Bhanja dynasty

The dynasty, of ancient local Kshatriya lineage[1][2] as documented by Hermann Kulke, succeeded the Vindhyatabi branch of the Nagas of Padmavati, who ruled from the Keonjhar district of Odisha and included Satrubhanja of the Asanpat inscription.

[12] Nettabhanja, who ruled over the Dhenkanal-Anugul region and made Nava-angulakapatana his capital, was regarded by R. D. Banerji and R. C. Majumdar as the earliest Bhanja king of the Khinjali mandala line.

Copper plate inscriptions of Yasobhanja and his brother Jayabhanja at Antirigam and Kanakabhanja show Bhanja rule continued in the Khijali region until the 12th century CE.

[10] During the early 10th century CE, with political instabilities in the Bhauma-Kara kingdom, the neighboring Somavamshi and Bhanja dynasties attempted to conquer the region.

It remained a prominent zamindari during the reigns of the Trikalingapati and Gajapati monarchs and also supported the Khurda rulers against the British after they took over Orissa from the Maratha Empire in 1803.

Their son Pravir Chandra Bhanj Deo became the first and only Bhanja ruler of Bastar from 1936 until 1948 when it acceded to India following independence.

The influence of Bhuyans on the enthronement rituals and regnal traditions of Keonjhar suggests a long-standing relationship with the kingdom.

There was a Brahmin chieftain who was childless that adopted the nephew of the neighboring raja of Keonjhar who belonged to the Bhanj dynasty.

[21][22][23] In the late 15th century around 1498 CE, Naren Bhanja, the brother of the raja of Baudh, was made chieftain of the Daspalla region, from which he later seceded and declared his independent kingdom.