History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c27.20.2

v1.c27.20.2

Viśvanāthadeva, the son of Purushottama, was an Eastern Chālukya chief and he is the donee. Mr. Chakravarti has taken the Śaka year 1231=1309 A. D., to be the third year of the reign of Bhānudeva II, but the text of the inscription is perfectly clear. The year 1309 A. D. was the third year of the reign of a new king named Jagannāthadeva. At the same time Purushottama of the Eastern Chālukya dynasty cannot be Purushottama of the Puri plates, because at that time Viśvanātha of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty was ruling over Śrī-Kurmam. It appears that Śaka 1228 or 1306 A. D. was the year of accession of this new king, Jagannātha, as well as Purushottama of the Puri plates of Śaka 1234. Had any of these names occurred in the metrical portion of these two inscriptions, then they could have been taken as synonymous, as both are names of Viṣṇu. But being in cold prose it is impossible to regard them as identical. Moreover, in the Śrī-Kurmam inscription of the Śaka year 1231, the style of the composition proves that Jagannātha was a feudatory of Vira-Bhānu II, but in the Puri plates of Śaka 1234, Vira-Bhānu is not even styled a king. We must, therefore, regard Purushottama as an usurper who kept Bhānudeva II virtually a prisoner in the interior of his palace at Purī. Mr. Chakravarty placed his coronation in Śaka 1227 and his death in Śaka 1249-50. The first year or 2nd Aṅka of his son Narasimha III is certain, and, therefore, Bhānudeva II died in 1328 A. D.