Part 23 - The Gangas of Jantarnadu (A.D. 1270-1460)

A Ganga dynasty ruled over Jantarnadu for about two centuries from A.D. 1270 to 1461. These Gangas were one among the important dynasties in South Kalinga. Their kingdom Jantarnadu was not seldom the largest of many an invader—the Reddis, the Matsyas and so forth. The Gangas owed allegiance formally to the Imperial Gangas and contracted alliances of marriage with the Matsyas and the Silas.

Sources and Origin

All the records of the dynasty except one inscription at Boni are in Simhachalam. The records of the Gangas of Kalinga and the Matsyas give some reference to the Gangas of Jantarnadu, besides the literature and inscriptions of the Reddis.

The Gangas did not bear elaborate prasastis like the Matsyas and the Pallavas. Their records furnish few details regarding their ancestry and early history. The Gangas were of Surabhikula, Gatsamadagotra and Gamgavamsa. The term Jantarnadu indicating the country of their rule is prefixed to the names of the kings of the dynasty.

No mythical ancestors of the Gangas are known. The early members of the dynasty are referred to in a general fashion in a single record which says that in Gangavamsa were born several kings. No details about them available,