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Western Odisha

Coordinates: 20°35′N 84°28′E / 20.58°N 84.47°E / 20.58; 84.47
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20°35′N 84°28′E / 20.58°N 84.47°E / 20.58; 84.47

Western Odisha is a territory in western part of Odisha, India, extending from the Nuapada district in the south to the Sundargarh district in the northwest.

History

Keling

First empire which used to rule complete Odisha along with Chhattisgarh before Gupta Mourya invasion of Odisha in which Ashoka won Kalinga ruled Orissa along with India.

Soma Dynasty

Many small kingdoms, ruled by local chieftains, existed in ancient times, in what is now called Western Odisha. Tibardeb of the Soma 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. Somavamshmi captured western parts of Odisha which was ruled by Gupta and Mourya who defeated Kalinga Empire.

Eastern Ganga Dynasty

'Anangbhim Deb' of the Ganga dynasty of Kalinga, again won his territory back and somavamshmi probably merged his dakshin kosala with Odisha.

Chola Dynasty

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

Kalachuri Dynasty

Jajalla-deva, a ruler of the Kalachuri dynasty of Ratanpur, defeated the ruler of Sonpur and annexed it with his kingdom in 1110. It was under the Kalachuri rulers of Ratanpur (Now in Chhattisgarh state) from 1110 to 1238.[1] Thus, South Kosal again remained as one unit. South Kosal (Chhattisgarh) were united and ruled by the Kalachuri rulers 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 Patnagarh, 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, Surguja 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 Patnagarh 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 State 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 the British 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 Odisha 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 Odisha was included in the newly created Chhattisgarh division of Central Province in 1862.

In January 1896, Hindi was made official language of Sambalpur district. For the people of Western Odisha, whose mother tongue is Odia, Odia was re-introduced as the official language of Sambalpur district in 1903 but they demanded amalgamation with Odisha 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 Odia speaking tracts were amalgamated with the Odisha Division under Bengal Presidency. Bengal's Odisha division became part of the new province of Bihar and Odisha in 1912, and on 1 April 1936 became the separate province of Odisha.

Post-independence

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

Separate Kosal state movement

Main article: Kosal state movement

People of Western Odisha mainly intelligentsia, members of political parties, and various social organisations, are demanding the creation of a separate Kosal state, comprising the western part of the State of Odisha.[2][3] The area of the proposed Kosal state is more than 50,000 km2, which is comparable to the areas of Kerala (33,883 km2), Haryana (44,212 km2), Punjab (50,362 km2), Uttranchal (53,483 km2) and Himachal (55,673 km2). The movement is ongoing with the involvement of political parties and various groups of intellectuals.[4]

Proposed "Kosal state" among the aspirant states of India

Geography and climate

Geographically, this tract of land is mostly mountainous and hilly, interspersed with rivers and valleys. Rivers Mahanadi and Brahmani are the major rivers flowing through Kosal region. Tributaries of river Mahanadi that flow through this region are Ib, Jeera, Ang and Tel. Western Odisha has many mountains, chief mountain peaks among them are Bankasam (1275 metres), Tangri Donger (1229 metres), Baphlimali (1220 metres), Karlapat plateau (1213 metres) in Kalahandi district, Champaghara (1257 metres), Murali soru (1223 metres), Doda soru (1157 metres) in Kandhamal district, Nrusinghnath (786 metres) in Bargarh district, Debrigarh (680 metres) in Sambalpur district, Badpati of Loisingha (690 metres) in Balangir district, Mankadnacha of Bonai (1090 metres) in Sundargarh district, Katpar of Khariar (970 metres) in Nuapada district.

Natural resources

Western odisha region is rich with minerals. Iron ore is available in plenty at Tensa and Barsuan in Sundargarh district, Bauxite is available in Niyamgiri and Karlapat in Kalahandi district, Gandhamardan in Bargarh district, Khariar in Nuapada district and Baphlimali in Rayagada distinct. Coal is available in Himgir in Sundargarh district and Rampur in Jharsuguda district. Dolomite is available at Dubulabera and Kangorama in Sambalpur district and Lephripada in Sundargarh district. Graphite is available at Patnagarh and Titilagarh in Balangir district. Manganese ore is available in Nuapada and Balangir district. Fireclay is available at Belpahar in Jharsuguda district, Gandawara in Sambalpur district and some places of Sundargarh district.[5]

Demographics

Population

District District Headquarters Area (km2.) Population 1991 Census Population 2011 Census Literacy Rate 2011
Balangir Balangir 6,575 1,230,938 1,648,574 65.50
Bargarh Bargarh 5,837 1,207,172 1,478,833 75.16
Nuapada Nuapada 3,852 469,482 606,490 58.20
Sambalpur Sambalpur 6,702 809,017 1,044,410 76.91
Subarnapur Sonepur 2,337 476,815 652,107 74.42

(Source: Population of India, 2011)[6]

In addition to the ten districts listed above and shown on the map, the Western Odisha Development Council includes Anugul on its website.[7]

Western Odisha contains 24.34% of the total population of the Odisha state. Tribal populations comprise 40% of Western Odisha's total population. The Agharias, a community from north-western Uttar Pradesh, make up close to 10% of the population in the area. 23.38% of Odisha's Scheduled Caste population and 33.9% of its Scheduled Tribe population reside in this region. The area supports 29.75% of the Odisha state's economically backward people, 25.8% of its cultivators, 27.52% of its agricultural labourers, 32.18% of its household industrial workers, 25.36% of its workers overall, 30.54% of its marginal workers and 22.87% of its non-workers.

Art and culture

Western Odisha is culturally influenced by several different cults and religions. Its history dates back to the Mahabharat and Buddhist period. Folk songs and dances of this area have been revived and recognized during the last quarter century, including Danda (Danda Yatra and Danda Nata), which is considered to be one of the oldest forms of variety entertainment in India, to the modern "Krushnaguru Bhajan", a type of folk lyrics and songs. Sambalpuri language songs are quite popular throughout Odisha. Some hits include Rangabati, Ekda Ekda, Dalkhai, and Panbala Babu.[8][9][10]

Songs and dances

Rangabati

Rangabati is a modern composed Sambalpuri song inspired by folk music, written about 1975, which enjoyed international popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. It was sung by Jitendra Haripal and Krishna Patel. The music was composed by Prabhudutta Pradhan and the lyrics by Mitrabhanu Gauntia. The song was recorded and broadcast by All India Radio, Sambalpur[11]

The Sambalpuri saree

Main article: Sambalpuri Saree

The Sambalpuri saree is made from fabric woven on a hand-loom, and is popular throughout India.[12]

Notable persons of Western Odisha

name="telegraphindia-25sep2010">Sudeep Kumar Guru (25 September 2010). "Poetry makes him known as new Gangadhar Meher". The Telegraph (India). Ananda Publishers. Retrieved 4 November 2010.</ref>

References

  1. ^ Dash, Siba Prasad, " Sambalpur Itihas ", Odisha Sahitya Academy, Bhubaneswar, 2002, ISBN 81-7586-083-9, P. 68,70
  2. ^ "Demand For a Separate Kosal statehood". The Hindu.
  3. ^ "Demand for Kosal state gaining Momentum". cfnonline.
  4. ^ "Kosal Kranti dal, political party demanding for separate kosal statehood". OneIndia.
  5. ^ Mohanty, Basanta Kumar, Orissa Fact File, 2005, p.46
  6. ^ Population of Western Orissa
  7. ^ WODC main page
  8. ^ Current Sambalpuri Album
  9. ^ Legendary Sambalpuri singer Jitendra Haripal
  10. ^ Sambalpuri songs
  11. ^ "And the singer sings his song ", The Hindu, 27 May 2001.
  12. ^ "Sambalpuri Sari: Living tradition ", Merinews.com, 20 November 2008


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