https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=CalingaeCalingae - Revision history2026-07-30T21:46:43ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Calingae&diff=428722&oldid=prevAjay Kumar at 18:05, 18 September 20232023-09-18T18:05:14Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>[[Image:Thomas-de-Kent-Bnf-fr24364-fol51v-femmes ke enfantent en cinck anz.jpg|thumb|360px|"Women who bear children at age five" (Calingae{{efn|1=Text does not explicitly refer to them as the Calingae, but identified as "''Calinge''" by [http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Mandragore&O=06000259&E=116&I=50499&M=imageseule Mandragore], manuscript image database of Bibliothèque nationale de France.}}).{{right|{{small|—ca. 1308-1312, from [[Thomas de Kent]]'s Alexander romance, held by Bibliothèque nationale de France.}}}}]]<br />
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The '''Calingae''' or '''Calingi''', according to ancient accounts, were a race of extremely short-lived people in [[India]]. According to [[Pliny the Elder]] they had a lifespan of only eight years. This has been viewed as exaggeration, akin to Pliny's report that the [[Mandi (legendary creature)|Mandi]] people of India bear children at age seven.<ref>Pliny, ''Hist. Nat.'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D2 VI, 2] ({{Harvnb|Pliny|Bostock|Riley (tr.)|1855|p=134 and note 98}})</ref><br />
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The Calingae were widely diffused over a large area according to Pliny,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Pliny borrowed (or quoted) his account of India in Book VI.21–23 from [[Megasthenes]].{{sfnp|McCrindle|1901|pp=112–113}}}}{{Sfnp|Pliny|Bostock|Riley (tr.)|1855|p=44 note 50}} and consisted of the Calingae proper, the Gangarides-Calingae and the Macco-Calingae. This may have been a reference to the Tri-kalinga ("Three [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]]s") that appeared in the ''[[Puranas]]''.{{efn|[[Alexander Cunningham]] had made this observation.}}<ref>{{citation|last=Caldwell |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Caldwell |title=A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian Family of Languages |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1913 |page=29}}</ref> The area of diffusion is thought to roughly coincide with the [[Northern Circars]] (now spanning the states of [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Odisha]]). Their chief cities were Dandagula (Dandaguda) and Parthalis (Protalis).<ref>Pliny, ''Hist. Nat.'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D21 VI, 21]–22 ({{Harvnb|Pliny|Bostock|Riley (tr.)|1855|pp=42–43 and note 43, 44 and note 50}})</ref> According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga [[janapada]] originally comprised the area covered by the [[Puri district|Puri]] and [[Ganjam district|Ganjam]] districts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sudāmā Miśra|title=Janapada state in ancient India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dua1AAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Buddhist eschatology]], where a similar short-living race is mentioned.<br />
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==Explanatory notes==<br />
{{notelist}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
;Citations<br />
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;Bibliography<br />
{{Refbegin}}<br />
*{{citation|last=McCrindle |first=John Watson |authorlink=J. W. McCrindle|title=Ancient India as Described in Classical Literature |publisher=Archibald Constable |year=1901 |pages=112–114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFNFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA114}}<br />
*{{citation|ref={{SfnRef|Pliny|Bostock|Riley (tr.)|1855}}|editor-last1=John |editor-first1=Bostock |editor-last2=H. T. |editor-first2=Riley |title=The Natural History of Pliny |publisher=H. G. Bohn|year=1855 |page=44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDwZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44}}<br />
{{Refend}}<br />
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[[Category:Medieval European legendary creatures]]<br />
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{{legendary-creature-stub}}</div>Ajay Kumar