History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c12.6

v1.c12.6

What happened to Kalinga after the fall of the Nandas we do not know. It appears certain that Kalinga did not pass with the rest of the Nanda Empire to Chandragupta. Of course, it is quite possible that the Kshatriyas of Kalinga regained their independence during the decline of the Nanda power and even before the accession of Chandragupta Maurya. It seems clear that Kalinga did not acknowledge the sway of Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusāra, because Aśoka had to conquer it. Aśoka’s conquest of Kalinga is extremely significant in view of the fact that Chandragupta is credited with the conquest of even the extreme south of the Indian Peninsula as far as Podiyil hill in the Tinnevelly district. It is, therefore, evident that Kalinga was too powerful to be tackled immediately after the foundation of the Maurya Empire, while other States of Western and Southern India were clearly too small and unimportant to stand any chance with the great empire of Northern India. At the present date we can only guess the causes of Kalinga’s greatness from indirect evidence which has been compiled in chapter VII. Kalinga had built up a great overseas empire and spread its colonies as far as the Philippine Islands in the East and far south into the islands of the Indian Archipelago. Very probably Chandragupta found out that it would not be possible for him to upset the power of Kalinga. So it was left for his grandson, the great Asoka, to conquer Kalinga. From the date of the downfall of the Nandas to Asoka’s conquest of Kalinga we must count the period of the rule of the second dynasty of kings of Kalinga.