Shailodbhava dynasty

The Shailodbhava (IAST: Śailodbhava) dynasty ruled parts of eastern India during the 6th-8th centuries. Their core territory was known as Kongoda-mandala, and included parts of the present-day Ganjam, Khordha and Puri districts in the Odisha state. Their capital was located at Kongoda, which is identified with modern Banapur. The early rulers of the dynasty were feudatories to the Vigrahas, the Mudgalas, and Shashanka. The Shailodbhava ruler Madhavaraja II seems to have assumed sovereignty soon after 620 CE. The dynasty declined in the 8th century, and their territory came under the Bhauma-Kara rule. The word "Shailodbhava" literally means "born out of rocks". The Shailodbhava inscriptions narrate the following myth of the dynasty's origin: Pulindasena, a famous man of Kalinga, prayed the god Svayambhu to create a man capable of ruling the earth. The dynasty's founder Shailodbhava emerged from a rock as a result of this prayer. The god is identified as Hara (Shiva) in one inscription. Associating Pulindasena with the ancient Pulinda tribe, historians such as Upinder Singh believe that this myth reflects the tribal origins of the dynasty. The motif of emerging from a rock may suggest that the dynasty was initially based in a region featuring rocky terrain: the Shailodbhava inscriptions name the Mahendra mountain as the dynasty's kula-giri (tutelary mountain). The mention of Shiva shows that the rulers were Shaivites. Patit Paban Mishra also suggests that the Shailodbhavas were of tribal descent. Much of the information about the dynasty comes from its sixteen copper-plate inscriptions. This information is corroborated by other sources, such as monuments and accounts of foreign travelers. { "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "star", "marker-color": "000080", "title": "Banapur (Banpur)" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [85.1634906, 19.7714109] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "monument", "title": "Buguda" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [84.