Almost every serious history
enthusiast in this country comes across the subject of Eastern Ganga (pronounced as Gangaw in Odia) Dynasty and yet strangely; the subject is, overlooked repeatedly across our national
history. The general approach on this particular historical juncture ends in
brief literature of concoctions and conflicting statements across loads of
academic documents. It is not within my capacity to put down every achievement
of this dynasty into one article. However, the magnificence in narrative of the dynasty’s struggle to power and ceaseless existence in the eastern coastal
frontiers of the Indian Subcontinent for nearly a millennium according to
proven archeology cannot, be ignored. Discussing some of its coherent military
achievements might open a brainstorming window for some of us into the other
aspects of this critical part of Odisha’s history.
Historically the Eastern Gangas existed in Odisha and parts of Northern Andhra Pradesh as a ruling family since the late third or late fourth century. During the previous Somavanshi rule, most of the Ganga families were limited to Southern Odisha (undivided Ganjam and Koraput) and Northern Coastal Andhra Pradesh. It was not until the rule of ‘Anantavarman’ Vajrahasta V in the mid eleventh century that a Ganga family broke out of their limits as subordinates and started military expansion of their power in the region. There were five prominent dominions of the Kalinga Ganga family in those days ruling from five different administrative centers namely - Kalinganagara (Srikakulam), Svetaka Mandala (Ganjam), Giri Kalinga (Simhapur), Ambabadi Mandala (Gunupur, Rayagada) and Vartanni Mandala (Hinjilikatu, Ganjam). The heartland of the Gangas had three parts of Kalinga namely, Daksina Kalinga (Pithapura), Madhya Kalinga (Yellamanchili Kalinga or Visakhapatnam) and Uttara Kalinga (districts of Srikakulam, Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada).
Historically the Eastern Gangas existed in Odisha and parts of Northern Andhra Pradesh as a ruling family since the late third or late fourth century. During the previous Somavanshi rule, most of the Ganga families were limited to Southern Odisha (undivided Ganjam and Koraput) and Northern Coastal Andhra Pradesh. It was not until the rule of ‘Anantavarman’ Vajrahasta V in the mid eleventh century that a Ganga family broke out of their limits as subordinates and started military expansion of their power in the region. There were five prominent dominions of the Kalinga Ganga family in those days ruling from five different administrative centers namely - Kalinganagara (Srikakulam), Svetaka Mandala (Ganjam), Giri Kalinga (Simhapur), Ambabadi Mandala (Gunupur, Rayagada) and Vartanni Mandala (Hinjilikatu, Ganjam). The heartland of the Gangas had three parts of Kalinga namely, Daksina Kalinga (Pithapura), Madhya Kalinga (Yellamanchili Kalinga or Visakhapatnam) and Uttara Kalinga (districts of Srikakulam, Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada).
‘Anantavarman’ Vajrahasta V:
During the rule of Vajrahasta V from 1038-1070 A.D the Gangas started
playing a prominent role from the southern horizon of the already weakening
later Somavanshi kingdom. He introduced the Anka year of calculation system for
the regnal years of the kings and this continued as a standard norm for future
kings of ancient Odisha. One of his predecessors had tried to unite the Ganga
dominions in the Kalinga Dandapat area unsuccessfully. Vajrahasta V had not
only united the Ganga domain but also had defeated the Somavanshis in his
northern frontiers. He established firm diplomatic and military relations with
the Kalachuris (enemies of the Somavanshi) by marrying a princess from their
family. He was also married to a princess of Ceylonese royal descent. The
Vaidumvas clan of Kanchipuram were his maternal side of the family.
A Vaidumvas family member named as Aditya
Chotta served in his military who later helped him in uniting Kalinga. The
Korni copper plate grant of Chodaganga Deva mentions that Vajrahasta V made land
grants to 300 Brahmins, which implies him conducting a Rajasyuya Yajna on his
own right after the unification of the Kalinga tract. For the first time
Vajrahasta V accepts titles as Trikalingadhipati (lord of the three Kalingas)
and Sakalakalingadhipati (lord of complete Kalinga) in the Ganga family after
his one and half a dozen known ancestors had ruled with the same farfetched
ambition. Thus began the imperial era of the Eastern Gangas.
‘Devendravarman’ Rajaraja Deva I:
Rajaraja Deva I proved his efficiency
in expanding his father Vajrahasta V’s ambition over the united Ganga
dominions. He ascended the throne in
1070 A.D, the same as the year of ascension of the Chola Kulottunga I (later
crowned as Chola emperor). One of his Ganga Prasasti inscriptions clearly says
that he fought the Chola king over the territories of Vengi in the south, which
means he invaded the opponent to be certain. After the defeat of the Cholas,
Kulottunga I gave his daughter (sister?) Rajasundari in marriage to Rajaraja I.
Despite ruling for only eight years,
Rajaraja I was able to defeat the Somavanshi ruler ‘Mahasivagupta’ Janmenjaya II at the time when that dynasty was at its pinnacle of achievements
taking into consideration the completion of architectural marvels like the
Lingaraja Temple a few years before. The Southern portion of the Somavanshi
territory becomes a Ganga domain. The Dirghasi temple inscription of Rajaraja I
mentions his Brahmin commander in chief called Vanapati had assisted him in defeating
all the enemies on multiple fronts like the Chola, Utkala (Somavanshis),
Gidrisingi, Khemidi, Dakshina Koshala (Kalachuris) and Vengi (Eastern
Chalukyas).
‘Gangeswara’ ‘Anantavarman’ Chodaganga Deva:
Chodaganga Deva is the most debated
character among historians as he has left behind numerous inscriptions in his ancient empire. Seemingly, he lost, his father
Rajaraja Deva I at the age of five while his younger brother Parmardi was only
three years. He was heir to the expanding Ganga dominion, which was directly in
conflict with the Cholas and Somavanshis.
The territory of Vengi becomes a part of fierce contest for the
Gangas though ruled by the Cholas directly after defeating the Eastern
Chalukiyas. Kulotunga I had sent three out if his four sons as the governors of
Vengi after the defeat from Rajaraja I and marital agreement over his daughter
(?) Rajasundari (Chodaganga’s mother) with him. During the second governor
Virachoda from 1078-1084 A.D and while Chodaganga was a teenager, two Chola
officers were in appointment of Kalinganagara as Puravari and Lenka as per
inscriptions of Lingaraja and Mukhalingam temples indicating both the ruling
families had good relations. However, during the rule of the third governor
Vikramchoda Chola, hostilities began again.
The Tamil classic Kalingattuparani
says that due to non-payment of tributes (in defiance to Chola authority)
Kulotunga sent the Chola army under a Pallava named Karunakara Tondaiman, who
laid waste to the Ganga kingdom and returned to his master collecting lots of
wealth. Inscriptional records provide more details about these events. A
historical estimation says that Chodaganga was married to Chodadevi, a Chola
princess as per Daksarama inscription. Virachoda the former governor of Vengi
had married off his daughter to him and settled in Kalinga acting as a guardian
to him. Loosing large parts of his kingdom to the Chola forces due to his
inexperience in war, Chodaganga is, invited by the Somavanshi Brahmin minister
and general, Vasudeva Ratha to oust the incompetent Somavanshi king. According
to folklores, Chodaganga Deva reached at Bhubaneswar with his army and dressed
as a performer at the Somavanshi court in Jajpur, he sneaked into their defenses with some of his companions. The overthrowing of the
Somavanshi rule was an internal coup, which reinstated Chodaganga as king.
Dagoba inscription says that he fought with the Pala king of Bengal, Ramapala
with the help his rival Sena chief, Vijaya Sena and defeated him at Aramayinagar.
After Vikramchoda left the Vengi territory in 1112 A.D., Chodaganga recaptured
the lost parts of his kingdom and Vengi. His later period Daksarama grant and
Mukhlingam inscription prove this along with his claims in other inscriptions
describing the vast territory of his empire.
To claim the western
borders, Chodaganga fought the Kalchuris first for the Dandabhukti (Mayurbhanj
and Singhabhum) region, where the the Kalachuri king of Tumana, Ratandeva II
was present during Chodaganga’s conquests and lost to him. A second attempt
made by Chodaganga Deva was to retrieve the lost Sambalpur-Sonepur-Raipur
tracts from the Kalachuris but he failed in doing so as proven by Kalachuri
inscriptions. He faced odds of failure in his campaign to the west.
Chodaganga Deva unified
most of the ancient Kalingan geography except the western regions and an
imperial era began. He was the undisputed ruler of a landmass stretching from the
river Ganga to Godavari after a long era of conflicts.
‘Devendravarman’ Rajaraja Deva III:
Bakhtiyar Khilji, the infamous Afghan
born Turk general of Qutb-Al-Din- Aibak occupied most of Bihar, Bengal and
parts of Assam with his overwhelming assaults. The revered ancient University
of Nalanda and its treasure trove of ancient documented knowledge disappears.
Earlier Alauddin Khilji and his general Malik Kafur had captured the Deccan
kingdoms and advanced South until Madurai moving around in a safe distance from
the Eastern Ganga frontiers for unknown reasons. Bakhtiyar sent two of his
lieutenants Muhammed-I-Sheran and Ahmed-I-Sheran to capture the Ganga domain.
The discrepancy of accounts during these events is that the Muslim chronicle
Tabaqat-I-Nasiri says that the Sheran brothers returned from their campaign
midway as Ali Mardan Khilji, a Khilji commander murdered Bakhtiyar. Many
historians including some from Odisha have unilaterally agreed that this is
true because a Muslim Chronicler who did not necessarily live during these events has
noted down so. The Daksharama temple inscription of Rajaraja Deva III openly
declares to the public that he has inflicted a crushing defeat on the Sheran
brothers while naming his general Konkana Chamunatha and mentioning a specific
hero in the battle called Kondamaa Raju.
One has to understand that such inscriptions cannot lie completely
because they are, laid in open for the common people to see in a place of
worship i.e. a Temple. This facilitates individual scrutiny by commoners. A
ruler does not inscribe false boasts openly to identify himself as a liar among
his subjects. Moreover, it was a taller boast on behalf of him to rather inscribe that the enemy got
scared and ran away from the battlefield instead of engraving that they actually
dared his might in the battlefield.
Why epigraphic chronicles can lie to a
certain extent because people who do not witness the incidents often write on
them. Their words are made available to just a certain learned section of the
ancient society and again specifically who could read them. Minhaj Juzani wrote
about this in Tabaqat-I-Nisari on a second hand basis after four decades of the
said incident. If we consider both the claims then it could also mean that the
Sheran brothers actually abandoned further continuation of ongoing hostilities
when their leader was dead elsewhere. The forces of Rajaraja I may have gained
a victory on whatever smaller contingents are, left behind while the Sherans
retreated. Because Minhaj is, also
correct about the Sherans as they actually went back and imprisoned the
murderer. Rajaraja Deva III not only protected Odisha from the invading Turks
but also prepped his successor to restructure the defenses for the upcoming
threats.
‘Rauta’ Anangabhima Deva III:
The Ananta Vasudeva temple inscription
describes Anangabhima Deva III (son of Rajaraja Deva III) as a hero born in the
lineage of Chodaganga Deva. He was extremely proud of his swift cavalry,
crossed the territories of the invading Yavanas and defeats them. Anangabhima
III was a man of foresight. Anticipating the immediate threats from the Turkic
rulers of Bengal and Delhi, he first decides to neutralize the Kalachuri threat
on his western frontiers that existed since the earlier Somavanshi rulers. With
the help of his Brhamin general Vishnu, he first retrieves the lost
Sonepur-Sambalpur-Raipur tracts after the battle of Seori Narayana on the left
bank of river Mahanadi and in today’s Raipur district. This was a long awaited
achievement for the Gangas since their rise to imperial status. However,
Anangabhima sees the usefulness of the Kalachuris as hard fighters and
establishes a marital relation with them, sealing an alliance for future
conflicts with the greater threat of Turks swarming up around his kingdom. He
accepts the Kalachuri-Haihaya prince Parmardi Deva as his son in law. Parmardi
Deva was a heroic fighter who commanded the Ganga forces in the Bengal invasion
by Narasimha Deva I later.
Anangabhima III moved his capital to
Cuttack and reconstructed the fort of Barabati on the banks of the river
Mahanadi with a capacity to host at least 10,000 archers and several other
numbers of men from different divisions of his army during any hostilities. Ghiyassudin
Iwaz Shah, the rebel governor of Bengal province who broke away from Delhi
Sultanate, invaded the Ganga territory. From the inscriptions found at
Chateswara and Anantavasudeva Temple, Anangabhima III has clearly mentioned
that his commander Vishnu defeated them in high pitched battles and the Yavanas
(Turks) were chased beyond their frontiers.
Vishnu or Vishnu Mohapatra is an unsung hero of Odia history.
Historian T.V. Mahalingam notes that
Anangabhima Deva III had raided southern India as far as Kanchi whilst an
ongoing political unrest in the Chola court. One of the Chola subjects
imprisons the Chola king Rajaraja III. The inscriptions of the Hoysala king
Vira Narasimha II corroborates the fact. It mentions that the he freed the
Chola king and uprooted a Dustha (contingent) of Tri-Kalinga forces occupying
Kanchipuram. On the other hand, the inscriptions of Anangabhima Deva III’s wife
Somala Devi is still at the Allalanatha Perumal temple of Kanchipuram dating to
his 19th regnal year. This implies that amidst continuing
hostilities with the Kakatiya king Ganapati Deva, he also raided further south.
‘Languda’ Narasinmha Deva I
(‘Yavanabaniballava’, ‘Hamiramanamardana’):
Narasinmha Deva I (son of Anangabhima
Deva III) is one of the greatest military heroes and builders of architectural
marvels of his time. His importance in the history of the subcontinent is that
he was the first successful monarch who took the war to the invading Turks
rather than playing a defensive role after the fall of Chauhans or Chahamanas of
Delhi. The primary accounts about his
achievements come from three sources – Sanskrit work of Ekavali by the Ganga
court poet Vidyadhara, the Muslim chronicle of Tabaqt-I-Nasiri by Minhaj Shiraj
Juzani who lived during his era and the Kenduli inscriptions of his descendant
Narasinmha II. His army comprised of
Ganga, Kalachuri, Haihaya, Paramara and Sena kingdom recruits, which signifies
he was leading a combined force of many ancient Indian kingdoms that struggled
to survive during the Turkish onslaughts on Northern, Central and Eastern
India.
Possibly Tughral Tughan Khan, the
Mameluk Turk governor of Khilji dynasty at Lakhnauti tried to molest the
territorial sanctity of the Gangas in 1241 A.D after which Narasinmha chose to
rather invade then wait for the next attack. Kalachuri-Haihaya prince and his
brother in law ‘Samantaraya’ Paramardi Deva commanded his forces into Bengal.
The Ananta Vasudeva temple inscription tells that Paramardi led the forces of
the war loving Narasinmha Deva I. In the year 1243 A.D. the Ganga army invaded
Bengal and laid seize on the Turk headquarter of Lakhnauti. The Turkic forces launched a counter attack.
According to modern military strategies, the Bengal invasion consisted three
tactics i.e. Deception, Bait and Bleed and Distraction in an open warfare that
includes implementation of Guerilla strategies. Seemingly as per Minhaj, the
Ganga army retreated until modern day Contai leaving trails for the Turkic army
to chase them to their chosen spot. At Contai and amidst the thick cane bushes
the Ganga forces dug in two large ditches to halt the advancing cavalry of the
enemy and left some war elephants and their fodder unattended at a place to
lure the enemy for capturing them.
As the two armies fought, the Gangas
start giving away ground to look like a retreating force. Once the slowed down
and lured in Turkic forces are on the other side of the ditches they find that
the Ganga forces have fled which actually hid in a safe distance and sent a
contingent of 200 foot soldiers, 50 horse men and 5 war elephants from behind
the thick cane bushes. The unsuspecting Turks assuming that the battle is over settle
down for a midday meal. Nevertheless, the Ganga contingent pounced upon them
from their flanks in the middle of their meals. Minhaj specifically mentions
that a great number of holy warriors or Jihadis attended martyrdom in this
sudden attack and Tughral escaped with his life from the spot to Lakhnauti
dispatching messages for help to his Turkic allies.
The following year in 1244 A.D, Ganga
forces invaded again occupying Rarh and then seizing Lakhnauti. In the first
day of seize, the Turk commander Karimudin Laghri was killed in the battle with
the contingent he led out of the gates of Lakhnauti. According to Minhaj, the
Ganga forces retreated on the second day as the message arrived about a large
Muslim army coming to reinforce the defenses at Lakhnauti from Awadh. However,
this is a self-contradicting note from Minhaj as he says that when the Awadh
governor Tamur Khan arrives with the forces, he is enraged to see the infidels
surrounding Lakhnauti and quarrels with Tughral. This clearly indicates that
the Ganga forces had not left. The further proceedings are abruptly missing
from Minhaj’s records.
Minhaj further notes that in the year
following 1247 A.D, a new Khilji governor Ikhtiyarudin Yuzbak is in place to deal with the
occupying Ganga forces. In the following years, after some initial success over
Gaur and Varendra by Ikhtiyar, Paramardi Deva defeats the Turkic forces. When Ikhtiyar
gets reinforcements from Delhi, he attacks again and in a raging battle at
Mandrana in today’s W. Bengal, Parmardi Deva is martyred. Ganga forces
continued to occupy Rarh while Gaur and Varendra passed back on to the Turks.
The primary objective of Narasinmha Deva I is completed, as the Turks never
again dare to threaten the Ganga frontiers. The Kenduli or Kendupatna inscription
of Narasinmha II speaks that the river Ganga darkened like the muddy Yamuna
because the flooding tears washed away collyrium from the eyes of several
widowed Yavanis of Rarh and Varendra after Narasinmha I’s invasion.
Narasinmha also defeated the Kakatiya
king Ganapati Deva, which is evident from his Lingaraja temple inscription and
expanded his authority beyond river Godavari. The Sanskrit poet Vidyadhara
praises Narasinmha I and II in more than hundred and fifty phrases over his
work Ekavali. He mentions Narasinmha I as Yavanbaniballava and Hammiramanamardana,
which means conqueror of Yavanas (Turks) and Muslim Amirs (governors).
Vira-Bhanu Deva II:
The Tughlaq sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq
sent his son Ulugh Khan or later known as Mohammed bin Tughlaq on conquest of
Southern and Deccan India in the year 1321 A.D. Ulugh captured Telangana,
Malabar and regions until Madurai in the Tamil state. The verse no.87 of the
Kenduli copper plate grants clearly mentions that the forces of Bhanu Deva II
(great grandson of Narasingha Deva I) was actively indulged in a conflict with
the Tughlaq forces. Historian M.M.Chakravarti translates the verse as that
Bhanu Deva II’s war with Ghiyasuddin began with bloods flowing from many
warrior chiefs with their necks wounded by the valor of the king. This means
that there were causalities (of aiding insurgents) already before even the Ganga
forces battled the Tughlaqs. The verse also mentions many wounded elephants in
the battle.
The Srikurmam temple inscription of Bhanu Deva
II narrates that his commander Srirama Senapati was in the southern regions of his
kingdom as the Kalinga Rakhyapala.
The commander has engraved in the inscriptions for himself as the Kumelibhanjan
(Destroyer of rebellious activities) and Kondumardan (the destroyer of the
Kondus). The words like Khandapalasirachedana in the same inscription
also points to certain Chalukya and aboriginal Khandapalas who rebelled against
the Ganga authority in the region were, dealt with an iron fist. In the same
time, we find Ulugh Khan’s forces taking away some elephants from the forests
of Kalinga mentioned in the Muslim chronicles.
From this, we can conclude that
the invasion of the Tughlaq forces on the Deccan in close proximity to the
Ganga borders actually fueled rebellious activities by some of the feudal
rulers and local chieftains. After a series of anti-insurgency activities by
the Ganga forces along with fighting with the Tughlaq forces, the only thing
gained by Ulugh was a few elephants from the Kalingan campaign. Bhanu Deva II
protected the borders of the Ganga territory after eliminating rebellions
incited by the Tughlaqi intelligence in his kingdom.
Bhanu Deva III:
During the rule of this Ganga monarch, he
confronted Firoze Shah Tughlaq, the sultan of Delhi twice at the Bengal
frontier kingdom of Panduvah. In the first attack, Firoze Shah’s Tughlaq forces
attacked a rebellious Iliyas Shah and surrounded him for 20 days at his capital. In
desperation, Iliyas asked for help from Bhanu Deva III, which does reach him. The
Dharmalingeswar temple inscription at Panchadharla in Andhra and of Choda III (a
Haihaya chieftain) describes the involvement of his grandfather Choda II in the battle with
the Tughlaqi forces at Panduvah. The inscription clearly says that
Choda II set out to provide protection to the Panduvah Sultan and vanquished the ruler of Delhi.
It also says that he presented 22 elephants to the ruler of Utkala i.e. Bhanu Deva III after
the victory. The facts can also corroborated by later proceedings as Iliyas
breaks away from the Tughlaqs and establishes his new independent Turkic rule
in Bengal by the name Iliyas Sahi dynasty and assumes the epithet Samshuddin.
However, this period witnessed Odia
forces helping a Turk for the first time and it bounced back in its after
effects. During the second invasion of Firoze Shah, the Tughlaq forces not only
defeated the Bengal Shah but also bribed some generals from the Ganga army to
switch sides for him. As a result and for the first time in history of the
Gangas whose ancient orer dependended on absolute loyalty of their subjects, a Muslim army aided by treacherous Ganga commanders invaded Odisha and a
widespread plunder and loot campaign ensued. It is said that the loot included 73
elephants mounted with treasures from the temples. In addition, an agreement
was reached according to which Odisha was forced to supply a certain amount of
elephants to the Tughlaqi forces of Delhi. The difficulties of Odisha did not
end there as Iliyas Shah himself raided the plundered Odishan kingdom
successfully from the Bengal frontier for the first time.
A new era also
started during the ill-fated rule of Bhanu Deva III as the Rajput Chauhan
branch from Garh Sambhor established its new domain in the western tracts of
Odisha with Ramai Deva as the new ruler in Patnagarh. Some historical facts say
that after the Ganga official left the Patnagarh region disintegrated and eight
local chiefs or Gauntias established their own administration as they conspired against and fought each other. Only the Chauhan Ramai Deva managed to establish order
in the region. Many other smaller
kingdoms actually came into existence during this period and the power became
decentralized weakening the absolute Ganga authority in the region. With these events unfolding, the dirty
political culture of treachery and coup attempts started in Odisha, which later
resulted in the overthrowing of the Ganga rule in Odisha by Kapilendra Deva in
the fifteenth century. Kapilendra Deva build an even greater
and new empire from the left overs of the former Imperial Ganga glory but yet
never getting rid of the politics of treachery within his ranks.
A Brief about the Ganga Military:
The Imperial Ganga army consisted of
multiple conscripts from different warrior backgrounds and kingdoms. The best
view into their military structure is from the depictions in the temples built
by them. The primary infantry soldier was a man who had his long hair tied to
the back or top of his head like a hair bun. They wore large bracelets and
anklets. Armor was seldom a part of their battle gear as the men under command
operated in harsh tropical regions and extreme topography of the battlefields.
Weight load on body directly affects maneuverability and movement. The shields
held by them are round in shape unlike the rectangular ones from the Somavanshi era. Shields
are very large to cover a leaning soldier from neck to feet while he looks out.
Shields are in use to cover the men carrying projectile weapons from the
elephant backs. Cavalry was an inseparable part of the army and as mentioned
earlier from inscriptional records, Anangabhima Deva III was very proud of his fast
moving cavalry. One structure of a warhorse from Konark temple premises that is
now a part of the Odisha government and state symbol clearly shows an unmounted rider
holding a sword and probably covering a soldier hidden behind his own shield
under the horse or possibly trampling him under his horse’s hoofs . The best
part to see here is that there is quiver of arrows hanging from the rider’s
saddle. In another, such depiction in the walls of the Konark ruins, it shows a
cavalryman shooting arrows from the back of a jumping horse. Therefore, it
clearly depicts that horse mounted archery was also a part of the Ganga army and it
was not only the Mongols who were holding such arrow shooting swift cavalries
in the thirteenth century. The Ganga
cavalry is also depicted charging while holding thrusting spears. Archery also seems to be a
very prevalent way of Ganga war making. Anangabhima Deva III also mentions in
his Chateswar temple inscription that his commander Vishnu was able to shoot
the enemies by pulling the arrow on the bowstring until his ears. A few
depictions also show archers on foot escorted by soldiers holding on to smaller
round shields.
Vidyadhara in his Ekavali mentions
Narasinmha I or II is the lord of a stream of Battalions or a huge army. From
inscriptional records, we find that the Gangas had a minister of war whose rank
is Sandhivigrahi. Military commanders have the ranks like Vahinipati,
Samantaraya and Chammunatha or Chamupati. Chamupati is specifically a leader of
a Chamu (Chaauni in Odia) or a military detachment, which has a strength of
2187 Chariots, 2187 cavalry riders, 729 war elephants and 3646 infantry
soldiers. Chodaganga in his Ronaki inscriptions mentions to have 99,000
elephants under his command, which accounts for a strength of whole army with
not less than 8, 00,000 men and 3, 00,000 animals of cavalry and elephant
corps according to ancient military way of forming battalions called Gulma. An interesting way of looking at the Ganga way of naval warfare is to
look out for Kalinga Maghaa landing on northern Sri Lanka with 24,000 soldiers.
This is a clear indication to amphibian warfare capabilities existing in
Kalinga for landing troops on distant coastal regions.
Gangas ruled over an area largely
covered with wide forests and with the best breeding grounds for thousands of
untamed elephants. Firoze Shah Tughlaq’s special interest in getting elephants
from the defeated Bhanu Deva III is an indication of how efficiently the
elephants were, trained by the mahouts of Kalinga to perform in war as a
terrifying weapon. Narasinmha Deva I is, found to be the first king of Odisha
who also bore an epithet Gajapati or the lord of war elephants. This epithet
becomes a standard for the next line of kings to rule Odisha. Even though there
were, a number of kings of smaller domains in the later phase of Odishan
history only the Kings ruling the spiritual center of Odisha could take the
title ‘Gajapati’ or the distant Ganga family members ruling in the southern
regions of Odisha could do so. However, certain south Indian kings from Kanchipuram and Vijayanagara did try to immitate this way of bearing same epithets but were never equivalent to the Odishan Gajapatis in stature or respect. The military institution of the Gangas in all is
a separate aspect of study on their existence as fine emperors, which cannot be
covered in a few words of this article.
The Srikurmam temple inscription of Bhanu Deva
II narrates that his commander Srirama Senapati was in the southern regions of his
kingdom as the Kalinga Rakhyapala.
The commander has engraved in the inscriptions for himself as the Kumelibhanjan
(Destroyer of rebellious activities) and Kondumardan (the destroyer of the
Kondus). The words like Khandapalasirachedana in the same inscription
also points to certain Chalukya and aboriginal Khandapalas who rebelled against
the Ganga authority in the region were, dealt with an iron fist. In the same
time, we find Ulugh Khan’s forces taking away some elephants from the forests
of Kalinga mentioned in the Muslim chronicles.
From this, we can conclude that
the invasion of the Tughlaq forces on the Deccan in close proximity to the
Ganga borders actually fueled rebellious activities by some of the feudal
rulers and local chieftains. After a series of anti-insurgency activities by
the Ganga forces along with fighting with the Tughlaq forces, the only thing
gained by Ulugh was a few elephants from the Kalingan campaign. Bhanu Deva II
protected the borders of the Ganga territory after eliminating rebellions
incited by the Tughlaqi intelligence in his kingdom.
During the rule of this Ganga monarch, he
confronted Firoze Shah Tughlaq, the sultan of Delhi twice at the Bengal
frontier kingdom of Panduvah. In the first attack, Firoze Shah’s Tughlaq forces
attacked a rebellious Iliyas Shah and surrounded him for 20 days at his capital. In
desperation, Iliyas asked for help from Bhanu Deva III, which does reach him. The
Dharmalingeswar temple inscription at Panchadharla in Andhra and of Choda III (a
Haihaya chieftain) describes the involvement of his grandfather Choda II in the battle with
the Tughlaqi forces at Panduvah. The inscription clearly says that
Choda II set out to provide protection to the Panduvah Sultan and vanquished the ruler of Delhi.
It also says that he presented 22 elephants to the ruler of Utkala i.e. Bhanu Deva III after
the victory. The facts can also corroborated by later proceedings as Iliyas
breaks away from the Tughlaqs and establishes his new independent Turkic rule
in Bengal by the name Iliyas Sahi dynasty and assumes the epithet Samshuddin.
Eastern Gangas in the Geopolitics of Sri Lanka:
The Imperial Gangas were directly
involved in the affairs of the Sri Lankan early medieval politics. Starting
from the indication of 'Anantavarman' Vajrahasta V marrying a Ceylonese princess
to the invasion of Kalinga Maghaa during the rule of Anangabhma Deva III, the
Gangas were deeply involved in the island’s geopolitics because of their direct
marital relations with the Sri Lankan royalties. Let me briefly note this.
The Friendly Era: Mahinda IV (945-961 A.D) who fought the Chola army of Vallabha invading Sri Lanka at Jaffna was married to the daughter of Kalinga Chakravatti that directly refers to Kamarnava I’s ruling years. Her son Sena V ascended the throne at the age of 12. Vijaya Bahu (1064-1095) married a Kalingan princess called Lilokasundari (Trilokasundari). However, the Chola king Pandu is given his sister in marriage after she begged for it despite his disagreement. He fortified Pollonnaruwa and the Chola influence decimated over Lanka. The Chola sons of Mitta are defeated by the son of Vijay Bahu called Jaya Bahu who took control of the kingdom. A native of Kalinga named as Mahinda murdered Vijaya Bahu II (1173-73). The same Mahinda VI is, murdered by Nissanka Malla of Kalingan Ishvaku dynasty in 1187 who is also known as Kalinga Lokeswara. He ruled Pollonnaruwa for ten years along with seven other members of his family to follow on. One of them was his nephew named as Chodaganga. His family ruled for the next 20 years with a gap of for 3 years in the middle. In his Dambulla rock edict, Nissanka Malla claims himself to be from Simhapur (a Ganga Domain).
The Uncordial Era: During the rule of Anangabhima Deva III, a prince by the name Kalinga Maghaa invades the Lankan nation in 1215 A.D with 24,000 conscripts from the mainland and rules the island for the next 21 years until killed in battle by the native resurgent forces of Vijayabahu III, the founder of Dambadeniya kingdom. Kalinga Magha is treated a villain in the island’s history as his period of rule was atrocious and destructive in the Island nation. He is also known as Kalinga Vijayabahu. Bhuvenaka Bahu I, the later king from 1272 – 1284 A.D is invaded by the Kalinga Rayar (Raja), Chodaganga and other Indian kings. The mention of Kalinga Rayar very well indicates either Langula Narasimha Deva I or his immediate descendants who had expansionist missions in the oceans for controlling the sea trade.
We notice from these extracts of Sri
Lankan history that the kings of Kalinga became an enemy of Sri Lankan
political order when the marital relations also ceased to exist unlike the
previous rulers.
A Resurgent Ganga who Defied the Nizamshahi, French and the British
In the mid eighteenth century, Odisha
reduced to a divided group of small principalities that were stuck in the
middle of a raging clash of interests between the Marathas, Mughals, French and
the British. The glory days of the Gangas and the Gajapatis was over as Quli
Qutb Shah gained some southern territories of the Gajapati state from the
battle-ravaged last great Gajapati of Odisha, Prataprudra Deva in the sixteenth
century. Later, the Hyderabad Nizamshahi
handed over the Northern Circars in 1753 A.D to the French. However, the Ganga
family descendants of Paralakhemundi estate were neither loyal to the Nizams
nor accepted the French authority. The
energetic ruler of the estate “Jagannath Gajapati” Narayana Deo II challenged
the outsiders. When French regents invaded his territory for occupation, he
repulsed them and understood that the ancient glory of the Ganga administration
and the disintegrating Odia land needed to unite as a combined force to reckon
with.
In 1760 A.D, he invaded the weak Bhoi
dynasty king of Khurda with the intent to control the ancient spiritual and
administrative centers of Odisha. Laying seize to the Chatragarh fort, he
defeated the Khurda forces. The Khurda king then pleaded help from the Marathas
who appeared with a much superior force at the fort in exchange of promises for
regular payments by Khurda. The French regent ruler of Vizianagaram, Sitaram
Raju at the same time invades Paralakhemundi and committed atrocities on the
commoners under the French authority. Avoiding a multi front war, Narayana Deo
II retreats from Chatragarh fort and reinforces the Jelmur (Jalamuri,
Srikakulam) fort. In the 1761 A.D, Sitaram Raju and his French high command
were defeated for the second time at Jelmur fort.
In 1766 A.D, the Nizamshahi again
handed over the same region to the British East India Company as the French
retreated due to raging conflicts with the British ships in the South. The
company authorities during their assessment of the region’s rulers also noted
down that the Zamindar of Paralakhemundi was non-cooperative in their takeover. The defiance of Narayan Deo II is, noted down
with great attention as the “Paralakhemundi Affairs” by the British officers.
On 4rth April 1768, the British and the Paralakhemundi forces clashed at Jelmur.
The British had the support of the Nizamshahi authorities while the local
rulers of Athagarh and Khalikote helped Narayan Deo II. Due to superior weapons and better supplies
of the British, the Parala forces endured defeat and Narayan Deo II fled to
live and fight another day. As the British established their own regents in the
estate and left, Narayan Deo II reappeared and took over the administration
from the British regent with the help of his loyal subjects. Until his natural
death in 1771 A.D, Narayana Deo II remained defiant to any foreign authority
over his people. The British could never deal with him. His was the first armed rebellion against any European power in Odisha and possibly in whole of undivided India.
Ending Notes:
Serious discussion and research on
several aspects about the Imperial Gangas besides their military history is a
need of the hour. There are few misconceptions in the first place that need to
go. Some questions are about their origins. Are they an offshoot of the Mysore
Gangavadi? Were they Telugu or Dravidian? The new research throws light on the
origins of Eastern Gangas as even older than the Mysore branch. Rajaraja Deva
I’s inscription specifically mentions his war with the Drabila or Dramila
(Dravida) which signifies that Eastern Gangas identified themselves as
Non-Dravidian. Dr. Harihar Kanungo in his books and articles has proved that
they existed even during the Mahabharata era and has linked them to many
ancient races like the Drahyus and Mahisyas. He also points out that there
existed five Ganga princedoms inside the territory of W. Bengal, which are older
than that of the Mysore Gangavadi branch. The Odia Saptasati Chandi Purana
describes a king founding a new kingdom between Agrabada to Gangabada. This
Gangabadi is today a village situated sixteen miles from the Naupada station in
Andhra side of the border with Odisha and renamed as Gangabala by the railway
authorities. The Kendupatna grant of Narasimha II also mentions this Gangabadi
clearly. However, Gangabadi also means the region under the Ganga family’s
control.
Third century B.C.E Greek naturalist
Pliny writes about the Gangadhikar or Gangahirdae Kalinga along with two other
Kalingas in his Natural history. There still exist a community in Mysore known
as Gangadikar Vokalingars who, claim descent from the Talakad Gangas of
Karnataka.
The conflict with the mention by
Chodaganga Deva as descended from the Mysore Gangavadi prince Kamarnava over an
inscription is that there is a gap of at least seven hundred years between both
of them. Moreover, his grandfather Vajrahasta V and father Rajaraja I claim their
descent from Tri Kalinga without any such farfetched connections of ancestry in
their inscriptions. Chodaganga Deva claiming his long stretch of ancestry linking up to puranic charachters at a
point when he desperately needed widespread recognition by the people is not a
new thing in the political history of India.
Several inscriptions found inside
present Andhra territory are mostly in Sanskrit with influence of both Odia and
Telugu words along with scripts of Odia and Telugu separately from Devanagari.
It would be bigotry to link the origin of the Gangas to any linguistic
community. Yes, the Gangas did achieve the pinnacle of their greatness as Odia
kings later despite their wider origins that trails back to every corner of the
Indian subcontinent and broad scale enthusiastic research is required for
finding more.
Note "Ownership of any photographic illustrations or the screenshots is not claimed by the author"
Some References for this Article
- The Orissa Historical Research Journal, Volume IV
- The Orissa Historical Research Journal, Volume V
- Inscriptions of Orissa, Volume III (Part I)
- Inscriptions of Orissa, Volume III (Part II)
- Andhra Historical Research Society, Rajahmundry, Volume I (Part II)
- History of Orissa by R.D.Banerji, Volume I
- Anchalika Janasruti O Ithihasa by Kailash Chandra Dash
- Orissa Under Anangabhima Deva III and Narasimhadeva I (Paper on http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in)
- Ekavali Vidyadhara Tarala Of Mallinatha Kamalashankar Pranshankar Trivedi
- Kalinga Under the Eastern Gangas: Ca. 900 A.D. to Ca. 1200 A.D. by N. Mukunda Rao
- Itihasa, Paramapara O Shri Jagannath by Harihar Kanungo
- Outlines of Ceylon History by Donald Obeyesekere
Research Document Submitted by Manjit Keshari Nayak
(About author - Volunteer self research analyst and writer on the History of Odisha)
(About author - Volunteer self research analyst and writer on the History of Odisha)
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