The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c17.s2.61

v1.c17.s2.61

Princes bearing names which end in *bhañja* appear to have ruled in Orissa and the northern portion of Ganjam district for about three or four hundred years. Their grants, most of which are undated or dated in eras whose epochs have not yet been fixed, have been referred by various authorities to periods ranging from about the 10th or 11th to the 14th or the 15th centuries. These inscriptions were mostly discovered in the states of Mayurbhanj, Sonpur, Baudh, Despalla and the northern portion of the Ganjam district. The proposed identification of the localities mentioned in these grants, if accepted, would show that with a few exceptions most of them were situated in the area indicated above. It is evident that there were at least two main branches and more than one minor branch of these princes. Some of the inscriptions actually say that like the Rudras, the Bhañja princes were many thousands in number. The seals and the stories of the origin of the different branches also often vary considerably from one another. In many of the grants the princes are designated ‘lords of Khiñjali’, while some of the oldest records seem to give Khijinga as one of the capitals of the Bhañjas. If the identifications of Khiñjali-*Maṇḍala* and Khijinga with Keonjhar and Khiching in Mayurbhanj are accepted,¹ it is possible that one of the two main branches ruled in the region now occupied by those two states. The other important branch appears to have held sway in the valley of the Rushikulya river in the north of Ganjam district. From the fact that none of these princes had any imperial titles it seems certain that none of these Bhañja princes ever attained sovereign rank, and it appears that they were feudatories of their more powerful neighbours. But unfortunately their charters never mention the names of their overlords. Thus though in different localities and periods they may have acknowledged the authority of the Somavamśīs of Kosala, the Karas of Tosalī, or the Eastern Gaṅgas of Kaliṅganagara, yet there is little definite evidence to conclusively prove this suggestion. The absence of the names of their overlords in their grants may however indicate a larger degree of autonomy and freedom from control than usually falls to the lot of subordinate rulers.