A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c15.31

c15.31

Throughout the thirteenth century, and later, the Gangas continued to rule the kingdom of Kalinga. In the reign of Rājarāja III (1198-1211), grandson of Anantavarman Choda Ganga, occurred the first Muslim invasion of Orissa. The army sent by Ikhtiyār-ud-din Muhammad-i-Bhaktyar Khilji (1205) against Jajnagar was successfully repulsed. Similar results attended another effort against Orissa by the Bengal Muslims between 1211 and 1224 in the reign of Rājarāja's successor Ananga Bhīma III. Ananga Bhīma also fought against Kākatīya Ganapati, and his troops went as far afield as Kānchipuram and possibly even Śrīrangam. His son Narasimha I (1238-64) took the offensive against the Muslim rulers of Bengal and fought three campaigns against them, though they were not uniformly successful. Bhānudeva II (1306-28) was definitely defeated by the Tughlak invasion under Ulugh Khan and had to surrender a number of elephants to the victor. In his turn, Bhānudeva III (1352-78) had to face Firoz Tughlak to whom he had to submit as a condition of peace. The last great Ganga ruler was Narasimha IV (1378-1414), in whose time the Muslim ruler of Malwa tried to invade Orissa but without gaining any advantage. This long-lived dynasty ended with Bhānudeva IV (1414-32) who died childless, leaving the throne to be occupied by his commander-in-chief Kapileśvara Gajapati.