English
Half-way between Cuttack and Puri, two sandstone hills rise abruptly from the jungles, and the peaks and sides of these hills, the Khandagiri and the Udayagiri are honeycombed with cells, caves, and other edifices. The oldest of them consist of single cells, scarcely fit for the habitation of men, except of such who had determined to pass their lives in austere seclusion. In course of time larger caves were excavated and even ornamented with sculp- ture, and the last works were commodious residences, fit for assemblies of monks, and even for kings and queens. There can be little doubt that Asoka's conquest of Kalinga fostered these fine Buddhist excavations ; and we have seen before that some of Asoka's inscrip- tions have been found in Orissa. We know little of the history of Orissa during the Buddhist Period. The history of that province was first explored by Stirling who published the results of his labours in Vol. XV. of the Asiatic Researches. The subject has since received the attention of Sir William Hunter and of Dr. Rajendra Lala Mitra. It would seem that the last of the Buddhist kings were called Yavanas ; but it is not known if they were so called because descended from the Bactrian Greeks, or simply because they were Buddhists. Yayati Kesari Digitized by Google CHAP. III.] BENGAL AND ORISSA. *55 expelled the Yavanas in 474 A. D., and began the Ke- sari or "Lion line," and introduced Hinduism in its Pauranik form. The Kesari dynasty reigned for nearly seven centuries, and the authentic history of Orissa begins with the commencement of this dynasty, The following chronological list, taken from Dr. Hunter's work, may interest our readers. Kesari Yayati Surya Ananta Alabu Kanaka Vira Padma Vriddha Bata Gaja Vasanta Gandharva Janamejaya Bharata Kali Kamala Kundala Chandra V!ra Chandra „ Amrita „ Vijaya „ Chandrapala ,, a if it it tt tt it tt tt a tt tt tt ti tt it 476 526 583 623 677 693 701 706 715 726 738 740 754 763 778 792 811 829 846 865 875 890 Madbusfidana Kesari Dharraa Jana Nripa Makara Tripura Madhava Govinda Nritya Narasinha Kurma Matsya Varaha Vamana Parasu Chandra Sujana Salini Puranjana Vishnu Indra Suvarna 904 920 930 941 953 961 971 989 999 1013 1024 1034 1050 1065 1078 1080 1092 1099 1104 1 107 11 19 1 123 to 1 132 [Extinction of the Kesari Line.] The Kesari kings had their capital at Bhuvanesvara, which they beautified with numerous temples and edi- Digitized by Google 2$4 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK V. fices, the remains of which are among the noblest speci- mens of Hindu architecture in India. The whole place is still crowded with such buildings and must have been, during the ascendancy of the Kesari line, the most magnificent city in India for temples and beautiful edi- fices. The first king, Yay&ti Kesari is said to have founded this capital, the name of which implies that the Siva or Bhuvanesvara was then the most popular deity of the Orissa Hindus. Jajpur was another capital of Yay&ti, and the collosal statues there found also attest to the power and greatness of the dynasty, and to their de- votion to Siva and his consort. Nripa Kesari who reigned from 941 to 953 A. D., is said to have founded the city of Cuttack. A new dynasty known as the Gang£ Vansa, or the Gangetic Line succeeded the Lion dynasty. The origin of this dynasty is still involved in obscu- rity, but the name of the family as well as traditions connect them with Bengal ; and it is probable they came from near Midnapur and the ancient Timralipta or Tumlook. The rise of this dynasty marks a religious revolution ; and as the Lion dynasty had supplanted Buddhism by Siva worship, so the Gangetic house supplanted Siva worship by Vishnu worship. But nevertheless none of these creeds was altogether extinct in Orissa, on the contrary, the three religions ran in parallel streams contracting or expanding in influence Digitized by Google CHAP. III.] BENGAL AND ORISSA. 255 and power with the lapse of ages. Vishnu worship, in its peculiar modern form, is the prevailing religion in the present day. We append the following list of the Gangetic kings from Dr. Hunter's work A. D. Chor Ganga ... ... 1 132 Ganges vara ... ■ •• • — 1152 Ekjatakam Deva ... ... • •• 1166 Madana Mahadeva . . • ... ... 1171 Ananga Bhima Deva ... .*. • 1175 Rajarajesvara Deva ■ . ... ... 1202 Languhya Naraswha ••• . . . ... 1237 Kesari „ ... ... ... 1282 Pratapa „ ... ... ... 1307 Ghati Kantha „ ... ... <• *3*7 Kapila „ ... ... ... 1329 Sankha Bhasura ... M* .*• 1330 „ Vasudeva ... ... • * . 1337 Bali „ ... • a. 1361 Vira . ••• 1382 Kali .*• ... • •• 140 1 Neungatanta,, ■ •• 1414 Netra ,, ... • .* 1429 Kapilendra Deva ... ... • •* 1452 Purushottama Deva • — 1479 Pratapa Rudra Deva ••• ... ■• 1504 Kalinga Deva... • . ... 1532 Kalhaniga Deva M ... 1533 to 1534 [Extinction of the Gangetic Line.] Some of the earlier kings of this line were among the most powerful monarchs of their time. Ganges- Digitized by Google 256 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK V. vara (1152 to 1166) ruled from the Ganges to the Go- davarf, and Ananga Bhima Deva (1175 to 1202), also a most powerful king, is said to have built the present temple of Jagannatha. Later on, Purushottama Deva (1479 to 1504) is said to have defeated the king of Kanchi in Southern India and married his daughter ; and his successor Pratapa Rudra Deva was on the throne when the great Vaishuava reformer Chaitanya visited Orissa. Govinda Vidyadhara murdered the last king of the Gangetic House and ascended the throne, but conflict with the Mahommedans began in his reign, 1534 to 1541 A. D. Four kings successively ascended the throne, Chakra Pratapa (1 541 to 1549), Narasinga Jana (1549 to 1550), Raghurama Chotra(i550 to i55i),andMu- kunda Deva (1551 to 1559 A. D). It was in this last reign that the famous Mahommedan general Kalapahar invaded the province, defeated and slew the king in a battle near Jajpur, plundered the city of Jagannatha, and overthrew the Hindu monarchy. Thus after maintaining its independence for three centuries and a half after the conquest of Northern India and Bengal, Orissa was conquered by the Ma- hommedans about 1 560 A. D. Digitized by Google CHAPTER IV. KASHMIR AND SOUTHERN INDIA. We have in a previous chapter brought down the history of Kashmir to the time of Matrigupta, the friend and contemporary of Vikramiditya the Great. We note down the names of Matrigupta's successors to the middle of the 12th century, when Kalhana's history comes to a close.* There is a continuation of Kalhana's history by other writers. We have only to premise that from the time of Durlabha Vardhana, (the seventh king in succession from Matrigupta), Kalhana's dates are perfectly reliable. Durlabha Vardhana began his reign in 598 A. D. accord- ing to Kalhana. Six kings ruled between Matrigupta and Durlabha Vardhana, and if we give an average of 15 years to each of these six reigns, Matrigupta's reign falls at the commencement of the sixth century A. D. But Kalhana was misled by the Saka Era, and believ- ed Vikramaditya and Matrigupta to have reigned about the beginning of that era. He had therefore to spin out the six reigns (between Matrigupta and Durlabha Vardhana) into five centuries. And this he does by allotting 300 years to one reign, viz., that of Ranaditya. Hence Kalhana's dates previous to Durlabha Vardhana's time are worthless. * We rely, as before, on Mr. Jogesh Chunder Dutt's translation. R. C. D., A. I.— III. 17 Digitized by Google 258 PAURANIK PERIOD. Mitrigupta abdicated Pravara Sena Yudhisthira Narendraditya RanSditya Vikramaditya BSladitya Durlabha Vardhana (Kalhana's A. D. . 550 ► 550 to 598 date) • •• 0 598 Durlabhaka 99 ••• 634 Chandrapira it 99 • •• 684 TSraptra i 99 • • •• 693 Lalitaditya 99 • • • 697 Kuvalayapira 99 ... 733 • VajrSdiiya 99 ... 734 Prithivyaptra •1 99 • •• 741 Sangramapira 99 • • • 745 Jayaplra > 99 • •• 745 Lalitapira M • •• 776 Sangramapira II II •• 788 Chippatajayaplra,, H ... 795 AjiUpira 99 II • •• 813 Anangapira $9 t ... 849 Utpalapira ft II • *• 852 Avantivarman 99 II • • • 855 Sankaravarman 99 • •• 883 Gopalavarman 99 > •• 90a Sankata 99 II ... 904 Sugandha 99 • • •• 904 Paitha 99 •1 ... 906 ••• ••• . . . • •• ... • •• Nirjitavarman Chakravarman Suravarman Partha (2nd time) Chakravarman (2nd time) Unmattavanti Suravarma Yasaskara Varnata Sangrama ParvagupU Kshemagupta Abbimanyu Nandigupta Tiibhuvanaguptm BhSmagupta Didda Sangrama Haririja Ananta Deva ... Ranaditya Utkarsa Harsha Uchchala Rcxida Salhana Sussala Bhikshachara Sassala Senha Deva [BOOKV. A. D. ~. 921 ••• ••• ••• ... 933 — 934 and 3rd ••• 935 937 939 939 94 948 ... 94S ... 905 ~ 958 972 973 975 980 1003 ... 1028 ... 1028 IC63 1089 1089 ... not ... mi ... rin ... 1 1 12 ... 1 1 20 ... 1 121 ... 1127 Kalhana's account closes at the 22nd year of this reign.