Mukunda Deva or Mukunda Harichandana (1559-1568 A.D) was the founder of "Chalukya dynasty" in ancient

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

(now Odisha). He traced his descent from the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi. He was the sole monarch of his dynasty and the last independent ruler of Odisha before it lost its unitary realm and independence in 1568 CE. He came to the throne at Kataka in 1559 after killing Raghuram Raya Chotaraya, the last Bhoi ruler. During his reign he tried to revive the power of Orissa.

Early life

Mukunda Deva traced his lineage to the

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

family of Vengi . He served as a minister to Chakrapratap of the Bhoi dynasty. When King Chakrapratap died, he took advantage of the opportunity and killed the weaker Bhoi kings . In 1559 he ascended the throne. His dynasty was called the Chalukya Vansh .

Activities

He set up two streets from Lion's gateway to the Gundicha Temple and laid a smooth road by covering up the pits and holes on the way. He erected a cradle arch (Dola Mandap) on the outer part of the southern walls for the Lords to swing on the Dola Festival during the last five days of falguna. Bada Jagamohan (the great front hall) of the shrine. Mukunda Deva built a chain of forts at Raibania (in the present Balasore district) of Odisha. The fort was stormed by Kalapahad in 1558 A.D.

Battles

Mukunda Deva came into close contact with the Sultan of Bengal as a foe, and Mughal emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

as an ally. He had to face the Sultan twice in the battle. In 1560, Sultan Ghiyasuddin Jalal Shah of Bengal invaded Orissa and marched up to Jajpur. Mukunda Deva defeated him and drove him out of Orissa. In 1567, while Akbar was busy in the invasion of Chittorgarh, Sultan Karrani invaded Orissa. He was defeated by the Sultan and took shelter in the fort of Kotsima. The army of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

attacked

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

, the capital of ancient Orissa. Kalapahada, the general of the Sultan, made a devastating attack on Cuttack. In the absence of Mukunda Deva, Ramachandra Bhanja (a feudatory of Sarangagarh) declared himself king of Orissa. On receiving the news, Mukunda Deva hurried to Cuttack and faced Ramachandra Deva on the battlefield of Gohiratikiri, near Jajpur, where he was killed. Ramachandra Bhanja was also later killed by the Sultan. After the defeat of Mukunda Deva, Ramachandra Deva of Bhoi dynasty made an alliance with Akbar for avoiding an Afghan invasion and continued as a subordinate king of Odisha.

References

History of Odisha 15th-century Indian monarchs People from Odisha {{India-royal-stub