History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c23.35

v1.c23.35

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]