Eastern Ganga Dynasty - Rise and Fall

Rise and Fall

The Eastern Gangas arose to intermarry with and challenge the Cholas and Chalukyas in the period when the Western Gangas had been forced to abandon this role. Early ancestors of the Eastern Gangas ruled in Orissa from the 8th century. Vajrahasta III's son Devendra Varma Rajaraja Deva I waged war on the Cholas and the Eastern Chalukyas and strengthened the dynasty by marrying Chola princess, Rajasundari, daughter of emperor Virarajendra Chola and cousin of Kulothunga Chola I. Their son, Anantavarman Chodagangadeva, ruled from the mouth of the Ganges (Ganga) River in the north to the mouth of the Godavari River in the south; he founded the Eastern Ganga Dynasty and began building the great Jagannath Temple at Puri at the end of the 11th century. He assumed the title of Trikalingadhipathi (ruler of the three Kalingas which comprise Kalinga, Utkal and Koshal) in 1076, the first to rule all three divisions of Kalinga. The name Chodaganga alludes to this dynasty's Ganga and Chola heritage.

Rajaraja III ascended the throne in 1198 and did nothing to resist the Muslims of Bengal, who invaded Orissa in 1206. Rajaraja’s son Anangabhima III, however, repulsed the Muslims and built the temple of Megheshvara at Bhuvaneshvara. Narasimhadeva I, the son of Anangabhima, invaded southern Bengal in 1243, defeated its Muslim ruler, captured the capital (Gauda), and built the Sun Temple at Konark to commemorate his victory. With the death of Narasimha in 1264, the Eastern Gangas began to decline; the sultan of Delhi invaded Orissa in 1324, and Vijayanagar defeated the Orissan powers in 1356. Narasimha IV, the last known king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, ruled until 1425. The “mad king,” Bhanudeva IV, who succeeded him, left no inscriptions; his minister Kapilendra usurped the throne and founded the Suryavamsha dynasty in 1434–35. The Eastern Gangas were great patrons of religion and the arts, and the temples of the Ganga period rank among the masterpieces of Hindu architecture.