THE Ganga rule in the history of Karnataka was a significant period. The area they ruled has been called the Gangawadi or the Ganganadu. They ruled major part of Karnataka for a period of about six centuries. They were shifting their capital for security reasons. Kolar which was called Kolahala or Kuvalala was their first capital. Second was Talakadu (on the banks of river Cauvery) and the third capital was Makunda (near channapatna). However Talakadu was their main center of administration. Their emblem was amusk ‘elephant’. They had close relations with all the major royal house of south, namely, pallava, kadamba, chalukya, Rashtrakutas etc. Under the Ganga rule, Karnataka was economically prosperous. Many temples were build. Religious tolerance was the order of the day. Scholars enjoyed royal patronage, peace and security were established throughout the kingdom.
Origin of the Gangas
There are different options among the historians as for as the origin of the Gangas is concerned. They are as follows :
1. According to the 1122 B.C. inscription of Kalluragudda the Gangas were descendents of the Ikshvaku dynasty which was ruling Ayodhya. The queen Vijayamahadevi, wife of Bharatha of Ayodhya while taking bat in river Ganga gae birth to a son Gangadatha. The dynasty of Gangadatha who was born by the grace of Ganga river became the Gangas. Vishnugupta of that lineage was so valorous that Lord Indra was pleased by him and he gave him an elephat as a reward. The elephant thus was adopted in the emblem of Gangas. This is a legend and could not be accepted as an historical evidence. However, the story further runs up to the establishmeht of akingdom by Dadiga and Madhava. Indra was pleased with Padmanabha, another king of this lineage and gave him five emblems or ornamentals seals and cautioned him that if any of the king’s descendents took to unethical path the seals would be destroyed. The king Mahipala of Ujjaini wanted these emblems and brought pressure on Padmanabha. But he refused to give them up and a battle was waged. However, as a precaution he sent his two dsons Madhava and Dadiga to south (Ujjaini). These brothers who thus came to south met a jain ascetic by name Simhanadi and under his directions they established a small kingdom. It was called Gangavadi 96,000.
2. Lewis Rice considers the Gangas as belonging to the Kanva dynasty which came to power in Magadha after Mauryas. According to him the name Ganga must have come from the river Ganga only. But Kanvas were not strong enough to preotect their kingdom in north itself. And it is difficult to believe that such kings could come down to distant south and establish kingdom. Only two available records give evidence of their Kanva origin. But they belonged to a period later to Ganga and hence it is difficult to determine on such facts.
3. The inscriptions of a later period tell us that a Jain ascetic by name Simhanadi helped the brothers Dadiga and Madhava. It is doubtful whether this Simhanadi was a historical person at all. The first inscription that gives some details about him is the Kudlur inscription of Marasimha of 963 A.D. Though this was an inscription of the early Ganga period it has neither referred to the northern origin of the Gangas nor of the Jain ascetic even-once. Moreover the early Gangas were followers of vedic religion.
4. Arokyaswamy is of the opinion that Gangas belonged to the Kongalnadu of Salem district. This theory is formed on the basis of the Kongudesa Rajakal Chronicle. He also agrees with the legend of a northern origin but argues that the brother found their kingdom at a palce called Perur, about 3 ½ miles from Coimbatore. As Madhava’s coronation took place here, Arokyaswamy observes, it is better to think of Tamilnadu origin for the Gangas. But the same chronicle speks of Kaulalampur, which is found neither near Salem nor near Coimbatore. But it is actually situated in Kolar District. Moreover as the chronical belonged to 17th century it is not safe to have it as a basis of anything.
5. The latest theory abut the Gangas which gives them a local origin is as follows : The Gangas must have been the sons of the sail. They saw an opportunity to build a kingdom because of the fluid political situation of the times. It is doubtful that some body came all the way from Ayodhya and established a kingdom. Even if this was true, the brothers must have led an invasion. But this aspect has not been referred by any historical record or inscription. Unless the foreigner had a powerful army it was difficult for them to build a kingdom. So we can not ignore the opinion of Lewis Rice who thinks that the Gangas belonged to the local agricultural sect of Karnataka, the Gangadikaras. Dr. M. V. Krishna Rao holds the same idea that the Gangadikaras are pure kannadigas. There is no objection to think that Dhadiga and Madhava belong to this sect. Even the names of the brothers were those which were in use in Karnataka.
Now let us see how the name, Ganga originated. Ganga’s capital was Talakadu. As it is on the banks of river Cauvery it indicates the name of Ganga. Cauvery is often called Dakshini Ganga. Shivaite kings may also have chosen the name as Ganga as it is also supposed to be the consort of Shiva. The Ganga rule was the longest in the history of Karnataka. If they were not indigenous, their rule would also have been a short lived one, like that of Maurya, Nanda, Shathavahana, Chola and Pallava. Contrary to this the local Kadambas, Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas ruled for a long time. With this we can conclude that Gangas were the sons of the soil and all the theories and legends about them according to which the Gangas came from Ayodhyas, that they were the descendents of the Kanvas or that they were from Kongalnadu, and that they established an empire under the direction of the Jain ascetic Simhanandi etc., have been proved false. Fter 2nd century the Shathavahanas declined and many small principalities like Banas near Kolar, Pallavas in Tamilnadu and Gangas in Talakadu, rose to prominence.
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