History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c13.27

v1.c13.27

In the 5th year of his reign a canal, opened by a Nanda king 103 or 300 years ago, was extended as far as the capital city of Kaliṅga. Mr. Jayaswal’s view of the reference to the Nanda king has been discussed above. The beginning of the 7th line is damaged, but from the context we can infer that it begins with the record of the 6th year during which Khāravela performed the Rājasūya ceremony and remitted taxes and customs duties. Many other concessions were granted to the people of the city, the cost of which amounted to hundreds of thousands. In the 7th year, most probably, a son was born to Khāravela of his queen who was a princess of Vajira-ghara. Vajira-ghara apparently is the old name of Wairagadh in the Chanda district of the Central Provinces. It is mentioned as Vayirākāra in the Tiruvorriyur Adhipur-īśvara temple inscription of the 2nd year of the reign of Kulottuṅga I (*i. e.*, the Chālukya-Choḷa Rājendra Choḷa II). We learn from this inscription that the king captured elephants at this place. Another Tamil inscription of the 5th year of the same king in the Pāṇḍava-Perumal temple at Conjeeveram informs us that this king’s victories at Vayirākāra and Chakra-koṭṭa were gained while he was still the heir-apparent, i. e., before 8th October, 1070 A. D. Chakra-koṭṭa still exists under the same name in the Bastar State. It is, therefore, certain that Vayiragara or Vajira-ghara is the same as Wairagadh.