Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

The Antiquities of Orissa v1: Volume 1

The Antiquities of Orissa v1

Language
English

Contents

Volume 1

Front matter

v1.c1.1

This image is completely blank and contains no text to transcribe.

v1.c1.2

THE

v1.c1.3

ANTIQUITIES OF ORISSA Vol. I

v1.c1.4

RAJENDRALALA MITRA

v1.c1.5

*Reprint*

v1.c1.6

INDIAN STUDIES PAST & PRESENT

v1.c1.7

*Distributors*

v1.c1.8

FIRMA K. L. MUKHOPADHYAYA 6/1A, Banchharam Akrur Lane, Calcutta 12.

v1.c1.9

Printed by Ashitabha Guha at the *Quality Printers & Binders*, 84, Rashbehari Avenue, Calcutta 26, and published by R. K. Maitra on behalf of *Indian Studies* : *Past & Present* from 3, Sambhunath Pundit St., Calcutta 20.

Editor's Note

v1.c2.1

Rajendralala Mitra’s *The Antiquities of Orissa*, Vol I, was published ‘under orders of the Government of India’ in 1875 and is being reprinted for the first time.

v1.c2.2

Except for minor typographical and other alterations, the present reprint is intended to be verbatim The beginnings of the pages of the original edition are indicated by bold letters within square brackets.

v1.c2.3

It proved particularly difficult to reproduce the plates, for the only copy of the book with which we have been obliged to work was absurdly brittle and worn out. We are indebted to Sri Ranendra Mohan Singha for copying out a large number of these plates, a work that has called for considerable skill and an almost endless patience. Other plates could not be thus copied and had to be reproduced straight from the book. We would have perhaps given this up as a hopeless work but for the keen interest taken in it by Sri Nirode Mukherji and Sri Sudhir Mukherji, with their team of technicians of M/S. Radiant Process, Calcutta, who eventually made the reproductions possible. We cannot thank them enough. The Woodcuts of the texts have been copied by Sm. Mukti Majumdar and Sri Subhash De.

v1.c2.4

We are also thankful to Sm. Anjali Maitra for typing out the whole book and to Professor Haridas Sinharay for seeing the reprint through the press. Sri Balin Roy has been of great assistance to him.

v1.c2.5

We feel particularly happy to express our gratitude to The Asiatic Society, Calcutta,—with which of course the life and work of R. L. Mitra was inextricably bound,—for offering us ungrudging help in the matter of reprinting this book.

v1.c2.6

Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya Editor, Indian Studies : Past & Present

Corrigenda

v1.c3.1

Page 176, line 31 : “scene at Sanchi exhibits” *should be read as* “scene at Sanchi 154 exhibits”

v1.c3.2

In the body of the text, numbers indicating foot-notes from 154 to 195 should be increased by 1. Thus, e. g., page 177 line 14, the number should be 155 and not 154, as printed. In the actual footnotes, however, no change is to be made.

The Antiquities of Orissa, Vol. I

v1.c4.1

By

v1.c4.2

RAJENDRALALA MITRA

v1.c4.3

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, AND OF THE IMPERIAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. VIENNA, CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE GERMAN AND THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETIES, AND OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, HUNGARY; FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ANTIQUARIES, COPENHAGEN &C., &C.

v1.c4.4

THESE ARE SOME OF THE RELICS OF THE PAST, WEEPING OVER A LOST CIVILIZATION AND AN EXTINGUISHED GRANDEUR

v1.c4.6

PUBLISHED UNDER ORDERS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

v1.c4.7

CALCUTTA

v1.c4.8

PRINTED BY C. B. LEWIS, AT BAPTIST MISSION PRESS

Preface

v1.c5.1

In 1868, the Government of India, at the suggestion of the Royal Society of Arts, London, assigned a large sum of money for the purpose of obtaining casts of some of the more important sculptures of ancient India. To carry out this object, a part of the sum was made over to the Government of Bengal, leaving it to make its own selection of the subjects, which it might think were likely to be the most interesting, and best calculated to fulfil the object of the Government. In connexion with this grant, I suggested, in reply to an enquiry of Sir William Grey, then Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, that the party of modellers and moulders which the Government was then about to send to Orissa, should proceed to Bhuvaneśvara, where it would find the oldest and most interesting specimens of Hindu architectural ornament, and added that it would be well to depute along with it a person familiar with Indian antiquarian remains, so that some historical and descriptive accounts might be secured of the several monuments from which casts would be taken. My suggestions were approved by the Bengal Government, and I was directed to accompany, as archaeologist, the party of moulders, draftsmen and photographers which was sent down to Bhuvaneśvara in the winter of 1868-69. The following pages are the result of my labours in connexion with this mission.

v1.c5.2

In prosecuting my researches I had a two-fold object in view; in the first place to carry out the directions of the late Lord Canning, as laid down in his memorable resolution on the antiquities of India, that is to say, to secure “an accurate description,—illustrated by plans, measurements, drawings, or photographs, and by copies of inscriptions—of such remains as most deserve notice, with the history of them so far as it may be traceable, and a record of the traditions that are retained regarding them”; and in the second place to notice permanently such points in them as were calculated to throw any special light on the social history of the ages to which they referred. For this purpose, Sir Gardner Wilkinson’s learned work on the *Ancient Egyptians* has served me for a guide.

v1.c5.3

With a view to avoid repetitions and references to fragmentary remarks interspersed under different heads, the work has been divided into two parts; the first comprising general observations on the nature and character of the objects noticed; and the second, detailed descriptions of those objects; the former embracing only those characters which are common to particular classes, and the latter the peculiarities of individual relics. Thus, in the Introduction, an attempt has been made to put together the information available regarding Orissa in ancient authors, reserving notices of particular localities for treatment under their respective heads; so in the first Chapter, the history of Indian architecture has been discussed without reference to the dates of the different caves and temples which constitute the principal subjects of description. In the second Chapter I have given a brief summary of the general principles of Orissan temple architecture, apart from special characteristics of any particular temple. The third has for its subject sculpture and architectural ornamentation, so far as the same can be illustrated from objects now extant. In the fourth I have attempted a sketch of the social condition of the temple-builders of Orissa from their sculptural decorations. The fifth Chapter comprises an outline of the history of the several systems of religion which have influenced the growth of Orissan art.

v1.c5.4

In the second volume, the first Chapter has been devoted to the antiquities of the Khaṇḍagiri Hills; the second to the temples of Bhuvaneśvara; the third to those of Puri; the fourth to those of Koṇārak and Satyabādi; and the fifth to those of Darpaṇa, Jājapur, Ālti and other places of minor importance.

v1.c5.5

In the course of compiling this work I have derived assistance from several gentlemen, to whom I wish to avail myself of the present opportunity publicly to tender my thanks. H. H. Locke, Esq., Principal of the Calcutta School of Art, has helped me most materially in a variety of ways. When I was proceeding on my tour, he placed at my disposal the services of one of his best pupils, Annadāprasād Bāgcī, who accompanied me to Orissa, and took sketches and plans of a large number of interesting objects. On the return of the mission from Orissa, Mr. Locke caused drawings to be prepared of all the casts that had been brought to Calcutta, and allowed me free access to them. Most of the lithographic illustrations of this work have been prepared by his pupils, and the labour and trouble he has undergone in superintending their execution have been immense. Some of the illustrations could not be satisfactorily executed from the drawings and plans which I had brought, and he had, therefore, to get models prepared by his pupils, and finish the illustrations from photographs taken from those models. He also placed at my disposal a series of ground plans of Udayagiri caves which he had prepared for his own use, and allowed me access to his splendid collection of photographs of Orissan antiquities. He has been, moreover, in frequent correspondence with me regarding the text, the greater part of which he has read in proof with a view fully to discuss the several questions raised in it. The suggestions and hints which he has afforded me in course of this correspondence, have enabled me to avoid many errors and mistakes which would have otherwise disfigured the pages of this work. The assistance was rendered often under very trying circumstances—while labouring under ill-health, or overwhelmed with official work; and I feel deeply grateful to him for the same. In justice to him, and to prevent misconception, I must add, however, that though I have freely consulted him in all matters in which I had doubts, and derived much benefit from his advice, the opinions expressed in this work are entirely my own, and it is possible that he may differ from at least some of them.

v1.c5.6

The printing of most of the lithographs has been done under the superintendence of Captain J. Waterhouse, R. E., Surveyor General of India, and my acknowledgements are specially due to him for the collotypes of the Udayagiri friezes which he very obligingly prepared for me.

v1.c5.7

My thanks are also due to H. C. Levinge, Esq., Superintending Engineer of the Behar Irrigation Works, for a set of eighteen negatives, several of which have been used in the illustration of this work. To John Beames, Esq., C. S., Collector of Cuttack, and Joseph Armstrong, Esq., C. S., Collector of Puri, I owe the originals from which the maps of Cuttack and Puri have been printed; and I am also indebted to Babu Raṅgalāla Banurji, Deputy Magistrate, Cuttack, the Honorable Kristodas Pāl and Bābu Pratāpacandra Ghosha for much valuable assistance and information.

v1.c5.8

Owing to my protracted indisposition, to the paucity of competent lithographers in Calcutta, and to other causes which it is needless here to recount, the publication of this work has been greatly delayed. Even now it can be brought out only in parts. This I regret much, though I believe that apology is unnecessary where there is no probability of complaint.

Introduction

v1.c6.1

[ 1 ] Neither Gaṇeśa, the Hindu patron of wisdom, nor Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, seems ever to have paid any encouragement to history, and as a consequence, Indian literature is almost void of all authentic historical records. Twice ten thousand volumes¹ even now attest the literary activity of the Indian votaries of those divinities, and almost every branch of ancient learning has had its earnest and most devoted cultivators. Nor are the works we allude to, bearing in mind their age, in any way wanting in value as monuments of antiquity, profound erudition, and superior intelligence. In antiquity the *Saṃhitā* of the *Ṛgveda*, as the earliest record of the Aryan race extant, holds a higher rank than even the oldest writings of the Jewish race. In general excellence, the *Rāmāyaṇa* yields not the palm of superiority to the *Iliad* of Homer. And in depth of knowledge and subtlety of argument the Darśanas of India bear no unfavourable comparison to those of the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece.² The Grammar of Pāṇini stands unrivalled and unique in its own line; and in astronomy, mathematics logic and rhetoric, in romance and legends, in law and civil polity, in medicine, music and dramatic composition, there is an extent of ancient literature still existing, the like of which can nowhere be met with, except perhaps in Rome and China.³ Yet India never produced a Xenophon or a Thucydides, and her heroes and their mighty exploits, her greatness and her early civilization, where they live, live but in song.

v1.c6.2

¹ The total number of Sánskrit works extant does not probably exceed fourteen thousand; the rest are made up of Pali, Prakrit, and Māgadhi (Jain) compositions. Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall estimates the number of Sanskrit works extant at ten thousand.

v1.c6.3

² Victor Cousin, one of the greatest thinkers of the age, has somewhere said, "The history of Indian philosophy is the abridged history of the philosophy of the world".

v1.c6.4

³ The ancient literature of Egypt was once vast, but it has long since ceased to exist.

v1.c6.5

Again, the Indian sages strove hard to develop a thoroughly scientific system of chronology, and many learned, elaborate and intricate schemes for calculating the lapse of time are to this day current to bear witness to their energy and ability; but there are very few ancient books which bear authentic dates, or, bearing them, give the dates of contemporary or previous historical occurrences.

v1.c6.6

Nor are the shortcomings of the written history of India supplied by her ancient monuments. The ravages of time and of her climate, the hostility of rival sectaries and governments, and the iconoclastic zeal of Moslem fanatics, have swept away most of them from the face of the earth, and the few that remain can ill tell their tale with sufficient precision to meet the requirements of the historian. To quote the language of Sir Thomas Browne, "oblivion reclineth on her pyramids, gloriously triumphing, making puzzles of Titanian erections, and turning old glories into dreams. History sinketh before her cloud. The traveller, as he passeth amazingly through those deserts, asketh of her, who builded them; and she mumbleth something, but what it is, he heareth not”.⁴

v1.c6.7

⁴ Fragment on Mummies, *Works*, IV. 273, ed. 1836.

v1.c6.8

The prospect thus of the historian of India is far from being promising. There is, however, no limit to human inquiry; and much may be done by diligence and industry even in fields which appear at first sight to be gloomy and forbidding. Moreover, every literature, however fabulous or mythical may be its character, has a historical value, and that of India cannot be an exception. Tales, traditions and romances, the ordinances of kings and the mandates of lawgivers, the rituals of religion and the musings of poets, must all take their tone and character from the state of society in which they are developed, and cannot but serve, imperfectly though it be, as annals of civilization. In the same [2] way, almost every monument or carved stone, every ornament or utensil, however rude, or monstrous or grotesque may be its design, bears on its face an index to the intellectual condition of some individual or community, and may be made, with proper care, to yield an acceptable contribution to the cause of history. And inasmuch as such materials are by no means wanting in this country, though they lie scattered, unknown, or neglected, covered by the shroud of dead languages, or buried under the rubbish of ages, there is yet room for hope. From their peculiar nature, such materials may be expected most in isolated places, which have been comparatively little exposed to the tide of foreign invasion. There they are least subject to external, religious, moral and social influences, and are better able to retain their original character than in the great seats of commerce where many nations constantly come into familiar contact.

v1.c6.9

The Province of Orissa is a place of this description. Cut off from the rest of India by ranges of hills and inhospitable wilds on the one side, and hemmed in by the sea on the other, it enjoyed perfect immunity for a long time from the inroads of the Muhammadans, and even in its worst days did not suffer so much as the rest of India. Commerce it had next to none, and its people lived happily and contented for ages under a national government, with every opportunity to cultivate the arts of peace, and to promote the prosperity of their fatherland. The ancient monuments it contains are therefore, more authentic than what are to be met with in most other parts of India, and, as such, have a peculiar interest and significance for the antiquarian. The greater part of the ground is all but a *terra incognita* to oriental explores; but few comparatively have ventured upon it, and then only upon its borders as it were, to confirm a foregone opinion, or indulge a momentary curiosity; so that the important question of its archaeology remains, for all practical purposes, unanswered to this hour.⁵

v1.c6.10

⁵ Since the above was written, Dr. Hunter’s invaluable work on Orissa has thrown a flood of new light on the subject. With the solitary exception of Rajasthan in Tod’s *Annals*, no province of India has had the benefit of so able, so brilliant and so masterly an historian,

v1.c6.11.1

Even the origin of its very name is involved in doubt. Unquestionably the word Orissa is a corruption of the Sanskrit *Oḍra-deśa*, the country of the Oḍras or Uḍras; but who the Oḍras were, remains yet to be determined. According to grammarians the word Oḍra is derived from the root *uḍ*, "to embrace"; but this derivation does not in any way serve to elucidate how the province came to be so designated. According to some, it is a compound of the prefix *ā*, "slight increase" and the root *undi* "to soil" with the affix *raka*, the *d* being changed to *ḍ*, meaning "the country of the dirty people", the Uriyās being, in the estimation of the Bengalis, unmindful of cleanliness; but the derivation, on the face of it, appears so fanciful that it may be at once rejected as an afterthought. Lassen takes it to be a Prakrit form of the Sanskrit *uttara* "north"—the northern country.⁶ A common ornamental plant with large bright red flowers (*Hibiscus rosa sinensis*⁷) is in Sanskrit named *Oḍra*, and it has been alleged that the province derives its name from the plant, "the land of hibiscus flower", in the same way that India is called Jambudvīpa "the island of the *Jām* fruit "from the *Eugenia jambolana* which is said to have been at one time very widely spread over the country.

v1.c6.11.2

I do not, however, remember to have noticed the hibiscus or shoeflower as particularly abundant in those parts of the Puri and Cuttack districts through which I have passed, and, though greatly esteemed by the Uriyās under the name of *mandāra*, or the representative on earth of the fabled *pārijāta*⁸ of Indra's heaven, it does not appear to form by any means a prominent feature in the flora of Orissa. It is not likely, therefore, that the province should be named after the plant. In the Institutes of Manu mention is made of a tribe of men named Oḍras who were originally Kṣatriyas,⁹ but who were degraded and deprived of the privileges of their caste for non-observance of religious rites. They are put under the same class as the Pauṇḍras, Drāviḍas, Kāmbojas (Afghan), Yavanas, Śakas (Scythians), and other aboriginal or non-Aryan races.¹⁰ The *Mahābhārata*, in the *Harivaṃśa Parva*, names them along with the Surāṣṭras, Bāhlikas, Madras, Ābhiras, Bhojas, Pāṇḍyas Aṅgas, Kaliṅgas, Tāmraliptakas, Pauṇḍras, Vāmāculas and the Keralas,—most, if not all of whom were [3] either aboriginal or non-Aryan.¹¹ In the same way the *Rāmāyaṇa*¹² reckons them along with a great number of barbarous races, none of whom found a place within the pale of pure Brahmanism, and it may be fairly concluded that they were a race of aborigines like the Coles, Bheels, Khonds and other primitive races, and the province was named, as supposed by Sterling, after its inhabitants, "the country of the Oḍra race".

v1.c6.11.3

If this inference be tenable, it would afford a curious clue to the meaning of the second name, *Utkala*, by which the province is known to Sanskrit writers.¹³ Mediaeval etymologists take it to be a compound of *ut* "above," or an expletive, and *kal* "to go", meaning "one who travels with a load", "a porter," and secondarily Uriyās who are extensively employed even to this day as load-carriers and *pālki*-bearers. The root *kal* also means "to sound indistinctly", and some imagine that it has been used to indicate the imperfect sounds of Uriyā speech.¹⁴ Both these derivations are, however, fanciful, and we must look to other than the Sanskrit for the true radicals of the word under notice. *Oḍra* is by far the most extensively used term for the Uriyās, and its vernacular form is *Oḍ*, or *Uḍ*, both according to the rules of the Prakrit grammar and popular usage. If this, as a specific tribal designation, be added to *Kola*, the generic name for the aborigines, we get Uṭkola "a *kola* of the *Oḍ* or *Uḍ* class", the sonant *ḍ* being required by a well-known euphonic law to change to the surd *ṭ*. The subsequent conversions of *uṭ* into *ut* and *Kola* into *kala* are the results of phonetic decay, or vernacular corruption and regeneration of which innumerable examples may easily be adduced.

v1.c6.11.4

In corroboration of this derivation it may be observed that in Sanskrit, *Utkala* means a birdcatcher, a term which is peculiarly appropriate to a *kola* ( *Anglice Cole* ), whether of the *Oḍ* or any other tribe. According to Colnel Wilford, Utkala is equal to *udkala*, and “implies the great and famous country of Cola”;¹⁵ it is the same with the “*Encolla*” of Nonnius mentioned in his *Dionysiacs*.¹⁶ Dr. Hunter, in his Dissertation on the non-Aryan Languages of India, accepts *Oḍ* to be the archetype of *Oḍra*, and then points out its previous transmutations through three different stages. “The specific term for man among a large section of the Indian aborigines is”, he observes, “*ha* or *ho*, lengthening through the *Visarga* into *hah*, *has*, *haḍ* (*har*) *hoḍ* (*hor*)”. Dropping the *h* of the last by a process of cockneyism of which instances may be met with in many Indian vernaculars and notably in that of Dacca, where the common people are as averse to pronounce the initial *h* as a London labourer, the remnant is *Oḍ* “whence, *Oḍra*, *Uriyā*, *Urihay*, *Oḍāoñ*”, etc.¹⁷ He takes *kala*, however, to be also a modification of *ho*, and if this be admitted, the question arises as to how the same word should occur in two such markedly different forms as *ut* and *kala* in the compound *Utkala*.

v1.c6.11.5

Two diametrically opposite series of changes of one word cannot simultaneously go on in one language, and it is not at all likely that the result of one of them should be adopted to imply a generic idea, and that of the other the differentia. It seems probable, therefore, that the *ka* series of race names are independent of the *ho* series ; or, what is more probable, the Brāhmaṇic races who first came in contact with the Coles in Upper and Central India, used it as a generic term, [ 4 ] and when they met the *Oḍs* in Orissa, named them as a separate tribe of the Coles—“the Oḍ Coles”. This is a question, however, which does not call for any lengthened discussion in this place. It is enough for our purpose here that *Oḍ* is generally supposed to be a tribal designation, and what is of greater importance, that this supposition is not a mere conjecture, but is fully borne out by tangible living evidence. In many parts of Orissa and particularly in the Pargannah of Khurdā there exists to this day a race of agriculturists or *cāṣās* who profess to be Hindus, and are in no way different in their physical characteristics from the general population, but who are shunned by all their neighbours as degraded beings, and obliged to live by themselves in separate communities, having their own separate Brāhmaṇ priests, and peculiar customs, and social observances.

v1.c6.11.6

Although *cāṣās* by name, they are looked down upon as the lowest of the low even by the *telis* and other castes who, according to the *Paurāṇic* gradation, should themselves be lower. These men, like the fallen Moslim population of Bengal, or the oppressed Bhumiyās of Chutia-Nāgpur, consider themselves the real proprietors of the soil, and have a clear impression that the Rājās of Orissa were mere usurpers of a country which once belonged to them ; and Saralādāśa, a mediaeval Uriyā poet, supports their pretension in his translation of the *Mahābhārata* by describing Orissa as the kingdom of the *Oḍs*, *Oḍ rāṣṭra*. An equivalent term, *Oḍ Maṇḍala*, is also of common occurrence in old ballads. These Oḍs cultivate sugarcane, and carry burdens on bullocks, which no other Uriyās, particularly those living south of the Brāhmaṇī river, can do without losing their caste. Among the Māhintis and other Uriyā tribes, the woman throw off their brass *khārus* or bracelets, as soon as they can afford to purchase ornaments of more precious metals, but the wives of these agriculturists, whether rich or poor, are all required to wear them as long as their husbands are living, in the same way as Bengali women wear an iron bracelet, or a bit of iron twined round with a piece of gold wire, during the life time of their husbands.

v1.c6.11.7

On occasions of public feasts, I understand from Bābu Candraśekhara Banurji, for a long time Deputy Collector of Cuttack, these people observe peculiar customs unknown to their neighbours. They spread a large mat made of the root of the *benà* or *khaskhas*, and heap thereon a quantity of a kind of baked rice called *hurum*. Everybody present, whether rich or poor, great or low, must sit around this heap, and eat a handful of it before partaking of any other food. Although Hindus by profession they have no caste distinction, and the four different tribes into which they are divided intermarry without offence. These tribes are severally known as, 1st *dahi-kalasā*, owners of the curd-jar, or men who rear cattle and sell curds; 2nd *pendākalasā*, keepers of gruel jar or, men who live on sour gruel; 3rd, *śūkaralachā*, or swine-herds; and 4th *benatiyā*, or dwellers in *khaskhas* bushes but their common designation is *Oḍ* or *Oḍ-cāṣā*, and we cannot but accept them as the remnants of the original inhabitants who gave their name to the province.

v1.c6.12

⁶ *Indische Alterthumskunde*, I. p. 186.

v1.c6.13

⁷ Wilson takes it to be the *Hibiscus mutabilis*, but on no reliable authority. The *mutabilis* is not near so common in Orissa as the *rosa sinensis*.

v1.c6.14

⁸ In Bengal the *Erythrina indica* represents the *pārijāta*.

v1.c6.15

⁹ Colebrooke, on the authority of the *Jātimālā* given in the *Rudrajāmala Tantra*, makes them degraded Brāhmaṇas. *Essays* II. 179.

v1.c6.16

¹⁰ Manu, X. 44.

v1.c6.17

¹¹ *Harivaṃśa*, v. 12, 838.

v1.c6.18

¹² *Mahābhārata*, Sabhāparva, I. p. 374. *Mahābhārata*, I. p. 350. Goressio's *Rāmāyaṇa*, IV. 38. *Ibid*, IV. 55.

v1.c6.19

¹³ *Trikāṇḍaśeṣa*, II. 1 to 11. It is related in the *Harivaṁśa* that Manu once offered a sacrifice to Mitra and Varuṇa, with a prayer for progeny, and the result was a beautiful maiden, Iḍā or Ilā, who issued forth from the fire dressed in exquisite apparel, and adorned with a profusion of ornaments. A quarrel thereupon arose as to who should possess her, and it was ultimately decided that she should change her sex, and alternately become a man and a woman. In her feminine capacity she abided with Budha, son of the Moon (Soma), and became the mother of Purūravas; and as a man, under the name of Sudyumna, she had three sons, the eldest of whom Utkala, got Orissa, the second Gaya became the master of Gayā, and the third Vinatāśva was invested with the sovereignty of the Western country. It does not appear, however, that the son of Sudyumna gave his name to the country. *Harivaṁśa*, Chap. 10. The *Bhāgavata Purāṇa* gives this story with slight variations, and the *Viṣṇu* and *Brahmā Purāṇas* attribute the change of sex to a malediction of Śiva.

v1.c6.20

¹⁴ Sterling says it means "the famous portion", and some of his Paṇḍits elaborated this into the region famous in the Kali Yuga for its temples and Kṣetras. *As. Rs.* XV. 166. Mr Beames derives it from *ut* "out" and *kala* "a strip" an "out-lying strip", but doubting the applicability of the second term, he adds "in classical Sanskrit we have only *kalā* fem., but the masculine must also have been in use, as is shown by numerous forms in the modern languages". *Proceedings, Asiatic Society, Bengal*, 1870, p. 193. Some suppose that the word *kūla* "shore", is probably one of the components of Utkala, but I have nowhere seen the conjecture developed. Others derive it from *utka* and *lāti*.

v1.c6.21

¹⁵ *Asiatic Researches* IX. 72.

v1.c6.22

¹⁶ Nonni *Dionys.* Lib. XXVI. 26, 244, *apud* Wilford.

v1.c6.23

¹⁷ *Comparative Dictionary*, &c., 24.

v1.c6.24

The prevalence of the *Oḍ* race in Khurdā, and the prominent position which that district occupies in the history of Orissa, suggest the idea of its having been at one time the capital of the *Oḍ* dominion. But how far that dominion extended, it is impossible now satisfactorily to determine. According to Sterling, "the original seat of the Or or Oḍra tribe was limited by the Ṛsikulyā river on the south, and the Kansbans on the north"; that is the delta of the Mahānadī with a small area round about it. I cannot ascertain the authority on which he was given this boundary; but there is no reason to doubt that it is the most probable conjecture. This limit, however, was soon exceeded, and the dominion of the Oḍra Rājās in its palmiest days extended very largely, both towards the north and the south, and to some extent also towards the west, though not so extensively. Traces are not wanting to shew that during the ascendancy of the Gaṅgāvaṁśa princes, their kingdom embraced Gour on the one side, and the whole, or at least a part, of Karṇāṭa on the other; though the epithets "lord of nine millions" and "sovereign of Gour and Karṇāṭa" which their descendants invariably assumed were, of course, empty titles, very much like "the king of France" in the coins and medals of George the Second and some of his predecessors,¹⁸ emblematic of some success in war, or temporary possession, but expressive of no permanent sovereignty. Certain it is, however, that for a long time "their dominion extended from a line drawn from Triveṇī Ghāt above Hugli, through Bishenpur to the frontier of Patkum on the north, and to the Godavari on the south ; and from the Hugli river and the sea on the coast to a line carried from Singbhum to Sonepur, skirting Gangpur, Sambhalpur and its dependencies, through Bastar to Jayapur and the Godavari”.¹⁹ According to the *Āin i Ākbari*, Orissa, two centuries ago, comprised the five “sircars” or district of Jelasir, Bhadrack, Cuttack, Kallendrapat and Rajmahindri.²⁰

v1.c6.25

¹⁸ GEORGIUS II D. G. MAGN. BRIT. FR. ET. HIB. REX. FID. DEF.

v1.c6.26

¹⁹ *Asiatic Researches*, XV. p. 164.

v1.c6.27

²⁰ Gladwin’s *Āin i Ākbari*, II. 192.

v1.c6.28

[ 5 ] The first, however, included Midnapur, Mahakaunghat, and Narainpur, and the province of Orissa, therefore, may be said to have extended from Midnapur to Raj-mahindri. According to Sterling, “at the opening of Muhammad Taki Khan’s administration, A. D. 1726, who governed as the Naib or Deputy of the Nazim of the three provinces, the most authentic revenue records exhibit the Subah of Orissa as extending from a place called Radha Dewal, seven *coss* beyond the town of Midnapur, to Tikali Raghunathpur, one of the estates in or near the Mahendramāli range of hills in Ganjam, a computed distance of 176 *coss* ; and on the west from False Point to the Bermul Pass, reckoned at *coss* eighty-five.²¹ Its nothern limits was, however, never well settled ; it advanced or receded according as the Muhammadan *subahdars* of Bengal proved weak or powerful, and the success of border warfare told in favour of the Uriyās or their neighbours. A little before the time when the East India Company assumed the Dewany of Bengal, Behar and Orissa, the northern boundary of the last named province was the south of the Rūpanārāyaṇ River, and that was probably its extreme limit to the north ; for it is up to that line that the Uriyā dialect was always current, until pressed back to the bank of the Subarṇarekhā when Midnapur was transferred to the commissionership of Burdwan. Its southern boundary was, likewise, never permanently fixed, and oscillated between the Cilkā lake and the banks of the Godāvarī. But it seems never to have been reduced to shorter limits than the Subarṇarekhā River on the one side, and the Cilkā Lake on the other. “Certain it is,” says Mr. Sutton, “that within these limits, at the present day, the Uriyā language is spoken in its greatest purity, and Uriyā manners and customs, weights and measures, everywhere prevail ; while to the north of these limits, the Bengali accent and terminations to some nouns and verbs are current, just as on the south of Ganjam, the Uriyās vary their pronounciation of certain words after the fashion of the Telingas or Telegus.²²

v1.c6.29

²¹ *As. Res.* XV. p. 165.

v1.c6.30

²² *Orissa and its Evangelization*, p. 16. Vide *passim*, Lassen’s *Indische Alterthumskunde*, Vol. I. p. 183 and Dr. Hunter’s *Orissa*, I. p, 171.

v1.c6.31

It is impossible now to determine when Orissa first came to be known to the Aryan Indians. Its name does not occur in the hymns of the *Ṛgveda*. But the province was not then altogether unknown. It then formed, as it did for centuries afterwards, a part of the great maritime province, including the Deltas of the Mahānadī and the Godāvarī, of Kaliṅga, the name of which occurs in connection with the origin of the sage Kakṣīvat, who was the son of Dīrghatamas by the wife of the king of Kaliṅga.²⁸ Pāṇini is also silent about both Utkala and Oḍradeśa. In the *Rāmāyaṇa*, as already shewn, the Oḍras, as a race, are mentioned, and the name of their country is likewise given as distinct from that of the race. The *Mahābhārata*, in the same way, not only names the race, and in the *Sabhā Parva* describes a present of ivory given by one of its kings to the Pāṇḍus, but also alludes to the designation of his country. But it does not seem to have been, at the time, held in any great estimation ; it was described as a wild place, and its people were barbarians, ignorant of the rituals of the Vedas. In the middle of the third century before Christ, the country had risen to considerable importance ; and Aśoka, Emperor of India, deemed it desirable to publish edicts among its inhabitants, and to inscribe them on the scarps of its hills.²⁴ But neither in his records, nor in the minor Pali inscriptions in the caves of Khaṇḍagiri is there any mention made of either Oḍra or Utkala. Buddhism, at that time, was on the ascendant in the place, and a great number of monasteries and temples were erected to supply the religious wants of the people. The country was, then and for some time previously, included under the generic title of Kaliṅga or the coast country, the kings of which were Buddhists, and caused several of the caves to be excavated.

v1.c6.32

²⁴ The inscriptions will be noticed in their proper places under the head of Khaṇḍagiri.

v1.c6.33

[ 6 ] At that time, and probably from an earlier period in the history of India, the shores of the peninsula were divided into three parts ; first the Malabar Coast ; 2nd the Coramaṇḍala or the Coromandel coast ; and 3rd, Kaliṅga or the Bengal coast. The last was again subdivided, according to Pliny, into three regions, viz., Colingo, Modocolingo (Madhya-Kaliṅga) and Macco-colingo (Maga-Kaliṅga). The first extended from Ganjam or lower down to the Ganges, and was probably the locale of Mount Maleus and the Orites.²⁵ The second, says Pliny, is a very large island in the Ganges : it included no doubt the whole of the Gangetic estuary from the mouth of the Bhāgīrathī to that of the Padmā, opposite Sandip. The last was meant for the eastern coast from Sandip to Arracan, most probably the "golden Chersonese" of the Grecian writers and the *Suwanna-bhumi* of the Burmese. This sub-division of Kaliṅga has, however, long since become obsolete, and the name itself has been confined to the tract of country lying between Cuttack and Madras—a tract which, in Muhammadan works and modern maps, is variously designated as the Northern Circars or Telingānā. Thus, we find it described in one of the *Tantras*²⁶ as lying between Jagannāth and the Krishnā river ; and in the *Raghuvamśa* it is said to have been situated to the south of Utkala. The *Tantra* in question makes Telingānā begin from Jagannāth on the east, *Jagannāthāt pūrvabhāgāt*, which shows that at least a considerable portion of Cuttack was at its time included within Kaliṅga, and the date of the work cannot be older than the seventh century of the Christian era. Colebrooke places Kaliṅga on the banks of the Godāvarī, but says nothing as to how far it extended to the north.²⁷

v1.c6.34

²³ Müller's *Sanskrit Literature*, p. 57.

v1.c6.35

²⁵ Pliny. *Hist. Nat.* II. 75.

v1.c6.36

²⁶ *Śaktisaṅgama Tantra.*

v1.c6.37

²⁷ *Essays* II. 179.

v1.c6.38

Arrian’s *Periplus of the Erythrean Sea* does not extend to beyond Cape Comorin, but in the Sequel to it, there is an account given of the navigation of the Bay of Bengal along the coast to Arracan. No mention is made in it of Utkala, Kaliṅga or Oḍra-deśa. It is said, however, that proceeding “from Masalia”, modern Masulipatam, where a great quantity of the finest muslin is prepared, “the course lies eastward, across a bay, to Desarene where the ivory is procured of that species called *bosare*”, and then passing in a northerly direction by the country of a number of barbarous tribes “the course turns again east, and sailing with the coast on the left, and the sea on the right, you arrive at the Ganges and the extremity of the continent towards the east called *khruse*” [or the Golden Chersonese].²⁸

v1.c6.39

²⁸ Vincent’s *Periplus of the Erythrean Sea*, II. p. 475.

v1.c6.40

The Desārene of this extract Dr. Vincent supposes, and very reasonably, to be no other than the coast of Orissa stretching from Masulipatam to Balasore, and it is remarkable that the article for which it is noted is the same for which the *Mahābhārata* gives it credit, namely, ivory, which was the most acceptable present which the king of the Oḍras could take to the Pāṇḍu sovereign.²⁹ According to Wilford, however, the Desārene of Arrian was formed of “ten forest cantons”—*daśa araṇya*—comprising the modern district of Chutia Nāgpur. He says “Ptolemy considers the Cocila and Brāhmaṇī rivers as one, which he calls *Adamas* or diamond river, and to the Mahānadī, he gives the name of *Dosaron*. He is, however, mistaken; the Mahānadī is the diamond river, and his Dosaron consists of the united streams of the Brāhmaṇī and the Cocila”.³⁰ Professor Wilson goes further, and places it in the Chatisgarh district on the strength of a passage in the *Meghadūta*, which describes the wild tribe of the Daśārṇas as dwelling to the north of the Vindhyan chain in the way of the Messenger cloud from Rāmgiri to Kailāsa.³¹ On the one hand, this identification carries a country avowedly on the sea-coast too far inland; on the other, if Desārene be the Greek corruption of the Daśārṇa of the *Viṣṇu Purāṇa*, the authority of the *Meghadūta* cannot be for a moment questioned. It is true that in geographical accuracy the Sequel is inferior to the first portion of the *Periplus*, and probably it was written from information received by Arrian from native mariners of Southern, or Western, India; still it is difficult to believe that he was so far misled as to leave the Orissa coast, which was then in a highly flourishing condition, and had extensive intercourse with the people of Southern India, altogether out of view, and to notice a district which never rose to any great celebrity, and was over two hundred miles away from the coast. The difficulty, however may be met by supposing that Arrian alluded to the river Dosaron of Ptolemy—the Mahānadī—and not to the savage tribe named in the *Viṣṇu Purāṇa*. The commentators of the *Meghadūta* derive Daśārṇa from *daśa* "ten," *ṛṇa* "a citadel," the district of ten citadels;³² and of citadels of little *gharis* there is no lack in the southern parts of Orissa. If we accept Wilford's derivation of "ten forests," still it would not be necessary to proceed so far as Chutia Nagpur in search of them. The Sundarban which flourishes from a little above Koṇārak to Balasore affords as extensive a range of forest land as any to be met with in the wildest part of Sirgujāh, and to it the name of Daśāraṇya may be applied with every propriety.

v1.c6.41

²⁹ Wilson’s *Viṣṇu Purāṇa*, p. 180.

v1.c6.42

³⁰ *As. Researches*, XIV. p. 405.

v1.c6.43

³¹ Lo! where awhile the Swans reluctant cower; Daśārṇa’s fields await the coming shower. *Wilson’s Meghadūta*, p. 30.

v1.c6.44

³² "The people of the ten forts subsequently multiplied to thirty-six, such being the import of Chatisgurh, which seems to be the site of Daśārṇa". Wilson.

v1.c6.45

[ 7 ] The "ivory" mentioned in the extract is supposed by Dr. Vincent to refer to the horn of the rhinoceros. The words in the original are *elephanta ton Legomenon Bosare*, and the true import of the sentence depends uopn the word *Bosare*. Now, if *bos* be taken for a bull or a bovine animal, and *are* a corruption of the Sanskrit *araṇya*, the result will be the *Arṇa-gāo* or gour, *Bos gourus*, the enormous horns of which would no doubt be an object of great curiosity and in every way worthy of notice in a book of travels, or of presentation to a sovereign in a distant country. Dr. Taylor supposes the *Bosare* to mean the *Bos indicus*, or the buffalo;³³ but as that animal was in the time of the *Mahābhārata*, as it is now, very common all over India, its horns could not have been of such value as to be an acceptable present to Yudhiṣṭhira. The range of the gour, on the other hand, was probably confined to the western parts of Orissa, extending little beyond Chutia Nāgpur, and its horns may therefore be supposed to have been a rarity at Delhi. It is possible however, that the *Mahābhārata* alluded to real ivory, which was then, as it is now, abundant in Orissa, and Arrian referred to it, or to some product of an animal of elephantine proportions, but of bovine character. Rhinoceroses were abundant in northern India even down to the time of Baber Shah, and could not have been a rarity during the reign of the Pāṇḍus.

v1.c6.46

³³ *Journal As. Soc.* XVI, p. 10.

v1.c6.47

Little is to be met with about Orissa in the Sanskrit literature of the first four or five centuries of the Christian era. In the *Raghuvamśa*, Kālidāsa makes Raghu cross the Kapiśā river by a bridge of elephants, and then proceed to Kaliṅga under the guidance of a king of the Oḍras.³⁴ In the charming drama of *Ratnāvalī*, a work of a later age, we find a princess of Ceylon wrecked on the Orissa coast; but there is no description of the place given in it, and even doubts may be entertained as to whether the poet intended to allude to Orissa or to Kaliṅga further down.

v1.c6.48

³⁴ *Raghuvamśa*, IV. 38.

v1.c6.49

In the *Bṛhat Saṃhitā* of Varāhamihira, a work of the middle of the sixth century, repeated mention is made of Orissa in connexion with the effect of eclipses under particular conjunctions; thus it is said "the Pañcālas, Kaliṅgas, Surasenas, Kāmbojas, Oḍras, Kirātas, as well as men who follow the profession of arms, or work by fire (smiths), suffer from illness if an eclipse takes place when the sun or moon is in Aries".³⁵ Again, "an eclipse in the month of Caitra causes distress to painters, writers, and singers, to men who live by their beauty, to Vaidic scholars, gold merchants, the Pauṇḍras, Oḍras, Kekayas, and Aśmakas; in that year the lord of the immortals distributes rain unequally" ³⁶

v1.c6.50

³⁵ Kern's *Bṛhat Saṃhitā*, p. 29.

v1.c6.51

³⁶ *Ibid.* p. 36.

v1.c6.52

Fa Hien, the Chinese traveller of the 4th century, seems not to have visited Orissa. After his peregrination in Behar and Bengal, he started for Ceylon from Tāmralipta on the mouth of the Rūpanārāyaṇa; but Hiouen Thsang, two centuries after him, closely following his route, arrived at Tan-mo-li-ti, the Tāmralipti of the Hindus and the Tamalites of classical writers, modern Tamluk,³⁷ at a time when that town contained a dozen Buddhist convents and ten thousand monks. It had several memorial *stūpas*, one of which was 200 feet high, and was said to have been built by Aśoka. The district in which it was situated bore the same name, and measured about 250 miles in circumference. After a short sojourn there, he proposed to go to Ceylon. "Wishing to start, he met an Indian monk of the south, who gave him the following advice: 'In going to the kingdom of the Lion (Siṃhala) it is not necessary to undergo a long sea voyage during which the winds are contrary, the currents impetuous, and the *Yo-tcha* (*yakṣas* "demons") expose one to a thousand dangers. It would be better for him to start from a south-east point of Southern India: by that way he may arrive by water in the space of three days. Even though you may be obliged to ascend mountains and traverse valleys, you will accomplish your trip in safety. At the same time you will have an opportunity of visting the sacred monuments of *Ou-tchā* (*Ouḍra*—Orissa) and other kingdoms’. ³⁸

v1.c6.53

³⁷ The directions given by Hiouen Thsang are not very precise; but there is no reason to doubt the identification of Tan-mo-li-ti with modern Tamluk. The *Mahābhārata* and the *Purāṇas* describe the Tāmraliptakas as an aboriginal tribe, living to the south of the Pauṇḍras, and they on their turn lived to the south of Cāmpā or Bhāgalpur, and Bhīma encountered them in this order. This arrangement would make the Pauṇḍras occupy Bīrabhūm and parts of Burdwan where there are still some remains of the Pauṇḍras in the bastard Hindu Pāns. The Tāmraliptakas accordingly should occupy the whole of the Howra district and undeterminate portions of Hugli, Midnapur and Burdwan districts. The dominion of the latter in the time of the Chinese traveller comprised an area "*a environ de quatorze a quinze cents li de tour*". "*Ceroyaume est situé sur une bale et 'on y va par eau et par terre. On y trouve en quantité des marchandises rares et précieuses. C'est pourquoi les habitants de ce royaume sont en général riches et opulents*". In referring to such a tract, the bearings and distances must vary considerably according as the boundary of the province or its capital is intended. The capital, which, in the time of Hiouen Thsang, had a circumference of 10 *lis*, was situated on the sea shore—"*sur les bords de la mer*", and bearing in mind how land has accreted near the mouth of the Hugli, it would not be presumptuous to suppose that Tamluk formerly was on the sea-board. Indeed it may be with some plausibility questioned if the site of Tamluk was dry land eleven hundred years ago.

v1.c6.54

³⁸ St. Julien's *Hiouen Thsang*, p. 183.

v1.c6.55

“The pilgrim, thereupon, proceeded to the south-west, and arrived at the kingdom of *Ou-tchā* (Ouḍa). There are a hundred monasteries containing nearly ten thousand monks, who study the law of the *Great Translation*. There are also many heretics who frequent the temples of the *devas*, (*devālayas*). The followers of error and of the truth live pell-mell. There may be seen [**8**] a dozen *stūpas* built by the king Wou-yeou (Aśoka) on which are oftentimes refulgent the most extraordinary prodigies”.³⁹ Hiouen Thsang's biographer, Hoei-li; says little of Orissa beyond Hiouen Thsang's having there met a doctor of the *Little Translation*, named Pradjñāgupta, who had written a treatise in 700 verses on the doctrine he followed, and of his having refuted him in a treatise of 1000 verses which he wrote for the purpose. But Hiouen Thsang himself, in his journal, the *Sıyuki* (lib. x. p. 10), supplies the following description of the province : “Ou-tchā (Ouḍa, Oḍra, Orissa, East India.) This kingdom is seven thousand *lis* (1150 miles ) circuit ; the circumference of the capital is 20 *lis* = 3½ miles. The soil is rich and fertile, and the cereals are produced in abundance. In general, the fruits are much larger than those of other kingdoms ; it is very difficult to enumerate all the rare plants and the remarkable flowers that one sees there. One sees at all times a sweet colour. The people are in their manner ferocious, of tall stature, and of black complexion. Their language is pure and harmonious, and differs altogether from that of central India. They devote themselves to the study of the *Little Translation* with much and indefatigable ardour according to the law of Buddha. There are a hundred monasteries, and one may count nearly ten thousand monks, all of whom study the doctrine of the *Great Translation* (Mahāyāna). There are fifty temples of the gods. The heretics live pell-mell with the orthodox”.⁴⁰

v1.c6.56

³⁹ “Le Maitre de la loi se dirigea au sud-ouest et arriva au royaume de Ou-tech'ā (Ouḍa). Il y a une centaine de couvents ou l'on compte environ dix mille religieux qui étudient la loi du *grand Véhicule* ; il y a aussi des hérétiques qui fréquent ent les temples des *devas* (*devālays*). Les partisans de l’ erreur et la vérité demeurent pele-mele. On voit une dizaine de *stoūpas* batis par le roi *Wou-yeou* (Aśoka) ou éclatent souvent *des prodiges extraordinaires*”.\ St. Julien’s *Hiouen Thsang*, p. 184.

v1.c6.57

⁴⁰ Ou-tcha (Ouḍa, Oḍra, Orissa, Inde oriental). Si-yu-ki. lib. X. fol. 10 “Ce royaume a sept mille li de tour ; la circonférence de la capitale est de vingt li. Le sol est gras et fertile, et les grains viennent en abondance. En général, les fruits y sont plus gros que dans les autres royaumes ; il serait difficile d'énumérer les plantes rares et les fleurs renommées qui y croissent. On ressent en tout temps une douce chaleur ; les habitants ont des moeurs féroces, une stature élevee et le teint noir. Leur langue est pure et harmonieuse ; elle differe de celle de l’Inde centrale. Ils se livrent a l’étude avec une ardeur infatigable et beaucoup d’entre eux suivent la loi du *Bouddha*. Il y a une centaine de couvents ou l’on compte environ dix mille religieux qui tous étudient la doctrine du *grand Véhicule* (Mahāyāna). Il y a cinquante temples des dieux. Les hérétiques habitent pele-mele etc”. St. Julien’s *Hiouen Thsang*, p. 425.

v1.c6.58

The authorities quoted above clearly shew that Orissa was well known to the Indian Aryans from a very early period, but only as the abode of a primitive, non-Aryan, or a fallen, race. It had no reputation for sanctity, and never was thought of as a holy place of pilgrimage for the Hindus. It was first selected by the Buddhists as a very promising field for their operations, for the aboriginal races of India doubtless offered to them, as they have since proved to others, better and more pliant subjects for proselytism than the Aryans, and Aśoka gave it great importance by recording his edicts and building temples in different parts of it. The Khaṇḍagiri rock-cut caves which were excavated about that time, bear unmistakable evidence of the position which Buddhism had attained in the country, and it would not be unreasonable to suppose that for some time afterwards the bulk of the people professed the faith of Sākya Siṃha. It would from the above, follow that the people belonged to a non-Aryan race, but the vernacular character of the language of Aśoka’s edicts would imply that the population for whom they were designed, were of Aryan extraction. This difficulty may be explained away, either by supposing that at the time in question, Aryan colonists had so extensively mixed with the Oḍs as to give the whole an Aryan character, or that the ancient Pali was not the vernacular of Orissa. The last supposition seems the most probable, as the Pali of the edicts, though vernacular in appearance, is all but identically the same in Tirhut, Delhi, Guzerat, and Peshāwar, the only difference noticeable being confined to the spelling of a few words, such as *lājā* for *rājā*, whilst it is impossible for the spoken language of such diverse and distant places, though proceeding from a common source, to retain its unity in the mouths of different nationalities and under dissimilar physical conditions. The Prakrits of the time of Vikramāditya, which are nothing but advanced stages of the vernaculars which had resulted from the disintegration of the original Sanskrit, show very marked differences in spelling and construction and the same may be expected in the Pali of different places. This difference being wanting, the inference, is that the edicts were designed and written out in the language current in the court at Delhi, or at Pāṭaliputra, and thence despatched for record in the different parts of Aśoka’s dominion without reference to provincial peculiarities of speech, and that the variations in spelling occurred during their transition from paper or palm leaf to stone under the superintendence of local officers, and the manipulation of local artificers.

First 96 of 1,589 passages. Read on

Linked texts (28)