History of Indian State Odisha

 

         

History of Indian State Odisha

                   

   The Hindu kingdom of Orissa lost its complete political identity after the demise of the last Kings Mukunda Dev.  The early history of Odisha can be traced back to the mentions found in ancient texts like the Mahabharata, Maha Govinda Sutta and some Puranas . It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Scheduled Tribes in India. Several Kingdoms, namely, Kalinga, Utkal, Udra/Odra, Kosala, Tosali and Kangoda had flourished in the region currently known as "Odisha ". Odisha pronounced "ODISA", comes from the Sanskrit "ODRA DESHA" or "ODRA VISHAY". After changing hands from the Marathas, the Mughals and the British, up to 1912 it was a part of Bengal and till 1936 a part of Bihar. The state was officially born on 1st April, 1936 .

       On 22 March 1912, both Bihar and Orissa divisions were separated from the Bengal Presidency as Bihar and Orissa Province. On 1 April 1936, Bihar and Orissa Province was split to form Bihar Province and Orissa Province .

                      

                                     ( Odisha map)

·            Kalinga: According to some scriptures (Mahabharata and some Puranas), a king Bali, the Vairocana, the son of Sutapa, had no sons. So, he requested the sage, Dirghatamas, to bless him with sons. The sage is said to have begotten five sons through his wife, the queen Sudesna. The princes were named Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Sumha and Pundra. The princes later founded kingdoms named after themselves. The prince Vanga founded Vanga Kingdom, in the current day region of Bangladesh and part of West Bengal. The prince Kalinga founded the kingdom of Kalinga, in the current day region of coastal Odisha, including the Northern Circars.^[5] Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder and Claudius Aelianus have also mentioned one Calinga in their texts.

·        Utkala: Utkala was a part of Kalinga in some parts of Mahabharata. Karna is mentioned to have conquered kingdom of Utkala among others.^[7] But, according to other texts like Raghuvasma and Brahma Purana, they were separate kingdoms. There are several views regarding the etymology of the name. Utkala may have meant northern (uttara) part of Kalinga or ut-Kalinga. Utkala desha (country or land) may have meant the land of "finest art" (utkarsha kala). There are also other arguments regarding the origin of the name.The "Five Indias" referred to by Hiuen-tsang did not include territories south of the Vindhyas as Harsavardhana (Sakalottarapathanatha) could not extend his empire beyond it. It appears that the territorial division of north-eastern India into "Paneha Gaudas" was theFive Indias" of Harsa's empire. These divisions were Sarasvata, Kanyakubja, Utkala, Mithila and Gauda. Utkala was one of the "Pancha Gaudas" or "Five Indias of Hiuen-tsang (Reference-S.Beal, Life of Hiuen Tsang).

              

                         (Actress Rachana Banarjee)

·        Mahakantara: This name has been found in so.me Gupta-era inscriptions. It literally means "great forest"^[10] and it is usually identified with the modern-day Kalahandi and Jeypore region. The Mahabharata also mentions a Kantara, which may have or may not have referred to the same region.

·        Udra: Udra (also Urda-desha) may have originally referred to an ethnic group or tribe called Udra. But later may have referred to the kingdom of Udra, around the coastal region of Odisha.

·        Orda: Odra (also Orda-desha) similar to Udra, may have meant a tribe of people called Odra, but later came to refer to the land of Odras.

·        Oddiyana: Oddiyana, mentioned in some Buddhist texts, according to some scholars may have referred to Odisha.

·        Kamala Mandala: Literally "lotus region", a c. 13th-century inscription found in Narla in Kalahandi refers to the region by this name.

·        South Kosala: South Kosala (also Dakshina Kosala) may refer to the modern-day Chhattisgarh and some part of Western Odisha. It should not be confused with Kosala, which is in current day Uttar Pradesh. According to Ramayana, one of Rama's sons Lava ruled Uttara Kosala and his other son Kusha ruled over this region.

·        Kongoda: A copper plate found in Ganjam district refers to region as Kongoda (also spelled Kangoda).

                       

 

             (Odisha Tample)

·        Trikalinga: This name has been found inscribed on some copper plates found in Sonepur. Tri-Kalinga may have literally meant "three Kalingas" and may have referred to the three states of Kalinga, South Kosala and Kangoda.

·        Chedi: Chedi (also known as Chedirashtra) referred to the kingdom of Kharavela. It was named after his dynasty, Chedi  (also Cheti dynasty and Mahameghavahana dynasty).^[14]

·        Tosali: Tosali (also spelled Toshali) referred to a city and the region around it was called Tosala, possibly a subdivision of Kalinga in Ashoka-era. The capital of Tosala has been placed in modern-day Dhauli. In later era (c. 600 CE), North Tosali (Uttara Tosali) and South Tosali (Daskhina Tosali) have been mentioned, which were possibly kingdoms north and south of the Mahanadi river.^[21]

·        Uranshin: The name has been used by some 10th century Arab geographers.^[22]

·        Jajnagar: The name used for Odisha in the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri (c. 1260), Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi (c. 1357), and other texts of the period.^[23][24]

·        Odivissa: A name used in some Buddhist texts, including in those by Taranatha.

 

 

              

                          (Odia cine actor Shidyanta Mohapatra)

       In 1803 Orissa was occupied by forces of the British East India Company during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, coming in 1858 under direct administration by the British government along with the Company's other territories. Under the Raj, it was a division of the Bengal Presidency with its capital in Cuttack. It had an area of 35,664 km² and 5,003,121 inhabitants in 1901. The province included the Orissa Tributary States. On 1 April 1912, the province of Bihar and Orissa was detached from Bengal, and the Orissa Tributary States were placed under the authority of the governor of Bihar and Orissa. In 1936, Orissa became a separate province with five districts.

                       

                                             (Maharaja Krushnachandra Gajapati)

       Governors of Odisha

·        1 April 1936 – 11 August 1938 Sir John Austen Hubback (1st time) (b. 1878 – d. 1968)

·        11 Aug 1938 – 8 December 1938 G. T. Boag (acting) (b. 1884 – d. 1969)

·        8 December 1938 – 1 April 1941 Sir John Austen Hubback (2nd time) (s.a.)

·        1 April 1941 – 1 April 1946 Sir William Hawthorne Lewis (b. 1888 – d. 1970)

·        1 April 1946 – 15 August 1947 Sir Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi (b. 1893 – d. 1981)

Chief Ministers of Orissa

 

Main article: Prime Minister of Orissa

·        1 April 1937 – 19 July 1937 Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo (b. 1892 – d. 1974) Non-party (1st time)

·        19 Jul 1937 – 4 November 1939 Bishwanath Das (b. 1889 – d. 1984) INC

·        4 November 1939 – 24 November 1941 Governor's Rule

·        24 Nov 1941 – 29 June 1944 Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo (s.a.) Non-party (2nd time)

·        29 Jun 1944 – 23 April 1946 Governor's Rule

·        23 Apr 1946 – 15 August 1947 Harekrushna Mahatab (b. 1899 – d. 1987) INC

 

      From 1568 to 1803, Odisha remained under the control of the Afghans, the Mughals and the Marathas. Fnally, it passed under British rule in 1803 AD. The main protagonists were Fakirmohan Senapati (1843-1918), Radhanath Ray (1848-1908), Madhusudan Rao(1853- 1912) and Gangadhar Meher (1862-1924). The Utkal Sabha and the Utkal Union Conference, both led by Madhusudan Das (1848-1934) . . In 1903, the representatives of the Odia speaking tracts of Madras, Central Provinces and Bengal formed the Utkal Union Conference (UUC), locally called Utkal Sammilani, at Cuttack to spearhead the Odia movement for the formation of a separate province . In 1912 the Bihar and Orissa state was carved out of Bengal. The UUC led the Odia movement up to 1920. In 1919, a group of young nationalists led by Gopabandhu Das (1877-1928) demanded its merger with the Indian National Congress (INC).

                                  

                                                (Uttkal Gouraba Madhusudan Das)

         Their association with the newspapers and journals like the Sambad Vahika, Utkal Dipika, Utkal Darpan and the Swadeshi gave them the added strength and recognition. Besides, there were a few other newspapers such as the Samskaraka, the Sevaka, the Oriya O Navasambada, Gadajat Basini and Sambalpur Hiteishini with a nationalist mission. Notwithstanding the stand of the Congress a group of Odisha leaders welcomed the Simon Commission in 1928 and the Report of the Attlee Sub-Committee . the sub-committee recommended the creation of a separate Odisha province on 13 September, 1931 and the government announced the formation of the Odisha Boundary Committee under the chairmanship of Samuel O’Donnel to demarcate the boundaries of the proposed province. The new Province of Odisha came into being on 1 April, 1936 with Sir John Austin Hubback as the Governor.

                                

                                    (Harekrushna Mahatab)

               Gandhiji’s visit to Odisha, in May 1934, rejuvenated the Congress workers to invigorating activities. He visited Sambalpur, Angul, Puri, Cuttack, Jajpur and Bhadrak. In 1934, a powerful section of the Congress Party formed the “Socialist group”, Nabakrishna Choudhury led the group. In 1946, the Congress got an overwhelming victory in the provincial elections. Harekrishna Mahtab was elected leader of the legislature party to form the government. Soon after the independence, Mahtab and Sardar Patel, the Home Minister of India, resolved to integrate all the 26 princely states, locally called Gadjats, into the province of Odisha. On 1st January, 1949, Mayurbhanj became the last princely state to merge with Odisha. With this formation and establishment of the state became apparently complete.

               There are 30 districts in Odisha. Mayurbhanj is the largest district and Jagatsinghpur is the smallest district by area. Ganjam is the largest district and Deogarh is the smallest district by population in Odisha. Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha is located in Khordha district. The area and population of the 30 districts are given below:

 

Code	Districts	Headquarters	Population (2011 Census[6])	Area (km2)	Density in 2011 (/km2)
1	Angul	Angul	1,273,821	6,376	199.8
2	Boudh	Boudh	441,162	3,098	142.4
3	Balangir	Balangir	1,648,997	6,575	250.8
4	Bargarh	Bargarh	1,481,255	5,837	253.8
5	Balasore	Balasore	2,320,529	3,806	609.7
6	Bhadrak	Bhadrak	1,506,522	2,505	601
7	Cuttack	Cuttack	2,624,470	3,932	667.5
8	Debagarh	Debagarh	312,520	2,940	106.3
9	Dhenkanal	Dhenkanal	1,192,811	4,452	267.9
10	Ganjam	Chhatrapur	3,529,031	8,206	430.1
11	Gajapati	Paralakhemundi	577,817	4,325	133.6
12	Jharsuguda	Jharsuguda	579,505	2,114	274.1
13	Jajpur	Jajpur	1,827,192	2,899	595.8
14	Jagatsinghapur	Jagatsinghapur	1,136,971	1,668	681.6
15	Khordha	Khordha	2,251,673	2,813	800.5
16	Kendujhar	Kendujhar	1,801,733	8,303	217.0
17	Kalahandi	Bhawanipatna	1,576,869	7,920	199.1
18	Kandhamal	Phulbani	733,110	8,021	91.4
19	Koraput	Koraput	1,379,647	8,807	156.7
20	Kendrapara	Kendrapara	1,440,361	2,644	544.8
21	Malkangiri	Malkangiri	613,192	5,791	105.9
22	Mayurbhanj	Baripada	2,519,738	10,418	241.9
23	Nabarangpur	Nabarangapur	1,220,946	5,291	230.8
24	Nuapada	Nuapada	610,382	3,852	158.5
25	Nayagarh	Nayagarh	962,789	3,890	247.5
26	Puri	Puri	1,698,730	3,479	488.3
27	Rayagada	Rayagada	967,911	7,073	136.8
28	Sambalpur	Sambalpur	1,041,099	6,624	157.2
29	Subarnapur	Subarnapur	610,183	2,337	261.1
30	Sundargarh	Sundargarh	2,093,437	9,712	188
	Odisha		41,974,218	155,707	269.6

 

      The Odia Movement began following the 1866 Famine.  Madhusudan Das, Gauri Shankar Ray, Fakir Mohan Senapati, and Radhanath Ray all contributed significantly to the awakening of the Odia-speaking people’s political consciousness. Raja Shyamanand De of Balasore and Madhusadan Das of Cuttack presented memoranda to the Government in 1875 and 1885, respectively, requesting the reunification of the scattered Odia-speaking territories. In 1902, Raja Baikuntha Nath De of Balasore also presented Viceroy Lord Curzon with a memorial pleading for the reunion. The memorial received widespread coverage in the vernacular press. In 1900, Madhusudan Das met with the Viceroy in Simla to discuss the matter. Meanwhile, the people of Ganjam sent a memorial to the Viceroy that was largely signed. All of this impressed Curzon, and he developed an affinity for the Odia-speaking people. Sambalpur and the adjacent Feudatory States, which were administratively merged into Central Provinces in 1862, were shown in Grierson’s survey as a part of ‘Natural Odsha’ and in Government Records as ‘Odia country’. on 15 January 1895, the Chief Commissioner of Nagpur issued Notification No. 227, replacing Odia with Hindi as the official language of offices, courts, and schools. It took effect on 1 January 1896. Madhusadan Das persuaded the Viceroy to reinstate Odia. In 1897, he also met with members of the British Parliament in this capacity.  Numerous illustrious sons of Sambalpur, including Braja Mohan Patnaik, Balabhadra Sukar, Mahant Bihari Das, and Madan Mohan Mishra, rose up against the Government order as well. In 1900, Viceroy Curzon was presented with a memorial.  In 1905, a circular, dubbed the Risley circular, restored Odia as the official language in Sambalpur and the adjacent Feudatory States and transferred them to the Odsha Division.

               

                                              (Odia Jhunti)

          The revocation of Bengal’s Partition and the incorporation of the Sambalpur tract into Bengal province increased its size.  Between 1903 and 1920, the Utkal Sammilani passed numerous resolutions, the most significant of which was the amalgamation of Odiaspeaking territories. However, it became extremely active following Madhusudan Das’s emergence.   The Utkal Union Conference dispatched a delegation led by Madhusudan Das, Gopabandhu Das, Rajendra Narayan Bhanja Deb, and Harihar Panda, among others. On February 20, 1920, Sachchidanand Sihna introduced a resolution in the Imperial Legislative Council recommending Govt. of India “to devise a plan for the consolidation of Odia-speaking tracts.” It was dubbed the Sinha Resolution. The Madras government was unwilling to relinquish Ganjam. Members of the Odia community introduced a resolution in Madras Council to discuss the matter.  in December 1924, the Government of India convinced the Government of Madras to appoint a committee known as the Philip-Duff committee to investigate the matter.

                               

                                               (Uttkal mani Gopabandhu Das)

        The Bihar-Odisha Government supported the establishment of a separate Odia province. In 1928, the Indian National Congress boycotted the Simon Commission. On the other hand, the Utkal Union Conference members, led by Raja of Kanika, greeted the Commission warmly at Patna railway station. It greatly impressed Simon.  Atlee to conduct an investigation into the Odia people’s problems. The subcommittee established by C.R. Dr. A Suhrawardy, Raja of Kanika Rajendra Narayan Bhanja Dev, and Laksmidhar Mohanty comprised Atlee. The subcommittee was sympathetic to the Odia cause and accepted the rationale for establishing a separate province comprising Odsha Division, Angul, Khariar, Ganjam, and the Agency tracts. Singhbhum, Phuljhar Padampur, and Vizag Agency were excluded from the proposed province’s amalgamation. The Simon Commission recommended to the Government of India that a Boundary Commission be established to demarcate the Province’s territorial extent. Krushna Chandra Gajapati, the Raja of Paralakhimedi, delivered an impassioned speech at the Round Table Conference (1930) and presented a memorandum to the British Government advocating for a separate Odsha province.

         

                              (Missile Test in Odisha)

      Thus, in response to the Joint Select Committee’s report, the Government of India Act, 1935 included a provision for the establishment of the new state of Odsha. The province was inaugurated on 1 April 1936, according to His Majesty, the King Emperor’s Order-in-Council dated 3 March 1936. On the same day, Sir John Hubback was sworn in as Odsha’s first Governor.

    

Best wishes from

                 

Suvendu Singha (India, Odisha,Balasore,Jaleswar)