named Śrutāyus is mentioned as being in the right wing of Droṇa's army. He is also said to have protected Jayadratha and attacked Bhīma and Arjuna. A king of Kaliṅga named Kuhara is mentioned among the incarnations from the Krodhavasa gaṇa. Arjuna is said to have visited all the holy places in Aṅga, Vaṅga and Kaliṅga. Sahadeva vanquished the king of Kaliṅga during his Dig-vijaya and the latter brought tribute to Yudhiṣṭhira. The king of Kaliṅga was vanquished by Karṇa and Yudhiṣṭhira had visited the country while on *Tīrthayātrā*. Sahadeva and Kṛṣṇa had destroyed Kaliṅga in Dantakura. During the war the army of Kaliṅga followed the lead of Bhagadatta the King of Kāmarūpa. The army of Kaliṅga was placed in the neck of the formation under Droṇa called the *Garuḍa-vyūha*, the Kaliṅga king is said to have been defeated by Rāma Jāmadagnya and to have fought with Sātyaki. When their king was killed during the Kurukṣetra war they fought under his son who was also killed by Bhīma. Finally the people of Kaliṅga are mentioned as Kṣatriyas who had been degraded to the rank of Śūdras and as people who have no religion (*Durdharman*). The king of Kaliṅga is also said to have supported Śakuni and to have been defeated by Śikhaṇḍin. The daughters of the kings of Kalinga are said to have married Akrodhana and Tamsu.¹ The Utkalas also are mentioned as a people who were formerly defeated by Karṇa on behalf of Duryodhana. They are combined with the Mekalas and the Kalingas.² Similarly the Oḍras or the Uḍras are also mentioned as a people who waited on Yudhishṭhira. They were defeated by Sahadeva with the Keralas and were present at the Rājasūya with the Pauṇḍras. During the Kurukshetra war they joined the army of the Pāṇḍavas.³

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¹ Sorenson—Index to the names in the Mahābhārata, London 1904, p. 376.

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² Ibid., p. 695.

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³ Ibid., pp. 522, 687.

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Kalinga is not mentioned among the 16 great nations enumerated in early Pali Text-books, such as the Aṅguttara Nikāya; but a verse preserved in the Dīgha Nikāya mentions that Dantapura was the capital of the Kalingas and this has been reproduced in the Mahāvastu in a very incorrect form.⁴ This tradition proves "that at the time when the four Nikāyas were put into their present forms, it was believed that before the Buddha's life-time the distribution of power in Northern India, had been different from what it afterwards became." Dantapura the capital of Kalinga has been mentioned several times in the Jātakas, which shows that the town or the city was very old. It is very tempting to identify this Dantapura with the Dantakura mentioned in the Mahābhārata, where the Pāṇḍava Sahadeva and Kṛishṇa Vāsudeva defeated the army of Kalinga. It was from this Dantapura that the Tooth of Buddha was taken away to Ceylon.

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⁴ Cambridge History of India Vol. I, pp. 172-73.

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Trikalinga

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The Buddhist books, specially the Pali texts, mention Kalinga several times. In the *Jātakas*, a king of Kalinga, named Karaṇḍu is mentioned as the contemporary of King Nagnajit of Gandhāra and Bhīma of Vidarbha. This is corroborated by the *Uttarādhyayana Sūtra*.¹ In the *Mahā-govinda Suttanta* we find the name of another king of Kalinga named Sattabāhu, who was the contemporary of king Dattaraṭṭha of Benares.² According to this text also Dantapura was the capital of Kalinga. According to the *Mahāvaṃśa*, the mother of Vijaya, the conqueror of Ceylon, was a princess of Bengal, but her mother was a princess of Kalinga. She was banished on account of her immorality and went with a caravan of merchants, going to Magadha. On the way, while going through the country of Lāḍhā (modern Rāḍhā or Western Bengal) the party was scattered by the attack of a lion which captured the princess and became the father of Siṃhabāhu or Sīhabāhu, the father of Vijaya. This Siṃhabāhu was permitted, for killing his father, *i. e.*, the lion, to clear the forest and found the kingdom of Northern Kalinga, the capital of which was Siṃhapura. It is quite probable that the village of Singur in the Hooghly district of South-Western Bengal is identical with Siṃhapura, the new capital of Northern Kalinga. According to the Tamil work, *Maṇi-mekhalāi*, the heroine is said to have caused the destruction of the city of Madurā by fire. The city goddess, Madurāpati, is said to have appeared before her and told the following story about her previous birth: "Two princes, cousins by birth and ruling respectively in Siṃhapura and Kapila in the fertile country of Kaliṅga, fell to fighting against each other in great hatred. This war between Vasu and Kumāra left the country desolate for six gavudas (leagues), and made it impossible for anybody to approach on account of the prevalence of the war. A merchant, Saṃgama by name, with his wife, eager after profit, went there to sell jewellery and other articles of sale at Siṅgapuram. In course of his business he was arrested by Bharata, a police official of the monarch, and shown up before the monarch as a spy. Under royal orders he was beheaded and his wife bewailing the unfortunate death of her husband, put an end to her own life by throwing herself from the top of a hill. It is the curse that she invoked at the moment of her death that has now resulted in the mishap to your husband."¹ The fourth chapter of the Śāntiparvan of the Mahābhārata narrates the following story about Chitrāṅgada, the king of Kaliṅga. Karṇa after receiving the weapon from Paraśurāma went with Duryodhana to attend a Svayaṃvara in the country of Kaliṅga, the capital of which was called Rājapura. Kings of many countries such as Śiśupāla, Jarāsandha Bhīshmaka, etc., came to attend the ceremony. When the daughter of the Kaliṅga king entered the Svayaṃvara Sabhā and passed Duryodhana in neglect, the latter carried her away on his chariot.²

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¹ Cowell—*Jātakas*, Vol. III, pp. 228-32. (*Kumbhakāra Jātaka*)

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² *Dialogues of Buddha*, Vol. II, p. 270.

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¹ S. K. Āyyangar—Manimekhalāi in its historical Setting, London, 1928, p. 187.

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² Mahābhārata, Śāntiparvan, Rājadharma-parvan, Adhyāya IV, Kumbhakonam Edition, Bombay, Nirnay-Sagar Press, Saka 1829.

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A large mass of new material about the location of Dantapura and its identification with the Ancient Kaliṅganagara has been collected by Mr. Bhavaraju V. Krishnarao B. A., Ll. B, of Rajamahendri. According to Mr. Krishnarao the name, Jantavuram, the capital of Kāmārṇava I, is really Dantavuram and the late Dr. Fleet committed a mistake in reading it as such. The proposed identification of this Jantavuram with Jayantipuram, which is mentioned in the Kṣetra-māhātmyam, is clearly a mistake. Mr. Krishnarao says that he had examined the Vizagapatam and the Korni plates, in which the letters da of Dantapuram are quite clear. If Mr. Krishnarao is correct, then all doubt vanishes about the identification of this Dantavuram with Dantapura, the ancient capital of Kalinga mentioned in Buddhist literature as the place from which the Tooth relic was carried away to Ceylon. In addition to the charters of the Gaṅga kings of Kalinga, the name Dantapuram is also to be found in the Madhukeśvara temple at Mukhaliṅgam. Kāmāraṇava II had built a new city named Nagara and changed his residence to that place. This Nagara is said to have been built on the banks of the river Vaṃśadhārā. According to a local tradition of Mukhaliṅgam, a king of Dantavuram, who was a Śaiva, bitterly hated the Buddhists who were living in a large monastery in his capital. Acting according to the advice of his ministers, he invited all Buddhists to a great feast in his palace and as each guest arrived he was captured and quietly dispatched. In a short time the news of this treachery spread like wild fire and all Buddhists cursed the city and fled for their lives. Afraid of this curse, the king left his capital and founded a new city on the bank of the river Vaṃśadhārā. Since then Dantavuram or Dantapura has been deserted. According to Mr. Krishnarao, the ruins of an old city near Amudalavalasa and Chicacole Road station of the B. N. R. is still called Dantapuram, but the origin of the name is now traced to Dantavaktra, the brother of Śiśupāla, the king of the Chedis. Mr. Krishnarao identifies this Dantapura with Dandaguḍā or Dandagula of Pliny which was situated at a distance of 625 Roman or 524 English miles from the mouth of the Ganges. Cunningham also suggested this identification but placed it on the Godāvarī as it was said that Calingon stood at the mouth of a great river. Mr. Krishnarao identifies Calingon with Kaliṅgapatanam and Dandagula with Dantapura. The river Vaṁśadhārā is taken by him to be the great river mentioned by Pliny. According to Mr. Krishnarao the very name Dantapura is also to be found in the inscriptions in the temple of Madhukeśvara.¹ It has been already suggested before that either the Lāṅguliyā or the Vaṁśadhārā must have been larger and tidal rivers at one time so as to act as provincial boundaries. In fact, one of these two rivers was the Southern boundary of Koṅgoda or Central Orissa and therefore the Northern boundary of Kaliṅga. These two rivers are mentioned almost side by side in the Matsya and the Vāyu Purāṇas. They are mentioned among rivers rising out of the Mahendra mountains. The verses occur almost in an identical form in these two Purāṇas "Tribhāgā, Rushikulyā, Ikshudā, Tridivā, Laṅgulinī and Vaṁśadhārā are daughters of the Mahendra."² The Matsya adds Tāmraparṇī, Mūlī, Sarava

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¹ *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society*, Vol. XV, 1929, pp. 110-111.

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² > त्रिसामा ऋतुकुल्या च इक्षुदा त्रिदिवा च या

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लांगुलिनी वंशधरा महेन्द्रतनयाः स्मृताः।

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Vāyu Purāṇa, XLV. 106. Rajendralala Mitra's edition makes Tribhāgā, Trisamā and Rushikulyā, Ṛitukulyā.

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and Vimalā to these. As the Laṅguliyā and Vamśadhārā are omitted here, the text of the Vāyu appears to be more correct.¹ The chapter in the Matsya is entitled *Bhuvana-Kośa-varṇanam*.² In the same chapter of both the Purāṇas, the Kaliṅgas are mentioned with the Setukas, Mushikas, Kumanas, Vanavāsikas, Mahārāṣṭras, and Māhiṣakas.³ A few lines later the Utkalas are mentioned along with the Mālavas, Karushas, Mekalas, Daśārnas, Bhojas and Kiṣkandhakas. In the next verse the Tosalas and Kośalas are mentioned along with the Traipuras, Vaidiśas, Tumuras, Tumbaras and Niṣādas.⁴ The Matsya clearly mentions the Oḍras with Utkalas, while the text in the Vāyu corrupts this word into *Uttamarṇa*. This grouping of the countries proves that the compilers of the Purāṇas did not place them haphazard according to the needs of the metre but according to the position of the country. Thus both the Purāṇas clearly state that the Kaliṅgas like the Mushikas and Vanavāsikas were inhabitants of Dakshiṇāpatha or Southern India. The Utkalas or the Oḍras are placed in South Central India along with the Mālavas, Mekalas, Daśārṇas and Bhojas. It is a well-known fact that Daśārṇa is one of the names of Mālava and by mentioning it in the same sentence with Mālava, the authors show that they distinguished Ākara from Avanti, though the latter is mentioned in the next verse once more.

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Similarly the Mālavas are mentioned with the Kirātas and the Trigartas towards the end of this chapter as people living in the hill (Parvat-āśrayiṇaḥ)¹. The mention of the Tosalas and Kosalas along with the people of Tripurī and Vidiśā show that Central Orissa or Tosala and Chattisgadh or Kośala was situated in North Central India. Tripurī is modern Tewar in the Jubbulpore district and Vidiśā is most probably modern Bhilsa in the Gwalior State. The Tumuras, Tumburas, and Niṣādas are not easy to identify; but the Niṣādas are also people of the North Central Belt around Āryāvartta or Northern India. The verdict of these two Purāṇas, which supply the Hindu idea of the world, in chapters entitled Bhuvana-vinyāsa or Bhuvana-kośa-varṇanam, shows that of the three different divisions of Orissa the people of Kaliṅga were regarded as inhabitants of Southern India. But the people of Northern Orissa (Oḍra) and the hilly tracts (Utkala) were regarded as people inhabiting the Vindhyan ranges (Vindhya-vāsinaḥ) along with the Bhojas of Berar and the Mekalas of South Central Provinces. The people of Tosala or Central Orissa and Kośala or Chattisgadh were not classed with the people of Southern India or the Hill tribes of the Vindhyan range but with the more civilised inhabitants of the celebrated Dānava or Daitya capital of Tripurī and of that ancient stronghold of Indian civilization, Mālava. The Padma-Purāṇa the Kaliṅgas are mentioned twice.

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Once they are mentioned with the Bodhas, Madras, Kukuras and Daśārṇas¹ and once more in the same chapter with Droshakas, Kirātas, Tomaras and Karabhañjakas.² The Oḍras are mentioned in the same chapter with the Mlechchhas, Sairindras, the hill-men, Kirātas, Barbarians, Siddhas, Videhas and Tāmraliptikas.³ The Bṛhat-Saṃhitā of Varāhamihira mentions the Kaliṅgas in several places. In the chapter entitled Graha-Bhakti-Yoga the countries of Oḍra and Kaliṅga as well as the people of Kaliṅga are mentioned as being under the direct influence of the Sun.⁴ The rivers Mahānadī, Soṇa, Narmadā, Vetravatī, Siprā, Godāvarī, Veṇā (Kṛṣṇā), Indus and the mountains Vindhya, Mālaya and the people of Chola, Draviḍa, etc., are said to be under the influence of the son of Vasudhā (Maṅgala or Mars).¹ When Bhauma is defeated by Śaśija or Budha, the people of Kaliṅga along with those of Śūrasena or Mathurā and the Śālvas are troubled.² When Śukra or Jupiter is overpowered by Guru or Bṛhaspati, then the people of Kaliṅga, Vaṅga, Kośala, Vatsa (Kauśāmbi), Matsya (Alwar State) and those of the Madhya-deśa (Central U. P.) are very much troubled.³ The people of Oḍra are mentioned along with the Ṭaṅgaṇas, Andhras, Vāhlikas and Kāśis as the people who are troubled when Śukra or Jupiter overpowers Śanaiśchara or Saturn.⁴ The Bṛhat Saṃhita being a work on Astrology, no arrangement or order can be expected among countries or nations under the influence of any particular planet. But the different countries and

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¹ त्रिभागा ऋषिकुल्या च इक्षुदा त्रिदिवाचला ताम्रपर्णी तथा मूली शरवा विमला तथा महेन्द्रतनयाः सर्वाः प्रख्याताः शुभगामिनी । The Text I have used is a very old one, it being in fact a lithograph copy published in 1874 at Poona by Raoji Sridhar Gondhalekar.

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² सेतुका मूषिकाश्चैव कुमना वनवासिकाः महाराष्ट्रा माहिषका कलिङ्गाश्चैव सर्वशः । *Matsya Purāṇa*, 113. 31.

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³ *Vāyu*. XLV. 125 ; *Matsya*. 113. 47.

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⁴ मालवाश्च करुवाश्च मेकलाश्चोत्कलैः सह उत्तमर्णा दशार्णाश्च भोजाः किष्किन्धकैः सह तोसलाः कोसलाश्रैव त्रैपुरा वैदिकास्तथा तुमरास्तुम्बराश्चैव षड्धरा निषधैः सह । *Vāyu*. XLV. 152-3 ; *Matsya*. 113. 52-3.

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¹ कुशप्रावरखाश्चैव हूणादर्वाः सतृद्रकाः। श्रिर्ता मालवाश्चैव किरातास्तामसैः सह। Vāyu Purāṇa, XIV, 136.

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¹ बोधा मद्राः कलिङ्गाश्च काशयोऽपरकाशयः: जठराः कुकुराश्चैव दशार्णाः ससत्समाः । Padma-Purāṇam, Ādikāṇḍa VI, 37

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² द्रोशकाश्च कलिङ्गाश्च किरातानां च जातयः: तोमरा ह्यमनाश्च तथैव करभञ्जकाः । Ibid, V. 64.

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³ किराता बर्बराः सिद्धा वैदेहास्ताम्रलिप्तिकाः: औड्रम्लेच्छाः सैरिन्द्राः पर्वतीयाश्च सत्समाः । Ibid. V. 52.

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⁴ प्राङ्नर्मदां शोणोड्रवङ्गसङ्घाः कलिङ्गवाहीकाः: शकयवनमगधवरप्राग्ज्योतिषचीनकाम्बोजाः । मेकलकिरातकटिका वहिरन्तः शैलजाः पुलिन्दाश्च द्रविडानां प्राग्दक्षिणकूलं च यमुनायाः । चम्पोडुम्बरकौशाम्बिचेदिविन्ध्याटवीकलिङ्गाश्च पुण्ड्रगोदास्तथापर्वतवर्त्ममानाति । Bṛhat-Saṃhitā, with the commentary of Bhaṭṭotpala, Vizianagram Sanskrit Series, Vol. X, Part I, Benares, 1895, p. 306. (XVI. 1-3).

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शोणाख्य नर्मदायाश्च भीमरथायाश्च पश्चिमार्धस्थाः
निर्विन्ध्या वेत्रवती सिप्रा गोदावरी वेत्रा।
मन्दाकिनी पयोष्णी महानदी सिन्धु मालतीपाराः
उत्तरपार्श्व महेन्द्राद्विविन्ध्यमलयोपान्ताश्चोलाः।
द्रविड़विदेहान्ध्रामकसापरकौङ्कणाः समन्त्रिकाः
कुन्तलकेरलदण्डकान्तिपुरम्लेच्छसङ्कराः।
*Ibid., p. 309 (XVI. 9-11).*

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गुरुणाजिते निहते वाहीका याथिनोऽभिवाकांश्च
शशिजैन शूरसेनाः कलिङ्गशाल्वाश्च पीड्यन्ते।
*Ibid., p. 329 (XVII. 13).*

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कोशलकलिङ्गवङ्गावत्सा मत्स्याश्च मध्यदेश युताः
महतीं व्रजन्ति पीडां नपुंसकाः शूरसेनाश्च।
*Ibid., p. 331 (XVII. 22).*

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असिते सितेन निहतेऽथ वृद्धि रहिविहगमानिनां पीडा
क्षितिजेन तङ्गान्वोद्रकाशिवाहीकदेशानाम्।

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nations are mentioned in a certain order which is significant in the Dharma-sūtra of Baudhāyana. The country between the Indus and the Vidharaṇi (Yamunā), where the black deer roams, is regarded as the Āryan country proper, where religious rites may be performed. The Avantis, Aṅgas, Magadhas, Saurāṣṭras, Dakṣiṇāpathas, Upavṛts, Sindhus and Sauvīras are regarded as of mixed origin. The commentator states before the beginning of this sūtra that after the country between the Indus and the Yamunā begins the Mlechchha country. The actual commentary on Sūtra 29 states that in these countries there is no arrangement or regulation with regard to women. In Avanti customs approved by the Āryans are not prevalent. So the people of South Bihar along with those of South-western Malwa, Kathiawad, Western India and Sindh and Ophir formed a belt of Mlechchha countries around the provinces inhabited by the Āryans and were gradually coming within the pale of Āryan civilisation. The people of the countries lying to the south, east and west of this belt, were still untouchables. The commentary says before beginning the Sūtra that "Certain countries should not be entered." In the Sūtra itself we are informed that any one who goes to the countries of the Araṭas, Kāraskaras, Puṇḍras, Sauvīras, Vaṅgas and Kaliṅgas has to perform the Sarva-pṛṣṭi sacrifice. In the next Sūtra we are informed that whoever goes to Kaliṅga commits sin with his feet and must perform the Vaiśvānariya Iṣṭi. The commentary on the Sūtra makes it very definite and according to it any man who goes to Kaliṅga expiates by the performance either of Sarva-pṛṣṭi or the Vaiśvānariya Iṣṭi as an alternative, but in the case of Āraṭṭas and others, that is, the people of Puṇḍra, Sauvīra and Vaṅga the sin arose even if any Aryan spoke to them or sat together with them.

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The people of Eastern Bengal, Northern Bengal and Kaliṅga were, therefore, regarded in the time of the Sūtras as being altogether out of the pale of Aryan civilisation and among them the people of Kaliṅga obtained a slight preference. So, while the people of Bengal were regarded as untouchables and were not spoken to or touched by the Aryans, the people of Kaliṅga were not so. We have no means to determine for what reasons the Aryan lord condescended to confer this distinction on the dark Dravidian of Kaliṅga; but it is there in the Sūtra literature and cannot be denied.

Cites (16)