Odisha's Historical Background

 According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally included the Puri and Ganjam districts. According to some scriptures (Mahabharata and Puranas), king Bali, the Vairocana and Sutapa's son, had no sons. As a result, he asked the sage Dirghatamas to bless him with sons. The sage is said to have had five sons from his wife, Queen Sudesna. The princes' names were Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Sumha, and Pundra. The princes later

established kingdoms bearing their names. Vanga kingdom was founded by the prince Vanga in what is now Bangladesh and West Bengal. The prince Kalinga established the kingdom of Kalinga in what is now coastal Odisha, including the North Sircars.

Kalinga is mentioned several times more in the Mahabharata. Srutayudha, the king of Kalinga and the son of Varuna and the river Parnasa, had joined the Kaurava camp in the Kurukshetra War. His father had given him a divine mace at the request of his mother, which protected him as long as he wielded it. However, Varuna had warned his son that using it on a non-combatant would result in the death of the wielder. In the heat of battle, harried by Arjuna's arrows, he made the mistake of launching it at Krishna, Arjuna's unarmed charioteer. The mace landed on Krishna and killed Srutayudha.

The archer who killed Krishna, Jara Savara, and Ekalavya is said to be from Odisha's Sabar tribe.

The Buddhist text mentions Mahagovinda Suttanta, Kalinga, and its ruler, Sattabhu. Baudhayana, a 6th century sutrakara (chronicler), mentions Kalinga as not yet influenced by Vedic traditions. He also warns his people not to visit Kalinga (among other kingdoms), saying that anyone who does must perform penance.

Pre-Mauryan:-

Mahapadma Nanda the leader of Magadha is dared to have vanquished Kalinga during his rule around c. 350 BCE. The Hathigumpha engravings makes reference to the suzerainty of the Nandas in the Kalinga locale.

The engravings additionally notice water system projects attempted by the Nanda rulers in the state during their rule.

In Asurgarh, globules and punched coins having a place with an obscure lord dating to the pre-Mauryan period have been found.

Mauryan occupation:-

Ashoka of the Mauryan line vanquished Kalinga in the ridiculous Kalinga Battle in 261 BCE which was the eighth year of his rule. As per his own proclamations, the conflict around a million group were killed, 1,500,000 were caught and a few more were affected.The coming about slaughter and enduring of the conflict profoundly impacted Ashoka.

He transformed into a radical and changed over completely to Buddhism. Notwithstanding, Ashoka's eulogists like Charles Allen concur that his transformation to Buddhism originated before the Kalinga war. Besides, he appears to have had joins with Buddhists for 10 years before his transformation. The proof proposes that his transformation to Buddhism was more to do with the governmental issues of progression than with any lament he felt for sufferings of war.

The Kalingans had utilized faculty from the Atavika district, which was in the west of Kalinga, during the war.According to his declarations, Ashoka vanquished the beach front locale of Kalinga however didn't attempt to overcome the Atavika region.

The Mauryans represented the Kalinga area as a territory. They involved Tosali as the territorial capital and legal executive community. A kumara (emissary) controlled from Tosali, current Dhauli. Samapa, current Jaugada, was another regulatory centre.Ashoka raised two decrees in the area, at Jaugada and Dhauli.

Kharavela:-

In the first century BCE, Mahameghavana laid out the Mahameghavahana tradition in Kalinga. Kharavela was the third leader of the tradition. He reigned in the final part of the first century BCE. The majority of the data about Kharavela comes from the Hathigumpha engraving in Udayagiri close to Bhubaneswar. The engraving additionally calls the line as Chedi (likewise spelled Cheti)The engraving records his life from his childhood to his thirteenth regnal year.

*Ruling year 1-5 :- Kharavela took up the organization after the unexpected passing of his dad as a yuvaraj (likely successor). He rose to the high position as a legitimate Ruler when he grew up at 24, around c. 170 BCE, however the date is petulant by a few decades.In the principal year of his crowning ceremony, he fixed the entryways and bulwarks of his capital Kalinganagari which had been harmed by

storm. In the subsequent year, he attacked the region of the Satavahana ruler Satakarni I and walking up to the Kanha-bemna waterway (perhaps Krishna Stream) raged the city of Musikas. In the third year of his rule, he coordinated different exhibitions of dance and music and enchanted individuals of the capital. In the fourth year, he again attacked the Satavahana realm and broadened his political matchless quality over the district. In the fifth year he is known to have remodeled the water system that was initially exhumed 300 years back by the Nandas.

*Reigning year 6-10 :- In the 6th year, he dispatched burdens and gave benevolences both in metropolitan and rustic region of his realm. The record of his seventh year isn't known. Yet, that year his main sovereign, Sovereign of Vajiraghara ("The Sovereign of the Jewel Royal residence") brought forth a kid. In his eighth regnal year he drove a tactical endeavor against Rajagaha (Rajagriha). At that point the Yavana (Indo-Greeks) who were in control of Mathura were progressing towards Pataliputra. However, getting the fresh insight about the victory of Kharavela at Rajagriha the Yavana lord needed to withdraw to Mathura. Kharavela sought after the Yavana ruler, Dimita (conceivably Demetrius I)and cleansed them out of Mathura, which was a significant seat of Jain religion and culture. In remembrance of this accomplishment, he fabricated a triumph castle in Kalinga at an expense of 38 hundred thousand penas during the 10th year of his rule. In the 10th regnal year, he again attacked northern India the record of which isn't obviously known.

*Reigning year 11-13 :- In the 11th year of his rule, Kharavela crushed the Dramira country which had been in presence for 113 years before his time. In the twelfth year, he attacked northern India for the third time and progressed similar to Uttarapatha. On his return, he threatened Magadha. Bahasatimita (a Shunga ruler), the lord of Magadha gave up and Kharavela brought back the sculpture of Kalinga Jina. Kalinga Jina was the sculpture of Rishabhanatha, which had been detracted from Kalinga by Mahapadmananda 300 years back and its rebuilding was viewed as an extraordinary accomplishment of Kharavela. In his thirteenth ruling year, Kharavela unearthed various cavern homes in the Kumari slopes for the Jain priests and presented enrichments for them. Jainism enormously prospered in Kalinga under the support of Kharavela. He was likewise broadening liberal support towards other strict networks and procured extraordinary standing as the admirer of all beliefs and the repairers, all things considered. He likewise fabricated the caverns at Udayagiri and Khandagiri for Jain priests.

The record stops at his thirteenth regnal year. It is assumed that he was prevailed by his child, Kudepasiri.The Mahameghavahana tradition (or a replacement Sada line) most likely kept on administering over Kalinga and Mahishaka as clear from the engravings and coins found at Guntupalli and Velpuru, Andhra Pradesh, which notice a progression of rulers with the postfix Sada.