Kalinga, India

Kalinga (, Devnagari: कळिंग) was an early state in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Orissa/Utkal (pronounced as Odisha), as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to Amarkantak range in the West. The region was scene of the bloody Kalinga War fought by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka the Great of Magadha circa 265 BCE.

Rise of Kharavela

Kharavela was the warrior emperor of Kalinga. He was responsible for the propagation of Jainism in the Indian Subcontinent but his importance is neglected in many accounts of Indian history. According to the Hathigumpha inscription near Bhubaneswar, Orissa, he attacked Rajagriha in Magadha, thus inducing the Indo-Greek king Demetrius to retreat to Mathura. But this inscription doesn't mean that he merged Magadha in...
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