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Rajaraja II (Eastern Ganga)

Rajaraja II was an Eastern Ganga king of Kalinga in the late 12th century, the third son of Anantavarman Chodaganga to rule after him. R. D. Banerji dated his reign from 1170 to about 1190, and Robert Sewell from 1166–67 to 1192. His queen Surama was a sister of Svapnesvaradeva, who built the Meghesvara temple at Bhubaneswar. A record of a Ganga king Rajaraja II at Draksharama, south of the Godavari, names a general Monkana.

Rajaraja II was a king of the Eastern Gangas of Kalinga in the late 12th century.12 He was one of the sons of Anantavarman Chodaganga who ruled one after another.1 His inscriptions are found at Mukhalingam in today’s Srikakulam district, and a record of a king of his name stands at Draksharama, south of the Godavari.34

Family

R. D. Banerji, in his History of Orissa (1930), made Rajaraja II a son of Chodaganga by his queen Chandralekha.1 His elder brothers Madhu-Kamarnava and Raghava ruled before him.1 Banerji thought that both of them most probably died without sons, so the throne passed to Rajaraja.1

Rajaraja II married Surama.1 She was a sister of Svapnesvaradeva, who built the Meghesvara temple at Bhubaneswar.13 In his old age Rajaraja handed the kingdom to his younger brother, Aniyanka-Bhima.3

Dates

Banerji worked out the reign from the dates in his records:13

  • he came to the throne in Saka 1092, about 1170 (Saka is an Indian way of counting years)1
  • his earliest known date is Saka 1093, about 1171, called his third year1
  • his latest known date is Saka 1110, about 11881
  • his reign ended in Saka 1112, about 1190, when his brother was already on the throne13

The Puri and Kenduapatna plates of his successors give him a reign of 25 years.1 Banerji took this figure to be counted in ankas, the Orissa way of counting regnal years, which leaves out some years.51 Robert Sewell’s table (1932) dates the reign from 1166–67 to 1192.2

Records

Banerji wrote that the inscriptions of Rajaraja II are found only at Mukhalingam.3 V. Rangacharya listed a Sanskrit record of a Ganga king Rajaraja II on a pillar at the entrance to the inner court of the Bhimesvara temple at Draksharama.4 It calls him the son of Aniyanka-Bhima, son of Chola-Ganga, and names a general called Monkana.4 Rangacharya thought that this Rajaraja came to the throne about 1167.4

Where the sources disagree

  • His father. Banerji and Sewell make Rajaraja II a son of Chodaganga, and an elder brother of Aniyanka-Bhima.132 The Draksharama record listed by Rangacharya calls a Ganga king Rajaraja II the son of Aniyanka-Bhima.4
  • His dates. Sewell gives 1166–67 to 1192.2 Banerji gives 1170 to 1190.1

Footnotes

  1. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 254 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16

  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 ↩4

  3. Banerji, History of Orissa, Vol. I (1930), p. 255 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  4. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. II (1919), p. 744, Godavari No. 350 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. R. D. Banerji, History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period, Vol. I (1930), p. 253 (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 (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. 253–255. [Public domain]
  2. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. II (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 744. [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. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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