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Tribes in Ancient India c36: Chapter XXXII. The Kaliṅgas

Tribes in Ancient India c36

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Chapter XXXII. The Kaliṅgas

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The Kalingas as a tribe are almost always associated with the Aṅgas and Vaṅgas in ancient Indian literature. These three tribes along with the Puṇḍras and Suhmas are said to have been named after the five sons of Bali, Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga, Puṇḍra and Suhma who were called Bāleya Kṣatra and also Bāleya Brāhmaṇas.¹ These five tribes evidently then lived conterminously and had their distinct entities within respective geographical boundaries to which they gave the names of their respective tribes. The tradition referred to above is contained in the Purāṇas and the Great Epic, according to which, the sage Dīrghatamas had married King Bali’s Śūdra nurse and had Kakṣivant and other sons; and at Bali’s desire begot on the queen Sudeṣṇā the aforesaid five sons. According to the Great Epic again,² King Jarāsandha is said to have extended his supremacy over the Aṅgas, Vaṅgas, Kaliṅgas and the Puṇḍras. In the *Droṇaparvan*,³ Vāsudeva is said to have once routed in battle the Aṅgas, Vaṅgas, Kaliṅgas and the Pauṇḍras along with other peoples. A town named Kaliṅganagara, evidently one of the cities of the Kaliṅga people, is mentioned in the *Rāmāyaṇa*, on the west of the Gomatī and not far from it.⁴ A Kaliṅga tribe is also referred to in the *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*⁵ as having their settlement on the Śatadru. Pargiter suggests that the reading is erroneous, for there seems to be no ground for thinking that the Kaliṅgas lived in N. India.⁶ Moreover, the *Vāyupurāṇa*⁷ in the same context reads Kulindas instead, which seems to be the correct reading. The *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*⁸ mentions another people named the Arkaliṅgas along with the Kuntalas, Kāśīs, Kośalas, Atharvas and the Malakas. Pargiter doubts this reading as well, because of the *Vāyupurāṇa* reading which is different in the same context.⁹ The *Matsyapurāṇa* reads Avantas and Kaliṅgas instead,¹⁰ but this is also hardly satisfactory in view of the fact that the Kaliṅgas are hardly known to have been associated with the Avantas and moreover that the Kaliṅgas are elsewhere described not only in the same Purāṇa but also in other Purāṇas as a people of the southern region. The Mārkaṇḍeya, for example, says that they dwelt in the southern region along with the Mahārāṣṭras, Mahiṣakas, Ābhīras, Vaiśikyas, Śavaras, Pulindas and others.¹ A number of famous Kaliṅga or Kaliṅga kings are mentioned in the Ādiparva of the Mahābhārata ² and they are credited with having contracted matrimonial relations with princesses of the Aryan royal families of the north (e.g. Ādiparvan, XCV, 3774-5, 3780; Droṇaparvan, LXX, 2436). According to epic evidence as contained in the Mahābhārata,³ the Kaliṅga country comprised the entire tract of country lying along the coast of Vaitaraṇī in Orissa to the borders of the Āndhra country.⁴

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¹ Puranic tradition as contained in a number of Purāṇas, the *Mahābhārata* and the *Harivaṃśa*. See the Dirghatamasa story and its sequel. Compare Pargiter, *A.I.H.T.*, p. 158.

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² *Mahābhārata*, XII, Chap. 5, 6607.

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³ *Ibid.*, Chap. 10, 15.

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⁴ Ayodhyā K., LXXIII, 14, 15.

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⁵ LVII, 37.

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⁶ *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, p. 316 n.

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⁷ XLV, 116.

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⁸ LVII, 33.

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⁹ *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, p. 308 n.

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¹⁰ CXIII, 36.

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¹ LVII, 46-7.

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² LXVII, 2701.

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³ III, 114, 4.

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⁴ Ray Chaudhuri, P.H.A.I., 4th Ed., p. 75.

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The country of the Kaliṅgas is mentioned by Pāṇini.⁵ According to Baudhāyana, the country was branded as an impure one and was included in his list of Saṃkīrṇa yonayaḥ.⁶ According to Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra,⁷ elephants of Aṅga and Kaliṅga belonged to the best of their types, while those of Karūṣa, Daśārṇa and Aparānta were only second in order of classification, those of the Saurāṣṭras and allied tribes (Saurāṣṭrikāḥ pañcajanāḥ) having been the worst.

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⁵ IV, I, 170.

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⁶ I, i, 30-1.

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⁷ II, 2.

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The Jātakas contain a number of references to the Kaliṅga country and its kings. Thus, for example, according to the Kumbhakāra Jātaka, Karaṇḍu was a Kaliṅga and he was a contemporary of Nimi, king of Videha. The Mahāgovinda Suttanta makes Sattabhū, king of Kaliṅga, a contemporary of Reṇu, king of Mithilā and of Dhataraṭṭha or Dhṛtarāṣṭra, king of Kāsī and Aṅga. The Jātakas also refer to the capital city of Kaliṅga which was Dantapuranagara which is probably identical with Dantakura mentioned in the Mahābhārata,⁸ Dantapura of inscriptions.⁹ Other cities of the Kaliṅga country are also known, e.g. Rājapura,¹⁰ Simhapura,¹¹ which is probably identical with Singupuram near Chicacole,¹² Kāñcanapura of the Jainas,¹³ and Kaliṅganagara which has been identified with Mukhaliṅgam on the river Vamśadharā.¹⁴ Kaliṅga (Kāliṅga) is mentioned in the Niddesa.¹⁵ From Kaliṅga the Buddha’s tooth was brought to Ceylon at the time of King Sirimeghavaṇṇa. A Kaliṅga king picked up a quarrel with Aruṇa, the Assaka king of Potali, but was defeated and had to surrender.¹⁶

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⁸ V, 48-76.

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⁹ Epigraphia Indica, XIV, p. 361.

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¹⁰ Mahābhārata, XIII, 4, 3.

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¹¹ Mahāvastu, Senart’s Ed., p. 432.

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¹² Dubreuil, A.H.D., p. 94.

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¹³ Indian Antiquary, 1891, p. 375.

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¹⁴ Epigraphia Indica, IV, 187.

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¹⁵ Cullaniddesa, ii, 37.

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¹⁶ Jātaka (Fausböll), III, 3f.

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Susīmā, a Kalinga princess, was married to a king of Vaṅga.¹ Vijayabāhu I married a Kalinga princess named Tilokasundarī.² Māgha, a prince of Kalinga, did a great mischief to Ceylon.³ Asoka's brother Tissa spent his retirement in the Kalinga country with his teacher Dhammarakkhita.⁴

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¹ Mahāvamsa, VI, 1; Dīpavamsa, IX, 2ff.

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² Cūlavamsa, LIX, 30.

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³ Ibid., LXXX, 58f.

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⁴ Theragāthā Commentary, I, 506.

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Important light on the history of the Kalinga people is thrown by Pliny, the classical historian. From the accounts of Diodoros Curtius and Plutarch, we know that at the time of Alexander's invasion, there were two very powerful peoples in the lower Gangetic valley, the Parasii (Braisioi) and the Gangaridai whose king was Xandrammes or Agrammes. The capital city of the Prasii was Palibothra or Pāṭaliputra, while that of the Gangridai was Gange at the mouth of the Ganges, according to the author of the *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, or at the junction of the Ganges leading to the Maga and Kamberikhon mouths respectively. Pliny adds a third important people of E. India at that time, namely the Kalingas. He says: 'The tribes called Kalingas are nearest the sea, and higher up are the Mandae and the Malli, in whose country is mount Mallus, the boundary of all that district being the Ganges . . . the final part of its course is through the country of the Gangaridaes. The royal city of Kalinga is called Parthalis. Over their king 60,000 foot-soldiers, 1,000 horsemen and 7,000 elephants keep watch and ward.' An alternative reading of Pliny's text makes Gangaridae-Kalinga one people, having a king, a capital city, and an army of their own. Pliny further mentions two more tribes which must have been allied with the Kalinga people proper, e.g. the Maccokalingae (cf. modern Mukhalingam referred to above, or is it Mukhya Kalingāḥ, the main Kalingas?) and the Modokalinga, both inhabiting an island in the Ganges. The capital city Parthalis of the Kalingae has been identified with Pūrvasthali, a large village about 20 miles from the present Burdwan town,⁵ which, however, is not above criticism. In any case, from the description of Pliny, it is certain that the countries of the Gangaridae and the Kalingae were adjacent territories.

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⁵ I.H.Q., IV, p. 55.

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Agrammes or Xandrammes has been usually identified with Mahāpadma Nanda who was king of both Prasii and Gangaridae. Mahāpadma was supplanted by Candragupta Maurya who is referred to by Greek writers as having been king of Prasii but nowhere is he mentioned as king of Gangaridae as well. The well-known Kalinga expedition of Aśoka was, perhaps, directed against a probable Kalingae-Gangaridae combination of forces, suggested by an alternative reading of Pliny referred to above. In any case, the Kalinga resistance must have been a very stiff one, as is evident from the description in the thirteenth Rock Edict.

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Kalinga is again lifted to historical prominence when Khāravela of the Ceta dynasty became anointed, when he had completed his twenty-fourth year, as Mahārāja of Kalinga. In his Hathigumpha Cave Inscription Kalinga finds mention for more than once and it is said in that very inscription that in the first year of his reign he repaired the gates and ramparts of his capital Kalinganagara identified with Mukhalingam.

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We do not hear of the Kalingas or their country, so far at least as N. India history is concerned, for a long time, in fact not until we reach the time when Yuan Chwang visited the country in about the second quarter of the seventh century A.D. Kālidāsa, however, in his *Raghuvamśa*m mentions both Utkala and Kalinga, from which it is evident that they were two distinct countries. Yuan Chwang travelled from Oḍra to Kangoda whence he travelled through jungle and forest, dense with huge trees, south-west for 1,400 or 1,500 li, to Kalinga (Ka-long-ka). According to him, ‘the country was above 5,000 li in circuit, its capital being above 20 li. There were regular seed-time and harvest, fruits and flowers grew profusely, and there were continuous woods for some hundreds of li. The country produced dark wild elephants prized by neighbouring countries. The climate was hot . . . The people were . . . fast and clear in speech; in their talk and manners they differed somewhat from “Mid-India”. There were few Buddhists, the majority of the people being of other religions. There were above ten Buddhist monasteries, and 500 brethren students of the Mahāyānist Sthavira School System. There were more than 100 Deva temples, and the professed adherents of the various sects were very numerous, the majority being nirgranthas.’¹

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¹ Watters, *On Yuan Chwang*, Vol. II, p. 198.

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Earlier, however, by about two centuries (i.e. fifth century A.D.) there is the well-known Komarti grant² which introduces us to a Śrī Mahārāja named Candravarman who is described as Kalingādhipati (lord of Kalinga). To his dynasty, probably, also belonged Umavarman and Viśākhavarman who were both evidently lords of Kalinga. To about the same date as that of the Komarti grant, may be ascribed the inscription of a certain Kalingādhipati Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śaktivarman of the Māthara family who granted from Piṣṭapura (= Pithāpuram) the village of Rākuḷuva in the Kalingavisaya.¹ In the Aihole Inscriptions (634-35 A.D.) Pulakesin II claims to have subdued the Kalingas along with the Kosalas and took the fortress of Piṣṭapura.² One at least of the Vākāṭaka kings is credited with having conquered the Andhra and Kalinga countries; he was Hariṣeṇa, the father-in-law of Mādhavavarman the Viṣṇukundin.³ Towards the middle of the seventh century Kalinga seems to have come, for a time at least, under the sway of Kāmarūpa. One of her kings, Harṣadeva or Śrī Harṣa, is described in a contemporary Nepalese inscription to have been the king of Gauḍa, Oḍra, Kalinga, Kosala and other countries.⁴

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² Sewell, *Historical Inscriptions of Southern India*, p. 18.

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¹ Ep. Ind., XII, pp. 1ff.

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² Ibid., VI, pp. 4ff.

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³ J.R.A.S., 1914, p. 137.

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⁴ Ind. Ant., 1880, Vol. IX, p. 179; J.R.A.S., 1898, pp. 384-5; I.H.Q., 1927, p. 841.

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Another reference to Kalinga we find in the Bheraghat Inscription of Alhaṇadevī, the queen of Gayā-Karṇa of the Kalacuri dynasty, the grandson of the famous Lakṣmīkarṇa. It informs us that when Lakṣmīkarṇa gave full play to his heroism, Vaṅga trembled with Kalinga.⁵ King Rāmapāla of the Pāla dynasty also seems to have inflicted a defeat on Kalinga as well as on Utkala and Kāmarūpa.⁶ King ViJayasena of the Sena dynasty is credited with having inflicted a defeat on the Kalingas whose king at that time was evidently Rāghava.⁷ The Madhainagar grant of Lakṣmaṇasena informs us that the Gauḍeśvara (i.e. Lakṣmaṇa) in his youth took his pleasures with the females of Kalinga.

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⁵ Ep. Ind., Vol. II, p. 11.

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⁶ Rāmacarita, II, 45 and 47.

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⁷ Deopara Inscription.

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The reference to Trikalinga in some of the old records is very interesting. The S. Indian dynasties that ruled in the northern districts of Madras, C.P., and Orissa assumed the title ‘Lord of Trikalinga’ or ‘Trikalingādhipati’.⁸ Kalinga, evidently in a narrow sense, has always been distinguished in literature and sometimes also in epigraphs from Oḍra and Utkala and Kosala; but we must also take the Puranic statement into consideration that the Amarakantaka hill was situated in the western half of Kalinga (Kalingadeśe paścārdhe parvate Amarakantake). Mention may also be made in this connection to Pliny’s reference to three Kalingas in his time, already mentioned: (i) the Gangaridae-Calingae, the Kalingas who lived conterminously with the Gangaridae, (2) the Macco-Calingae, either the Mekala-Kalingas or (Macco = Muka = three) the Muka-Kalingas (perhaps identical with Mukhalingam) and (3) the Calingae proper. The word Tilang which we meet with in some Arabic records¹ evidently is a corruption of this Trikalinga which is also responsible for the term Talaing used to designate the ancient people of Lower Burma or Ramaññadeśa who must have originally migrated from the Trikalinga countries. The term Kling applied to the people of Malay Peninsula must have originally been derived from Kalinga which seems to have been the original home of the Kling people.

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⁸ E.g., the Sonpur grant of Mahāśivagupta Yayāti where the king is described as such. The same king is described in one of his grants as having been elected king of Kalinga, Kaṅgoda, Utkala and Kosala. Kaṅgoda is certainly the Kung-Yü-t'u of Yuan Chwang, when the pilgrim went to Kaleng-ka, cf. the Narasapatam grant of Trikalingādhipati Vajrahastadeva.

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¹ E.g., see Elliot, *History of India as told by her own Historians*, Vol. III, p. 234.

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