Vinayak Dev

Vinayak Dev or Raja Vinayak Dev was the first king of the Suryavansh Sankara dynasty that ruled over the realm of Kalinga in continuous succession for 504 years. He migrated to the little kingdom of Nandapur in modern Odisha and inherited the kingdom from the ruling Silavanshi king, Pratap Ganga. He ruled as a vassal king under the Gajapati ruler, Kapilendra Deva. Vinayak is considered to be a shrewd administrator and an expert in military affairs and after his ascension he led an expedition to the south and conquered territories across the region of Vengi up to Krishna River near Guntur.
Early life
Vinayak Dev was born in 1415 to Raja Kumbh Raj Dev and Rani Sumitra Devi in a small kingdom near Naga Parbat in North Kashmer. Their dynasty was Suryavansh and the kings were vassals under Lohara dynasty. It is believed that a junior prince of the suryavanshi kingdom of Vallabhipur in Saurashtra migrated to Kashmir with the army of Lalitaditya Muktapida and was granted a fief in Northern Kashmir. However, after the downfall of Lohara kings and the arrival of Shah Mir dynasty they claimed independence and established a sovereign kingdom in the mountainous northern region.
He followed the instructions of the dream and travelled to the south-east, where upon crossing the forests of Dandakaranya, he arrived in the kingdom of Nandapur, ruled by Raja Pratap Ganga of Shilavansh dynasty. The king invited Vinayak Dev and ultimately offered the proposal of his marriage with her only daughter and the princess of the kingdom, Lilavati. He also ensured that Vinayak would inherit the kingdom after his death.
Accession
In 1443, the death of Pratap Ganga heralded the ascension of Vinayak Dev as the first king of the Suryavansh dynasty that ruled over the dominion of Kalinga till the end of the British Raj. However, it did not prove easy for Vinayak Dev to inherit his father-in-law's kingdom as many Shilavanshi relatives of Pratap Ganga instigated a rebellion in Nandapur. The Shilavanshis were undoubtedly more influential in the kingdom and they used this advantage to subdue Vinayak Dev.
The rising tension in the kingdom forced Vinayak to relinquish the throne of Nandapur to the Shilavanshi rebels. Initially, he left the kingdom of Nandapur along with his wife, son and his group of ministers along with a faction of troops. At night, the troops of Vinayak halted in a village situated on the outskirts of Nandapur, where luckily, he met a rich cattle-merchant called Lobinia Naik. The abandoned king explains him about the challenges that he was facing in Nandapur and eventually the merchant decides to help Vinayak in exchange of a free-trade deal in his kingdom.<ref name=":1" />
Vinayak Dev with the help of the monetary aid assembled a large army and conquered Nandapur from the rebelling Shilavanshi rebels. In the battle, he was thoroughly helped by the Raja of the Matsya kingdom of Vaddadi-Madugula called Singharaja who was the maternal uncle of Princess Lilavati. After his re-ascension as the Raja of Nandapur, he constructed the famous 32-stepped throne called Battis Singhasan as an emulation of the historic Singhasan Battisi of Vikramaditya, the legendary emperor of Ujjain. According to the traditional genealogy, Vikramaditya was born in the Suryavansh dynasty and is the direct ancestor of Vinayak Dev.
Expansion
Vinayak Dev inherited a vast territory from the Shilavanshis who at once were the powerful and loyal vassals of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. After the fall of the Gangas, the Gajapati dynasty began ruling the realm of Kalinga. When Vinayak Dev was crowned, the Gajapati king was Kapilendra Deva who also claimed the Suryavanshi lineage. Therefore, the kingdom of Nandapur remained a vassal and kept a good relationship with the Gajapatis of Cuttack.
He maintained a large army and eventually succeeded in expanding the territories of his kingdom up to Krishna River in South. He defeated the Reddy chiefs ruling over the region and drove them to Reddipalli. He exacted tributes from the chiefs of the conquered region and was given the title of 'Nandapur Bhupati' by Gajapati Kapliendra Deva.<ref name=":2" />
Death
Vinayak Dev was succeeded by his son, Vijaya chandra, in 1476.<ref name":0" /><ref namemohanty/>

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