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

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

(now Odisha). He traced his descent from the

Eastern Chalukyas Eastern Chalukyas, also known as the Chalukyas of Vengi, were a dynasty that ruled parts of South India between the 7th and 12th centuries. They started out as governors of the Chalukyas of Badami in the Deccan region. Subsequently, they becam ...

Vengi Vengi (or Venginadu) is a delta region spread over the Krishna and Godavari River, (also called Godavari and Krishna districts), the region is also known as Godavari Delta, that used to house world famous diamond mines in the Medieval period. T ...

. He was the sole monarch of his dynasty and the last independent Hindu king of Orissa 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 In Maharashtra and Gujarat, their traditional occupations include acting as palanquin-bearers. The Bhoi are also found in Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Bar ...

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 South India. He was served as a minister of Chakrapratap during the Bhoi dynasty. When the 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 Gundicha Temple ( or, ଗୁଣ୍ଡିଚା ମନ୍ଦିର), is a Hindu temple, situated in the temple town of Puri in the state of Odisha, India. It is significant for being the destination of the celebrated annual Rath Yatra of Pur ...

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 Kalapahar ( bn, কালাপাহাড়; died 24 April 1583), also known by his daak naam Raju ( bn, রাজু), was a military general of the Sultanate of Bengal under the Karrani dynasty. He is credited for conquering Orissa, which r ...

in 1558 A.D.

Battles

Mukunda Deva came into close contact with the

Sultan of Bengal The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the domina ...

as a foe, and Mughal emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, H ...

as an ally. He had to face the Sultan twice in the battle. In 1560, Sultan

Ghiyasuddin Jalal Shah Ghiyasuddin Jalal Shah ( bn, গিয়াসউদ্দীন জলাল শাহ, fa, ) was the Sultan of Bengal from 1561 to 1563. He was the brother and successor of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah II. Biography Jalal was born into a ...

of Bengal invaded Orissa and marched up to

Jajpur Jajpur (also known as Jajapur) is a town and a municipality in Jajpur district in the Indian state of Odisha. It was the capital of the Kesari dynasty, later supplanted by Cuttack. Now, it is the headquarter of Jajpur district. Etymology and ...

. Mukunda Deva defeated him and drove him out of Orissa. In 1567, while Akbar was busy in the invasion of Chitor, Sultan Karrani invaded Orissa. He was defeated by the Sultan and took shelter in the fort of Kotsima. The army of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

attacked

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

, the capital of ancient Orissa. Kalapahada, the general of the Sultan, made a devastating attack on Cuttack. In the absence of Mukunda Deva, Ramachandra Deva (a commander 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. After the defeat of Mukunda Deva,

Ramachandra Deva Ramachandra Deva (Ramachandrayya Deva) (22 March 1948 – 11 September 2013) was an Indian writer. Deva was born in Kote Mundugaru village in Karnataka, India, to Deva Raghavendrayya and Honnamma. Education Deva completed his schooling in Kalm ...

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