Kalinga Magha

Kalinga Magha
Kulankayan Cinkai Ariyan
Reign	1215–1236
Predecessor	Parakrama Pandyan II
Successor	Chandrabhanu
House	Chodaganga dynasty
Dynasty	Aryacakravarti dynasty
Religion	Hinduism

Kalinga Magha (Tamil: கலிங்க மாகன், Sinhalese: කාලිංග මාඝ, Odia: କଳିଙ୍ଗ ମଘା ) also known as Magha the Tyrant and Kulankayan Cinkai Ariyan, is an invader who is remembered primarily for his aggressive conquest. He is identified as the founder of the Jaffna kingdom and first king of the Aryacakravarti dynasty. According to the Segarāsasekara-Mālai belong the first Aryacakravarti king of Jaffna to Eastern Ganga dynasty of Kalinga, who were descendants of Western Gangas and Cholas. His family was connected to the rulers of Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu. Kalinga Magha’s relatives of Ramanathapuram administered the famous temple of Rameswaram. He usurped the throne from Parakrama Pandyan II of Polonnaruwa, in 1215. His reign saw the massive migration of native Sinhalese to the south and west of Sri Lanka, and into the mountainous interior, in a bid to escape his power. Magha was the last ruler to have his seat in the traditional northern seat of native power on the island, known as Rajarata; so comprehensive was his destruction of Sinhalese power in the north that all of the successor kingdoms to Rajarata existed primarily in the south of the island.

The origin of Kalinga Magha is unknown, but due to his name, he is often referred to be from Kalinga, a historical place which corresponds to present-day Odisha and northern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Although his ethnicity has given rise to other various theories.

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