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AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA Nāțya-Śastra,' the people of Kalinga were dark but not black. If he was a pure Ārya, continues Jayaswal, his dynasty would naturally take care to emphasise it. The same tendency is visible among the Aryan Brāhmaṇas in the Dravidian South, who call themselves as Aryan or Aiyer (plural of Aiya).
Khāravela, as a matter of fact, was an ideal ruler in so far as his subjects—the people of Kalinga were concerned. He did everything possible to please his subjects, as would be apparent from various statements in his record. The idea that he would have liked to distinguish himself from his people, does not carry much weight. On the contrary, a successful ruler should prefer to identify himself with his people and thus gain their support for the smooth run of the State administration.
Far from the above renderings, at the very face of it, Aira’ would appear to be an equivalent of ‘Aida' or 'Aila' and it means 'a descendant of Iļa or lļā’.3 Dr. D. C. Sircar4 also states that it is tempting to connect Aira with the Aiļas belonging to the Lunar dynasty.
As has already been shown above, Pururavas Aila a son of Iļā and Budha, was the progenitor of the great Aila race to which the kings of Kalinga belonged. The country and kingdom of Kalinga were founded by and after a son of the same name of king Bali, who was a
1. 21, 89.
2. On the stage, the people of Kalinga, like those of Pañchāla and Magadha, were to be represented 'syāmala' as against 'aşit of the Dravidian country. Qtd. Jayaswal, JBORS, Vol. III, p. 434.
3. R. D. Banerji, HO, Vol. I, p.72. 4. Seleet Ins. Vol. I, p. 211, fn. 6.
5. refer section "Puranic Tradition", Chap. III, pp. 83 f. in the present work
6. For fuller details refer ibid.
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