History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c13.42

v1.c13.42

The Hāthigumphā inscription ends with the record of the 13th year of the reign of Khāravela. Khāravela is mentioned once more in another inscription close to the Hāthigumphā, in the upper part of a double-storeyed cave called the Svargapuri. This part of this cave was excavated by the chief queen of Khāravela who is called Kaliṅga-chakavaṭi (Kaliṅga-chakravartin). The terms Chakravartin in this inscription and Adhipatin in the Hāthigumphā record show that Khāravela had become the overlord of the Three Kaliṅgas. Only two other records of Kings of this dynasty are known, one of which has already been mentioned. This inscription records the excavation of this cave by the chief queen of Khāravela (Aga-Mahisi) who was the daughter of a king named Hathisiha¹ (Hastisiṃha) and was connected with another king named Lalāka. The second inscription is to be found in the verandah of the lower storey which is called Mañchapuri by the local people. This inscription records the excavation of this cave by another king of Kaliṅga named Kuḍepasiri, who also styles himself as Aira, Mahārāja Mahāmeghavāhana,² and the overlord of Kaliṅga. The right wing of the same cave was excavated by a prince named Vaḍukha,³ who may have been related to the dynasty of Khāravela. After Kuḍepasiri the pall of dense darkness again descends on the history of Kaliṅga, and most probably the country was subjugated by the Sātavahanas before their conquest of Magadha in the 1st century B. C.