Thread by @KalingaArya

#LongThread Post Suryavansh Gajapati Odisha till 1568
In this thread we will discuss about some interesting information on Odisha post Prataprudra Deva's death around 1540 till final fall of the kingdom in 1568. This is comparatively small period but full of interesting tales 1/n

We will refer available primary sources like inscriptions, literary sources, western traveller's writings, Mughal sources along with local folklores. We will also discuss about opinions of some of the famous historians. We will try to clarify some of the myths. 2/n

After the death of Gajapati Prataprudra Deva, his two sons were killed by Gobinda Bidyadhara. After that he himself became the king and started the first Bhoi Gajapati dynasty of Odisha. He didn't rule for a long period however, we have inscriptions where he is said to have 3/n

Fought with Golconda in South near Godavari. He is said to have tried to recover the Krishna- Godavari basin lost to Golconda but failed to do so when Raghubhanja Chhotray rose to rebellion. Gobinda has inscriptions in Puri in October 30 1543 along with that he has 4/n

6 inscriptions in Simachalam temple at Vizag. In the Puri plate he is said to have threatened some Garjat chiefs who probably tried to take advantage of chaos created after death of Prataprudra. However, his Simachalam inscription prove beyond doubt that, he was in posession 5/n

Of area atleast till Vizag. Infact in the Madala Panji it is mentioned that he attacked Golconda in the 7th year of of his reign.He was probably trying to recover Krishna Godavari Doab which was lost in last days of Prataprudra. 6/n

After this his son Chakrapratap became the Gajapati. As per Madala Panji, he was an unpopular ruler and tyrannical in nature and was killed by his son Narasimha Jena ( Akbarnama). Probably during this time some petty chiefs became semi independent/independent. 7/n

Now, Narasimha Jena became the king. However, Mukundadeva became powerful general at this time and had considerable influence on him. Mukunda succeeded in dismissing Danayi Bidyadhara (father of Ramachandra Deva of second Bhoi dynasty) from power. 8/n

And finally killed the king and made Raghurama Chhotarai the king. This time Raghubhanja Chhotray, who had earlier attacked Cuttack during Gobinda Bidyadhara's period again attacked taking help of Ghiyasuddin Jalal Saha of Bengal. Mukunda successfully defended Barabati fort 9/n

After this he killed Raghuram Chhotray and became the King at around 1559-60.
Mukunda was a powerful king. Even though he had usurped the throne by murder, but still he was successful to consolidate power. His reign of 8-9 years had many ups and downs. 10/n

He was originally from Telingana and was from a vassal family under Gajapatis of Cuttack. As per P.Mukherjee he probably took service under Gobinda Bidyadhara earlier. He defeated the king of Bengal & conquered till Tribeni in Hooghly district. He z said 2 hv done Tulapurusa 11/n

Ceremony and built a ghat. Even today that Ghat is known as Mukunda Ghat and I've been to that place. This is mentioned by RD Banerjee, Blochmann and even Jadunath Sarkar. The Madala Panji also accurately mentions the same 12/n

As per Bhimeswara temple inscription in Drakshramam in Godavari district there is an inscription of Mukunda in the year 1568. It proves that Mukunda was ruling a land from Triveni to somewhere in Godavari district. Other than this Mukunda has several other inscriptions 13/n

All of the inscriptions are in South Odisha and Andhra. Which clearly proves his rule in these areas. During this period many foreigners visited Odisha. Among them was a merchant named Caesare Fredrick, who praises Mukundadeva. As per him Odisha was a fair kingdom and trusty14/n

A man can go there with gold in hand without any danger so long as the lawful king reigned. Others like Tieffenthler and Badaoni praises Mukunda deva for his politeness to strangers and his military skills. 15/n

Akbar was aware of the strength of Mukundadeva and how he defeated the Bengal Sultan. Therefore, he sent 2 ambassadors to court of Mukunda to support him against Suleiman Karrani who had supported his rebellious Uzbek general named Khan Zaman. In response Mukunda had sent 16/n

Envoys to Akbar's court. This is a popular misconception among many that Mukunda sent embassy and for alliance first. Mukunda had no reason to do so. He had already defeated powerful Bengal sultan and was ruling a vast land from Ganga to Godavari. He had no reason to ask for 17/n

Help. The land ruled by Mukunda can easily be verified from the later Mughal records based on Abul Fazal and General Mansingh's records. This was based on Todarmal's land settlement. Where the then Odisha was divided into 5 Sarkars. Jaleswar, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Kalinga and 18/n

Rajamuhendry. What Mughals considered as Odisha was basically Mukundadeva's territory. But, Mughals themselves didn't have any control beyond Chilika lake. So, at one point Mukundadeva's ruling territory was as big as powerful Ganga rulers.(Ain-i-Akbari, SS attached) 19/n

Abul Fazal also talks about a 9 storey building that Mukundadeva had built in Barabati fort of Cuttack. This was probably one of the largest in India of that time. A large kingdom with sea trade certainly enabled him to build something like this. 20/n

Even though Mukunda had some good military achievements in his name, he was an usurper and other contenders of the throne were not happy with him. There are several theories regarding his end. It is said that the Suleiman Karrani sent his army to attack Odisha. Mukunda 21/n

Sent Raghubhanja Chhotray (who he had jailed earlier) to fight him along with Ramachandra Bhanja. But, both betrayed and joined hands with Karrani. Mukunda had no option left. He proceeded to fight but was defeated and killed in Gobirutika in Jajpur. 22/n

There are other theories also, where it is said Mukunda was in Hooghly area at time of attack & a simultaneous attack happened by Kalapahar on Cuttack via sea route. This time Raghubhanja Chhotray declared himself the king in Sarangarh. Mukunda had to return back & was killed23/n

By Raghubhanja, and Raghubhanja was again killed by Kalapahar. This was a sad end of the glorious Gajapatis of Cuttack.
There is an interesting part which I want to add. There are several characters named Mukunda Bahubalendra in history of of Odisha. As per RD Mukherjee it24/n

Was kind of a title. One of Mukundadeva's relative was named as Mukunda who had defied authority of Golconda and had to face the heat of Golconda army. Therefore, some people are confused and mix up historical incidents. 25/n

Reference:
1. History of Odisha , RD Banerjee
2. The Saga of land of Jagannath by Mayadhara Mansingh
3. The history of Gajapati kings of Odisha, by Prabhat Mukherjee
4. Khurdha Itihasa, by Kedarnath Mohapatra
5. Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl
6. Madala Panji
26/n

7. History of Bengal, vol II by Jadunath Sarkar