The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c17.s4: (5) The Sailodbhavas
The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c17.s4
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(5) The Sailodbhavas
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The Sailodbhavas appear to have been ruling in the S.E. of Orissa and the Ganjam district from about the 7th to the 10th or 11th century A.D. Excepting one inscription, which is dated in G.S. 300 (619-20 A.D.) most of their records are undated, and we have to depend only on palaeographic evidence to fix their age. Their documents are usually dated from Kōṅgōda-*Maṇḍala*, which is generally taken to be the region now occupied by the Ganjam district. There is nothing in their inscriptions to indicate that they ever became a sovereign power. Though with one exception they never mention the the names of their overlords, it would seem from their titles that they always occupied a feudatory rank. The following records are known for their reigns:—
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(1) *Ganjam grant of Mādhava-rāja.*—This was found in the office of the Collector of Ganjam. Exact find-spot not known. It contains 31 lines, incised on 3 plates. The ends of the ring on which the plates are strung are ‘secured in the base of an elliptical seal. In the depression of the seal are, in relief, a couchant bull facing the proper right,’ and below this the legend *Śrī-Sainyabhītasya*. The inscription opens with the date Gupta year 300 (A.D. 619-20) in the reign of *Mahārājādhirāja*-Śaśāṅka-rāja. It was issued ‘from the victorious Kōṅgeda, near the bank of the Sālimā river.’ The genealogy of the donor is as follows:—
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*Mahārāja-Mahāsāmanta-Mādhava-rāja*
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*Mahārāja Yaśobhīta*
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*Svaguṇa-marīci-nikara-prabodhita-Śilodbhava-kula-kamala-Mahārāja-Mahāsāmanta Mādhava-rāja.*
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It records the grant of the village of Chavalakkhaya in the Kṛṣṇagiri-*Viṣaya*¹ to the Brahman Charampa Svāmin, on the occasion of an eclipse of the sun.² (2) *Khurda grant of Mādhava-rāja.*—Reported to have been found in Khurda, in the Puri district. It contains 27 lines, incised on 3 plates. The parabolic seal attached to the ring contains in relief the figure of a bull and the legend *Śrī-Sainya-bhītasya*. The characters, according to the editor, belong to the latter half of the 7th century. It was issued from the victorious camp at Kōngōda. It gives the following genealogy : Sainyabhīta
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¹ Hultzsch suggests that this ‘might be identical with its synonym Nīlagiri, which is a name of Jagannātha (Puri) in Orissa;’ see *EI*, Vol. VI, p. 144, and fn. 8.
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² Edited by Hultzsch, *EI*, Vol. VI, pp. 143-46.
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Yaśobhīta
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Mādhava-rāja.¹ The inscription records the grant of some land in the village of Ārhanna in the Thorana-*Viṣaya* to the Brahman Prajāpati Svāmin.²
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¹ *Śailodbhavānvavāya-nata-sakaka-Kaliṅgādhipatya* . . . . .
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² Edited by G. M. Laskar, *JASB*, 1904, pp. 282-86.
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(3) *Buguda grant of Mādhavavarman.*—This was found buried in a field in the village of Buguda, in Gumsur taluk, Ganjam district. It contains 52 lines incised on three plates. The ring which holds the plates has a round seal which is too much worn for the emblems on it to be made out with certainty. The characters according to the editor, are similar to the Nāgarī of about the beginning of the 10th century. The genealogy of the donor is given as follows : Pulindasena...famous amongst the peoples of Kaliṅga. He created out of a rock a fit ruler of the land, named Sailodbhava, through the favour of Brahman
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(In his family) Raṇabhīta
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Sainyabhīta I
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(In his family) Yaśobhīta.³
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³ Hultzsch considered this prince to be the remote descendant of the Mādhava-rāja of grant No. 1; *EI*, Vol. VI, p. 144. He regarded the alphabet of No. 3 as considerably more modern than that of No. 1.
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Sainyabhīta II Mādhavavarman, also called Mādhavendra and Śrīnivāsa.
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From his residence at Kaiṅgōda (line 29) this last prince granted the village of Puipiṇa, in the Khadira-*pāṭṭaka* of the Guḍḍa-*Viṣaya*, to the *Bhaṭṭa* Vāmana. The record was written by Upendrasiṁha, sealed by Jayasiṁha, and engraved by Daḍḍi Bhogin. The *Dūtaka* for the grant was *Pratihārin* Gaṅgabhadra.¹
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¹ Edited by Kielhorn, *EI*, Vol. III, pp. 41-46. For corrections see *ibid*, Vol. VI, p. 144, fn. 1, and Vol. VII, pp. 100-02. At first Kielhorn took Sainyabhīta II to be the name of the father of the donor.
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(4) *The Parikud grant of Madhyama-rāja.*—Found in the collection of records of the Raja of Parikud, in the Puri district. It contains 59 lines incised on three plates. The seal is so damaged that nothing can be read. It gives the following genealogy of the donor :
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Śailodbhava ²
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(In his family)
Raṇabhīta.
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Sainyabhīta
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(In his family)
Yaśobhīta.
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Sainyabhīta II
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Yaśobhīta II
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Madhyama-rāja.
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² The story of his origin is given as in No. 3 above.
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The inscription records the grant of some land (*dvādasa-timmīra-pramāṇa*) in the Kaṭaka-bhukti-*Viṣaya* of the Kōṅgōda-*Maṇḍala* to Śila Svāmin and 11 other Brahmans (names given) in the 26th year of the victorious increasing reign (*Vijaya-vardhamāna-rājye*) of the donor.³ (5) *Tekkali grant of Madhyama-rāja.*—Exact find-spot unknown; seems to have been received from the *Yuvarāja* of Tekkali, Ganjam district. It is only the 2nd of at least 3 plates, which seem to belong to the Śailodbhavas of Kōṅgōda. The editor refers the script to the 11th century, and notices its similarity with the script of the Śūlkī plates. It gives the following genealogy :
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³ Edited by R. D. Banerji, *EI*, Vol. XI, pp. 281-87. The editor read ‘ Sa[mvat] [88] Kārttika-śukla’ at the end of the record. He then referred it to Harṣa era (88 + 606) and found its equivalent in 694 A.D. But Venkayya notices that the date is so badly damaged that nothing can be read clearly. ‘ What is seen is a circle which may denote 20. It is just possible that the regnal year of the king is simply repeated in numerical symbols preceded probably by the word *Saṁvatsare* ’; see *ibid*, p. 282, fn. 1. Could Kaṭaka-*bhukti-Viṣaya* be connected with modern Cuttack ?
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``` Madhyama-rāja.
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Dharmarāja Mānabhīta
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Madhyama-rāja II
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| . . . . .
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Raṇakṣobha. Petavyālloparāja. : Madhyama-rāja III son of Yuvarāja Traillapanibha.¹ ```
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¹ Edited by H. P. Śāstrī, *JBORS*, Vol. IV, pp. 162-67. It is not unlikely that the *Śailavaṁśa*, to which Jayavardhana belonged, was a branch of the Śailodbhavas ; see for Ragholi plates of Jayavardhana, *EI*, Vol. IX, pp. 41-47. Hiralal considers the two families to be identical. About the name Traillapanibha Dr. Barnett suggests : *Traillapa* seems to = Kanarese Tailapa ; but *nibba*(?) an error for *nṛpa* or its Prakrit equivalent *ṇiva* ?