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The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s1: 1. Kalinga.

The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s1

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1. Kalinga.

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In the seventh century, the capital of the kingdom of *Kie-ling-kia*, or Kalinga, was situated at from 1400 to 1500 *li*, or from 233 to 250 miles, to the southwest of Ganjam.* Both bearing and distance point either to *Rajamahendri* on the Godâvari river, or to *Koringa* on the seacoast, the first being 251 miles to the south-west of Ganjam, and the other 246 miles in the same direction. But as the former is known to have been the capital of the country for a long period, I presume that it must be the place that was visited by the Chinese pilgrim. The original capital of Kalinga is said to have been *Srikakola*, or Chikakol, 20 miles to the south-west of Kalinga-patam. The kingdom was 5000 *li*, or 833 miles, in circuit. Its boundaries are not stated; but as it was united to the west by Andhra, and to the south by Dhanakakaṭa, its frontier line cannot have extended beyond the Godâvari river, on the south-west, and the Gaoliya branch of the Indrâvati river on the north-west. Within these limits, the circuit of Kalinga would be about 800 miles. The principal feature in this large tract of country is the Mahendra range of mountains, which has preserved its name unchanged from the time of the composition of the Mahâbhârata to the present day. This range is mentioned also in the Vishnu Purâna, as the source of the Rishikulya river, and as this is the well-known name of the river of Ganjam, the Mahendra mountains can at once be identified with the *Mahendra Malé* range, which divides Ganjam from the valley of the Mahânadi.

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*Rajamahendri* was the capital of the junior, or eastern branch of the *Châlukya* princes of *Vengi*, whose authority extended to the frontiers of Orissa. The kingdom of *Vengi* was established about A.D. 540, by the capture of the old capital of *Vengipura*, the remains of which still exist at *Vegi*, 5 miles to the north of *Ellúr*, and 50 miles to the west-south-west of Rajamahendri. About A.D. 750, Kalinga was conquered by the Raja of Vengi, who shortly afterwards moved the seat of government to Rajamahendri.

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∗ Julien's ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ iii. 92. See Maps Nos. I. and XIII.

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The *Calingæ* are mentioned by Pliny,* as occupying the eastern coast of India below the Mandei and Malli, and the famous Mount Maleus. This mountain may perhaps be identified with the high range at the head of the Rishikulya river, in Ganjam, which is still called *Mahendra Malé*, or the “Mahendra mountain.” To the south, the territory of the *Calingæ* extended as far as the promontory of Calingon and the town of Dandaguda, or Dandagula,† which is said to be 625 Roman miles, or 574 British miles, from the mouth of the Ganges. Both the distance and the name point to the great port-town of Coringa, as the promontory of *Coringon*, which is situated on a projecting point of land, at the mouth of the Godâvari river. The town of *Dandaguda*, or *Dandagula*, I take to be the *Dántapura* of the Buddhist chronicles, which, as the capital of Kalinga, may with much probability be identified with Raja Mahendri, which is only 30 miles to the north-east of Coringa. From the great similarity of the Greek *Γ* and *Π*, I think it not improbable that the Greek name may have been *Dandapula*, which is almost the same as *Dántapura*. But in this case, the *Dánta*, or “tooth relic,” of Buddha must have been enshrined in Kalinga as early as the time of Pliny, which is confirmed by the statement of the Buddhist chronicles, that the "left canine tooth" of Buddha was brought to Kalinga immediately after his death, where it was enshrined by the reigning sovereign, Brahmadatta.* Dântapura, also, is said to have been situated on the northern bank of a great river, which can only be the Godâvari, as the Kistna was not in Kalinga. This fact alone would be sufficient to fix the position of Dântapura at the old capital of Rajama-hendri, which is situated on the north-eastern bank of the Godâvari. The name of Mahendri is perhaps preserved in the Pitundra Metropolis of Ptolemy, which he places close to the Maisólos, or Godâvari, that is, to the river of Masuli-patam.

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∗ Hist. Nat. vi. 21. “Gentes: Calingæ proximo mari, supra Mandei, Malli, quorum mons Mallus, finisque ejus tractus est Ganges.”

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† Ibid. vi. 23. Philemon Holland’s translation has Dandagula.

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A still earlier name for the capital of Kalinga was Sinhapura,† which was so called after its founder, Sinha-bahu,‡ the father of Vijaya, the first recorded sovereign of Ceylon. Its position is not indicated, but there still exists a large town of this name on the Lalgla river, 115 miles to the west of Ganjam, which is very probably the same place.

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In the inscriptions of the Kâlachuri, or Haihaya dynasty of Chedi, the Rajas assume the titles of "Lords of Kálanjjarapura and of Tri-Kalinga. Kâlanjar is the well-known hill-fort in Bundelkhand; and Tri-Kalinga, or the "Three Kalingas," must be the three kingdoms of Dhanaka, or Amaravati, on the Kistna, Andhra or Warangol, and Kalinga, or Rajâ Mahendri.

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∗ Turnour, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1837, p. 860, quoting the Dânthâ-dhâtu-wanso, or "History of the Tooth-relic." † Turnour, 'Mahawanso,' p. 46. ‡ Ibid. Appendix v. pp. 88, 89, where the Princess Tilaka Sun-dari, of Kalinga, is said to have come from Sinhapura.

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The name of Tri-Kalinga is probably old, as Pliny mentions the *Macco-Calingæ* and the *Gangarides-Calingæ* as separate peoples from the *Calingæ*, while the *Mahâbhârata* names the Kalingas three separate times, and each time in conjunction with different peoples.* As Tri-Kalinga thus corresponds with the great province of *Telingána*, it seems probable that the name of *Telingána* may be only a slightly contracted form of *Tri-Kalingána*, or the “Three Kalingas.” I am aware that the name is usually derived from *Tri-Lingga*, or the “Three Phalli” of Mahadeva. But the mention of *Macco-Calingæ* and *Gangarides-Calingæ* by Pliny, would seem to show that the “Three Kalingas” were known as early as the time of Megasthenes, from whom Pliny has chiefly copied his Indian Geography. The name must therefore be older than the Phallic worship of Mahadeva in southern India. Kalinga is three times mentioned in the Khandagiri inscription of Aira Raja,† which cannot be later than the second century B.C., and at a still earlier date, during the lifetime of Sâkya-Muni, it was noted for its manufacture of fine muslins, and at his death, the king of Kalinga is said to have obtained one of the teeth of Buddha, over which he built a magnificent stupa.‡

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