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Eastern Ganga-Haihaya rulers victory over Tughlaqs revealed
Berhampur: In an extraordinary revelation resurrecting the thundering hoof-beats of medieval glory, a rare 14th-century inscription discovered at the ancient Dharmalingeswar temple at Panchadharla in Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh, has brought to light the long-forgotten military triumph of the combined forces of the Eastern Ganga dynasty of Utkala and the Haihaya rulers of Mahismati over the imperial armies of Delhi's Tughlaq dynasty.
The monumental finding is chronicled in the newly published scholarly work 'Relics of Kalinga in South India, Part-I', meticulously documented by the INTACH Odisha State Chapter. The research expedition was led by Project Coordinator and author Deepak Kumar Nayak, with epigraphist Bishnu Mohan Adhikari and surveyor Suman Prakash Swain, who visited the site in November 2024.
The inscription, carved onto three faces of a square black stone pillar at the temple's eastern gate, dates back to Saka Samvat 1325 (1403 CE). Penned in Sanskrit using Telugu script, it contains remarkable 93 lines of poetic and historic verse from the reign of Choda III, a sovereign of Haihaya lineage.
Among its most compelling revelations is verse 16, which commemorates not just the construction of a temple gateway and grove, but a thunderous military episode: the defeat of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, then ruler of Delhi, by Choda II, an illustrious ancestor of Choda III. Acting as a subordinate commander under Eastern Ganga Emperor Bhanudeva III, Choda II led a daring expedition to Bengal to assist Sultan Haji Iliyas of Panduva in 1353 CE, when Delhi's forces threatened his kingdom.
Bishnu Mohan Adhikari, the young epigraphist who deciphered the inscription, highlighted that this victory was not only political but deeply symbolic, cementing the martial alliance and matrimonial bond between the Eastern Gangas and the Haihaya warriors. In the aftermath, Choda II offered 22 elephants as war tribute to the King of Utkala and sent dancers to the Sultan of Panduva as Bijayashri — tokens of valour and conquest.
The revelation suggests that the Sultan of Panduva might have been either a vassal or military ally of Odisha's powerful monarchs. The Haihayas, who ruled South Kalinga from 1200 CE to 1403 CE, had fortified dominions over Simhachalam and Panchadharla and played a critical role in repelling Northern imperialist advances into the South.
The book, launched on April 27 in Cuttack, is authored by Deepak Kumar Nayak and jointly edited by Sanjib Chandra Hota (IAS retired) and Prof Asoka Kumar Rath. The first volume covers Kalingan relics across five Andhra districts: Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvatipuram Manyam, Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli. The upcoming volumes are set to unearth the vast Kalingan legacy across Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and remaining Andhra regions.
This inscription is not just a stone, it's a silent scroll of sovereignty, whispering tales of valour, alliance and resistance that shaped the subcontinent's forgotten frontiers.
