Anangabhima Deva III

Anangabhima Deva III was an Eastern Ganga monarch who ruled an early medieval Odisha-centered empire in eastern India from the year 1211 to 1238 CE. He maintained a large territory that stretched from the river Ganga in the north to Godavari in the south. He had defeated the Kalachuris on the western frontiers of the empire and established a matrimonial alliance with them. His brother or brother-in-law, Rajaraja II, became the ruler of the dynasty in 1198. When Anangabhima III came into power in 1211, he expelled the Muslims of Bengal from his kingdom. He had a son, Narasingha Deva I, who invaded Bengal in 1244 and captured the capital city, Gauda.^[1] He was a reformist in the social and spiritual structure of the Odia society as the vaishnavite deity Jagannath was declared as the supreme ruler of the empire and the emperor as the deputy under him.^[2] The Madala Panji records he claiming himself as Shri Purushottama dedicating everything to lord Jagannath. He built the famous Pradaskhina mandapa of Srikurmam temple.^[3]