The Saga of Kalinga

April 1st. For many, it's a fool day but for us Odias, it is our foundation day. This day is celebrated widely as Utkal Divas. This day we Odias who were represented by Madhusudhan Das successfully convinced the British that Odia is a separate language of its own, having its own history and culture and not an offshoot or dialect of Bengali. For your info, Odia is the only North Indian Non-Sanskrit Language to have the status of classical language as per the Govt of India(Not Gujrati, nor Hindi, Nor Marathi, Bengali). Irony died a thousand times when we had to prove some firangis that we are not Bengalis which was nowhere in the picture when our language, art, and culture flourished.

Coming to our specialty. When I was staying in Delhi, people called me south Indian. Now when I am staying in Chennai people call me North Indian. So we are the Pure Indians. More Indian than anyone else 😊. Having said that Odias are more of nationalists than regionalists unlike some of the southern people. We never boast about our culture-language to others unnecessarily, never even cared to do so. Easily mixing, chilled out guys, always ready to travel, never say no to games and sports, not so serious (rarely you will find a Nerd among Odias) and high-class foodies.

That's it. I am not going to tell about the same boring things on our statehood days like art, dance, clothes, Geography, tourist place, some freedom fighters, etc. and certainly not going to explain about the Rath Yatra or legends of Lord Jagannath. Here I will only focus on the importance of this land and only talk about historically how Odisha, the erstwhile Kalinga played a key role in shaping our nation.

Part- I

Who are we and who are our noted heroes? The first mention of Kalinga is found in Mahabharat. It has fought along with Kauravas in the battle of Mahabharat. As once Chanakya said to the Janpads while preparing them for the invasion of Alexander " Paradhin Rashtra tabtak Parajit nahi hota jabtak wo apni sankriti aur mulyon ki raksha kar sake". Hence I always say unlike other ancient civilizations of Egypt and Iran whose culture itself was lost, India still remains as it is and hence the land can never be conquered. So, whoever ruled this part of the land, primarily from Mahanadi to the Godavari without any malicious intent to destroy our culture or rather helped in updating and flourishing our art, language and culture all are our heroes. All are Kalingadhipatis. This post is going to be very long. It's about my language and my state. Can't shorten it.

Importance-1-:

Fast forward to 500 BCE. During this time Odisha was numero uno in maritime trading in the entire world. People of Odisha can relate it to "Kartika Purnima". It was a highly rich kingdom because of its merchants. This is the time Odia language was just about to evolve. The technology was not much advanced that you can go to the Java-Sumatra (South Asian) region on a straight path on the Bay of Bengal. The maritime route was from coast of Odisha to south up to Srilanka and from there turn westwards to reach to Bali Island of Indonesia. The famous Bali Jatra that happens in Cuttack every year is to celebrate the return of our merchants from Bali.

Once so happened that the daughter of King of Vanga(Bengal) was kidnapped by a Lion (Most likely a man who is so powerful that they call him lion). This man was a Kalinga Man and notorious too. Their son whose name was Singha Bahu killed his father and freed along with his mother and established a kingdom in and around Odisha. His Son, Prince Vijaya again turned out to be like his grandfather, violent clout, a disgrace to the king. The king banished him from the empire.

So Vijay along with 700 companions started sailing South and reached Srilanka. He defeated the native people there and became its King. He married a Pandyan princess and had considerable influence on the Tamil kings. Vijaya became very benevolent and ruled Srilanka for thirty years and hence the Sinhalese tribe started. Sinhalese- After the name of his father Singhabahu or may be based on his Grandfather the LION. Srilankans consider Vijaya as their founding father and no need to mention Srilanka's national flag carries a Lion symbol on it though Srilanka never had any lion on its soil. So Srilankans are not Dravidian and they are basically Odias (So-called Aryans). Shocking. Isn't it?

Importance-2-:

This will hurt many people but I am not gonna mince my words. Most of the Indians know Odisha or Kalinga from the famous or rather infamous Kalinga war which is fought between the Magadha (Bihar) and Kalinga. Kalinga at that time was a democratic state with no crowned King. It has a strong maritime link with the southeast and has sophisticated ship technology. The Mauryan empire was giant(See picture 1) and Kalinga never had a chance against the Ashoka. Neither Chandragupta under the advice of Chanakya nor his son Bindusara attacked Kalinga. Because Chanakya understood the importance of Kalinga and he respected its administration. He did not see any threat to his dream of the unification of India from Kalinga.

Why did Ashoka, the Son of Bindusara, attack it? This could be an entire article but very briefly, Ashoka was a lunatic as well as fanatic and barbaric. Chandashoka as we know him. He was not the crown prince chosen by Bindusara. He killed the crown prince after the king's death on the advice of Buddhist monks who wanted to expand their influence. He killed every male of his cousins and stepbrothers to establish himself as the Mauryan empire. When finally Ashoka became the king, he had trust issues with Kalinga because Kalinga has a favorable view of the crown prince. He also was scared about its much sophisticated Navy and also a little bit attracted by its money. One of the bloodiest battles was fought in 262 BCE and lakhs were killed. Virtually the entire Kalinga population was wiped off. And did he becomes Dhramashok after that and became a Buddhist? Lol, you must be kidding. That guy was still the same. He did not even express his remorse in his inscriptions that are found in Odisha's Dhauli temple, the war site. He killed many Jains even after this war as it was Buddhists who helped him become the king. Hence he was a religious fanatic too. He never changed.

The Mauryan Empire

Hence whenever some Bollywood guys portray Ashoka as in love with some Kalinga princess, or Any TV serials which portray Kalinga people as barbarians who were liberated by Ashoka, it pains each and every Odia. Still, We accept Ashoka Chakra and Ashoka Stambha. Not because it has Ashoka in it but because these are our national flag and national emblem. Why? As I have said we are nationalists and not regionalists. So what is the importance of Kalinga in it? Ashoka could never recover his image after the Kalinga war. His image was tarnished throughout his empire and the Mauryan empire disintegrated into pieces during his later days. The Wicked form of Buddhism was stopped being a prominent religion in India and the Vedic religion attained its prominent status. All Hindus should thank us for that.

Importance 3- :

After the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire, two powerful empires emerged, one the Satavahan Empire in south-central India and one in the eastern Coast, the Mahameghavahana Empire. The Mauryan Empire was reduced to just present-day Bihar and parts of Bengal. Much of North India divided into small kingdoms. This was an ample opportunity for the Greeks who were subjugated by the Mauryas. They started attacking the Mainland India. This was the 2nd invasion after Alexander. One such invader was Demetrius. He Conquered all of Northwest India from the Mauryas notably present-day Iran, Pakistan Afganisthan and almost won most parts of North India. Due to the presence of Vindhyas the invaders normally don't attack south India directly. Rather the usual path is to conquer India from west to east up to Bihar and then turn southwards on the plains of Odisha.

When Demetrius attacked Magadh (Around 180 BCE)which then has been reduced to a very weak kingdom, the King sought the help of Kalinga. And who was the King at that time? The greatest Kalinga Emperor, Mahameghavahana Aira Kharavela. See the turn of events. The same Mauryan empire which wiped off Kalinga 80 years ago is now seeking the help of it to fight an Invader.

Demetrius was no match to Kharavela. He lost the battle. So Kharavela secured the nation from the most severe invasion attempt to date by defeating Demetrius and Greeks never attacked India afterward. They were restricted to Present-day Mathura. The Kharavela inscriptions in Hatigumpha describes this battle as " A Yavana King ran away with his demoralized army towards Mathura after the defeat by the Kalingadhipati ". Kharavela conquered the Tamil kingdoms and defeated the Satavahans too. The extent of the influence of his empire can be seen in Picture 2.

Did he stop here? No. After the invasion threat was gone, he conquered Mauryans and the now the battle of Kalinga was avenged. He freed the Jains and brought back all the wealth and Idols that has been taken away from the Kalinga by Ashoka. He described his expedition of Magadh in the Udayagiri hills situated in Bhubaneswar. If one climbs up this hill and stands in front of Hatigumpha, you can see the Bhubaneswar town. And if you look straight you will see the Dhauli temple built by Ashoka after his victory in the Kalinga war. Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal in his book "The Ocean of Churn" describes this as " It is unmistakable how Kharavela had his inscriptions placed directly looking out at those of Ashoka at Dhauli. It is as if to tell Ashoka that he, Kharavela of Kalinga, had sacked Pataliputra and caused the end of Mauryan rule which once created a bloodbath in Kalinga."

Influence of Kharavela Empire

Very proud feeling as an Odia. Isn't it?

Sadly, The Delhi Centric Historians never gave any prominence to such a Magnificent Emperor. At least we as an Odia should know it and tell it to every Indian that how glorious our past is and how important we are in shaping and securing our nation the " BharataVarsha" and the Vedic culture.

Part-II

"Utkal Divas", the name so-called because Utkal literally means Utrkrist Kala ka Desh. Odisha's art, handicraft, architecture, etc are second to none. The Magnificent temples like the Jagannath temple in Puri, The Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar and the Sun temple in Konark are some of the finest examples of architectural marvels. The temple design, as well as the structure of Odisha, are completely different from the other temples in any other part of the world. It has its own uniqueness. Whichever dynasty from any part of the world may rule here, he followed this pattern. I would request everyone to come, have a visit to Odisha.

Having said that let's move on to the subject.

Importance-: 4

After the great Kharavela, the Mahameghavahan Empire was still ruling a vast part of the country. Kharavela had successfully repealed the Greeks from the mainland India. But thereafter another force was emerging in northwest India. The Sakas(Present-day Iranians). They have successfully captured the territory in the northwest country from the Greeks and were on a mission to expand their empire into mainland India. A similar pattern was followed. Win the northwest capture Gujrat & Rajasthan, then move from west to east up to Bihar and then look towards the south. Approximately 100 years after Kharavela won over the Greeks, the Sakas has successfully captured Pataliputra. See the figure for the Saka Empire.

Saka Empire-: Green- Direct control of Sakas, Yellow- Expanded Territory of Sakas

According to Yuga Puran (Source-Wiki), the Sakas have killed one-fourth of the population of Pataliputra until they faced the Kalinga King on the battlefield. History was being repeated. And Yes History was repeated. The Kalinga king defeated the Sakas and killed the Saka king. The name of the Kalinga King is said to be Shata but this is ambiguous as not much is known about him. But it is quite certain that the Sakas were defeated in the battle by a Kalinga king and Kaling played a pivotal role in foiling another foreign invasion.

Most of the period in the first Millenium AD Kalinga was not an influential kingdom in the mainland of India. During this period we have come across many great Indian kings like Vikramaditya, Rajaraja Chola, Gautamiputra Satakarni, etc who had successfully fought against the invaders. Most of the period Kalinga was under the Gupta Empire which was otherwise called the Golden age of India.

Fast forward to 1192. This is one of the most important years of Indian history because the first time the Islamic invasion successfully captured Delhi after Ghori defeated Prithviraj Chauhan in the battle of Tarain. It took almost 600 years for Islamic invaders after Prophet Muhammad to capture Delhi. That too not by the Arabs(to which Muhammad belonged to) but by the Turks(Not a pure race). This is the prime reason why India did not become an Islamic nation. The first blow is always the ultimate blow and the most effective blow. The whole nation owes to the Rajputs/Gujratis of western India and Gurjara-Pratiharas of North India to have resisted Islamic invasion for so long and saved the country. Now we have reached Medieval India.

Importance 5-

After the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan, Delhi Sultanate was established under its first sultan Qutbuddin Aibak which is otherwise known as the Mamluk dynasty. India was a hunting ground for them and the commanders of the Delhi sultanate were winning one after another battle in northern India. One of them was Bakhtiyar Khiliji, a tyrant you can't imagine. Bakhtiyar Khilji captured Bihar and Bengal. His Bihar expedition was one of the most inhumane incidents in Indian history. He destroyed all the temples and universities. Nalanda was completely destroyed and the library was burnt. Hundreds of Scholars and professors were killed. Almost all Buddhist monuments have been raged. The irony is we still have a town named after him in Bihar, Bakhtiyarpur. He captured Bengal (both West Bengal and Bangladesh) killed thousands. Then he started his expedition towards Tibet. While on his Tibet expedition he met the Assamese King Pritthu and lost the battle miserably and later died. Hence northeast was saved from the Islamic Conquest.

Bengal is now captured by the Delhi sultanate. See Picture 2. The extent of the Mamluk empire followed a similar pattern to other invaders. Conquer Northwest then march from West to East. Their next target was Kalinga. History was repeating Again. The Bengal governor of the Delhi Sultanate who was the successor to Bakhtiyar Khiliji, Ghihas-Ud-din attacked Kalinga.

Mamluk Empire-1260 AD

Kalinga was then ruled by Eastern Ganga Dynasty. The King was Anandabhima Deva. He did not opt for any settlement with Ghihas-ud-din but rather defeated the Muslim forces and chased them out of the Kalinga. The battle was fought under the commander of Odisha Army, Vishnu Mahapatra.

This battle was a very important battle in the Kalinga as well as Odisha's history. The Kalinga king was attacked by a powerful Delhi sultanate and defeated him. This was a bloody blow to the Islamic expansion in Odisha.

Importance 6-:

Anaga Bhimdev's Son was Narasingha Dev. This guy was not like his forefathers who believed in defending but rather believed is finishing the game at once. After becoming King he marched towards Bengals to secure Odisha permanently from the Islamic invasion.

In Picture-2, what can be seen is not the maximum extent of the Mamluk dynasty. You can clearly see most parts of the present-day West Bengal was not under the Mamluk dynasty. Narasingh Dev Marched towards the Bengal Sultan, defeated them and captured Bengal. Repulsed them to the east of Padma river to present-day Bangladesh.

The blow was so severe that for the next 400 years no Sultan from Delhi could dare to invade Kalinga. Not even the most powerful rulers like Allauddin Khiliji (Padmavat wala, Picture 3) or Tuglaq (Picture 4). In Picture 4 you can clearly see the Delhi sultanate conquered almost all of India barring the Kalinga.

Khiliji Empire, Dark Green- Core Empire, Light Green- Vassals

To commemorate his victory over the Sultanate Narasingh Deva Built the most wonderful temple I have ever seen, the KONARK SUN TEMPLE. He had done the Sadhana of Sun before going for the battle and after the battle, as it was so close to his heart he appointed 1200 laborers to build the magnificent temple ever built. Most of us only know the story of Bishu Maharana (The chief Engineer) and his son Dharmapada when we read about Konark Temple. The background as you can see was entirely different

Tuglaq Empire-1410 AD

The powerful Eastern Ganga Dynasty ensured that the first and effective Islamic invasion could not succeed in India. This was carried forward by another powerful dynasty, the Gajapati Dynasty. Not until 1568 the Sultanate captured Odisha and Akbar in 1592 Consolidated power in Odisha. Till then it was ruled by Hindu Kings. While temples were destroyed in other parts of the country and virtually all temples were wiped out in the Sultanate and Mughal stronghold of UP, Bihar, Bengal, in Odisha Sky touching magnificent temples like Jagannath temple, Konark temple was being built. Apart from that all previous temples like Lingaraj Temple, Rajarani temple all were standing tall reminding the invaders about the strength of Kalinga. When Akbar captured Odisha the severity and threat of the expansion of Islam were almost zero as Akbar then became quite liberal and had got to know that it is not possible to win by imposing Islam to every Indian. That is why the first invasion is always the most significant.

It took 200 years for Islam to capture Pakistan, 600 years to capture Delhi and Bengal, 1000 years to Capture Odisha. You can clearly see it from the Muslim population in the different states. (UP-20%, Bihar-18%,Bengal including Bangladesh -60%, Odisha- 2%). Not only it saved Odisha but also all the areas under Kalinga Empire, notably Chattishgarha and Present Andhrapradesh. In 1742 it came under the Maratha Empire. So contrary to what we are told that India was was ruled by Muslims for 1000 years before the British came, Odisha was only ruled hardly 200 years.

Importance 7-

It's gonna hurt many but it's my personal opinion. Fast forward to the 1960s. India is now an independent country. Odisha and Bengal are the most backward and poor states of India. The main reason for this was the Zamindari system(implemented only in eastern India) where there was no regulation on the Zamindar to collect tax from the peasant farmers. Odisha and Bengal were severely affected and most of the people had finally lost their land to some tiny portion of the population to the Zamindars.

Here comes the entry of the Communists to Indian politics (Kerala-Exception). Odisha and Bengal are the most suited states for the communists as they were self-declared champions of the poor and the flag bearer of the Robinhood Method. Take the money and land from the rich by hook or crook and distribute among the poor. Communists had very high hopes from these two states.

Communists enjoyed an astonishing success in Bengal. They could successfully communicate the people of Bengal about this and through widespread violence took over the lands once owned by Zamindars and distributed to some extent among the poor. This generated tremendous goodwill among the Bengali common man about the Communist party and it ruled uninterruptedly for 35 years in West Bengal. However, this is not all about communism. They are one of the deadliest creatures on earth. Stalin, Lenin, Mao all are tyrants, autocrats and ruthless. And we know them better now.

Their next hope was Odisha. They were almost certain that Odisha will fall under their radar. But alas, it was never going to be. Odia people very well understood the trap of Communists which is basically an ideology based upon fighting with one another. This ideology is based on a revolution where there is no space for peace. This ideology is fully materialistic and has no spiritualism in it. The land of Jagannath can never accept it. Communism severely failed in Odisha despite the best efforts of communists and even after most of the Odia intellectuals fell for it, the people never accepted it.

This was a bloody blow to the expansion of communism in other parts of the country. It got some initial success in UP and Bihar but failed eventually. It could not spread in the central parts because it did not find out yet why they could not succeed in Odisha. Hence we should be thanked for stopping communism as an electoral force in India.

That's it. Sorry for very very long posts. I don't know how many of you find all this information useful or not. But As an Odia which is often neglected by all sections of the national entities, I tried to put forward a voice of how important we are for the nation. How we have contributed to shaping, securing and building our great nation. We were always there though most likely an invisible entity. And finally to all my Odia brothers and sisters, never bluff about being an Odia without knowing our own achievements And never concede to anyone if someone takes us lightly.

Vande Utkala Janani