History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c23.37.3

v1.c23.37.3

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.