Cyaxares vs Kharavela of Kalinga

Cyaxares formed a military alliance with Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, to jointly attack the Assyrian Empire. This coalition combined Median and Babylonian forces against the weakened Assyrian state, setting the stage for the fall of Nineveh.

Cyaxares led the Median army alongside Babylonian forces in the siege of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. The city was captured and destroyed after a three-month siege, resulting in the collapse of the Assyrian Empire and the rise of Median power.

Cyaxares fought the Lydian king Alyattes at the Battle of the Eclipse, which was halted by a solar eclipse. The battle ended in a stalemate, leading to a peace treaty mediated by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, establishing the Halys River as the border between Media and Lydia.

Kharavela led a military campaign against Magadha, defeating the king and forcing him to pay tribute. He brought back treasures and statues of Jain Tirthankaras that had been taken by the Nandas, restoring them to Kalinga.

Kharavela led a military expedition to the Pandya kingdom in southern India. He defeated the Pandya king and extracted tribute, extending Kalinga's influence into the Tamil region for the first time.

Kharavela patronized the excavation of the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves near Bhubaneswar. These caves served as Jain monastic retreats and feature inscriptions detailing his reign, including the famous Hathigumpha inscription.

Kharavela commissioned the Hathigumpha inscription in the Udayagiri caves. This 17-line inscription in Prakrit details his life, military campaigns, and public works, providing the primary historical source for his reign.