Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c14.s3.22

c14.s3.22

An account of the Kaliṅga war and its effects is given in Rock Edict XIII. We have already seen that certain places in Kaliṅga formed parts of the Magadhan dominions in the time of the Nandas. Why was it necessary for Aśoka to reconquer the country? The question admits of only one answer, *viz.*, that it severed its connection with Magadha after the fall of the Nandas. If the story of a general revolt in the time of Bindusāra be correct then it is not unlikely that Kaliṅga, like Taxila, threw off the allegiance of Magadha during the reign of that monarch. It appears, however, from Pliny, who probably based his account on the *Indika* of Megasthenes, that Kaliṅga was already an independent kingdom in the time of Chandragupta. In that case there can be no question of a revolt in the time of Bindusāra. Pliny says,¹ "the tribes called Calingae are nearest the sea...the royal city of the Calingae is called Parthalis. Over their king 60,000 foot soldiers, 1,000 horsemen, 700 elephants keep watch and ward in 'procinct of war'."²