History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c31.3

v1.c31.3

The length of the reign of Kakhāru-ā Deva is not mentioned by Chakravarti and it is therefore not possible to ascertain when the Sūrya-vaṁśa dynasty became extinct. Govinda ascended the throne in 1541-42, as his 4th Aṅka fell in 1543 A. D. It is therefore apparent that he ascended the throne some time in 1541 or 1542, as 1543 was his third regnal year. If we accept that he came to the throne late in 1542, even then we must add one year and six months of the reign of Kālu-ā Deva. Thus we find that Pratāparudra died either late in 1539 or early in 1540. But as no statement of the Mādalā Pāñji can be relied on without corroboration, it is extremely doubtful what happened during the interval between Chaitanya’s death in 1533-34 and the accession of Govinda Vidyādhara in 1541-1542. The dynasty founded by Govinda is called the Bhoi dynasty, because he belonged to the writer or Bhoi caste. Only one inscription of this king is known and for the rest we have to depend on the Mādalā Pāñji. According to one version of that record, Govinda reigned for seven years but according to another for eleven years and seven months. Mr. Chakravarti, with his ripe experience of Oṛiyā temple records and votive inscriptions, considered the shorter period as being more probable and consistent with the regnal years which follow. Five kings of Orissa reigned between the extinction of the Sūrya vaṃśa dynasty and the final conquest of northern Orissa in 1568. Out of these 26 years, Mukunda Harichandana ruled for eight years, leaving eighteen years only for three generations of the Bhoi dynasty, out of which if eleven and a half years are assigned to Govinda Bidyadhara only seven are left for his son and two grandsons.