The sailors of Kalinga reached South-East Asia in very early times but unlike Tamil texts of Sangam period, they have not left any records of their trading voyages. In the absence of any direct evidences to Orissa we will have to depend upon the scattered reference of foreign countries. The available evidences indicate, from the beginning of Christian era, monks, merchants and adventurers continued to visit South-East Asia.
- Kalinga and Java
According to R.D. Banarjee, Hindus from Kalinga took a leading role in establishing Hindu culture in Java. An expedition from Kalinga established a colony in Java in 75 BC.
(a) Early legends of Java mentions that “twenty thousand families were sent to Java by the prince of Klinga. These people prospered and multiplied.” Even King Jayabhaya (12th century A.D.) believed himself to be descendant of Kalinga family.
(b) Java was styled as Ho-Ling in the annals of the Tang period (618-906) in the Chinese record. Central Java was occupied by the people of Holing. According to Chinese sources regular embassies were sent to Ho-Ling. Scholars usually believed the Ho-Ling of the Chinese is equivalent to Kalinga.
(c) Ho-Ling was visited be several Buddhist monks of China including I-Ching in the 7th century A.D.
(d) Arab historians described the 8th century AD Sailendra dynasty of Java as originating from Kalinga, and said that Sailendra was also powerful in Cambodia and Champa (Annam).
(e) Inscriptional evidences ;
(I) The Canggal inscription of King Sanjaya (A.D. 732) of Java led scholars belief that the epithet “Kunjara Kunjadesa” may be located in Kalinga which was famous for elephants. Even the king styled themselves as ‘Gajapati’ in later period.
(II) In Old-Javanese epigraphy Kling, i.e. Kalinga appears for the first time in the Java inscription from A.D. 840. Three others are from the reign of King Airlangga, who ruled during A.D. 1019-42, but the most interesting feature of these inscriptions is the fact that the charters mention the names of countries from which traders and others came to his kingdom. One such representative list states that people came from : “Kling, Aryya, Singhala, Pandikira, Dravida, Campa, Kmir, Rmen….” In all cases, excepting one, the list is headed by Kling i.e. Kalinga people, immediately followed by the Aryya people.
(III) In an East Javanese inscription dated A.D. 1194 mention is made of a Juru Kling i.e. headman of the Kalinga people.
(IV) A late inscription from East Java describes king Girindra Vardhana as Bhatara Kling, i.e. Lord of Kling, while his queen Kamalavarnadevi has been designated queen of Kalingapura.
From these details, it appears that Kling and Kalingapura, if they are not identical, must have been administrative units of the Majapahitan empire laying to the north-west of Kediri by the side of the river Kali Kling. The very name of the East Javanese river Kali Kling and the administrative divisions referred to above make Ho-ling or Kalinga a hard reality.
Kalingga or Holing of Central Java, Indonesia
Kalingga or Holing was an Indianized kingdom on the north coast of Central Java, Indonesia. The kingdom's location is thought to be somewhere between present-day Pekalongan and Jepara. Kalingga existed between the 6th and 7th century. The historical record of this kingdom is scarce and vague, and comes mostly from Chinese sources and local traditions.
The Chinese sources come from China and date back to the Tang Dynasty. According to I-tsing, in 664 CE a Chinese Buddhist monk named Hwi-ning had arrived in Holing and stayed there for about three years. During his stay, and with the assistance of Jnanabhadra, a Holing monk, he translateded numerous Buddhist Hinayana scriptures.
In 674 CE the kingdom was ruled by Queen Shima, notorious for her fierce law against thievery, which encouraged her people to be honest and uphold absolute truth. According to tradition, one day a foreign king placed a bag filled with gold on the intersection in Kalingga to test the famed truthful and honesty of Kalingga people. Nobody dared to touch the bag that did not belong to them, until three years later when Shima's son, the crown prince, accidentally touched the bag with his foot. The queen issued a death sentence to her own son, but was overruled by a minister that appealed the queen to spare the prince's life. Since it was the prince's foot that touched the bag of gold, so it was the foot that must be punished through mutilation. Shima's great-grandson is Sanjaya, who is the king of Sunda Kingdom and Galuh Kingdom, and also the founder of Medang Kingdom.
- Kalinga and Bali
Bali deserves special mentions for bearing stamps of Kalingan culture even to these days. Till date it is primarily a Hindu land. Like Bhubaneswar or Kanchipuram, it is a land of temples popularly called “Island of thousand temples”. It is believed, the famous, “Bali-yatra’ festival of Odisha is observed in many parts of the State to commemorate the “sea voyages of Kalingan people to Bali.”
Even now some Brahmans of Bali called themselves as “Brahman Buddha Kalinga”. As in Orissa Sri Lakshmi is worshipped as Goddess of wealth, in Bali worshipped as prosperity. Dance form of Bali particularly the performing Ramayan and the shadow-dance has close affinity with the dance form of Orissa (Ravana Chaya of Orissa). The tie and die weaving traditions of Orissa (western Orissa) have also close resemblance with Balinese textiles traditions.
Trade with Bali appears to have started before the Christian Era. Bali had many products that were attractive to Kalinga's traders, including cinnamon, long pepper, white pepper and cardamon, pearls and gems, silk, camphor, bees wax and sandalwood. Traders from Kalinga brought muslin and other fine cloths, rugs, brocade, armour, gold and jewelry. There is a tradition that the first ruler of Bali was an Indian named Kaudinya, around 600 AD, and this name later became the title for future rulers. It is possible that the island is named after Bali, a legendary king of Orissa. Traditional masked dances that are performed in Orissa and Bali for the purpose of removing evils and bringing good fortune have many similarities that point to ancient cultural exchanges. The trade began to decline in the 8th century AD, as Arabs became the predominant maritime power in the region.The festival of "Bali Jatra", or "Journey to Bali", is still celebrated throughout coastal Orissa in memory of the ancient trading links.
(Photocaption : Sea routes between Kalinga and trading countries)
