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MILITARY FORCE OF KHĀRAVELA
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upon the minds of the people the idea of victory, by bringing back the image of Kalinga.Jina, formerly carried away by king Nanda as a trophy, the receiving of tributes and valuable presents from the king of Pāņdya, the entertaining of the people of the capital city with feasts, festivities and musical performances, the remitting of all taxes and duties, the adorning of the capital with new roads, squares, gates and towers-all helped Khāravela to keep his people always in excitement and to induce them to join the army to fight for the glory of their country. Ferocious Nature
The armies of Kbāra vela may rightly be expected to be very ferocious in nature and war-like in spirit. One may like to quote the various statements occuring in the Mahābhārata' in this connection, where the Kalingan armies figure many times while fighting on the side of the Kurus against the heroes and armies of the Pāndavas. Further, in view of greater forest population in Kalinga, these people may be expected to constitute a major part of the Kalingan armies and they were certainly worth the statements in the Mahābhārata.
1. Refer supra Chapter III. pp. 94 f.
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