Odisha Province | |||||||||||||
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Province of British India | |||||||||||||
1936–1947 | |||||||||||||
Flag | |||||||||||||
Orissa with Orissa Tributary States in British India before the creation of the province | |||||||||||||
Capital | Cuttack | ||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||
• 1936 | 83,392 km2 (32,198 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
• Bifurcation of Bihar and Orissa Province and transfer of regions from Madras Presidency and Central Provinces and Berar | 1936 | ||||||||||||
1947 | |||||||||||||
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Today part of | Odisha |
Orissa Province was a province of British India created in April 1936 by the partitioning of the Bihar and Orissa Province and adding parts of Madras Presidency and Central Provinces. Its territory corresponds with the present-day state of Odisha.
On 22 March 1912, both Bihar and Orissa divisions were separated from the Bengal Presidency as Bihar and Orissa Province. On 1 April 1936, Bihar and Orissa Province was split to form Bihar Province and Orissa Province. Parts of the Ganjam district and the Vizagapatam district of Madras Presidency were transferred to Orissa Province along with portions of the Vizagapatam Hill Tracts Agency and Ganjam Hill Tracts Agency and Khariar region of Central Provinces and Berar. [1]
In 1803 Orissa was occupied by forces of the British East India Company during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, coming in 1858 under direct administration by the British government along with the company's other territories. Under the British Raj, it was a division of the Bengal Presidency with its capital in Cuttack. It had an area of 35,664 km2 and 5,003,121 inhabitants in 1901. [2] The province included the Orissa Tributary States. On 1 April 1912, the province of Bihar and Orissa was detached from Bengal, and the Orissa Tributary States were placed under the authority of the governor of Bihar and Orissa. In 1936, Orissa became a separate province with five districts, [3] comprising an area of 83,392 km2. [4]
The Government of India Act provided for the election of a provincial legislative assembly and a responsible government. Elections were held in 1937, and the Indian National Congress took a majority of the seats but declined to form the government. A minority provisional government was formed under Krushna Chandra Gajapati, the Maharaja of Paralakhemundi. [5]
Minister | Portfolio |
---|---|
Krushna Chandra Gajapati | Home, Finance, Law and Commerce |
Mandhata Gorachand Patnaik | Revenue, Education and Commerce |
Moulavi Latifur Rahman | Public Works, Local Self-Government and Forests |
The Congress reversed its decision and resolved to accept office in July 1937. Therefore, the Governor invited Bishwanath Das to form the government.
Minister | Portfolio |
---|---|
Bishwanath Das | Premier, Home, Finance and Education |
Nityanand Kanungo | Revenue and Public Works Departments |
Bodhram Dubey | Local Self-government, Health, Law and Commerce |
In November 1939, along with Congress ministries in other provinces, Das resigned in protest of the Governor-General's declaration of war on Germany without consulting with Indian leaders, and Orissa came under Governor's Rule till 1941 when Krushna Chandra Gajapati was again made the Premier. [6] This government lasted till 1944.
Minister | Portfolio |
---|---|
Krushna Chandra Gajapati | Premier |
Godabarish Mishra | Finance and Education |
Maulvi Abdus Sobhan Khan |
Another round of elections were held in 1946, yielding another Congress majority, and a government was formed under Harekrushna Mahatab. [6]
Minister | Portfolio |
---|---|
Harekrushna Mahatab | Premier |
Nabakrushna Choudhuri | |
Nityanand Kanungo | |
Lingaraj Misra | |
R. K. Biswasray |
Brahmapur is a city on the eastern coastline of Odisha, India.
Ganjam district is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908 lists Ganjam, along with the Thanjavur and South Canara districts, as the three districts of the Madras Presidency where Brahmins were most numerous. As of 2011 it is the most populous district of Odisha.
Gajapati district is a district of Odisha State in India. It was created from Ganjam District on 2 October, 1992. As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Odisha, after Debagarh and Boudh. Gajapati district was named after Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deb, the King of the Paralakhemundi estate and the first Prime Minister of Orissa, who is remembered for his contribution in the formation of a separate state, and inclusion of his estate in Odisha. The district headquarters at Paralakhemundi, formerly a Zamindari, has been clustered within a radius of approximately 5 kilometers around the geometric centre of Paralakhemundi.
Paralakhemundi shortly known as Parala is district Headquarter of Gajapati district and one of the oldest Municipality established in 1885, in the Indian state of Odisha. Majority of the people in the town speak Odia. The city and the District share its boundaries with Andhra Pradesh. The adjacent town of Pathpatnam is separated by the River Mahendra Tanaya.In later medieval period it became capital of Paralakhemundi Estate of Eastern Ganga dynasty kings of Khemundi Branch. The town is well known for being an ancient cultural center of Odisha and birthplace of noted personalities including poet Gopalakrusna Pattanayaka, statesman Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo, lexicographer Gopinatha Nanda Sharma and historian Satyanarayana Rajguru. This town is also known for its century old temples, monasteries, palaces and heritage buildings.
Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw College, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The university has nine schools, thirty three academic departments and a student enrolment of nearly 8,000. It is one of the oldest educational institutes in the country and its history is synonymous with the history of modern Odisha.
The politics of Odisha are part of India's federal parliamentary representative democracy, where the union government exercises sovereign rights. Certain powers are reserved to the states, including Odisha. The state has a multi-party system, in which the two main parties are the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the regional, socialist Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The Indian National Congress (INC) has also significant presence.
Harekrushna Mahatab was the leader of the Indian National Congress, a notable figure in the Indian independence movement and the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1946 to 1950 and again from 1956 to 1961. He was popularly known by the sobriquet "Utkal Keshari".
Bishwanath Das né Biswanath Dash was a politician, lawyer and philanthropist from India. He was the prime minister of Odisha Province of British India 1937–39, the governor of Uttar Pradesh 1962–67 and later the chief minister of Odisha 1971–72.
Odisha Day, also Utkala Dibasa, is celebrated on 1 April in the Indian state of Odisha in memory of the formation of the state as a separate state out of Bihar and Orissa Province with addition of undivided Koraput District and Ganjam District from the Madras Presidency on 1 April 1936. After losing its political identity completely in 1568 following the defeat and demise of the last king Mukunda Dev, efforts resulted in the formation of a politically separate state under British rule on a linguistic basis on 1 April 1936.
Ganjam Hill Tracts Agency was an agency in the Ganjam district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, British India. It was created by the Act XXIV of 1839 from the 'Maliahs' or Highlands, the tribal lands inhabited by the Khonds and the Soras. The territory consists of the western part of Ganjam district. It was about five-twelfths of the district and had a total area of 3,500 square miles.
Krushna Chandra Gajapati KCIE, also known as Captain Maharaja Sri Sri Sri Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayana Deva KCIE, was one of the key personality, helping the creation of Odisha. He was a scion of Paralakhemundi Estate and the owner of Delanga estate of Puri district of Odisha. His family belonged to the great Eastern Ganga Dynasty. He was the first Prime Minister of Odisha. The present-day Gajapati District of Odisha was named after him.
Vizagapatam District was a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. Covering an area of 44,600 square kilometres (17,222 sq mi) and sub-divided into 22 taluks.
The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee(1921-2024) was the unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Odisha. It was responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within the state, as well as selecting candidates for local, state, and national elections in Odisha.
Nityanand Kanungo was one of India's prominent politicians from the state of Odisha, who held successive high-profile portfolios in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.
The Prime Minister of Orissa was the head of government and the leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly of Orissa Province in British India. The position was dissolved upon the independence of India in 1947.
Parlakhemundi Estate was a Zamindari estate in the Orissa Province, India during the British era. Before the creation of the Orissa province, it was under the Madras Presidency.The state was ruled as an independent kingdom till 1769.The royal family belong to the Krishnatreya gotra Odia Kshatriya and traced their lineage to Eastern Ganga Dynasty. It was a zamindari estate lying in the southwestern portion of Ganjam district, covering an area of 615 square miles. It was bounded in the south by the district of Vizagpatnam and on the west by the Jeypore Estate and the tribal agencies of the Eastern Ghats.
The Bhoi dynasty or Bhoi Writer dynasty or the Yaduvamsa dynasty were a medieval Hindu dynasty from the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Odisha that reigned from 1541 to 1560 CE. Govinda Vidyadhara had usurped the throne from the later weaker Suryavamsa Gajapati Empire rulers as the kingdom started weakening but had a short-lived reign as ruling chiefs of Odisha as the ensuing internal rivalries and constant threats of invasions rendered them weak and were eventually overthrown by Mukunda Deva of Chalukya Dynasty in 1560.