Misplaced Pages

#410589

37-462: Barabati Fort is a 987 CE fort built by Marakata Keshari of Somavanshi (Keshari) dynasty in Cuttack , Odisha . The ruins of the fort remain with its moat , gate, and the earthen mound of the nine-storied palace. This medieval fort is situated at 20°29′1.32″N 85°52′3.36″E  /  20.4837000°N 85.8676000°E  / 20.4837000; 85.8676000 , about 8 km away from

74-498: A protected site by Archaeological Survey of India . At the centre of the fort, there was a high mound with a tank in the western side. It spreads over 15/16 acres of area. Now the site is under extensive encroachment. To the east of the mound, there is the Shahi Mosque while in the west of the tank lies the mazar (tomb) of Hazrat Ali Bukhari. In 1989, excavations were carried out by Archaeological Survey of India to ascertain

111-589: A bigger part of Odisha. Janmejaya I (c. 882–922) probably controlled a part of coastal Odisha, & appears to have made inroads into the neighboring Bhauma-Kara kingdom, through his daughter, who married the Bhauma-Kara king Shubhakara IV. After Shubhakara IV, the kingdom was ruled by his brother Shivakara III. Subsequently, Janmejaya's daughter ascended the Bhauma-Kara throne as Tribhuvana-Devi II around 894 (with her father's support, according to most historians). A Brahmeswara Temple inscription states that

148-585: A new temple at Puri, and re-installing the image of Purushottama (Jagannatha) there. His reign marks the beginning of the Somavamshi style of temple architecture, which features form, ornamentation and iconography not previously seen in Odisha. This new style can probably be attributed to the dynasty's central Indian origins. Little is known about Yayati I's successors Bhimaratha, Dharmaratha, and Nahusha. Dharmaratha seems to have died without an heir, and Nahusha

185-642: A small vishaya (district) centered around the present-day Dhenkanal district . According to this theory, the king of Odra referred to in the inscription was probably a rebel Bhanja vassal. During his long reign of 34 years, Janmejaya issued a number of grants (recorded in form of copper-plate inscriptions) at various "victorious camps". This suggests that Janmejaya consolidated the Somavamshi rule in western Odisha moving from place to place. During his 31st regnal year, he issued three grants from Kataka, which has been identified as Chaudwar near modern Cuttack. This suggests that his influence extended to eastern Odisha by

222-580: Is some evidence that the Paramaras of Malwa and the Kalachuris of Tripuri also invaded the Somavamshi kingdom. Nahusha was succeeded by his younger cousin Yayati II a.k.a. Chandihara, who was a descendant of Janmejaya I through Vichitravirya (grandfather) and Abhimanyu (father). The Brahmeswara Temple inscription suggests that Yayati II restored order to the kingdom after being appointed as

259-661: The Kalinga and the Utkala regions in present-day Odisha, supplanting the Bhauma-Karas . The Somavamshis introduced a new style of art and architecture in Odisha, and their rule saw a remarkable shift from Buddhism to Hinduism in the region. The Somavamshi rule ended in the early 12th century, when the Eastern Ganga ruler Anantavarman Chodaganga captured their territories. The Somavamshis may have been related to

296-496: The Maratha Empire in 1741. Cuttack, with the rest of Odisha, came under British rule in 1803. The Bengal-Nagpur Railways connected Cuttack with Madras ( Chennai ) and Calcutta ( Kolkata ) in 1919. It became the capital of the newly formed state of Odisha in 1936. It continued to be the capital until 1948, when the capital was shifted to Bhubaneswar . The city completed one thousand years of its existence in 1989. During

333-644: The Panduvamshis of Dakshina Kosala , whose rule in the Dakshina Kosala region seems to have declined in the 8th century. Both dynasties claimed lunar lineage ; the early Panduvamshi kings also claimed descent from the legendary Pandavas, unlike the Somavamshi, but this was not the case with the later Panduvamshi kings. The later Panduvamshis, like the Somavamshis, adopted names ending in -gupta . The Panduvamshi kings Tivaradeva and Balarjuna bore

370-676: The rule of the Muslims and the Marathas, it continued to be the capital of Odisha. The British army took possession of Barabati fort in October 1803, and it became a prison for the confinement of several illustrious rulers of the land. In 1800 the Raja of Kujanga , in 1818, the Raja of Surgaja with his family members were kept under strict confinement to this fort. In addition, vandalism to destroy

407-470: The Bhauma-Kara capital Guheshvarapataka (modern Jajpur ), which was renamed to Abhinava-Yayatinagara ("the new city of Yayati"). It is not clear when the Somavamshis gained control over most of Odisha, but this may have happened by the time of Yayati I. Yayati I seems to have continued the expansionist policies of his father, further consolidating the kingdom. This is apparent from his inscriptions, which record grants of villages that were formerly not part of

SECTION 10

#1732773186411

444-547: The Fort was roughly rectangular in structure having an area of over 102 acres (0.41 km), and it was surrounded on all sides by a wall of laterite and sandstones . To the west of the mound there is a tank. In the north-eastern corner of the mound are remains of what once was a temple. The temple was made of whitish sandstone over foundations of laterite blocks. About four hundred fragments of mouldings and some mutilated pieces of sculptures have been recovered so far. This temple of

481-469: The Ganga period containing a stone idol of Lord Jagannath is in ruins. A mosque built by Nawab Murshid Quli Khan , governor of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1719 AD, still exists. During the 1989 excavation, the central mound area of the fort revealed the remains of a palace, a pavilion and foundation blocks made of rhodolite. Eighteen massive pillar bases, aligned in four rows at regular intervals, were exposed in

518-511: The Kesari (Somavamshi), but this cannot be confirmed in absence of any corroborating evidence. The Lingaraja temple inscription of Viranarakesari has been wrongly ascribed to the Somavamshi reign. The name of the issuer was misread as "Viravarakesari", and it was suggested that he belonged to Kesari (Somavamshi) dynasty. However, Viranarakesari is actually the Ganga king Narasimha . Laterite Too Many Requests If you report this error to

555-536: The Mattamayura schools of Shaivism appear to have been popular during their time. A gradual move from Buddhism to Brahmanism (the precursor of modern Hinduism) had started during the preceding Bhauma-Kara period, and this development accelerated during the Somavamshi reign. The traditional accounts of Odisha credit the Somavamshis with making great contributions towards the propagation of Hinduism . The Somavamshi kings were great temple builders according to

592-553: The Panduvamshis, but this cannot be said with certainty. According to one theory, the Panduvamshis were driven out of Kosala by the Kalachuris , and migrated eastward. There, they established their capital at Vinitapura (modern Binka ) on the banks of the Mahanadi River . The rulers whose territory was limited to the area around Vinitapura are termed as "early" Somavamshis, as opposed to the "later" Somavamshis who ruled

629-406: The Somavamshi period. However, Brahmeswara Temple is the only shrine that bears an inscription explicitly attributing its construction to the Somavamshis. According to one legend, Yayati Keshari brought 10,000 Brahmins from Kanyakubja to his kingdom for an ashvamedha (horse sacrifice) ceremony. A number of copper-plate inscriptions, and a smaller number of stone inscriptions, issued during

666-567: The Somavamshi reign have been discovered, all of them in present-day Odisha. The copper-plate inscriptions are similar to those of the Śarabhapuriyas and the Panduvaṃśīs: each inscription is a set of three copper-plates. The following inscriptions of the Somavamshis, all in Sanskrit language have been discovered: Ranakesarin, who issued the Govindapur inscription, may have belonged to

703-513: The Somavamshi territory. For example, Chandagrama (modern Changan south-east of Cuttack) used to be a part of the Bhauma-Kara territory, while Gandatapati (modern Gandharadi ) used to be located in the Bhanja territory. Before the Somavamshi conquest of Odisha, an image of Jagannatha had been removed from Puri , during the Rashtrakuta invasion of c. 800. Yayati I is credited with building

740-553: The center of the Cuttack , at the apex of a delta formed by the river Mahanadi on the north and its distributary , the Kathajodi on the south, and is located at 14.62 metres above sea level. The Barabati was built in 987 CE by the Somavamshi dynasty lineage ruler Maharaja Markata Keshari while building a stone embankment to protect Cuttack which was known as Kataka at that time. Scholars give different opinions regarding

777-468: The cultural horizon of the historic fort and the work is still in progress. Excavation by Archaeological survey of India on December 1, 1989, revealed evidence of a palace, a square structure built up of Khondalite stone. It was built over an area which was carefully prepared by filling up of 5 meter with sand and lime mixture. Trenches dug on the eastern side of the structure revealed 32 pillars built of literate blocks roughly square but varying in size. In

SECTION 20

#1732773186411

814-641: The date of construction of Barabati fort. Madalapanji, the Jagannatha temple chronicle narrates an interesting story which is as follows. King Anangabhima Deva III of the Eastern Ganga dynasty lived in his capital, Chaudwar (1211-1238 A.D.) One day, the king crossed the Mahanadi and came towards the southern side. Here he noticed in the Barabati village belonging to the Ko-danda sub-division that near

851-524: The eastern part of Dakshina Kosala, and the Chaudwar inscription of the earliest known Somavamshi king Mahashivagupta I (alias Janamejaya) describes him as Kosalendra ("lord of Kosala"). Several Somavamshi inscriptions record grants to people from Kosala, grants of villages located in Kosala, and appointment of Kosala-specific officers. All these similarities indicate that the Somavamshis were related to

888-477: The end of his reign. Yayati I (c. 922–955), the son of Janmejaya I, made a large number of village grants in the Dakshina Kosala region, which was the traditional stronghold of his family. These grants are recorded on the inscriptions issued at Yayatinagara, which was probably same as the former Somavamshi capital Vinitapura, and which Yayati may have renamed after himself. The capital was later moved to

925-438: The final portion of a hukkah and pieces of Chinese porcelain. After a gap of 16 years, the excavation was restarted in 2023 to trace the link between Odisha and Southeast Asian countries. Somavamshi dynasty The Somavamshis may have been related to the Panduvamshis , who ruled the Dakshina Kosala region in central India. They were probably driven out from this region by the Kalachuris , following which they conquered

962-413: The fort was intensified in the early phase of British rule. The fort is square in plan. It spreads over an area of 102 acres and surrounded on all sides with a stone paved moat of 10 Mtr. width in northern and western sides and 20 Mtr. width in the eastern and southern sides. The entire fort wall except the entrance is missing. Since 1915, in view of its national importance , the place has been declared as

999-470: The god Visweswar , a heron had jumped upon a hawk. Seeing this, the king was very much surprised; on an auspicious day, he laid the foundation of construction of the fort and this village was named Barabati Cuttack. After that, he left Choudwar and lived at Cuttack making it his capital. In 1568 AD, the city passed to the hands of Karranis of Bengal , then to the Mughal Empire in 1576 and then to

1036-421: The king by the ministers. He re-established the Somavamshi control over Kosala and Utkala, which had been lost to rival chiefs. One of his inscriptions describes him as the lord of Kalinga, Kosala, and Utkala. The Somavamshi records also credit him with conquering distant regions like Gurjaradesa and Lata , but these claims appear to be poetic hyperbole, and are not supported by historical evidence. Yayati II

1073-454: The king of the Odra country was killed by Janmejaya's kunta (spear) in a battle. Historian Krishna Chandra Panigrahi identified this king of Odra as Shivakara III, and theorized that Janmejaya placed his daughter on the Bhauma-Kara throne after killing him. However, other historians disagree with this theory, stating that Odra in this context refers not the whole of present-day Odisha, but only

1110-411: The last Somavamshi ruler Karnadeva was confined to the coastal tract between the present-day Balasore and Puri districts. By 1114, the Somavamshi king had fallen to the Ganga king Anantavarman Chodaganga . Historian Krishna Chandra Panigrahi provides the following chronology of the later Somavamshis: The Somavamshi kings were Shaivites , as evident from their inscriptions. The Pashupata and

1147-443: The northeastern corner of the mound, remains of a temple have been found. Excavation on the eastern and southern side of the mound revealed the existence of a citadel wall built of laterite blocks. The ruins of the old Barabati Fort lie on the right bank of the Mahanadi, in the western part of the city. All that remains of the Fort is an arched gateway and the earthen mound of the nine-storeyed palace. Archaeological surveys reveal that

Barabati fort - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-571: The regnal titles "Maha-shiva" and "Maha-shiva-gupta" respectively; multiple Somavamshi rulers bore the regnal name "Maha-shiva-gupta". While the Panduvamshi copper-plate inscriptions are inscribed using "box-headed" characters, all the stone inscriptions starting from the reign of Balarjuna are inscribed in the Nagari script , which is also the script of the Somavamshi inscriptions. The early Somavamshi kings ruled in western Odisha, which once formed

1221-557: The reign of his successor Janmejaya II. Uddyotakeshari also patronized the Jains of Udayagiri . After Uddyotakeshari, the Somavamshi kingdom declined gradually. The Kalachuris of Ratnapura conquered some western parts of the Somavamshis and reached their height around that period. The dynasty lost its territories to the Nagas in the north-west, and the Gangas in the south. The kingdom of

1258-480: The southern area. Excavations of the site were also carried out in 2007 to establish the cultural chronology of the fortified fort. In these digs, some of the important antiquity finds included a seated goddess, lion-head, lamp fragment, balls and pot fragments of stone, sling balls, fragments of animal figurines of terracotta and axe and a stylus made of iron. The pottery finds comprised storage jars, spouted vessels, lamps, knobbed lids, miniature pots, dishes and bowls,

1295-653: The traditional accounts, but there is little inscriptional evidence to confirm this belief. The legendary chronicle Madala Panji credits Yayati Keshari with building most of the temples in Bhubaneswar . The text seems to have combined the Somavanshi rulers Yayati I and Yayati II into "Yayati Keshari". Multiple temples, including the Mukteshvara Temple and the Rajarani Temple , are dated to

1332-413: Was probably his brother. By the time of Dharmaratha, the Somavamshis had taken control of the former Bhauma-Kara territories, although it is not known how exactly this happened. The Somavamshi lost these territories soon after his death. During this period, the Somavamshi kingdom suffered several foreign invasions, the most notable of which was the 1021 Chola invasion of their capital Yayatinagara. There

1369-550: Was succeeded by his son Uddyotakeshari, whose reign was relatively peaceful. Uddyotakeshari championed the cause of Brahmanism , and restored a number of temples and ponds. During the 18th year of his reign, his mother Kolavati Devi dedicated the Brahmeshvara (Brahmeswara) Temple at modern Bhubaneswar . The construction of the Lingaraja Temple probably began during the later part of his reign, and completed during

#410589