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Rajaraja I (Eastern Ganga)

Eastern Ganga king of Kalinga, also called Devendravarman. He reigned for eight years between his father Vajrahasta III and his son Anantavarman Chodaganga (1070–1078 in Sewell's chronology, 1068–1076 in Ramamurti's). His wife Rajasundari was probably a daughter of the Chola-Chalukya emperor Kulottunga I. His general Vanapati claimed victories over the Cholas and the kings of Vengi and Orissa. The grants of his son say that he sheltered the Eastern Chalukya Vijayaditya VII against the Cholas.

Rajaraja I was a king of the Ganga dynasty.1 He reigned for eight years, between his father Vajrahasta III and his son Anantavarman.1 Robert Sewell dates his reign from 1070 to 1078.23 The inscription of his general Vanapati at Dirghasi claims victories over the Chola king, the Utkala and the kings of the Vengi country.14

Family and reign

Rajaraja I was the son of the Ganga king Vajrahasta III.1 G. V. Ramamurti, writing in 1897, reckoned that Vajrahasta, crowned in 1038, ruled for thirty years and Rajaraja for eight.1 So Rajaraja “must have reigned from A.D. 1068 to 1076 and died two years before his son’s coronation” in 1078.1 Ramamurti wondered whether the gap was due to the son’s minority (being under age) or to some distant expedition.1

Robert Sewell, using a copper-plate grant reported in 1919, dated Rajaraja’s accession to 20 May 1070.23 His son Anantavarman Chodaganga succeeded on 17 February 1078.23 Sewell calls him Devendravarman-Rajaraja I.5 He identified him with the Devendravarman of the Chicacole plates of the year 183, which on his reckoning of the Ganga era fell in 1061.67 But E. Hultzsch’s edition of those plates names their donor as a son of Gunarnava.8 See the Chicacole plates.

Rajaraja’s queen Rajasundari was a daughter of the Chola-Chalukya emperor Kulottunga I in Sewell’s account.3 Fleet, writing in 1891, thought it probable, but not quite certain, that the Rajasundari of the Ganga records was Kulottunga’s daughter and the wife of Rajaraja of Kalinganagara.9

War with Vengi and the Cholas

The gazetteer of the Visakhapatnam (then Vizagapatam) district (1907) says that Rajaraja “ascended the throne in 1070-71 and reigned eight years”.10 During this time, it says, he claimed to have helped the Vengi kings against the Cholas.10 Afterwards he claimed to have defeated both of them, and also “the ruler of Utkala (Orissa) and other monarchs”.10

The inscription of his general Vanapati at Dirghasi, near Kalingapatnam, claims victories over the Chola king and the Utkala.4 It also claims victories over “the kings of the Vengi country, Kimidi, Kosala, the Gidrisingi country and the Odda country”.4 Ramamurti identified the Chola king with Kulottunga I and the king of Vengi with Vijayaditya VII.1 See the Dirghasi inscription.

His son’s grants remember a gentler side of the relationship with Vengi. Fleet quoted the Vizagapatam grant of Saka 1040 (Saka is an Indian way of counting years).911 It says that Vijayaditya, “beginning to grow old, left the country of Vengi as if he were the sun leaving the sky”.911 He “was about to sink in the great ocean of the Cholas”.911 Then Rajaraja “caused him to enjoy prosperity for a long time in the western region”.911

Sewell read this as meaning that Vijayaditya VII fled to Kalinga and ended his days in its western part.512 He also took Rajaraja’s claim to have beaten the kings of Vengi and the Cholas as a reference to the northern expeditions of two kings.512 These were the expeditions of Kulottunga, made while he was still an Eastern Chalukya prince, and of the Chola king Virarajendra.512 Neither of them claimed an actual conquest of Kalinga.512

Records

V. Rangacharya summarised the Dirghasi inscription of Saka 997 (1075–76) in his list of 1919.13 He describes Vanapati as the hereditary door-keeper and commander-in-chief of Rajaraja, whom he dates 1068–1076.13 The account of Rajaraja’s help to Vengi comes from the grants of his son rather than from records of his own.1011

Footnotes

  1. G. V. Ramamurti, “Dirghasi Inscription of Vanapati; Saka-Samvat 997”, Epigraphia Indica IV (1896–97), p. 315 and notes 3–4 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  2. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 83 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 87 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Ramamurti, “Dirghasi Inscription of Vanapati” (1897), p. 318, translation, verse 9 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 84 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 76 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

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

  8. E. Hultzsch, “Chicacole Plates of Gunarnava’s Son Devendravarman”, Epigraphia Indica III (1894–95), p. 131 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. J. F. Fleet, “The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings”, Indian Antiquary XX (1891), p. 276 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Vizagapatam, Vol. I (1907), p. 27 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 277 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  12. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 86 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1919), p. 683, Ganjam No. 142 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

Dynasties

Eastern Gangas of Kalinga

c. 498–1434 CE

Dynasty of Kalinga that ruled from Kalinganagara, now Mukhalingam in the Srikakulam district, and later from Orissa, from about the 6th century until 1434. Its early grants are dated in 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. F. Kielhorn (articles); E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. IV (1896–97) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1897, pp. 314–318. G. V. Ramamurti, Dirghasi inscription of Vanapati (No. 45). [Public domain]
  2. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Vizagapatam, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1907, pp. 27. [Public domain]
  3. R. C. Temple (ed.); article by J. F. Fleet, Indian Antiquary, Vol. XX (1891), incl. J. F. Fleet, 'The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings' (opens in a new tab), Education Society's Press, Bombay, 1891, pp. 276–277. J. F. Fleet, The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings. [Public domain]
  4. 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. 76, 83–84, 86–87, 358. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  5. 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. 683. [Public domain]
  6. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. III (1894–95) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1895. [Public domain]

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