KALINGA, or Calinga, one of the nine kingdoms of southern India in ancient times. Its exact limits varied, but included the eastern Madras coast, from Pulicat to Chicacole, running inland from the Bay of Bengal to the Eastern Ghâts. The name at one time had a wider and vaguer meaning, comprehending Orissa, and possibly extending to the Ganges valley The Kalinga of Pliny certainly included Orissa, but latterly it seems to have been confined to the Telugu speaking country; and in the time of Hwen Tsang (630 a.d.) it was distinguished on the south and west from Andhra, and on the north from Odra or Orissa. The language of the country is Telugu. Taranatha, the Tibetan historian, speaks of Kalinga as one division of the country of Telinga. Hwen Tsang speaks of Kalinga (“Kie·ling-kia ”) having its capital at what may now be identified with the site either of Râjâmahendri (Rajahmundry) or Coringa. Both these towns, as well as Sinhapur, Kalingapatam, and Chicacole, share the honour of having been the chief cities of Kalinga at different periods.

KALINGAPATAM, or Calingapatam, a town and port in Ganjâm district, Madras, situated at the mouth of the Vamsadhâra river, 18° 20' 20" N. lat., 84° 9' j50" E. long. Population (1871), 4676. It was the capital of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Kalinga, and one of the early seats of the Mahometan power in the Telugu country. Signs of its ancient greatness are still visible in the ruins of many mosques and other large buildings. The place is again rising in importance as a harbour, being the only safe roadstead along 400 miles of coast, and now a regular port of call for steamers. The value of the imports in 1875-76 was £16,400; of the exports, chiefly rice, seeds, and sugar, £62,800. Kalingapatam yields a salt revenue to Government of from £40,000 to £50,000 a year.