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Bhanudeva I (Eastern Ganga)

Bhanudeva I was an Eastern Ganga king of Kalinga and Orissa in the third quarter of the 13th century, the son of Narasimha I and the father of Narasimha II. His generals and ministers made gifts at Boni and Srikurmam. P. V. Parabrahma Sastry wrote that he invaded Vengi in 1274 and set up two inscriptions at Draksharama, until the generals of the Kakatiya queen Rudramadevi drove his army back. After this the Godavari became the border between the two kingdoms.

Bhanudeva I was a king of the Eastern Gangas, who ruled Kalinga and Orissa.1 He reigned in the third quarter of the 13th century, between his father Narasimha I and his son Narasimha II.12 In the Telugu country he is remembered for a war with the Kakatiya queen Rudramadevi over the land south of the Godavari.3

Family

R. D. Banerji, in his History of Orissa (1930), made Bhanudeva I the son of Narasimha I by his queen Sitadevi.1 He married Jakalladevi of the Chalukya family.1 E. Hultzsch noted that she was probably related to the Chalukya chiefs who served the Gangas at Srikurmam.4 Their son was Narasimha II.1

Reign

Banerji placed the death of Narasimha I, and so the accession of Bhanudeva I, in Saka 1186, about 1264 (Saka is an Indian way of counting years).1 The Kenduapatna plates of his son give him 18 ankas (counted regnal years), which Banerji took to be 15 years.1 The grants of later kings say that Bhanudeva gave a hundred plots of land, with houses and gardens, to learned Brahmans.1

Records in the Telugu north

His men left gifts in the temples of the Telugu north:

  • in Saka 1193, about 1271–72, his general Umapati gave a lamp and a garden to the Amaresvara temple at Boni, in today’s Visakhapatnam district5
  • in Saka 1193 a minister of Bhanudeva gave land to the temple at Srikurmam6
  • in Saka 1197 a minister of Vira-Bhanudeva gave a lamp at Srikurmam6

The Boni record names his father as Vira-Narasimhadeva and his grandfather as Bhima.5 E. Hultzsch, writing in 1896, judged from the Srikurmam records that the first Bhanudeva reigned between the first and second Narasimhas.7 See the Srikurmam temple.

War with Rudramadevi

P. V. Parabrahma Sastry found no trace of Kakatiya rule in the Godavari region for about sixteen years after 1262.3 In his account, Bhanudeva I invaded Vengi in Saka 1196, about 1274, and set up two inscriptions at Draksharama.3 Rudramadevi sent her army east under the generals Poti-nayaka and Proli-nayaka.3 They seem to have driven back the Kalinga army.3 After this the Godavari formed the border between the two kingdoms.3 See the Kakatiyas.

Successor

Banerji followed a Madhva hymn, the Narahari-yati-stotra, which says that Narasimha II was a baby when his father died.1 The Madhva teacher Naraharitirtha then ruled the kingdom for him for twelve years.1 See Narasimha II.

Where the sources disagree

  • His dates. Robert Sewell’s table (1932) gives 1256–1275.2 Banerji placed his accession in 1264, the year he gave for the death of Narasimha I.1 The Boni record of 1271–72 shows him reigning by then.5
  • His grandfather. The Boni record names his grandfather as Bhima.5 V. Rangacharya identified him as Anangabhima II.5 Banerji called Narasimha I’s father Anangabhima III.8

Footnotes

  1. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 270 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  2. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 358, genealogical table of the Eastern Gangas (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  3. P. V. Parabrahma Sastry, The Kakatiyas of Warangal (1978), p. 120. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. E. Hultzsch, “Four Pillar Inscriptions of Eastern Chalukya Chiefs at Srikurmam”, Epigraphia Indica V (1898–99), p. 32 and note 1 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  5. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. III (1919), p. 1666, Vizagapatam No. 5 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), p. 692, Ganjam Nos. 229 and 231 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  7. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1919), p. 685, introduction to Srikurmam, quoting the Madras epigraphical report for 1896 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  8. R. D. Banerji, History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period, Vol. I (1930), p. 262 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Eastern Gangas of Kalinga

c. 498–1434 CE

The Eastern Gangas ruled Kalinga from about the 6th century until 1434. Their capital was Kalinganagara, now Mukhalingam in the Srikakulam district; later they ruled from Orissa. Their early grants use a Ganga era whose starting point is still disputed. The north of the Telugu country, the old Ganjam and Vizagapatam districts, was the heart of the kingdom. Their copper plates come from Chicacole, Achyutapuram, Jirjingi, Nadagam and Alamanda, and hundreds of their inscriptions in Telugu and Sanskrit survive at Mukhalingam, Srikurmam and Simhachalam. Anantavarman Chodaganga, a grandson of Kulottunga I, reigned from 1078 for about seventy years. The later kings fought the Kakatiyas across the Godavari, and their minister Kapilesvara founded the Gajapati dynasty in 1434.

References

Sources (6)
  1. R. D. Banerji, History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), R. Chatterjee, Calcutta, 1930, pp. 270. [Public domain]
  2. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 685, 692. [Public domain]
  3. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. III (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 1666. [Public domain]
  4. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. V (1898–99) (opens in a new tab), Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta (scan of the 1959 Government of India Press facsimile reprint), 1899, pp. 32. E. Hultzsch, Four pillar inscriptions of Eastern Chalukya chiefs at Srikurmam (No. 4). [Public domain]
  5. P. V. Parabrahma Sastry, The Kakatiyas of Warangal, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1978, pp. 120. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  6. Robert Sewell (ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar), The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (Collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1932, pp. 358. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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