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of the

BEHAR AND ORISSA RESEARCH SOCIETY

For the year 1922.

Patron.

His Excellency the Governor, ex-officio.

Vice-Patrons.

The Hon'ble Sir William Henry Hoare Vincent, Kt,
I.C.S.

The Hon'ble Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Sir Rameshwar
Singh, G.C.I.E., K.B.E., Darbhanga.

Maharaja Bahadur Sir Raveneshwar Prasad Singh,
K C.I.E, of Gidhour.

His Highness Maharaja Bahadur Sir Bir Mitrodaya
Singh Deo, K.C.I E., of Sonepur State.

The Hon'ble Sir Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller,
Kt., K.C.

Sir Edward Gait, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., Ph.D., I.C.S.

President.

The Hon'ble Sir Havilland Le Mesurier, K.C.I.E., C.S.I.

Vice-President.

The Hon'ble Sir B. K. Mullick, Kt., I.C.S.

General Secretary.

Dr. Hari Chand Shastri, D. Litt, I, E. S.

Joint Secretary.

Professor G. S. Bhate, M.A., I.E.S.

Treasurer.

Professor J. N. Samaddar, B.A.

Journal Committee.

History-1. Professor G. S. Bhate, M.A., I.E.S., (Secret

ary).

2. Professor J. N. Sarkar, M.A., I.E.S. (Member).

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(A note on the more prominent features of its history.)

BY PROFESSOR S. KRISHNASWAMI AIYANGAR, M.A., HON. PH. D.

This modern expression is a corruption of Oḍraddéśa and takes into it the territories known by the names Kalinga, Utkala, Oḍra or Odda and even a part of Daśārņa. It took in the whole territory which at one time in history was included in the name Kosala, obviously South Kosala, as distinct from the north. The exact territorial limits of this Kosala in the eleventh century seem to have corresponded more or less to the present day territorial limits of the Tributaris States of Orissa *

Of these the territory included in the name Kalinga seems to be the oldest, and in that name the whole may be referred to for any purposes of bistorical discussion.

I have not so far come upon any reference to Kalinga as such in Vedic literature. But among the kingdoms of the South the rulers of which are described in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa generally as assuming the title Bhoja, Kalinga seems capable of inclusion, though there is no explicit statement to the effect. There are specific references, however, in a number of places in the Mahabharata to the kingdom of Kalinga. Apart from stray references to Kalinga rulers as such, and the part

* See Inscriptions of Rajendra Chola I.

that the individual Kalihga rulers played in the Great War, Kalinga is described as a forest country beginning as soon as the river Vaitarani is reached. The ruling dynasty is referred to as the descendants begotten on the Queen Susheņa of Kalinga, wife of Bali, by Rishi Dirghatama* and the five sons born to her are said to have founded the five kingdoms: Ahga, Vanga, Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma. Of these five, the kingdom of Anga comprised the territory round Bhagalpur (ancient Champa) on the Ganges. Vanga was the region probably on both sides of the Ganges, though the great bulk of its territory seems to have lain to the east of the river, extending from the frontiers of Vanga to the sea. To the west of this seems to have lain Kalinga. Pundra has been known to correspond to North Bengal, that is, the territory on the northern side of the Ganges and perhaps to the east of the kingdom of Kosala. The location of Suhma is not quite so definite, but it seems to have comprised the territory on the southern side of the Ganges extending from the river southwards to the frontiers of Kalinga east of the territory of Magadha. This description would make Kalinga extend from the Ganges westwards, at any rate from the Rupnarain arm of the Ganges, at the mouth of which was situated the ancient port of Tamralipti (the modern Damlok). Throughout the greater part of history Kalinga seems to have corresponded to the region extending from this river to the river Godavari, and stretching from the sea into the interior marked by a vague line drawn along the course of the river Indravati to its junction with the Godavari and along its course northwards to meet the Ganges near the town of Burdwan.

In the Mahabharata itself Kalinga is spoken of as one kingdom and its capital is named Rājapuri. In this particular connection the ruler of Kalinga is given the name Chitrangada, whose daughter the Kaurava Prince Duryodhana is said to have married. So far, then, as the Mahābhārata is concerned, Kalinga was a forest kingdom on both sides of the Vaitaraņi. It seems to have been regardone in the ed as a single kingdom and its ruler is described as Mahābhārata war. There is mention of Kalinga in the Sutras of Panini. There are a number of references in the Arthaśāstra to Kalinga, particularly in reference to cotton fabric of a special kind.

*The Mahabharata, Bk XII, Ch. 4 (Kumbh. Edn.).

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