History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c35: Addenda and Corrigenda
History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c35
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Contents
Addenda and Corrigenda
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In order that the reader may be posted up to date with regard to the subject matter of the various chapters, the Publisher begs to append the following notes, on the various chapters indicated, made in the light of the latest publications. A note on certain Manbhum temples by Mr. Nirmal Kumar Bose is also subjoined to show their affinity to Orissan architecture.
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A list of corrections is attached on to the end of these notes.
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Chapter IX. The author noticed an indifferent photograph of Hindol plate of Subhākaradeva of the Kara family. This plate has, of late, been edited.¹ Subhākaradeva of this plate was the son of Tribhuvana-mahādevī, born of Nāga dynasty, who has been identified with the personage of the same name of Dhenkanal Plate, the scribe (Harivarddhana) of which is identical with that of Chaurasi Grant of Śivakaradeva, whose father and grand-father have been taken for Subhākaradeva and Śivakaradeva respectively of the Neurpur Grant. Apparently the rulers of the Kara family are put in the following chronological order
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¹ J. B. O. R. S., Vol. XVI, pp. 69-83
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Paramopāsaka Kṣemankara alias Nṛgatapha
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Paramatathāgata Śivakara I (Queen Jayāvalidevī)
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Parama-Saugata Subhakara I alias Lolahāra (Queen Mādhavidevī)
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Śivakara I alias Kusumahāra Śantikara alias Lalitahāra (Queen Tribhubana-Mahādevī)
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Subhakara II Daṇḍimahādevī (daughter)
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It is suggested that the queen, who ascended the throne after the death of Subhakara as mentioned in the plate of Daṇḍimahādevī, was Tribhuvana-Mahādevī. Śantikara, the son of Lalitahāra of Daṇḍimahādevī's plate has been omitted from the above table, because it is not probable that the immediate successor of Lalitahāra alias Śāntikara assumed the *Viruda* Śāntikara. Probably Śāntikara was the successor of Śubhākara, but not vice versa, as recorded in Daṇḍimahādevī's plate.
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Guheśvarapāṭaka, the place of issue of the grants of the Kara family has been identified with Godhaneśvara-patna, a part of Jajpur town, because the scribe of the Chaurasi grant was a resident of Virajā-kṣetra.
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The village Noḍḍilo granted by the Hindol plate to Vaidyanātha-Bhaṭṭāraka has been identified with Nandel in the Hindol state and the village Saloaṇpura of the Neurpur grant has been taken for Solaṇapura lying on the north bank of the Vaitarani. The northern limit of Tosala has, therefore, been stretched beyond the Vaitarani while the author suggested that the Mahanadi formed the northern boundary line of Tosala.
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Dharakota plate of Śubhākaradeva has been edited by Mr. S. Rajaguru in J. A. H. R. S. Vol IV pp. 189-194. This plate has not been correctly deciphered because of mutilation of the letters. It appears that the text of this plate is a replica of that of the Hindol plate. The village granted by this plate was situated in the Kongadamaṇḍala. Evidently Kongada was included in the Kara territory before Daṇḍimahādevī's reign.
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Chapter XII. The plate of Neṭṭabhañja, noticed by the author, has been published recently.* Angula, the place of issue of this plate, has been identified with Anugula, the English pronunciation of which is now Angul. The unspecified year, contained in this plate has been read as 98 and at the same time it has been assumed that all the unspecified years, the numerals of which are represented in symbols, of the copper plates of Orissa belonged to Harsa era, because Śīlāditya-Harṣavarddhana's supremacy over Orissa is proved by "The life of Heuen Tsiang" by Samuel Beal. To corroborate this assumption Rājamalla, the father of Tribhuvana Mahādevī of the Dhenkanal plate has been identified with Pallavamalla alias Kshatriyemalla, for the Pallavas are supposed to have belonged to Naga race while according to Hindol plate Tribhuvana-Mahādevī's father came of a Naga family. Apparently the year 98 of Neṭṭabhañja's plate corresponds to 704 A. D. Similarly the plates of Tribhuvana-Mahādevī, Śubhākaradeva II and Daṇḍimahādevī are assigned to the 8th century A. D.
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∗ J. B. O. S., Vol. XVII, pp. 104-118.
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The reading of the year of the Chaurasi grant has been corrected as 93 which corresponds to 699 A. D.
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Chapter XIII Kodālaka, whence the plates of the Śulki Rulers were issued, is now identifiable with Koālu on the north bank of the Brahmani in the Dhenkanal state. Other places mentioned in those plates, are also localised in the neighbourhood of Koālu. Śulki Rulers are represented in their grants as lords of the Gond people. Hence the states of Dhenkanal, Talcher, Bonai, Bamara and Gangpur, where the Gond people now predominate, are supposed to have formed the territory of the Śulki Rulers.
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On the supposition that the Rulers, having the same text of eulogy in different plates, are one and the same person, the following chronology of the Śulki Rulers has been suggested.*
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Kañchanastambha alias Ranastambha I
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Kaṇadastambha alias Kulastambha I alias Vikramāditya
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Raṇastambha II
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Kulastambha II Jayastambha Nidayastambha
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The villages granted by the Rulers of the Nanda family are localised in the tracts lying to the south of the Brahmani†. Apparently the states of Khandpara, Narasinghpur, Baramba and Hindol are supposed to have formed the territory of the Nanda Rulers.
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† *Ibid.*, pp. 290-91
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Chapter XIV. An important copper plate inscription of Uddyotakesari Mahābhavagupta has, very recently, been edited by Pandit Binayak Misra in J. B. O. R. S. Vol. XVII pp. 1-24. This plate was discovered at Balijhari in the Narasinghpur state. It records the gift of two villages Kontalaṇḍā and Lovākaradā in the Airāvaṭṭamaṇḍala of the Oṛḍi country to Śankar Śarmā and Balabhadra Śarmā, who were uterine brothers and immigrants from Palāsa in Tirabhukti. They belonged to Gārga Gotra and were students of Ṛgveda. Kontalaṇḍā, Lovākaradā and Airāvaṭṭa are identified with Kantilo, Māradā and Raṭāgarh respectively situated on the southern bank of the Mahanadi.
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The author was not inclined to accept Uddyotakesari of Brahmeshwar Inscription as a descendant of Janamejaya of the Gupta family, for there was some discrepancy in the genealogy found in the published text of Brahmeshwar inscription. Now this discrepancy has been removed in the light of the text of the newly discovered plate. It has been suggested by the editor of this plate that Bhīmaratha and Dharmaratha should be read instead of Dīrgharava and Dharmapara respectively occurring in the Brahmeshwar inscription. Apparently we get the following pedigree of the Somavamśī Kings of Orissa after conciliating the two inscriptions of Uddyotakesarī.
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∗ *Modern Review*, September, 1931, pp. 288-290
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| | Janameya Mahabhavagupta I | |
| Kosala line | | Utkal line |
| | | |
| Yayāti I (Mahāśivagupta I) | | Vichitravīra |
| | | |
| Bhīmaratha (Mahābhavagupta II) | | Abhimanyu |
| | | |
| Dharmaratha (Mahāśivagupta II) | | |
| | | |
| Naghuṣa (adopted son) (Mahābhavagupta III) | Name not preserved | Naghuṣa (adopted by Dharmaratha) | Joint rulers of Utkala and Kosala | Chandihār alias Yayāti II Mahāśivagupta III |
| | | | | Uddyotakesarī |
| | | | | Mahābhavagupta IV |
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The scribe of the Narasinghpur plate is Rudradatta who is taken as the same Rudradatta of the Marañjamurā charter of Yayāti. Evidently this Yayāti was the father of Uddyotakesarī.
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We get from the Brahmeshwar inscription that Janameya killed the king of Orissa. It is recorded in the Narasinghpur plate that Dharmaratha was succeeded by his brother Naghuṣa, the ruler of the eastern country. Evidently Gupta rulers had supremacy over eastern Orissa.
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On the supposition that the Gupta rule was overthrown by Chodagangadeva in the end of the 11th century A. D., Janameya is placed in the 1st decade of the 10th century A. D. Again Karṇyakesari of Rāmapālacharita is supposed to be the descendant of Uddyotakesarī.
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The Ratnagiri plate, edited by Mr. Narayan Tripathy B. A. (J. B. O
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R. S. Vol. XVI), is incomplete. This appears to be one of a set of plates belonging probably to Uddyotakesarī, for the text of this plate is a replica of that of Narasinghpur charter mentioned above.
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Chapter XV. The following plates of early Ganga Rulers recently discovered are not noticed in the 1st volume of this work.
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Santabommali plates of Indravarman has been edited by Rajah Bahadur Sri Lakshminarayan Harichandan Jagadeva in J. A. H. R. S. (Vol. IV pp. 21-24). This plate, recording the grant of the village Haribhaṭṭa in Kroṣṭukavarttani to Rameśvarabhaṭṭaraka, was issued from Kalinganagara. It was written by Vinayachandra son of Bhānuchandra. No date is mentioned. The donor was Indravarman alias Rājasiṃha.
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Chidivalasa Grant of Devendravarman son of Bhupendravarman of the year 397 of the Ganga era has been edited by Mr. R. Subba Rao in J A. H. R. S. (Vol. II, pp. 146-153). By this plate Sividi in Kandalivāda was granted to Ādityabhaṭṭa, Yayubhaṭṭa and Sendidevabhaṭṭa of Bharadvaja Gotra. It was written by Muḍhapa and Savvadapa under the supervision of Bhaṭṭa Sridhara and Bhaṭṭa-Yajña.
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Jirjangi plate of Rājendravarman of the year 309 of the Ganga era, edited by Mr. R. Subba Rao (J. A. H. R. S. Vol. III, pp. 49-53), was issued from Dantapura, which is often mentioned in the Pali Literature as the capital of Kalinga. The object of this plate was to record the gift of the village Jijjika in Vonkāra. The donee was Agniswami son of Rudraswami belonging to Viṣṇuvṛddha Gotra and Taittiriya branch. It was engraved by Devasinghadeva.
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Santha Bomvali copper-plate grant of Śrī-Manandavanman (probably Srīman-Indravarman) of the year 221 of the Ganga era, edited by Mr. S. Rajaguru (J. A. H. R. S. Vol. II, pp. 188-189) records the gift of Chikhalika in Fareyabhukti. The donees were Ādityaśarmā Matṛsarma and Duggaśarma of Kauṇḍilya Gotra.
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A copper-plate grant of Madhukarnava has been noticed in the Madras Epigraphic Report of the year 1919. It contains the year 526 of the Ganga era. Madhukarnava was the father of Vajrahasta V, the father of Rajaraja. This Vajrahasta ascended the throne in Saka 960 or A. D. 1038. His immediate predecessor Madhukarnava ruled for 19 years. Apparently the Ganga era commenced either in the last quarter of the 5th century A. D. or in the 1st decade of the 6th century A. D. This newly discovered plate would no doubt set at rest all controversies as to the initial year of the Ganga era.
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Chapter XXX, page 394. Mr. P. Acharya has sent us the following note : The Navamuni cave and the Barabhuji cave (twelve-handed, the name of the cave is due perhaps to the presence of the 12-handed goddess Durga cut in relief there) of Khandagiri contain the images of the Jain Tirthankaras in a row on the back wall and below the Tirthankaras there are the images of the Sapta Matrika group including Ganesa and Virabhadra according to Matsya Purana. This Matrika group has been wrongly identified as Sasana-devis or consorts of Tirthankaras in the District Gazetteer of Puri, (Calcutta 1908, by L. S. S. O' Malley pp. 261-62). Two group of images of the caves seem to belong to the same period and therefore it is difficult to explain the purpose of placing the icons of two antagonistic faiths of religion in a common place of worship.
Note on the Temples of Telkupi, Manbhum
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The village of Telkupi is situated on the right bank of the Damodar in the district of Manbhum (23°39′N-86°38′E). There are about a dozen temples of the *rekha* (*nāgara*) type in this place, but they present certain points of difference from the Orissan type, It is however not possible to say how far the style of this place was directly borrowed from Orissa. From certain structural details it rather appears that both Telkupi and Orissa borrowed from a common source and then each gave a distinctive turn to the form of the temple. The intimacy between Telkupi and Orissa probably increased at a later stage in history. The two temples at Bhairab-thān in Telkupi, which are of a comparatively recent date, present more points of resemblance with the later temples of Orissa than those of earlier age.
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The *bāṛa* of one of the temples at Bhairab-thān is composed of five elements, *viz.* *pābhāga*, *tāla jāngha*, *bāndhanā*, *upar jāngha* and *baranda*. It is a rule in the case of the later temples of Orissa that erotic couples should be placed in niches in the *upar jāngha* and *virāla* figures in corresponding places of the *tāla jāngha*. In the case of the above temple at Bhairab-thān, the order of the *virāla* and erotic figures has been reversed and both sets accommodated in the *tāla jāngha*, leaving the *upar jāngha* bare. This was probably due to the artist's lack of familiarity with the rules current in Orissa. This absence of *virāla* figures and of the five-fold construction of the *bāṛa* in the rest of the temples of Telkupi definitely prove the above two traits to be exotic in their origin. These features, as well as the presence of a flying lion (*jhappā singha*), in the style of Orissa, on the *jagamohan* at Bhairab-thān definitely connect the later history of this locality with that of Orissa.
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Further proof of such connection is also furnished by the nature of a certain religious ceremony observed in this particular area. The village of Telkupi lies in the zemindary of the Raja of Panchakote, who lives in the village of Kashipur near Adra. On the first day of the Bengali year (1st of Vaisakha), a ceremony is performed in the middle of the river-bed at Telkupi. Two umbrellas, made of bamboo, are adorned with garlands of *keṣ* flowers and carried in procession with music to the river-bed. There they are set up in the sand with due ceremonies, when goats are sacrificed and cakes (*piṭhā*) are offered. One of the umbrellas is dedicated on behalf of the "rajah of Kashipur," and the other in the name of the "gajapati sing of Puri." This was reported to the present writer, about two years ago, by an old man named Rakhal Bhandari (aged about 60) of Telkupi, who is himself a priest connected with local ceremonies. It is said that soon after the umbrellas have been posted in the ground, there arises a storm which sweeps away the umbrellas, garlands and everything which is placed there. This is supposed to signify the formal acceptance of the gifts by the deity worshipped.
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A particular ceremony and certain details of architecture and sculpture thus offer proofs of a more intimate
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R. D. BANERJI
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FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE BRITISH PERIOD Vol. 2
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By R. D. BANERJI, M. A. Manindra Chandra Nundy Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture, and Fellow, Benares Hindu University, formerly Fellow of the Bombay University.
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Vol. II With one map and ninety-five plates
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R. CHATTERJEE CALCUTTA
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Printed and Published by M. C. Das, at the PRABASI PRESS 120-2, Upper Circular Road, Calcutta.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE TO THE SECOND VOLUME
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It would have given me unmixed pleasure, if the erudite author of this work had lived to see it published. But unhappily he died before even the first volume had been given to the public. It is some consolation, however, that the last fruit of his labours is at length out of the press.
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It is to be regretted that there has been some delay in the publication of the second volume. But it was to some extent unavoidable, as the author had requested that certain illustrations and some information on certain points should be included in this volume. His wishes have been met as far as was practicable.
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The work will now await the verdict of contemporary scholars, and also of posterity, as there are still many gaps to be filled in the History of Orissa, particularly in the ancient and mediæval periods.
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THE PUBLISHER
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connection between the Damodar valley at Manbhum with Orissa than what is to be found at present.
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It may not be uninteresting to point out in this connection that on the door of a temple at Boṛeā in the district of Ranchi (6 miles N. of Ranchi) is carved the figure of a mythical animal, which is called *nabagunjara* in Orissa. Its body is composed of the limbs of nine animals. viz. the elephant. bull, snake, peacock etc. In the Oriya Mahabharata of Sarala Das (16th cent.), it is said that Krishna once appeared to Arjuna in that form. The figure of the *nabagunjara* is not to be found anywhere outside Orissa. It is of such a complex nature that we cannot think of its having been invented independently by the artist of Boṛeā. It is therefore probable that some artist familiar with recent mythological figures of Orissa must have carved it upon the wooden door of the Boṛeā temple. This does not lead us far, still the fact deserves to be mentioned in connection with the present question.