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DECEMBER, 1928)
THE EMPIRE OF ORISSA
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THE EMPIRE OF ORISSA.
BY PROF. R. D. BANERJI, M.A.
I. Kapilêndra or Kapilê vara (1435-70). VERY little is known about the founder of the most powerful dynasty of Orissa, the Sûrya-vaṁsa dynasty, which ruled over the eastern coast of the Indian Peninsula for a little over a century. In the South Arcot District the founder of this dynasty was known as the Kumara Mahapatra even in 1464-65. In two inscriptions only, one at Gopinathpur in the Cuttack District, he is stated to be descended from the race of the Sund. Kapilêsvara's relation, Ganadēva, Råutaraya, the viceroy of Kondavidu in 1455, also mentions him as being descended from the Solar race. We are totally ignorant about the circumstances which brought him to the throne after the extinction of the Eastern Gangas. According to inscriptions, discovered up to date, Narasimha IV is the last known king of this dynasty and his latest known date is 1397 A.D. The late Manmohan Chakravarti notes that there is an inscription of this king in the Sri Kurmam temple, on the eleventh pillar of the mandapa, which is dated 1402-3 A.D. The accession of Kapilêndra or Kapilēs vara cannot be placed earlier than 1434-35. The date given in the records of the temple of Jagannatha at Puri is decidedly wrong. According to that record the accession of the king took place at camp KirttivAsa on Wednesday Kâkaså 2, Su. 4. But Sewell mentions that Kapilêśvara's accession took place in 1454 6. and he follows Hunter, who places that event in 1452. All of these dates are incorrect, as Man. moban Chakravarti has already proved. The correctness of Manmohan Chakravarti's calcu. lations is corroborated by the Burhan-i-Ma'asir.? The local accounts of Orissa such as the Puri Record (called Madald Pañji in Oriya) places another king between Narasimha IV and Kapilêśvara. He is called Bhånudeva 8. As Kapilêsvara's accession did not take place till 1435 there is plenty of room to place two or three scions of the Eastern Gangas after the last known date of Narasimha IV and before the beginning of the Sürya-vaṁsa dynasty.
During the last days of the Ganga dynasty Orissa had lost her prestige and she was being hard pressed by the independent Sultans of Bengal from the north, the Bahmani Sultâns from the west and the emperors of Vijayanagara from the south. Sewell's list supplies us with a clear instance of changes in the overlordship of Kondavidu, when it was in the possession either of the kings of Orissa or the emperors of Vijayanagara. One Lânguliya Gajapati was succeeded by the Reddi king Racha Venka (1420-31). Then came two sovereigns of Vijayanagara, who are named Pratápadeva (Devaraya II) and Harihara. They were succeeded by king kapilêśvara of Orissa". The date of the rise of Kapilêśvara coincides with that of the commencement of the decline of Vodeyar or Yadava dynasty of Vijayanagara. He ascended the throne of Orissa during the lifetime of Devaraya II and continued to rule till the Saluva usurpation. It opened a glorious career for him and permitted him to conquer the whole of the Eastern coast of India, at least as far as Trichinopoly District of the Madras Presidency. No other king of Northern India and no sovereign of Orissa ever succeeded in ruling over such a large portion of Southern India. The conquest of the Tamil country by Kapilêsvara was no temporary Occupation. The Eastern Tamil Districts and practically the whole of the Telugu country rem ined in his occupation for over ten years. This is proved by an inscription of the reign of the Vijayanagara emperor Virupaksha, accord. ing to which, on account of confusion caused by the invasion of the king of Orissa the festivals in the temple of Siva at Jambai in the South Arcot District ceased for ten years, sometime before 1472-73 A.D. The drama Gangadasa-Pratá pavildsam also refers to an invasion
1 JASB., vol, LXIX, 1900, pt. 1, pp. 173-79. 3 Aboue, vol. XX, 1891, pp. 390-93. 3 JASB., vol. LXIV, pp. 133.
• Ibid., vol. LXIX, 1900, p. 182, note I. 8 Ibid., p. 181 note.
Sewell, A Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India, p. 48 and note 3. 1 Indian Antiquary, vol. XXVIII, 1899, p. 285. JASB., vol. LXIX, 1900, p. 182. • Sketch of Suuth Indian Dynasties, p. 48.
