The Eastern Gangas were a ruling family of ancient Kalinga, on India's eastern coast, whose kings ruled parts of today's Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh from around the late fifth century. Their greatest age came between about 1078 and 1434, when the "imperial" Gangas held a kingdom stretching from Bengal towards the Godavari river. They are remembered above all as the builders of the Jagannath Temple at Puri and the Sun Temple at Konark.
Origins in Kalinga
Historians usually treat the Eastern Gangas as an offshoot of the Western Gangas of Karnataka. Later copper-plate grants trace the family to a prince called Kamarnava, who is said to have left Kolar, crossed to the Mahendra mountain, adopted the god Gokarneswara and the bull emblem, and conquered Kalinga. Scholars such as Upinder Singh place the dynasty's rise in south Kalinga in the fifth century, when the region was split among small kingdoms. The earliest well-attested king, Indravarman I, is known from the Jirjingi copper plates and claimed the title "lord of the three Kalingas". The early capital was at Kalinganagara, today's Mukhalingam, with Dantapura as a second seat.
Long centuries as a regional power
For several centuries the early Gangas were one dynasty among many, at times acknowledging overlords such as the Bhauma-Karas, and their power waxed and waned against the Chalukyas of Vengi and the Somavamshis. Shaivism was strong at their court, and the temples of Mukhalingam date from this period. In the eleventh century Vajrahasta V made the family a serious military force again, and his successor fought the Chola dynasty, with which the Gangas intermarried.
The imperial Gangas
Anantavarman Chodaganga came to the throne in 1078 and reigned until about 1150. After early losses to the Cholas he recovered his lands, took northern Odisha from the Somavamshis and raided into Bengal against the Palas. He is credited with a kingdom reaching from the Ganges to the Godavari, and the great temple of Jagannath at Puri was built in his reign. Influenced by the teacher Ramanuja, he turned to Vaishnavism. Later kings moved the capital north to Kataka, today's Cuttack.
Holding off the sultans
In the thirteenth century the kingdom faced the new Muslim rulers of Bengal and the Delhi Sultanate. Anangabhima III repulsed an attack by the governor of Bengal and took western Odisha from the Kalachuris. His son Narasimhadeva I (1238 to 1264) went on the offensive, advancing into Bengal and besieging Lakhnauti in the 1240s; he built the Sun Temple at Konark and was the first Odia king to use the title "Gajapati", "lord of elephants".
Government, coins and culture
The kingdom was divided into provinces and districts under governors, with villages largely running their own affairs. Odia became the court language. The Gangas issued gold coins called fanams, marked with a seated bull and the reign year, and these may be among the earliest Indian coins to use place-value decimal numerals for dates. Their peculiar "Anka" system of counting reign years still survives in the Odia calendar.
Decline and descendants
After Narasimhadeva I the dynasty weakened. Firuz Shah Tughlaq of Delhi invaded between 1353 and 1358 and took tribute. The last king, Bhanudeva IV, lost the throne to his minister Kapilendra, who founded the Suryavamsha (Gajapati) dynasty in 1434 or 1435. Branches of the family survived as local rulers, notably the Maharajas of Paralakhemundi; Krushna Chandra Gajapati of that line became the first Prime Minister of Orissa province in 1937.
On our maps
The maps label this kingdom "Orissa" and draw it in 1279, 1300 and 1400. Neighbours include the Bengal Sultanate and the Vijayanagara Empire.
Sources
In pictures
3 images · scroll →From the atlas
Eastern Ganga dynasty on our maps
Borders of Time draws the Eastern Ganga dynasty on 3 of its 54 world maps, from 1279 CE to 1400 CE. Its largest extent is on the 1279 CE map, covering about 135,000 km² (52,300 sq mi), roughly the size of Greece today.
On that map it borders the Sultanate of Delhi.
On the map before it appears (1200 CE), the same area belongs to the Rajput kingdoms. On the map after its last appearance (1492 CE), it belongs to Orissa.
- 1279 CE135,000 km²
- 1300 CE135,000 km²
- 1400 CE135,000 km²
Measured from the historical-basemaps snapshots this atlas uses. Borders in those maps are approximate, especially for early periods.
Quick answers
- When did the Eastern Ganga dynasty exist?
- From 1078 to 1434, about 360 years. The atlas draws it on its maps from 1279 to 1400.
- Where was the Eastern Ganga dynasty?
- At its largest, on the 1279 map, its land lies in today’s India (100%). On that map it borders the Sultanate of Delhi.
- How big was the Eastern Ganga dynasty?
- The Eastern Ganga dynasty was largest on the 1279 map, at about 135,000 km² (52,300 sq mi).