History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c13.14

v1.c13.14

The Hathigumpha inscription is the only record which provides us with some information regarding a king’s childhood and early training and the different departments of knowledge into which he was to be initiated before his installation. Khāravela became the *Yuvarāja* or heir-apparent at the age of 15 and remained so till his 24th year. There is a curious silence in the Hathigumpha inscription about Khāravela’s predecessor. I believe that there are very few records in the world dealing with the history of the reign of a single king which omits that king’s father or predecessor altogether. The silence of the Hathigumpha inscription on this point may give rise to a number of theories, but in the absence of any other evidence speculation would be fruitless. Two hypotheses only are possible, *viz.*, that Khāravela had inherited the throne of Kaliṅga as a minor or that the kingdom of Kaliṅga was like the modern States of Travancore and Cochin. In that case it was probably the custom not to mention a father as parentage was doubtful. Because the inscription calls Khāravela an *Aila*, therefore, Mr. Jayaswal thinks that Khāravela’s people were Aryans, but the Purāṇas definitely mentioned the Kaliṅgas as a people of the Deccan and the country as being contiguous to the mythical *Strī-rājya*. Therefore, it is quite possible that some form of matriarchate was prevalent there.