The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c17.s2.49

v1.c17.s2.49

These grants seem to indicate that Gayāḍatuṅga was a worshipper of Śiva, and possibly a feudatory. The find-spot of his second grant shows that his territory was not far-removed from the centre of power of the Kara rulers. The seals of his inscriptions also bear the figure of a bull like those of the Karas. The designation of the family name as *Tuṅga-vaṁśa* should be no insuperable bar to the acceptance of these rulers as members of the Kara family. Family names in Indian dynasties sometimes start from an accidental similarity of the ending of the names of some of its members, and I think the occurrence of 3 successive names ending in *Tuṅga* may have led the *praśasti-kāra* of the 3rd prince to call his dynasty *Tuṅga-vaṁśa*. On the evidence available we cannot be sure on the point but on the whole it seems more reasonable to accept tentatively the identification proposed. But we must at the same time conclude that the period between Śivakara II and Loṇabhāra was a period of disruption in the family history of the Karas. It is not unlikely that during this period a more powerful neighbour, possibly the Somavaṁśīs of Kosala completely destroyed their sovereignty. Unmaṭṭa, Maṅgapāḍa and Gayāḍa were probably representatives of the family who held a precarious power as feudatories in different parts of the seaboard of Orissa.