Odra Kingdom

Last updated

Odra was a kingdom located in the northern Odisha in Eastern India. This kingdom was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Odras were neighbours to the Vangas. It is believed that the Odia language and the state Odisha got their names derived from the name "Odra".

Contents

Reference in Mahabharata

Only a single reference of Odra is found in Mahabharata. The Odras were mentioned along with the Vangas, Angas and Paundras as bringing tribute for Yudhishthira for his Rajasuya sacrifice (3,51).

There is a mysterious mention of the name Udrakeralas in Mahabharata. It is not known if the word Udra in the composite word Udra-Keralas has any relations with Odra. The name Oriya originated from Odra. The Bhagbata Purana mentions Odra, among the six sons of Dirghatamas by queen Sudesna with the Pundrakas, Dravidas, Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas etc. Pliny placed Oretes near mountain Mallus which can be identified with Malayagiri near Pallahara in the present Angul district. Prof B.C Majumdar observs ".. the hilly country lying between Kalinga and Dakshina Kosala was the Odra land." R.D Banerji calls the Odras as the people of Northern Orissa. In the early medieval period, Odra became a distinct territorial division. The earliest reference to Odra in this period is gleaned from the Soro Copper Plates of Somadatta. It mentions the northern Tosali was a part of Odravisaya. By that time , Northern Tosali was a fairly extensive territory comprising Midnapur and undivided Balasore district and a considerable portion of Mayurbhanj and undivided Cuttack districts. Its inclusion in Odra indicates that the latter was a vast region between river suvarnarekha in the north & Vaitarani in the south.

Odra finds mention in Hiuen Tsang's

Si-Yu-Ki where he describes it as Wu-Cha which was 1400 miles in circuit. Other historians opine that Odra comprised undivided Midnapur, Balasore, Cuttack, Ganjam & Puri districts . However, the present day research excludes the possibility of the inclusion of Puri in Odra. It is only because Che-li-ta-Lo, a port mentioned by Hieun Tsang and its location at Puri by Cunningham and others have been challenged by scholars who locate it either in Tirtol (Jagatsinghpur district), Chandabali (Bhadrak district) or Manikapatana (On the bank of Chilika lake in Ganjam district) .

As noticed Odra, Utkala, Kalinga, Kongoda, Tosali & Kosala were territories having distinct boundaries of their own and the boundary changed from time to time in ancient and early medieval days. Sometimes, it is noticed that some of these names were used as interchangeable terms, e.g.- Odra was known as Tosali during Bhauma-karas . At the advent of fifteenth century A.D poet Sarala dasa made udisa as Orissa synonymous with Odra rastra which became Odisha rajya during Gajapatis. Right from the days of Kapilendradeva (1435-1467 A.D), this empire land of the oriya speaking people has been known as Odisha.

Reference-^ HISTORY OF ODISHA BY HARIHAR PANDA (Professor & Head, Department of History National Defence Academy, Pune. Former Reader, Department of History, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack.)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odisha</span> State in Eastern India

Odisha, formerly Orissa, is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the third-largest population of Scheduled Tribes in India. It neighbours the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west, and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to the south. Odisha has a coastline of 485 kilometres (301 mi) along the Bay of Bengal in Indian Ocean. The region is also known as Utkaḷa and is mentioned by this name in India's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. The language of Odisha is Odia, which is one of the Classical languages of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odia language</span> Indic language

Odia is an Indo-Aryan classical language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha, where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also spoken in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Odia is one of the many official languages of India; it is the official language of Odisha and the second official language of Jharkhand.

Kalinga is a historical region of India. It is generally defined as the eastern coastal region between the Ganges and the Godavari rivers, although its boundaries have fluctuated with the territory of its rulers. The core territory of Kalinga now encompasses all of Odisha and some part of northern Andhra Pradesh. At its widest extent, the Kalinga region also included parts of present-day Chhattisgarh, extending up to Amarkantak in the west. In the ancient period it extended until the bank of the Ganges river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanga Kingdom</span> Ancient Hindu kingdom in Eastern India

Vaṅga was an ancient kingdom and geopolitical division within the Ganges delta in the Indian subcontinent. The kingdom is one of the namesakes of the Bengal region. It was located in southern Bengal, with the core region including the southern part of present-day West Bengal (India) and southwestern Bangladesh. Vanga features prominently in the epics and tales of ancient India as well as in the history of Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boudh district</span> District of Odisha in India

Boudh District is an administrative and a municipal district, one of the thirty in the Odisha, India. The district headquarters of the Boudh District is the city of Boudh.

Kalinga is a kingdom described in the legendary Indian text Mahabharata. They were a warrior clan who settled in and around the historical Kalinga region, present-day Odisha and northern parts of Andhra Pradesh. According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts.reference-Sudama Misra (1973). Janapada state in ancient India. Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana. p. 78.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Odisha</span> History of the Indian state of Odisha

The history of Odisha begins in the Lower Paleolithic era, as Acheulian tools dating to the period have been discovered in various places in the region. The early history of Odisha can be traced back to writings found in ancient texts like the Mahabharata, Maha Govinda Sutta and some Puranas. The region was also known to other kingdoms in region of East Indies due to maritime trade relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gajapati Empire</span> Indian royal dynasty

The Gajapati Empire, was an empire established by the Suryavamsa dynasty or Routray dynasty, who were a medieval Hindu dynasty in the Indian subcontinent. It originated in the region of Trikalinga and reigned from 1434 to 1541 CE. It succeeded the reign of the Eastern Gangas. Under the Emperor Kapilendra Deva, the Gajapati empire stretched from lower Ganga in the north to Kaveri in the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Ganga dynasty</span> Medieval era Indian royal Hindu dynasty

The Eastern Ganga dynasty were a large medieval era Indian royal Hindu dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas ruled much of the modern region of Odisha in three different phases by the passage of time, known as Early Eastern Gangas (493–1077), Imperial Eastern Gangas (1077–1436) and Khemundi Gangas (1436–1947). They are known as "Eastern Gangas" to distinguish them from the Western Gangas who ruled over Karnataka. The territory ruled by the dynasty consisted of the whole of the modern-day Indian state of Odisha, as well as major parts of north Andhra Pradesh, parts of Chhattisgarh and some southern districts of West Bengal. Odia language got official status in their regime following the evolution of the language from Odra Prakrit. The early rulers of the dynasty ruled from Dantapuram; the capital was later moved to Kalinganagara, and ultimately to Kataka and then to Paralakhemundi.

The Indian state of Odisha has a rich cultural and artistic heritage. Due to the reign of many different rulers in the past, arts and crafts in Odisha underwent many changes giving an artistic diversity today in the forms of traditional handicrafts, painting and carving, dance and music, clothing, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odisha Police</span> State police force in India

The Odisha Police abbreviated as either OP or OPS, is the law enforcement agency for the state of Odisha in India. It is headquartered in Cuttack, the former capital of Odisha. The Odisha Police is headed by a Director General of Police, currently Sunil Kumar Bansal, IPS and falls under the purview of the state's Home Department of the Government of Odisha. The sanctioned personnel strength of Odisha Police is 72,145; comprising women as one-third of its total sanctioned strength in the directly recruited posts of civil constable, sub-inspector and deputy superintendent of police. This feat makes it one of the foremost in that aspect among the police services of India.

Dandabhukti was an ancient and medieval territory located between the two rivers, Dwarakeswar and Subarnarekha, and situated in the Rarh region of the ancient Bengal. It covered the present-day districts of Bankura, Hooghly, Paschim Medinipur, and Purba Medinipur in West Bengal, India.

Odia diaspora are people of Odia ancestry residing outside the Indian state of Odisha.

The history of Kalahandi goes back to the primitive period where a well-civilized, urbanized, and cultured people inhabited this land mass around 2000 years ago. The world's largest celt of Stone Age and the largest cemetery of the megalithic age have been discovered in Kalahandi. This shows the region had a civilized culture since the pre-historic era. Asurgarh near Narla in Kalahandi was one of the oldest metropolises in Odisha whereas the other one was Sisupalgarh near Bhubaneswar. Some other historical forts in the region includes Budhigarh, Amthagarh, Belkhandi and Dadpur-Jajjaldeypur. This land was unconquered by the great Ashoka, who fought the great Kalinga War, as per Ashokan record. In medieval period the region had played a prominent role to link South India, Eastern India and Central India region and witnessed the battle ground for Somavamsi, Chola, Kalachuris of Kalyani and Eastern Ganga dynasty. Kalahandi region was the main route for Chola to attack Subarnapur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maritime history of Odisha</span>

The Maritime history of Odisha, known as Kalinga in ancient times, started much before 800 BC according to early sources. The people of this region of eastern India along the coast of the Bay of Bengal sailed up and down the Indian coast, and travelled to Indo China and throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, introducing elements of their culture to the people with whom they traded. The 6th century Manjusrimulakalpa mentions the Bay of Bengal as Kalingodra and in ancient Classical India, the Bay of Bengal was known as Kalinga Sagar, indicating the importance of Kalinga in the maritime trade. The old traditions are still celebrated in the annual Boita Bandana festival including its major celebration at Cuttack on the banks of Mahanadi river called Bali Jatra, and are held for seven days in October-November at various coastal districts, most famous at Cuttack though.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raj-Ranpur</span>

Raj-Ranpur is a town and a Notified Area Council in the district of Nayagarh in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. The town is also known as Ranpurgarh or simply Ranpur as per the modern usage. The town is historically significant especially during the British Raj when it was the capital of the princely state of Ranpur. The martyrs Shaheed Raghu-Dibakar who were hanged for their resistance to British rule belong to this place. Rajsunakhala and Tangi are the nearest Town of Raj-Ranpur, which in almost 10 to 20 km from the town. Rajsunakhala is the most important business centre in Ranpur block under Nayagarh district.

padmasri Satyanarayana Rajguru (1903-1997) was an Indian litterateur, epigraphist and historian. He was a curator and epigraphist at the Odisha State Museum and was a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award, Bharati Bhushan award, Ganjam Sahitya Sammilani award, Odisha Sahitya Academy Award and Sarala Sanman. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri in 1974.

The Somavamshi or Keshari dynasty ruled parts of present-day Odisha in eastern India between the 9th and the 12th centuries. Their capitals included Yayatinagara and Abhinava-Yayatinagara.

References