History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c22.38

v1.c22.38

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