Kalinga was an early republic in central East India that comprised north eastern parts of modern state of Andhra Pradesh, most of the modern state of Odisha and a portion of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh States. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the Damodar River/Ganges to the Godavari River and from Bay of Bengal to the Amarkantak range in the west. The region was scene of the bloody Kalinga War fought by Ashoka of the Maurya Empire approximately 265 BCE.