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History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c24: Chapter XVI. The Eastern Gaṅgas. Vajrahasta to Anaṅgabhīma I

History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c24

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Chapter XVI. The Eastern Gaṅgas. Vajrahasta to Anaṅgabhīma I

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The confusion in the history and chronology of Orissa vanishes completely from the beginning of the 11th century A.D. when Vajrahasta of Kaliṅganagara assumed the title of *Tri-Kaliṅg-Adhipati* and ascended the throne in Śaka 960=Sunday 9th April 1038 A.D. The assumption of the new title by a Gaṅga king of Kaliṅga proves that he acquired some sort of authority over the whole of ancient Kaliṅga, comprising its three ancient divisions : Utkala, Koṅgoda and Kaliṅga. Utkala or Orissa had not been thoroughly conquered as yet and no inscription of this king has been discovered in modern Orissa. His earliest inscription is to be found on the Narasapatan plates of Śaka 967-1045 A.D. The plates were discovered in the Narasapatan *taluga* of the Vizagapatam district. The grant was issued from Dantipura by Vajrahasta of the Gaṅga family, the son of Mahārāja Kāmārṇava. Instead of beginning from Kāmārṇava I, as in the Vizagapatam plates of his grandson Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga, it begins here with Vajrahasta I. Vajrahasta is really the 5th king of that name in the dynasty founded by Kāmārṇava I, the son of Virasiṃha, though he is styled Vajrahasta III by Prof. Sten Konow according to the genealogy given here. This Vajrahasta V will be styled Vajrahasta in this book, as no other king of this name ruled over Orissa after him. He was the son of Kāmārṇava by Vinaya Mahādevī of the Vaidumba family of the Andhra country. He is styled *Parama-Māheśvara*, *Parama-Bhaṭṭāraka* and *Mahārājādhirāja* in addition to the title of *Tri-Kaliṅgādhipati*. The charter records the grant of the village of Tampavā along with thirty-five others in the district (*vishaya*) of Gorasaṭṭa to Mānāditya-Choṭṭa and Vira-Bhūrisrava of the Vaidumba family of the Kāśyapa *gotra*, who had emigrated from Peṭṭakallu, on Monday the 9th of the month of Mīna (*Chaitra*) of the Śaka year 967. The grant contains the boundaries of the district of Gorasaṭṭa. To the east was Vistīrṇaśilā, to the south-east Vināyaka-vaṭa, to the south the grant of Taṅku-Bhaṭṭārikā, to the south-west the hill of Andhāra-veṇi, to the west Kāñichaśalā on the bank of the river Vamśadhārā, to the north-west Āmrāpāthara and to the North Madhupa-pali, to the north-west Tālafijara-śilā. The charter was written by the *Sāndhivigrahin*, the *Kāyastha* Dhavala and the grant was incised by Meṇṭojuna.¹ None of the localities mentioned in the charter can be identified except the river Vamśadharā.

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¹ *Epi. Ind., Vol XI, pp. 147-53.*

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Another grant was issued by the same king in the Śaka year 976-1054 A. D., in which he is called Anantavarman, a name assumed by many of his successors in addition to their real names. The plates on which this charter is to be found belong to the Raja Sahib of Mandasa in the Ganjam district. The actual donor was a feudatory chief, named Dharmakhedi, son of Bhāmakhedi of the Kādamba family, who was governing the district of Pañchapātra. The Kādambas were officers of the Eastern Gaṅgas and an Ugrakhedi is mentioned in the Parlakimedi plates of Vajrahasta.¹ Another Dharmakhedi is also mentioned in the Tekkali plates of Devendravarman II, son of Rajendravarman of the Gaṅga year 254. If the initial year of the Gaṅga era is taken to be 715 A. D. then the grant of G. s., 254 was issued in 969 A.D. *i.e.*, three generations earlier than Vajrahasta, son of Kāmārṇava. This Dharmakhedi, therefore, appears to be an ancestor of Dharmakhedi of 1054 A.D. The order was brought by the *Rāṇaka* Vettikuratha. A *Sāmanta* named Nala-Cheṇḍāla is mentioned towards the end of the inscription and the learned South Indian Epigraphist proposes to identify him with a Chandella chieftain.² The third inscription of Vajrahasta was discovered in Nadagam, a village in the Narasanna-peṭa *taluqa* of the Ganjam district. This inscription contains two very important dates. The charter itself was issued in Śaka 979, Sunday the 12th of the bright half of Phālguna-4th March 1058 A.D., but the inscription mentions that Vajrahasta ascended the throne in Śaka 960 when the Sun was in Vṛsha, the Moon in the Rohiṇī *Nakshatra*, in the *Dhanur-lagna*, Sunday the 3rd of the bright half of the month (Jyaishṭha), Sunday 3rd May 1038 A.D. This grant was issued from the ancient capital, Kaliṅganagara and opens with the mention of Śiva Gokarṇasvāmin on Mahendra mountain. The genealogy of Vajrahasta is traced from Guṇamahārṇava. The only important historical information to be derived from it is that Vajrahasta I, the father of Guṇḍama I, united the kingdom of Kaliṅga by conquering the five different parts into which it had been divided. The charter records the grant of an extensive tract of land containing twelve villages, "which were separated from the district of Erada and constituted into a separate district, which was named the Velāpūra *vishaya* after its chief village Velāpūra."¹ The latest known date of Vajrahasta is to be found in the Madras Museum plates of Śaka 984-1061. A. D. by which the king granted the village of Tāmaracheru with the hamlet of Chikhali in Varāhavartanī to five hundred Brāhmaṇas on the occasion of a solar eclipse. The village of Tāmaracheru was previously granted to Brāhmaṇas by the early Gaṅga kings Devendravarman and Indravarman.² According to the late Professor Kielhorn the eclipse took place on the 20th June 1061.³ Kaliṅganagara has been identified by some with Mukhalingam, and Nagara-kaṭakam, and by others with Kaliṅgapatanam.

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¹ *Ibid.*, Vol. III, p.: 222.

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² *Annual Progress Report of the Assistant Archaeological Superintendent for Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for 1918, pp. 13, 138-39.*

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¹ *Ibid.*, Vol. *IV*, pp. 183-93.

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² *Ind. Ant.* Vol. *XIII*, 1884, pp. 273 ; *Ibid.*, pp. 119.

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³ *Epi. Ind.* Vol. *IX*. pp. 94-98.

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Frieze in the corridor of the upper storey of the Rani Nur Gumpha—(d) Royal hunting Scene, King shooting winged deer, and meeting nymph seated on a tree

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The origin of the Eastern Gaṅgas, specially of the branch to which Vajrahasta belonged, is given in Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga's grant of the Śaka year 1040-1118 A. D. Kāmārṇava I, the second son of Vajrahasta I, gave over his own territory in Gaṅgavāḍi to his father's brother and set out to conquer the world with his brothers. He came to Mahendragiri and after having worshipped Gokarṇasvāmin obtained the crest of a bull and then defeated Bālāditya, who had grown sick of war, and conquered the Kaliṅga countries. According to the genealogies given in the inscriptions of the later kings Vajrahasta reigned for 30 or 33 years. As his coronation took place in 1038 A. D., he must have ruled till 1068 or 1071 A. D. It is more probable that he ruled for 30 years only.

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He was succeeded by his son Rājarāja I, whom we know to have been reigning in 1075 A. D. An inscription discovered in the small village of Dirghāsi, four miles to the north of Kaliṅga-patam in the Ganjam district, records the erection of a maṇḍapa in front of the temple of Durgā at Dīrgharāśi or Dīrghāsi in the Śaka year 997-1075 A. D., by a Brāhmaṇa chieftain named Gaṇapati in the service of king Rājarāja of the Gaṅga dynasty. According to this inscription, Gaṇapati was a Pratihārin, hereditary in the family, and he defeated the army of the Choḷa king, often defeated the king of Veṅgī and destroyed the troops of the king of Utkala.¹ These references can be better understood by a reference to the Vizagapatam plates of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga of the Śaka year 1040. In this inscription Rājarāja is said to have gained a great victory over the Choḷa king and then married his daughter Rājasundarī. The Choḷas are called Dramiḷas in this record. This Choḷa invasion is no doubt that of Kuloṭtuṅga Choḷa I, one of whose Tamil inscriptions has been discovered in the temple of Nṛisiṃha-svāmin at Siṃhāchalam near Waltair in the Vizagapatam district. This inscription is dated Śaka 1021-1099 A. D. It mentions a minister (Sāmdhi-vigrahin) named Madurāṃtaka-Brāhmamaṛayar.² As both parties claim the victory, the result of the Northern campaign of Kulottunga Chola I must be taken to be indecisive. Another factor in this war was the Eastern Chalukya king Vijayaditya of Vengi, who according to the Vizagapatam plates had grown old and was about to lose his kingdom to the Cholas. This is no doubt the Eastern Chalukya king, Vijayaditya VII, the younger brother of the Maharajadhiraja Rajaraja Vishnuvardhana of Vengi, who ascended the throne in 1022 A. D., and was married to Ammangadevi, a daughter of the great Rajendra Chola I of Tanjore. This king, Rajaraja Vishnuvardhana, ruled for 40 or 41 years, say upto 1063 A. D., and, therefore, his younger brother, Vijayaditya VII, who ruled at Vengi for 15 years becomes the contemporary of his nephew Kulottunga Chola I of Tanjore and Rajaraja, son of Vajrahasta III, of Kalinga. The Vizagapatam plates of Saka 1040 state that having rescued Vijayaditya VII from the Chola peril Rajaraja replaced him in the Western region. Rajaraja's marriage with the Chola princess Rajasundari has caused some difference of opinion among scholars. The late Mr. Monmohan Chakravarti was of the opinion that "this Chola king was Vira Rajendra Deva I, surnamed Parakesarivarman (A. D., 1052-70); and thus Coraganga became related to the great Chola king Kulottunga Chola I, as his sister's son."[1] This is clearly inadmissible, as the Vizagapatam plates of the Saka year 1057 state clearly that Rajasundari, the chief queen of Rajaraja, was the daughter of Rajendra Chola. The late Prof. Kielhorn, therefore, identificd this Rajendra Chola with Rajendra Chola II, alias Kulottunga Chola I.[2] Moreover, Kulottuṅga Choḷa I was not a son of Rājendradeva Parakeśarivarman, but of the Eastern Chālukya king Rājarāja from Ammaṅgadevī, the daughter of Rājendra Choḷa I. He married Madhurāntakī, a daughter of Rājendradeva.¹ This Kulottuṅga Choḷa I ruled at Veṅgī before his accession as Choḷa king at Tanjore.² The real object of his attack on his nephew, Vijayāditya VII of Veṅgī, was to add his ancestral possessions to the Choḷa empire. He married his daughter Rājasundarī to the Eastern Gaṅga king Rājarāja after being defeated by the latter.

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¹ Ibid., pp. 314-18.

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² Annual Progress Report of the Assistant Superintendent for Epigraphy for the year ending with 30th June, 1900, Madras, p. 10.

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¹ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. LXXII, 1903, p. 108.

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² Epi. Ind., Vol. VIII, App. I, p. 17, Note 2.

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¹ Ibid., App. II, p. 23; No. 17.

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² Ibid., p. 18, No. 30

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Rājarāja I was succeeded by his son Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga, born of the Choḷa princess Rājasundarī. Many inscriptions of this king have been discovered. The date of his accession, the Śaka year 998=1078 A. D., has been verified from many different inscriptions. He enjoyed a very long reign of 72 years according to his own inscription, but those of the successors assign 70 years to him. The king is very well-known from three dated land-grants originally discovered in the Vizagapatam district and now preserved in the Central Government Museum at Madras. The earliest of them is dated Śaka 1003= Sunday, 4th April 1081 A.D. The date of the accession of the king is also given in this inscription : Śaka 999 expired, Saturday 17th February=1078 A. D. The grant was issued from the ancient Gaṅga capital of Kaliṅganagara. The inscription records the gift of the village of Chakivaḍa in the Samvā vishaya to the god Rājarāieśvara in the village of Reṅgujeḍā.¹ This inscription does not give any information of historical interest except that the king used the title of Tri-Kaliṅgādhipati. The second grant gives the complete genealogy of the Gaṅgas from the moon to Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga. The historical information supplied by this inscription is very important. According to it one of the ancestors of the king built the city of Kolāhalapura in the district or vishaya of Gaṅgavāḍi. It also records the migration of Kāmārṇava I from Gaṅgavāḍi or Mysore to Kaliṅga, his worship of the god Gokarṇeśvara on Mahendra-giri and the defeat of a king named Bālāditya, which resulted in the conquest of the Kaliṅga country. As regards Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga, it states that he "first replaced the fallen lord of Utkala in his kingdom in the Eastern region and then the waning lord of Veṅgi in the Western region and propped up their failing fortunes." The grant was issued in the Śaka year 1040=1118 A. D., in favour of a personal attendant named Mādhava. The name of the village granted was Tāmarakhaṇḍi of the Samvā vishaya. The last line of the inscription contains the information that the king Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga considered himself to be "decorated with the rank of entire sovereignty over the whole of Utkala." This grant was issued from a town called Sindurapora and not from Kaliṅganagara.² The third grant belongs to the Trustees of the temple of Saṅgam in the Vizagapatam district. It was issued in the Śaka year 1057=1135 A. D., from the ancient Gaṅga capital of Kaliṅganagara. The object of this inscription is to record the grant of the village of Sumudā with its hamlet in the Sammāga district in the Kalinga country to a person named Choḍagaṅga, son of one Permāḍirāja, who is called a trusted agent.¹ The date of the accession of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga is given but the very interesting historical references to be found in the grant of the Śaka year 1040 are omitted.

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¹ Ind. Ant., Vol. XVIII., pp. 161-65.

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² Ibid., pp. 165-72.

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¹ *Ibid.*, pp. 172-76.

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Besides these three land grants, Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga is known from a number of small stone inscriptions of which more than one hundred have been discovered in the temples at Mukhaliṅgam and several at Śrī-Kurmam. It is interesting to note that no inscriptions of this king have yet been discovered in the Puri, Cuttack and the Balasore districts of Northern Orissa. This perhaps proves that some local king was still ruling over Northern Orissa who had been reinstated by Anantavarman, as stated in his inscriptions. According to the inscriptions of his successors Anantavarman destroyed the fortified town of Āramya or Ānamya and then defeated the king of Mandāra. This Mandāra is called in the *Rāmacharita* Apara-Mandāra² to distinguish it from Mandāra in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar. It is called Madāran in the *Ain-i-Akbari*³ and Mandāran in Bankim Chandra’s celebrated novel *Durgeś-nandinī*. The place is now called Bhitargarh and lies eight miles to the west of Ārāmbāgh in the Hooghly district of Bengal. The king of Mandāra is said to have been defeated on the banks of the Ganges, though that river now flows more than fifty miles from Bhitargarh. The empire of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga now extended from the mouth of the Ganges in the north to the mouth of the Godāvarī in the south. The western boundary of this vast kingdom was not properly defined. His immediate neighbours on the west were the Kaḷachuris or Haihayas of Ratnapura. Anantavarman’s relations with the Chedīs were not amicable. In the Malhar inscriptions of Jājalladeva, Ratnadeva I is said to have defeated king Choḍagaṅga¹ and this information is repeated in the Ratnapura inscription of Pṛthvīdeva.² According to a work of very doubtful antecedents, edited by Mahāmahopādhyāya Dr. Hara Prasād Śāstri, M.A., PH. D., C.I.E., the Vallāla-charitam by Ananda Bhaṭṭa, Vijayasena of Bengal was the friend of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga.

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² *Rāmacharita*, II. 5.; *Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal*, Vol. III, p. 36.

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³ Blochmann & Jarett’s Eng. Trans., Vol. II., p. 141.

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¹ Epi. Ind., Vol. I, pp. 40-43.

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² Ibid., pp. 47-49.

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The greatest monument of this king which has survived up to our times is the temple of Jagannātha at Puri. According to Mr. Monmohan Chakravarti, the great temple, i. e., the Vimāna or sanctum and the Jagamohana or the first maṇḍapa were erected by Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga towards the close of the 11th century A. D.³ There is no doubt about the fact that the Nāṭyaśālā now called the Nāṭ-mandir, and the Bhogamaṇḍapa were erected at a much later date. The long range of votive inscriptions and pilgrim's records at Mukhaliṅgam testify to the prosperity of the metropolitan district of the kingdom of Choḍagaṅga during his reign. Bhāsvaṭī, a work on astronomy, was composed in the Śaka year 1021=1099 A. D., by one Śatānanda, son of Śaṅkara, an inhabitant of Puri. Traces of Choḍagaṅga’s name may still be found in “Churaṅgasāhī, a quarter in Puri town ; in Churaṅga-pokhri, a tank about six miles S. W., of Cuṭṭack town ; in Sāraṅga-garh, a fort, the remains of which are still visible on the Madras Trunk Road close to Barang Railway Station ; and in the temple of Gaṅgeśvara, town Jājapura, District Cuṭṭack.”¹

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³ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal; old series, Vol. LXVII, 1898, pp. 328-31.

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¹ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Old Series, Vol. LXXII, 1903, pp. 110-11.

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The names of many queens of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga have been found in the inscriptions ; Kasturikāmodinī, Indirā and Chandralekhā are mentioned in the copper plate grants of his descendants. Somalā-Mahādevī, Lakshmīdevī and Pṛithvī-Mahādevī are mentioned in the votive inscriptions. The names of two other queens have become illegible in the Mukhaliṅgam inscriptions. Four of his sons reigned after him. Their names are Kāmārṇava, Rāghava, Rājarāja II and Aniyaṅkabhīma or Anaṅgabhīma. Another son, named Umāvallabha, is also mentioned in a votive inscription. Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga had a younger brother whose name is not known to us, but his wife made some gifts at Mukhaliṅgam. Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga was succeeded by his son Kāmārṇava from the queen Kasturikāmodinī. There is some differences of opinion amongst scholars regarding the date of the accession of Kāmārṇava. The late Dr. F. Kielhorn² was of the opinion that the accession of Kāmārṇava took place in 1142 A.D. He places the accession of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga in 1078 and regards 70 years as the total period of his reign. This would place the death of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga in 1148 A.D. Kāmārṇava was anointed in the Śaka year 1064=1142 A. D., but Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga was alive and ruling in Śaka 1069 according to a votive record from Mukhaliṅgam. Therefore, the coronation or anointment of Kāmārṇava does not mean his actual accession to the throne.¹ Our difficulties with regard to Gaṅga chronology begins from this date. The next four kings are known from the inscriptions of their distant successors and these inscriptions mention that such and such ruled for 10 years or 15 years as the case may be. Kāmārṇava is said to have ruled for 10 years. We do not know from what date these 10 years are to be counted. Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga was alive in Śaka 1069=1148 A. D. This would mean that Kāmārṇava ruled till 1158. His latest known date is Śaka 1077, which corresponded to the 10th year of the reign of the king. This brings us to 1155 A. D. We do not know whether the dates given in the votive inscription are regnal years or Aṅka years. If they are Aṅka years, then the 10th Aṅka is the 8th year as the first and sixth Aṅkas are not counted, and the 12th Aṅka would fall in 1157-58 A. D. The coronation of Kāmārṇava took place when his father was very old and unable to govern the kingdom. This was actually suggested by the late Mr. Chakravartī. The sons of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga were very probably old men when they succeeded to the throne. Kāmārṇava died very probably in the Śaka year 1078=1156 A. D., and was succeeded by his step-brother Rāghava. Kāmārṇava is also called Anantavarman in the votive inscriptions. In one or two cases only he is called Anantavarman Madhu-Kāmārṇava to distinguish him from his father. In one inscription at Mukhaliṅgam he is called Jaṭeśvaradeva. Like those of his father his inscriptions have been found at Śrī Kurmam and Mukhaliṅgam only.

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² Epi. Ind., Vol. VIII. App. I., p. 17.

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¹ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Old Series, Vol. LXXII, 1903, part I., p. 108.

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Frieze in the corridor of the upper storey of the Rani Nur Gumpha—(e) King seated in a dancing hall

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Rāghava, the younger brother and successor of Kāmārṇava, is not known from any inscriptions. His date has been fixed from the calculations of the dates of his successor Rājarāja II. As the latter ascended the throne in Śaka 1092, the accession of his predecessor Rāghava falls in Śaka 1078=1156 A.D., because the latter ruled for 15 years according to the copper plates discovered at Puri and Kenduapatna. Rāghava’s mother Indirādevī was a princess of the Ravi-kula or the Sūrya-vaṃśa. Most probably both Kāmārṇava and Rāghava died childless and therefore a third son of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga named Rājarāja obtained the throne in the Śaka year 1092=1170 A.D. The earliest known date of this king is Śaka 1093=1171 A.D., which was his third Aṅka. His latest known date is the Śaka year 1110=1188 A.D. From the calculations of the dates of the next king it has been determined that his last year was Śaka 1112=1190 A.D. The Puri and Kenduapatna plates credit him with a reign of 25 years, but this must be an Aṅka figure, because Rājarāja’s successor, Anaṅgabhīma II, was actually on the throne in 1190 A.D. Rājarāja II, was the son of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga by queen Chandralekhā. He married Suramā, the sister of Svapneśvaradeva, who erected the Megheśvara temple at Bhuvaneśvara.¹ In his old age he handed over the kingdom to his younger brother Anangabhima II. The inscriptions of Rajaraja II also are to be found only at Mukhalingam. The last year of the reign of Rajaraja II has been calculated from the inscriptions of Anangabhima II, who ascended the throne in 1190 A. D.

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¹ Ibid., Vol. LXVI, 1897, part. I, pp. 11-24.

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Anangabhima or Aniyankabhima II was the last of the sons of Anantavarman Chodaganga to ascend the throne. Like his elder brothers Kamarnava, Raghava and Rajaraja II, he is not called Anantavarman in votive inscriptions. He must have been very old when he came to the throne. The Puri and Kenduaptana plates assign 10 years to him, which, if they are Anka years, would be equivalent to 8 years, and from inscriptions of his son, Rajaraja III, we know that the last year of his reign was Saka 1120=1198 A.D. which would thus make his reign to be 9 years. He was the only son of Anantavarman Chodaganga who was succeeded on the throne by his own son. During the reign of Anangabhima II, Svapnesvaradeva, the brother-in-law of Rajaraja II, erected the beautiful temple of Meghesvara at Bhuvanesvara.¹ His Brahmana minister Govinda, erected a temple at Chatesvara subsequently. Anangabhima died in 1198 and was succeeded by his son Rajaraja III.

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¹ Epi. Ind., Vol. VI, pp. 198-203.

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With the accession of Rajaraja III a new era begins in Orissan history. During the last six or seven years of the reign of Anangabhima II the map of India had been completely changed by the fall of the great Rajput kingdoms of Northern India. Prithviraja II, the Chahamana king of Delhi and Ajmer, had fallen after the second battle of Tarain in 1192. The proud Jayachchandra had fallen on the field of Chandawar in 1194. The Musalmans had advanced as far as Chunar and Maner near Patna at the time of the death of Anaṅgabhīma II. The fall of the great Buddhist University at Nālandā was imminent. The conquest of Western Bengal, which was to open the road to Orissa to the Musalmans, was to follow next year. We find that the kings of the Eastern Gaṅga dynasty of Orissa were as unmindful of the impending catastrophe as the Chāhamānas, the Gāhaḍavālas, the Chandelas, the Pālas and the Senas. Concerted action against the foreign invader or against the iconoclast, who was menacing the sacred Hindu religion, did not seem to have entered into the conception of Hindu kings and statesmen of Northern India in the 12th century. The grandsons of Anaṅgabhīma II revived and met Musalman aggression with equal vehemence, but for the time being Rājarāja III was completely paralysed by the first Musalman raids into Northern Orissa on account of the supineness of his father and grandfather.

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