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SECTION III
ESTIMATE OF KHĀRAVELA Khāravela is one of the most striking figures in the annals of Indian kings. Although he cannot claim the proud position enjoyed by Aśoka or Akbar as world figures, but as a local figure in India he represents a remarkiblo and charming personality.
He was the greatest known king among the monarchs of the Mahāmeghavāhana dynasty, who exercised their suzerainty over the kingdom of Kalinga. Under him the spheres of influence, if not the actual boundaries of the Kalingan Empire, were extended to far off regionsthe Uttarāpatha or the North-Western Frontier in the north to the Pāņdya country or the Southern-most region in the south.
• Many interesting facts, concerning the personality of king Khāravela, can be gleaned from his inscription in the Hāthigumphā, which, in the opinion of Dr. B. M. Barua, may be judged as the 'Khāravela Chiritra' the Life of Khāravela in Indian epigraphy, or Maltāvīra Charitra the Annal of a Great Hero, taking Khāravela to be the great warrior hero. There can be little doubt that the composer of the Hāthigumphā text has sought all along to extol Khāravela as a miglity earthly hero, who was destined to conquer, to rule, to protect and to please.
The concluding paragraph, which is but a long string of nicely worded and choicest adjectives heaped upon the
1, OBI, p. 231.
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