Hemangada

rdf:langString Hemangada

rdf:langString Hemangada (Odia: ହେମଙ୍ଗଦ) was a powerful 4th century C.E.warrior king of the ancient Indian Kingdom of Kalinga (Odisha) who finds elaborate mention in the sixth chapter of Kalidasa's classical Sanskrit literary work, Raghuvansham. According to Kalidasa, Hemangada was present at the Swayamvara of the princess Indumati of Vidarbha as an participant while Sunanda, the counsel of the princess describes his glorious achievements, strength and his kingdom to her. Only besides the mention of Hemangada there are no details about his lineage or the dynasty he belonged to. He could be placed as a vassal of the Gupta rule in Kalinga those days but didn't either belong to the Vindhyatabi Naga or Nala rulers who were prominent or declining in other parts of ancient Tri-Kalinga region in that era. Since the whole work of Raghuvamsham is based on descriptions for the descendants of a mythical king Raghu, the timeline of Hemangada's existence is also debatable as it is not necessary that he existed as a living personality around the time when Kalidasa composed his work. The existence of the king could very well be before the Guptas as an independent and powerful monarch of Kalinga.