History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c22.7

v1.c22.7

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