History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c22: Chapter XIV. The Somavaṁśī Kings of Kośala
History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c22
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Chapter XIV. The Somavaṁśī Kings of Kośala
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Sometime in the tenth century a line of kings belonging to the family of the Moon were driven out of the highlands of Mahākośala and forced to take refuge in the forest country now occupied by the district of Sambhalpur and the States of Sonpur and Patna. After the fall of the Kara or Keśarī dynasty they seem to have obtained temporary possession of the level country at the foot of the Ghats and began to use the high sounding title of "Lord of the Three Kaliṅgas" (*Tri-Kaliṅgādhipati*). A long-standing connection between Orissa and Somavaṁśī kings is still problematical; but one scholar, Mr. B. C. Mazumdar, has tried to establish, without sufficient reliable evidence, that they were the makers of Orissa. With the exception of one or two kings of this dynasty it cannot be proved that they had any control over Orissa proper. They are known entirely from their charters. The kings of this dynasty founded a small principality in the jungles of Eastern Gondwana in the 7th or the 8th century A. D. They claimed descent from a person named Udayana of the Pāṇḍava family, whose great-grandson, Mahāśiva-Tivaradeva, became the master of the whole of Mahākośala. His younger brother, Chandragupta, was a contemporary of the Gurjara-Pratīhara king, Nāgabhaṭa II, of Bhinmal¹. Chandragupta’s descendants used the affix Gupta after their names and his great-great-grandson, Mahāśivagupta, was the founder of a small kingdom in the Eastern part of Mahākośala. His father's name is not known to us and it is quite probable that his grandfather, who bore the same name as this king, Mahāśivagupta and the *biruda* Bālārjuna, was driven out of the ancestral capital, Śrīpura, modern Sirpur, in the Raipur district of the Central Provinces, by the kings of Sarabhapura and kept out of it by the Haihayas or Kaḷachuris of Tripuri and Ratnapura. We know only four generations of kings of this dynasty in the Eastern part of Mahākośala, out of which only three generations use *birudas* in addition to their official names which are alternately Mahābhavagupta or Mahāśivagupta. Almost all known inscriptions of this dynasty of kings are land-grants engraved on copper plates. The fourth king Udyota-keśarī is known from three stone inscriptions only, in one of which he is connected with the regular Somavamśis of Eastern Mahākośala. He does not bear the regular official title of kings of this dynasty with the affix *Gupta*.
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¹ *Epi. Ind., Vol. XVIII.*
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General view of the Corridor—upper storey of the Central wing—Rani Nur Gumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District
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Long ago scholars thought that these petty kings of Eastern Mahākośala were the descendants of the early or the later Imperial Guptas and the name "Guptas of Kośala" was applied to them at one time. For the simple reason that some of their land-grants were discovered in the record-room of the Collector of the Cuttack district, the late Dr. J. F. Fleet named the dynasty Somavamśis of Cuttack, though it could not be proved that they held sway over Orissa proper for any length of time. Their real origin was made clear for the first time by Mr. Hira Lal, when he edited the Sirpur inscription of the time of Mahāśivagupta-Bālārjuna.¹
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¹ *Ibid.*, Vol. XI, pp. 184-201.
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The first king of this dynasty known to us from inscriptions discovered in Orissa proper is Mahābhavagupta I, *alias* Janamejaya. This king is known to us only from inscriptions discovered in the States of Patna and Sonpur. The earliest inscription of this king is a grant or charter discovered in the State of Sonpur of the Feudatory States of Orissa. It was issued from the Royal residence or camp of Sonpur in the third year of the reign of the king, Mahābhavagupta I, who meditated on the feet of Śrī-Śivagupta, bore the titles of "Lord of the Three Kalingas." Towards the close of the charter he is called Janamejaya and is given the Imperial titles *Parama-bhaṭṭāraka-Mahārājādhirāja-Parāmeśvara*. The charter records the grant of the village of Vakratentali, in the Lupattarā district (*Khaṇḍa*) to a Brāhmaṇa named *Bhaṭṭa-putra*, Jāturūpa, son of Śrīvachchha, who belonged to the Kauṇḍinya *gotra* and the Chhandoga *Charaṇa* and was an emigrant from the village of Phāmballī-Kandara in Rāḍhā or Western Bengal. With the exception of the regnal year there is no other indication of the date and only two generations of the dynasty are mentioned.¹ Rāḍhā-Phāmvallī-Kandara is identified by Hira Lal with Rairakhol in Orissa and Vakratentali with Bantentuli in the Sonpur State. The district of Lupattarā is mentioned in the next inscription as Lipatuṅgā, according to the same authority.²
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¹ *Ibid.*, Vol. XI, p. 93.
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² *Ibid.*, pp. 198-201.
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The second inscription of this king was issued in the year six and was discovered in the State of Patna. It was issued from the Royal camp of Murasīmā, probably the same as Mursingā, about thirteen miles south of Bolangir, the present capital of the Patna State. The same couple of generations are mentioned and both Śivagupta and his son are given full Imperial titles. Mahābhavagupta is called a "devout worshipper of Śiva" in addition to the usual three titles. The object of the charter was to record the grant of the village of Vakaveḍḍā in the district of Oṅgātaṭa to a number of Brāhmaṇas: (1) Dāmaka, an inhabitant of Leiśṛṅgā, an emigrant from Pampāsaras, (2) son of Narapagaṇḍa, an inhabitant of Khaṇḍakshetra who had emigrated from Odayaśṛṅga, (3) Vasudeva, an inhabitant of Lipatuṅgā, who had emigrated from Koṅkaleḍḍā, (4) Koṇḍaveda, an inhabitant of Pampāsaras, who had emigrated from Kaliṅga. The grant was issued on the eighth tithi of the bright half of the month of Āshāḍha. As in the preceding grant, the king is called Janamejaya¹ at the close of the inscription. Vakaveḍḍā is identified with Bakṭi, fifteen miles North of Bolaṅgir. Oṅgātaṭa is the district on the river Oṅ, which still exists and separates the State of Sonpur from Patna. Leiśṛṅgā is Loysiṅgā, eleven miles from Bolaṅgir.
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Khaṇḍakshetra has been wrongly identified with the State of Khandapara near the Cuttack district, because the term simply means a field, and has been used in many inscriptions discovered in different parts of Orissa. Lipatuṅgā is probably Lepta, six miles south-east of Bolangir. Odayaśṛṅga is probably Udayagiri Hill in the Cuttack district. Koṅkaleḍḍā is very probably Koknara in the Bora Sambar Zamindari of the Sambalpur district.² The third grant of this king was issued from the same place, Murasīmā, only a few months later in the same year. It was issued on the 13th day of the bright half of Kārtika in the year six of the reign of the king. The charter records the gift of the village of Pāsitala in the district (Vishaya) of Potā to two Brāhmaṇas named Śrīkeśava and Śrī-apya who were inhabitants of Leiśṛṅgā and emigrants from Kommāpīra. The grant was written by the Mahāsāndhivigrahika Koi-ghosha, son of Valla-ghosha, who is also the writer of the first and the second charters,¹ under the supervision of the Mahāsāndhivigrahi Malladatta, son of Dharadatta. The fourth inscription of this king is to be found on a set of plates now preserved in the Nagpur Museum, but their findspot is unknown. This charter also was issued from Murasīmā, spelt Murasīman. The first part is in verse and mentions the king as Janamejaya. The names of the king and his father with Imperial titles are given in the prose portion immediately following.
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The inscription records the grant of the village of Satallamā in the district of Kaśaloḍā to a Brāhmaṇa named Santhakara who was an inhabitant of Murujuṅga, an emigrant from the village of Purushamaṇḍapa in the Oḍra country and belonged to the Gautama gotra and the Mādhyandina sākhā. The king is once more mentioned as Janamejaya in the concluding portion of the inscription along with all of his titles. The charter was issued on the twelfth day of the bright half of the month of Kārtika of the eighth year of the king's reign. The order was written by the Rānaka and Mahāsāndhivigrahi Malladatta, son of Dharadatta and incised by the *Kāyastha* Allava.¹ The village of Śatallamā still exists as Satlama in the Sambalpur district and the district of Kaśaloḍa has been identified with Kusarda, fifteen miles south-west of Bargarh and ten miles north-east of Satlama.² Three connected charters of this king were issued in the 31st year of his reign by which three villages were granted to one and the same person, a *Brāhmaṇa* named Sādhāraṇa. The first of these charters was brought to notice by the late Raṅgalāla Banerjea in 1875. In this record, issued from a garden or *Arāma*, the king is called *Kośalendra*, in the last but one line and the donee, Sādhāraṇa, a minister in l. 37. The *biruda* Janamejaya is not used at all. The grant was issued on the 13th day of the bright half of Mārgaśīrsha of the year 31 of the king's reign.
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The villages granted, Raṇḍā and Aḷaṇḍalā, were situated in the Povā district of the Kośala country. The next grant of this series of three was seen by Fleet in 1883. This charter records the grant of the village of Arkigrāma in the Tulumva *Khaṇḍa* in the Kośala country. The third grant of this set was noticed for the first time by Rājendra Lāla Mitra in 1882 and it records the grant of the village of Tuleṇḍā in the district of Sandānā in the Kośala country. The donee, Sādhāraṇa, was an inhabitant of Turvvunā in Kośala, but had emigrated from Ṭakārī in Northern India.³ He belonged to the Bhāradvāja *gotra* and the Vājasaneyi *śākhā*. In addition to being a minister, he was a *Mahattama*. The grants were written by the same Malladatta, who had written the grant of the 8th year.¹ The village of Raṇḍā had been identified with Reṇḍa, six miles east of Bolangir, Alāṇḍalā three miles east of the same place and the Povā district with Pow in the Sonpur State, nineteen miles south of Binka. Tulumva Khaṇḍa has been identified with Turum on the Mahānadī, twenty-sevn miles south of Sambalpur. The village of Tuleṇḍā has been identified with Tulendi, six miles north of Bolangir in the Patna State.²
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¹ Ibid., Vol. III, pp 340-44.
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² Ibid., Vol, XI, p, 198.
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¹ Journal and Proceedings, Asiatic Society, Bengal, Vol. I. 1903, pp. 12-13.
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¹ *Epi. Ind. Vol. VIII, pp. 141-3.*
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² *Ibid., Vol. XI, p. 201.*
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³ In the Srāvastī district according to Bhañja grant.
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¹ Ibid., Vol. III, pp. 345-50.
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² Ibid., Vol. XI, p. 199.
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Up to this time it has been generally supposed that Cuttack was the capital of this line of kings. Some of the inscriptions of this dynasty of kings were discovered in the record room of the Cuttack Collectorate, and in the majority of cases the copper plate inscriptions of this dynasty use the word Kaṭaka in naming the place from which the grant was issued. The use of this word persuaded the late Dr. Fleet to assume that Cuttack was their capital. But the word Kaṭaka was used in the sense of an encampment and not a proper name. Let us take the example of the Cuttack plates of the year six in the first line of which it is stated :
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Om Svasti Murasīma-samāvāsita[ḥ] srīmato vijaya-kaṭakāt.
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This simply means "from the victorious camp of the illustrious one situated at Murasīma." But the very similarity of sound persuaded Dr. Fleet to state that, "the charter contained in it was issued from the city of Kaṭaka, which is evidently the modern Kaṭak or Cuttack, the chief town of the Cuttack district in Orissa, while the king was in residence at Murasima, which seems to have been some place on the outskirts of the city."¹ But this Murasīma has been correctly identified with Mursiṅgā in the Patna State "about thirteen miles south-west of Bolangir, the present capital of Patna State," which is far away from Cuttack.² Similarly in the Cuttack plates of the 9th year of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti we find that the grant was issued from Vinītapura,³ a place which has been correctly identified with Binka in the Sonpur State, which also is far away from Cuttack.⁴ Now this Vinītapura has been styled a Kaṭaka in the Patna plates of the 8th year of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti.⁵ It is, therefore, perfectly clear that Dr. Fleet was mistaken in taking the term kaṭaka to be a proper name, and identifying it with modern Cuttack. So far no evidence has been discovered which would enable us to prove that Cuttack or any part of the plains of Orissa was included in the dominions of Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya. From the third year of his reign till the 31st year he was the ruler of the poorest part of Orissa, the uplands now included in the British district of Sambalpur and the Indian States of Patna and Sonpur. It is, therefore, impossible to agree with Mr. B. C. Mazumdar when he states that "Janamejaya Mahābhava Gupta who reigned for not less than 31 years, became the first Adhirāja or overlord of almost the whole of the country designated by the name Orissa to-day by conquering Tri-Kaliṅga, comprised of Utkala, Koṅgada (the district of Puri) and a considerable portion of Kaliṅga or the district of Ganjam.¹”
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¹ Ibid., Vol. III, p. 341.
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² Ibid., Vol. XI, p. 198.
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³ Ibid., Vol. III, p. 352.
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⁴ Ibid., Vol. XI, p. 199.
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⁵ J. and P. A. S. B., Vol. I, 1905, p. 14.
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¹ Orissa in the Making, Calcutta, 1925, p. 187.
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The evidence of the inscriptions prove clearly and definitely that Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya had no control over any part of Orissa proper and was the ruler of a small area in Eastern Mahā-Kośala, where the majority of inhabitants are aboriginals or half-breed Oṛiyās.
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Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya was succeeded by Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti, who was, most probably his son. Mahāśivagupta is stated in his copper plate inscriptions as “meditating on the feet of Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya.” His earliest known record is to be found on his Maranjamurā plates of the third year of his reign. These plates were discovered in the village of Duṅgri in the Sonpur State, about fourteen miles to the north-east of Sonpur town. The charter was issued from the Royal Camp at Suvarṇapura, *i.e.*, modern Sonpur. The first part of this inscription states that Mahābhavagupta I was the conqueror of Karṇāta, Lāṭa (Gujarat), Gurjara, Kāñchī and perhaps Draviḍa; that he had conquered Kaliṅga, Koṅgada, Utkala, Kośala, Gauḍa and Rāḍhā, and that he had earned the title of *Tri-Kaliṅgādhipati* with his own arms. In the prose portion immediately following this we are informed that Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti gave the villages of Bṛihad-bhusāyī in the Bhrāṇḍa district of Kośala and that of Mārañjamura in the Santovardā Khaṇḍa of the Sambaravāḍi division (*maṇḍala*) to a Brāhmaṇa named Yaśaḥkara of the Kāṇva branch of the Yajur-Veda, who was an immigrant from the village of Hastigrāma in the Middle Country (*Madhya-deśa*).
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The charter was issued in the third year of the reign of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti on the 5th day of the bright half of the month of Vaiśākha and was written by the Rāṇaka Rudradatta, the nephew of Siṃhadatta and the grandson of the Sāndhivigrahi Harṣadatta.¹ This charter was issued from Suvarṇapura or Sonpur. The second record of the king is the Paṭna plates of the year eight; they were issued from the Royal Camp at Vinītapura and record the grant of some land in the village of Talakajja with a river named Turadāśānariyā in the district of Sānulā in the Kośala country to a Brāhmaṇa named Kāmadeva of the Kāśyapa gotra and the Vājasaneya-Madyandina branch, who was an inhabitant of Jalajaḍḍa in Kośala and an emigrant from Mādhvila in the eighth year of the King's reign on the thirteenth day of the bright half of Mārgaśīrṣa. The order was written by the Mahāsāndhivigrahi and Rāṇaka Dhāradatta.² The third record of this king, the Kaṭak plates of the ninth year, is historically the most important. It is the first inscription of this dynasty which refers to a place in Orissa proper. The first part of this inscription is in verse and the name of the place from which the charter was issued is introduced in prose after the fourth verse as Tasmāt Śrī-Vinītapurāt, "from that Vinītapura." The next three verses are devoted to Janamejaya and his son, Yayāti. The prose portion gives the complete Imperial titles both to Mahābhavagupta I and Mahāśivagupta.
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The charter records the grant of the village of Chāndagrāma in the Maraḍa district (vishaya) of Southern Tosala to a Brāhmaṇa named Śaṅkhapāṇi of the Bhāradvāja gotra of the Kauthuma branch of the Sāmaveda, who was an inhabitant of Śīlabhañja-pāṭi in the Oḍra country and who was an emigrant from Śrīvallagrāma in the Middle Country. The order was issued in the ninth year of the reign of the king on the thirteenth day of the bright half of Jyaiṣṭha. The king's name is given towards the end of the inscription as Yayāti. The record was composed by the Sāndhivigraha Chhichchhaṭeśa.¹ The most important point established by this inscription is the fact that in the ninth year of his reign Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti had obtained possession of a portion, at any rate, of the flat plains of Orissa. Tosali or Toshala was divided into two parts, the Northern Toshala around Bhuvaneśvara and Purī, and the Southern Toshala to the south of the Chilka Lake. Toshala is mentioned for the first time in the Dhauli separate edict of Asoka.² Vinītapura has been identified with Binka on the river Mahānadī in the Sonpur State. Far more interesting than Toshala is the name Śīlabhañj-pāṭi in the Oḍra country of which the donee was a resident. It provides a landmark in the chronology of Orissa and fixes the sequence of the kings of the Bhañja and Somavaṁśī dynasties. Śīlabhañja-pāṭi must be a village founded by one of the two Śīlabhañjas of the Bhañja dynasty.
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Śīlabhañja I was the father of Śatrubhañja and the grandfather of Raṇabhañja I and Silabhañja II was the father of Vidyādharabhañja. Whichever Śīlabhañja may have founded the village it is certain that one of them, at any rate, was the founder of the village which was existing in the time of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti. It is, therefore, certain that one at least of the two Śīlabhañjas preceded the second king of the Somavamśi dynasty. It is more probable from the nature of the characters of the Somavamśi inscriptions that it was Śīlabhañja II who was the nearest to Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti in point of time, as Śatrubhañja, the son of Śīlabhañja, was alive in 744 A. D. This important point has been totally neglected by scholars like Mr. Hira Lal who want to place Raṇabhañja I in the 12th century A. D. Writers like Mr. B. C. Mazumdar creep over this important point noiselessly.¹ The fourth record of the reign of Mahābhavagupta-Yayāti is that on the Sonpur plates. There is no metrical portion in this record, which was also issued from the Royal Camp at Vinitapura. By this charter Mahāśivagupta gave the village of Niviṇḍā in the Gaṇutapāṭa Maṇḍala of the Kośala country to a Brāhmaṇa named Dikshita Puṇḍarika of the Bhāradvāja gotra, an inhabitant of Marameṇḍā in Kośala, who was an emigrant from Bhaṭaparoli.
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The order was issued in the 15th year of the reign of the king on the 13th day of the bright half of Mārgaśirsha and, according to the usual practice the king is called Yayāti at the end of the grant. The charter was composed by the order of Mahāsandhi-Vigrahika and Rāṇaka Charudaṭṭa by the Mahākshapaṭalika Utsavanāga. The fifth record of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti is the Patna plates of the 24th year. This charter was issued from Yayātinagara and the first portion contains a number of verses which introduce Janamejaya and his son Yayāti. In the prose portion immediately following we find these kings named as Mahābhavagupta and Mahāśivagupta with Imperial titles. The charter records the grant of the village of Delāḍeli in the district (vishaya) of Teḷātaṭa in the Kośala country to a Brāhmaṇa named Mahodadhi of the Kauśika gotra and the Gautama branch, an inhabitant of Antaraḍi in the Lāvaḍā district, who was an emigrant from the village of Kāsili in the Maṇḍala of Śrāvasti. The order was issued on the fifth day of the bright half of Āṣāḍha of the 24th year of the reign and the king is called Yayāti at the end of the inscription.
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The order was written by the Mahāsāndhivigrahī Kāyastha Tathāgata with the consent of the Mahāsāndhi-vigrahika and Rāṇaka Dhāradatta, who is also mentioned in the grant of the year 8.¹ Yayātinagara is identified with Vinitapura or Binka and the district of Teḷātaṭa is the country on the banks of the river Tel, a tributary of the Mahānadī rising in Kalahandi State and joining it at Sonpur. The district of Lāvaḍā has been identified with Lebdā, forty-eight miles south-west of Bolangir in the Patna State.² The last known record of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti was also discovered in the Patna State. In composition it is exactly similar to the charter of the year 24 and was issued from Yayātinagara. The charter records the grant of the village of Luttarumā in the district of Teḷātaṭa to the same Mahodadhi, who received the previous grants. This order was issued in the year 28 of the reign, on the fifth day of the bright half of Bhādrapada and was written by a Kāyastha named Sūryasena with the consent of the Sāndhivigrahi for Kośala, Simhadatta. The last record is the least instructive from the historical point of view, as it does not enable us to determine whether the village granted was situated in Kośala proper or not. The mention of the Lāvaḍā district as the residence of the donee and the Telātaṭṭa district in which the village granted was situated indicate that the area was Kośala and not Orissa proper.
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¹ Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol. II, 1913, pp. 52-9.
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² P. and J. A. S. B. Vol, I, 1905, pp. 14-16.
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¹ Epi. Ind., Vol. III, pp. 351-4.
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² Hultzsch—Corpus Inscriptionum Indicorum, 2nd ed.,
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¹ Epi. Ind., Vol. XI, p. 98, note 2.
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¹ P. and J. A. S., Vol I, 1905. pp. 16-18.
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² Epi. Ind. Vol. XI, p. 261
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Details of corner, East wing—Rani Gumpha—Udaygiri
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Among the inscriptions of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti only two are historically important: the Sonpur plates of the year 3 and the Patna plates of the year 8. We have seen that the inscriptions of Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya do not record any grant in Orissa proper. In all recognisable cases the villages granted are situated in Kośala. But suddenly, three years after his father's death, his successor or son Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti, attributes to him the conquest of the whole of India—Karṇāṭa (the Kanarese districts from Satara and Sholapur to the southern extremity of Mysore and Mangalore in the Madras Presidency), Lāṭa (Gujarat from Patan near Mehsana in the Baroda State to the Thana district of Bombay), Gurjjara (Western Rajputana), Drāviḍa (the Tamil districts from Madras to Tinnevelly), Kāñchī (Modern Conjeveram situated in the Tamil country). The inscription also mentions certain other countries such as Kaliṅga, Koṅgada, Kośala, Gauḍa and Rāḍhā. It was impossible for a petty chief of the highlands of Orissa to launch into a series of campaigns against the powerful dynasties ruling over practically the whole of India. Mahābhavagupta I cannot be seriously credited with the conquest of Karṇāṭa when the Rāṣṭrakūṭas and the Western Chālukyas existed as ruling sovereigns, nor of Kāñchī and a Tamil-Naḍu so long as the Great Choḷas and even the Chālukya-Choḷas lorded over the Eastern coast land. Similarly, it was hardly possible for this petty chief of the highlands of Orissa even to approach the Great Gurjjara Emperor of Kanauj or any of their powerful feudatories, such as the Chandellas of Jejakabhukti or the Chalukyas of Anahilapataka. So also this petty chief would have been hounded out of Gujarat if he had dared to cross the frontiers of Gujarat when that country was ruled by the Chalukyas or even the degenerate Baghelas. The mention of these countries as having been conquered by Mahabhavagupta I Janamejaya is, therefore, mere poetic glorification and the language is most probably borrowed from Banabhatta. Similar language has been used in the *Harsha-charita*¹ when that poet describes Prabhakaravardhana. The court poet of King Ratnapala² of Assam copied Bana's language in glorifying his patron and attributing to him the conquest of countries which the armies of Assam could never have reached. We may believe that Mahabhavagupta Janamejaya may have raided Gauda (Northern Bengal) or Radha (Western Bengal) and perhaps Kalinga, Kongada and Utkala also which were not included in his dominions. He may have also assumed the meaningless title of *Tri-Kalingadhipati*; but these things or facts will not go to prove that Mahabhavagupta I had waged war in Kanchi, the Kanarese districts, Gujarat or Western Rajputana. Even Mr. B. C. Mazumdar, who has always tried to prove that the Somavamsi Kings of Kosala were the makers of Orissa, has conceded that the mention of Kanchi, Dravida, etc., is mere bombast.³
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¹ Cowell and Thomas—*Harsha-Charita*, Eng. Trans, pp. 101-2.
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² *Journal of the Asiatic Society for Bengal* Vol. LXVII, 1898, part I, pp. 105-6.
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³ *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society*, Vol II, 1916, p. 50.
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Mr. B. C. Mazumdar's analysis of the historical value of the evidence of the *Mādalā-Pāñji* is distinctly unfair. The *Mādalā-Pāñji* mentions Yayāti, *i. e.*, Mahāśivagupta as the first king of the dynasty and not Mahābhavagupta Janamejaya. The inscriptions of Mahābhavagupta I have not been found to record the grant of any village situated in Orissa proper. Out of five grants of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti only one refers to the grant of a village in Orissa proper, *i. e.*, Dakṣiṇa Tosala. Therefore, it is most probable that Yayāti was the first king of the dynasty who succeeded in occupying any portion of Orissa proper. Mr. Mazumdar states that "perhaps as the peaceful administration of the country began with Jajāti (? Yayāti), and not with Janamejaya, the original conqueror or organiser, the name of Jajāti stands at the head of the dynastic list of the Somavamśi Rajas of Orissa in the *Mādalā-Pāñji* chronicles, that Jajāti was the son of Janamejaya has, however, been recorded in the *Pāñji*."¹ It must be admitted that according to contemporary inscriptions the *Mādalā Pāñji* is correct, because the inscriptions of Mahābhavagupta I do not prove him to be the master of any part of Orissa proper, while one inscription at least of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti shows him to be the lord of one portion of Orissa. The only other important point in the inscriptions of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti is the mention of the Chedis, who are undoubtedly the Chedis of Ratnapura and not the Chedis of Ḍahala, though the learned editor of the Patna plates is inclined to connect Dahaṇa in the last line with Ḍahala and even Mr. Hira Lal wants to connect Dahaṇa with Ḍahala.²
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¹ *Orissa in the Making* p. 187.
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² *Epi. Ind.* Vol. XI. p. 200.
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Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti was succeeded sometime after the 28th year of his reign by Mahābhavagupta II, surnamed Bhīmaratha. The earliest inscription of this king is to be found on the Katak plates of the year three. This inscription begins with a long metrical portion in which are included two words in prose stating that the order was issued from Yayātinagara. The verses give the names, *i. e.*, birudas, of three generations of kings of this dynasty, Janamejaya, his son Yayāti and his son Bhīmaratha. The prose portion gives the usual Imperial titles to Mahābhavagupta II and his father Mahāśivagupta. The charter records the grant of the village of Gauḍa-siminilli in the district of Sakhaṅgadyanha in Kośala to a Brāhmaṇa named Rāṇaka Rachchho of the Kausika *gotra* and the Kauthuma *caraṇa* of the Sāma Veda, an inhabitant of the village of Siṅgoā in the Devī-bhoga district of Kośala, who was an emigrant from the village of Kāśillī in the *Maṇḍala* of Śrāvastī on the occasion of a solar eclipse. The order was issued on the third day of the bright half of Mārgaśīrsha of the year three of the reign of the king. The king is called Bhīmaratha in the closing portion of the inscription. The order was written by a Kāyastha named Maṅgaladatta under the superintendence of the the Sāndhi-vigraha Siṅgadatta (Siṃhadatta), who wrote the last inscription of Mahāśivagupta Yayāti.¹ The village of Siṅgoā has been identified with Singhar in the Khariar Zamindari in the extreme south of the Raipur district, the district of Devī-bhoga with Deo-bhog in the Bindra-Nawagarh Zamindari in the same district. The only other known inscription of Mahābhavagupta II—Bhīmaratha is to The page provided is blank.
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¹ *Ibid.*, Vol. III. pp. 356-8.
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Frieze in the corridor of the upper storey of the Rani Nur Gumpha—(a) from the left, male bearing offerings, females fighting with elephants in lotus pool
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be found on the Kudopali plate of the 13th year of the reign of the king. The plates were discovered underground in the village of Kudopali in the Bargarh Tahsil of the Sambalpur district and were issued from Yayātinagara. There is no metrical portion in the beginning of this record. It is a charter issued by a feudatory of Mahābhavagupta II, named Māṇḍalika and Rānaka Puñja, son of Voḍā, of the Māthara family. The donor was in residence at a place named Bāmaṇḍapāṭi when the order was issued. The charter records the gift of the village of Loisarā in the Maṇḍala of Giḍāṇḍā to a Brāhmaṇa of the Kauṇḍinya Gotra and the Kāṇva Śākhā named Nārāyaṇa, who was an emigrant from the village of Hastipada in the 13th year of the reign of the king. As the charter was not issued by Mahābhavagupta II Bhīmaratha, but by his feudatory Puñja, he is mentioned as being in residence at Yayātinagara while the grant was issued by Puñja from Vāmaṇḍapāṭi. Details about the date such as the month and the day of the fortnight are omitted.¹ Vāmaṇḍapāṭi has been identified with the State of Bamra, the old capital of which is sixty miles north-east of Binka, Loisarā still exists under the same name in the Bargarh Tahsil of the Sambalpur district, sixteen miles south-west of Sambalpur town. Giḍāṇḍā is perhaps the same as Siḍāṇḍā which is Sāraṇḍā in the Bargarh Tahsil, eleven miles south-west of Sambalpur town.²
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¹ Ibid., Vol. IV. pp. 258-9.
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² Ibid., Vol. XI. p. 201.
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Our materials for the construction of the history of the Somavamśis of Kośala comes suddenly to an end with the Kudopali plates of Mahābhavagupta II. The only other record in which Mahābhavagupta II Bhīmratha is mentioned is the Sonpur plates of a certain Kumārādhirāja Someśvara. These plates were discovered in the State of Sonpur in 1908. According to Mr. B. C. Mazumdar, who edited the inscription on these plates, the entire shape was tampered with at some unknown date. The writing on the first two plates is on one side but that on the next two plates is on both sides and the inscription is not complete even on the second side of the fourth plate. The first two plates are practically of the same size but the fourth is much smaller. The mention of Mahābhavagupta II Bhīmaratha is to be found on the first plate. From this we learn that Uddyota-keśarī-raja-deva was the successor of Mahābhavagupta, who is given full imperial titles and is called the ornament on the forehead of the Lunar race and Tri-Kaliṅgādhipati. Uddyota-keśarī gave the kingdom of Kośala to one Abhimanyu. When the rule of Abhimanyu had come to an end (Atīta-rājye) then Kumārādhirāja became the master of Paśchima-Laṅkā. Someśvara also belonged to the Lunar race and the titles given to him are Parama-māheśvara-Parama-Bhaṭṭāraka-Kumārādhirāja-Parameśvara. The term Kumārādhirāja is extremely significant and reminds one of the Paramara title “Mahākumāra” borne by Lakshmīvarman, brother of Jayavarman, his son Harīśchandra and the latter’s son Udayavarman.¹ The use of the phrase Atīta-rājye shows that the rule of Abhimanyu had come to a violent end in Kośala. We may compare similar terms in the Bodh-Gaya inscriptions of Aśokachalla in connection with Lakshmaṇasena of Bengal¹ and Govindapāla of Magadha.² Upon the sudden termination of the rule of Abhimanyu in Kośala he was succeeded by Someśvara of the Lunar race. It is therefore certain that sometime after the 13th year of his reign Mahābhavagupta II Bhīmaratha was succeeded by Uddyota-keśarī. Now this Uddyota-keśarī is known from another inscription, now missing, which was discovered at Bhuvaneśvara. The summary compiled by Kielhorn shows that this Uddyota-Keśarī was the son of Caṇḍīhara and grandson of Abhimanyu, who was the brother's son of Janamejaya, *i. e.*, Mahābhavagupta I. According to this record Mahābhavagupta I was succeeded by his son, Dīrgharavas, and the latter by his son, Apavāra. This statement fits with our knowledge of the Somavamśī kings Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya, his son Mahāśivagupta Yayāti and the latter's son Mahābhavagupta II Bhīmaratha. The Bhuvaneśvara inscription states that Apavāra died childless and was succeeded by Vichitravīrya, another son of Janamejaya, The latter's son was Abhimanyu. Therefore, this Abhimanyu cannot be the same as that who received the kingdom of Kośala from Uddyota-keśarī, the successor of Mahābhavagupta II Bhīmaratha; but it is absolutely impossible to identify the Uddyota-keśarī of the Bhuvaneśvara inscription with Uddyota-keśarī, the successor of Mahābhavagupta II Bhīmaratha, because the former was the grandson of Abhimanyu.³
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¹ Ibid., Vol. VIII. App. I, p. 15.
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¹ *Ibid.*, Vol. XII, pp. 29-30.
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² *Memoirs A, S. B.* Vol. V, p. 110.
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³ *Epi. Ind.* Vol. V. *App.* p. 90, No. 668; *Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal*, Vol. VII, 1838, p. 558.
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We have, therefore, to admit that there were two Uddyota-keśarīs, the first being the successor of Mahābhavagupta II and the second the great-grandson of Vichitravīrya, a younger son of Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya. Uddyota-keśarī I was perhaps the title adopted by Vichitravīrya after his succession to the throne. And he may have appointed his own son Abhimanyu to the government of the Kośala Rājya. He was succeeded in the Kośala Rājya by Someśvara of the same race, who gave the village of Atteṇḍā in the district of Uttaravallī in Kośala to a brāhmaṇa named Udayakara in the twelfth year of his reign. Mr. B. C. Mazumdar is certainly wrong in identifying this Someśvara with the king of that name mentioned in the Ratanpur inscription of Jajalla I.¹ Two other inscriptions of Uddyota-keśarī are known. They are to be found inside the Navamuni and Lalāṭendu caves on Khandagiri hill, three miles from Bhuvaneśvara. Both of these records seem to belong to Uddyota-keśarī I. The first to the year 18 and the second to the year 5 of the same king.²
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¹ Epi. Ind. Vol. XII, pp. 239-42.
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² Ibid., Vol. XIII. p. 166.
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In the present state of our knowledge it is impossible to state to what condition the Somavaṁśī kings were reduced after the death of Mahābhavagupta II Bhīmaratha. Bhuvaneśvara in the Puri district continued to form a part of their dominions till the 18th year of Uddyota-keśarī I and some sort of authority was exercised by them till the days of Uddyota-keśarī II when the Brahmeśvara temple inscription was inscribed.
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Very little is known about the dates of the kings of this dynasty and much has heen left to guess work.
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The only certain points in the chronology of the Somavaṁśis is that they are later than one of the two Śilabhañjas of the first Bhañja dynasty; and as Satrubhañja I was ruling in V. S., 800-744 A. D., they are also certainly later than Ranabhañja I. As Govinda III of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa dynasty of the Mahārāṣṭra was the contemporary of Chandragupta the fifth in ascent from Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya, the accession of that prince cannot be placed earlier than the middle of the 10th century A. D. The certain dates of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa Govinda III vary from 794 to 814 A. D. We have to account for the reigns of Chandragupta's son Harshagupta, grandson Mahāśivagupta II, Mahābhavagupta and Mahāśivagupta or Śivagupta the father of Mahābhavagupta Janamejaya. We have then to account for four distinct generations between the demise of Chandragupta some time in the beginning of the 9th century A. D., and the rise of Mahābhavagupta, which we can place tentatively about a century later or in the beginning of the 10th century A. D. The accession of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti cannot therefore be placed earlier than the middle of the 10th.
Linked texts (3)
- Harṣacarita — Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Sanskrit
- Brahmeswara Temple
- Mādaḷā Pāñji — Professional employees of the state and the Temple, Odia