History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.5

v3.c35.5

The first important king who rose to power as stated above in Trikalinga was Vajrahasta II. His grant dated 1058 A. D. published in E. I. IV p. 175-189 gives full details about this family. It belonged to the lunar race and had the Ātreya gotra. The original ancestor who gave his name to the family was Gāṅgeya (not Bhīshma). It obtained power in Kalinga through the favour of Śiva named Gokarṇa whose temple was on the Mahendra mountain. The family was first feudatory, endowed with the five sounding instruments. It was divided into five branches which united sometime about the ninth century A. D. Vajrahasta who was crowned in 1038 A. D. is first styled Paramabhaṭṭāraka etc. showing that he was the first independent king. He was a Parama Māheśvara or devout devotee of Śiva, as usual with the kingly families of the time. It seems that he defeated both Vengi and Orissa kings. He ruled for 30 years. He has left some inscriptions two of which have been mentioned against his name by Kielhorn. His inscription dated 1058 is chiefly in prose and very terse and gives the exact time with not only the year, month &c. but the exact lagna and the position of the moon and other planets at the auspicious moment of coronation. He issues the grant from Kalinga-nagara which has been identified with the place now named Mukhalingam in the Pārlākimedi Taluka of the Ganjam District some miles distant from the sea.