History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c17.9

v1.c17.9

Bhuvaneśvara was the old capital of the Kesari line raised within the shadow of Buddhistic remains. The settlement at Jaipur was a new religious capital. Between them lay the delta of the Mahānadi. The Jaipur colony flourished. It was visited according to Cunningham by Hiuen Tsang though this seems doubtful; but in the sixteenth century the great battle between the Mahomedans and the Hindus was certainly fought under its walls and the city was taken by the Mahomedans and was as usual devastated. "Its ruins attest its ancient grandeur. Its dilapidated temples and colossal images retain an inviolate sanctity in the mind of devout Hindus. To the annalist it possesses a higher interest as the greatest and best-attested settlement of priests from the north planted by royal authority to impose a new dynastic creed on the Indian population.” (p. 241 ditto.)