History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c23: Chapter XV. The Early Gaṅgas of Kaliṅga
History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c23
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Chapter XV. The Early Gaṅgas of Kaliṅga
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The problem of the history and chronology of the early Gaṅgas of Kaliṅga and the era used by them is still far from being solved, and unless a record is discovered in which the Gaṅga era is used simultaneously with another, the value of which is correctly known to us, it will not be possible to override the difficulties which still beset our path. In short, the solution of the problem depends on the discovery of the initial year of this era, in which the majority of the inscriptions of the kings of this dynasty of Kaliṅga are dated. These dates vary from the year 51 on the Chikakol plates of Devendravarman, son of Anantavarman, to the year 351 on the Chikakol plates of Satyavarman, son of Devendravarman. As in the majority of cases the inscriptions are specially dated in the era of the Gaṅgas, *Gaṅgakula-pravarddhamāna-vijaya-rājya-samvatsare*, the solution of the problems of Gaṅga history and chronology appears to be distant; and therefore, the best way of tackling them is to take the dates in the order in which they present themselves to us.
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The earliest Gaṅga inscription was dealt with by the late Dr. J. F. Fleet in 1874-75 and the last word on the subject was uttered by the late Dr. E. Hultzsch in July 1926. According to this method, the earliest date is no doubt the regnal year six on the Komarti plates of the Mahārāja Chandavarman,¹ but, as the late Dr. Kielhorn has already pointed out, Chandavarman may not be a Gaṅga king at all.¹ Similarly, the regnal year 30 on the Bṛihatproshṭha grant of Umāvarman may or may not be a date in the Gaṅga era, though it is yet doubtful whether this king really belonged to the Gaṅga family or not.² Gaṅga history, therefore, really begins with the Chikakol plates of Devendravarman, son of Anantavarman. This inscription is dated in words, *Gāṅgeya-vaṁśa-pravardhamāna-vijaya-samvatsaram-eka-pañchāśat*, leaving no doubt about the fact that it was the intention of the engraver to put down "51" only without any figure for hundreds. The characters of this grant are certainly much later than many of the other Gaṅga plates, which are later than this plate according to the arrangement we follow in this chapter. The order was issued from the city of Kaliṅga and mentions the hereditary deity of the Gaṅga kings, Śiva-Gokarṇeśvara, on the top of Mahendra hill. The only genealogy given is that the donor, king Devendravarman, was the son of Anantavarman.
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The charter records the grant of the village of Tāmarachheru in the district (*vishaya*) of Varāha-varttani to 300 Brāhmaṇas of the Vājasaneya (*Charana*). The order was written by the illustrious *Sāmanta* Nāgarāja and incised by the *Akshaśālī* Sarvadeva.³ Next in order is the inscription on the Urlam plates of a king named Hastivarman of the year 80. These plates are the private property of the Raja of Urlam in the Chikakol *taluga* of the Ganjam district. The charter records the grant of a piece of land in the village of Hoṇḍevaka in the district of Kroṣṭuka-varttani as an *agrahāra* to a Brāhmaṇa named Jayaśarman after purchasing the land from the residents of the village on the 8th *tithi* of Kārtika of the year 80. The grant was written by Vinayachandra, son of Bhānuchandra, and in the verse in which the writer's name is given the king is called Rājasimha.¹ In an additional verse at the end of the inscription the king is also called Raṇabhīta. With these indications we must now proceed to consider the grants of Indravarman-Rājasimha which follow those of Hastivarman. The plates discovered at Achyutaparam in the Ganjam district were issued in the year 87.
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By this charter Indravarman, *alias* Rājasimha, of the Gaṅga family granted the village of Siddhārthaka in the district of Varāha-varttani to a Brāhmaṇa of the Gautama *gotra* named Durggeśa-śarman on the occasion of the completion of the excavation of a tank by the king's mother on the new moon day of Chaitra of the year 87. In this case also, as in the case of the Urlam plates of Hastivarman, the name of the family is not connected with the date which is expressed simply as *Rājya-samvatsarāḥ* or "regnal years." This grant was also written by Vinayachandra, son of Bhānuchandra and the king's *biruda*, Rājasimha, given in the same verse.² The Parlakimedi plates of the year 91 also belong to the same king. They were also issued from the city of Kaliṅga. By this charter Indravarman grants the *agrahāra* in the village of Kettaṭa in the Devanna *pañchālī* to a Brāhmaṇa of the city and of the Gārgya *gotra* named Dhruvaśarman on the 30th day of Māgha of the year 91. This grant also was written by Vinayachandra, son of Bhānuchandra, and the biruda Rājasimha occurs in this verse.¹ Authorities differ as to the identity of king Indravarman mentioned in the next two grants, because they are about 30 years removed from the Achuyutapuram plates of the year 91. The Chikakol plates of the year 120 was issued by king Indravarman of the Gaṅga family from the city of Kaliṅga.
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By this charter the king granted the village of Tāmara-cheruvu in the district of Varāha-varttanī on the full day of the month of Mārgaśira on the occasion of a Lunar eclipse to a number of Brāhmaṇas of different gotras and charanas. The order was issued on the 15th day of Chaitra of the year 128 and the grant was drafted by Śaṅkaradeva, son of the Amātya Devachandra. It was written by Āditya, son of Vinayachandra. The name of the writer proves that the donor was a generation removed from the donor of the Chikakol plates, as in the year 128 Vinayachandra, who had written the grants of the years 87 and 91, had been succeeded by his son Āditya.² The next grant of the same king is still later in date. It was also discovered in Chikakol and issued from the city of Kaliṅga. The charter records the grant of the village of Pālamūla in the district of Korosataka Pañchālī to two brāhmaṇas named Skandaśarman and Lalitaśarman of the Kautsa gotra on the 7th tithi of the month of Māgha and the order was issued three days later, i. e., on the 10th Māgha of the year 146. The order was recorded by the Mahāmahattara Gaurīśarman, but the name of the scribe is Bhavadatta.³ In the last two plates the *biruda*, *Rājasimha*, of the king, Indravarman, is omitted, an additional proof, according to certain writers, of the want of identity between Indravarman Rājasimha of the year 91 and of the later grants. The third item in the series of proofs is the Purle plates of Indravarman of the year 149.
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These plates were issued from Dantapura, the ancient capital of Kaliṅga, where the left canine tooth of the lower jaw of Buddha was brought by one of his disciples and a large *stūpa* built over it. This *stūpa* was destroyed by Brāhmaṇas and the tooth relic taken away to Ceylon. The most important fact mentioned in this inscription is that Indravarman’s father was Dānārṇava, from which scholars infer that Indravarman Rājasimha was Indravarman I and his son was Dānārṇava. Indravarman of the grants of the years 128 and 146 was Indravarman II, the grandson of Indravarman I. The plates of the year 149 were discovered in the village of Purle near Pālakonda in the Ganjam district. By this charter king Indravarman II records the grant of the village of Bhukkuku in the Kuraka-rāṣṭra to a brāhmaṇa of the Tiriliṅga and of the Kauśika *gotra* named Bhavadatta-śarman, on the full moon day of Kārtikeya. The charter was issued on the 30th day of Puṣyā of the year 149. The order was written by Khaṇḍichandra, the son of the Bhogika Āditya.¹ Five years later we find another king in Kaliṅga. He is apparently a son of Indravarman II who was named Dānārṇava II after his grandfather. These plates, issued in the year 154, are in the possession of the *Yuvarāja* of Tekkali in the Ganjam district. They were engraved by the same Khaṇḍichandra, son of the Bhogika Āditya.
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They were issued from the city of Kalinga and the charter records the grant of one plough of land in the village of Tuganna in the district of Rupyavati to a Brāhmaṇa named Skandaśarman on the occassion of a Solar eclipse for the merit of a queen named Ambā-achchi-potī. The grant was composed by the Sarvādhikṛta Śāmbauropādhyāya, who is mentioned in the previous grant.¹
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¹ *Epi. Ind., Vol. IV, p. 144.*
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¹ *Ibid.*, Vol. V, App. p. 92. No. 686.
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² *Ibid.*, Vol. XII. p. 4.
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³ *Ind. Ant.*, Vol, XIII, pp. 275-76.
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¹ *Epi. Ind., Vol. XVII, pp. 332-33.*
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² *Ibid., Vol. VIII, pp. 128-29.*
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¹ Ibid., Vol. XIII, pp. 120-21.
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² Ibid., p. 123.
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³ Ind. Ant., Vol. XVI, p. 134.
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¹ *Epi. Ind.*, XIV, pp. 361-62.
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¹ Ibid., Vol. XVIII. pp. 309-10.
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Frieze in the upper storey corridor—Rani Nur Gumpha (I)-Rescue of females by males.
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There is a long gap after the Tekkali plates of the year 154 and the next inscription in chronological order is the Chikakol plates of Devendravarman, son of Guṇārṇava of the year 183. It is quite evident that Guṇārṇava and his son Devendravarman are descendants or colaterals of Indravarman II and Dānārṇava II; but no connection can be proved between them. The grant mentions the shrine of the Lord Gokarṇasvāmin on Mahendra mountain and the Gaṅga family, but in the genealogical portion the king, Mahārāja Devendravarman, is mentioned simply as the son of Guṇārṇava. By this charter the king grants the village of Poppāṅgikā in the Kroṣṭuka-varttani on the occasion of the Uttarāyana in the month of Māgha to some Brāhmaṇas of the city of Kalinga of Kṛṣṇātreya gotra, who were brothers. The order was issued on the 20th day of the month of Śrāvaṇa of the year 183. The charter was incised by Sarvvachandra, son of the bhogika Khaṇḍichandra, who was the scribe of the grant of the year 154.² The next record was issued only a year later, in 184. It does not seem to have been published as yet, though it was noticed as early as 1921. They were sent to Mr. G. Venkoba Rao by the Diwan of the Raja of Parlakimidi. The record is dated in the 184th year and was issued by *Mahārāja* Devendravarman, son of Guṇārṇava. The names of the officers and engravers are the same in these plates also.¹ The same king issued another grant eleven years later. These plates were discovered at Siddhāntam near Chikakol in the Ganjam district. The charter records the grant of a plot of land, one plough in measure, in the village of Siddhārthaka in the district of Varāha-varttanī to a Brāhmaṇa named Tampara-śarman *Dikshita*, an inhabitant of Erandapali (the Erandapalla of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta) on the occasion of the *Dakshiṇāyana*. The order was issued on the 5th day of the dark half of the month of Śrāvaṇa of the year 195. The inscription was composed by Madanāṅkura Pallava, son of Mātṛichandra.² Anantavarman, the son of Devendravarman, who issued the grant next in order must be in the next generation. In the Parlakimidi plates of the year 204, the donor Anantavarman is called the son of Devendravarman and was evidently the grandson of Guṇārṇava. The plates were noticed for the first time in the Assistant Archæological Superintendent’s Annual Report for 1919-20. The charter records the grant of a village named Talaṭṭhere in the district of Kroṣṭuka-varttanī by Anantavarman at the request of his brother Jayavarman to a Brāhmaṇa of the Parāśara *gotra*, who was an inhabitant in the village of Śraṅgaṭikā in the district of Kāmarūpa or Assam named Viṣṇusomācārya.¹
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² Ibid., Vol. III, pp. 131-33.
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¹ *Annual Report of the Assistant Archæological Superintendent for Epigraphy for the year 1919-20. p. 93, para 21.*
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² *Ibid., Vol. XIII, pp. 213-5.*
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¹ Ind. Ant. Vol. XVIII, pp. 144-5.
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The next fifty years are a complete blank so far as Gaṅga grants and inscriptions are concerned. The chiefs of Tekkali possess another set of plates issued by Devendravarman III, son of Rājendravarman, in the Gaṅga year 254. They were also issued from the city of Kaliṅga and were discovered in the Vizagapatam district. By this charter Devendravarman, son of Mahārāja Anantavarman, granted the village of Ṭāḍuvamāsiṇapuḍilāsoligamuḍuḍā in the district of Dāvadāmadava, according to the advice of the king’s maternal uncle to the lord Dharmeśvara on the pratipada of the first half of Phālguna of the year 254. The charter was written by Ugradeva, son of the priest (purohita) Durgadeva, and incised by the illustrious Sāmanta Khaṇḍi, when the holy Brāhmaṇa Somācārya was the Superintendent of the temple of Dharmeśvara.² Another fifty years later we find another king of the name of Anantavarman ruling over Kaliṅga. His plates of the year 304 were discovered at Alamanda in the Vizagapatam district. As usual, they were issued from the city of Kaliṅga, and mention was made of the god Gokarṇeśvara and the spotless Gaṅga family. The donor Anantavarman III was the son of Rājendravarman. By this charter the king granted the village of Medelāka in the district of Tirikaṭu to a Brāhmaṇa of the Kauśika gotra named Śridharabhaṭa on the occasion of a Solar eclipse. The date is expressed in full beginning with the name of the Gaṅga family in words and the year as 304 but without further details as to month or date.¹ Next in order come the fragmentary Tekkali plates of Devendravarman III, son of Rājendravarman. They were issued from the city of Kaliṅga and supply the usual details about the Gaṅga family. The charter records the grant of the village of Niyino in the district of Rupavarttanī to a Brāhmaṇa, whose name cannot be read. This Rājendravarman, therefore, must be Rājendra III and his father Devendravarman III.²
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² Annual Report of Assistant Archæological Superintendent for Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for the year 1919-20. p. 93.
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¹ Epi. Ind., Vol. III, pp. 18-20.
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² Ibid., Vol. XVIII, pp. 312-13.
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Thirty-two years later we find another Rajendravarman, Rajendravarman IV, son of another Anantavarman, Anantavarman IV in possession of Kaliṅga. The plates were issued from the city of Kaliṅga in the year 342 but further details are not available.³ The latest known date of the early Gaṅga dynasty of Kaliṅga is to be found in the Chikakol plates of Satyavarman, son of Devendravarman. In this case this Devendravarman must be the fourth king of that name. By this charter the king granted the village of Tārugrāma in the district of Galela to a god. A Gurava or a Śūdra priest of a Śaiva shrine, is mentioned in this connection. The date is given in words but details are omitted.⁴
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³ Annual Report of the Assistant Archæological Superintendent, Southern Circle, for the year 1917-18, pp. 137-8.
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⁴ Ina. Anf., Vol. XIV, pp. 11-12.
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A number of kings whose names end with the affix varman may be connected with the Gaṅga dynasty, but their records are not dated and they cannot be located definitely. One of these is a Indravarman who issued a grant from Śvetakādhishṭhāna and is probably the same as Indravarman I. The grant is not dated and the name of the village granted is not given in the short note.¹ The second is that of a king named Sāmantavarman who gave the village of Vaṭagrāma in the district of Himaṇigosa to a Brāhmaṇa of the Bhāradvāja gotra named Govinda-śarman by an undated grant.² The inscription of Chandavarman already quoted above is very probably a Śālaṅkāyana record. It was issued in the year six of the king's reign, who is called the lord of Kaliṅga. The charter records the grant of the village Kohetura to a Brāhmaṇa of the Bhāradvāja gotra on the fifth day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra of the year six.³ A king named Pṛthivīvarman, the son of Mahendravarman, calls himself a king of Kaliṅga of the Gaṅga family in a set of plates discovered in the Ganjam district. By this charter, which is undated and issued from Śvetka, the king grants the village (illegible) in the district of Jānorā to a Brāhmaṇa of the Vātsa gotra on the occasion of Vishuva saṅkrānti. Pṛthivīvarman is mentioned as the lord of a city named Kolāhalā, which Mr. L. Rice takes to be Kolar in the Mysore State, but, as the inscription mentions the god Gokarṇeśvara on Mahendra hill, the king must be an eastern Gaṅga king.⁴ King Śaktivarman mentioned in the Ragolu plates of the Ganjam district calls himself “Lord of Kaliṅga.” The charter was issued from Piṣṭapura, i. e., modern Piṭṭapuram, but the grant is not dated and no details are known about the family of the king except that he calls himself a Magadha.¹ Similarly king Umāvarman calls himself Lord of Kaliṅga in the plates discovered in the Pālakonda taluga. The charter records the grant of the village of Bṛihatproshtha to a Brāhmaṇa named Haridatta on the 20th day of the month of Mārgaśīrsha of the year 30, evidently of the king's reign. The order was issued from Siṃhapura.²
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¹ Annual Report of the Asst. Archæological Supdt., Southern Circle, for the year 1917-18., p. 140.
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² Ibid., 1916-17, p. 9, no. 12.
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³ Epi. Ind., Vol. IV, p. 144.
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⁴ Ibid., pp. 199-201.
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¹ Ibid., Vol. XII, pp. 2-3
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² Ibid., p. 5.
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Many different dynasties of Gaṅgas appears to have been ruling over Kaliṅga and all of them claimed to be in possession of the city of Kaliṅga. The Parlakimedi plates of the time of a certain Vajrahasta prove that a king of this name, whose father's name is not mentioned, also claimed to be ruling over the city of Kaliṅga. He is styled Mahārājādhirāja, the ornament of the spotless Gaṅga race and the master of the five districts. The date is also omitted. The inscription begins by stating that it was issued from Kaliṅganagara by the devout worshipper of Śiva, Gokarṇeśvara on the top of Mahendra hill. The charter records the grant of the village of Hossaṇḍi to Kāmadi, son of Erayamarāja of the Naggari-Saluki family. The actual grant was made by a chief named Dāraparāja, son of the Choḷa Kāmadi, to his son-in-law, whose name was also Kāmadi.³ The bearer of the order was a Kāyastha named Bachchhapayya, who was a minister of Dāraparāja and it was written by the Mahāsāndhivigrahin Droṇāchārya. The late Dr. Kielhorn identified this Vajrahasta with Vajrahasta, the grandfather of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga, but the writing on the Parlakimedi plates is totally different from that on the Nadagam plates or the Narasapatan plates. This Vajrahasta must be one of the earlier princes [Figure: (c) Rescuer before house and abduction of female after fight between a male and a female Frieze in the upper storey corridor—Rani Nur Gumpha]
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³ Ibid., Vol. III, pp. 220-224.
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of the same name, at least five of whom are mentioned in the ancestry of the Eastern Ganga kings of Kalinga or Orissa. The Vizagapatam plates of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga of Śaka 1040 contain the longest genealogy.¹ According to this inscription Kolāhala was the founder of a city after his own name, Kolāhalapura in Gaṅgavāḍi (in Mysore), then after eighty-one kings of that city was born Virasiṁha who had five sons named Kāmārṇava I, Dānārṇava I, Guṇārṇava I, Nāraṁsiṁha and Vajrahasta I, Kāmārṇava I captured Kalinga after defeating a king named Bālāditya and ruled at Jantavura (i. e., Dantapura, the ancient capital of Kalinga) for thirty-six years. He was followed by his younger brother Dānārṇava I, who ruled for forty years. He was succeeded by his son Kāmārṇava II, who ruled at Kaliṅganagara for half a century. He was succeeded by his son Raṇārṇava, who ruled for five years. and his grandson Vajrahasta II was succeeded by his younger brother Kāmārṇava III, who ruled for nineteen years and was succeeded by his son Guṇārṇava II, who ruled for twenty-seven years. This Guṇārṇava may possibly be identical with Devendravarman’s father. Devendravarman I was ruling from the Gaṅga year 183 to 195. Guṇārṇava II was succeeded by his son Jitāṅkuśa, who ruled for fifteen years. He appears to have been quite different from Devendravarman I, son of Guṇārṇava, who also ruled over Kalinga.
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Jitāṅkuśa was succeeded by his nephew Kaligalāṅkuśa, who ruled for twelve years and was succeeded by his father’s father Guṇḍama I, who ruled for seven years. He was evidently a son of Guṇārṇava II and a brother of Gitāṅkuśa. Guṇḍama was succeeded by his younger brother Kāmārṇava IV, who ruled for twenty-five years, and he by his younger brother Vinayāditya, who ruled for three years. Guṇārṇava II was thus succeeded by four of his sons and one grandson. The succession was thus carried on further by another grandson of Guṇārṇava II, Vajrahasta IV, a son of Kāmārṇava IV, who ruled for thirty-five years. He was succeeded by his son Kāmārṇava V, who ruled for six months only. Guṇḍama II, his younger brother, succeeded him and ruled for three years. He was succeeded by his step-brother Madhu-Kāmārṇava VI, who ruled for nineteen years. His son and successor, Vajrahasta V, was the first to assume the title of Tri-Kaling-ādhipati, and ruled for thirty years. His son Rājarāja I, who married the Chola princess Rājasundarī, a daughter of Rājendra Choḷa II of Veṅgi, i. e., Kuloṭṭuṅga I of Tanjore. Rājarāja I ruled for eight years and was succeeded by his son, Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga. A slightly different chronology is provided in the Nadagam plates, of Vajrāhasta of the Śaka year 979. In the lineage of the Gaṅgas of Tri-Kaliṅga was the Mahārāja Guṇamahārṇava. His son Vajrahasta reigned for forty-four years.
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Vajrahasta's son, Gundama I, reigned for three years, whose younger brother, Kāmārṇava, ruled for thirty-five years. Kāmārṇava was succeeded by his younger brother, Vinayāditya, who ruled for three years. Kāmārṇava's son, Vajrahasta-Aniyaṅkabhīma, ruled for thirty-five years and was succeeded by his son Kāmārṇava, who ruled for six months only. His younger brother, Guṇḍama II, ruled for three years and was succeeded by his step-brother Madhu-Kāmārṇava, who ruled for nineteen years. According to this inscription, Vajrahasta, the grandfather of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga, was the son of Kāmārṇava, the eldest son of Vajrahasta Aniyaṅkabhima. 1 This list gives a total of 142 1/2 years from the date of the accession of Vajrahasta and therefore of the death of Guṇamahārṇava. If we take this king to be the same as Guṇārṇava, father of Devendravarman I, who began to rule some time before 183 of the Gaṅga year and if we take the year 180 of the same era as the year of accession of Devendravarman I, then we find that Vajrahasta, the grandfather of Anantavarman, came to the throne in the Gaṅga year 323. But as the known date of his accession is 1038 A. D.=960 Śaka, it becomes fairly certain that the Gaṅga era began in the first or second decade of the 8th century A. D. The date given in the Vizagapatam plates can also be employed to test this result.
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According to it, from Kāmārṇava I up to the end of the reign of Rājarāja I, the Eastern Gaṅgas of that particular branch from which Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga was descended, ruled for 349 years. The total length of reigns from the beginning of the rule of Kāmārṇava I up to the end of that of Guṇārṇava II is 192 years leaving 157 years up to 1078 A. D., the year of the accession of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga. This would bring the death of Guṇārṇava to 921 A. D., as only 157 years intervene between him and the accession of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga. If this Guṇārṇava is the father of Devendravarman I, then he died approximately in the Gaṅga year 180. The initial year of the Gaṅga era, therefore, would fall in 741 A. D. This difference of 20 years can be neglected for the present when centuries are at stake in the calculation of the Gaṅga era. The most recent contribution to the subject is an elaborate article by Mr. G. Ramadas, B. A. It is based on a series of elaborate astronomical calculations and a number of assumptions. In the first place, the eclipses recorded have been sought between 624 and 961 A. D., wherein Mr. Ramadas has sought to place the 127th 251st. 304th, 351st and 91st years of the Gaṅga era. In the next place the writer makes certain untenable assumptions, e. g., "The Kaliṅga ruled over by the Gaṅgas was quite different from the Kaliṅga of Asokan times.
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The Kaliṅga of the Gaṅgas being connected with the Mountain Mahendra was quite different from that subdued by the Great Mauryan Emperor, which was not mentioned to have included the mountain." ¹ The next wrong assumption is based on paleography :
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¹ *Ind. Ant.*, Vol. XVII, pp. 165-72.
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¹ Ibid., Vol IV, pp. 183-93.
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¹ Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol. IX, 1923, p. 404.
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"I have compared, letter to letter :
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(1) The Chicacole plates of Devendravarma, son of Guṇārṇava, dated in 183rd year with the Gaṇeśaghaḍ plates of Dhruvasena I of Samvat 207 (Gupta era).
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(2) The Siddhanta plates of Devendravarma, son of Guṇārṇava, dated in 195th year with the Abhona plates of Śaṅkaragaṇa (Kalachuri) Samvat 347.
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(3) The Purle plates of Indravarma, son of Daṇārṇava dated in 195th year with the Podaguḍa inscription of the son of king Bhavadatta, the characters of which are said to very closely resemble those of the Mandasor inscription of the Gupta King Kumāragupta of the Mālava year 493 (A. D. 437-38).²
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² Ibid., p. 406.
v1.c23.46
On these assumptions Mr. Ramadas calculates that the Gaṅga era was reckoned from the Śaka year 271 or 349-50 A. D. According to him, the Achyutapuram plates of Indravarman I issued in Chaitra G.S., 87 are dated 3rd March 436 A. D., and the Parlakimedi plates of Indravarman I issued in Māgha G.S., 91 are dated 23rd January 441. Now, there is no difference of opinion of the date of the Ganjam plates of the time Śaśāṅka of G.E. 300 issued by Mādhavarāja II of the Śailodbhava family. None of the Gaṅga plates mentioned above are earlier in date than this grant which was issued in 619 A. D., and, therefore, the initial year of the Gaṅga era cannot lie in 349-50 A.D.¹
v1.c23.47
¹ Ibid., pp. 398-415
Linked texts (10)
- Nalanda Plate of Devapāla, year 35 — Sanskrit
- Penukonda Plates of Mādhava II (495 AD) — Sanskrit
- Śrīraṅgam, Raṅganātha temple, time of Sundara Pāṇḍya — Sanskrit
- Epigraphia Indica
- Indian Antiquary
- Chicacole plates of the Mahārāja Satyavarman — Sanskrit
- Chicacole plates of Devendravarmadeva, year 51 — Sanskrit
- Grant of Vishnuvarman: the 28th Year — Sanskrit
- Parlā-Kimeḍi plates of the Mahārāja Indravarman.—The year 91 (ed. Fleet 1887) — Sanskrit
- Bāmnērā plate of Kēlhaṇa-dēva [undated] — Sanskrit