Where
is Kalinga?
Traditionally,
if you take the reference of rivers, Kalinga country was defined as the coastal
strip between Mahanadi and Gautami (Main distributory of Gadavari) with its
capital on the banks of R. Nagavali. Therefore, the coastal districts between
Puri and Rajahmundry may be called Kalinga.
The
region was divided into three distinct regions – North, Middle and South. There
was a reference to the adjoining forested region – Kalinga-aratta, which may
comprise the Eastern Ghats between Sabhalpur and Bhadrachalam.
All
the ancient capitals of Kalinga are in the Middle Kalinga. The temple of
Mukhalingam near Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh is probably a corruption of
Madhya-Kalingam. The other cities Kalinga Nagaram, Dantapuri are present day
Kalingapatnam and Palloor.
R.
Narmada and the Vindhya Range had been the traditional boundary between North
and South. This is true of the western half of the peninsula. The highway
called Dakshinapatha (Southern Path) took off from the confluence of R. Yamuna
and Ganges, passed Ujjain in Malwa and ended at the R. Narmada. The mouth of
Narmada had been the gateway to the Arabian Sea. Beyond R. Narmada was an
amorphous Dark Continent, variously called Dandakaranya, Andhrapatha etc. etc.
But
in the eastern half of the peninsula, the coastal strip alternates between
broad river valleys and impassable thickly forested hills. The knowledge of the
region south of the Ganges Delta was little, with Tamralipti being the entry to
the Bay of Bengal.
In
early Sanskrit literature, the knowledge of South India had been very sketchy.
By the time of Ramayana and the later parts of Mahabharat, we see a slight increase
in the awareness of South. Based on various references in the epic tradition we
may arrive at an overlapping map of the inhabited regions in South India. (See map)
Kharavela’s
(A Kalinga King of 2nd Century BCE) inscription mentions that the
Andhra country was to Kalinga’s west. The map is consistent with that fact. The
Satavahana kings between 2nd Cent BCE to 2nd Cent CE had
their capital at Paithan which falls on the same latitude as the capital of
Kalingas (Mukhalingam).
In
the ancient times we know of two campaigns of Magadhan kings into Kalinga
country. One was by Mahapadma Nanda as mentioned by Kharavela. It was said that
he had taken a Jaina relic from the Kalingas and the same was brought back by
Kharavela when he freed Kalinga. The other campaign was the famous Kalinga War
of Asoka. A single battle was fought on the right bank of R. Mahanadi, the
traditional northern frontier of Kalinga. Again is consistent with the tradition.
It
was only in the recent (Medieval) times, we see Cuttack becoming the capital. It was
built by the later Gangas and the Gajapatis made it their capital. They were
called Odhras. But their rule extended to the R. Krishna valley and beyond, and
naturally called themselves Kings of Kalinga.
Now,
is Odhra the same as Kalinga?
This
question was answered by a Chinese pilgrim in 7th Century. Yuan
Chwang travelled from Bengal to South India and returned to Gujarat and beyond.
If you go by his travelogue and the observations that occur in his book called Hsi-yu-chi,
we may chart his route. (See map) The unit of distance ‘Li’ may be
approximately converted as one fifth of a kilometer.
There
are certain places referred by him that can be identified with reasonable
exactitude.
They
are…
TAN-MO-LIH-TI
= TAMRALIPTI = TAMLUK
TE-NA-KA-CHE-KA
= DHANYAKATAKA = DHARANIKOTA / AMARAVATI
KAN-CHIH-PU-LO
= KANCHIPURA = KANCHI
PO-LU-KA-CHE-PO
= BHARUKACCHA = BHAROCH
There
was confusion created by lack of knowledge of Kanaganahalli, which was
excavated only in 1994, and both Rhys Davis and Watters thought KUNG-KA-NA-PU-LO
was Konkan instead of Kanaganapura.
PING-CHI-LO was thought to be Vengi. The
capital of Andhra country falls between Kosala and Dhanyakataka on a
North-South line. There are two contenders for this in 7th Century.
One is Vemulavada and the other Kolanupaka (Kulpak). Vengi is too far to the
east to be a candidate, and it was part of the Eastern Chalukya’s Kalinga
kingdom.
Let
us trace the route. From Tamluk the pilgrim travelled 700 li (140 km) SW to
U-TU (Odhra) country. From there 1200 li (240 km) SW to KUNG-YU-T’O, and this
may be Cuttack or some other site in Mahanadi delta. Cunningham says it is near
Chilka Lake.
From
here he travelled another 1400 li (280 km) SW to reach KA-LENG-KA. Therefore Kalinga
of the pilgrim started somewhere SW of Visakhapatnam. From here he had to make
detour. He could not go to Kalinga capital as there was some political unrest.
The political turmoil probably was due to the new regime of Eastern Chalukyas.
Their traditional capitals are Vengi and Pishtapuram (Pithapuram near
Kakinada). This makes the Eastern Chalukyas lords of Kalinga country.
From
near Visakhapatnam he took a NW route to South Kosala (1800 li = 360 km). The
route he took was across Eastern Ghats and thick forest lands. He probably had
reached Chattisgarh. From there a short distance west to a hill monastery called
PO-LO-MO-LO-KI-LI and was connected with Nagarjuna. There were some
speculations identifying it as Nagarjunikonda and even Ajanta Caves. But from
the distances mentioned by the pilgrim the place could be east of modern Nagpur
still within Kosala country. And from Kosala he travels south 900 li (180 km)
to AN-TO-LO (Andhra). Even epic traditional tells us that the country south of
Vidarbha is Andhra. Pilgrim’s Andhra was not a large country, it was only 3000
li in circuit, about half the size of Odhra (7000 li) or Kalenga (5000 li).
From Andhra he travelled 1000 li (200 km) S to TE-NA-KA-CHE-KA (Amaravati).
From
Dhanyakataka he travelled 200 km SW to CHU-LI-YA ( Choliya – Telugu Cola
capital Chippili in Cudappah District of AP) and from there 300 km onward to
Kanchi. We are not sure from the records if he had really travelled to Kerala
and Ceylon, but that doesn’t concern us. On his return he travelled north from
Dravida Country to Maharashtra via Kanaganahalli and from Maharashtra westwards
to Bharoch.
CONCLUSION
The
record of the pilgrim and the geo-political references in Epic and Kharavela traditions
place Kalinga country in North Coastal AP and included areas south of Chilka
Lake in Ganjam District at times. Therefore the language of Kalingas was Telugu
and the name Telugu itself may be a derivation of phrases Ten-kalingam (South
Kalinga) or Tri-kalingam (Three Kalingas).
GOOGLY
Ironically,
the original Andhra was never a part of the currently residual Andhra Pradesh,
but the newly formed state Telangana. The residual Andhra Pradesh was anything
but Andhra, it was a combination of two distinct political entities – Kalinga (North
Coastal AP between Krishna and Ganjam) and Renadu (the Telugu Chola heartland
consisting of most of Rayalasima, and South Coastal AP). After Telugu Chodas
moved south, the region south of R. Krishna became Pallava Nadu (Palanadu/Thondainadu).
It was the Kakatiyas who had united all these regions with their capital at Warangal
(Andhranagari) in Andhra heartland presently called Telangana, giving the
entire region the name Andhra.
So…
what’s the big deal? If Orissa has appropriated the name Kalinga, let it be. But
it’s good to raise these issues at times just to trigger a little interest in
history that’s dear.
