Kharavela: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:18, 2 July 2010

Revision as of 18:12, 12 July 2010

Line 4:

[[File:Khandagiri.JPG|thumb|Khandagiri caves]]

'''Khārabeḷa''' ([[Oriya]]: ଖାରବେଳ) ([[IAST]]: Khārabeḷa, [[Devanagari]]: खारवेल, [[Oriya language|Odia]]: ଖାରବେଳ) (?209 – after 170 BCE) was the greatest emperor of the [[Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty]] of [[Kalinga (India)|Kaḷinga]] (present-day [[Orissa]] state of [[India]]). The [[Chedi]] dynasty of [[Kalinga (India)|Kaḷinga]] under the kingship of Khārabeḷa ascended to eminence and restored the lost power and glory of Kaḷinga, which was subdued since the devastating Kaḷinga war with [[Ashoka]]. All these happened within a century of [[Ashoka]]n era. The Kaḷingan military might was reinstated by Khārabeḷa. Under Khārabeḷa's generalship, the Kaḷinga kingdom had a formidable maritime reach with trade routes linking it to the then Simhala (Sri Lanka), Burma(Myanmar), Siam(Thailand), Vietnam, Kamboja(Cambodia), Borneo, Bali, Samudra(Sumatra) and Jabadwipa (Java). On religion side, though extremely liberal, Emperor Khārabeḷa patronised [[Jainism]].

Emperor Khārabeḷa (ଖାରବେଳ) led many successful campaigns against Kingdoms of [[Magadha]], [[Anga]], [[Satavahana]]s and the then South Indian regions of [[Pandya]] kingdom, present [[Tamil Nadu]] state, and expanded Kaḷinga till the river [[Ganga]] in North and river [[Kaveri]] in South, with full West to East coverage. Khārabeḷa (ଖାରବେଳ) was the third king of the Mahāmeghabāhana dynasty. The main source of information about Khārabeḷa is his famous seventeen line rock-cut [[Hathigumpha inscription|hātigumphā inscription]] in a cave in [[Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves|Udayagiri]] hills near [[Bhubaneswar]] in [[Orissa|Odisha]].