________________
APRIL, 1986
together as the early history of the region.27 An inscription of the year 62 (A.D. 140) found on the pedestal of a Jain image from Mathura mentions a Jain monk with the epithet Rāraka, which has been interpreted as a native of Rara, equated with Radha (western Bengal).28 Sometime before the rise of Sasanka, the Mana dynasty established a kingdom in the hilly region between Midnapore and Gaya districts.29 The seal of Sasanka engraved on the hill of Rhotasgarh,30 the Midnapore Copper Plates31 of the same king, suggest the control of Sasanka over this area. Ganjam Plates of Madhavaraja II dated 619-20 A.D. mention him as mahārājādhirāja or the suzerain lord of Ganjam.32 Thus Sasanka has extended his rule from Rhotasgarh to Ganjam which indicates that this part of the country was also been included within his kingdom during 7th century A.D. Subsequently, it seems, that this territory was subjugated by Harsavardhana in the same century.33 The Bhaumakaras and the Bhanjas of Orissa might have ruled over a very extensive area in Kalinga and the border tracts of Bengal and Bihar.34 Later, Mahipala I of the Pala dynasty established later Pala empire in which this area was also included. It is ratified by the mention of the various feudataries who helped Ramapala against the Kaivarta rebellion in Bengal. This is mentioned in the Ramacarita of Sandhyakaranandin where we find a list of loyal princes of the forest countries of Pala kingdom. Amongst them were Laksmi Sura of Apara mandara of the forest tracts and Rudrasikhara, the ruler of Taila Kampa (Telkupi, Purulia district).35
27 Subhas Chandra Mukhopadhyay has made an excellent attempt to reconstruct the political history of Manbhum from ancient times. See his Glimpses of the History of Manbhum, Calcutta, 1983, pp. 25-37. The authors here have limited their study to the more important references connected with the early history of the region. 28 A. Ghosh, op. cit., p. 73.
135
29 R. C. Majumder (edited), The Classical Age, Bombay, 1954, p. 78 and 93. 30 Ibid., p. 78.
31 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (Letters), No. XI, Calcutta 1945, pp. 1-9; Dinesh Chandra Sircar, Silalekha Tamrasasanadi Prasanga (in Bengali), Calcutta, 1982, pp. 49-64.
32 Ganjam Copper Plate (619-20 A.D.) of Maharaja Mahasamanta Sri Madhavaraja (II), the king of Sailodbhava Dynasty ruling over Kongoda who invokes the name of Sasanka as the suzerain.
K. C. Panigrahi, History of Orissa (Hindu period), Cuttack, 1981, p. 52.
33 R. C. Majumder, op. cit., pp. 106-107.
34 Panigrahi, op. cit., p. 86.
35 Ramacaritam of Sandhyakaranandi, edited by MM. Haraprasad Shastri, revised with English translation and notes by Dr. Radhagovinda Basak, The Asiatic Society, Calcutta, 1969, p. 36, pp. 126-127.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
