List of rulers of Odisha
Unlike other ancient kingdoms in India, Odisha for most part of the History remained a stable and major power till medieval era due to widespread martial culture and prosperity brought by successive native ruling dynasties.
According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts.
[1] According to Mahabharata and some Puranas, the prince 'Kalinga' founded the Kalinga kingdom, in the current day region of coastal Odisha, including the North Sircars.
[12] From the inscriptions and coins discovered at Guntupalli and Velpuru, Andhra Pradesh, we know of a series of rulers with the suffix Sada who were possibly distant successors of Kharavela.
[19] The Nashik prashasti inscription of Gautamiputra's mother during the reign of Vasisthiputra Pulumavi, located in the Nasik Caves, states that his orders were obeyed by the circle of all kings and calls him the lord of mount Mahendra among a list of other mountains.
[23] For some time in 4th century, the southern Odisha region around modern-day Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and undivided Bastar, was ruled by the Nalas.
[28] Copper plate grants have been found of a feudatory of Sambhuyasa nammed Bhanudatta in Olasingh Village, Khordha and Balasore.
The absence of the name of his overlord in his grants during his 5th regnal year may indicate that Sambhuyasa died without an heir and his kingdom maybe in a state of chaos.
A copper plate grant from Somadatta's 19th regnal year calls him the ruler of Utkala and Dandabhukti(Dantan in South-Western Midnapore) and he assumes the subordinate royal title of samanta-maharaja under Shashanka.
After this Shashanka was no more in the political arena of Odisha when Madhavaraja II issued his Khordha grant which describes him as "lord of the whole of Kalinga".
In the second copper plate chatter issued by Madhavaraja II from Kongoda, he is endowed with the title of Sakala-Kalingadhipati(Lord of the whole of Kalinga).
Based on Chinese traveler Xuanzang's account it is believed that the Pushyabhuti emperor Harshavardhana may have invaded Utkala and Kongoda.
This region roughly comprised the modern-day Banei sub-division and parts of Panposh subdivision of Sundergarh district.
The Soma or Kesari Dynasty originates in South Kosala, but by the reign of Yayati I, they controlled most of modern Orissa.
[47] The Chindaka Nagas are believed by certain historians to have arrived in the Chakrakota Mandala region (Bastar and Koraput) with the expedition of Rajendra Chola.
[57] The Silavamsa king Pratap Ganga Raja died without any male heir, only leaving behind his wife and daughter Lilavati.
[62] This Rajput dynasty had arrived from Mainpuri or Garh Sambhor amidst a conflict with the Muslim rulers of Delhi around 13th or 14th century.
The founder Ramai Deva was still in the womb of his mother when his father was murdered by the Yavanas and she fled to the hilly and forest terrains of western Odisha to seek refuge.
The early 17th-century works by the Poet Gangadhar Mishra (a descendant of the famous Sanskrit poet Sambhukara from Puri) known as Kosalananda and early 18th-century work by the Chauhan king Vaijala Deva known as Probodha Chandrika and Jayachandrika give detailed descriptions about their origins and foundation of the state first at Patna and then Sambalpur.
[63] Ramai Deva was first adopted by a local priest or Brahmin chief known as Chakradhara Panigrahi who provided shelter and refuge to his fleeing mother during her pregnancy.
Mukunda Deva who traced his descent from the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi[70] rebelled and killed the last two successors of the Bhoi dynasty and declared himself an independent ruler in 1559 but Sulaiman Khan Karrani formed a kingdom in the region of Bengal which proved a potential threat to Mukunda Deva.
[73] The treaty eventually failed after the death of Munim Khan (governor of Bengal and Bihar) who died at the age of 80.
[73][74][75] Ibrahim Qutb Shah invaded South Odisha coast in 1572 and Balaram Dev of Jeypore accepted his suzerainty.
Orissa was annexed into the Bengal subah (province).The Mughal rule was weak in the region, this allowed local chieftains to somewhat enjoy a semi-independence.
[75] By 1717, with the weakening of Mughal Empire following Mughal–Maratha Wars in which the Marathas became the dominant power in the subcontinent, the Bhoi dynasty of Khurda kingdom and the semi-autonomous Garhjat kings of Odisha became independent of the Mughal sovereign authority, while the Nawabs of Bengal retained control over the Northern coast of Odisha from Cuttack to Subarnarekha river until the region was finally conquered by the Maratha Empire starting from the invasion in 1741 by 1751.
[75] The Nawabs of Bengal controlled the Northern Odisha coast from Cuttack to Subarnarekha river which was conquered by the Marathas and eventually ceded following the peace treaty in 1751.
The third branch of Chauhan rulers descended in the line of Patna's Ramai Deva started their separate rule from Khariar in the seventeenth century.
[62] The successor of Raghunath Krishna Dev proved to be an inefficient ruler and as a result lost the vast territory of Northern Circars to their minister Viziaram Raz who formed the Vizianagaram State, who also adopted the title of Gajapati.
[95][96] Mukundeva Deva II was discontent under Maratha rule, so he agreed to help British troops to march through his territory without resistance.
About 25 princely states, remained independent but they were later integrated by 1947, except Saraikela, Kharsawan, Bastar, Parlakhemundi Zamindari (rest of today's Vijayanagaram).
