History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c13.26

v1.c13.26

In the third year of his reign there were great rejoicings in the capital of Kaliṅga. The record of the fourth year is partly damaged and there is no chance of the lost portion ever being recovered unless a duplicate of the Hathigumpha rock inscription is discovered somewhere else. It opens with a reference to a city established by previous kings of Kaliṅga which was regarded as being the abode of Vidyādharas and which had remained undamaged up to the reign of Khāravela. After the gap there is a reference to Rāṣṭrikas and Bhojakas, who were compelled to submit to Khāravela. They are also mentioned as Mahāraṭhis, and as Mahābhojas in the inscriptions in the Buddhist cave temples of Western India, such as Kanheri, Kuda and Bedsa. The Raṭhikas are mentioned as riṣṭikas in the Girnar, Rastika in the Shahbazgarhi and as Raṭrakras in the Mansehra version of the fifth edict of Aśoka. The Dhauli and Jaugada versions use the analogous form Laṭhika. In the 13th rock edict we find the Bhojakas mentioned along with the Pitinikas in the Shahbazgarhi, Mansehra and Kalsi versions. In the Kanheri cave inscriptions of the time of Viṇhukaḍa Chuṭukulānanda, a *Mahābhoja* is styled *Mahārāja*, showing that the term *Bhoja* was a clan or a caste name. In later times a *Bhojaka* is mentioned in the copper plate inscriptions of the Pallava king Śivaskandavarman. The conquest or the subjugation of the Rāṣṭrikas and the Bhojakas, even for a time, shows that Khāravela in the earlier part of his reign dealt a heavy blow at the power and the prestige of the Sātavāhanas.