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History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s1: Orissa

History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s1

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Orissa

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We will conclude this chapter with a brief reference to Orissa which practically formed part of Trikalinga in this sub-period. Odra along with Paundra was Dravida or non-Āryan in ancient times and the home still of Śabaras, as also of Khonds, and of Bhuryas and Imayas, of Utkalas and Mekalas ( Cuttuck Gazetteer p. 17 ). It was, however, early settled by Aryans but these Brahmins and Kshatriyas in Buddhist times became degraded and new Brahmins and Kshatriyas came in the days of the Kesari kings and established Śiva worship in place of Buddhist worship introduced by Aśoka.

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∗ धात्री तस्य सरस्वती समभवन्नूनं न चेत्पीतवान् तत्सारस्वतमार्यबालकतमः श्रीचोडगङ्गेश्वरः ॥ तादृग्वेदमतिः कथं निपुणता शास्त्रेषु तादृक्कथं तादृक् काव्यकृतिः कथं परिणतिः शिल्पेपु तादृक् कथम् ॥ ( J. R. A. S. Bengal LXV p. 331 )

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The history of these Kesari kings is given in Vol. I chapter 12. They ruled from the 8th to 12th century. The Cuttuck Gazetteer states that some persons doubt the existence of these Kesari kings as no epigraphic evidence is found about them. But the Gazetteer adds that this doubt no longer can be entertained as two inscriptions of Udyota Kesari have been found, one in a cave in the Khandagiri hill and the other in the Brahmeśvara temple at Bhuvaneśvara. M. Sylvan Levi has also pointed out that in a Japanese version of a Buddhist Sūtra sent by a Buddhist monk in 796-798 as from a king of Utkala to a Japanese Emperor the king's name is given as Parama Māheśvara Mahārāja Śubhakara Kesari (Cuttuck Gazetteer p. 22). These are new facts which are found in this Gazetteer and though relating to history given in Vol. I we record them here for the sake of completing that history. The Gazetteer gives further details about the temples built at Bhuvaneśvar by these Kesari kings. These stately temples exhibit the fine architecture of the time and the ample resources of these kings.

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From Chola records we learn that Orissa was conquered by Rājendra in 1021 but the conquest was not permanent. The Eastern Gangas who became powerful hereafter, however, conquered and permanently annexed Orissa and an inscription of Chodaganga dated 1118 A. D. states that he was complete master of Orissa. The famous temple of Jagannāth, as already stated, was built by him (probably about 1150) as also a temple named Gangeśvara after him at Jaipur. Rāghava son of Chodaganga was defeated by Vijayasena of Bengal (Gazetteer p. 24) but it is doubted if this is the Rāghava defeated by him, as this Rāghava's rule extended from 1156 to 1170 and Vijayasena could not have reigned so late. We have already noticed the building of the grand temple of Megheśvara at Bhuvaneśvara by a brother-in-law of the next king (Aniyanka Bhima 1193-1198 ditto).

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Orissa was invaded by armies of the Sultans of Bengal (Lakhnauti) and in an inscription in a Jagannāth temple in Chateśvara in Cuttuck District, Viṣṇu a Brahmin minister of Bhima is said to have fought and defeated Yavanas. The Tabakat and other Mahomedan histories mention many raids by Bengal Mahomedan Sultans into Orissa and even Firoz Tughlaq of Delhi attacked it. The kings of Vijayānagar as also the Bahamani kings attacked Orissa and its Gajapati kings. At last in 1435 on the death of the last Ganga king, his minister Kapilendradeva with the aid of the Bahamani king Adilshah II seized the kingdom and founded a new solar dynasty ( Cuttuck Gazetteer p. 25 ).

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GENEALOGY OF THE EASTERN GANGAS OF TRIKLINGA.

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Vajrahasta I r. 35 years (984-1019)

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Madhukāmārṇava r. 19 years (1019-1038)

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I Vajrahasta II r. 30 years (1038-1068) Insc. 1058

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II Rājārāja r. 8 years (1068-1076) Insc. 1075 m. Rājasundri d. of Rājendrachola

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III Anantavarman Chodaganga r. 70 years (1076-1142) built the famous Jagannāth temple.

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| . . . . . | . . . . .
| | |

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IV Kāmārṇava V Rāghava r. 15 y. VI Rājārāja r. 15 y. (1167-1182) r. 10 years (1142-1152) (1152-1167) |

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VII Aniyanka Bhīma r, 10 years

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VIII Rājārāja r. 17 years (1192-1209)

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THE CHOLAS OF TANJORE.

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It is a phenomenon worthy of historical note that in the several divisions of India, forceful persons appeared at about the same time and established new kingdoms or raised the old to glory at the beginning of this sub-period of Mediaeval Hindu Indian history (except unfortunately in the Madhyadeśa or Kanauj). Thus Mūlarāja founded the Chālukya kingdom in Gujarat in 974 A. D. and Munja established the glory of the Paramāras in Malwa in 974 A. D. Tailapa founded the later Chālukya kingdom in the Deccan in the same year and the Chola king Rājarāja I raised the Chola kingdom of South India to power and fame in 985 A.D. While Mahīpāla again raised the tottering Pāla power in Bengal in 980 A.D., Dhanga estalished the Bundelkhand renown for valour in the battle of 980 fought with Sabuktagin who founded the young Ghazni kingdom itself in 977 A. D. The appearance of powerful men of energy and ambition in the last quarter of the tenth century A. D. and at about the same time is striking and leads to inferences which are outside the scope of history.

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Of such forceful men, Rājarāja Chola was not the least. He was the successor of Āditya Chola who had already done much to raise the Chola power by freeing it from Pallava dominion. Rājarāja I by his energy and valour raised the Tamil land or South India as we may call it, to the position of a South Indian empire and the Cholas enjoyed this position for nearly a century not only in South India but over a large portion of the adjoining territory. The history of this Chola kingdom (which properly falls within the period treated of in this volume) is well told by Mr. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyar as also by Dr. Smith in his Early History of India and we give here a short summary of it from these authors, with a few remarks of our own, especially because the records of these Chola kings, numerous as they are, are solely in Tamil and Kanarese and thus are beyond our personal study of them.

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The Tamil country or South India is a distinct part of the Indian continent, in climate, soil, products, population and language. It is called Dravida in ancient Sanskrit literature, Dramila being another form often used in inscriptions. The people are Dravidian par excellence by race as the people of the Panjab are Aryans by race par excellence. Yet Tamil civilization was high in most ancient times and the Aryan immigrants being few were converted into Dravadians by language and even by race. The three kingly families Chola, Pāndya and Kerala are noted even in the Mahābhārata and the Harivamśa and are said to be descended from Turvasu son of Yayāti. The country is fertile but hot, plain in the east and mountainous in the west and produced even then certain articles which were its own viz. pearls, pepper and beryl prized in the western world which brought Roman gold to the land in abündance ( Smith ). We may add a fourth article viz. cotton and the Tamil country produced fine cotton cloth even in the days of the Mahābhārata; for Chola and Pāndya kings are said therein to have brought presents of extremely fine cotton cloth to Yudhishthira at the time of his Rājasūya or Imperial coronation. The Tamil country was thus prosperous and known from of old and Aryan, Buddhist and Jain religions strove for mastery here and the same intensity of religious animosity prevailed in this sub-period ( as we shall show in our chapter on religious survey ) as prevailed in ancient time and as even continues to this day.

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In this old Dravida country and in this old Chola family, Rājarāja I came to the throne in 985 A. D. Like all ambitious kings he first paid attention to the raising and maintaining of an efficient army and then expanding his territory by the aid of that force. He trained up the Vellakurais or local bowmen as Shivaji trained up the Mawlas and he had several regiments of these named after his own titles ( Aiyar’s Historical Sketch of Ancient Deccan p. 245 ). He also had an elephant corps and infantry ( in which Telugu people were chiefly enrolled ). He kept also select body-guards like Mahmud. He ruled in Tanjore and from thence extended his dominion south, west and north, by conquering Pāndya, Kerala and Pallava kings. He even destroyed the Chera fleet on the west coast. From these conquests he got immense booty in gold, silver and pearls which is not incredible. He also conquered Gangavāḍi, Kudamalai (Coorg), Nolambavāḍi (Bellary) and Vengi of the Eastern Chālukyas and even Kalinga. These conquests meant, in our view, not annexation but mere subjugation of the territories. For in Vengi he established Saktivarman an Eastern Chālukya king as his feudatory. He gave his daughter to the next successor Vimalāditya (See Vol. I p. 310); and this relationship was continued as Vimala's son and also grandson married Chola princesses. This sort of marriage is peculiar to the southerners who like to marry a daughter of the maternal uncle (a marriage prohibited by the Smṛitis) even from the days of Śrīkṛishna and Rukmiṇī, of Arjuna and Subhadrā. Rājarāja also conquered Ceylon and assigned a part of its revenues to the maintenance of the Rājarājeśvara (Śiva) temple he hereafter built at Tanjore, a temple which has perpetuated his name in South India (Aiyar p. 248). He finally attacked Satyāśraya, Western Chālukya king and defeated him signally with a force the number of which is exaggerated to 9 lakhs of men and a cruelty which extended to the slaughtering of women, children and Brahmins, a thing unheard of in Hindu conflicts. This conquest certainly added to his renown, power and wealth and enabled him to build the superb and stupendous Rājarājeśvara temple at Tanjore and also other structures elsewhere which testify to the high skill in sculpture and architecture of South Indian workmen and builders.

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But Rājarāja I was not only a great conqueror and a great builder but also a great administrator. South India is known from ancient times for its irrigation works but the great works of irrigation from the Kauveri were built by Rājarāja I. He also surveyed and settled the country in 1011 A. D. The survey and settlement was so minute that "even 52, 428, 800, 000 of a Veli was measured and assessed for revenue" (Aiyar p. 249). This establishes the reputation of the revenue administrators and mathematicians of those days in South India a reputation still possessed by its administrators and mathematicians. Dr. Smith mentions a revenue survey undertaken by a successor of Rājarāja in 1086 A. D., the date of the Doomsday register in England (E. H. I. p. 486 3rd Edn).

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¹ 52, 428, 800, 000

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As a devotee of Śiva Rājarāja loved the stirring hymns composed in Tamil by Śaiva saints like Appar and others (63 in number) and he set up their images and made provision for the recitation of their hymns in the Rājarājeśvara temple. It may be further stated that he set up the images of his father and his mother (who burnt herself with her husband's dead body as Sati) both of whom were revered as pious persons throughout the Tamil land.

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Lastly Rājarāja was a patron of music and dancing and he invited and settled in Tanjore female dancers as also singers, pipers and drummers. Nātyaśāstra was specially studied and practised in music-halls built for the purpose. Colleges were also built and learned teachers were appointed to them and they taught literature and Śāstra to students in these and in temples (Aiyar p. 251).

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Rājarāja was extremely religious, it need not be told, and he made many gifts to Brahmins and temples and his queens and officers also made such gifts. But the gift ceremony of Tulādāna made by him deserves a special mention viz. the weighing of the king in gold and its gift to Brahmins, a mode of gift which appears to have become very popular in this sub-period as it is frequently mentioned even in inscriptions of Kanauj and Trikalinga kings. It is further related that Rājarāja's chief queen passed through a golden cow on that occasion which thus multiplied the gift of gold to Brahmins (a manner of gift rarely heard or thought of). Of course Brahmins who are real Brahmins and who pass a religious life in teaching or worshipping deserve to be cared for by the state and such gifts served the purpose of modern educational and ecclesiastical endowments.

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The administration of the country under Rājarāja was detailed and civilized and registers were duly kept and supervisors appointed for all state business. Aiyar has not noticed, however, the elaborate village system of panchāyat administration which obtained in South India particularly and which is noticed by Dr. Smith who admires it and observes that it is a pity that it is no longer in existence. The details of this system we will try to notice in our chapter on the general survey of civil adminisration later on.

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Rājarāja was succeeded by his son Rājendra in 1014 and he was a greater king, if possible, than his father and ruled long till 1044 A. D. He made more extensive conquests; he not only reconquered the rebellious Pāndya and Kerala kings, but annexing their dominions appointed viceroys called Chola-Pāndya or Chola-Kerala (terms which show that the viceroys still ruled for the rightful Pāndya or Kerala). He also again defeated the Western Chālukyas (under Jayasinha III) and also the Ceylon king. Emboldened by these successes it is said that he led his conquering expedition right up to the Ganges subjugating Kalinga, Bengal (Mahīpāla I), Indraratha (?), Kosala and even Kanauj. He took the name of Gangai-Kond to signalise this extensive conquest and founded a city near Trichonopoly by name Gangai-Konda Cholapuram, the ruins of which in the Trichonopoly District are still admired, together with a vast artificial lake built by him with an embankment 16 miles long and with sluices at convenient places for irrigation (Smith E. H. I. p. 466). He even had a strong navy built and crossing the bay of Bengal conquered a part of Burma. Although these feats may have been exaggerated in his inscriptions, it cannot be doubted that he held extensive sway in the south-east. For even Al-Beruni mentions that south-east of Prayag almost the whole country (the present Madras Presidency and eastern parts of the C. P. and the Nizam's dominions) was under the Cholas. Such extensive sway could not have lasted long and we actually find Trikalinga and Chedi establishing their power about 1040 A. D. in the territory to the north of the Krishna.

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Rājendra was a warrior and also a learned man as the title pandit is found prefixed to his name in inscriptions. He is said to have sent an embassy to China and he certainly had a large fleet. Rājendra is said to have brought Northern India Brahmins and settled them in South India, a measure adopted by all religiously inclined kings in eastern and southern India of this time such as Ballālasena and others. The Chola empire attained its highest glory under Rājendra who was as usual, the third great king in this line.

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Rājendra was succeeded by his son Rājādhirāja who was a powerful king no doubt but rather cruel in his treatment of rebellious feudatories. He killed a Ceylon king and had a Chera king trampled under the feet of an elephant. It is not necessary to give details, but this shows that decline had set in. He defeated Āhavamalla (Someśvara) once but in the next battle of Koppam in 1052 A. D. he was killed on the battle-field. He was immediately succeeded by his younger brother Rājendradēva who was present and who was crowned on the battle-field itself. This is the only battle we know of in Hindu history wherein the death of the commanding king did not lead to defeat. The younger brother Rājendradēva by his bravery retrieved the fortune of the day and eventually conquered Āhavamalla who is said to have fled across the Tungabhadrā. It may be stated that the Cholas and the later Chālukyas of this period and the Pallavas and Early Chālukyas of the first sub-period (600-800), like France and Germany, were neighbours who took delight in constant fighting with each other and who by their bravery never gained advantage, one over the other, for any long time.

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Rājendradeva ruled for about 10 years from 1052 to 1062 and he was succeeded by his brother Vīra Rājendra who was also a capable ruler. Besides wars with the Pāndyas and Keralas, he had three successive fights with the Western Chālukyas, who divided empire over India south of the Nerbudda with the Cholas. The Deccan and South India kings usually attacked each other, though the Tungabhadrā was their natural boundary and though they had no cause for quarrel except ambition. Vīra Rājendra was successful for a time but in 1070 A. D. lost his life in a battle, being cursed, it is said, by the Jains of Belgola whom he had oppressed (Aiyar p. 262).

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Mr. Aiyar's account ends with the reign of this king but we have to continue the account until the end of the 12th century. It is strange that Aiyar does not mention the fact recorded by Bilhana that Vīrarājendra gave his daughter to Vikramānka Chālukya. It seems certain that after Vīrarājendra's death in 1070, the succession was disputed and Vikramānka went and placed on the throne of Kanchi (not Tanjore?) his wife's brother named Adhirājendra. He was, however, after Vikrama's departure soon murdered and eventually the succession went to Rājendra Chola II a son of a daughter of Rājendra I married to an Eastern Chālukya prince. This Rājendra had lived from his childhood at the Chola court and had even given up his paternal kingdom of Vengi on the death of his father in 1062 to his uncle. He, it is alleged, was adopted by Rājendra Gangai-Konda, (adoption among Kshatriyas of a daughter's son could not be valid). Whatever his claim, he may be said to have duly come to the throne and started a new Chola line called Chālukya-Chola by Smith. He came to the throne in 1074 A. D. (Smith assigns the four years from 1070 to 1074 to Adhirājendra the brother-in-law of Vikrama murdered); and he ruled vigorously for 48 years counting his reign from 1070, and his capital was Gangai-Konda-Cholapura. He is said to have defeated Anantavarman Chodaganga; but this defeat must have been an insignificant one, as we have seen that Chodaganga of Kalinga was a powerful king. This war is described in a Tamil poem Kalingatupparani (Gaurishankar's Tod p. 428 and I. A. XIX). The revenue settlement of Tamil country mentioned by Smith was carried out in his reign. His reign is also important for the fact that Rāmānuja the founder of the Śrivaishnava philosophy flourished during his time. Of this and the death of Adhirājendra his predecessor which is attributed to a curse of this great saint we will speak at length in the chapter on religious survey. Here it will suffice to remark that here began the great feud between Śaivism and Vaishnavism which has distracted Hinduism since that time and which for ever destroyed the unity of the Hindu religion which fortunately had subsisted through three centuries.

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Rājendra II who took a new title Kulottunga was succeeded in 1118 by his son Vikrama Chola who was also a powerful king. He had his hereditary fights with the Chālukyas, the Pāndyas and the Kalingas and others and his exploits are celebrated in a special poem (J. A. XXII p. 142). He was succeeded in 1135 A. D. by Kulottunga II who reigned for 11 years and who was followed in 1145 by his son Rājarāja II who ruled 19 years. From 1165 to 1267 A. D. four more kings ruled viz: Rājadhirāja 1172, Kulottunga III 1178, Rājarāja III and Rājendra Choda III 1216 and the kingdom of the Cholas was subverted by the Pāndya king Jatāvarman Sundara Pāndya. The final subjugation of South India or at least its dissolution by the Mahomedans hap [illegible text]ed later during the raids of Malik Kafur a general of Allauddin Khilji about 1310-11.

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There are a few general observations to make on this Chola dynasty. The Cholas represent themselves in their inscriptions as solar-race Kshatriyas born in the line from Śibi. But as stated before, the Harivaṁśa represents Chola, Pāndya, and Kerala as born from Turvasu in the lunar line. These kings were Śaivites and it is to be regretted that about the time of the fall of the first Chola portion, the kings became bigotted and departing from the usual tolerant attitude of Hindu kings used their political power to suppress Jainism and Vaishṇavism which was indeed a great blunder. The subject will be discussed fully later on. The ensign of the Cholas was a tiger. The Cholas struck many gold and silver coins which have been found.

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GENEALOGY OF THE CHOLAS OF TANJORE. (Gaurīśankar's Tod pp. 425 and 426)

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Parāntaka

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Aditya I Rājarāja I (1985-1014)

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d. Kamaradevi m. Vimalāditya E. Chālukya II Rājendra (1014-1044)

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Rājarāja E. | | | m. d. Ammagā III Rājadhīrāja (1044-1052) IV Rājendradeva VII Rājendra Kulottunga (1070-1118) |

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| V Vīrarājendra (1062-1070)

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VIII Vikrama Choda (1018-1135) |

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| VI Adhirājendra murdered in 1072

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IX Kulottunga II (1135-1146)

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X Rājarāja II (1146-1165). Interregnum

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XI Rājadhīrāja II (1192-1178)

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XII Kulottunga III (1178-1216)

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IMPORTANT FEUDATORY KINGDOMS OF SOUTHERN INDIA PART I.

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The two great kingdoms to the south of the Nerbudda which were almost empires, viz. the Deccan kingdom of western Chālukyas and the south Indian kingdom of the Cholas have been described as also the independent Śilāhāra kingdom in Konkan on the west coast and the independent Eastern Ganga kingdom of Trikalinga on the east coast. Besides these important kingdoms which flourished in the third sub-period of Hindu history (1000-1200) there were some important feudatory kingdoms which rose to greater power in the 12th century A. D. than before, recording inscriptions and which became independent and powerful in the 13th century, which require to be noticed, though their history in the 13th century is outside the scope of this history and will not be dealt with in this volume. The fall of southern India in the beginning of the 14th century under Allauddin Khilji and his general Malik Kafur is so important as to require a separate volume for its treatment. The history of these kingdoms in the 12th century though they were then feudatories must, however, be given in this volume and we proceed to give a short sketch of that history in this chapter and the following.

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