History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c12.1

v1.c12.1

Orissa emerges into the light of history with the rise of the Nandas. Pauranic tradition records that, when 32 kings of Kalinga had reigned, Mahāpadma Nanda rose and exterminated the Kshatriyas. This evidently means that, after the end of the Mahābhārata War and before the conquest of Northern India by Mahāpadma Nanda of Magadha, 32 kings reigned in Kalinga for 1050 or 1115 years. This is evidently the first dynasty of Kalinga. The average reign of each king would be either 31.75 or 32.812 years. This average is certainly not overmuch. The Hathigumpha inscription of King Khāravela contains two distinct references to the conquest of Kalinga by the Nandas. In both cases the term employed is Nandarāja, which may be taken either to be the first king of that dynasty or to Mahāpadma Nanda. The first reference is to be found in the 6th line and in the account of the 5th year of Khāravela’s reign. The inscription says that a canal excavated in the year 103 or 300 of King Nanda was extended by Khāravela in that year as far as his capital city. According to Mr. K. P. Jayaswal, the year in this sentence is taken to be one of the Nanda era referred to by Al-Bīruni in his *Tahqīq-i-Hind*. Pargiter places the accession of the first Nanda King approximately in 402 B. C. (accession of Chandragupta in 322 B. C. plus 80 years of the reigns of nine Nanda kings). According to this estimate the canal in Kalinga was excavated by the Nanda kings in 299 B. C. In that case it would be too late to ascribe this public work to Mahāpadma Nanda. Even if we take the Pauranic account of 100 years as the total length of the reigns of nine Nanda Kings and add it to the year 322 B. C., then we get 319 B. C. as the date of the excavation of the canal near the capital of Kalinga by a Nanda king, which is absurd. The only valid conclusion from this passage can be that this particular canal was excavated in Kalinga by a Nanda king, probably the first king of that dynasty, 103 years before the 5th year of Khāravela’s reign, i. e., 108 years before his accession. Mr. Jayaswal’s view is that the era was counted from 458 B. C. and therefore, the canal was excavated in 355 B. C., at least 33 years before the accession of Chandragupta Maurya.