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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA His son Rājēndra I (1016-43 A.C.) also claims to have defeated the Eastern Chālukya king as well as to have set up pillars of victory on Mount Mahēndra in Kaliṅga (in the present Srikakulam District of Madras). Whether, however, this achievement of Rājēndra I should be attributed to his own reign or to that of his father when he may have led the expedition against the Kaliṅga country as his father’s general is uncertain in the present state of our knowledge. But it is extremely interesting to note that, in the description of the expeditions led by the generals or Rājēndra I about 1023 A.C. in the countries towards the east as far as South-East Bengal, mention is made of the reduction of Oḍra (Puri-Cuttack area) and Kōsala (the Sambalpur region together with certain western tracts), both then under the Sōmavaṁśī king of Yayātinagara,[1] but not of any conflict with the king of Kaliṅga.[2] This fact seems to suggest that the early rulers of the imperial Gaṅga family were regarded by the Chōḷa emperors as their subordinate allies. The real founder of the greatness of the imperial branch of the Gaṅga family was another Vajrahasta Anantavarman (1038-70 A.C.) who was the grandson of his namesake mentioned above and the grandfather of the mighty Anantavarman Chōḍagaṅga. But Chōḷa influence continued in Kaliṅga as late as the reign of Chōḍagaṅga and even later. The present inscription is one of the few records of Anantavarman Chōḍagaṅga that have been so far discovered in the Puri-Cuttack region which was conquered by that monarch from the Sōmavaṁśīs about the beginning of the twelfth century. Of the geographical names mentioned in the inscription, the location of Chōḷa-dēśa has already been noticed. Kaḍamvura may, as Mr. N. L. Rao has kindly suggested be identified with Kaḍambūr in the Udaiyarpalaiyam taluk of the Tiruchirapalli District. Alaguṁma is no doubt modern Alagum which is the findspot of the inscription under discussion. The name is Alaguma even now in Oriya pronunciation. The vishaya or district of Rāmaṅga, in which the village of Alaguṁma is said to have been situated, seems to be the same as the Rāvaṅga vishaya mentioned in the Puri plates of Bhānu II.[3]
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1 Siddham[5] Svasti [||*] Śrīmad-Anantavarmadēvasya _________________________________________________
[1] See I. H. Q., Vol. XXII, pp. 300 ff. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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