First Sun-Moon War (1140 - 1142)
The Suryavamsa Thakuris of Nepal considered themselves restorers of the Solar Dynasty. The Somavamsis of Orissa, by their very name, claimed to be descendants of Chandra the Hindu moon god. As such, the conflict between the two dynasties is often referred to as the 'First Sun-Moon War'.
The First Sun-Moon War officially began on 14 May 1140 with the Kingdom of Nepal declaring war on the Somavamsi Kingdom but Nepali raja Gokul the Young and his court had been already planning to launch the war four months prior. Their plans had to be postponed for four months due to a peasant revolt. The leader of this uprising was a 25 years old man named Vigrahapala, a Bengali soldier who had served in the Nepali army and seen combat at the Battle of Sarnath (1131) as a 16 years old recruit during the War of the Boy Kings (1128 - 1131).
Vigrahapala's peasant army initially started as a defence force against Karluk Muslim raider Shumul Karakhanid's host. The Turks might have been routed at the Battle of Kandra (1139) but they still remained within the borders of the Kingdom of Nepal and pillaged Bengali-majority settlements. The Bengali peasants of Magadha, who already had many greviances the Nepali ruling class, decided that the Karluk raid was the final straw. They armed themselves, against both the Turkic raiders and the oppressive government, and asked Vigrahapala to lead them in battle. Though Shumul was a skilled tactician and his men had more combat experience, they were overwhelmed by Vigrahapala's angry peasant mob and finally forced to leave.
In Kathmandu, the court saw the peasant uprising in Magadha as nothing more than a nuisance that forced their invasion of the Somavamsi Kingdom to be delayed. Gokul the Young, on the other hand, got the brilliant idea of destabilizing the Somavamsi Kingdom when he heard news of Vigrahapal's rebellion. Amogh Samal of Kamalamai, the Spymaster of Nepal, was tasked with finding someone who would be willing to aid in the assassination of Somavamsi Maharaja Prtihivarman the Cruel. Amogh managed to establish contact with Thakurani Lakshmikaradevi Matsya of Kalinganagar, a vssal of the Cruel who hated him for seizing her lands in Rayapura.
The Somavamsi dynasty had launched an invasion of its Buddhist neighbors, the Pala Kingdom, and the Cruel was busy laying siege to Mallabhum. Lakshmikaradevi bribed a bowman in the Somavamsi army and the deed was done on 20 April 1140. Everyone believed that the arrow had fired by a Pala soldier during the siege. Immediately following their maharaja's death, many Oriya soldiers started to desert the Somavamsi army in large numbers. Prithivarman the Cruel was succeeded by his four years old son Sivananda II.
Just four days before the death of the Somavamsi maharaja, Vigrahapala's rebellion was put to its end as well after loyalist victory at the Battle of Pataliputra. Of the 3,000 rebels present at the fighting, nearly 2,000 of them were slain at the battlefield. The 4,000 men strong Nepali army, on the other hand, suffered only around 300 casualties that day. Vigrahapala would be captured two months later and die in Raja Gokul's dungeons on 26 June 1140. With the end of the peasant uprising, the Kingdom of Nepal now focused on their war with the Somavamsi dynasty.
Nepali formation at the Battle of Chinsura
Chancellor Champak Malla of Lalitpur suggested to the Raja of Nepal to hire the Qilin Company but Gokul the Young decided that it was too expensive. Nonetheless, much cheaper mercenaries from the Marathi Band were still hired for the war against the Somavamsi Kingdom. The Nepali army was ordered to march all the way to Chinsura, a city within the borders of the Pala Kingdom, to engage the enemy.
Sanjay had been appointed the overall commander of the Nepali army and thus, despite his skills as a flanker, he remained at the center with war elephants and archers. At the vanguard of right flank were pikemen led by Chang Shi the Jittery while Captain Sovideva of the Marathi Band and his mercenaries were at the vanguard of the left flank. Right behind Chang Shi's pikemen, Ratish Suryavamsa was on horseback as the commander of the light cavalry units. Sarat's mixed unit of light and heavy infantry were positioned behind Sanjay's war elephants and archers. The Bharatput regiment, led by Mangal Kathmandu, had been placed behind the Marathi mercenaries. Mayor Sunit of Bhaktapur and Aparajita, a Marathi mercenary, were in charge of the reserves.
Somavamsi formation at the Battle of Chinsura
The center of the Somavamsi army was led by Mayor Nettabhanja the Hunter of Shivapura with Chinese prince Zhao Zhizhong at the left flank and Raja Sarabha Nagavamsi, a Somavamsi vassal, at the right flank. Rajkumars Sailobhava, Sivananda's uncle and heir to the Somavamsi throne, and Kanchana, the second in line to the throne, were in command of the Oriya reserves.
On the morning of 18 September 1140, the battle started with the Somavamsi flanks moving foward while the centers of both sides exchanged hails of arrows. Zhao Zhizhong's unit was stopped by Chang Shi's pikemen and then Ratish's cavalry charged into the weakened Somavamsi left flank. Zhao Zhizhong and his men retreated moments after the battle had started.
The Somavamsi center and right flank, on the other hand, were much more successful. The Hunter's assault inflicted heavy casualties on Nepali archers and the Somavamsi center even managed to fell 5 enemy war elephants. This forced Sanjay to send his archers and war elephants back. He then ordered Sarat's mixed unit of light and heavy infantry forward and this finally stopped the Hunter's men from moving further. Meanwhile, the Somavamsi right flank actually managed to pierce through the lines of Marathi mercenaries and reach the Bharatpur regiment. Nagavamsi bannermen then routed them as well, forcing Sanjay to send the reserves to reinforce the Nepali left flank.
The Nepali center was at the risk of collapsing from the Hunter's relentless assaults and was saved just in the nick of time by Chang Shi's pikemen and Ratish's light cavalry enveloping the Somavamsi center. At the same time as this happened, Raja Sarabha's men routed even the enemy reserves sent to reinforce the Nepali left flank. There was a very real threat of the Nagavamsi attacking the vulnerable Nepali center. However, Mayor Nettabhanja gave up before any of that could happen and ordered all Somavamsi units to retreat; making the battle a Nepali victory. Both sides lost around 3,000 men in the Battle of Chinsura.
After their defeat in Chinsura, the Somavamsi army left Pala territory and returned home to recover their strength. The Nepali army followed the trail of their enemy, hoping to strike again quickly. Three months later, on 12 December 1140, the two sides fought the second battle of the war at the coastal city of Puri.
Somavamsi formation at the First Battle of Puri
When the Nepali invaders arrived at Puri, the defenders hastily assembled into formation. Mayor Nettabhanja the Hunter was at the vanguard of the Somavamsi army. The left flank bore the banners of House Nagavamsi while Zhao Zhizhong commanded the right flank. Mayor Saktivarman of Buguda was in charge of the center and finally, the reserves were under the command of Rajkumar Sailobhava.
The battle began with the entire Nepali right flank attacking Nagavamsi bannermen. After the Battle of Chinsura, Raja Sarabha and his men were deemed to be the most dangerous units within the Somavamsi army and the commanders of the Nepali army wished to see them eliminated first. It did not take long for Raja Sarabha to order his men to retreat.
The Hunter's vanguard initially had some success at assaulting the enemy center but was eventually forced to retreat. Marathi mercenaries managed to chase away Zhao Zhizhong's men from the battlefield as well. Mayor Saktivarman and Rajkumar Sailobhav followed other Somavamsi commanders and the battle was another Nepali victory. The invaders lost around 1400 men while the defenders suffered over 2,000 casualties.
The final battle of the war would take place on Puri once again. The Somvamsi army arrived at the coastal city on 3 December 1141 to end the Nepali occupation and a battle ensued.
Somavamsi formation at the First Battle of Puri
The Somavamsi vanguard was once again under the command of Mayor Nettabhanja the Hunter. Nagavamsi bannermen were positioned on the left flank and Zhao Zhizhong's unit was on the right flank while Mayor Saktivarman commanded at the center. Rajkumars Sailobhava and Kanchana were in charge of the reserves.
Captain Sovideva's Marathi Band quickly routed the Somavamsi right flank after Zhao Zhizhong was captured as prisoner of war. This was followed by Chang Shi's devastating charge on the Somavamsi left flank which forced the Nagavamsi to withdraw from battle. Having witnessed the destruction of the left flank and capture of Zhao Zhizhong on the right flank, the panicked Somavamsi rajkumars decided to flee the battlefield instead of supporting their collapsed flanks. With continuous enemy assaults from all sides, the Somavamsi center could not fight any longer and the battle was yet another Nepali victory. Around 200 Nepali soldiers and Marathi mercenaries died in the Second Battle of Puri while the Somavamsi losses were over 700.
Three months later, Somavamsi rajkumars Sailobhava and Kanchana signed the peace treaty with Gokul the Young on behalf of their six years old kinsman Sivananda II. The boy was to become a vassal of the Nepali raja and forced to cede his title of maharaja. Gokul, already the Raja of Nepal and Bihar, was crowned the Raja of Orissa as well. In return, the two Somavamsi men and Sivananda II were allowed to keep their titles as rajkumars and were to be treated as such.
