Prince Anangabhima

Who he is

Name

Anangabhima

Title

Prince (kumara), later Maharajadhiraja Anangabhima III (1211 to 1238)

Since

prince in 1200; reign 1211 to 1238 (English Wikipedia)

Born

not known; the first year in which he is named is 1211

Family

Son of Rajaraja III on the usual list; his own queen Somaladevi is named on the Allalanatha inscription (a later record); a daughter Chandrika marries the Kalachuri prince Paramardi Deva on his minister Vishnu's advice.

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia: Anangabhima III and the Eastern Ganga page. No source we could open gives his age in 1200.

Overlord

Rajaraja III.

What it holds

• No attested holding in 1200

How it was acquired

By birth.

Allies and rivals

His father; the Brahman minister Vishnu (named only from 1211); the Kalachuri rival on the west.

How things stand that morning

A prince. His age is not known; he may be a boy or a youth. Do not give him a command unless the campaign wants one.

Wealth

The royal house's.

Military

None attested.

Threats

• His father's death before he is grown

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. 1211Succeeds Rajaraja III; the Bengal governor Iwaz's armies and fleet come at him; his minister Vishnu drives them out of northern Odisha.Depends on: The father dies in 1211. Stopped by: A disputed succession.
2. 1211 or 1230Moves the capital to the new Bidanasi Kataka (Cuttack) at the fork of the Mahanadi and Kathajodi; the date is 1230 on the Anangabhima page and 1211 on the Cuttack page.Depends on: He completes the Barabati revetment. Stopped by: Late.
3. 1238Dedicates the kingdom to Purushottama and takes the title Rauta.Depends on: The temple cult is complete. Stopped by: Defeat.

Where the sources disagree

• English Wikipedia's Anangabhima page calls him the successor of Rajaraja II and does not give his age; his birth year is not pinned.

Evidence: Only later records name him.

On the map: No holding drawn.

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