was then fought between Ramachandra Bhañja who was at Sarangarh and Mukunda Dava. Mukunda Deva was killed by Ramachandra Bhañja who in turn was killed by the troops of the Padshah Both the kings died on the same day. Mukunda Deva reigned for eight years and five months, and during the confusion Ramchandra Bhañja reigned for six months and sixteen days. Then Raghu Bhañja Chhota Rae (who had been confined to prison by Mukunda Deva) again assumed sovereignty, but was treacherously murdered by the Pathans. He reigned for four months and ten days. Afterwards there was no king at Katak. The Mughal (i.e. Pathans) established themselves (at Katak).'

Mukunda Deva's alliance (prīti) with the Padshah of Delhi originated in a mission that Akbar sent to his court in A.D. 1565. Abdul Fazl writes: "One of the occurrences was the dispatch of Hasan Khan Khazanci (treasurer) to Orissa, which is a territory lying to the S.E. of India. From the time that India was conquered, none of the princes had raised his standard over Orissa. The rulers of that country had always been powerful, and the Rajah who was now ruling them was especially so. From the time when the Afghans had stretched their hand out over Bengal, they had continually planted in the gardens of their aspirations the wishing tree of the conquest of Orissa, but it never bore fruit. For on the borders thereof there were dangerous passes and lofty mountains, and heights and declivities innumerable, and difficult forests so that grasping hands of princes could not reach it. It is difficult for armies to tread on that soil. Whenever any of the competitors for Bengal took refuge with the Rajah of Jagannath, the ruler of Bengal could not lay hands on him. For example, Ibrahim Sur, who has been already mentioned, took refuge with the Rajah of Jagannath, and the latter assigned him a tract of Orissa for his subsistence. Though Sulaiman Kararānī exerted himself he could not put him down. On the contrary he was continually alarmed by him. At this time when Jaunpur was H.M.'s station, his sagacious mind, which extracts the account of the

morrow from the diary of to-day, determined to send one of his confidants to the Rajah in order to range him by gracious means in the lists of the obedient. Hasan Khan Khazanci was chosen for this service, and Mahāpāttar, who was unrivalled in the arts of Indian poetry and of music, was sent along with him The two went together to Orissa. As soon as the Rajah heard of the Shahinshah's favours, he set out to welcome the visitors and had them brought with honour to his city. He treated them properly, and having bound the girdle of service on the waist of his soul, he represented that if Sulaiman did not insert the ring of submission to the sublime court in his mental ear he would collect an army and bring Ibrahim, who was Sulaiman's competitor, against Bengal. He would do such things to Sulaiman that he would be a warning to all strife-mongers. After the Rajah had entertained Hasan Khan and Mahapattır for three months, be selected elephants of note and other valuable presents and sent them to court. Hasan Khan, Mahāpāttar and the ambassador of Rajah Mukund Deo who was called Rai Parmanand, had the honour of paying homage at Nagarcin when the Imperial cortège had come there from Jaunpur."1

According to Nizamuddin and Badaoni the end that Akbar had in view in sending a mission to the court of the king of Orissa was to dissuade him from reaching the hand of aid and assistance to the rebel Khan Zaman and to prevent his giving him refuge in his dominions.2

The hostility (aprīti) between Telinga Mukunda Deva and Sulaiman Kararānī was due to Mukunda Deva's giving shelter to Ibrahim Sur, once a candidate for the imperial throne after the death of Selim (Islem) Shah, and now a dangerous rival of Sulaiman Kararānī. Mukunda Deva's absence from Orissa and his giving himself away to sports in boats (nāva keli) while encamped on the Ganges (probably at Triveni in the Hughly

pp. 381-82.

1 Beveridge, Akbarnama, Vol. II, "Elliot and Dowson, History of India. Vol. V., p. 299; Lowe, Badaoni, Vol. II, p. 77.

district in Bengal where a bathing ghat is still associated with him) proved his ruin. Abul Fazl, evidently referring to Mukunda Deva's sports in boats, writes, "Though he opened the hand of liberality, yet he turned away from obedience to wisdom, and indulged in self-gratification". In our extract from the temple annals it is stated that Sulaiman Kararānī sent two different expeditions to conquer Orissa; one proceeded straight towards the south and besieged Mukunda Deva at Kotasarma Garh, which is identified by some with Kotsimul on the west bank of the Damodar in the Hooghly district 2; the other, led by Kala Pahar, proceeded along the Kansbane river which rises on the borderland of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar States, and invaded Orissa from the rear. Abul Fazl ignores the first army of Sulaiman Kararānī which besieged Mukunda Deva and writes about the operations of the second army:-"At the time when Sikandar Uzbeg turned away from eternal fortune, and went to Sulaiman Kararani, the latter sent his son Bayazid on an expedition against that country (Orissa) by way of Jharkhand, and dispatched Sikandar along with him. The Rajah, yielding to self-indulgence, sent two chosen cfficers Jihata Rai and Durga Panj, with a well-equipped force to make war. Those ingrates corrupted the officers of the army by gold and turned to attack their own master by the help of the slaves of gold. Hot engagements ensued, and the Rajah surrendered himself to failure and submitted to Bayazid. With his aid, a severe conflict took place, and the Rajah and Jihata Rai manfully yielded up their lives. The government fell into the hands of Durga Panj. Sulaiman by stratagem got possession of his person and put him to death, and became supreme over the country.'

3

Here it will be seen that the second Pathan army was led by Bayazid, the eldest son of Sulaimān Kararānī, and Kala Pahar, better known for his iconoclasm, was probably one of the generals

1 Beveridge, Akbarnama, Vol. III, p. 933.

'O'Malley, Hooghly District Gazetteer, Calcutta, 1912, p. 29.

• Beveridge, Akbarnamc. Vol. III, pp. 983-934.

who accompanied Bayazid. Both the accounts agree as regards the route adopted by the second Pathan aimy. For reaching the head-waters of the Kansbans river Bayazid had to march through the interior of the Jharkhand, that is to say, through Dhall hum in the Singhbhum district, through the western part of the Mayurbhanj State beyond the Simlipal range and along the northern frontier of Keonjhar. The invaders surprised and captured Cuttack without serious opposition. The account of what followed, as given in the Puri annals, appears to be more reliable than that of Abul Fazl. Abul Fazl's narrative seems to indicate that when Mukunda Deva, who was indulging in self-gratification, came to know of the presence of the enemy in the very heart of his kingdom, he could not give up his sensual pursuits but sent two of his generals, Jihata Rai and Durga Punj, to oppose them, and only awoke to a real sense of bis danger when his cfficers played false. A man like Mukunda Deva who had won the throne by his own exertions only nine years before, could hardly have been so blind as not to see that a Pathan army marching on Cuttack from the rear demanded his presence. We are, therefore, inclined to believe that the story given in the Puri annals is the more accurate one. Mukunda Deva was himself besieged at Kotasarma when Bayazid and Kala Pahar surprised Cuttack. Abul Fazl's Jihata Rai is probably no other than Ramachandra Bhañja, the commandant of Sarangaih As Sarangarh is only a few miles from Cuttack, it was incumbent on Ramachandra Bbañja to come to the rescue of the garrison of Cuttack when that city was besieged by the Pathans. Instead of doing so, and perceiving that the fall of Cuttack meant the fall of Mukunda Deva, he proclaimed himself king. In this desperate condition, Mukunda Deva had no other course open to him but to seek the assistance of the invaders against the rebel. Bayazid knew the value of an alliance with the king of Orissa in view of the impending struggle with the Mughal empire, and readily agreed to help Mukunda Deva. But the unfortunate death of Mukunda Deva frustrated the scheme.

Mukunda Deva died in Sakāvda 1480 (A. D. 1568) and then, after disposing of Raghu Bhañja Chhota Rae, Kala Pahra led his famous expedition to Puri. Abul Fazl writes in the Ain-i-Akbari, "Kala Pabar, the general of Sulaiman Kararānī, on his conquest of the country, flung the image (of Jagannatha) into the fire and burnt it and cast it into the sea". The Puri annals furnish a more detailed account of the doings of Kala Pabar. It is said that during the troubles that followed the Pathan invasion Divyasimba Patnayak, the Pariksha or the manager of the temple of Jagannath, removed the idols to Parikud, an island in the Chilka lake, and hid them underground at Chhavali Hathipada. Kala Pahar got scent of this, proceeded to Parikuda and recovered the image. From Parikuda he returned to Puri, plundered the stores (lārana-koți bhandāra), damaged the great temple up to the amalaka stone, disfigured all the images and uprooted the Kalpavata tree and set fire to it after covering it with horse's dung. The image of Jagannath was then conveyed to the bank of the Ganges and thrown into fire. It is added that the son of Kala Pahar cast the half-burnt image into the Ganges. In one manuscript, D(12), the proper name of Kala Pahar is given as Alahadād.

Though the history of the Pathan conquest of Orissa as told in the Puri annals agrees in the main with the account of Abul Fazl, there is considerable difference between the Akbarnama and the annals regarding the history of the subsequent period. Kala Pahar's expedition to the Puri district of Orissa was a mere raid. Soon after he turned his back, Ramachandra Deva carved out a kingdom in southern Orissa with Khurda as its capital. In manuscripts A and D(10) Ramachandra Deva is called the son of Danai Vidyadhara who was the right-hand man of Govinda Deva (Vidyadhara) and was put to death by Mukunda Deva. But in B and C(2) Ramachandra Deva is said to be the son of one Vira Pehara of the same Bhoi family, One Visara Mahanti followed the image of Jagannath to

1 Jarrett, Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. II, p. 128.