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History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1: Volume 1

History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1

Language
English

Contents

Volume 1

Front matter

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HISTORY OF ORISSA

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Battle scene with Rāvana from an old palm-leaf Rāmāyana manuscript, Orissa

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FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE BRITISH PERIOD

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By R. D. BANERJI, M.A.,

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Manindra Chandra Nundy Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture, and Fellow, Benares Hindu University ; formerly Fellow of the Bombay University

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Vol. I

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R. Chatterjee CALCUTTA

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Printed and Published by S. K. Das PRABASI PRESS 120-2 Upper Circular Road, Calcutta.

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To my MOTHER

Publisher's Note

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It is with mingled feelings that the publisher presents to the public the first volume of the late Professor R. D. Banerji's *History of Orissa*. The completion of the first half of the work is undoubtedly an occasion for joy and thanksgiving. But the friends and admirers of the author cannot but be sorry that he has not lived to see the publication of even the first volume of his book. Throughout the period of writing it, he had to fight manfully against the ravages of a fell disease which at length removed him from the scene of his earthly labours.

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Rakhal Das Banerji's labours in the field of Epigraphy and Numismatics produced some of the most valuable materials for the reconstruction of the history of Ancient India. His work in the sphere of Archæology, during his long connection with the Archæological Survey of India, was brilliant and valuable, crowned as it was by his epoch-making discovery and recognition of the pre-historic civilization of the Indus valley which has opened a new chapter in the history of the world. Indeed in him India has lost a most eminent archæologist and historian.

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Some typographical mistakes and other defects may be found in the book, as the author could finally revise only a portion of it in proof and that, too, while suffering from illness. These, it is hoped, will be excused.

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R. C.

Addendum to Ch. VIII

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An inscribed *Puri Kushan* coin was assigned by the writer to the middle of the 7th century A. D. ; possibly to the 6th century.¹ Writing on a similar hoard of coins from Balasore, Rai Bahadur R. Chanda writes :

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¹ The *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society*, Vol. V, pp. 78 & 84.

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“Hitherto only one coin of this type, noticed by Messrs. Walsh and Banerji, has been known. The Balasore hoard includes sixty-three coins with the legend *tanka*. In this group Pandit B. B. Bidyabinod distinguishes four different types and among the other coins of the hoard no less than twenty-eight types in accordance with the difference in the position of the sun and the crescent and the attitude of the standing figure. In this connection I may refer to another hoard of copper coins of the ‘Puri Kushan’ type found in association of a large number of copper coins of Kanishka and Huvishka. This hoard was found in 1923 in an earthen pot buried in a field at Bhanjakia in the Panchpir Subdivision of the Mayurbhanj State. The Mayurbhanj hoard includes two coins with the legend *tanka*. As coins of so-called ‘Puri Kushan’ type have been found not only in the Puri District, but also in the Balasore District, the Mayurbhanj State, in Orissa, in the adjacent Ganjam District in the Madras Presidency and in the Singhbhoom District in Chota Nagpur it, would now appear reasonable to drop the name ‘Puri Kushan’ and designate this class of coins as ‘Oriya Kushan.’ ”²

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² Annual Report of the Archæological Survey of India, 1924-25, pp. 131-32.

List of Corrections

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| Line 30. | Page 15 | Read | Saruas | in place of | Susaris |
| ,, 13, 14 | ,, 18. | ,, | Garuras | ,, ,, ,, | Gauras |
| ,, 10 | ,, 109. | Omit | not | | |
| ,, 4 | ,, 152. | Read | Tosala | ,, ,, ,, | Kosala |
| ,, 19 | ,, 155. | ,, | Kongada | ,, ,, ,, | Konda |
| ,, 17 | ,, 160. | ,, | Hindol | ,, ,, ,, | Dhenkanal |
| ,, 13 | ,, 179. | ,, | Bamanghati in the | ,, ,, ,, | The |
| | | | Mayurbhanj | | Daspalla |
| | | | State | | State |

Preface

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The first suggestion for writing a History of Orissa was made to me twenty years ago by Sj. Rama Prasad Chanda, B. A. (now Rai Bahadur Rama Prasad Chanda, B.A., F.A.S.B., Superintendent of the Archæological Section of the Indian Museum at Calcutta), when he came to Calcutta on special leave to collect materials for his epoch-making work, "*The Indo-Aryan Races*". Eighteen years afterwards the same scholar made arrangements for the publication of this work in consultation with Sj. Ramananda Chatterjee, M. A.

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During the course of the compilation of this work I have received very great help from Pandit Tarakeswara Ganguli of the Mayurbhanja State in the shape of copies of important records in the Records Departments of various local Governments and the Government of India, original and unpublished copper plate grants from the States of Dhenkanal and Baudh and arrangements for facilities for my short tour in the Baudh State. Without his help it would have been impossible for me to complete this work within a short time. I am also very much indebted to Mr. G. S. Sardesai, B. A., formerly of Baroda, and at present of Poona, for much valuable help, the principal of which is the loan of two copies of the very rare *Bakhar* of the Nagpur Bhonsles by Kashinath Rajesvar Gupte. At first Mr. Sardesai sent me an incomplete copy of this *Bakhar* belonging to Mr. Ganesh Gopal Khandekar of Harasiddhi Gate, Ujjain; but later on at my request he sent a complete copy from his own library, along with a set of exceedingly rare printed letters of Yasovant Rao Holkar, written to Raghuji Bhonsle II on the eve of the Third Maratha War. Without Mr. Sardesai's help it would not have been possible for me to utilize all known sources of the History of Orissa during the Maratha period. I understand from my friend Nawabzada A. F. M. Abdul Ali, Keeper of Records of the Government of India that a fifth Volume of the Calendar of Persian correspondence is almost ready for publication, and I regret very much to state that I cannot utilize the mass of material regarding the condition of Orissa during the latter part of the Maratha period which it must contain. Throughout the compilation of this work I have received many valuable suggestions from Mr. Paramananda Acharya, B. Sc., Archæological Scholar, Mayurbhanja State, the real discoverer of the Neolithic site of Baidyapur. It was possible for me to examine the important temples at Gandharadi and other antiquities in the Baudh State on account of the very great interest in the History and the antiquities of the country of Rajah Narayan Prasad Dev, Chief of Baudh. The photographs of the Gandharadi temples and that of the colossal image of Buddha in Baudh town were supplied by Raja Narayan Prasad Dev, for which I am very much indebted to him. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Sj. Ramananda Chatterjee for going through the final manuscript of this voluminous work before it was sent to the press. Finally, I must thank my friend Sj. Kedarnath Chatterjee, B. Sc., for taking infinite trouble about the printing, illustration and publication of this work. He has helped me at every stage, helping me whenever my physical incapacity made it impossible for me to expedite this work.

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R. D. BANERJI

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BENARES HINDU UNIVERSITY The 26th September, 1929.

Contents

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Page

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CHAPTER I Topography ... 1

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CHAPTER II Peoples, Castes and Languages ... 14

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CHAPTER III Pre-Historic Antiquities ... 27

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CHAPTER IV Kalinga, Odra and Utkala in Ancient Indian Literature ... 43

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CHAPTER V Orissa under the Nandas and the Mauryas ... 59

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CHAPTER VI Kharavela and the Empire of Kalinga ... 71

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CHAPTER VII The Overseas Empire of Kalinga ... 93

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CHAPTER VIII Kalinga and Orissa in the Scythian and Gupta periods. ... 109

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CHAPTER IX Harshavardhana and Sailodbhavas ... 120

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CHAPTER X Orissa as seen by Yuan Chwang ... 136

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CHAPTER XI The Karas ... 146

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CHAPTER XII The Bhanja Dynasties ... 161

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Tuṅgas, Śulkis and Nandas ... 191

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CHAPTER XIV The Somavaṁśī Kings of Kośala ... 204

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CHAPTER XV The Early Gaṅgas of Kaliṅga ... 226

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CHAPTER XVI The Eastern Gaṅgas—Vajrahasta to Anaṅgabhima II ... 242

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CHAPTER XVII The Eastern Gaṅgas—Rājarāja III to Narasimha I ... 258

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CHAPTER XVIII The Fall of the Eastern Gaṅgas—Bhanudeva I to Narasimha IV ... 270

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CHAPTER XIX The Foundation of the Empire—Kapilendra ... 289

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CHAPTER XX The Empire of Orissa—Purushottama (1470-97) ... 305

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CHAPTER XXI The Decline of Orissa—Prataparudra (1497-1541) ... 322

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CHAPTER XXII

List of Illustrations

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| | Facing Page |
| Battle scene with Rāvana from an old palm-leaf Rāmāyana manuscript, Orissa *(in colours)* | *Frontispiece* |
| Pre-historic Site in Mayurbhanj | 1 |
| Palæolithic Implements | 29 |
| Neolithic Implements | 32 |
| Map 1. Tri-kalinga | 49 |
| Figure of Elephant over Asoka's rock edict—Dhauli | 61 |
| Portion of the Dhauli edict | 65 |
| Map 2. Invasion of Khāravela | 73 |
| General view of the Svargapuri and Manchapuri caves—Udaygiri, Puri District | 77 |
| Portion of the frieze—Corridor of the Manchapuri cave—Udaygiri, Puri District | 81 |
| Corner of the Manchapuri—figures of Dvarapalas—Udaygiri, Puri District | 85 |
| Front facade of the Ananta Gumpha—Khandagiri, Puri District | 89 |
| Map 3. Oversea Empire of Kalinga | 93 |
| Coins (1) | 108 |
| Coins (2) | 112 |
| Indo-Persepolitan pilaster—Ananta Gumpha—Khandagiri, Puri District | 117 |
| Doorway of tympanum of arch—Sri or Gaja Lakshmi—Ananta Gumpha—Khandagiri, Puri District | 124 |

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Fragment of tympanum of arch and part of frieze—the four-horsed chariot of the Sun-God—Ananta Gumpha—Khandagiri, Puri District 132

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Fragment of tympanum of arch and part of frieze—The King Elephant—Ananta Gumpha—Khandagiri, Puri District 140

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Doorway and tympanum of arch—Worship of the Sacred Tree—Ananta Gumpha—Khandagiri, Puri District 148

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Rani Nur Gumpha—General View—Left Portion of the Central Wing, Udaygiri, Puri District 156

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Rani Nur Gumpha—right half of the central wing and the right wing—Udaygiri 164

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Rani Nur Gumpha, Udaygiri 172

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Rani Nur Gumpha, Udaygiri 180

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Rani Nur Gumpha—Left half of the upper storey—Udaygiri 188

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Small shrine in right hand corner of the ground floor, Rani Nur Gumpha 196

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General view of the Corridor—upper storey of the Central wing—Rani Nur Gumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 204

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Details of corner, East wing—Rani Gumpha—Udaygiri 212

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Frieze in the corridor of the upper storey of the Rani Nur Gumpha—(a) from the left, male bearing offerings, females fighting with elephants in lotus-pool 220

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Frieze in the upper storey corridor—Rani Nur Gumpha—(b) Rescue of females by males 228

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Frieze in the upper storey corridor—Rani Nur Gumpha—(c) Rescuer before house and abduction of female, after fight between a male and a female 236

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Frieze in the corridor of the upper storey of the Rani Nur Gumpha—(d) Royal hunting scene, King shooting winged deer, and meeting nymph seated on a tree 244

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Frieze in the corridor of the upper storey of the Rani Nur Gumpha—(e) King seated in a dancing hall 252

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Lion-rider, so-called Yavana and Dvarapala—upper storey—right wing—Udaygiri, Puri District 260

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Portion of the Frieze with door-way, consisting of round arch supported by Indo-Persepolitan pilasters—lower storey—ruined corridor—Rani Nur Gumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 268

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Frieze in ruined corridor of lower storey—Rani Nur Gumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District—dancing hall—female dancing with female musicians 276

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Portion of the Frieze—Royal devotees—a king, two queens, with two female attendants—corridor of the lower storey—Rani Nur Gumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 284

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Front facade of the Ganeshgumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 292

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Map 4. Orissa in reign of Kapilendra Deva 296

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View of the corridor—Ganeshgumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 300

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Portion of the frieze—Corridor of the Ganeshgumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 308 Chhota Hathigumpha and other caves near it— Udaygiri, Puri District 316 Double storeyed cave—Udaygiri, Puri District 324 Baghgumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 332 Sarpagumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 340 Jambeswaragumpha—Udaygiri, Puri District 348

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE:—All the monochrome plates in this volume except those appearing in pages 1, 29, 32, 49, 93, 108, 112, and 296 have been reproduced here by the kind permission of Messrs. Johnston & Hoffmann of Calcutta, India.

Chapter I. Topography

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The country, which is now known to us as Orissa, was originally included in the country or province of Kalinga. The modern term, Orissa, is derived from Odra, which is the name of a very small part of Orissa. The country of Kalinga was practically co-extensive with the Oriya-speaking tracts of Bihar and Orissa and Madras. It is also quite possible that portions of the Telugu-speaking districts to the north of the Delta of the Godavari were originally Oriya-speaking districts. The Godavari-Krishna Doab, especially that part of it which lies at the bottom of the Eastern Ghats, was the march-land between Kalinga and the Andhra country. An account of Orissa must, therefore, necessarily be an account of Kalinga or Greater Orissa, as she originally was, until the last days of her independence.

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The country of Kalinga was divided from very early times into three parts and was called Tri-Kalinga. This term was translated into the Dravidian languages as Muḍu-Kalinga, which the western writers, Megasthenes and Pliny, transliterated into "Modo-Galingam." Some modern writers say that Muḍu and Kalingam become Mukkalingam, if combined according to the rules of modern Telugu grammar. Mr. Ramdas suggests that this term is derived from Modugula, the name of a village in the Vizagapatam district.¹ But Mr. Ramdas has not proved whether the modern rules of combination (*sandhi*) held good in the 1st century A. D. or not. The existence of the term *Tri-Kalinga* in Sanskrit tempts us to accept *Muḍu-Kalingam* as a direct translation of the Sanskrit form or *vice versa*. The natural division of the northern extremity of the Eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal is very well suited to the term *Tri-Kalinga*. The country of Kalinga originally extended up to the modern districts of Medinipur and Howrah in Bengal. Even in Mughal times the Suvarṇarekhā river, now in the south-western part of the district of Medinipur, was regarded as the northern boundary of Orissa. Even now the titles of the majority of Hindu Zamindars of Medinipur prove that they were land-holders and feudatories of the Hindu kings of Orissa at no distant date. The people of south-western Medinipur are very much like those of Balasore and the Mayurbhañja State in manners, customs, language, and caste. Towards the west the language of Orissa gradually merges into that of the aboriginal tribes, who live in the secluded valleys of the Eastern Ghats, beginning with Dhalbhum and Singhbhum to the north and west of Mayurbhañja and ending with the States of Karond, Kanker and Bastar in the Central Provinces. The districts of Khammamet and Nalgonda in the Nizam’s dominions lie on the Ghats immediately to the west of the Kṛṣṇa-Godāvarī *Doāb* and these are the northern-most districts of the Telugu country on the Deccan plateau. The vast country on the eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal, which extended from the Delta of the Ganges to that of the Godāvarī was called Kaliṅga in ancient times. Nature has divided this tract into three different parts, the first of which consists of the flat alluvial plain which begins from the western bank of the Damodar and contains the hill tracts of Mayurbhañja, Keunjhar and Angul. This tract is intersected by the great rivers Rupnārāyan, Haldi, Suvarṇarekhā, Barabalang, Vaitaraṇī, Brāhmaṇī and the now defunct Prāchī. The second division begins from the right bank of the Mahānadī and contains the hilly tracts between that river and the Godāvarī and is bisected by the Rushikulyā river. Here the hills extend almost to the sea and the width of the coast land is extremely narrow with certain extensions, as in the tract of the country between the Mahānadī Delta and the Chilka lake and again between the Southern bank of the Chilka and the basin of the Rushikulyā river. To the south of Berhampur-Ganjam, the ghats almost touch the sea and reach one of their highest points at Mahendragiri in the Mandasa Zamindari. To the south of Mahendragiri there is a stretch of plain flat country along the banks of the Lānguliyā river and it was on this part of the coast that Kaliṅga-nagaram, the ancient capital of Kaliṅga, was situated. There are no important rivers between the Lānguliyā and the Godāvarī, and the country also is much less productive. Originally the Andhra country seems to have lain to the south of the Godāvarī, though the Telugu language has now crept up northwards along the coast in the Vizagapatam district. The northern part of the Andhra country was very important as providing direct access into the interior of the Deccan plateau along the Rekapalli-Bhadrachalam road and again by the pass followed by the Bezwada-Warangal section of the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway. This tract contains numerous creeks as well as the famous lake of Kolar.

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¹ *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society*, Vol. XIV, 1928, pp. 539-40.

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The political divisions of the country of Kaliṅga were very different. The Medinipur and Balasore districts, along with that portion of the country which lay towards the north of the Brāhmaṇī-Vaitaraṇī was called Utkala, the central tract consisting of the modern districts of Cuttack, Puri, and the Northern part of the Ganjam district, along with some of the small states on both banks of Mahānadī, such as Ranpur, Nayagadh, Khandpara Daspalla, Tigiria and Athgadh, was called Tosala. Most probably the country between the Chilka lake and Mahendragiri was called Koṅgoda or Koṅgada, because one of the charters make it clear that Koṅgada was situated in Southern Tosala. There are distinct mentions of two different Tosalas in later inscriptions, one of which must be to the north of the Chilka and the other to the south extending as far as the Ghumsur Taluga of the Ganjam district. The reference in Jātakas to the river Telavāhā as being the boundary of Kaliṅga or Andhra is impossible to believe, because in the tract now traversed by the modern river Tel there is no sign of any Telugu-speaking people.

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There is no natural boundary, at the present time, dividing Koṅgoda or southern Tosala from Kaliṅga, unless we take it for granted that the Vaṃśadhārā or the Lāṅguliyā were at one time much larger and perhaps tidal rivers which could be taken as a landmark. From Chikakole to the Godāvarī Delta the country is very beautiful but in this tract the ghats are divided into a number of parallel ranges which reduce the breadth of the flat plain country to a minimum. The rivers in this tract are few and far between and very small in size. This is Kaliṅga proper as described by Yuan Chwang in the 7th century A.D. The people of this country were warlike from the very dawn of history and it was reduced with great difficulty by the Musalman conquerors of Orissa. The ferocity of the people of Kaliṅga may be judged from the number of people killed and captured during Aśoka’s campaign in Kaliṅga. In mediaeval times, long after the Musalman conquest of Northern Orissa, Central and Southern Orissa continued to offer stout resistance to the Quṭb-shāhī Sulṭāns of Golkonda and the independent Pathan or Afghan Sulṭāns of Bengal. The Musalmans of Golkonda ousted the Gajapatis of Ganjam in 1571, but the first Musalman Faujdār of Chikakol was appointed only a few years before 1641.¹

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¹ J. Sarkar, *History of Aurangzib*, Vol. I, p. 215.

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The invasions of Southern India from Orissa and South Indian armies penetrating into Orissa, came for the most part through the Godāvarī-Kṛiṣhṇā Doāb, because the network of rivers in the Deltas of these two rivers prevented the passage of large armies through it, along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. In this region naval activity revived after the decline of Portuguese power in Asia and from Coconada in the north to Nizampatam in the south, a line of ports sprang suddenly into existence on account of the activity of English, Dutch and French traders. The coast-land from Hijli in the Medinipur district to Madras does not include any good harbours or roadsteads. The shore slopes away gradually from the coast and deep water is available only after two or three miles. Moreover, the sea is very rough during the South-eastern Monsoon when cyclones visit this coast almost every year. Inspite of these natural defects the people of ancient Kalinga developed into good sailors very early in the history of the country. Signs and remains of the tremendous maritime activity of the people of Kalinga are still abundant in Ceylon, Further India and the Indian Archipelago.¹

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¹ See Chapter III.

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On its Western frontier Kalinga and Orissa are protected by range after range of hills, the offshoots of the great Eastern Ghats, which form a very effective bulwark on that side; but, at the same time, the secluded valleys between these ranges have sheltered the primitive inhabitants of India from time immemorial. Here are to be found the Kolian tribes speaking languages of the Austric race, who clung pertinaciously to their own languages, manners and customs for centuries and who have given up infanticide and human sacrifice long after the British conquest. These aboriginal tribes have been seldom conquered by earlier kings of the country, who were often pleased to accept a nominal submission from their chiefs. To the north of Mayurbhanja lies Dhalbhum and Singbhum, tracts forming the home-land of the Kolian people. The North-western portion of the Mayurbhanja State is almost entirely inhabited by aboriginals. In modern times the states of Gangpur, Bonai, Bamra, Rairakhol, Sonpur, Patna and Karond with a portion of the British district of Sambalpur form a line along which the aboriginals live with a sprinkling of North Indian or Oriya population, and in this tract a sort of hybrid Oriya is spoken, showing that the original inhabitants of the country were civilized by the people of Orissa and Kalinga. This part of the highlands of Orissa was called Khinjali in ancient times and was divided into two parts by the river Mahānadī. The chiefs of this area now claim Rajput descent, but the discrepancies in the accounts preserved or published by them prove that in the majority of cases they are of hybrid descent or mere pretenders to Rajput descent. In mediaeval ages the country to the west of Khiñjali was called Mahākośala or Dakṣiṇa-Kośala and was subject to the Somavaṁśīs and the Haihayas of Tripurī and Ratnapura. The present characteristics of the population and the dialects spoken point to a aboriginal or mixed descent.

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To the south of Patna and Karond a broad horn of British territory along Kotpad, Naorangpur, Poragadh, Amarkot and Raigadh penetrates into this hilly country, dividing the Indian state of Bastar from the states now included in the modern province of Bihar and Orissa. In Bastar the modern Telugu or Andhra influence is traceable directly to the immigration of the Kākatīya dynasty, which migrated from Ekaśilā-nagarī or Warangal in the Godāvarī-Kṛṣṇā Doāb, across the Godāvarī, to the hilly country occupied by the aborigines when Warangal was finally conquered by the Bahmanī Sulṭāns of Bidar. The language spoken in this state is a sort of hybrid Telugu, which is as different from real Telugu as the Oṛiyā of Sambalpur is from the pure Oṛiyā of Puri and Cuttack.

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The inclusion of the Oṛiyā speaking district of Ganjam in the Madras Presidency is due to the different steps in the Musalman conquest of Orissa. While the Sulṭāns of Bengal conquered Northern Orissa in 1568, their own independence was at stake, as Akbar destroyed the independence of the Musalman kingdom of Bengal eight years later, in 1576. The Musalman conquest of Central Orissa was left unfinished and the Afghans seldom succeeded in penetrating into the interior of the Mahānadī Delta. The Quṭb-shāhīs of Golkonda were very slow in approaching Central Orissa, though they occupied Rājamahendrī soon after the death of Pratāparudra. They advanced as far as Qasimkoṭā in many different stages. So far only the plain flat country at the foot of the Ghats had submitted to them and the Hindu chiefs remained independent in the vast hilly country to the North-west. The Ganjam district was reached by the Quṭb-shāhis only a few years before their fall in 1687. Because the Oṛiyā speaking tracts were included at that date in the kingdom of Golkonda, therefore they continued in the Ṣūbah of Ḥaidarābād till their transfer to the British in 1761. Even after the unification of the whole of Oṛiyā-speaking countries under British rule in 1804-5 and 1856, the Ganjam district still continues to form a part of Madras, and the states on the border of Kośala belonged to the Central Provinces till 1905, while Southern Medinipur is still included in Bengal.

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The Bastar State forms a continual boundary of Kaliṅga Proper, now represented by the Vizagapatam district towards the west. To the north-west of that part of the Godāvarī-Kṛṣṇa Doāb, which lies at the foot of the Eastern Ghats, are to be found the districts of Khammamet and Nalgonda of the Nizam's dominions. The country between Bezwada on the Kṛṣṇa and Rājamahendrī on the Godāvarī had been the battlefield between the armies of the North and the South from very ancient times. This part of the country is much more readily accessible from the plateau of the Deccan than any other part of Kaliṅga or Orissa. In this area the net-work of rivers of the Deltas of the Kṛṣṇā and Godāvarī have rendered it extremely fertile and it is very densely populated. The great fortress of Koṇḍaviḍu, near Guntur, to the south of the Kṛṣṇā and Rājamahendri to the north of the Godāvarī have been the sites of numerous battles. Another great fortress, that of Koṇḍapalle, was regarded as the key to the Doāb up to the end of the 18th century.

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In Northern Orissa, as well as in all other parts of this country, the principal towns are situated in the narrow strip of flat plain country at the bottom of the Ghats. The principal towns are the port of Balasore in the north, Jajpur on the river Vaitaraṇī, Cuttack or Katak on the Mahānadī and Puri or Purushottama on the sea. The Chilka lake prevents the formation of any large town on the coast between Puri and Ganjam. The country between Ganjam and Chicacole is without any important towns; but it was in this area that Kaliṅganagaram, the ancient capital of Kaliṅga, was situated. The great series of ports on the Kaliṅga coast begin from modern Kaliṅgapatam. In the interior also towns, of a sufficiently large size to be mentioned, are rare.

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In Northern Orissa one important artery of traffic is the Katak-Sambalpur road, which practically follows the contour of the Mahānadī and joins the Calcutta-Nagpur road in the vicinity of Sambalpur. The only other important artery of traffic is the Calcutta-Madras road along the coast. Towns in the hilly area behind Orissa proper are few and far between. The only town which deserves mention is Vinītapura or Yayātipura, which is the same as modern Sonpur, chief town of a small state of that name. This was the capital of the degenerate Somavaṁśis, who fled to this part after their expulsion from Sirpur, their ancestral home. Sonpur possesses very few ruins and fewer specimens of antiquity compared with Ratanpur or Sirpur, and the poverty of the new capital of the Somavaṁśis proves that the dynasty itself rose to no very great prominence. Other towns in this border-land of Orissa are of modern origin and their importance lies merely in the fact that they are the present seats of petty Oṛiyā chiefs, called the chiefs of the Garhjat.

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In northern Orissa the only important place from the point of view of antiquity is Khiching, the Khijiṅga of the second group of Bhañja kings, which has been recently explored by Rai Bahadur R. P. Chanda of the Indian Archaeological Department. The next important ruin in Northern Orissa is Udayagiri and Lalitagiri in the Cuttack District, which was a considerable Buddhist establishment at one time. These ruins have not been sufficiently explored as yet to permit us to form any definite opinion. Kaṭaka or modern Cuttack has been given undue importance by many writers, who have identified it with the word Kaṭaka, meaning the camp of a king in Copper plate charters. Beyond the fact that the position occupied by this town at the junction of the Kāṭjuṛi with the Mahānadī is important, there are no remains of antiquity at any place near Cuttack. Kaṭaka may therefore be a capital of recent origin, specially of the time of the Sūryavaṁśis, of which period there are several buildings in this town, all ascribed to Pratāparudra. The first important town or city of undoubted antiquity is Dhauli near Bhuvaneśvara, in the vicinity of which there are wide-spread ruins as yet untouched, which may represent Uttara Tosala or Tosali.

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Bhuvanesvara itself is a town of comparatively greater antiquity in Orissa. The earliest temples at this place go back to the 8th century, if not to the 7th, and the caves on the Udayagiri and Khandagiri hills are partly of the 2nd century B.C. and partly of the 9th century A.D. Compared to this area there is no other tract in the whole of Northern Orissa, which goes so far back in date except the unexplored ruins of Gandharadi in the Baudh State, on the right bank of the Mahanadi. Purushottama or Puri is undoubtedly of recent origin, as only the main shrine was erected by Anantavarman Chodaganga towards the close of the 11th century A. D. Further south, the ruins of only one important town need be mentioned. This is Kalinga or Kalinga-nagara, the capital of the greater Kalinga. The ruins of the ancient city have been partly carried away by the sea, partly buried in the sand. Some remains of the 2nd and 1st century B. C. have been discovered in the temple of Kurmesvara and certain others at Mukhalingam. The entire area is unexplored and very little attention has been paid to it by the Archaeological Department of the Government of India. Further south, the remains at Simhachalam, Anakapalle and other places belong to the mediaeval period. Of places in the Godavari-Krishna Doab very little information exists. The only important places in the interior of the Southern part of Kalinga are the remains on the Mahendragiri hills, on which several temples and inscriptions are known to exist.

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The general characteristics of the entire coast-land are somewhat different from those of the Southern portion of Bengal. The soil is either alluvial or a reddish laterite cut up by low hills, which yields a poor harvest even in the best of seasons. Irrigation is possible on account of the existence of a number of big rivers and was used even in the 2nd century B. C. The lower parts of many great rivers intersect the coast-land and their Deltas spread fan-wise in the flat plains near the sea. Fishing and salt-making are the principal industries along the sea-coast, and both have suffered materially during recent years on account of the competition of foreign salt and the dried fish trade of the Sunderbans.

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Very little of the coast-land of Orissa was known to the ancients. Ptolemy mentions a number of places on the sea-coast of Orissa, but none of them can be identified on account of the changes of names, though abortive attempts have been made by many to do so. The northernmost point in Ptolemy's map identifiable at present is Maisolos¹, which is the same as modern Masulipatam and the ancient Musala-pattana, being the capital of the Mosalas or Musalas, a southern tribe who are classed with the Andhras in the Purāṇas.

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¹ Ptolemy's India, ed. Dr. S. N. Mazumdar Sastri, M. A. PH. D.

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Pliny's references to Kalinga are also very scanty. Kalinga is mentioned as the habitat of a people of the same name close to the sea. In the same passage are mentioned the Mandei and the Malli and the mountain Mallus but these three are stated to have been situated higher in the country.²

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² Natural History, Eng. Trans. by Philemon Holland, London, 1634. p, 126. (Book VI, Chap. XVII).

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The people of Kalinga are mentioned along with the Gandaridae in the country which lies on the other side of the Ganges¹. Dantakura or Dandagula, which is mentioned in the Mahabharata occurs in Chap. XX. "From the mouth of the Ganges where he entereth into the sea unto the cape Caliugon (Calingon ?) and the town Dandagula are counted 725 miles²."

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¹ Natural History, Eng. Trans. by Philemon Holland, London 1634. Book VI. Chap. XIX p. 126.

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² Ibid., p. 127

Chapter II. Peoples, Castes and Languages

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The population of the entire country is as varied as its topography. The majority of the people are Hindus, with the exception of the aboriginals, many of whom also are now approximating to the standard of the lowest class of Hindus of this province. Among the Hindus the principal caste is the Brāhmaṇa, and the different sects of Brāhmaṇas to be found in the three great divisions of the country are considerable. The highest class among these Brāhmaṇas are called Śasanī, i.e., those who had been honoured by past kings with grants of lands embodied in charters written on copper plates, e.g., Tāmra-śāsanas. There are many other sub-divisions of Brāhmaṇas, some of which have emigrated into the country from countries outside Orissa. The records of their immigration, as found in many instances in these charters, show that throughout the mediaeval period Brāhmaṇas continued to pour into Orissa from different parts of Northern India. The oldest of such charters is the Ganjam plate of the Gupta year 300, which records the donation of the village of Chhavalakhya in the Kṛṣṇagiri district (vishaya) to a Brāhmaṇa of the Bhāradvāja Gotra by the feudatory chief Mādhavaraja II. In many of these charters of Orissa, described in the following pages, we find records of the migration of Brāhmaṇas from the Middle Country or Madhya-deśa or Kauśāmbi, i.e., the ancient Vatsa country or the Southern part of the modern district of Allahabad and even Varendrī or Northern Bengal. It is impossible to agree with Mr. Hira Lal in thinking that *Madhya-deśa* in such cases is the border districts between South-western Bengal and Northern Orissa.¹ Whatever may be the traditional value of the word *Madhya-deśa* in modern Orissa, nobody can deny that up to the Musalman conquest of Northern India, *Madhya-deśa* meant the central portion of the United Provinces. It appears, therefore, that from the beginning of the mediaeval period a constant train of Brāhmaṇas flowed into Orissa, as they did into Bengal. Outside the limits of Orissa proper, the accounts of the different classes of Brāhmaṇas is exceedingly interesting. For example, in the district of Sambalpur the Brāhmaṇas are subdivided into six classes, among which the Utkala Brāhmaṇas are regarded as the highest, as they are the most recent emigrants from Orissa. Next to them are the Jhāruās or Āraṇyakas, who are looked down upon by the Utkalas but claim to be the earliest immigrants from Orissa, who cleared the forests of Sambalpur and became its earliest settlers. The third class, the Raghunāthiās, are taken to be converts from the local tribes who were given the rank of Brāhmaṇas by the eponymous hero-god Rāmachandra when he was wandering in these forests. The Bhimgiriyās belong to the same class but say that one Rāja Raghunāth Deva of Hindol granted a charter to them giving five villages close to Bhimgiri mountain. They are also called Pañcha-śāsanīs. The Raghunāthiyās and Bhimgiriyās are the lowest Brāhmaṇas in the Sambalpur district. The Hāluās and Sāruās are Brāhmaṇas but cultivators, who grow potatoes and arums. The Susārīs are apparently a branch of the Jhāruās, and the term means a cook or a superintendent of stores and provisions. These Brāhmaṇas have become totemistic. The Brāhmaṇas of the Bhāradvāja *Gotra* worship the Blue Jay (*Bharadvāja*), those of the Parāśara *Gotra* worship the ordinary pigeon or *Pārā*. These superstitions may indicate aboriginal descent and consequent totemistic influence. Such characteristics are very rarely met with among Brāhmaṇas in other parts of India.

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¹ *Epi. Ind. Vol. XVIII. p. 302.*

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The next important class may be called the *Rājanyas* in the absence of a better generic term. Most of the Indian chiefs and Zamindars now claim to be Kshatriyas or even Rajputs. In the majority of cases they are of mixed descent and their present rank or caste is due to their position. Thus the Gaṅgā-vamsa chiefs of the Bamra State are distinctly descended from the Eastern Gaṅgas, who claimed direct descent from the western Gaṅgas of Mysore. Intermarrying with them are a number of chiefs of Rajput descent calling themselves Rāthors and Pawars. Thus the Bhañja Rājās of Mayurbhañja informed the Government of Bengal in 1814 that they intermarry with the Rajas of Bissenpore, Kasurgur and Singbhum. Now the Rajas of Vishṇupur belong to the Nāgavaṁśi family, Kasurgadh claims Paramāra ancestry, while the Singbhum chiefs say that they belong to the Rathor clan.¹ The so-called Nāgavaṁśi is not a Rajput but a chief of aboriginal descent; such as the old chiefs of Bastar and the present chiefs of Khairagarh.²

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¹ *Twenty-five Questions Addressed to the Rajahs and Chiefs of the Regulation and Tributary Mehals by the Superintendent in 1914; reprinted Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, 1905, p. 13.*

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² *Chhattisgarh Feudatory States Gazetteer, Bombay, 1909, pp. 36, 112.*

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In the extreme south, the Zamindars of Vizianagram claim to be descended from a Rajput who came to the Vizagapatam district in 591 A. D., totally oblivious of the fact that the name Rajput had not come into existence before the twelfth or the thirteenth century A.D. The family tradition of the Chiefs of Vizianagram has preserved the name of one who is well known from epigraphical records. The records of this family mention one Mādhava as the Rajput who came from Northern India and founded this family in 591 A.D. A Chief named Mādhavavarman is known to have been ruling the Koṅgoda district or Central Orissa in 619 A.D., under Śaśāṅka of Gauḍa, the adversary of Harshavardhana of Northern India. It is more probable that this Mādhava of 591 A.D., of Vizianagram tradition, is the same as Mādhavarāja II of the Śailodbhava dynasty; yet the craze for Rajput descent is so strong among the chiefs of India, many of whom are descended from kings belonging to families which were regarded as very old at a time when the Rajput was a barbarian, that the Vizianagram chief still persists in claiming Rajput ancestry.

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A careful consideration of the data available at the present date would tend to prove that the majority of the chiefs of Kaliṅga or Modern Orissa and Teliṅgānā are of indigenous descent.

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In Northern Orissa a multitude of sub-castes follow the Rājanyas, and it is extremely difficult to locate them in any order of sequence; for example, in the Balasore district there were 2,10,000 Khaṇḍāits, forming about 20 per cent. of the population of this district. They are generally taken to be the descendants of the feudal militia of the Hindu Rājās of Orissa. But beyond this nothing is known of this caste and no attempt has ever been made to connect them with any of the three lower Varṇas of the original Indo-Aryan castes. The Khaṇḍāits form a very large percentage of the population of other districts of Orissa also. There are 3,75,000 Khaṇḍāits in Cuttack but very few in the Puri district. The distinction between the Khaṇḍāits and the cultivator class or Chasās (locally pronounced Tasā) is really very little. Both the Khaṇḍāit and the Tasā are at present cultivators. To the south of the Chilka Lake these castes disappear and their place is taken by others who are practically unknown in Northern Orissa. Among other castes of Northern Orissa must be mentioned the Gauṛas or milkmen and Goḷas or cultivators. The Gauṛas are to be found in the districts of Balasore, Cuttack, Puri and Ganjam. The writer caste, Bhoi or Karan, is very insignificant from the point of view of numbers, but they are to be found in the Bengal district of Midnapur also. The remaining castes of Cuttack are the Kāndrās and the Pāns who are also to be found in Balasore and Ganjam districts. The Pāns are an aboriginal race who at one time ruled over some part of Orissa. They are, at present, regarded as untouchables.

v1.c9.10.1

South of the Chilka the Telugu speaking population is divided into two major heads, the Kapus or cultivators and the Kāliṅgis or the ancient people of Kaliṅga, a caste to be found in the Ganjam district only. In the Vizagapatam district the principal castes are Kapus, Velamas and the Telagas who are all cultivators and traders. Along the Eastern Ghats many castes are more or less named after the aboriginal tribes, such as the Khoṇḍs and Śavaras of the Puri, Ganjam and Vizagapatam districts. The majority of them live in the uncultivable hill tracts and speak some dialect of the Oṛiyā language even in the Vizagapatam district. The Western part of Northern Orissa, called Garhjats, contains a very large and varied aboriginal population, such as Bhuiyās, Binjhals, Bhumijes, Goṇḍs, Hos, Juangs, Khariās, Khoṇḍs, Koras, Oraons, Santals Śavaras and Sudhās. The languages spoken by them are either Muṇḍāri or the language of Santals, or Dravidian, such as the language of the Goṇḍs and Oraons, or Oṛiya, which is a sort of *lingua franca* among the hill tribes. The Bhuiyās are scattered among the hill States from Mayurbhañja in the north to Patna in the south. They live in the wild highlands of the inaccessible hill ranges, and are very strong in the Keunjhar State. They possess the right of installing the Chiefs, which is also claimed in the Bonai State. They have lost their original language and now speak Oṛiyā.

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Next to them are the Juāngs, who are perhaps the most primitive among the aboriginal castes of Orissa. They were very probably ousted from the valleys by the Bhuiyās and now live on steep hill-sides. They are supposed to have used "shouldered" stone axes only a few centuries ago and live in very small huts. They speak a Muṇḍāri dialect and are a very small race. The Juāngs are closely allied to the Khariās, another small tribe, living in the feudatory states of Orissa. According to tradition the Khariās and the Purāṇs of Mayurbhañja were produced like the Bhañja kings from the egg of a pea-fowl. It is stated that the Bhañja kings were produced from the yolk, the Purāṇs from the white and the Khariās from the shell of the egg. One of the most important aboriginal tribes of Orissa are the Khoṇḍs; they are very prominent from the State of Kālāhaṇḍi in the Central Garhjats to the extreme west of the Vizagapatam district. They also call themselves Kui or Koi. In Madras they are called Koṇḍs. They were formerly addicted to human sacrifices and infanticide. After the Kondhs or Khoṇḍs are the Śavaras or Sāorās. In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa the Śavaras are regarded to be the descendants of the sons of Viśvāmitra, who were cursed by their father to become impure. The Rāmāyaṇa states that they were met by Rāma in Central India. A pious Śavara woman met him near some lake. The Śavaras are mentioned in the Śānti-parvan of the Mahābhārata as practising some wicked customs along with Dasyus.

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In the Purāṇas, the Śavaras are called Vindhya-maulikas. They are mentioned by Pliny as Suari and by Ptolemy as the Savarai. The chiefs of the Śavara tribes are mentioned in many historical records. In historical times they are mentioned in the Udayendiram plates of the 21st year of the reign of the Pallava king Nandivarman Pallavamalla who is said to have defeated the Śavara king Udayana and the Niṣāda chief Pṛthivī-vyāghra.¹ They are also known from the Sanskrit and Kanarese praśasti of the Western Gaṅga Chief Mārasimha II, who was a subordinate of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king Kṛṣṇa III and placed Indra IV on the throne. This Praśasti, which is at Śravaṇa Belgoḷa in the Hasan district of the Mysore State, mentions that Mārasimha II (963-74 A. D.) defeated a Śavara Chief named Naraga.² They are mentioned in the Harṣacharita of Bāṇa-bhaṭṭa and the Gauḍa-vāho of Vākpatirāja. Their language belongs to the Muṇḍā or Kolian group and has been described with the dialects spoken by the Juāngs as Kherwari by Sir George Grierson.¹ The modern Śavaras show remarkable engineering skill in the construction of their fields on the hill-side and their houses. They are ruled by Bissoyis, (Sankrit Vishayin), who were originally feudatory chiefs. The Śavaras are divided into two main groups : (a) the hill Śavaras and (b) the Śavaras of the low country.

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Hill Śavaras are sub-divided into as many as six tribes : (i) Jāti or Māliyā Śavara, (ii) Ārisi or Lombo Lāñjiya, which means long tailed monkeys, :(iii) Luārā or Muli, who are workers in iron, (iv) Kiṇḍals or basket makers, (v) Kumbi or potters, (vi) Jādu, a little known tribe beyond Kollakoṭa and Puṭṭasingi. The Śavaras of the low country are divided into two tribes : (a) Kāpu or cultivators and (b) Suddho or good. The Kāpu Śavaras still retain many of the customs of the Hill Śavaras but the Suddhos have become Hindus and adopted the Oṛiyā language. The Śavara is as fair as the Oṛiya and therefore much fairer than the black Telugus of the plains. He is shorter than other hill people and distinctly Mongolian in features. Their Headmen are called Gomongo and Boya.² The Śavaras of the present day are widely known in Orissa and Madras as adepts in magic and witchcraft, and these are called Śavarī vidyā in Orissa. According to tradition the images originally enshrined in the temple of Purushottama at Puri were worshipped by Śavaras in the hill tracts of Orissa. Many people believe that a section of the Sevāyatas or servants of the temple of Purushottama originated from the Śavaras. But the term Suara or Suira can also be derived from Sūpakāra, “a cook.” In Bharata’s Nāṭya-śāstra the Śavaras are mentioned with the Oḍras and are stated to have been charcoal-burners. According to Mr. B. C.

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Mazumdar, “all the Kolarians are but branches of the Śavara people.”¹ In medieaval times the Śavaras have been driven out from Central India proper into the inhospitable regions along the crest of the Eastern Ghats. Mr. B. C. Mazumdar also supposes that the Binjhals of Sambalpur are descendant of Śavaras.

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¹ South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I, p. 365. No. 74 ; Indian Antiquary Vol. VIII, 1879, pp. 275-76.

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² Epigraphia Indica, Vol. V, p. 176.

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¹ Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. IV, 1906, p. 209.

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² E. Thurston—Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Vol. VI, pp. 304-47.

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¹ The Aborigines of the Highlands of Central India, University of Calcutta, 1927, p. 13.

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The Bhuiyāns of Bihar and Orissa were pushed by the Hos to Northern Orissa. At present they stretch in a line from the State of Nilgiri to that of Gangpur. Mr. B. C. Mazumdar is inclined to connect the Bhuiyāns with the Bhumijes.² He is also inclined to think that the Bhañja kings of old epigraphic records “were not in those days far above the social influence of the Kols, because a princess of the Bhañja house once fell in love with a genuine Muṇḍa.”³ There are many instances of ladies of Indian royal families falling in love with their slaves or servants. If Kamalādevī of the Chālukya dynasty of Gujarat fell in love with her captor, Alāuddīn Muḥammad Shāh Khaljī, will it prove that the Baghelas were in the habit of inter-marrying with Musalmans? Such methods of argument are incomprehensible. Beyond the similarity in names there is no other similarity, not even of language, between the Bhuiyāns and Bhumijes and the idea of social intercourse between the Bhañja kings and the Muṇḍās is as absurd as such analytic and synthetic methods.

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² Ibid., p. 26.

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³ Ibid., p. 36.

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The Binjhals and Khoṇḍs inhabit the South-western parts of the Sambalpur district. They are also called Binjhwārs and their tradition prove that they have some remembrance of their migration to the east. The Binjhal chiefs of Borasambar still possess the right of affixing the royal mark or Ṭikā to the fore-head of each chief of Paṭna at the time of his coronation. They are fast becoming Hindus and the great majority of them are cultivators. Like all aboriginal people they eat almost anything except cows, crocodiles, lizards and jackals.

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The Gaṇḍās are an untouchable caste in the Sambalpur district, one section of which is called Pān, showing that they are of the same class as the Pāns or the Pānos of other districts. They eat beef and carrion. Among the aboriginal people the Goṇḍs are one of the principal tribes and they differ widely from the Kolian tribes in their language, which is Dravidian like those of the Orāons. They inhabit the Central Provinces chiefly, but are also to be found on the Eastern Ghats. They are of small stature and dark in colour. They are stoutly built but extremely ugly, as they have round heads, wide nostrils and mouths, thick lips, straight black hair and very scanty beards and moustaches. Goṇḍs are generally divided into two classes: (A) The Rāj Goṇḍs and (B) the ordinary Goṇḍs. The Rāj Goṇḍs are aristocrats and have become Hindus and wear the sacred thread. One family of Rāj Goṇḍ chiefs even became Musalman to save their kingdom. The ordinary Goṇḍs are called Dhut-Gonds or "Dust Gonds". They used to eat beef until recently.

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The Bhuiyāns live in the wild highlands of the inaccessible hill ranges of the State of Bonai, Pal Lahara, Keonjhar. The Bhuiyān is a short man with a round face, thick lips, narrow forehead and high cheek-bones. In colour they are tawny to light brown. They are divided into four sects or clans: The Māl or Desh, the Rājkulī, the Rāutāli and Pabana-añśa. Their villages are mostly situated at the foot of hills covered with wood and at the side of hill streams.

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All over Orissa there are numerous castes which cannot be connected with the castes of other districts, while some are common to all districts of Northern Orissa. The Gaurās and Telis are common but the Kulta or Kolita are the chief cultivating class of Sambalpur. According to their own tradition they immigrated from the State of Baudh and their ancestors were water-carriers in the household of Rāmachandra. The Kultas, Sudhs and Dumals will take food together at the time of festivals. The Kewats are fishermen and boatmen and are to be found in most of the districts of Northern Orissa. The Bankas are a small caste found principally in the Kalahāṇḍi State. They consist of people of all castes from the Brāhmaṇa to the Kumhār and even the Marāṭha and became mixed together in military service. They are still permitted to carry a sword or a big knife without a license inside the State. The Bhulia is weaver by caste, also known as Bholia, Bhoriya, Bholwa, Mihir and Meher. They talk Hindi among themselves and are supposed to have immigrated to Orissa with the first Chauhan Chief of the Patna State. The Dumals are a sub-caste of the Gaurā or Āhir, but they have no connection with them at present. The Ghāsis are a very low caste who are said to have immigrated from Mayurbhañja. They are more common in the Gangpur State. They act as sweepers and grass-cutters and will eat swine and cattle. They are taken to belong to the Kāruā sub-caste of the Hāris. The Hāris or Hāḍis are a caste common to Western Bengal and Northern Orissa. According to their tradition, they were created after the four Varṇas by Brahmā from the dust of his arm. The Karans or Mahāntis of Orissa are said to correspond to the Kāyasthas of Bengal or the United Provinces. They are a fairly industrious and influential caste in Orissa. The Paiks of Orissa are the descendants of the ancient feudal militia of Orissa who were disbanded after the British conquest. They are generally regarded as being equal to the Chasā in social rank. They contain people of all castes, including Kindras, Pāns, Bāuris, Khoṇḍs and even Musalmans and Telugus. They were originally paid from Chākṛan or service-land. The Sudhās are another military caste who were formerly musketeers and therefore worship the gun. They are divided into four sub-castes : (1) the Barā or High Sudhās, (2) the Dehri or worshippers, (3) the Kabāṭkoniās or those holding the corners of the gate and (4) Butkā or forest Sudhās. According to their tradition they were descended from Ghaṭotkacha, the son of Bhīma and the she-demon Hiḍimbā. The Sansis are a caste of masons and navvies. They are really a branch of the great migratory Uḍ or Oḍḍe caste, who are weight-carriers all over India and are also found in Sindh. They enjoy a high position and are usually stone-workers and tank-diggers in Orissa. In the plains districts of Puri and Cuttack there are a few low castes who are either aboriginals or immigrants. The Malangis are salt manufacturers and live on sea-fish and a little rice they grow during the rains. The Nuḷiās or sea-fishermen of Puri speak Telugu and are recent immigrants from the South.

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