Ancient Odisha’s dominance of the sea was so overwhelming that that the Bay of Bengal came to be identified solely with Kalinga. Mahayana text Araya Manjusri Mulakalpa, believed to have been compiled in the sixth century AD, refers to Bay of Bengal as Kalinga Sea. Kalidasa, who flourished between the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era under the mighty Gupta dynasty, refers to the king of Kalinga as Mahodadhipati, meaning the Lord of the Ocean. The Hatigumpha inscription of Kharavela, who belonged to the first century BC, mentions the existence of a navy.
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