Ganga hill feudatories

Who he is

Name

not named for 1200

Title

Bhanja chiefs of Khijjinga (Khiching, Mayurbhanj) and Khinjali (Dhritipura, Baudh); chiefs of Keonjhar, Talcher and Athagarh; the Naga line of Chakrakota

Since

not known

Born

not known

Family

Khinjali: Yasobhanja and Jayabhanja are known from copper plates the page dates to the 12th century; Virabhanja II, Rayabhanja II and a Virabhanja are listed with no dates. Keonjhar State was founded in the 12th century, in the days of the Gangas, by Jyoti Bhanj enthroned with Bhuyan support (English Wikipedia). The Chindaka Naga line of Bastar (Chakrakota) we know only from memory and have not checked.

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia, Bhanja dynasty: with the rise of the Eastern Gangas, Khijjinga Bhanjas "came back to prominence" with "the Bhanjas as their feudatories"; under Ganga rule, local chiefs ruled Baudh "as Eastern Ganga feudatories". No inscription dated near 1200.

Overlord

Rajaraja III.

What it holds

• Khijjinga (Khiching) and the Mayurbhanj forest
• Keonjhar (iron)
• Baudh and the Khinjali mandala
• Talcher and Athagarh at the Mahanadi head
• The Naga frontier of Chakrakota and Barsur (claimed, not held)

How it was acquired

By descent and by service to the Gangas.

Allies and rivals

The Gangas; the Kalachuris of Ratnapura (Tummana) beyond the hills; the Bhuyan and Khond hill peoples.

How things stand that morning

Loyal on the usual terms; no revolt is recorded. The names of the chiefs on 1 January 1200 are not known.

Wealth

Iron of Keonjhar; elephants; forest produce; shares of the Mahanadi trade.

Military

Hill levies and bowmen. No numbers.

Threats

• Kalachuri raids into Kosala
• Dynastic accidents in the king's house

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 14th centuryAnanga Deva becomes king of Baudh (English Wikipedia).Depends on: Later; given for the long course. Stopped by: Not applicable.

Places of note

• Khiching: Khijjinga Kotta.
• Baudh: Dhritipura, capital of the Khinjali mandala.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry chakrakota-bastar and barsur are marked contested on the Naga frontier; we draw Chakrakota as claimed by the Gangas and not held; the Naga line itself is from memory and unchecked.
• English Wikipedia's Bhanja page gives no inscriptions dated near 1200 and says the Bhanjas of Khinjali were Ganga feudatories without a date; we write that as the usual arrangement, not as a document of 1200.

Evidence: Undated copper plates and a dynastic page; no chronicle.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: Three small hill patches; the real order was chiefs and levies.

Primary sources for Eastern Gangas

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Lesser Chronicle (the continuation of the Mahavamsa), Dhammakitti and later monks of the Mahavihara tradition (the first continuation about the 13th century (chapters 37 to 79), carried on in stages to the 18th century). The only narrative source for Lanka in 1200. Read online
• Inscriptions of Bengal, vol. 3, Various (the Sena kings' chanceries), edited by N. G. Majumdar (copper plates of the 10th to early 13th centuries; edited 1929). The one-volume edition of the Sena copper plates, the main documentary evidence for Bengal around 1200. Read online
• Epigraphia Indica: inscriptions of the Chandelas, Paramaras, Gahadavalas, Chaulukyas, Senas and Eastern Gangas, Various (edited for the Archaeological Survey of India by J. Burgess, E. Hultzsch, F. Kielhorn, Sten Konow, F. W. Thomas and successors) (inscriptions of the 1180s to 1210s; the series ran from 1892). The main record series for the Hindu kingdoms of northern India around 1200. Read online
• Epigraphia Zeylanica: lithic and other inscriptions of Ceylon, Various (the Polonnaruwa kings' chanceries), edited by D. M. de Zilva Wickremasinghe, H. W. Codrington and S. Paranavitana (inscriptions of the 3rd century BC to the 18th century; the series ran from 1904). Prints with translation the stone records of the Polonnaruwa kings who held or lost the throne around 1200. Read online
• The Song of Govinda, Jayadeva (late 12th century, by tradition at the court of Lakshmanasena of Bengal). A literary witness, not a chronicle. Read online