History

In ancient and medieval times, the land corresponding roughly with modern Orissa passed under the names of Utkala, Kalinga, and Odra Desa, although its boundaries were sometimes much larger. These names were originally associated with peoples. The Okkala or Utkala, the Kalinga, and the Odra or Oddaka were mentioned in literature as tribes. Ancient Greeks knew the latter two as Kalingai and Oretes. Eventually the names became identified with territories. For centuries before and after the birth of Christ, Kalinga was a formidable political power, extending from the Ganges River to the Godavari. Approximately between the 11th and 16th centuries the name fell into disuse; instead, the name Odra Desa was gradually transformed into Uddisa, Udisa, or Odisa, which in English became Orissa. The language of Odisa came to be known as Oriya or Oria.

At the dawn of Indian history, Kalinga was already famous. Buddhist sources refer to the rule of King Brahmadatta in Kalinga at the time of the Buddha's death. In the 4th century BC the first Indian empire builder, Mahapadma Nanda, conquered Kalinga, but the Nanda rule was short-lived. In 260 BC the Mauryan emperor Ashoka invaded Kalinga and fought one of the greatest wars of ancient history. He then renounced war, became a Buddhist, and preached peace and nonviolence in and outside India. In the 1st century BC the Kalinga emperor Kharavela conquered vast territories that collectively came to be called the Kalinga empire.

Kalinga became a maritime power beginning in the 1st century AD, and its overseas activities culminated in the 8th century with the establishment of the Sailendra empire in Java. Orissa was ruled during the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries by the powerful Bhauma-Kara dynasty and in the 10th and 11th centuries by the Soma dynasty. The Temple of Lingaraja at Bhubaneshwar, the greatest Saiva monument of India, was begun by the Soma King Yayati.

Medieval Orissa enjoyed a golden age under the Ganga dynasty. Its founder, Anantavarma Codagangadeva (1078-1147), ruled from the Ganges to the Godavari with Cuttack as his capital. He began the construction of the temple of Jagannatha (Lord of the Universe) at Puri. Narasimha I (1238-64) built the Sun Temple (Surya Deula) of Konarka, one of the finest specimens of Hindu architecture. In the 13th and 14th centuries, when much of India was overrun by the Muslims, independent Orissa remained a citadel of Hindu religion, philosophy, art, and architecture.

The Gangas were succeeded by the Surya dynasty. Its first king, Kapilendra (1435-66), won territories from his Muslim neighbours and greatly expanded the Orissan kingdom. His successor, Purusottama, maintained these gains with difficulty. The next and the last Surya king, Prataparudra, became a disciple of Caitanya, the great medieval saint, and became a pacifist. After his death (1540) Orissa's power declined, and in 1568, when King Mukunda was killed by his own countrymen, Orissa lost its independence to the Afghan rulers of Bengal.

The Mughal emperor Akbar conquered Orissa from the Afghans in 1590-92. When the Mughal Empire fell in 1761, part of Orissa remained under the Bengal nawabs, but the greater part passed to the Marathas. The Bengal sector came under British rule in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey; the Maratha sector was conquered by the British in 1803. Although after 1803 the British controlled the entire Oriya-speaking area, it continued to be administered as two units. It was not until April 1, 1936, that the British heeded calls for unification on a linguistic basis and constituted Orissa as a separate province; 26 Oriya princely states, however, remained outside the provincial administration. After the independence of India in 1947, all these princely states except Saraikela and Kharsawan (which merged with Bihar) became part of Orissa.

(M.N.D./R.E.Hu.)