A Panduvamshi family ruled in the country of Mekala i.e. the region near the Amarakantaka hills. We have four names of this family viz, Jayabala, his son Vatsaraja, his son maharaja Nagabala, and his son maharaja Bharatabala (Indrabala I).

While the first king was a petty chief, Nagabala and Bharatabala have, besides the royal title, the epithets paramamaheshvara, paramabrahmanya and paramdevatadhidaivatavishesa. Lokaprakasha, queen of Bharatabala, is described as a princess of Kosala. She was most probably the daughter of Bibhishana of the Shura dynasty.

Bharatabala was probably a feudatory of the Vakataka Narendrasena. Possibly he was related to the Panduvamshi or Somavamshi kings of South Kosala with Shripura as capital. Indrabala I was succeeded by Udayana in AD 490. He made incursions till Kalanjana where he built a temple of Bhadreshvara. He was succeeed by his son Indrabala II in AD 515. Ousted from Mekala by the Parivrajaka maharaja hastin, he moved to south Kosala as a subordinate of Sudevaraja.

However, he overthrew Sudevaraja’s brother Pravararaja and became a king of south Kosal (Chhattisgarh). He probably founded the city Indrapura which became his capital. Indrabala II’s son Ishanadeva built a temple of Lakshmaneshvara (now Lakhmesvara) at Kharod.

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Ishanadeva’s brother and successor Nannadeva, a devout worshipper of Shiva, erected several temples dedicated to that god under the name of Nanneshvara. Tivaradeva who succeeded Nannadeva, suffered defeat at the hands of the Vishnukundin emperor Madhavavarman I. Tivaradeva was succeeded by his son Nannaraja II who was the king of the entire Kosala country.

He was succeeded by his nephew Harshagupta in AD 580. He was married to Vasata, the daughter of the Maukhari king Ishanavarman. After a short reign, Harshagupta was succeeded by Shivagupta alias Balarjuna who ruled for sixty years, from AD 595 to 655.

It was probably during his reign that south Kosala was visited by Hiuen Tsang. Shivagupta had to submit to the powerful Pulkeshin II. Soon after Shivagupta’s death, the kingdom was invaded by the Nalas, who ruled over the region now known as Bastar.