History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c30.18

v1.c30.18

The decline of Orissa was now rapid and within forty years of the end of the Vijayanagar war, Jajpur was already in the occupation of the Musalmans of Bengal. According to the *Riyāz-us-salāṭīn*, ’Alāuddin Husain Shāh of Bengal conquered all the kingdoms between Gaur and Orissa. According to the *Mādāla Pañji* ’Ismail Ghāzī of Bengal commanded the Musalman expedition into Orissa during the reign of Pratāparudra. “In A. D. 1509 Ismail Ghāzī (named Surasthāna in M. Pañji) a general of the Bengal Nawab, made a dash into Orissa, ravaged the country, sacked Puri town and destroyed a number of Hindu temples. Pratāparudra hurried from the south and the Mahomedan general retreated. He was closely pursued and defeated on the bank of the Ganges. The general took refuge in fort Mandaran (sub-division Jahanabad, district Hooghly) and was besieged. But one of the Raja’s high officers, Govinda Vidvādhara, went over to the enemy’s side; and so the Raja had to raise the siege and retire to Orissa.”¹ A reference to the war with the Musalmans of Bengal is to be found in the Kavali plates of Pratāparudra of the Śaka year 1432=1510-11 A. D. We learn from this inscription that Pratāparudra recovered his kingdom from the king of Gauḍa, who was defeated by him. He is called Pañcha-Gaud-adhināyaka. He was ruling over Choḷamaṇḍala and the grant was issued from Uṇḍrakoṇḍa, the capital of Pākanāḍu. The Bengal campaign took place in the reign of ’Alāuddin Husain Shāh and not Shamsuddin Muẓaffar Shāh, as stated by the government epigraphist for Madras, Mr. G. Venkoba Rao, in 1921. ² The Kavali grant was issued in 1510 and Muẓaffar Shah of Bengal had ceased to reign in 1493.³ during the life time of Purushottama.