Kalinga (India)

This article is about the ancient Indian kingdom. For other uses, see Kalinga (disambiguation).

Kalinga c. 265 BCE

Kalinga (Oriya: କଳିଙ୍ଗ, Devnagari: कळिंग) was an early republic in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Odisha, as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to Amarkantak range in the West. The region was scene of the bloody Kalinga War fought by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka the Great of Magadha c. 265 BCE.

Rise of Kharavela

Kharavela was the warrior emperor of Kalinga. He was responsible for the propagation of Jainism in the Indian Subcontinent but his importance is neglected in many accounts of Indian history. According to the Hathigumpha inscription near Bhubaneswar, Odisha, he attacked Rajagriha in Magadha, thus inducing the Indo-Greek king Demetrius to retreat to Mathura. But this inscription doesn't mean that he merged Magadha in Kalinga. But this shows his strong ties with the Shunga ruler Pushyamitra and Agnimitra who have just started their rule after uprooting the Mauryans.

The Kharavelan Jain empire had a formidable maritime empire with trading routes linking it to Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo, Bali, Sumatra and Java. Colonists from Kalinga settled in Sri Lanka, Burma, as well as the Maldives and Malay Archipelago.

Historical accounts of Kalinga

Kalinga is mentioned in the Adiparva, Bhismaparva, Sabhaparva, Banaprava of Mahabharata. Kalinga King Srutayu is stated to have fought the Mahabharat war for the Kauravas. Kalinga is also mentioned as Calingae in Megasthenes' book on India – Indica & Megasthenes states that Magadha & Kalinga were Jain Dominant Kingdoms:

"The Prinas and the Cainas (a tributary of the Ganges) are both navigable rivers. The tribes which dwell by the Ganges are the Calingae, nearest the sea, and higher up the Mandei, also the Malli, among whom is Mount Mallus, the boundary of all that region being the Ganges." (Megasthenes fragm. XX.B. in Pliny. Hist. Nat. V1. 21.9–22. 1.)

"The royal city of the Calingae is called Parthalis. Over their king 60,000 foot-soldiers, 1,000 horsemen, 700 elephants keep watch and ward in "procinct of war." (Megasthenes fragm. LVI. in Plin. Hist. Nat. VI. 21. 8–23. 11.)

The Kalinga script, derived from Brahmi, was used for writing.

The Fall of Kalinga

The kingdom fell when Ashoka, leader of the Mauryan Empire led a war against the kingdom, leading to its bloody defeat in the Kalinga War. It is said that the war was so bloody that the river turned red. This ultimately led to Ashoka becoming a Buddhist king. Some advocates of the Greater India theory claim this led to an exodus of people to Southeast Asia where they set up Indianized kingdoms, but there is no evidence for such a migration of people.

The term "Keling"

Long past the end of the Kalinga Kingdom in 1842 CE, derivatives from its name continued to be used as the general name of India in what are now Malaysia and Indonesia. "Keling" was and still is in use in these countries as a word for "Indian", though since the 1960s Indians came to consider it offensive.

See also

• Kalinga War
• Kalinga Magha
• Jaffna Kingdom

Notes

Classical India
Timeline:	Northwestern India	Northern India	Southern India	Northeastern India
6th century BCE  5th century BCE  4th century BCE  3rd century BCE  2nd century BCE  1st century BCE  1st century CE  2nd century  3rd century  4th century  5th century  6th century  7th century  8th century  9th century 10th century 11th century	Gandhara (Persian rule) (Greek conquests) Indo-Greek Kingdom Yona Indo-Scythians Indo-Parthians Pahlava Kushan Empire Indo-Sassanids Kidarite Kingdom Indo-Hephthalites (Huna) (Islamic conquests) Kabul Shahi (Islamic Empire)	Magadha Shishunaga dynasty Nanda empire Kalinga Maurya Empire Sunga Empire Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty Kuninda Kingdom Western Satraps Gupta Empire Maitraka Vakataka dynasty, Harsha Gurjara-Pratihara Pala Empire Paramara dynasty Solanki Eastern Ganga dynasty Sena dynasty	Pandyas Cholas Cheras Satavahana Empire Kalabhras dynasty Kadamba Dynasty Western Ganga Dynasty Vishnukundina Pallava Kalachuri Chalukya Rashtrakuta Yadava dynasty Western Chalukyas Kakatiya dynasty Hoysala Empire	Varman dynasty Kamarupa kingdom Mlechchha dynasty Pala dynasty Kamboja-Pala dynasty