Chedi Dynasty

 Chedi Dynasty

After Ashoka had won the Kalinga war, this kingdom (Kalinga) was merged with the Maurya Empire, but after Ashoka's death, Chaitraraja made Kalinga independent by taking advantage of the weakness of the last Mauryan emperors. Kharavela occurred in the third generation of Chaitraj, whose account is given in detail in the inscription of Elephant Gumpha. This inscription is in Prakrit language. This brings to light the social events of that period in addition to the events of the reign of Emperor Kharavel of Kalinga. This suggests that Kharavel was a follower of Jainism and was related to the Chedi Kshatriyas of the ancient dynasty (though the Chedi Kshatriyas dominance mainly resided in Bundelkhand but one of their branches was also settled in Kalinga.)

He became the independent ruler of Kalig at the age of twenty-four. Since a storm had caused considerable damage to Udayagiri near his capital Bhubaneswar, he first repaired his capital. Ponds and gardens were rebuilt. Kharavel was a majestic and famous ruler. He first attacked the Mushik Nagar (located on the Krishna River) of Satavahana king Shatakarni with the second coronation and his large army. In the third year of the coronation, Kharavel (who himself was a heavy musician) made the public happy by having many dance-songs in his capital. In the fourth year he conquered the nationals and the Bhojakas. Kharavel extended the canal to his capital. He gave special powers to the meetings of his village (city) and district (state). In the fifth year, he extended the canal built by the rulers of Nanda Dynasty to his capital 300 years ago. In the sixth year he did public welfare work and charity work. He attacked Magadha twice in the eighth and twelfth years of his coronation. It is said that he succeeded in conquering Magadha and Anga. He built temples and viharas for Jain sages. In fact, only the inscriptions of Hathigumpha give information about the Chedi dynasty. This gives sufficient information about the weakness of the post-Mauryan emperors of Magadha, the spread of mass religion in Orissa and Kharavel.