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Narasimha III (Eastern Ganga)

Narasimha III was an Eastern Ganga king of Kalinga and Orissa from about 1322–23 to the middle of the 14th century, the son of Bhanudeva II. Little is known of his deeds, but many gifts at Srikurmam are dated in his reign, from 1330 to 1350. They name his queens Kamaladevi, Gangambika and Kommidevi, and his daughter Sitadevi. A later king set up images of Narasimha and his queen Gangambika holding lamps in the Srikurmam temple.

Narasimha III was a king of the Eastern Gangas, who ruled Kalinga and Orissa in the second quarter of the 14th century.12 He was the son of Bhanudeva II.1 R. D. Banerji noted that very little is known about his deeds, though many of his votive records survive.1 They are mostly in the temple of Srikurmam in today’s Srikakulam district.1

Family

Banerji, in his History of Orissa (1930), made Narasimha III the son of Bhanudeva II by his queen Lakshmidevi.1 His records name several queens.1 Kamaladevi was the mother of his son Bhanudeva III.1 He also married Gangamba or Gangambika, and Kommidevamma, the mother of his daughter Sitadevi.1

Records at Srikurmam

E. Hultzsch, writing in 1896, gave a group of Srikurmam records to the third Narasimha.3 V. Rangacharya summarised them, and they show the queens and the court at work in the temple:456

  • in Saka 1244, about 1322, Gangamba, wife of king Nrisimha, gave ornaments (Saka is an Indian way of counting years)5
  • in Saka 1263, his 18th year, a gift of gold was made in the reign of Pratapavira-Naranarasimhadeva4
  • in Saka 1263 Kommidevi gave an image holding a lamp, for the good of her daughter Sitadevi6
  • in Saka 1265 Gangamahadevi gave an image holding a lamp, and ornaments, for the merit of Pratapavira-Narasimhadeva45
  • in Saka 1271, his 28th year, his queen Gangadevi and Sitadevi appointed a dancing master and two dancing girls6

Hultzsch judged from these records that the third Narasimha came to the throne about 1322–23.3 He noted the queens’ names Ganga and Sita.3

Images of the king

One Srikurmam record says that a king Vira-Bhanudeva gave the temple images of Vira-Narasimhadeva and of Gangambika, holding lamps.7 He also gave land for them.7 Banerji took this to be Bhanudeva III honouring his father and his stepmother.1

End of the reign

The Puri plates of his grandson give Narasimha III a reign of 24 years.1 But Banerji found his records of the 29th year, in Saka 1272, about 1350.1 So he thought the reign lasted more than 26 years, and that his son came to the throne in Saka 1275 or 1276.1

Where the sources disagree

  • When did he come to the throne? Robert Sewell found 1322–23 from several records, but noted that one points to 1324–25.8 Rangacharya worked out 1323 from the record of his 18th year.4
  • When did his reign end? Sewell gives 1346 or 1350.2 Banerji found records of 1350, and put his son’s accession in 1353 or 1354.1
  • The images at Srikurmam. Rangacharya dated the gift of the images to Saka 1254, about 1332, in the third year of a Vira-Bhanudeva.7 Hultzsch counted a Bhanudeva of these records as reigning in the time of the third Narasimha.3 Banerji gave the gift to Bhanudeva III, after his father’s death.1

Footnotes

  1. R. D. Banerji, History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period, Vol. I (1930), p. 281 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  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. 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)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), p. 688, Ganjam Nos. 178 and 186 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), p. 689, Ganjam Nos. 186–187 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), p. 691, Ganjam Nos. 221 and 223 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. I (1919), p. 690, Ganjam No. 202 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 359, notes to the genealogy of the Eastern Gangas (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

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 (3)
  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. 281. [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, 688–691. [Public domain]
  3. 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. 358–359. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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