As per B. Masthanaiah, the origin of the Eastern Gangas is not clearly established. However, renowned British scholar, artist, art critic, historian, archaeologist, and an authority on Indian art and architecture,
Percy Brown, suggested that the temples of
Mukhalingam predated the temples of
Bhubaneswar and had been built as per the
Badami Chalukya Temple Architecture originating from
Karnataka since the 4th century CE. A certain temple tower in
Odisha shows a combination of both
Rekha and
Pidha Deul decoration types which was taken from the
Kadamba temples of Karnataka where it first appeared. The Mukhalingam (
Kalinganagara) Madhukeswara (Mukhalingeswara) temple too resembles the Kadamba temples of Karnataka. The towns of
Aihole,
Badami and
Pattadakal had emerged as 'The Cradle of Indian Temple Architecture and Hindu Rock Architecture, Stone Artwork and Construction Techniques' since the 4th century CE. The script used by the Eastern Ganga king Indravarma of the 7th century CE, like his predecessors, is the common
Telugu-Kannada script used also by the
Chalukyas of Badami and their related offshoot
Vengi Chalukya branch. All these indicate a strong proof for the Eastern Gangas having originated from the earlier
Western Gangas (established c. 350 CE) of Karnataka. According to the historian
Upinder Singh, In the 4th century CE, Orissa was divided into several small principalities, some of which owed allegiance to the Guptas. Dynasties such as the Pitribhaktas, Matharas, and Vasishthas rose to power in southern Orissa. The 5th century saw the rise of the Eastern Gangas in south Kalinga. These kings were probably a branch of the Western Gangas and were migrants from Karnataka. The
Korni and
Vishakhapatnam copper plates of 1113 AD and 1118/1119 AD respectively both of
Anantavarman Chodaganga, the Dasgoba copper plate of Rajaraja III of 1198/99 AD and the Nagari copperplate of
Anangabhima III and other such records trace the ancestry of the Eastern Gangas to Kamarnava I. The Kendupatna copper plate of Narasimhadeva II and the
Puri copper plate of Narasimhadeva IV also state that Kamarnava came from
Gangawadi province, now in Karnataka. The Korni copper plate mentions that Kamarnava I came to the
Mahendra mountain situated to the east of Gangawadi and then onwards to
Kalinga. It also states that Kamarnava I, the eldest son of Virasimha, had left
Kolahalapura (Kuvalalapura or Kolar), the capital of
Gangawadivisaya (Western Ganga kingdom in southern Karnataka) after giving up his rightful throne to his paternal uncle. He set forth eastwards along with his four brothers to establish a new kingdom, reached and ascended the mountain summit of Mahendra, worshipped
Shiva as God Gokarnaswamin or Gokarneswara, obtained the bull (
Nandi) emblem, descended to the eastern side, defeated and killed the local tribal king Sabaraditya (Savaraditya) or Baladitya in battle and acquired the whole of Kalinga with the blessings of Gokarneswara. Historian Bhairabi Prasad Sahu states that the Gangas after conquering the area south of Mahendragiri mountain around 498–500 CE, acknowledged a deity of the Saora (
Savara or Sabara) tribe on the Mahendragiri mountain with the name of Shiva-Gokarnaswamin as the patron deity of their family. Epigraphist,
John Faithfull Fleet has identified
Gangawadi and
Kolahalapuram with the
Ganga Dynasty (founded in 350 CE) and
Kolar, ruled by the
Western Gangas. Both the early and the later Eastern Ganga kings had close relations with the Eastern Kadambas, who functioned under them as chieftains, heads and provincial governors. Most of the early as well as the later Eastern Ganga kings of Kalinga worshipped the holy feet of Gokarneswara of Mahendragiri. This deity also has a strong Karnataka connection through the
Mahabaleshwar Temple situated in
Gokarna (Karnataka) which is the only Atmalinga of God Shiva in the entire world. The Eastern Kadamba family, feudatories of the Early Gangas in the 10th and early 11th century CE, were ruling a small area in the vicinity of the Mahendra mountain. Historian Dineshwar Singh lists several facts that point to a relationship between the Eastern and the Western Gangas. Just as the
Gangas and the
Kadambas of
Karnataka had marital relationship with each other, so were the Gangas and the Kadambas of Kalinga. The family God of the Kadambas of
Vaijayanti (Banavasi),
Palasige and
Hangal (all in Karnataka) is described in their inscriptions as
Jayanti (Vaijayanti) Madhukeshwara of Banavasi. Historian M. Somasekhara Sarma suggests that the Kadambas brought with them their family God Madhukeshwara into their new home Kalinga. It appears that Kamarnava II built the temple of Madhukeshwara in
Nagara at the instance of one of his feudatories and relatives, the Eastern Kadambas. Historian G. R. Varma further suggests that the Eastern Ganga king Kamarnava II renovated the existing temple of Gokarneshwara before renaming it as Madhukeshwara. Historian R. Subba Rao states that the God Madhukeswara of Kalinganagara was also called Jayanteswara (based on
Vaijayanti or Banavasi town) or Gokarneshwara (
Gokarna's Mahabaleshwar deity) in some of the inscriptions found in that temple. Somasekhara Sarma states that the Eastern Kadambas probably came to Kalinga from the districts of
Dharwad,
Belagavi and
Ratnagiri. He substantiates it by showing the presence of a village named as a crude distortion of the Kannada place name Palasige (
Halasi or Palasi in Old Kannada), as
Palasa (Palasika) in the Kalinga region. Most of the early Western Gangas were
Shaivas, just like the early and the later Eastern Gangas of Kalinga were. the Later Eastern Gangas claimed a
lunar descent from
Vishnu through
Brahma,
Atri and
Chandra (moon). Dineshwar Singh concludes that in spite of the views and arguments against a relationship between the two Ganga dynasties - the
Western and the Eastern Gangas, the similarities listed out between them strongly indicate that the founder of the Eastern Ganga dynasty travelled from the
Gangawadi province of Karnataka and arrived in
Trikalinga. Five prominent dominions of the Kalingan Prachya Ganga family are identified from five different administrative centers namely – Kalinganagara (Srikakulam), Svetaka Mandala (Ganjam), Giri Kalinga (Simhapur), Ambabadi Mandala (Gunupur, Rayagada) and Vartanni Mandala (Hinjilikatu, Ganjam). The heartland of the Prachya Gangas had three parts of Kalinga namely, Daksina Kalinga (Pithapura), Madhya Kalinga (Yellamanchili Kalinga or Visakhapatnam) and Uttara Kalinga (districts of Srikakulam, Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada). The earliest known prominent king was Indravarman who is known from his Jirjingi copper plate grant. The Godavari grant of Raja Prthivimalla and the Ramatirtham grant of
Vishnukundina king Indrbhattaraka refer to a war of four tusked elephants or Chaturdanta Samara in which Indravarman I the son of Mitavarman, a Ganga general of Vakataka king and a local ruler of Dantapura commanded an alliance of small South Kalingan kingdoms against the powerful Vishnukundina king Indrabhattaraka, defeated and killed him. The Vishnukundins returned with a vengeance, defeated the Vakataka King and members of the alliance while Indravarman declared himself as Tri-Kalingadhipati (the lord of the three Kalingas) rising from obscurity and moving his capital northwards away from the attacking Vishnukundins. His son Hastivarman found himself stuck between two Gupta feudal dynasties of Odisha, the Vigrahas of South Toshali and Mudgalas. Joining the onslaught like his father, he commanded major battles against the Vigrahas and won territories in the northern parts of ancient Kalinga and declared himself as Sakala-Kalingadhipati (the ruler of whole Kalinga). The dynasty though remaining to be a strong ruling family in ancient Odisha and North Andhra Pradesh continued to remain as vassal rulers under the central authority of the
Bhauma-Kara dynasty which is proven by the fact that a smaller Eastern Ganga king belonging to the clan and named as Jayavarmadeva mentioned himself as the vassal of
Sivakara Deva I in his
Ganjam grant and by whose permission he gave away the grants. It was during the rule of Anantavarman Vajrahasta V in the mid eleventh century that the clan started emerging as a major military power challenging the authority of the
Somavanshi Dynasty at their northern frontiers and allying with their arch rivals the
Kalchuris. After a series of victories in battle and making land grants to three hundred Brahmin families in his kingdom, Vajrahasta V assumed the titles as Trikalingadhipati (lord of the three Kalingas) and Sakalakalingadhipati (lord of complete Kalinga) challenging the centralized authority of the Somavanshis and laying the foundation to an imperial era for the Eastern Gangas. In the later years of the century, Devendravarman Rajaraja I defeated the Somavanshi king Mahasivagupta Janmenjaya II completely while challenging the
Cholas in battle, along with establishing authority in the Vengi region. The Cholas were defeated by Rajaraja I and Chola princess, Rajasundari, was married off to the Eastern Ganga king as a goodwill gesture for settlement of affairs between the Cholas and the Gangas. ==History==