History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c19.42.1

v1.c19.42.1

Neṭribhañja II had another brother named Digbhañja. His son was Śīlabhañja II and his son Vidyādharabhañja is the next king of the Bhañja dynasty of whom we possess records. We possess no means of ascerṭaing whether Neṭribhañja II was succeeded by his own son or by his brother Digbhañja. Again, we are not in a position to ascertain whether Vidyādharabhañja’s father, Śīlabhañja II, was a king or not, because it is also possible that after the extinction of the direct line of Neṭribhañja II in the second or third generation after him, his brother's grandson succeeded him. Vidyādharabhañja is known to us from two inscriptions, only one of which was published in 1887 and the other in 1917. The plates published in 1837 were in the possession of Mr. C. T. Metcalfe, then Commissioner of the Orissa division, and are now in the collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta. The verses in the beginning of this inscription are the same as those to be found at the beginning of the three charters of Neṭribhañja II. This inscription was also issued from Vijayavañjulvaka but is not dated. The genealogy begins from Raṇabhañja I, who was the great-grandfather, then came Digbhañja and after them came Śīlabhañja II, who was the father of Vidyādharabhañja. The king possessed the *biruda* of *Amogha-kalaśa* and in the genealogical table his great-grandfather and the king himself are given the titles of *Mahārāja*, but no titles are given to his father and grandfather.