Western Orissa - History

History

In the epic Ramayana, Western Orissa or Kosal region is described as a part of “Dandakaranya”. During the period of conquest of Kalinga by emperor Ashoka, this area was known as Attabika, i.e. a region inhabited by people of forests and mountains. This region was part of Dakhin Kosal in ancient times.

• Som Dynasty

Many small kingdoms, ruled by local chieftains, existed in ancient times, in what is presently called Western Orissa. Tibardeb of the Som dynasty, whose capital was at Sripur, in Chhattisgarh was the first ruler, who defeated all these chieftains and established a large kingdom in Dakhin Kosal comprising what is present day Chhattisgarh and Western Orissa. There upon, he used the title of “Kosaladhipati”. He ruled in the 6th century. 'Janmejaya Mahabhab Gupta' became king in 640. He, subsequently shifted his capital, first to ‘Binitpur’ (presently known as Bin’ka) and then to “Son-pur” in Western Orissa. In the middle of the 10th century, Yayati, a king of the Som dynasty of South Kosal, whose capital was at Sonpur, acquired control of Utkal and shifted his capital to Yayatinagar in Utkal region. There upon he kept Sonpur under a prince of his clan.

• Chola Dynasty

'Yasoraj', an army commander of 'Rajendra Chola' of the South, conquered Sonpur in 1040 and ruled Western Orissa. Four rulers of this dynasty ruled until 1110.

• Kalchuri Dynasty

Jajalla Deb, a ruler of the Kalchuri dynasty of Ratanpur, defeated the ruler of Sonpur and annexed it with his kingdom in 1110. It was under the Kalchuri rulers of Ratanpur (Now in Chhattisgarh state) from 1110 to 1238. Thus, South Kosal again remained as one unit. Both, eastern part of South Kosal (Western Orissa) and western part of South Kosal (Chhattisgarh) were united and ruled by the Kalchuri rulers of Ratanpur.

• Ganga Dynasty

'Anangbhim Deb' of the Ganga dynasty of Kalinga, gained control of Western Orissa region in 1238 by defeating the ruler of Ratanpur.

• Chauhan Dynasty

'Ramai Deb' of the Chauhan dynasty established his kingdom in 1320 with his capital at 'Patnagarh'in present day's Balangir Dist, and virtually ruled independently. He used the title of “ Hirakhand Nrupati“.

In 15th century AD Narasingh Deva, the twelfth Raja of Patna, ceded to his brother Balram Deva all the jungle country bounded on the North by the river Mahanadi, on the East by the river Tel, on the South by the Ang river, and on the west by the river Jonk . Balram Deva, who is regarded as the founder of the Sambalpur Raj, installed Samalai, the tutelary goddess of his family. The town thus established is the modern Sambalpur.

He defeated the rulers of Bamanda, Gangpur, Sarguja and Ratanpur. The State founded by Balram Deva soon became the most powerful of all the Garhjat States, and the power of the Sambalpur chiefs steadily increased, while that of Patna declined.

After the death of Narasingha Deb of Patnagarh in 1547, his son 'Hamir Deb' became king. He died in 1549. His son 'Pratap Deb' was only 7 years old, so the queen ruled in the name of his son. Taking advantage of this situation ministers started misruling. So, Balaram Deb sent his son 'Hridayanarayana Deb' to rule Patnagarh in 1550. Thus, Patnagarh became a subsidiary of Sambalpur. After death of Balaram Deb, Hridayanarayana Deb became ruler of Sambalpur and Pratap Deb was again made king of Patnagarh but Patnagarh remained under Sambalpur. Hirde Narayan Deva's successor, Balbhadra Sai (AD 1605–1630) occupied sonepur region from the Bhanja ruler and Baud accepted feudal superiority of Sambalpur. He settled his second son Madan Gopal in Sonepur.

Madhukar Sai, the eldest son of Balbhadra Sai succeeded to the Sambalpur Raj; and on his death it passed to Baliar Singh, whose suzerainty was acknowledged by the chiefs of the eighteen Garhjats, viz; Bamra, Gangpur, Bonai, Patna, Sonpur, Khariar, Raidehakhol, Raigarh, Sarangarh, Binda-Nuagarh, Sakti, Borasambar, Phuljhar, Baud, Athgarh, Panchgarh, Mayurbhanj, and Keonjhar. He was bestowed with the title of Hirakhand Chhatrapati Maharaj, that is, the great lord of the country of diamonds.

• Maratha Rule

This kingdom lost its independence to the Maratha Bhonsla of Nagpur in 1800 AD. The Raja, Jainth Singh, and his son, Maharaj Sai, were captured and sent as prisoners to Chanda, the Maratha stronghold near Nagpur. In 1803 AD, Raghuji Bhonsla, Raja of Nagpur ceded this land to the British under the treaty of Deogaon. Sambalpur along with all feudal states didn't remain long under the British suzerainty, in 1805 it was gratuitously restored to Raghuji Bhonsla again.

• British Rule

In 1817, the Sambalpur Kingdom again came under British suzerainty, when the fourth Maratha war broke out. Raja Jainth Singh was restored to power again in Sambalpur in that year but he died in 1818, and the country was then administered by the British for a year.

Maharja Sai, the son of Jainth Singh, was made Raja in 1820, though without the feudal superiority which the former Rajas had held over the other Garhjats. He died in 1827 AD. Separate sanands were granted to all the chiefs of Garhjats in 1821 AD by the British and thereafter all the Garhjats enjoyed semi-independent status under British by paying annual tributes, till 1948 AD when they were merged into Independent India.

When the last ruler of Sambalpur, 'Narayan Singh', died in 1849 without a direct male heir, the British seized the state under the doctrine of lapse. Sambalpur was kept under "South west Frontier Agency" with headquarters at Ranchi. "South west Frontier Agency" was renamed ‘Chhota Nagpur Division’ in 1854. The name of Veer Surendra Sai, who fought against theBritish Rule, is recorded in golden letters in the history of India's struggle for independence. During the Sepoy Mutiny in July 1857 the mutineers broke open the prison at Hazaribagh, where Surendra Sai was imprisoned and released all the prisoners. Surendra Sai fought against the British after reaching Sambalpur.

In 1860 AD Sambalpur was temporarily transferred to the Orissa Division of Bengal to subdue the rebellion led by Veer Surendra Sai.

By a notification of 30 April 1862 it was made over to the newly constituted Central Provinces. Sambalpur along with other princely states of Western Orissa was included in the newly createdChhattisgarh division of Central Province in 1862.

In January 1896, Hindi was made official language of Sambalpur district. For the people of Western Orissa, whose mother tongue is Sambalpuri, it made no difference whether Hindi is the official language or Oriya. Moreover, people of Western Orissa speak Hindi more fluently and correctly than Oriya. People of Utkal region were employed in large numbers in Government jobs in Western Orissa. They feared that they will have no future, if Hindi continued as the official language. They, and some misguided locals, organized a movement for the retention of Oriya language as the official language. Oriya was re-introduced as the official language of Sambalpur district in 1903 but they demanded amalgamation with Orissa Division as a solution of the language crisis. This suited Lord Curzon, Sir Andrew Fraser and Mr. Risley, who were bent upon dividing Bengal on the basis of religion, so that British rule could continue in India. So the demand of amalgamation was accepted by the British Government during the partition of Bengal in 1905 when Sambalpur and the adjacent Sambalpuri speaking tracts were amalgamated with the Orissa Division under Bengal Presidency. Bengal's Orissa division became part of the new province of Bihar and Orissa in 1912, and in April 1936 became the separate province of Orissa.

• Post – Independence

After Indian Independence on 15 August 1947, Orissa became an Indian state. The rulers of the Princely states of Western Orissa acceded to the Government of India in January 1948 and became part of Orissa state.