8: inshodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/826/7/07_chapter 1.pdfMahasivagupta Yayati I...
Transcript of 8: inshodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/826/7/07_chapter 1.pdfMahasivagupta Yayati I...
Historians pursuing area s p e c i f i c research have t o
unfai l ingly take note of i ts soc ia l dynamics. I n India,
i t has become a pract ice i n the context of micro-studies
now. The d i s t r i c t of Balasore on the northern sea-board
of Orissa, w i t h a l l the v ic i s s i tudes of a long and tenuous
his tory on the backdrop, o f fe r s good p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r
undertaking a study of t h i s nature.
M Y HWTORY
Tho Pro-colonial period
As f a r as the ancient h is tory of the d i s t r i c t
i s concerned, Balosore claims t o have an ant iqui ty of i t s
own. According t o a loca l t r ad i t ion , "the name is
probably derived from the temple of Mahadev Baneswar,
which is s t i l l standing, and was so cal led a f t e r
Banasura, i t s t r a d i t i o n a l founder"'. Another t r ad i t ion
ind ica tes t h a t the name i s possibly derived from
'Baleswarar which means , the young lord i . e . Krishna'.
Whatever be the f a c t one f i n d s both the Shaivite and the
Vaishnavite t r a d i t i o n being s t rongly present i n the
District. Renuna, s i t u a t e d 5 miles v e s t of Balasore town,
b ?pedally celebrated for the t e q l e of god Kshirchora
W p i m 8: fom Qf Krishnit, in honour of whom a re l ig ious
2 f a i r i s held annually i n February. The f a i r l a s t s f o r 13
days and i s attended by a very large number of p i l g r ~ l n s ~ . S.C. De suggests t h a t the image of Gopinath i n the Remuna
temple had been i n s t a l l e d by the Ganga King, Narasimha
Deva I around 1245 A.D'. T h i s suggestion ascr ibes the
h i s t o r i c i t y of the temple t o a f a i r l y l a t e period., but,
nevertheless, the der ivat ion holds grammatically.
In ancient times, the D i s t r i c t formed p a r t of the
"extensive, populous and f a i r l y c i v i l i s e d kingdom" of
Kalinga, which emerged t o the f u l l l i g h t of h is tory w i t h
the invasion of Ashoka Maurya i n Circa 261 B.c'. Prlor t o
t h a t the Mahabharatha mentlons of the Baltaranl r ive r ,
associated w i t h Hindus mythology and i n ~ t s ea r ly verses
had enjoined upon the pllgrims not t o v i s i t Kalinga as the
Kshatriyas there "had become out-castes6. Babu Manmohan
Chakravarthy, who contributed the a r t l c l e f o r the
Gazetteer, i s of the oplnion t h a t t h l s was s o because
Orissa a t the time of the Mahabharata had not y e t f u l l y
come under the s p e l l of Aryavarta belng mostly peopled by
pr imit ive t r i b e s l i k e the Savaras, the Juangs, the Panas,
the Kewats and, of course, the predominant Odras who gave
t h e i r name t o the land i n Sanskr i t works a t l e a s t before
the 9th Century A. n7. References of the Mahabharata and
subsequently of the Baudhayma Dfiarmsutra which required
persans v i s i t i n g Kalinga t o "offer a s a c r i f i c e i n penance"
possibly p o i n t d t o the spcrradic e a r l y k y a n i d g r a n t s ,
3 who came amidst the m e r o u s non-Aryan people of W n g a
and thereby l o s t the i r castes$ The Nastans and the
Saruas, who claim t o be Brahmins and wear sacred thread
but do not practice usual r i t e s incumbent upon the
Brahmins, were probable the descendants of these early
Aryan immigrants. However, brisk maritime ac t i v i t i e s on
the Kalilngan coast i n course of time linked the country
more thoroughly w i t h i t s northern hinterland. Hence i n
the Mahabharata, one f inds l a t e r verses declaring that
there were good men i n Kalinga and that T i r t h e s existed i n
tha t country, thus withdrawing the ban la id on traveling 8 there ,
I n between 6th and 4 t h century B.C. when the whole of
Indo-Gangetic plain was i n ferment, heterodox sects l ike
Buddhism and Jainism found easy f e r t i l e grounds i n
Kalinga. Buddhism special ly found royal favour a f t e r
Asokars conquest of Kalinga and i t s annexation w i t h the
Mauryan empire. However, when the Mauryan yoke was
overthrown and Kalinga became po l i t i c a l l y independent
under the Kings of the Chedi dynasty, i t s powerful monarch
Khaxavela extended patronage t o ~ a i n i s g . The Murundas
who succeeded the Chedis, again f avowed ~uddhism".
Later during the reign of Harshavardhana when the Chinese
t r a w l e r M e n Tsang v is i ted Orissa around 639 A.D. he
%w#l..Q&sil a b w d i n g with ~uddhist m o ~ s t e r i e s of the
4 Mabayana s e c t "besides 50 deva temples frequented by
sec ta r i es of a l l sortsm1'.
The Bhaumakaras who commenced t h e i r r u l e from 736
A . D ~ ~ continued t o support the Mshayana and the
Vajrayana var ian t of Buddhism till about 846 A.D.
continued till about 846 A. D. when Tribhuvana Mahadevi
the f i r s t reigning queen of the dynasty effected a turning
point not only i n the his tory of the Bhaumas but a lso i n
the socio-re l ig ious his tory of Orissa. According t o
Panigrahi "During her ru le the country advanced i n three
branches (of adminis t ra t ion) , the foes were extirpated,
the glory spread abroad and there was harmony among the
people. W i t h her head sanc t i f i ed w i t h the lo tus- l ike f e e t
of Hari, she enjoyed an unparalleled fortune and thought 13
t h a t there was no other work f o r her t o do" .
The Neulpur char ter of Subhakaradeva I (790 A.D.)
and the Terundia char ter of Subhakaradeva I1 (809 A.D. )
s t a t e t h a t though these r u l e r s were Buddhists, they had
accepted the Brahamanical socio-religious order and had
consequently put Varnas i n t h e i r proper places. They had
encouraged immigration of Brahmans from Mdhyadesa by the
a f f e r af land grant and by f a c i l i t a t i n g the use of
Sanskrit f o r writ ing both insc r ip t ions and the Buddhist
texts", Tha ascendance af Hinduism was accentuated under
the r u l e af the Somavamsi Kings between 922 and 1118 A.D.
S Being protagonis ts of the Brahmanisation of Orissan
cu l tu re , the Somavamsi kings engaged themselves i n massive
construction a c t i v i t i e s of temples. Mahasivagupta Yayati
I (922-955 A.D. 1 who i s c red i t ed w i t h the extension of the
Somavamsi pover t o the coas ta l s t r i p of Orissa i n 931 A.D.
p a r t i c u l a r l y authenticated the necess i ty of sacredote l
sanction t o his r e g a l au thor i ty by inv i t ing ten thousand
Brahmins from Kanauj t o perform the Ashwamedha sac r i f i ce
on the bank of the r i v e r Baitatani a t Jaipur. In a land
where Brahmanism had begun coalesing w i t h the long
favoured heterodox sec t s , Yayati I had the po l i t i co -
r e l i g i o u s compulsion t o ascr ibe t o a more sync re t i c cu l t .
T h i s was desp i t e h i s impressive mi l i t a ry successes.
According t o H.V. Stietencron, 949 A.D. was the terminus
post guem f o r the v ic to r ious kind Yayati I t o bui ld the
Temple of Purushottam a t ~ u r i " . His successor,
~ a h a s i v a g u p t a ~ a y a t i I1 (1025 - 1040 A.D . ) who constructed
the monumental Lingaraj Temple i n Bhubaneswar i n the
honour of Lord Shiva, helped permeate sync re t i c influence
of the Jagannath c u l t . Like the hitapatis of the
Jagannath temple whose legi t imate share i n the worship of
the Lord had been recognised s ince the day the temple of
Puroshottam vas es tabl ished, ~ a y a t i I1 appointed sudra
p r i e s t s a s t h e custodians of the Lingaraj Temple l o c a l l y
k m aa Vadus, these Sudra p r i e s t s have been described i n
thr, sixty sttcond chapter of the Ekaaua Purana as the
6 descendants of a Severa mother by a Salva s a i n t knovn as
Siddhabhuti. The Brahmins took a share i n t he worship of
the Lord only much la ter16. s imi l a r ly , t he custom t h a t was
introduced i n the Lingaraj Temple i n regard t o partaking
of the cooked-rice offered t o Lingaraj became analogous t o
the one prevelent i n Purushottam where no cas t e
d i s t i n c t i o n i s observed while partaking of the cooked-rice
offered t o the Lord.
T h i s i n i t i a l e f f o r t s of the Somavamsi Kings i n
harnessing the p o t e n t i a l inherent i n the Jagannath c u l t t o
bul ld up a pan-orissan empire was epitomised i n 12th
century A.D. when the Eastern Ganges acquired power and
l t s a b l e s t King Chodagangadeva b u i l t the famous S r i
Jagannatha Temple i n the s i t e of the pre-exis t ing
Purushottam Nrusimha Temple on the shores of ~ u r i between
1134 and 1147 A.D. In the opinion of K.C. Panigrahl:
"both ~ a y a t i I and Chodaganga were actuated by p o l i t i c a l
motives f o r paying a g rea te r a t t e n t i o n t o the shr lne of
Jagannath, which must have acquired a g rea t s a n c t i t y by
the time they r u l e s i n Orissa. Both these monarchs did
not possess any l e g a l claim t o the throne of o r i s s a and,
therefore , they wanted t o p laca te the publ ic opinion of
t h i s country by building the spectacular temple of
Jagannath whose c u l t had a g rea t s igni f icance i n the
national life of t he ~ r i y a s and who was considered t o be
t h e unquestioned supreme d e i t y of t h e i r c ~ u n t r y . " ~ '
7 Founded upon a syncre t i c platform i t was possible f o r
Jagannath c u l t t o permeate the whole of regional l i f e i n
Orissa. Other than i n the re l ig io -cu l tu ra l domain,
the c u l t ' s in tegra t ive fo rce i s envisaged i n the presence
af a pa r t i cu la r kind of Debottar tenure cal led Amruta
mnohi. These grants of land meant f o r keeping up the
worship of Jagannath a t ~ u r i , was found i n a l l the
paraganas of Balasore d i s t r i c t1 ' when the Br i t i sh came
t o occupy Orissa i n 1803 A.D. Trustee-holders of such
grants, were usually the res idents of Puri or i t s
neighborhood who col lected the ren t s a t cer ta in in te rva l s
through agents. In ea r ly 2 0 t h century when na t iona l i s t
Oriya leaders were struggling a t a soc io -po l i t i ca l l eve l
t o ge t f o r Orissa a d i s t i n c t p o l i t i c a l i d e n t i t y i n British
~ n d i a , the forerunner amongst them, Gopabandhu Das,
repeatedly harked back t o t h i s once unquestioned symbol of
Oriya national l i f e i n h i s anthology of 13 prison poems
viz . KaraKabitaig. The upswing i n the overarching
influence of the c u l t continued a f t e r the Angas,
throughout the period of the Suryavamsi rule between 1435
and 1538 A.D. The tense p o l i t i c a l s i tua t ion ar is ing out
of incessant mi l i t a ry pressure from both the northern and
southern f r o n t s did not allow the suryavamsi r u l e r s any
r e s p i t e from e i t h e r wars or worries about t h e i r personal
sovereignity. The theocrat ic notion of kingship which had > *, ., .
been. populariesd by the Ganga kings Anangabhim I11
8 (1211-1238 AD) and Bhanudeva I1 (1306-1328 AD)" vas,
therefore , more copiously followed by the Suryavamsis.
Kapilendradeva (1435-1468 AD) warned h i s disobedient
feudator ies t h a t defiance of the author i ty of the
Gajapati amounted t o sacr i legious disrespect f o r Lord
Jagannath. ~ r o n i c a l l y i t was p a r t l y due t o such i n t e r n a l
dissension t h a t the o r i s s a country ult imately l o s t i t s
p o l i t i c a l independence t o the Afghan chief of Bengal
Suleiman Karrani i n 1568 AD.
Once p o l i t i c a l l y subservient Orissa became a theatre
of s t ruggle among a l i en powers f o r mastery and Balasore
became a '' high way along which Muslim armies passed
and repassed and fought t h e i r batt lesu2' . Not only t h a t
the conquerors bequeathed some legaciess but they a lso
added components of population which became parmanent pa r t
and parcel of s o c i a l s t ruc tu re i n Orissa. A s regards the
e a r l y remnants of Afgan domination over Balasore, the
d i s t r i c t preserves a number of tombs of the captains of
Kala Pahara. Located a t Garhpada where the Bhuinyas
enjoyed a rent-free grant t o preserve the tomb of Hitam
Khan ; a t Basta; a t Ramcahandrapur south of Garhpada; a t
Remuna, where the Bazar of Sahaji Patna took i t s name from
the tomb of Gulab Shah Shahid; a t Kasba, a suburb of
Balasore ; Bhadrak; and a t Dhamnagar where the descendents 22
of early Afghan s e t t l e r s are s t i l l l iv ing . The Afghans a l so contributed i n expanding
9 c u l t i v a t i o n by g r a n t i n g jagirs t o t h e o l d s o l d i e r s . I t
was accord ing t o Ba lasore District G a z e t t e e r : "from t h i s
t ime t o o d a t e s t h e r i s e of Ba lasore a s a commercial town
and t h e c l o t h woven t h e r e began t o be famouswz3. But t h e
Afgans d i d n o t p rov ide a s t a b l e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and people
s u f f e r e d u n t o l d m i s e r i e s because of prolonged war fa re .
The Mughals who conquered O r i s s a i n 1592 A.D.
e f f e c t e d some changes i n revenue a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . o u t of
t h e f i v e Sarkars i n t o which O r i s s a was d i v i d e d , Ba lasore
had two v i z . , Ja leswar and Bhadrak. Though land
t h e o r e t i c a l l y belonged t o t h e s t a t e t h e Mughals gave t h e
r a i y a t , patta and Kabuliyat f o r knowing t h e amount of
r e n t t h e y were t o pay f o r t h e i r c u l t i v a t e d l a n d . Whereas
t h e Hindu Kings f o r m e r l y depended upon t h e v i l l a g e headmen
c a l l e d Muqaddams f o r c o l l e c t i o n of l a n d revenue, t h e
mughal system of Tankha Raqmi (revenue s e t t l e m e n t )
depended upon i n t e r m e d i a r y o f f i c i a l s l i k e Chudhuries and
Vi laya t i Kanungoes / Taluqdars f o r t h e purpose. Besides,
t h e Maghals a l s o g r a n t e d jagirs t o bo th Muslim and non-
muslim Benga l i s who along w i t h o t h e r revenue o f f i c i a l s and
c h i e f t a i n s c r e a t e d v a r i o u s t y p e s of sub- tenanc ies i n l and .
T h i s t o some e x t e n t had l e d t o f r a g m e n t a t i o n of l a n d
r i . g h t s i n h i e r a r c h i c a l form on t h e eve of t h e M u a t h a
rulee4. I n o t h e r r e s p e c t s , t h e Mughal administcation
instead of uphold ing the p r o v i n c i a l c h a r a c t e r of 'Or i ssa
:m4tiw&..it , t o a mere F a appendage . of t h e Bengal
10 Further t o break the c e n t r a l i t y of Jagannath from Orissa 's
na t ional l i f e the Mughals beginning v i t h the re ign of
Aurangjeb imposed J i j i y a on pi lgr ims coming t o Puri. The
t a x was co l l ec ted from pilgrims between Ra] ghat and
Balasore i n d i f f e r e n t chowkies. Besides, AurangzebJs
pol icy of r e l i g i o u s persecution coerced many t o get
converted i n t o Islam. The notable Bhatta Brahmin family
who had received land grants from Purushottamadeva Gajpati
i n 1483 A.D. i n a v i l l a g e near Rupsa i n Balasore thus had
t o embrace Islam. T i l l da te h i s descendants are l iv ing i n 25 Garhpada v i l l a g e as Muslims .
However, i n the realm of cu l tu re , the Mughal
period l e f t behind two important t r a d i t i o n s . The t o l e r a n t
s t rands among the Hindus and the Muslims were played up by
the prevalent , Bhakti and Sufi movements t o make
Satyapir an acceptable common d e i t y f o r both
communities. The Suf i s a i n t s l o c a l l y ca l l ed Fakirs had
i n p a r t i c u l a r won the indulgence of f a i t h among common
f o l k s . Fakir Mohan Senapati r e c a l l s i n h i s auto-biography
how h i s grand mother had promised the two Muslim s a i n t s
i n Balasore t o make him t h e i r Fakir ( s l ave ) provided he
recovers from i l l n e s s . Later h i s grand mother had prefixed 2 6
Fakir t o h i s name t o p lease the Muslim s a i n t s . . The Mughal Tanvlsha of Bhadrak i s another legacy
of t h e Mughal inf luence on the indigenous performing" aft8
of Binlesase &strict. Also c a l l e d Chait i - ~ Tamshe,. %sirit*
11 the T a m s h e s a r e staged tovards the end of t h e Orissan
month C a i t r a i n upen a i r panda1 i n f r o n t of a Shiva
Temple, the Mugbal Tdmashas a re e s s e n t i a l l y s a t i r i c a l
dance-dramas on the decadent l i f e s t y l e of the ers twhi le
M i r z a s or Afgan Z a g i r d a r s . The Tamashas e x i b i t a composite
inf luence of Persian, ~ i n d i , Urdu, Bengali and Oriya i n
t h e i r songs , tune and dance s t y l e . The o r ig in of the
Tamasha has, however, been a t t r i b u t e d t o the Maratha
period when Bansiballabha Goswami, scion of a scho la r ly
Brahnim family of v i l l a g e Saingata near Bhadrak, first
authored i t i n the year 1728 AD.
Under the Marathas who occupied Orissa ( a f t e r r u l e
of Nawab Aliwardi Khan of Bengal) i n 1755 A . D . , Balasore
recelved g rea te r adminis t ra t ive a t t e n t i o n . The town of
Balasore s p e c i a l l y benefited most by the residence of the
Maratha o f f i c i a l s . Among them Motiram i s c r e t i t e d w i t h the
establishment of Motigan] sometime between 1785 and 1790
which became the center of the town and i t s p r inc ipa l
market place. The por t of Balasore a l so f lou r i shed and
the Marathas earned considerable amount of revenue from
the export of l a rge quan t i ty of s a l t t o Berar and Bengal
from t h e por t . H o s t i l i t i e s between the English ~ a s t - I n d i a
Company and the Marathas over t h i s l uc ra t ive s a l t t rade
f i n a l l y l ed t o the B r i t i s h conquest of Orissa i n 1803 A.D.
With B r i t i s h conquest, Or issa entered i n t o an
%rt.tjideky MU phase of her h i s t o r y which is of iarnediate
12 concern t o thte present thes i s . In t h i s regard the survey
of Or i s sa r s pre-Bri t i sh h i s t o r y may seem unnecessary. But
i ts relevance l i e s i n the f a c t t h a t the survey provides an
e s s e n t i a l background f o r a proper perusal of the modern
o r i s san soc ie ty and various changes which came i n i t . I t
i s a l s o important t o note t h a t during a l l the centur ies of
her e a r l y h i s to ry Orissan soc ie ty gradually c r y s t a l l i s a d
i n t o a cognisable e n t i t y with a s p e c i f i c form and inherent
functioning ra t iona le . Under the Somavamsi and the
Survyavamsi ru le , Orissa acquired a d e f i n i t i v e nat ional
character r a l ly lng round the hallowed symbol of Lord
Jagannath.
Social Stratification in Medieval Orinla :
During t h i s period of Hindu sovereignty Orissan
economy was v ib ran t desp i t e occasional horrors of
famine . ~ c c o r d i n g t o Gazetteer of Balasore D i s t r i c t
"Provisions were exceedingly cheap, cowrile-shells were
the only medium of exchange among the people generally, 27
and there was no demand f o r a gold o r s i l v e r currency . The currency of coins i n Orissa, however, predated the
Gupta Age as has been a t t e s t e d by the Bhadrak insc r ip t ion 2 8
of Gana . The kings who had popularised the theoc ra t i c
foundation af t h e i r kingship had monopolised Jagannath i n
the 'te&igious and p o l i t i c a l centers of the S t a t e . Ddspite
ibdulgence i n enormous M l d i n g a c t i v i t i e s by both the
l3 dynasties a l l over Orissa, there vere no Jagannath te@i&
outside Puri and Cuttack till l a t e 15th centu$'. T M ~
v&iq secured f o r the Brahmins the &s i t ion of primacy i n
Wissan socie ty . The Brahmins i n turn bestowed legitimacy
upon bath the lawful successors t o the throne and the
usurpers a l ike . Throughout the period t h i s t a c i t nexus
manifested i t s e l f i n sovereigns and t h e i r feudator ies i n
the names of the sovereigns granting tax-free Brahmottar
land f o r the sett lement and upkeep of the Brahmins. Among
the Lakhiraj lands of a l l kinds, the t h l r t y years
sett lement of 1837 returned Brahmottar land, "granted
e i t h e r t o indlvldual Brahmlns or t o a body of Brahrmns
forming a Shasan or Brahrnana Village f o r t h e i r
maintenance", d l s t r lbu ted very evenly over each pargana
throughout Balasore distr1ct3O. The donees i n these cases
were enjoined upon the obligation t o invoke blessings on
the donor's name three times a day. T h i s provision was
absent from other sanads, as the invocations of Brahmins
and Vaishnavas alone vere considered of any avail3'.
Apart from t h i s pre-eminent posi t ion enjoyed by
the Brahmins, the s o c l a l s t ruc tu re below remalned f l u i d
hecause af several exigencies of the time. F i r s t ly , due
t ~ b ~ r ~ l w m i L j . t w ~ i s a t i o n of the s t a t e by the Somavmsi
and .t&. Stdfyavwsi kings a l l cas tes and ccmwnities, not
~ ~ e & ~ ~ ~ g a ~ n s a t times, were cal led upon t o remain
[email protected].+&k&a +par and sandrr - * raikitesga,p"vice at &ha
14 times of emergency32. Drawn mainly from among the
numerous t r i b a l communities and c u l t i v a t o r c a s t e s the
militia-men who served the kings a s r egu la r so ld i e r s ,
formed a new sub-caste c a l l e d Khandayats. W i t h land g ran t s
new t i t l e s l i k e Senapa t i , Nayaka, Gadanayaka, Patra,
Mahapatra, Behera, Dalabehera, Jena, Badajena, Pradhana,
Samala, Rauta, Wunt i a , Parichha, Pa r i j a , Padhihari ,
Dandapani, Dandapata e t c . , the neo-kshatriyas claimed
intermediary s o c i a l s t a t u s and became a wi l l i ng c l i e n t e l e
of t he Brahmins . The Brahmins i n t h e i r own i n t e r e s t i n
the areas of t h e i r new se t t lements and i n view of the
royal patronage accorded t o the predominantly sudra-
turned-khandayats, leg t imised t h i s v e r t i c a l s o c i a l
mobi l i ty by becoming p r i e s t s f o r them3'.
Secondly, i n an ove r t ly cen t r a l i s ed p o l i t i c a l
system, the kings could r u l e only w i t h the help of a
r egu la r hierarchy of c i v i l i a n o f f i c e r s and sc r ibes . In
Orissan context , l a r g e s c a l e recruitment of c i v i l i a n
o f f i c e r s and s c r i b e s of fered scope f o r men of lower
varnas t o move up the s o c i a l s ca l e by holding these
o f f i c e s , vhich s p e c i a l l y i n v i l l a g e and l o c a l l eve l s ,
became he red i t a ry and c r y s t a l l i s e d according t o t h e i r
func t iona l t i t l e s i n t o many sub-castes l i k e Srikarana,
Pattanayaka, Mhanty , Ilanungo e t c . , In the Later Ganga
period these sub-castes were ascr ibed the l o c a l ca s t e name
M &bEena.
1s Thirdly , the r i s e of Jagannath a s the na t iona l
d e i t y and t h e spread of h i s q n c r e t i c c u l t f a c i l i t a t e d
c los ing of the c a s t e ranks i n medieval Orissa. Tradi t ions
were b u i l t up eulogiging Jagannath a s Purushottama,
Patitapavana (L ibe ra to r of the down-trodden) e t c .
Gradually, a pan-Orissan n a t i o n a l i s t i c myth gained
currency. The Suryavamsi kings who themselves were of
humble o r i g i n encouraged t h i s myth. I t s r ep resen ta t ive
pe r sona l i ty was Sara la Dasa who composed the Oriya
Mahabharata, Chandi Purana and Vilanka Ramnaya i n 15th
century A . D . A t a time when the top-most of c a s t e s were
s t i l l the devotees of Sansk r i t l i t e r a t u r e , Sara la Dasa,
himself a Sudra c u l t i v a t o r and a man of no importance
responded t o the c a l l of the time and brought about a
revolut ionary change i n Oriya l i t e r a t u r e by becoming i t s
o r i g i n a t o r and maker. Af ter Sa ra l a Dasa a l l ca s t e s shook
off t h e i r pre judice aga ins t the 0 r iya l i t e r a t u r e and
con, o i n t l y cont r ibuted t c i t s Sara la Dasa
p a r t i c u l a r l y l e n t currency t o myriad f o l k b e l i e f s and
s o c i a l p r a c t i c e s t h a t were approved by men of a l l ca s t e s
and varnas.
Fourthly, the propagation and spread of reformis t
soc io - re l ig ious movements cont r ibuted t o the upward
fi&ifi$i?j of t h e lower varnas and even touched the l ~ l i e s t
t o br ing about a new order of s o c i a l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i n
medieval Orissa. The r e fo rmis t t rend which Sara la Dasa
16 had s e t a s carr ied Earvard by other equally respected
Vaishnava s a in t s l ike Achyutananda Khuntia, Balaram
Hohapatra, Yoshovanta Mallick and Ananta Hohanty a l l
belonging t o non-Brahmin castes. These sa in t s received
royal patronage of Prataprudradeva and the i r works
reinterpreting the Sanskrit scr iptures i n fo lk language
gained wide acceptance. The s tory of Sriya
Chandaluni, depicted i n Lakshd $na of Balarama Dasa
a l i a s Hahapatra, portrayed the myth of goddess Lakshzni
coming dovn t o accept the worship of Sriya, a Chandala
woman, despite an injunction t o the contrary by her
husband Jaganna t h and h i s elder brother Balabhadra outside
the l imi t s of the temple c i t y being moved by her pious
l i fe -s ty le and devotion. The Purana narrates hw the
Goddess did not find any women belonging t o the so-called
upper varnas leading as pious a l i f e as Sriya withirr the
precincts of the temple ci ty . No doubt, Lakshmi was
thrown out of the temple f o r her deviant behaviour. But
following untold misery suffered by Jagannath and
Balabhadra when she was sought t o be brought back by the
duo, she agreed only on the condition that there would not
be any d is t inc t ion thereaf ter i n partaking of food that
she cooks within the Sri mndira. Not only tha t the myth
became a norm i n the Jagannath temple but people
throughout Orissa startrd sbaerving the wen t rel igiously
17 on f a Tburadilys of the oriya month of Margasira every
yearas.
When S r i Chaitanya came t o Puri i n 1510 A.D.,
the reformist Bhakti movement became much stronger.
Prof. R. D. Banerj ee considers t h i s influence of S r i
Chaitanya t o be great ly responsible f o r weakening the 36 military s p i r i t i n or issa . Other than Vaishhavism,
Sakta-tantrik and Nath cu l t s a lso contributed t o the
process of caste m m e n t s by assimilating lower castes
in to t he i r fold. Khageswar Mahapatra has ident i f ied many
of these tantr ik teachers (Siddhacharyas) as belonging t o
untouchable castes l ike kewat,Mochi, Dons etc3'. However,
the contention that the upward mobility of lover varnas
and the emergence of intermediary castes vho became
dominant economically as well as socio-politically
resulted i n a "marked decline i n the s ta tus of ~rahmins"~'
does not hold good on several counts.
The Gajapatis revered the Brahmins i n a manner
vhich they never did t o anybody else . The induction of
non-Brahmins as pr ies t s i n the Jagannath Temple was a
cosmetic attempt a t building up the cu l t as
u ~ v e r s a l i s t i c . But the in te rna l functioning of the
temple and its methods of worship was always Brahmanic.
The Brahmins a t tiws took to other professions because af
paliUfial md economic exigencies but tha t did not
I$kr;fen. - i~ - their ablrse ranking or r i t u a l statrtJ.
I4 Sarah Dasa h imel f t e l l s admuseum that different r i t e s
a s s o c i a t d with social l i f e were conducted thoroughly i n
accordance w i t h the vedic rules . The contention that
Brahmins ought only t o engage themselves i n worshipping
and studying rel igious scr iptures i s more of a
theoret ical postulation having l e s s relevance i n temporal
l i f e . 1. In medieval Orissa the social order that
emerged, therefore, was one i n vhich the Brahmins occupied
the top stratum.
2. I n the intermediate level, the Khandayats and
the Karanas contended w i t h each other f o r the rank next
t o the Brahmins, both castes being dravn from the
variegated castes and arnas.
3 . Due t o the increasing sanskri t isat ion as a resu l t
af softening of the social posture by the Brahmins from
the top and various reformist movements from below, Sudras
acquired respectabi l i ty i n society.
4 . As regards the overal l condition of the society
there was a f a l l i n outlook. Though under the over
lordship of the Bhaumas i n or issa , women enjoyed a
d i s t i nc t l y higher s ta tus , t he i r s ta tus declined
considerabay i n sumed ing centuries. Pre-puberty
aarrbp.8 becam a mle. &dab system crept i n t o the tdghu. clmrsrs. nany o t h $ d a l practices based on foUc
I9 bs l ie f such as "if a daughter a t t a in s puberty i n her
fa ther ' s house the raanes sha l l sink t o hell" assumed
charac te r i s t ic acceptance t o the detriment of progressive
outlook. upholding po l i t i c a l independence a t a l l costs and
mar~hal machismo also took its t o l l on social l i feJ9 .
The Coionial Period, 1803-1865
Orissa came under colonial rule i n 1803 and
part icular ly Balasore on 21st September i n the same year.
When Captain Margan captured the Fort of Balasore a f t e r
i t s evacuation by the ~ara thas" . Long before i t since
June 1633, the colonial is ts as t raders had associated w i t h
Balasore t o use i t as a spring-board i n quest of the i r
commercial" and subsequently po l i t i c a l in te res t s i n
Bengal. A l l these years they had carried sal tpeter ,
t a f fe tas , raw s i lk , sannas, cotton yarn, turmeric,
t i nca l l , dussettees or coarse s a i l cloth4* and brought
back broad cloth and lead i n return43. Among the
merchandise taken twa rds the end of 18th century, i t was
s a l t , manufactured i n Balasore tha t was comercial ly more
lucrative. The E n g l i s h East-India Company used t o import
s a l t from Orissa a t the average r a t e of 68,269 munds per
an nu^'^ i n t o Bangal *ere it had established a monopoly
both over unufactwre and s a l e of salt4'. Consequent upon
the P v e m c f f ec t which the smuggled and cheaper (5Zigsa
Salt vaa $&Wing t o tho coqeny"~ trade i n bnga l , it had
24 urged the Marathas t o grant the Company tho exclusive
r igh t t o buy Orissa s a l t . But given tha t the Marathas
vere earning as much as rupees tvo lakhs per annum from
the s a l t sold i n ~ e n ~ a 1 ' ~ they shunned the proposal off-
hand. Thus finding the r igh t opportunity during the
second Anglo-Maratha war the East-I ndia Company mi l i t a r i l y
seized Balasore, Cuttack and Puri and by the Treaty of
Deogaon ,signed on 1 7 t h December 1803, got from Bhonsla
Raja of Nagpur, Raghuji, i n perpetual sovereignty "the
provlnce of Cuttack including the port and the d i s t r i c t of
Balasore".
The Marathas despite frequent charges of
rapacity had found f o r themselves socio-pol i t ical context
i n Orissa. They had restored t o a great extent the pre-
Mughal system of revenue administration by minimising the
role of intermediaries i n revenue collection. In t o t a l
only 32 aiails or revenue commissioners vere responsible
f o r collection of revenue. From a l l the 150 paraganas
i n t o which the en t i re Nughal Bandi area had been divided.
The Anils managed t he i r job only though tvo s e t s of
o f f i c i a l s namely the Taluqdars and the Nllkaddams. The
Taluqdars collected the revenue from the raiyats af
Pahikasth v i l l ages and the JYukkaddam from the mkeddami
ones4'. Further the Marathas respected neither Z h d a r i
nor B d d tenures wbn; it wgs considered sui table
far eAu ta col- d i r e $%am the cul t ivators cd thb
21 soil'. Among other measures, the Marathas, even taking
w e r the administration of the Jagannath Temple i n Puri,
did not interfere w i t h the r i t u a l s ta tus of the Gajapati
Maharaja. The Gajapati s t i l l continued t o exercise the
regal privilege of conferring t i t l e s on the inhabitants
of Mughalbandi and the Garhjat c o ~ n t r i e s ' ~ . I t i s clear
from the records that no t i t l e granted by the Maratha
Government was considered t o confer any dis t inct ion i n
Orissa un t i l confirmed by the Raja of ~hurda". Being
Hindus, the Marathas also lavishly donated t o the
Jagannath Temple as well as t o Brahmins5'. I n tunes of
d i s t ress , resulting out of floods or droughts, tax
remissions as well as takavi advances t o the cul t ivators
used t o be given. The Marathas had also expended money i n
se t t l ing agriculture and i n building embankments t o
prevent flooding. One such embankment constructed a t the
mouth of r iver Subarnarekha did immense good to the people
of ~ a l a s o r e ~ ~ . In short, the Maratha administration had
arrested the process of fur ther fragmentatron of the
medieval Orissan society on caste and class l ines .
Unlike the Marathas, however, the colonial power
had no ralson dre t re i n seeking socio-political
legitimacy, i t s colonial agenda being long drawn up t o be
effected i n any newly acquired terr i tory. Their supreme
motive was t o fur ther colonial ecoanaric in te res t s thraugh
the bait of eradicating lawlessness, relieving the
21 c- from the misrule of native ty ran t s and
~ t a b ~ s h i n g a j u s t administration. But no sooner d id the
Company Government posted i t s e l f t o regular administration
af the country, i t s inner motives s t a r t e d rue fu l ly
manifesting . ( a ) I t s economic po l i c ies brought ruinat ion t o
native indus t r i e s and effected a s h i f t from a s t a t e of
loca l economic sel f -suff ic iency t o helpless dependence on
metropolitan economy.
(b) While the colonial ru le r s remained a
c lass apar t i t s revenue administration created an
intermediate c lass of landed aristocracy, which
perpetuated i t s e l f by exploit ing the cul t ivat ing under
c lass with no constructive obligation i n return.
( c ) Under the garb of organising the
administrative system outs iders mainly from Bengal were
brought i n great numbers. T h i s created a pernicious cycle
of sub-colonialism and demoralised the erst-while forward
sect ions of Orissan soc ie ty who could have worked a s a
moderating lever between the emergent colonial p w e r and
long-term native i n t e r e s t s .
(d) onet ti sat ion of economy and drain of
wealth from the land of i ts production together ensured
(1) econoraic deprivation .leading t o large scale migration
of lower-class people t o d i f fe ren t Garhjats and .to
CeiCUtta as menial workers and servants; (ii) rise of -8
2) c l a s s of money lenders and usurers and (iii) above a l l ,
d i s t ress ing poverty.
( 0 ) The policy of non-intervention i n people's
a f f a i r s did not allow the soc ie ty t o prepare i t s e l f f o r
readjusting t o an emergent system. The natural advantage
was, therefore, appropriated by rank outs iders who had no
soc ia l recognition or commitment whatsoever.
Consequent upon these developments by the middle
of the 19th century, a new s o c i a l s t ruc tu re was evolving
i n place of the one t h a t existed i n medieval Orissa. T h i s
soc ia l s t ruc tu re tending t o be more s t r a t i f i e d on economic
l i n e s ensured weakening of soc ia l a f f i n i t y between the
upper and the lower s t r a t a i n society. In other words,
i n the emergent socie ty the e a r l i e r system of r i t u a l -
ranking was giving way t o a new system where a variegated
numeber of caste-groups were get t ing clustered i n t o e i t h e r
a higher or lower stratum i n terms of t h e i r economic
s t a t u s and s o c i a l mobility was depending more upon who
benefited most out of the government pol ic ies .
A systematic perusal of the various
administrative measures and po l i c ies of the Company
Government would t e s t the above hypotheses.
adarlnirtratbe Ad-Hochm
The sever i ty of the ea r ly Br i t i sh ru le has been
a t t r ibu ted t o the unset t led natures of the c o u n t r y u ~ ~ h e n
a4 "large d i s c r e t i o n had t o be allowed t o the officersns3.
But keeping i n mind the paramoountcy of B r i t i s h power
then, i t sounds unconvincing t h a t the John Company took
more than f o u r decades t o s e t t l e the country f o r
imaginative administrat ion. I t i s s o because there was
hardly any nat ive r e s i s t ance a t the time of the conquest
of Orissa and the B r i t i s h occupied the t e r r i t o r y by
t rading charges of misrule agains t the Maratha regime. The
f a c t t h a t Balasore was erec ted i n t o an independent
d i s t r i c t w i t h Mr.HendryRicketts as i t s f i r s t c o l l e c t o r on
October 23, 1828, long a f t e r i t was administrated a s an
annex of Cuttack and t h a t even afterwards a perplexing
s e r i e s of t r a n s f e r and r e t r a n s f e r of f i s c a l d iv i s ions
continued till as l a t e as 1868 made matters worse f o r the
people of the d i s t s r i c t . W . W . Hunter has quoted the
c o l l e c t o r a s reporting t h a t "Constant s h i f t i n g of
ju r i sd ic t ion has made these parganas very lawless and
d i f f i c u l t t o manage"54. Systemic mismanagement was not
only r e f l e c t e d i n every branch of administrat ion but a130
woefully culminated i n the famine of 1865-66.
Balasore, endowed w i t h a long s a l t t r a c t along
the coas t l ine , had been producing the f i n e s t panga s a l t
s ince the pre-Bri t i sh daysss. Soon a f t e r ge t t ing the
r i g h t t o occupancy over Orissa, t he Company enacted a
telaporai-y regula t ion i n May 4 , 1804 reserving t o i t s e l f ,
25 "the exclusive p r iv i l ege of manufacturing s a l t a s a
source of publ ic revenue". T h i s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y was
ent rus ted t o the S a l t Department w i t h i t s Headquarters a t
~ a l a s o r e ' ~ .
A s a r e s u l t of t h i s monopoly over the
manufacturing and s a l e of s a l t , the Company Government
earned a net p r o f i t of s i c c a rupees 43,435 and 11 annas i n
1804 and rupees 1, 04,894 and 13 annas i n 1805 agains t an
advance of only Rs. 43,000 i n the same year51. Af ter
James K i n g assumed charge of the S a l t Department as i t s
fu l l - t ime agent i n 1806, the quan t i ty of s a l t manufactured
i n the eleven aurangs or s a l t enclosures along the
Balasore coast increased rapidly . In 1811, he
communicated t o the Board of Trade t h a t there was a
prospect of real . lsing a s much as 4 lakh maunds of s a l t i n
h i s agency5'.
In an attempt t o f u r t h e r c e n t r a l i s e the regime
of s a l t monopoly, the headquarters of the s a l t department
under regula t ion 22 of 1814 was s h i f t e d t o Cuttack and
utmost emphasis was l a i d on optimising the output. In the
season, of 1820-21 Charles Becher, the s a l t agent of
Orissa, repor ted t h a t out of a t o t a l of 9,88,300 maunds 9
see r s and 9 chhataks of s a l t the northern Auranga produced
7,76,641 maunds 39 seers. and 9 chhataks of panga sa l tS9
which was much super ior and favoured t o the "di r ty , coarse
and no t very s t rong ly flavoured Xerkutch salt"60.
26 Consequent upon t h e fo rmat ion of t h e d i s t r i c t of
Balasore, t h e Balasore S a l t Agency f u n c t i o n e d under t h e
charge of t h e ~ i s t r i c t C o l l e c t o r . I n t h e season o f 1836-
37 Balasore Agency produced 3,99,436 maunds and 30 seers
of s a l t which i n c r e a s e d t o 4,94,940 a a u n d s on an average
between 1840-41 t o 1845-46. But t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n of t h e
cheap Liverpool s a l t i n t h e Bengal market f o r c e d t h e S a l t
Agency t o s c a l e down i t s produc t ion i n between 1846-47 and
1851-52 t o an average of 3 ,24,910 maunds . Only when t h e
impor t s of Liverpool s a l t i n c r e a s e d i n 1853-54, t h e Agency
produced a maximum of 6,72,999 maunds i n t h e season of
1 8 5 3 - ~ 4 ~ ' .
The fluctuation i n s a l t production t h e r e a f t e r
con t inued unabated not s o much because of a l a c k of
e n t e r p r i s e on t h e p a r t of t h e S a l t Agency bu t because t h e
C e n t r a l Board of Customs, S a l t and Opium pursued a p o l i c y
of check i n tandem wi th t h e i m p o r t a t i o n of s a l t f rom
Liverpool . T h i s c o l o n i a l p o l i c y cont inued till 1863 when
t h e B r i t i s h I n d i a Government f i n a l l y abo l i shed i t s
monopoly over manufacturing and s a l e of s a l t l e a v l n g t h e
p r i v a t e e n t e r p r i s e i n t h e f i e l d under t h e e x c i s e r u l e s of
Act V I I ( B . C . ) of 1864. But t h e ind igenous s a l t could no
l o n g e r compete w i t h t h e imported s a l t of s u p e r i o r q u a l i t y .
The b r u n t of t h e c o l o n i a l p o l i c y s o e a r n e s t l y pursued
by the 6 o v c m n t which was e v e r w i l l i n g to sacrifice t h e
n economic i n t e r e s t s of t h e count ry i t r u l e d , v a s born by
t h e poor Malangis d i r e c t l y . The MaLangis were a c l a s s of
workers whom t h e S a l t Agency employed on c o n t r a c t b a s i s t o
manufacture s a l t i n i t s Aurangs. The General Census
Report of Bengal ,of 1872 which incorpora ted a g e n e r a l
census of t h e d i s t r i c t of Balsore d i d not r e t u r n e i t h e r
t h e c h u l i a s K 2 o r Malangis a s a c a s t e group. No doubt,
t h e r e f o r e , t h e numerous a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s i n s e a r c h
of jobs a t t h e end of every a g r i c u l t u r a l season used t o
from t h e bulk of t h e Malangis .
A f t e r t h e es tab l i shment of Government monopoly, t h e
s v e l l l n g s a l t i n d u s t r y , t h e economics o f w h l c h remained
beyond t h e Mulangis comprehension and c o n t r o l . kept them
saddled t o t h e monotony of work f o r s u b s i s t e n c e throughout
t h e s a l t manufacturing season. Despite t h e f a c t t h a t t h e
product ion of s a l t boomed t h e Malangis continued t o be
engaged on t h e lowest p o s s i b l e terms. The temporary
r e g u l a t i o n of 1804 had f i x e d 4 annas per maund a s due t o
t h e Malangis . T h i s wage was not favourab le a s t he
Zamlndars made e x o r b i t a n t demand on t h e 1"Ialangis f o r
l e a s i n g s a l t l a n d s and f u e l woods63. A t t h e i n s t a n c e of
t h e S a l t Agent, James King, t h e r e f o r e , t h e payment t o t h e
Mulangis was r a i s e d t o 5.6 annas p e r maund of s a l t . An
agreement w i t h t h e Zamtndars was a l s o reached t o d i s s u a d e
them from e x t o r t i n g t h e Malangis. By this agreement the
Zamindars r e c e i v e d 1 and 1 / 2 annas a s lease-money per-
28 maund on a l l s a l t manufactured within t h e i r es ta tes .
Beaides, the Zamindars a l s o received ce r ta in quant i ty of
s a l t a s khorakee or d i e t allovance f o r t h e i r family
consumption. In the 1820s the payment t o Malangis was
s l i g h t l y ra ised t o 6.4 annas per maund of s a l t .
Occasionally they a l so got 3 annas extra f o r maximising
production. However, the increase meant nothing since the
malangis were asked simultaneously t o pay 15 maunds of
extra s a l t towards the Zamindar's revenue and were a l so
made t o compensate any loss of weight i n s a l t due t o
evaporation by paying Suktee charges64. After continuous
appeals by the Malangis and pleadings of S a l t Agencies on
t h e i r behalf the r a t e was ra ised t o 7 annas per maund i n
1843 but soon enough i t was reverted t o 5 annas i n 1845-
46. The only consideration t o the Malangis was the 3
annas extra per maund of s a l t which they produced i n
excess of the taidad or contract6'.
Scardty and Price Hike
The miserable condition of the Malangis was
matched by the unprecedented hike i n the price of s a l t .
This was c lea r ly co-terminous w i t h the policy of l imited
supply i n t o the domestic market which created a condition
of sca rc i ty .
Whereas, Melville, one of the ~0mmiSSi0ner~ of
Cuttack reported t h a t the pr ice of s a l t could not have
exceeded 5 m a s per; mund during the m a t h a period,
29 i t s p r i c e had been r a i sed t o Rs. 2 i . e . , 32 annas under the
suggestion of James King i n 1 8 0 6 ~ ~ . The p r i ce was f u r t h e r
r a i sed t o Rs.3.4 annas when Charles Becher became the S a l t
Agent. The quantum of s a l t t h a t was allowed t o be so ld i n
the domestic market during Becker's time sus ta ined the
abnormal hike i n p r i ce . In between 1811 and 1816, whereas
according t o a con jec tu ra l es t imate of John Richardson the
D i s t r i c t of Cuttack had 14,62,500 people67. The s a l t
department re leased on an average only 1,51,035 m u n d s of
salt per annum t o the domestic market6'.
Later Walter Ever i n h i s r epor t t o the
Government on the causes of the Paik Rebellion of 1817
un-ambiguously mentioned t h a t the sudden r i s e i n the cos t
of s a l t from 5 t o 6 times i t s former r a t e on the passing
of the Regulation X X I I of 18,14 the s h o r t f a l l i n the
supply of s a l t t o the tune of 2 lakh maunds per annum was
responsib le f o r c r ea t ing s c a r c i t y condit ions c landes t ine
r i s e i n c o s t and ~ r n u g g l i n g ~ ~ .
The Paik Rebellion of 1817 and the consequent
sou l searching on the p a r t of the Company Government had a
sobering e f f e c t i n the sense t h a t throughout 1818 and 1819
s a l t was so ld a t the uniform r a t e of 2 and 1 / 2 rupees per
matand i n the na t ive market and the quan t i ty a l s o increased
t o 2,16,416 m a u n d ~ ' ~ . In '1823, the 3 s a l e g o l a s ( depots
) i n Balasore, Soro and Bhadrak sold s a l t a t the wholesale
r a t 0 of Rs.24 per maund averaging 2,20,000 m u n d s per
JI) annum71. Whereas, the quan t i ty of s a l t thus so ld i n the
Balasore agency s t e a d i l y increased over the years the
wholesale p r i ce remained more or l e s s same. But a f t e r
1850, a t a time when the market f o r Orissa s a l t i n Bengal
vas slackening due t o importation of Liverpool s a l t , the
Company f a c i l i t a t e d p r iva t i za t ion by leaving the supply of
s a l t i n the t e r r i t o r i e s beyond the Aurangas t o t r ade r s .
Out of the 4 Government s a l e s depots i n the d i s t r i c t of
Balasore, 2 s a l e s depots a t Soro and Basta vere a l s o
closed72. T h i s change i n pol icy was t a c t i c a l i n f inding
f o r Liverpool s a l t a way i n t o the Orissa market which
ul t imate ly f in i shed off the native s a l t indust ry .
The economic motive of the Company from the beginning
was t o make maximum p r o f i t from the monopoly over Orissa
s a l t . Out of the huge quan t i ty of s a l t manufactured,
about two-third was exported t o the Government warehouses
a t Sulkia i n the bank of r i v e r Hugli opposite Calcutta.
In 1818-19, 6,13,763 maunds had been exported t o Suikia
f o r publ ic sa le .73. From the Balasore Agency alone, i n
1824, 2,54,563 m u n d s of s a l t were exported by contrac tors
on Government Account a t the r a t e of 16 rupees per 100
maunds t o be so ld a t Calcut ta a t the r a t e of rupees 359, 6
annas and 8 p i e s per 100 maunds7'. In the subsequent
years both t h e export f i g u r e s and the s a l e s pr ice a t
CalCUtta increased s t e a d i l y v h i l e the F e i g h t charges
31 remained varying between a high of Rs.23.8 annas and a lw
of As.12.11 annas 10 pies only75. Considering the net
expenditure which the S a l t Agency incurred i n terms of
paymsnts t o the Malangis, the Zamindars, i t s own s t a f f and
towards the f r e i g h t charges, the p r o f i t t h a t accrued t o
the Government account was enormous. According t o Andrew
S te r l ing , i t gave t o the company a net revenue " fa l l ing a
l i t t l e shor t of 18 lakhs of rupees ann~a l ly" '~ . T h i s
i n i t i a l p r o f i t had tremendously increased t o f e t c h as much
as 39 lakhs of rupees t o the Company Government towards
the end of i t s ru l e .
Efects of Salt Monopoly Uhile Government was appropriat ing enormous p r o f i t s ,
the o r ig ina l producers of the commodity languished a t the
bare minimum subsistence l eve l . ~ e s i d e s , more ~ n ~ 0 n S 0 l i n g
from the point of view of the province was the f a c t t h a t
the huge r e tu rns from the t rade a t Sulkia d id not f i n d i t s
way back t o Orissa. When, f i n a l l y , the Government found
i t expedient t o c lose down the s a l t agency i n February 28,
1863, not only t h a t thousands of workers dependent on the
indust ry l o s t jobs and mounted pressure on land, but the
per iphera l ship-building and other off-season mercantile
a c t i v i t i e s which had revived i n Balasore almost a f t e r a
century's gap a l s o got eclipsed.".
Revenue Adminifitration The e a r l y land revenue pol icy of the Company
Government vas a s much marked by inconsis tencies and
32 ad-hocism. Though the Regulation XI1 of September 5, 1805
s t a r t e d the revenue po l i cy wi th t he avwed ob jec t ives of
ensuring "prosper i ty of t he country" and "happiness of t he
i nhab i t an t s " i n an economy which g rav i t a t ed mostly round
the production, d i s t r i b u t i o n and consumption of r i c e , i n
p rac t i ce i t tendered a t e r r i b l e des t ab l i sh ing e f f e c t on
the whole ag ra r i an system of o r i s s a . As i t became q u i t e
apparent from the s e r i e s of short- term revenue se t t l emen t s
e f f ec t ed between 1804 and 1836, the two important motives
of t he Company Administrat ion was only t o appropr ia te a s
much revenue a s i t could mop up and t o c o n c i l i a t e the
h i t h e r t o land-revenue c o l l e c t i n g c l a s s by making them
p rop r i e to r s of land i n pe rpe tu i ty . I n both the motives,
however, the adminis t ra t ion f a i l e d t o r e a l i s e i t s end-
goals completely.
Rajas Regulation 1 2 of 1805 which included the se t t lement
of land revenue reached by the commissioners p r i o r t o it,
a s i n case of t he Kanika e s t a t e i n Balasore d i s t r i c t ,
f i x e d the q u i t r e n t s of such e s t a t e s i n pe rpe tu i ty . "The
r e s u l t of such a po l i cy was the c r ea t ion a t a p r iv i l eged
and powerful group of Zamlndars i n ~ r i s s a " ~ ~ .
I n course of time these powerful Zamindars assumed
the t i t l e of "Raja" and continued t o draw s p e c i a l
a t t e n t i o n throughout t he B r i t i s h r u l e .
The 1805 r e g u l a t i o n a l s o redeemed t h e e r s t w h i l e
Chandhuris, Kanungoes and Mukaddams who had a l l b u t
e c l i p s e d d u r i n g t h e preceding Maratha r u l e a s a medium
between t h e c u l t i v a t o r and t h e i r sovere ign f o r paying t h e
r e n t s i n t o t h e t r e a s u r y and confer red upon them the
p r o p r i e t a r y r i g h t s over l and i n keeping w i t h t h e Enqlish
concept ion of a Landed estate7 ' . I t e x a l t e d t h e t e n u r e s of
t h e s e f u n c t i o n a r i e s t o a f o o t i n g of d i s t i n c t i o n and
importance which t h e y had never before a t t a i n e d i n t h e
b e s t t imes of t h e n a t i v e governmentB0. Thus, a c l a s s of
l anded a r i s t o c r a c y which was t o t h r i v e l a t e r a s t h e s i n g l e
most i m p o r t a n t prop of c o l o n i a l regime was "manufactured"
i n O r i s s a by t h e " C o l l e c t o r s t r a i n e d i n Bengal ou t of the
m a t e r i a l which t h e y found most r e a d y t o handua1.
Loss of Zamindari by the Oriyas
However incongruous t h e c r e a t i o n of t h e i n s t i t u t i o n
of Zaminders by t h e British i n O r i s s a m i g h t be, t h e
a l i e n a t i o n of Zamindaris from t h e hands of t h e Or iyas due
t o t h e e x a c t i n g n a t u r e of revenue demands by t h e
Government was much more d i s c o n c e r t i n g . While t h e Government i n c r e a s e d i t s revenue demands
over e v e r y s h o r t term s e t t J e m e n t w i t h o u t f i rs t a c q u i r i n g
a c t u a l i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e r e a l a s s e t s of t h e e s t a t e s ,
i t s p o l i c i e s , such a s ( I ) making it compulsory f o r
Bamindars and o t h e r h o l d e r s of l a n d s t o pay revenue by t h e
34 Calcut ta S ~ C C ~ rupee, (ii abandoning the e a r l i e r Mara tha
p r a c t i c e of giving remission f o r the l o s s of crops In
heavy f loads o r severe drought and (iii) introducing the
f a t a l process of the s a l e of e s t a t e s of a higher Jama of
rupees 5,000 o r more a t For t Williams, Calcut ta ,
dispossessed many Oriyas of t h e i r Land and allowed Bengali
specu la to r s t o buy valuable p rope r t i e s a t very low p r i ces .
During the t r i e n n i a l se t t lement of 1805-08 the Noanand
e s t a t e i n Balasore was so ld f o r rupee 5,013/- but was
again so ld up i n 1818 only t o be bought back by the
Government f o r rupee one ". Thus, a t a time when the people were d ishear tenea a t
the cons tant a l t e r a t i o n of revenue and many l e f t t h e i r
e s t a t e s t o be held Khas by the Government, the Col lec tors
e i t h e r managed them through corrupt Tahsildars or farmed
them out t o specula tors who reck-rented the tenants . The
Government kept on dodging the oft-repeated promise of a
permanent se t t lement beginning with the Regulation XI1 of
1805. In a despatch of the 16th June, 1815, the Court of
Direc tors ru led t h a t "there cannot be i n our opinion a
more indefens ib le proceeding than f i n a l l y t o decide on the
r i g h t s of i nd iv idua l s and the i n t e r e s t s of Government i n a
s t a t e of declared ignorance regarding bothna3.
I t was only a f t e r the peasant m i l i t i a of Khurda
r a i s e d the s tandard of r e v o l t i n 1817 t h a t the grievances
of the Qriyaa was brought home t o the authorities i n
35 Calcut ta . Consequently Regulation XI1 of 1822 marked a
change i n t he revenue adminis t ra t ion . I t extended f o r 5
yea r s t h e e x i s t i n g se t t l emen t and s e t f o r t h t he i n t e n t i o n
of t he Government t o a sce r t a in , s e t t l e and record the
r i g h t s , i n t e r e s t s , p r i v i l e g e s and p rope r t i e s of a l l
c l a s s e s . As a r e s u l t of t h i s avocation the S i a r i Es t a t e
i n Balasore could be s e t t l e d by 1831''. During t h i s time
i n response t o a query by the Sadar Board of Revenue, the
Commissioner of Cuttack Stock we l l recommended f o r the
b e n e f i c i a l employment of "the na t ives of r e s p e c t a b i l i t y "
t o perform the se t t lement dutiese5.
F ina l ly , a t the behest of Lord William Bentinck, the
f i r s t d e f i n i t e r u l e s were l a i d down i n the Kequlation of
1833 f o r a long term se t t lement i n Or issa . The work
beginning I n 1837, was succes s fu l ly completed i n 1845 '~ .
A t the end, A.J.M. Mrl l s , the Commissioner of Cuttack
remarked " t h i s g r ea t work was undertaken w i t h f o r hlgher
views than t o improve the exchequer". In h i s es t imat ion ,
"operat ions which have conferred such permanent b less ings
on the people, and w i l l be so b e n e f i c i a l t o Government
from a f i s c a l and j u d i c i a l po in t of view, have not been
dea r ly purcha~ed"~ ' .
Effects of the 30-Yearr' Settlement
(1) Perpetua t ion of Zamindari tenures a t t he expense
of ord inary c u l t i v a t o r s .
36 Though s e c t i o n I V of Regulations V I I of 1822 had
declared t h a t "it was i n no degree the In t en t ion of
Government t o compromise p r iva t e r i g h t s of p r iv i l eges o r
t o r e s t the Sadar Malguzars with any r i g h t s not previously
possessed by them", i n a c t u a l i t y the 30 years se t t lement
allowed a l l these ers twhi le c o l l e c t o r s and payers of
revenue, the r i g h t of f reehold p ropr i e to r s under the more
honor i f i c appe l l a t ion of Zamindar. There were a l toge the r
1388 such Zarmndari e s t a t e s i n Balasore v l t h a maximum
concentrat ion of them i n the southern p a r t of t h e
d i s t r i c t . To meet the high cos t of t h e i r tenures each
Zamindar took recourse " to ge t every scrap of h i s land
under t i l l a g e " and "rack-rent a l l tenants not protec ted by
a r i g h t of o c c ~ ~ a n c ~ " ~ ~ . ~ . ~ . Maddox's " ~ i n a l r epor t on
Survey and Settlement" quotes Mr. Kingsford as repor t ing
t h a t i n the d i s t r i c t of Balasore, where ex t r a - l ega l
co l l ec t ions were endemic, the Zamindars had the propensity
t o Increase the imposit ion of a new cess on the peasantry
which could be at tended w i t h l e s s d i f f i c u l t y than the
enhancement of r e n t s . As f o r the regular demands,
Kingsford c i t e d the following ins tances : ( a ) Road and
Public works cess; (b ) Bisodhani (Payment on the r e c e i p t
of a holding by a t e n a n t ) , ( c ) Bahachina (Marriage due
paid by the parents of the br ide and bridegroom); (d)
Suniabheti (new year acknowledgment of the Zamindar' s
author i ty ; (e)Magan (Payment towards expenses of marriage,
37 funera l , v i l l a g e f a i r s o r e r ec t ion of a shr ine by the
Zamindari); ( f ) Salami/ Najrana (Payment on meetlng the
Zamindar, t o which mostly tenants re turning from Calcut ta
were more r igo rous ly sub jec t ed ) ; (g) Dakhil Kharaj
(mutation) ; ( h ) Tahasil Kharcha (maintenance of Zamindar's
o f f i c i a l ) ; (i) Piyadamani ( f e e s f o r the peon on c a l l ) ; ( j )
Zarimana ( f i n e s f o r p e t t y crimes) ; ( k ) Pathshala Kharcha
(maintenance of dancing g i r l s a t Zamindars r e s idence ) ; (rn)
Rahadarr ( c o s t of sending remittances t o the Treasury
under e s c o r t ) and ( n ) Thani Kharcha (Payment by the thani
r a i y a t f o r subscribing the se rv ices of the Gomasta and
Amin) ".
As a r e s u l t of these numerous abwabs the ac tua l
r a i y a t s were almost always In debt w i t h so much of t h e l r
produce going out everytime the landlord or t he v i l l a g e
usurer swooped down on h im a t harvest trme. No wonder,
therefore , the shop-keepers were " ra ther b e t t e r off than
husband men who held the same pos i t i on i n the s o c i a l
scaleuB9.
The 30 yea r r s a se t t lement of 1837 not only l e f t the
uncul t iva ted and wastelands r en t - f r ee i n the hands of the
Zamindars but a l s o e n t i t l e d them t o a high Malikana
percentage of 35 per cent t o 40 per cent on Sadar Jana if
the revenue was co l l ec t ed d i r e c t l y from the r a i y a t s ; 15
per cen t t o 20 per cent when co l l ec t ed through Mukaddams,
Sarbarahtars o r second c l a s s Kharidadars; . S per cent t o 1 0
38 per cen t when co l l ec t ed through first c l a s s Kharidadars,
and from 15 per cent t o 2.5 per cent even on Lakhiraj
tenures which remained ves ted i n the Government, depending
upon how many hands the co l l ec t ion passed throughso.
Creation of SubZamindari Tenure With High Stake on Land:
In the d i s t r i c t of Balasore, o ther than the Zamindari
tenures, t he re were 86 Mukaddam? tenures, t h e i r a rea being
included wi th in the parent Zamindaris through which they
paid t h e i r revenues. More incongruent were the
Sarbarshkari tenures t o t a l i n g 76 of the heredi tary and 85
of the temporary kinds. R.Hunter, Col lec tor of Cuttack i n
1831 suggested t h a t "the t i t l e Sarbarahkari was applied by
the Zamindars t o d i v e s t Mukadamms of t h e i r o r i g i n a l
s t a t u s f o r an i n f e r i o r and more vague d e ~ i g n a t i o n " ~ ' . As
regards the two c l a s ses of Kharidadars v iz . , li) those who
purchased t h e i r lands from ZamindarslPargana Telukdars
before 14th October 1802 and (ii) those whose who made the
purchase from Vi l lage Mukaddams, the d i s t r i c t had 990 such
tenures a l l wi th in the parent e s t a t e s t o which they were
at tached.
A t the lower rung of t he agrar ian s t r u c t u r e were the
lakhiraj tenures and two kinds of Jegirs i . e . (1)
KhandaitilPaikdli Jegirs, and (2) Sebait Jagirs. The
Brahmins who lived i n Brahottar land forming a Shasen
39 were the main bene f i c i a r i e s of the LaKhi ra j lands. As
regards the K h a n d a i t i J a g i r s i n Balasore, o ther than the
l a rge J a g i r of the C h a n d h a l i K h a n d a i t , which had been made
i n t o a separa te e s t a t e w i t h a revenue of rupees 3411 under
the name of Thunura P a i k a l i J a g i r Ba j y a f t i , the se t t lement
of 1837 recorded 815 of them t o t a l i n g 4,400 acres of
land. Confirmation t o the J a g i r S of such a l a rge number
of K h a n d a i t s (swordsmen) S a r d a r Paiks" ( foo t s o l d i e r s ) and
P a l k s had been given i n an attempt t o use them as a body
of m i l i t a r y pol ice under the d i r e c t con t ro l of the
The S a b a i t J a g i r s were mostly being held by v i l l a g e
servants such as C h a u k i d a r s (Watchmen), Bhandar i (Barber)
Dhoba (washermen), B a r h a i (Carpenter ) , Kamara (Blocksmith)
and Kumbhara ( P o t t e r ) . The land i n possession of these
v i l l a g e servants accounted f o r a t o t a l of 2 ,280 acres of
land i n 1837 se t t lement .
Apart from these j ag i r s , a number of miscellaneous
j a g l r s under the patronage of the Zaminders were a l so
being held by (1) B e t h i a B a u r i (Labourers bound t o render
s e rv i ce vhen ca l l ed upon), ( 2 ) Bha t (Vi l lage ba rds ) , (3)
Nagarda B a j a d a r (drum b e a t e r s ) , ( 4 ) T u r i a Bharang iya
( trumpeters) , ( 5 ) Mohuria S a r a r c h i (F lu t e p layers) , (6)
Manga t jan (dancing g i r l s , ( 7 ) D i h i d a r and Simandar (Keeper
of t he marches), ( 8 ) Gaurs (Vi l lage cov hards ) , (9)
Baishnkbs ( r e l i g i o u s mendicants), (10) A d h i k a r i (head
411 p r i e s t s of temples) , (11) Madhia Brahmans (ceremonial
a s s i s t a n t s ) and (12) Baruas ( a v i l l a g e headman found only
i n north Balasore) .
CWatlng Tenures
The a c t u a l cu l t i va t ing tenures which bore the weight
of the e n t i r e agrar ian e d i f i c e were of two p r inc ipa l
c l a s ses i . e . the thani and the pahi.
The thani or f ixed c u l t i v a t o r held h i s homestead
land r en t - f r ee and paid f o r h i s a rable holding a f ixed
r a t e of r e n t a p a r t from carrylng the burden of a l l ex t r a
abwa Cesses) . Andrew S te r l ing , who was Col lec tor sf
Palasore, s t a t e d i n 1832 t h a t "sometimes the Burden became
s o hedvy, and so f a r outweighed the advantages of a tbarii
raiyat ' s pos i t i on t h a t many of them were driven t o give up
t h e l r l o c a l habi ta t ion and name and became pahi r a i y a t s i n
places where the condit ion of l i f e were l e s s
b~rdenso rne"~~ . The 30 years se t t lement of 2 8 3 7 granted
p a t t a t o the thani c u l t i v a t o r but d id not ameliorate h i s
condition. Commissioner Mil l s candidly admitted i n 1847
t h a t w i t h pressure of population s t e a d i l y increas ing on
land, the thani patta became marketable ~ommodity'~. In
times of d i s t r e s s , the thani c u l t i v a t o r of ten resor ted t o
s e l l h i s ' p a t t a r t o persons who were wi l l i ng t o pay 3
pr i ce f o r such r i g h t a s t he t r a n s f e r might qive them. I n
Balasore, ou t of the 836 average number of t r a n s f e r s per
annum, 45 were bought by Mahajdns (money &piers ) , 139 by
41 zamindars, 453 by p ropr i e t a ry tenure holders, 136 by
r a i y a t s and 63 by othersg5.
Pahl r a i y a t s , o r i g i n a l l y meant non--resident peasants
c u l t i v a t i n g lands i n v i l l a g e s o the r than t h e i r own. I n
course of time the term came t o be used f o r a l l lands t h a t
were ne i the r thani nor pr iv i leged. Henry Rickettes, the
Col lec tor of Balasore wrote i n r e p l y t o the quer ies of the
Board of Revenue i n 1831 t h a t i n Balasore i n t e r change of
p a t t a s and Kabuliyats was very r a r e w i t h any c l a s s of
r a i y a t s , but i n p r a c t i c e pah i r a i y a t s f r equen t ly held f o r
years a t an unvarying r e n t , and t h a t s e l f - i n t e r e s t
prevented undue exaction on the p a r t of the land lord ,
though no length of possession was considered t o confer
any r i g h t of occupancy and when the land was wanted by a
thani and Pahi tenant had t o give i t up96.
A s regards the Pahi r i g h t s , the 1837 se t t lement l a i d
down t h a t "Pat tas should never be given by the assessing
o f f i c e r t o Pahi cu l t i va to r " as "such a proceeding
necessar i ly c r e a t e a f a l s e and mischievous impression of a
r i g h t of o c c u p a n ~ y " ~ ~ . Thus the se t t lement l e f t the grea t
mass of Pahi c u l t i v a t o r s r i g h t l e s s and the whole of Pahi
land v i r t u a l l y i n charge of t he Zamindars.
A c t X of 1859 introduced the new method of
recognising the r i g h t of Pahi . r a i y a t s who had held t h e i r
lands continuously f o r 12 yea r s , but a s i t was observed
i n Balasore, t h e r a i y a t s were e i t h e r i g ~ o r a n t of t h e i r
42 r i g h t o r were not s t rong enough t o ge t them enforcedm.
The poorer Pahi r a i y a t , of course, was no more than a mere
tenant -a t -wi l l . I n Balasore, the 1837 se t t lement recorded
the area under such holding t o be 219,000 acres, which due
t o machinations of the Zamindars t o increase t h e i r a rea of
nichas , grew tremendously i n subsequent years .
Chandinadars belonging t o the TeLi, Bania and o ther
a r t i s a n and labouring cas t e s who had no arable land, paid
r e n t f o r home-stead holdings only. The term implied
i n f e r i o r i t y , a s on t h i s c l a s s f e l l the obl iga t ion of
supplying forced labour o r postage when required by any
Government o f f i c i a lg9 .
On the whole, the revenue pol icy of the B r i t i s h
adminis t ra t ion ensured a miserable existence f o r the
numerous c u l t i v a t o r s and crea ted a pyramidal s t r u c t u r e of
pr iv i leged ca t egor i e s on them who thr ived and acquired
hlgher socio-economic s t a t u s a t the c o s t of the former.
The 30 years se t t lement helped the rapid expansion i n
c u l t i v a t i o n and the consequent growth i n the production of
r i c e vhich found an easy way out of the d i s t r i c t .
Balasore being a maritime d i s t r i c t possessing 7 po r t s
which vere o r i g i n a l l y cons t i t u t ed by a Specia l Act of
1858, accounted f o r most export of r i c e through the sea
routes . Out af t h i s export, Calcut ta a lone had a whopping
43 share of 98.5 per cent. On land, the export of r i c e from
Balasore a l s o headed towards Bengal through the Trunk
road. The mart of Banghal near Contai i n Midnapur vas the
p r inc ipa l emporium sought by the in land t r a f f i c loo . The
na tu ra l bene f i c i a r i e s of this burgeoning trade vere the
~ r i t i s h Government i n the first place and the Zamindars
and t r ade r s i n t h a t order. contrary t o the claims of the
D i s t r i c t c o l l e c t o r t h a t the export added " to the wealth
and t o the general resources of the country", ~t pushed
the economy and the people of the d i s t r i c t unre t r ievably
i n t o the t r a p of the metro-centric colonia l economy.
Neglect of the Social Sector
The co lon ia l government while i t concentrated i n
fu r the r ing i t s economic i n t e r e s t s , thoroughly neglected
the s o c i a l s ec to r . The enormous co l l ec t ion of revenue vas
not correspondingly invested i n education, publ ic work,
and heal th care even i n i t s f r ac t ion . Resultingly, the
soc ie ty remained entrenched i n i t s medieval s o c i a l psyche
whereas ou t s ide r s mainly from Bengal took the advantage of
the opening up of the governmental s ec to r f o r jobs as
amlas. Not u n t i l the all-devouring famine, the
administrat ion thought se r ious ly about co-opting any
sect ion of the l a rge r Oriya socie ty .
Af ter the Br i t i sh conquest of Orissa the i n i t i a l
at tempts t o w r i t e her h i s to ry had been undertaken by the
46 scholar -adminis t ra tors of the East xndia company. T h i s
had p a r t l y been necess i ta ted by the pains of gwernance
vhich the company faced i n the e a r l y decades of i ts r u l e
over a comparatively "unsett led" country10'. The f irst
adminis t ra tor t o take up the task was Andrew S te r l inq . He
had associa ted himself i n var ious capac i t i e s w i t h the
e a r l y adminis t ra t ion of o r i s s a and hence had evinced keen
i n t e r e s t i n studying the complicated i s sues of revenue
adminis t ra t ion i n depth. His book, AII Account of cu t t ack
o r Orissa proper published from London i n 1841, opened up
avenues of research i n geographical, h i s t o r i c a l and
s t a t i s t i c a l aspects of Orissa. John Beames' Memoir o f a
Bengal C iv i l i an , (London 1961), was the second work on
Orissa of t h i s genre. But more pe r t inen t from the point
of view of the present t h e s i s i s h i s note on The h i s t o r y
of Orissa under the Mohammed, Marathas and English r u l e
which he had wr i t t en a s Chapter I1 of a Manual of the
d l s t r i c t of Balasore where he was Col lec tor from 1869 t o
1873. But unfor tunate ly the note ends abrupt ly w i t h a
na r r a t ive upto 1828 "due t o the most unfortunate l o s s of
the concluding pages of Beames manuscript v h i l e passing
through the presa"102. Around the same time William Wilson
Hunter wrote comprehensively about o r i s s a i n h i s The
Annals of Rural Benqal: and published them i n two volumes
from Calcut ta i n 1872 unde r . t he t i t l e , Orissa o r the
Vic i s s i tudes of an Indian Province under Native and
45 ~ r i t i s h Rule. I t was by f a r t h e most s y s t e m a t i c work on
contemporary O r i s s a . Coupled w i t h h i s , A S t a t i s t i c a l
Account o f Bengal. The D i s t r i c t s o f P u r i , Cut tack and
Balasore W.W. Hunter ' s work i n a sense l a i d t h e b a s i s f o r
f u t u r e h i s t o r i a n s t o f u r t h e r t h e i r h i s t o r i c a l
i n v e s t i g a t i o n . I n 1873 t h e Commissioner of O r i s s a of t h e
cime, George Toynbee c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h i s e a r l y endeavour
by p u b l i s h i n g A s k e t c h o f t h e H i s t o r y o f Or i ssa , 1803-lE28
from C a l c u t t a . I t i s t o t h i s work of Toynbee t h a t
subsequent r e s e a r c h e r s owe a g r e a t d e a l f o r render ing a
c r l t i c a l a p p r a i s a l of t h e British occupat ion of t h e
p rov ince , t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ' s measures t o suppress the
s a r l y popula r u p r i s i n g s and ~ t s c i v i l and revenue
a d m i n i s t r a t i o n up t o 1828. E a r l i e r , Commissioner Henry
R i c k e t t e f s Report on t h e D i s t r i c t o f Pooree and Balasore,
a l s o publ i shed from C a l c u t t a i n 1859, which a c t u a l l y
formed p a r t of t h e Records o f t h e Government o f Bengal,
No.XXX, had i n c o r p o r a t e d enough in format ion on t h e s t a t e
of company a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i n both t h e d i s t r i c t s .
Barr ing t h e s e p i o n e e r s who had been s i n g u l a r l y
anlmated by a sense of purpose, a h o s t of o t h e r Br i tons
a l s o , c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h i s nascen t body of H i s t o r i c a l
l i t e r a t u r e on O r i s s a by w r i t i n g t h e i r memoirs and
monographs. Cap. S.C. Macpherson (1842) and Maj. John
Campbell added dimensions t o 1 9 t h c e n t u r y Or i ssan
h i s t o r i o g r a p h y by p u t t i n g a c r o s s t h e i r mj-l?tary exploit!!
46 i n t h e Khond l a n d wherein t h e y d e s c r i b e d t h e s o c i a l
customs of t h e (19 th c e n t u r y ) Khonds of hlgh land
~ r i s s a ' ~ ' . W.F.B. Laurie , J . J. Feggs and Amos Button v r o t e
t h e i r brand of h i s t o r i c a l t r e a t i s e s d i s p a r a g i n g t h e
ind igenous s o c i o - r e l i g i o u s i n s t i t u t i o n s of O r i s s a . The i r
works p r i m a r i l y focused on t h e spread of C h r i s t i a n
miss ionary a c t i v i t i e s i n t h e provincelo4.
So f a r a s t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h i s genre i s
concerned, t h e twin o b j e c t i v e of (i) p e r p e t u a t i n g t h e myth
of t h e benevolence and s u p e r i o r i t y of B r i t i s h
a d m i n i s t r a t i o n over p rev ious d e s p o t i c r u l e of n a t i v e
t y r a n t s and (ii) bequeathing a dependable c h r o n i c l e of t h e
p a s t f o r f u t u r e a d m i n i s t r a t o r s t o b u i l d upon i t t h e
c o l o n i a l s u p e r s t r u c t u r e , i s writ l a r g e i n a l l t h e s e
accounts . No doubt , t h e r e was an element of s h e e r
c u r i o s i t y i n knoving t h e s o - c a l l e d terra incognita about a
newly conquered t e r r i t o r y and i t s people. But t h e v e r y
s u b j e c t i v e n a t u r e of t h e q u e s t p u t t h e company h i s t o r i a n s
i n a bind of t h e t i n g e d popula r t r a d i t i o n s and anecdotes .
I t was obvious, t h e r e f o r e , f o r one w r i t e r t o f i n d
" inaccurac ies" i n t h e "account" of anotherIo5.
However, i n between them t h e s e w r i t e r s c r e a t e d an
atmosphere of h i s t o r i c a l avareness v h e r s t h e n a t i o n a l i s t
school of h i s t o r i o g r a p h y found i t s most f e r t i l e ground.
I n i t i a l l y t h e r e was an approach of swimming along
w i t h t h e c u r r e n t . As early a s 1869 and 1870 when
41 ~akirmohan wrote from Balasore i n o r iya me History of
I n d i a i n two volumes 'it matched the broad ou t l ine of the
c o l o n i a l i s t ' s perception of Indian ist tor^"'^^. gut i t
was a l s o the time when the emergent c r ea t ive
i n t e l l i g e n t s i a i n Or issa was imbued w i t h the idea of
e levat ing the Oriyas t o be worthy of a d i s t i n c t p o l i t i c a l
i d e n t i t y . This purpose was amply demonstrated i n the
works of Pyarimohan Acharya, Krupasindhu Mishra and
Jagabandhu Singh, a l l of whom Wrote i n Oriya about the
h i s to ry of Orissa f o r School s tudents and general public
alike1''. There was a pre-planned but admirable endeavour
on the p a r t of these e a r l y n a t i o n a l i s t scholars to
disseminate t h e i r knowledge among the people of ~ r i s s a ' ~ ~ .
Under such circumstances, not su rp r i s ing ly , the h i s to ry
they wrote was a l s o churned out of innumerable native
t r a d i t i o n s and was r e p l e t e w i t h the ideas of in tense
nationalism and phi losophica l p red i l ec t ions .
In the post-independence period, Orissan h i s to ry
found the t r u e idiom of modern historiography. The task
was g r e a t l y f a c i l i t a t e d by the c o l l e c t i o n of var ious
source mater ia ls by the Orissa S t a t e Museum and Archives
i n Bhubaneswar. Specia l ly , during the l a s t two decades of
the present century a number of scholars l i k e H . K .
Mahatab, B . C . Ray, K.C. Jena, . K.M. Patra , J . K . Samal,
B.S. Das, N.K. Sahu, G.C. PattanaikJena , P. K. Mishra, P .
C . Das, N: #. J i t ew., have considerably enhanced the
I q u a l i t y and content of 19th-20th century Orissan
historiography by undertaking spec ia l i sed research on the
p o l i t i c a l , economic, c u l t u r a l and adminis t ra t ive h i s to ry
of Orissa.
However, not much se r ious work has been undertaken on
the s o c i a l h i s to ry of this period. The only scholars who
can be sa id t o have made some contr ibut ion i n t h i s area
are F.G. Bailey, L.K. Mahapatra and Vidyananda Patnaik . Bailey's works include, Pol i t i c s and Social change i n
orissa i n 1959, (Barkeley: 1963) and 'Tribe, Caste end
Nation: A Study of Poli t ical Ac t i v i t y and Change i n
Highland Orissa (Manchester; 1 9 6 0 ) . In a sense, i t vas
Balley who s e t of f the process of systematic discourse on
Orissan soc ie ty i n academic parlance. Since then a good
deal of s tud ies i n the form of research a r t l c l e s have
appeared i n d i f f e r e n t academic a s well as non-academic
journals. Scholars in terspersed over a v a r i e t y of
d i s c i p l i n e s have contr ibute i n t h e i r own way t o i l lumine
the var ious f a c e t s of modern Orissan soc ie ty . But
cons t r i c t ed a s these a re i n scope and area covered, the
s tud ies have not c r y s t a l l i s e d i n t o standard works.
Paucity of research on Socia l His tory of Orissa i s
one reason t h a t prompted me t o undertake the present work
on Boolrl Stuti f icutiau rPd QIllngc in Cbl- and Past-
aOZopirZ oxima: d - atb q e d A zyfmmwe to the
49 &striot of m o r e s , 1865-1965. The o t h e r reason i s t h e
t y p i c a l exper ience of O r i s s a borne o u t of experiments
under l o c a l c o n d i t i o n s by t h e B r i t i s h regime t h a t makes
t h e vork s o p e r t i n e n t .
Known a s t h e "Lover Bengal Province" under t h e B r i t i s h r u l e , t h e t h r e e c o a s t a l d i s t r i c t s of Balasore,
Cut tack and P u r i , " the home of t h e Oriya race", formed a
more o r l e s s homogeneous u n i t l W . The h i s t o r y of t h i s u n i t
was not q u i t e far-removed from each o t h e r . Never the less ,
the d i s t r i c t of Ba lasore had some added f e d t u r e s . S ince
t h e e a r l y decade of 1 7 t h c e n t u r y t h e d i s t r i c t had provided
impor tan t opening t o European t r a d i n g companies i n t o t h e
e a s t e r n zone of t h e I n d i a n sub-cont inen t . T i l l t h e second
h a l f of t h e 1 8 t h c e n t u r y when t h e pre -emnence of Balasore
d e c l i n e d due t o t h e s h i f t i n g of t h e Engl i sh Eas t I n d i a
rompany's t r a d l n g concerns t o Hugli and C a l c u t t a ~t
remained t h e hub of manufacturing and b u s i n e s s a c t i v i t i e s .
.A port- town Balasore was, t h e r e f o r e , t h e f i r s t t o
exper ience t h e impact of wes te rn commercial i n t e r e s t s on
O r i s s a l c o a s t . I n view of i t s geographica l l o c a t i o n t h e
d i s t r i c t a l s o wi tnessed s u b s t a n t i a l i n and o u t migra t ion
of people dur ing t h e c o l o n i a l p e r i o d . Besides, i t s
prox i rmty t o Bengal made i t t h e c o c k p i t of s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l
resurgence i n O r i s s a d u r i n g t h e 1 9 t h and 20th c e n t u r i e s .
Put t o g e t h e r , t h e s e f e a t u r e s p rov ided f o r me possibilities
f o r a s t u d y o f s o c i a l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n a*. ch-4 of t h i s
d i s t r i c t d u r i n g t h e c o l o n i a l p e r i o d . i ' - i
1 "\ %. .., s. . B
50 Periodira tion
The decis ion of spreading the t o p i c over a century
betveen 1865 and 1965 has p o l l t i c a l and s o c l a l
s ign i f i cance . Although o r i s s a came under co lon ia l
occupation i n 1803, y e t 1865 marked the r e a l turning point
i n her h i s to ry . The change i n the t a c t of co lon ia l
adminis t ra t ion and the growth of a middle c l a s s
i n t e i l i g e n t s i a i n the aftermath of the devas ta t ing famine
of 1866 which devoured almost one t h i r d of the t o t a l
population of c o a s t a l ~ r i s s a , heralded a period of
momentous s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l process. That process p a r t i a l l y
culminated on 1st Apr i l 1936 when o r i s s a was made l n t o a
separa te l i n g u i s t i c province i n Br i t i sh- India . Thereaf ter
n r i s s a marked the beginning of another phase of socio-
p o l i t i c a l and economic transformation which only took a
d e f i n i t i v e and cognisable shape i n the post-independence
era . E lec to ra l p o l i t i c s and state-sponsored development
economics broadly charac ter i sed this phase of
transformation. Q u a l i t a t i v e l y therefore , t h i s period stood
out i n sharp c o n t r a s t i n the pre-independent c o l o n i a l
experience. Hence, i n order t o have wider perspect ive on
both t h e c o l o n i a l and pos t -colonia l s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e I
considered i t prudent t o incorpora te the first tvo f i v e
year plan per iods i n my study terminating v i t h 1965.
Scope of Study
As regards approach, the present study has the
compulsion of not conforming e n t i r e l y t o the empirical
module a s i s the standard norm i n socio-anthropological
researches. Primarily h i s t o r i c a l i n i t s or ienta t ion, the
work t r i e s t o analyse the transformation of Orissan
soc ie ty a t large and Balasore i n pa r t i cu la r i n two phases
i . e . colonial and post-colonial . In other words, i n the
first ins tance my study i s an exploration i n t o the journey
of Orissan soc ie ty from the pre-colonial t o the colonial
strangle-hold which mired by the visage of an a l i en
administrative system nei ther subscribed t o the native
e t h i c a l norms nor a l l w e d the f u l l - f l w e r i n g of soc ia l
personality of the people . Secondly, the study deals
w i t h the transformation of the colonial socie ty i n t o a
soc io -po l i t i ca l ly conscious one which was made possible on
account of a f r e s h agglomeration of cas te and c lass groups
I n response t o the colonial ru le on the one hand and the
growth of a renaissance s p i r i t on the other. Finally, the
thes i s focuses on the post-colonial independent socie ty t o
take stock of the gains of the cherished goals of
independence. In t h i s work, therefore, no necessity has
ar isen t o take a broadside against the well-accounted
p o l i t i c a l h i s to ry of the time. The e f f o r t r a the r has
concentrated on fb s o c i a l map v i t h its&anging contours
52 i n c l e a r harmony vi t h the development af p o l i t i c a l
history.
The sources f o r t h i s work a re ample and may be
categorised as under.
(1) The publirhed and unpublirhed government
~oorda, r a p r t r and monograph#: Amonq these, the
'reports of the Commission appointed t o inquire i n t o the
famine of Bengal and Orissa i n 1866", "annual general
administration repor ts of the Orissa division", "reports
of the Commissioner appointed t o inquire i n t o ce r ta in
matters i n connection w i t h the Orissa canal" " f ina l repor t
on the survey and sett lement on the province of Orissa,
1892 t o 1900"; 'annual repor ts on the survey, and
sett lement of the province of Orissa", Bihar and Orisra
Qovemmmt rooordr i n the form of "review of the
administration and development of the province of Orissa";
"reports on the working of the municipality and other
loca l se l f government"; CWmrnmnt of Orirra, "History of
services of Gazetted and other officers", "annual and
quinquennial r epor t on the progress of education i n
Orissa"; and, awQllr#nt of Yldrrr "report on the
manufacture of s a l t system and .administration of s a l t
revenue of Balasore, Cuttack and Puri d i s t r i c t s " are
important. These along w i t h other re levant - records I have
It consulted a t the National Archives and Library, Nev Delhi
and the Orissa S ta te Archives and Library, Bhubaneswar.
The Original administrative papers copies of which
are i n p 0 ~ 3 e ~ s l o n of the West Bengal Gwernment Record
Room pertaining t o the correspondence between the loca l
administrators and cen t ra l administration a t Calcutta have
been widely consulted by scholars t o reconstruct the
administrative and economic his tory of colonial Orizsa. I
have adopted some of the conclusions arrived a t by these
scholars a s basic accepted hypotheses t o analyse f o r
myself t h e i r s o c i a l implications.
( 2 ) Qarettaarr, Csnrur Rspartr; Carts and T r i b e
r tud ie r . The Orissa Division Gazetteer published i n the
Provincial s e r i e s of the Imperial Gazetteer of India,
1905; the Balasore D i s t r i c t Gazetteers published i n the
Bengal D i s t r i c t Gazetteer s e r i e s of 1907 as a l s o by the
Bihar and Orissa Government i n 1915 from Patna along w l t h
the decenial census repor ts published s ince 1881 and
various cas te and t r i b e s tudies done under the auspices of
the Anthropological Survey of lndiano a s well as by the
individual s o c i a l a n t h r ~ ~ o l o g i s t s ' ~ ' have enabled me t o
reconstruct the demographic e r a f i l e of the d i s t r i c t of
Balasore i n betveen 1865 and 1965. Besides, I have
b e n o f i t u from t%e archival records which have furnished
54 me with the d e t a i l s of administrative measures undertaken
and o f f i c i a l view expressed on the native socie ty of
o r i sea during the high-noon of colonialism.
Since the second half of the 19th century, Orissa
witnessed a spur t i n the publication of a large number of
Journals and newspapers which re len t l ess ly chronicled the
soc io -po l i t i ca l and economic l i f e of the people w i t h
dex te r i ty and zeal. Among newspapers The Samaj, The
Pra j a tantra; among periodicals, Otkala Dipika, Lltkala
Putra. The Mouyurbhan j Chronicle, lulukura, Bodhadayini ebam
Baleshwara Sambada Bahika, Sambada Kaumudi e tc . , vere
prominent. But only some of these valuable works which
are preserved i n the 'Utkala ~ a h i t y a Samaj' a t Cuttack and
the Orissa S ta te Acchives, Bhubaneswar have enabled me t o
recapture the native perception of contemporary socie ty
and times. My e f fo r t has consis tent ly been t o pick on
both o f f i c i a l records and contemporary publications f o r a
c lea re r understanding of the s o c i a l dynamics of the
period.
(4 ) Autobiographies, Biographies and Literary
Works of oriya amative writers:
The v~luminous works of contemporary literatures
provide an extension of the pic ture t h a t i s p a r t i a l l y
gleaned froln the per iodicals and newspapers. In history
U there already e x i s t s a t r a d i t i o n of biographical approach
f o r h i s t o r i c a l reconstruction. I t has been accepted as a
dependable aathod especia l ly while redrawing the soc ia l
p o r t r a i t . I n the context of colonial Orissa the yearning of the
leaders f o r freedom from the colonial yoke and t h e i r
e f f o r t t o rejuvenate the socie ty i n t h a t process have
found a palpable depiction i n the creat ive l i t e r a t u r e of
the period.
T h i s c r e a t i v i t y his tory stands testimony t o the f a c t
tha t when soc ie ty was gasping against colonial challenges
and l i f e sulking under duress, leaders coming from a
cross-section of socie ty metamorphosed i n t o inspired
writers. There was no time nor did they have the
inc l ina t ion t o indulge i n ideological luxury. Their e f f o r t
was so le ly focused on the a l l ev ia t ion of human s p i r i t by
ref lect ing the soc ia l pangs and aspira t ions of the time.
I t was not an exercise i n one-up-manship nor was
there v i s i b l e any d i a t r i b e against the colonial regime i n
the contemporary c rea t ive l i t e r a t u r e .
The autobiography of ~akirmohan senapati'12,
Godavarish ~ishra" ' , Milakantha as"', Harekrishna
Mahatabns; the biographies of Madhusudan as"^, Gopabandhu
Chaudhury"' and the col lected works of these leaders and
several other v r i t e r s provide an innate impression on
t h e i r times.
Along v i t h the population prof i le recorded i n the
post-independence census repor ts , the s t a t e and d i s t r i c t
Gazetteers, s t a t i s t i c a l repor ts and reviews of the Five
Year Plans which have been published by the Government of
o r i s s a as public documents, have provided me v i t h the
essen t i a l mater ia l f o r evaluating the post-independence
soc ia l scenario.
(6) Lastly, f o r proper appreciation of the soc ia l
dyanmics I have had discussions and interviews w i t h a
cross-section of inhabi tants i n the d i s t r i c t of Balasore.
T h i s exercise has enabled me t o put my research i n r i g h t
perspective a s many of the inhabi tants both l i t e r a t e and
i l l i t e r a t e interviewed by me a re themselves the l iv ing
witness t o the s o c i a l drama t h a t took place i n the f i r s t
half of the 20th century Orissa.
C U P T E N B A T I O I
T h i s t h e s i s i s organised i n s i x chapters.
In the Introduotion I have made an attempt t o t r ace
the his tory of Balasore since ancient times till 1865
along with broad p o l i t i c a l l ines . Without embroiling the
narra t ive i n any controversy I have l a i d emphasis on the
socio-cul tural aspect of h i a t o d c a l progression which
formed the bas i s for the consolidation of Orissan soc ia l
s t ruc tus r during the medieval period. After 1803 an
9 ent i re ly nev epoch s ta r ted i n the history of Orissa. Here I have t r i ed t o shw how the exploitative at t i tude
inherent i n the colonial system of governance brought
about s ignif icant changes i n the pre-colonial social
structure. An accentuation of c lass i n t e r e s t was i ts
d i rec t consequence. Besides, I have reviewed of the 19th
and 2 0 t h century h i s tor ica l l i t e r a tu r e pertaining t o
Orissa and also indicated the scope, the rationale of
periodisation and the various sources of nry present
research.
In the second chapter, goaial S t ra t i f iea t ion i n
Balaroro i n Ilocio-Hirtorioal Perspmotiw, I have made an
endeavour t o present the geographical and the demographic
profi le of the d i s t r i c t mainly on the basis of the
findings of the decennial censusr and various settlement
reports. Here caste has been adopted as the basic
component of soc ia l s t ructure w i t h i t s s t a t i c and dynamic
character is t ics . Besides, other variables of
s t r a t i f i c a t i on have been analysed t o outline the
inequi t ies which developed between different s t r a t a i n the
post-famine period of Orissan society. The chapter a lso
takes i n t o account the basis of caste-tribe interact ion i n
the d i s t r i c t af Balasore which evidently formalised the
process af acculturisation among some t r i b a l groups. The
c d n g of the Bri t ish brought along missionaries and a new
class of non-oriya i d g r a n t s i n to Orissa. - In t h i s
s context the chapter seeks t o f ind out the placement of
t h i s nev c lass of non-Oriya immigrants i n the Orissan
society, who came i n t o the d i s t r i c t a f t e r colonial
occupation and the ac t i v i t i e s of the missionaries who
exerted great influence on the native society. Finally,
the chapter reviews the overall social condition of the
d i s t r i c t within the larger framework of the Orissan
society.
The Third chapter, The Years of Transformation: 1865
t o 1947 revievs the various exogenous forces that brought
about a dynamic social change i n the d i s t r i c t of Balasore
as also i n the whole of Orissa. The period was
part icular ly s ignif icant on tvo counts. F i r s t , because of
the cumulative r e su l t of w e r a century's mal-
administration Orissa suffered grivously i n the great
famine of 1865-66. The chapter reviews the long run up t o
the Famine and both the B r i t i s h as well as the native
at t i tude towards t h i s great calamity i n order t o lend
focus on the post-famine period of change. Secondly, the
chapter evaluates the measures tha t the guilt-stricken
administration took t o ameliorate the s i tuat ion a f te r
1866.
From the s ide of the administration a number of
measures l i ke the introduction af the mass mans of
communication, creation of def in i te r igh ts f o r tenants on
land, i n i t i a t i o n of the people i n t o English education,
4D s e t t i n g up of law courts and health service f a c i l i t i e s ,
a l l i n the aftermath of the great famine of 1866, breached
the comparative i s o l a t i o n of the Orissan society.
HoUeVer, everything t h a t the colonial administration
effected vas not i n the best i n t e r e s t of the people.
Measures such as the incentives given t o foreign products
a t the cos t of the domestic industry and enterpr ise ,
increasing commercialisation of loca l economy adversely
affect ing the the people, allowing the immigrant o f f i c i a l
c l ass t o create a ring of sub-colonial strangle-hold
e tc . , thus created conditions f o r the Orissan socie ty t o
respond i n equal measure. The tremendous growth of socio-
p o l i t i c a l consciousness i n the Orissan socie ty soon enough
culminated i n a p o l i t i c a l movement f o r the amalgamation of
a l l scat tered Oriya-speaking areas i n t o a separate
province. Thus the chapter along w i t h chapter four t r i e s
t o see soc ia l change through t h i s d i a l e c t i c of colonial
i n t e r e s t s versus native response.
The Fourth Chapter L i t e ra tu re , Soaio-Politfoal
Conroiournarr, and Change deals with the indigenous fo rces
of s o c i a l change which Orissa witnessed during the period
under review. The whole chapter is divided i n t o three
major sect ions . The first sect ion deals w i t h the e ~ l y
attempts of s o c i a l r e fo rm through. the r i s e of Mahim c u l t
and the spread of Brahmo movement i n Orissa. This sec t ion
a l so deals with. t+e upsurge of crea t ive i n t e l l e c t u a l
6u a c t i v i t y during the second half of the 19th century.
Graving out of the Oriya language nwernent, t h i s creat ive
phenomenon not only gave b i r t h t o the native press but
a lso produced a large body of vernacular l i t e r a t u r e vhich
ref lected copiously the contemporary soc ia l secnario a s
well a s the emerging aspira t ions of the various soc ia l
c lasses . his phase was spread out between 1965 and 1905.
The second sect ion encompasses the phase of in tense
soc io -po l i t i ca l a c t i v i t y b u i l t over the foundations l a i d
during the preceding decades. T h i s phase s t a r t e d more
accurately i n 1903 w i t h the formation of the Utkal
SamgLilani and continued well i n t o the 1930s. The most
s ign i f i can t achievement of t h i s phase was the formation of
Orissa i n t o a separate l i n g u i s t i c province i n 1936. Apart
from t h i s overa l l p o l i t i c a l achievement, the movement f o r
in tegrat ion of the sca t t e red Oriya speaking areas i n t o a
separate administrative u n i t a l s o brought t o l i g h t the
inherent c l a s s contradictions t h a t had grown i n the 1 9 t h -
2 0 t h century or issan socie ty .
The t h i r d sect ion dea l s w i t h the phase which may be
traced appreciably t o the beginning of the 1920s. T h i s
phase saw the merger of Orissa 's p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t y with
the mainstream of nat ional freedom st ruggle i n a more
symbiotic manner and continued upto 1947 when the country
won indepdence. In between, however, Orissa experienced
the e f f e c t s of the constructive p r o g r a m s of the Gandhian
61 movement and the po l i c ies of the native Governments which
were formed s ince 1937 i n the separate province of Orissa
under the provision of the Government of India Act, 1935.
The conf l ic t ing c lass i n t e r e s t which had surfaced during
the Orissa unif icat ion movement were ref lected fo rce fu l ly
during t h i s phase i n what may be cal led factionalism
within the congress and s t ruggle f o r o f f i ce between the
congress and other p o l i t i c a l formations.
The chapter t r i e s t o recapture the f a c t s of a l l the
three phases and analyse t h e i r impact from the point of
viev of s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i n the 1 9 t h and 2 0 t h century
Orissan society.
The F i f th chapter, Indspsndenae and Mter endeavours
t o analyse the post-colonial s o c i a l matrix. I t has t o be
noted t h a t the post-independence years were momentous f o r
the whole of India as a l so f o r Orissa. Specially, t h i s
period marked the beginning of a new era of planned
economy based on the themes of poverty a l l ev ia t ion and
development. The system of parliamentary democracy
introduced universal adul t f ranchise and gave each Indian
a sense of dign i ty and scope f o r pa r t i c ipa t ion i n the
nation building process. T h i s initiated a process of
soc ia l transf omation by f a c i l i t a t i n g int ra-regional
Q democratic pol i t ics . Under the guidance of the Directive
~ r i n c i p l r s of the State policy the Government also
introduced various social lengis lat ions which contributed
t o the gradual transformation of the society. In t h i s
context, a c loser scrut iny of the development po l i t i cs
makes one t o ask a few questions. Did a l l these measures
break the strangle-hold of the colonial social s t ructure ?
If yes, then how and i f no, then why ? T h i s chapter
s t r ives t o f ind answers t o these questions.
I n the Sixth and concluding chapter, my findings
regarding the impact of change on the general condition of
the d i s t r i c t i n par t icular and the society of Orissa i n
general has been discussed.
I m p r i a l Gazetteer af India (Provincial s e r i e s ) ,Bengal:CRriur. Wdaiap, ~01.11~1905, P . 276. W.W. Hunter, A Bt.tisticul baormt of Barrgrl: me Llirtdcrtr af Porf, mtt.d: and 811.rron, Vo1.18, Calcutta: 1877, P . 247. Imperial Gazetteer, Op.cit., P. 275-74. Sushi1 Chandra De, "Po l i t i ca l History of the Balasore District through Ages (Ancient Period)" i n anCulturalJieritagemdfClstoryof B.lrsars, District Office, Balasore; 25 and 26th January, 1981,P.9. Cazeetteer of the Balasore D i s t r i c t (Bengal D i s t r i c t Gazetteer S e r i e s ) , Calcutta: 1907, P .19 . Ibid., P . l O . Ibid.. P . l O . Ibid.. P.lO.
Ha tig~ngDha Inscr ipt ion of maravela i n the Udaigiri H i l l near Bhubaneswar, 1st Century, B.C. Bhadrak Stone Inscr ipt ion, 3rd Century, A . D . Gazetteer of the Balasore D i s t r i c t , Op.cit . , P . 2 1 . K.C. Panigrahi, Eistoq of missa: aYmdn Period, Cuttack: Kitab nahal, 1981, P.70. Ibid . , P.81. A.C. Pradhan, d 8 ~ o f I f i s t o q o f Bhubaneswar: Panchashila, 1985, P.53. Ibid., P.68. K.C. Panigrahi, Op.cit., P. 344. Ibid. , P . 338. W.Y. Hunter, Op.cit., P.312. Surendra Maharana, mp S a U t p ~ a I-, Cuttack: Banirupa, 1988, P.481. D.C.Sorcar, "Two Lingaraja Temple Inscriptions" i n Xadirn Cblture, Vol, 6; 1939, P.72. Gazetteer of Balasore District, Op. cit., P.27. A. Ste r l ing , "The History of Orissa under the nahontaadan Marathas and English Rule" i n N . K. Sahu I & . ) , A I f i . h q a e ~ b J 1 I P m ~ , -*, Pua (Ird lElSfP, Val. XI; Calcutta: 1956, P. 296-297.
61 Cazettrer of 0alasore Distr ict , op.cit., p.24. -Y IDotap..n -.E. in mgpur Zbrrftorf .s, Nagpur: PP.3-56. S.C. Dsy, Op.cit., P.9. Fakimohan Senapati, Atma Jdvrpr Qurita ransl slated from Oriya by John Boulton) ,Cuttack: Orissa, 1985, P.5. Gazetteer of Balasore Distr ict , Op. c i t . , P . 26. ZncUn I lbhtiaal Qaarterly, Vol.XXXV, P. 327. Herman Kulka, "Kshatriyaization and Social Change: A Study i n Orissa se t t ingN, S. D. P i l l a i (ed.) , mt8 of India, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1976, P.102. W.W. Hunter, Op.clt., P.312. Ibid., P.313. K.C. Panigrahi, Op. c i t . , P . 257. H.Kulke, Op.cit., P.405. K.C. Panigrahi, Op. c i t . , P . 209. Surendra Maharana, O p . c i t . , P.280. R.D. Banerjee, Xistoryof ariJslr, Vol.1, Calcutta: 1931. Khageswar Mahapatra, BiWa, Cuttack: 1976, P .8 . S.K. Panda, "Social Mobility i n Medieval Orissal' i n ID&-, Vol. 21(2); Sept. 1984, P . P . 81-85. S. Maharana, Op. C i t . , P.236-237. John Beames, Op. c i t . , P.315. C.R. Wilson, Intmdu~tory &aormt of the Early m* of tb. -1iah in Bargrl, Vol. I , London: 1895, P.21. Foster's "English ~ a c t o r i e s i n lndial', ( Vol. 11, New Series, P. 335), quoted i n K.Majumlar, "Early ~ n g l i s h Trade i n orissa", adurr ifdstarlcrl Pu.rrab JommaJ (O.I.P.J), Vol. VII , (3 & 4),P.209. C.R. Wilson, Op.cit., P.17. Bengal S a l t and Opium Consultations. 26th December 1817, No.3, Secretary, Board of Trade t o Secretary, W o c m e n t of Bengal of December, 1817. U.K. Sinha, 'Widnapur S a l t Papers", PP. 1-6 quoted i n 6.C. Patnaik, ad epw &paat. ef UL.
68 ildm -0 POUW in 1866-1905, Cuttack: Vidyrpuri, 1980, P. 7.
46. B.C. Ray, m D d e r t&Jllt.tbu, Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1960, P.137.
47. Bengal Revenue Consultations, 1st ~ u g u s t , 1822, NO. 5; A. Ste r l ing t o Government of Bengal, 15th
october, 1821. 48. Board of Revenue Collections, Cuttack: Vo1.586,
P.300. 49. B.C. Ray, Op.cit . , P.127. 50. Board's Collections: Op. c i t . , P. 1. 51. Gouldesburg, Commissioner of Cuttack t o Secretary,
Government of Bengal on X i s t o q of Annachhatra xhnd, 28th Feburary, 1814 ( F i l e i n the Record Room of Board of Revenue, Cuttack).
52. Gazetteer of Balasore Dis t r i c t , Op.cit . , P . l l l . 53. W . W . Hunter, Op.cit., P.248. 54. Ib id . , P.248. 55. Andrew S te r l ing , & Amount of Orissa proper or
Cuthakt London: 1846, P.53. (Panga S a l t was produced by using the method of a r t i f i c i a l evaporation as against the sun dr ied method used t o produce Karkutch.
56. Wal lhdiaial ( C i a ) Prwecrdirrg, No.26, September 5, 1805; Secretary, Government of Bengal t o Commissioner of Cuttack, May 4 , 1807.
57. Ibid.,No.27, 5th September 1805; commissioner of Cuttack t o Gwernment of Bengal, 2nd September, 1805.
58. Chttaok salt Jhcramb (CSR) , Account No. 531, S a l t Agent of Cuttack t o Board of Trade, January 11, 1811.
59. Ibid . , Account No.531, Becher t o Pakenham, Off ic ia t ing Commissioner of Cuttack, December 28,1821.
60. John Beames, 'rrr ofab . l lgr l Civilian, London: 1961, PP. 207-8.
61. & l a m e Salt Records (BSR) , Account No.649; S a l t Agent of Balslsore t o omm missioner of Cuttack, June 29, 1867, No. 110; and ao tb. ZWtzicrt cB
66 BlLLuazv by Henry Ricketts, 1853, from Selections from Records of Government of Bengal, 1853, N0.m. "ChuliasH were the ch ie f s af the malangis i n the laanufacture of s a l t . m., Account No.577; B l u m t o Doyly, May 6, 1825. U., Account No.537; S a l t Agent of Cuttack t o Board Trade, Ju ly 25, 1808. Ibid. , Account No. 772; Commissioner of Cuttack t o S a l t Agent of Balasore, September 25, 1855. m., Account No.9, J. King t o Board of Trade, April , 1806. Wmgal ~~00 Pmoeodqa (BSR) , No. 29, March 10, 1815, Richardson t o Government of Bengal, December 20, 1814. (Aissa Rsoards, Vol.11; Becher t o Board of Trade, May 18, 1877, P P . 52-57. No.15, July 17, 1818; Y.Ewer t o Government of Bengal, May 13, 1818. Ibid., No.25, Hay 19,1820; A s t e r l i n g , Secretary t o Commissioner of Cuttack t o Blunt, Feb.24,1920. B S t . , Account No.573; A Doyly t o Commissioner of Cuttack, Dec. 16,1823 and Dec.7, 1824. bid., Account No.769; Secretary t o Board of Revenue t o commissioner of Cuttack, February 10, 1855, NO. 193. bid., No.75, May 19, 1820; A.Sterling t o Blunt, February 29, 1820. BBR., Account No. 573; S a l t Agent of Balasore t o Conunissioner of Cuttack, August 23, 1824. bkloatla~rs t k a the ZLeo~rds of BoP.&naant of Bmqd (SRGB), No.XXX, Report on the d i s t r i c t of Balasore by Henry Ricketts, 1853. A. S te r l ing , Op.cit., PP . 5-7. Fakirmohan's A h a Chzlta, Op.cit . , P.15. K.M. Patra, Qd.M 'tmdr+ the B u t IIldir m y , Nev Delhi: 1971, P.7. W.V. Hunter, Op.cit., P.304. BliP., No.5, August 1, 1922; Andrew S te r l ing , Secretary t o ColRncissioner af Cuttack t o Gwernment of Bengal, October 15, 1921.
G. Toynbee, A e t c h of tho HIAxny of adaaa, 1803- 1120, Calcutta: 1873, P. 26-27. S.L. Haddox, mm w r t an tbe ~ ~ n r q l r rmd mttzrmt of tbo Provfnar, af Chioar: T8qW¶!a!dl? 86tffd -, 1896-1900 A.D., Vol. I , Board of Revenue, Cuttack: (Reprint) , P. 164. Ibid . , P.165. Bengal ( T e r r i t o r i a l ) Revenue Proceeding No. 60, December 27, 1862; Comrmssioner of Cuttack t o Sadar Board of Revenue, January 20, 1832. BilP., No.37 of September 9, 1823; Regulation of 1833. 8R88)., 1847,No. XXIV 'B' (3); Minute of A. J.M. Mills, January 23, 1947. V.W. Hunter, Op.cit., P.29. S. L. Maddox, Op.cit., PP . 179-181. W.W. Hunter, op .c i t . , P.209. SRGB., Minute af A.J.M. ~ i l l s , op .c i t . , W.W. Hunter, Op.cit., P.307. S.L. Maddox, Op.cit., P.231. W.W. Hunter, o p . c i t . , P.314. SRGB., Minutes of A. J.M. ~ i l l s , ~ p . c i t . , S.L. Maddox, Op.cit., P.218. S. L. Maddox, Op.cit., P.222. Letter No.1199, Para 8 of 22nd August 1837; Secretary t o the Government of Bengal to the Off ic ia t ing Additional Secretary t o the Sadar Board of Revenue. S . L . Maddox, Op.cit . , P.224. S.L. Haddox, Op.cit . , P.224. U.Y. Hunter, Op.cit., P.338. Ibid . , P.248. N . K . Sahu (ed . ) , Op.cit., P.320. S.C. Hacpherson, R q o r t an tho Rhardr of the Diatriat. of Bmjau dad CbtW, Calcutta: 1842; John Comphell, A Parscoral Harrat;im of mi*teen Yeax# SendaeRnoPrgrt mld rebe8 of xa?mcbtm for tho sqppdm of nmm m a ! , London: 1864. V. F. B. Laurie, Orissa the Sam2m1 of Bqwr8tit ian rmd Idol.-, London: 1850; J . J . PeggS, 1Clldi. -08 t o
0 llsitirtb Ibrrritlu, London: 1830 6. A of tho Q r m r z z l ~ t t r t l d u i a a & ~ l a t h e ~ , London: 1846 (added t o A ~ d r 9 ~ ' 8 Orissa) ; &nos Sutton, U md it. hrmg. l l r r r t iam Pltawpread d* .ep.nrtitlo~u th. 10- OtfIQlldlt -tjsgot Lldi.n X l ~ I a w ; Derby: 1850.
105. John Beames f i n d s many inaccuracies i n the accounts af H u n t e r i n h i s - o f & Bapgrlairllllrrr (P.197). He a l s o points out inaccuracies committed by S te r l ing i n h i s Ilu XCi8torp of C&irwrunder the MohmmbL #Irat.hamd Etg1i.h rale.
106. Bisvamoy Pat i , "The High-lw d i a l e t i c i n Fakirmohan' s Chamdna Athagun tha : Popular Culture, Li tera ture and Society i n nineteenth century Orissa", i n B b d l 8 8 i n -tory, Vol.XI1, (1) ; Jan- SJune 1996, P.103.
107. Jagabandhu Singh, Pr&cUm Vtkala, 1928 ( i n Oriya), Reprint, Bhubaneswar: 1982 (2 volumea) Pyarimohan AchArya, Odisr Itlhua ( i n Oriya) 1879; Krupasindhu Mishra, l7Wa.h X t i h a 8 a till 1920, ( i n Oriya), 1920, e tc .
108. Pandit Godavarish Hishra. JWha Satrbcllu Odim 0 Tahinro WD BUMM ( i n Oriya) , Cuttack: 1958, P.126.
109. W.W. Hunter, Op.cit . , 110. N.K. Bose (ed . ) , Dab am Clste: CM-,
Antbmpalogiorl 8arwy of Ib&i&, Memolr No. 7, Calcutta: 1960.
111. H.H. Risley, l210 Edbo8 lad -to# of Boagal, (2 Vol.) Calcutta: 1981.
112. Fakirmohan ~ e n a p a t i , A- J i m QuWr ( i n o r i y a ) , Cuttack: 1969.
113. G. Mishra, Op.cit., 114. NdSakantha ms. a j i r r u l ( i n Oriya) , Cuttack, l%3. 115. Harekrushna Mahatab. Path. ( i n 0r iya) ,
Cuttack: 1972.116. Surendra Mohanty, XuZahAdha,
694.344 ( i n Qriya), Cuttack: 1978.