A durable branch
The Ratnapura line was established by Kalingarāja, a member of the Tripurī family, in the old Dakṣiṇa Kosala country. It ruled the upper Mahanadi basin as a subordinate and then an independent house, and outlasted the parent dynasty by more than five hundred years.
Their inscriptions and temples are found across Chhattisgarh, and the family later divided between Ratanpur and Raipur, giving the region the eighteen-and-eighteen division of chieftaincies that persisted into the colonial period.
Long survival
The dynasty's longevity had much to do with its position: Chhattisgarh was forested, agriculturally self-sufficient and off the main routes of conquest, and successive imperial powers were content with tribute. Mughal authority was nominal there.
The Marathas took the country in 1741 and ended Kalachuri rule; the last raja died in 1758 and the territory was annexed to the Bhonsle domains of Nagpur.
Further reading
- Kulke, Hermann. A History of India. Routledge, 2004
- Gordon, Stewart. The Marathas 1600-1818. Cambridge University Press, 1993
- Hawley, John Stratton. A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement. Harvard University Press, 2015
- Jackson, Peter. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press, 1999
- Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. The Colas. University of Madras, 1955
See also
This entry was last revised on 1 August 2026.