History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c38: Chapter XXIV. The Mughal Rule in Orissa
History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c38
- Language
- English
Contents
- v2.c38.20 — 4 parts
- v2.c38.34 — 4 parts
- v2.c38.s1 Revenue of Orissa (1594-1707) — 55 parts
Chapter XXIV. The Mughal Rule in Orissa
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Mughal rule in Orissa really began during the reign of the Emperor Nūruddīn Jahāngīr after the appointment of the first *Ṣūbahdār* in 1607. In addition to the information conveyed by Jahāngīr's "Memoirs" much new light has been thrown by the researches of Sir Jadunath Sarkar, who has utilised many new sources of information. The new records collected by him consist of the *Murāqāt-i-Hassan* or "Letters of Maulānā ‘Abu’l Hassan, who served the *Ṣūbahdārs* of Orissa as Secretary for about 12 years (1655-67), and put this collection together in 1080 A. H. (1669-70)" and "Letters addressed by Aurangzīb to Murshid Qūlī Khān" when *Dīwān* of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, about 1700-1705, included in the Imperial Secretary Inayetullah Khān's *Āḥkām-i-‘Alamgīrī*.¹ Fresh light was obtained by the same authority from the *Bahāristān* five years later.²
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¹ *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol. II, 1916, pp. 153-54.*
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² *Ibid., Vol. VII, 1921, p. 53.*
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The new records furnished a list of the *Ṣūbahdārs* of Orissa during the reign of Jahāngīr. The list opens with the name of Hāshim Khān, who was appointed on the 26th September 1607 but was transferred to Kashmir by an order dated 24th May 1611.³ Hāshim Khān's predecessor in office was Quṭbuddīn Khān Kokāh, who was appointed Ṣūbahdār of Bengal and Orissa but was killed in the fight with Sher Afgan alias ’Alī Qūlī Istāj-lū at Burdwan.¹ Hāshim Khān’s period of government corresponds with the last years of the reign of the new Gajapati Ramachandra I and the first two years of his son Purushottama, if Stirling is to be believed.² Hunter, who based his account on the equally unreliable Mādalā Pāñjī as digested for him by Bhavanicharan Bandyopādhyāya in his Purushottama-chandrikā, assigns 1607 as the date of the death of Rāmachandra I.³ Hāshim Khān did not leave Orissa immediately after receiving the order of transfer. He was succeeded by Rājā Kalyān Singh, son of Rājā Toḍar Mall. During the period of office of Hāshim Khān occurred the celebrated siege of the temple of Jagannātha. At the end of the rainy season Hāshim Khān and the Mughal officers in Orissa decided to make war upon the titular Gajapati Purushottama and other "Zamīndārs" of Orissa following the precedent of the warfare carried on against the Afghans of Bengal by Islām Khān Chishtī. A Rajput named Rājā Keshodās Māru of Maidtā⁴ did not wait for the co-operation of his colleagues and set out from his Jāgīr at Cuttack on the plea of pilgrimage. He seized the temple enclosure of Jagannātha and barricaded himself therein. Purushottama came from Khurdah with 10,000 cavalry, three or four lakhs infantry and many raths. The raths were wooden towers on wheels which were filled with soldiers and drawn forward by elephants or men so as to favour escalading. Ten to twenty such *raths* were filled with Oriyās and brought close to the walls of the temple. The Rajputs met them with fire at the end of long poles. At the end many of the *raths* were burnt and the Oriyās failed to storm the enclosure. Purushottama was compelled to sue for peace and sent an ambassador to Keshodās. In the meanwhile news of the Rajput's escapade having reached Bengal, Islām Khān, the Viceroy, sent strict order to Hāshim Khān urging him to advance immediately to the aid of Keshodās. Purushottama now agreed
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³ *Tuzūk-i-Jahāngīrī, 60, English translation, pp. 126-27.*
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¹ Ibid., p. 78.
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² Asiatick Researches, Vol. XV, p. 294.
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³ Orissa, London, 1872, Vol. II, Appendix VII, p. 190.
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⁴ He is called Rājā of Jaisalmer in the Bengal District Gazetteer, Puri, p. 36.
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Details of the Śikhara of the Mukteśvara—the great Chaitya-window Danel and Fret-work of superimposed Chaitya-windows
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(i) to send his daughter to the Imperial harem as a *Dolah*.
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(ii) to pay three lakhs of rupees as tribute,
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(iii) to give his own sister in marriage to Rājā Keshodās, and
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(iv) to pay one lakh of rupees to Keshodās and his men (evidently for the trouble they had taken in plundering the sacred temple and causing unnecessary trouble within the State of Khurda).
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Keshodās left Puri with forty horsemen and went to Khurda to be married to Purushottama's sister. As he was given a lean elephant he was kind enough to seize by force six of the best in the Royal stables and to set off without taking leave. Inspite of strenuous opposition, Keshodās and his small band of adherents succeeded in cutting their way out and reached Puri. In the meanwhile assistance reached Puri from Cuttack and Keshodās was escorted back. On the recommendation of Islām Khān Chishtī, Rājā Keshodās Māru was raised by Jahangir to be a commandar of four thousand and was presented with standards, a sword, a dagger, a horse, and a robe of honour.¹
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¹ Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol. VII, pp. 54-56; Tuzūk, Eng. Trans. p. 202.
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Rājā Kalyān Singh was appointed on the recommendation of Islam Khān and governed Orissa from 1611 to 1617. He attempted to emulate the feat of Keshodās Māru and also attempted to conquer Khurda. In the meanwhile Mughal aggression from the north and the advance of the Musalmans of Golkonda from the south had devastated the territories of the nominal Gajapatis and poor Purushottama was again compelled to throw himself on the mercy of his persecutors. He agreed to send his daughter to the imperial harem (dolah), to wait at Court in person, to present a tribute of three lakhs of rupees and a famous elephant named Śesha-Nāga. The daughter was sent to Delhi with one lakh of rupees by way of Bengal. It is mentioned in the Tuzūk that the Emperor viewed the eighteen elephants sent by Rājā Kalyān Mall from Orissa shortly after the 24th August 1617.²
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² Ibid., p. 56.
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The charges brought against Rājā Kalyān Mall caused him to be recalled to Delhi, though on investigation they were found to be false.³ According to the "Chronicles of Jagannātha Rājā Kalyān Mall was killed by the Rājā of Khurda,"⁴ but this statement is false, as he lived to return to court and was attached to the force of Mahābat Khān in Kābul.⁵ His successor was Mukarram Khān, son of Muazzam Khān, who was appointed in 1617. During his period of office Khurda was invaded by the Mughals and Purushottama compelled to fly to Rājamahendri. It is stated in the *Baharistān* that the territories of Khurda were annexed to the Mughal empire, "though the descendants of its last independent Rājāh continued to enjoy some land as mere Zamindars." Mukarram Khān was promoted to be a commander of three thousand for his conquest.¹ He was transferred some time later and his place taken by Jalair Khān. During the rule of this Ṣūbāhdār an expedition was undertaken against Bahādur Khān the Musalman Zamindar of Hijli. Later on Jalair Khān was transferred and Mīrzā Aḥmad Beg Khān sent in his place in 1623-24. Aḥmad Beg was the nephew of Ibrāhīm Khān Fath Jang, Ṣūbāhdār of Bengal. He had also attacked the unfortunate Narasimha Deva, but at this juncture Prince Shāh-Jahān entered Orissa through the Qutbshāhi dominions.
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Aḥmad Beg raised the siege of Khurda and fled from Orissa² to Rajmahal when Ibrāhīm Khān, the Ṣūbāhdār of Bengal, was killed in battle with the future emperor.³ Shāh Jahān appointed Muḥammad Taqi Simoāz *alias* Shāh Qūli Khān as the Governor of Orissa but after the retreat of Shāh Jahān, Shāh Qūli was defeated, captured and sent a prisoner to court by Rāo Ratan Singh Hāḍā. Jahāngīr's last Ṣūbāhdār of Orissa was Bāqir Khān Nazm-Sāni, who was installed in 1627 and continued by Shāh Jahān. His term of office was renewed by an order dated the 4th February 1628 and he was removed by another dated the 24th June 1632. He did not reach the Court till the 13th January 1633.¹ After the acquisition of Khurda by Mukarram Khān, Mughal aggression in Orissa came to a pause for some time. A king of Mayurbhanja named Vaidyanātha Bhañja is mentioned in the *Rasika-mangala* written about 1655. The Vaishṇava saint, named Rasikānanda, went to his court at Rajgadh and was well received by him. He is said to have converted the whole of Bhañjabhum to Vaishnavism. Vaidyanātha was a contemporary of Narasimha of Khurda and died about 1630.² Jahāngīr records in the *Tuzūk*, "the province of Khurdah has come into the possession of the servants of the Court. After this it is the turn of the country of Rajmahendra. My hope in the grace of Allah is that the feat of my energy may advance further.
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At this time a petition from Kutb-ul-Mulk reached my son, Shah Jahan, to the effect that as the boundary of its territory has approached that of the King (*i. e.*, the Mughal Emperor), and owed service to this Court, he hoped an order would be issued to Mukarram Khān not to stretch out his hand, and to acquire possession of his country."³ The Qutb-shāhī conquest of southern Orissa was very slow. Though the *Gajapati Rājā* of Ganjam was ousted in 1571, Chikakol did not become a seat of a *Faujdār* till about 1641, when the first holder of that office built a Masjid at that place in 1641.⁴ It was only after the final submission of Golkonda in 1636 that the Mughals received any revenue from the *Sarkār* of Rājamahendrī. Early in Aurangzib's reign Mālūd became the southernmost outpost of Mughal Orissa. At this time according to the *Muraqāt-i-Hassan*, the Golkonda tribute, "appertaining to the province of Orissa", was sent from the Quṭb-shāhī district of Chikakol to the Mughal *Ṣūbāhdār* of Orissa. It amounted to about Rs. 20,000.¹ The first recorded invasion of Quṭb-shāhī territory through Orissa was undertaken by Bāqir Khān in the winter of 1629-30. Bāqir marched to Chhatraduar, a very narrow pass on the frontier between the Mughal province of Orissa and the Quṭb-shāhī district of Chikakol, about twenty-four miles north of Rājamahendrī. The approach of the rainy season did not permit him to do anything else except to plunder and lay the country waste.
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In the autumn of 1630 Bāqir Khan advanced once more towards the south, with local levies from the Zamindars of Kallikota, Kudla and Al, and on the 3rd December arrived near Manṣūrgadh, a fort about eight miles from Khīrāpārāh. The Quṭb-shāhī troops offered battle in the plain outside the fort but were defeated and the commandant, a Naikwar, capitulated. Bāqir returned after leaving garrisons at Khīrāpārāh and Manṣūrgadh and the Quṭb-shāhīs re-assembled their forces to expel the Mughal troops. Bāqir returned suddenly by a forced march, and defeated the Deccani troops. The news of the second victory reached Shāh Jahān on the 23rd April 1631. Purushottama of Khurda died either in 1628 or in 1630 during the tenure of office of Bāqir Khān. According to the MS. used by Hunter he was killed in battle.¹ He was succeeded by his son, Narasimha Deva who ruled till 1653 or 1655.
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³ Tuzūk-i-Jahāngīrī, 199, Eng. trans., pp. 389-90, 402.
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⁴ Bengal District Gazetteer, Puri, p. 37.
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⁵ Tuzūk, Eng. Trans., p. 402.
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¹ *Ibid.*, 214-15; *Eng. trans.* p. 433.
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² *Ibid.*, Vol. II, pp. 298-99.
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³ *Journal of the Bihar & Orissa Research Society*, Vol. VII, pp. 8, 54.
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¹ *Ibid.*, Vol. II., 1916, p. 154.
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² P. Acharya—*Vanshanu-Charita*, Baripada, 1927, pp. 2-4., App. II.
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³ *Tuzūk*, Eng. trans., Vol. I, p. 433.
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⁴ *Sarkar*—*History of Aurangzib*, Vol. I, p. 215.
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¹ *Journal of the Bihar & Orissa Research Society*, Vol. II, p. 156.
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¹ Hunter’s Orissa, Vol. II, App. VII, p. 191.
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Complaints against Bāqir Khān’s administration of Orissa reached the Court many times. It was alleged that Bāqir collected the Zamindars of Orissa together and then threw them into prison in order to extort money. Seven hundred captives were massacred and only one escaped to Court and laid his case before Shāh Jahān. This fugitive produced a rent roll showing that Bāqir had collected forty lakhs of rupees from Orissa. Bāqir Khān was recalled in consequence and asked to account for this money. His successor was Muta’qād Khān alias Mīrzā Maki, who took charge of the province in 1632. Bruton mentions one Agha Muhammad Zaman Tihrānī as the Governor in May 1633 who issued a farmān authorising the English to trade in Orissa. Mutaqād Khān was sent back in 1634.
v2.c38.34.1
The subsequent history of Orissa during the reign of Shāh Jahān I is a mere string of names. Muta’qad Khān governed Orissa till 1641 and the order removing him was issued from the Imperial Court on the 9th March 1640, but he did not reach the Court before the 29th July 1641. It is recorded that he died in extreme old age on the 17th October 1651. His successor was Shāh Nawāz Khān Safāwī, who ruled for a short time only. He was removed by an order dated the 8th March 1642, but remained in charge of the province till the end of that year. It appears that from 1642 till the death or flight of Shuja’ from Bengal, Orissa remained an appanage of Prince Shuja’s joint Viceroyalty of the three provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Shāh Nawāz Khān was succeeded by Āghā Muḥmmad Zamān Tiharānī who governed the province from 1642 to 1645. His order of appointment is dated the 8th March 1642, and that of removal, 21st November 1645. Muta'qād Khān was again appointed on the 21st November 1645 to be recalled to Court in the 22nd year of the reign of Shāh Jahān (July 1648 to June 1649). Then followed Samsāmuddaulah,¹ an agent of Prince Shuja' in 1654. The next agent of Shuja' was Tarbiyat Khān *alias* Shafiullah Birlas *Vilāyet-zā* who ruled over the province from 1655 to 1666. He was followed by Khwajah Bakhardad Ashraf Khān. Shān Jahān fell ill in September 1657 and from that date till the day of prince Shuja's final departure from Dacca (6th May 1660) there was great anarchy in Orissa.
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Most of the troops and officers were withdrawn from Orissa by Shuja' for his two expeditions against Āgra and finally for his prolonged struggle with Mīr Jumlā I in the Rajmahal and Maldah districts. During this period Hindu Zamindars in the Mughal portion of Orissa practically became independent, built forts and plundered the country. By the autumn of 1659 Mīr Jumlā I had established himself sufficiently to detach Ihtishām Khān to take charge of the province of Orissa. Ihtishām says in his *Muraqāt-i-Hassan* that he would reach Medinipur on the 25th November 1658. At this time prince Shuja' was in complete possession of the country between Benares and Dacca and, therefore, no officer of Aurangzib could have reached Medinipur. Moreover Iḥtishām was detached after the defeat of Shuja‘ in January 1659 and, therefore, it is more probable that he reached Medinipur in the year 2 instead of 1 of the reign of Aurangzib, *i. e.*, on the 14th November 1659. His stay in Orissa was too short to enable him to restore order. His first act as *Ṣūbaḥdār* of Orissa was to issue an order proclaiming that the *Khuṭba* should be read in all Masjids of Orissa in the name of the new emperor Aurangzib. Next he issued an order to all officers and Zamindars announcing his own appointment to the Government of Orissa. He ordered the officers and Zamindars to meet him at Narayangadh, where he would march from Medinipur.
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Iḥtishām Khān was replaced a year later by Khān-i-Daurān, who came from Allahabad in September 1660. Iḥtishām attempted to take with him as prisoners, for default of revenue, the brothers of Rājā Nilakantha Deva, Gopināth, the brother of Bharat Paṭṭanāyaka and the chief officer of Rājā Mukunda Deva. The *Faujdār* of Cuttack secured the release of Gopināth Paṭṭanāyaka by himself signing a bond for Rs. 14,000 to Iḥtishām Khān. All other captives were released on similar conditions. During the reign of Shāh Jahān Purushottama was succeeded by Narasimha in 1630 and by Gaṅgādhara in 1655. Within a year Gaṅgādhara was succeeded by Balabhadra. These dates are given slightly differently by Hunter based on the vernacular account of Bhavānīcharan Bandopādhyāya. According to this account Purushottama was slain in battle and ruled from 1607 to 1628. He was succeeded by Narasimha, who ruled from 1628 to 1653. Gaṅgādhara ruled from 1653 to 1654.¹ During the period of anarchy there appears to have been a change of rulers in the nominal chieftainship of Orissa. According to Stirling Balabhadra ruled for thirty-nine years² but Hunter assigns only eight years to him.³ According to the Muraqāt-i-Hassan Narasimha was slain by Muta'qād Khan during his attack on Khurda. His nephew Gaṅgādhara was made Rājā. But Balabhadra, the elder brother of Narasimha, became Rājā of Khurda after killing Gaṅgādhara.
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An impostor appeared during the rule of Prince Shuja' and gave out that he was Gaṅgādhara, but he was slain by a confederacy of Zamindars near Katak. A second impostor appeared at Delhi and claimed to be Gaṅgādhara. He is referred to in a letter from the Khān-i-Daurān to Court in which it is stated that a third impostor was in prison near Katak.
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¹ A son of Mīr Ḥusāinuddin and a grandson of Mīr Jamāluddin Ḥusain Inju, Samsāmuddaulah was appointed Dīwan of Prince Shuja' in the 21st year of the reign of Shāh Jahān and *ṣūbahdār* of Orissa in the 28th year, with the command of 1500, five hundred horse. He died in the same year,—*Āin-i-Akbarī*, Eng. Trans., Vol. I, p. 451.
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¹ Hunter's Orissa, Vol. II, Appendix VII, p. 190.
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² Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. VI, Part II, 1837, p. 764.
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³ Orissa, Vol. II, App. VII, p. 190.
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Details of the Vimāna—View from South—Ananta-Vāsudeva
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Khān-i-Daurān received the order of appointment at Allahabad sent from Court on the 3rd April 1660 and set out for Orissa during the monsoon. On the 26th September he entered Medinipur, which was then included in the Ṣubah of Orissa. The condition of Orissa after the flight of Prince Shuja' is very graphically described in the Mutaqāt-i-Hassan: "All Zamindars are refractory, owing to the slack rule of my predecessors. The Zamindars on the further side of the Katjhuri, in the jurisdiction of Sayid Sher Khan, have refused tribute and declared war against him (p. 59). Krishna Bhañj, of Hariharpur, the leading Zamindar of this province, during the interregnum spread his power over the country from Medinipur to Bhadrak, a distance of 50 or 60 *kos*, seizing the property of the inhabitants and wayfarers and severely oppressing the people (pp. 72,107). The fort of Machhara or Bachhara (?) was wrested from Shuja's men by Lakshmi Narayan Bhañja, the Rājā of Keonjhur, during the time of disorder (pp. 52, 58 and 129). For the last three years the Zamindars on the further side of Katak have been collecting vast forces and getting ready for war (p. 72). Bahādur, the Zamindar of Hijli, is in rebellion (p. 130). Chhut Rai has dispersed the ryots of Medinipur, and is building a fort in the jungles with evil intentions. (p. 190).”¹
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¹ *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society*, Vol, II, 1916, p. 159.
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From the account of the *Muraqāt* it is evident that even in 1656 the Bhañja chiefs were regarded as the foremost people in Orissa. Though Khān-i-Daurān crushed Rājā Mukunda Deva² of Khurda, the opposition from the Hindu chiefs was headed by the Bhañjas and the two branches, of Hariharpur or Mayurbhañj and Keonjhar, had to be attacked and defeated separately. The anarchy had reduced Orissa to great straits and the country had to be reconquered when Aurangzib's reign began. Bahādur Khān of Hijli should not have been left unsubdued in the rear, but the condition of the roads during the monsoon compelled Khān-i-Daurān to leave the straight road *via* Hijli and go to Jaleśwar *via* Narayangadh. Khān-i-Daurān reached Jaleswar in the middle of October and on hearing of his approach both Bahādur Khān and Kṛiṣhṇa Chandra Bhañja wrote to him promising submission and to wait on him at Jaleswar. The Mughal *Faujdār* of Remuna wrote to the new *Ṣūbāhdār* that the agents of these two Zamindars had met him with the purpose of arranging interviews for their master. The *Faujdār* was ordered to reassure them and send them back with messages to their master that they may wait on the *Ṣūbāhdār* at Jaleswar without suspicion or fear. Bahādur Khān did not turn up but Kṛiṣhṇa Chandra Bhañja came and met with a horrible fate. His offences were terrible. "He kept one thousand horses and ten or twelve thousand foot soldiers, and was obeyed and helped by all the Zamindars of this country. (During the anarchy) he had plundered the tract from Bhadrak to Medinipur, carried off the ryots in his own country, increased their cultivation and ruined the imperial dominions" (p. 107). Once more the *Muraqāt* quietly admits that after the fall of the pseudo-*Gajapatis* of Khurda, the Bhañja chiefs had attained the paramount power in Orissa and they had done more damage to Mughal dominion than the rest of the rebellious Oriyā chiefs put together. Kṛiṣhṇa Chandra Bhañja of Mayurbhañj met Khān-i-Daurān after waiting for a month on the pretext of finding an auspicious day and offered excuses for his disloyal conduct. During the discussion on settlement of accounts there was a quarrel and, unable to bear the insults of the new *Ṣūbāhdār* Kṛiṣhṇa Chandra attacked him but was slain with his party. Kṛiṣhṇa Chandra Bhañja is mentioned in the *Rasika-maṅgala* by Gopījanavallabhadāsa, a disciple of the Vaishṇava saint Rasikānanda written about five or six years before his murder, as a chief devoted to Neo-Vaishnavism.
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² According to Stirling, who is always more accurate and reliable than Hunter, Mukunda Deva came to the throne of Khurda in 1664 (*Asiatic Researches* vol. XII, p, 294.) and ruled till 1692, but Persian authorities mention him as having opposed Khān-i-Daurān in 1661.
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Uddaṇḍa of Narsinghpur, Chattresvar Ḍhol of Ghatsila and Harichandan of Nilgiri submitted after the death of Kṛishṇa Chandra. Khān-i-Daurān’s attempt to subdue Mayurbhañj did not succeed. He advanced towards Hariharpur but could not actually penetrate westwards of Remuṇā, where Kṛishṇa Chandra’s brother Joy Chandra submitted. The difficulties of the country and the arduous task which awaited him in Central Orissa no doubt deterred him from proceeding further. Beyond Remuṇā lay the Bonhari forest, beyond which were the Simlipal hills, and the Rājās would no doubt retire on the approach of the Musalmans to their family stronghold of Khiching in the heart of Kolhan. Joy Chandra Bhañja presented three elephants and some money and Khān-i-Daurān confirmed Kṛishṇa Chandra’s son and returned through the main road to Katak.
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The next chief attacked was the Gajapati of Khurda. It appears from the Muraqāt that as the nominal head of the Hindu chiefs of Orissa, the Khurda chiefs had suffered more from the Mughals than any other power. They were still the fountain-head of honour in the country. All other Zamindars regarded them as gods, disobedience to whom was a sin (pp. 77 and 102). They waited on him with due humility and honour. Nearly half a century after the departure of Rājā Mān Singh from the country the Rājās of Khurda, instead of being regarded as independent chiefs in alliance with the Mughal emperor, had descended very low in the scale and become feudatories or Zamindars. Rājā Mukunda Deva, the son and successor of Gaṅgādhara, had succeeded to the throne at the age of four (1662 according to Hunter and 1664 according to Stirling). Both dates are wrong, as the Muraqāt describes him as an adult who took a leading part in the war with the Khān-in-Daurān. He was accused of remaining absent from the Mughal army sent to punish the refractory Zamindars and having caused lawlessness personally.
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Khān-i-Daurān fell ill at Katak, where he had to remain in bed for two months. He set out from Katak in the 7th February 1660 and arrived at Kalupara, near the Chilka lake, where there were seven forts, close to each other. The outer line of defences and the forts on the hills were stormed and the Ṣūbāhdār left for Khurda on the 20th of the same month. He reached Khurda on the 23rd and plundered the defenceless city, which has been deserted by Mukunda Deva. Khān-i-Daurān states that he gave the chiefship of Khurda to Mukunda’s younger brother “Bhunarbal”, which is spelt by Stirling as “Bhowerber,” evidently Bhramaravara, a very ordinary title of Orissan nobles. Mukunda Deva was restored later on and confirmed in his possessions. Sir Jadunath Sarkar states, “the fate of the premier Rajah of the province struck a salutary terror in the hearts of other evil-doers.” Many of the Zamindars submitted out of fear and revenue began to be collected. Mukunda Deva submitted and appeared before the Ṣūbāhdār on the 18th March 1660 and was followed by Bharat Paṭṭanāyaka.
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Khān-i-Daurān now turned his attention to the second Bhañja prince, Lakshmī Nārāyaṇa Bhañja of Keonjhar, who had wrested the fort of Bachhara from the men of Shuja’, which has been identified by Sarkar as Pachhara of Stirling and Panchira of the Atlas. The Ṣūbāhdār left Katak on 8th March and ravaged Keonjhar after recovering the fort. At a subsequent date Bahādur Khan of Hijli was defeated and captured with his family. Now followed the submission of most of the Zamindars and Chiefs of Orissa. The Bhañja chief of Kanika had taken shelter on an island on the sea-coast where he was besieged by the Faujdār Muḥammad Jān. Finally the Rāvat Rāi of Kuyila Madhupur, Harichandra of Kulrah and Chhut Rai of Kalikot were subdued.
v2.c38.48
The Khān-i-Daurān could now justly boast of having done what no other Mughal Ṣūbāhdār had done in Orissa. He wrote to the emperor Aurangzib, "I have punished all the usurpers, oppressors, and lawless men of the province and made them obedient. The revenue is being collected by our officers. The people are enjoying peace and happiness and plying their trades (Muraqāt, p. 49). The province is being well administered."
v2.c38.49
The Muraqāt throws a good deal of light on the condition of Orissa in the middle of the 17th century. Immediately after its pacification Khān-i-Daurān remitted to Delhi the accumulated revenue of 15 lakhs of rupees, kept at Katak and in the parganas, together with seven pieces of cloth (parchah), one piece of scarlet cloth, and two caskets of Chhani decorated in the Dutch style." (Muraqāt, p. 50). The Ṣūbāhdār then managed to extort the Mughal shares of the revenue of the Quṭb-shāhī district of Chikakol from the Faujdār, Haidar Khān, who asserted that he had paid fixed sums of rupees thirteen thousand every year during the Vice-royalty of prince Shuja.’ But papers sent from Delhi showed that the rate was rupees twenty thousand per annum. Khān-i-Daurān succeeded in extorting rupees 80,000 as arrears. The records of the province of Shuja’s time had been lost or destroyed by disloyal and dishonest officers and therefore Mughal officers now found it extremely difficult to ascertain the correct assessment. The Zamindar of Sarangadh used to pay Rs. 10,000 as succession fee but no regular tribute, but the officers of the treasury at Delhi found that his tribute was Rs. 8,000 per annum.
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In Mughal times the revenue of Orissa was mostly paid in kind in the form of rice or in cowrie shells. Payment of cowries continued up to the time of the British conquest of the country. The Khān-i-Daurān writes to Muḥammad Jān, a former Diwān of the province, whom he had appointed the steward of his Jāgir, “if you fear that before my arrival near Katak the Zamindars will carry of the crops, then write to the amins to collect the dues and attach the standing crops. Appoint men to guard the grain.” (Muraqāt, pp. 163-64). Again he wrote to Mān Singh, the Faujdār of Remunā, “send select men to hasten the gathering in and guarding of the crops and the collection of the Government dues...Send them quickly that the revenue of the autumn harvest may not be removed. (Ibid., p. 182).”
v2.c38.51
When Shāyista Khān of Bengal was rebuilding the Mughal Nawwārā for the destruction of the Portuguese pirates of Chittagong, Orissa had to furnish its quota in materials and artisans. Khān-i-Daurān wrote to Muḥammad Jān asking him to advance money to weavers, artisans, oil-vendors and cultivators for articles ordered for the fleet. He was directed first of all to settle the price with the brokers and then to take bonds with the attestation of the brokers for the delivery of the goods in time. *Do-sufi* cloth was required for the making of sails, and Muḥammad Jān was directed to send cloth to the *Dārogha* of the fleet. All master-craftsmen and blacksmiths living in the port of Harishpur and other places were directed to be won over and sent to Baleswar for shipbuilding. At the same time Khān-i-Daurān wrote to Muḥammad Jān, "the officers of the Imperial Government have reported that 210 *Kudi* of cloth, of the *sahan*, *barbarah*, *do-sufi* and *thafi* varieties, 20,000 maunds of rice, 300 maunds of mustard oil (yellow oil), 260 maunds of sesamum, 100 maunds of *gulmosaft* are required for the provisioning of the ships of the State. According to the schedule attached to this letter, urge the officers of Jajpur Bhadrak and other *Muhals* in your *Faujdari* to get them ready quickly and send them before the sailing season to the port of Baleswar to Muhammad Baqar, the *darogha* of ship construction. The price of these things will be deducted from the amounts due from the *Amlas*. Dated 28th December 1664."¹ The revenue system of Mughal Orissa was very intricate. In addition to collections in kind, the rate of which was fixed, but the price fluctuated according to the market, there was another great difficulty in the way of the assessment; the money payment was in Cowrie shells, a system which was in vogue in Sylhet till the end of the 18th century. The *Ṣūbah* of Orissa was divided into two parts, the first of which consisted of the three *sarkārs* of Jaleśwar, Bhadrak and Katak. In Orissa this part of the country is known as the Mughalbandi. The rest of the country under the semi-independent hill Rājās, was called the Zamindary. In the Mughalbandi Imperial revenue was collected by means of the Ijārādars (the modern Zamindars) or by direct collection through revenue officers called āmils and Kroris. The figures available are not always reliable on account of the difficult system of numeral notation used by Mughal scribes called Raqāim “symbolic marks suggestive of Chinese writing.” As Sarkar has proved already, Mughal revenue returns are not reliable, as (a) the area assessed was not always the same, (b) the figures given contain only the standard or paper assessment and (c) some of the figures quoted are probably unreliable :
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¹ Ibid., pp. 340-41.
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Details of Ornamentation on the Vimāna of the Rājā-Rāṇī Temple Bhuvaneśvara—Puri District
Revenue of Orissa (1594-1707)
v2.c38.s1.1
| 1. | 1594 | A. D. | Rs. 31,43,316 | — *Āin-i-Akbarī*, Vol. II, pp. 141-44. |
| 2. | 1648 | A. D. | ,, 50,00,000 | — Abdul Hamid’s *Bādshāh-nāmah*, II, p. 711. |
| 3. | 1654 | A. D. | ,, 56,39,500 | — *Dastūr-ul-’Aml* used by E. Thomas. |
| 4. | 1665 | A. D. | ,, 72,70,000 | — *Bernier—Travels*, p. 437. |
| 5. | 1690 | A. D. | ,, 35,70,500 | — *Dastūr-ul-’Aml*, British Museum Or.MS. No. 1641, F. 5b. |
| 6. | 1695-1700 | | ,, 43,21,025 | — *Dastūr-ul-’Aml* used by Thomas. |
| 7. | 1695 | | ,, 1,01,02,625 | — *Khulāsat-ut-tawārīkh*, 32a. |
| 8. | 1697-1707 | | ,, 57,07,500 | — *Manucci—ii*, 414. |
| 9. | 1707 | | ,, 35,70,500 | — *Ramusio*. |
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10. 1707 Rs. 35,70,275—Jagjivandas (India Office MS. No. 1799, p. 5.)
v2.c38.s1.3
11. Tieffenthaler ,, 35,70,525.¹
v2.c38.s1.4
¹ Ibid., p. 342 ; E. Thomas—Revenue Resources of the Mughal Empire in India, London 1871, pp. 42-43.
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Sir Jadunath Sarkar, who compiled this table, stated, “it will be seen that the 5th, 9th, 10th and 11th of the above figures are all derived from the same source, viz., an official return. The amount mentioned in the Khulāsat-ut-tawārīkh is clearly wrong. The rather high figures given by Bernier and Manucci are not necessarily incorrect, but may be due to the efficient administration of Khan-i-Daurān and Murshid Quli Khān respectively.” The statement copied above requires a longer commentary. The revenue of 1594 was rupees 31,43,316, the smallest on record. It is taken from the ‘Ain-i-Akbarī and therefore may be correct, but its approach to the figure of 1707 and that given by Tieffenthaler (35,70,275) shows that it must be an “inflated return” and must have included the revenues of the Chikākol and Rājmahendri Sarkārs, which the Mughals never possessed. ’Abdul Hamīd’s figure is a round number and bears on it the stamp of untruth. The three figures quoted by Sarkar from the Dastūr-ul-’Aml give more reliable figures. Of these, the figure for 1690 is clearly the same as that given by Tieffenthaler, Ramusio and Jagjivandas. This appears to be the normal figure of the revenue of Orissa. Sarkar thinks that this revenue was increased in 1665 to 72,70,000 and in 1697-1707 to 57,07,500 by the exertions of Khān-i-Daurān and Murshid Quli Khān. The figure for 1665 may have been swelled by the collection of the arrears of the revenue (Wasilāt Bāqī), it is clearly not a normal figure as proved by the *Dastūr-ul-'Aml* figures of 1654 and 1690, while Bernier's figure is clearly wrong, as proved by three independant sources of evidence.
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Sarkar has given a list of *Dīwāns* of Orissa from 1657 to 1665: "Mian Muhammad Jan, ?—1657; dismissed, lived at Baleshwar, afterwards (1661) appointed land-agent of the Subahdar, Khan-i-Dauran. Mir Ismail, ?—October 1660. Mirza Ibrahim, Bakhshi, officiates as diwan also, October 1660-March 1661, dismissed. Muhammad Hashim, March 1661-*c.* 1663, dismissed. Muhammad Tahir, died in the province. Muhammad Taqi, *c.* October 1664-1665 (?). Khwajah Muhammad Mumin, *c.* 1665-?"¹
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¹ *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society*, Vol. II, p. 343.
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The *Muraqāt* gives interesting details about the quarrel between Khān-i-Daurān and the *Dīwān* of revenue of the *Ṣūbah*, Muḥammad Ḥāshim. On account of the political disturbances in the country from the date of Shāh Jahān's illness to the restoration of order in Orissa by Khān-i-Daurān, a new revenue settlement of the country had to be effected after 1661. The loss of revenue papers, the appointment of a new set of revenue officials, the indifference or dishonesty of the *Dīwāns* of revenue in Orissa caused a serious dislocation of revenue work in this province during the first few years of the reign of Aurangzib. We find from the list given by Sarkar that seven *Dīwāns* of revenue were appointed during seven years from 1657 and 1665. Muḥammad Ḥāshim arrived as the *Dīwān* of revenue in Orissa in 1661. He received his appointment from the officiating Imperial Chancellor Rājā Raghunāth Khatri and began his work with zeal. He reached the province with a contempt for his predecessors in office and a suspicion against the Ṣūbahdār that the former had been robbing the empire in collusion with the local officers.
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The new Dīwān began by quarrelling with the Ṣūbahdār. He demanded the papers of his two predecessors, Miān Muḥammad Jān and Mīr Ismāīl, and in reply the Ṣūbahdār wrote on the 1st July 1661 that he had no objection to sending these papers to the Dīwān. In addition to this he stated that the Dīwān’s allegations against Mīr Ibrahim, Bakhshī, were groundless as the revenue collected by his agents in parganah Sarasatibisi (Sarasvati-vishaya) will be paid into the Imperial treasury. At the same time an enquiry was ordered into the conduct of the ’Amil of parganah Karmul against whom the Dīwān preferred a charge of misappropriation. The Dīwān next called the employees of the Mint to Hariharpur without the sanction of the Ṣūbahdār or of the Imperial Government. Hāshim then stopped the pay of the men and officers of the Imperial artillery stationed in Orissa though the regulations of the empire laid down that they should be paid in cash. In reporting the conduct of Muḥammad Hāshim to the emperor Aurangzib, Khān-i-Daurān writes :
v2.c38.s1.10
“The mahals of crown-land (Khālṣā) have been reduced to desolation and their affairs have fallen into confusion, by reason of the harsh assessment (Tashkhis) of an unsuitable amount of revenue and the neglect of attention to details by Muhammad Hashim, the diwan. The villages have been ruined by his harsh exactions. He used to
v2.c38.s1.11
transact business in this way: when a candidate for revenue-collectorship (krori) accepted the post, Hashim Khan used to impose on him the (paper) assessment of the pargana and send him there before he could learn about the (actual) yield of the place. After a short time, another man was secured for the same post, and Hashim Khan, taking money for himself from this man, dismissed the former collector, appointed the second man and made him promise in writing to pay a larger revenue than the first krori had engaged for. After a little more, a third man appeared, offering a still higher sum to the State, and he was sent as collector to the pargana, on his giving a bribe to Hashim Khan and signing a bond (muchalka) for the payment of a larger revenue. The Khan never informed the Zamindars, headmen (Chaudhuris) and ryots about this assessment (jama-bandi), but kept them full of anxieties and distraction as to the State demand. He has thus increased the revenue (on paper) two-fold in some places and three-fold in others, while the ryots, unable to pay, have fled (from their homes) and the villages have turned into a wilderness.”[1]
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Rāja Raghunath Khatri, the parton of Muḥammad Hāshim, died on the 2nd June 1663 and the latter was removed from office either late in 1662 or early in 1663.
v2.c38.s1.13
Sarkar’s list of the Ṣūbahdārs of Orissa is only partly complete. Khān-i-Daurān was succeeded in June 1667 by Tarbiyat Khān who governed the province till May 1669. Other accounts place one Kobād Khān, Mir Akbar in 1668, before Tarbiyat Khān. Mukundadeva remained on the throne for 34 years according to Stirling¹ and 28 years according to Hunter. Stirling's earlier account credits him with a reign of 28 years.² The temple records of Puri credit Mukundadeva with the conquest of the whole country up to the banks of the Ganges, a very unlikely feat for a petty Rājā of Orissa during the reign of Aurangzib 'Alamgīr. Tarbiyat Khān was succeeded in October 1669 by Safi Khān whose period of government is not known. He is perhaps called "Ruffee Ckanns Nabob of Orissa" by certain English writers, who confirmed the privileges of the English merchants granted by Aurangzib in his 13th year.³ He in turn was succeeded by Rashid Khān.⁴ Rashid Khān's tenure of office came to an end in March 1676⁵ when Shāyista Khān I, apparently Aurangzib's maternal uncle and the Ṣūbahdār of Bengal, governed the province till the end of that year. There is a gap of two years after Shāyista Khān which was perhaps filled by Sāliḥ Khān. In June 1678 one Nūrullah came as the agent of prince 'Azam, then Ṣūbahdār of Bengal. We do not know as yet who was governing the province from 1678⁶ till about the end of the 17th century. In the beginning of the 18th century one Kāmgār Khān was succeeded in 1704 by Murshid Quli Khān, the future Ṣūbahdār of Bengal. A year before his death Aurangzib committed the signal mistake of appointing Murshid Quli's son-in-law, Shuja'uddin Muḥammad Khān, as the deputy governor (Na'ib Naẓim) of Orissa. This was the beginning of the dissolution of the empire and the hereditary succession of offices, in the combined Ṣūbah of Bengal and Bihar.
v2.c38.s1.14
¹ Ibid., pp. 344-45.
v2.c38.s1.15
¹ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Old Series Vol. VI. 1837, p. 764.
v2.c38.s1.16
² Asiatick Researches, Vol. XV, p. 294.
v2.c38.s1.17
³ Hedges' Diary Hakluy Society, Vol. III p. 191.
v2.c38.s1.18
⁴ Safsikan Khān intervened in 1673—Bengal District Gazetteer, Puri p. 38.
v2.c38.s1.19
⁵ Rashid Khān also granted a farman to the English—Countries round the Bay of Bengal, note to p. 153.
v2.c38.s1.20
⁶ Abu Noor Khān (1682), Akram Khān (1697)—Ibid.
v2.c38.s1.21
Like the rest of the Mughal empire under Aurangzib 'Alamgir, Orissa suffered from the very great deep-rooted hatred of non-believers and the iconoclastic zeal of that emperor. Along with other provinces a Censor of Public morals (Muḥtasib) was was appointed in Orissa and the first incumbent of that office was Shaikh Junaid in Katak.¹ "His duties were to enforce the prophet's laws and put down the practices forbidden by him...... The punishment of heretical opinions, blasphemy and omission of prayers and fast by Muslims also lay within the province of this Inquisition.²" Under Shaik Junaid there were two Qāẓīs in Katak, one of whom, Rahamatullah, was dismissed for misconduct and "violation of canon law" and was succeeded by Sayyid Muhammad Ghauṣ, both as Qāẓī and Mir-i-'Adl (Chief Justice) on a salary of Rs. 4 daily. We do not know how the temples of Orissa, especially the magnificent shrines of Bhuvaneswar, escaped destruction. The Muraqāt states that "Khān-i-Daurān wrote to his agent Muḥammad Jān that the destruction of the temple of Kendrapada and the building of a mosque there has greatly pleased me.' The Imperial order was communicated [Figure: Details of Ornamentation of the Plinth—Sūrya Deul Konārak—Puri District]
v2.c38.s1.22
¹ Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol. II, p. 346.
v2.c38.s1.23
² Sarkar's History of Aurangzib, Vol. III, 2nd edition, pp, 82-83.
v2.c38.s1.24
to all *Faujdārs*, *Thānadars*, *Muṭasaddis*, Agents of *Jāgīrdars*, *Krorīs* and *‘Amils* from Katak to Medinipur that “the Imperial pay-master Asad Khan has sent a letter written by order of the Emperor to say that the Emperor learning from the news-letters of the province of Orissa that at the village of Tilkuti in Medinipur a temple has been newly built, has issued his august mandate for its destruction and the destruction of all temples built anywhere in this province by…… infidels, therefore you are commanded with extreme urgency that immediately on receipt of this letter you should destroy the abovementioned temples. Every idol-house built during the last 10 or 12 years, whether with brick or clay, should be demolished without delay. Also do not allow the… infidels to repair their old temples.¹”
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¹ The entire chapter is based on Sir Jadunath Sarkar’s researches in the *Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society*, Vol. II, pp. 153-65, 358-49, Vol. VII, pp. 53-56.
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Sometime about 1692, *i. e.*, late in the reign of Aurangzib *‘Alamgīr*, the three Orissa *Sarkārs* of Jaleswar, Bhadrak and Katak were found to be too unwieldy for revenue purposes and were divided into twelve *Sarkārs*. These divisions, recorded in Grant’s analysis of the finances of Bengal, can be correctly dated on account of the names of the chiefs of Orissa appended to it. The *Sarkār* of Jaleswar was divided into :
v2.c38.s1.27
| (1) | Jaleswar-22 mahals | Rs. | 3,99,602 |
| (2) | Maljhetia-21 mahals | ” | 3,08,855 |
| (3) | Goalpara-28 mahals | ” | 6,83,218 |
| (4) | Mazkuri-11 mahals | ” | 1,88,799 |
v2.c38.s1.28
The Sarkār of Bhadrak was similarly divided into four other Sarkārs :
(5) Bhadrak-19 mahals Rs. 4,02,131
(6) Soro-15 mahals ” 1,97,814
(7) Ramna-20 mahals ” 2,18,458
(8) Bastah-10 mahals ” 1,18,752
v2.c38.s1.29
The Sarkār of Katak was also divided into four Sarkārs :
(9) Katak-100 mahals Rs. 19,86,156
(10) Barwah-9 mahals ” 1,21,490
(11) Jajpur-5 mahals ” 2,27,208
(12) Badshahnagar-16 mahals ” 2,09,014
v2.c38.s1.30
The total revenue from these twelve Sarkārs was Rs.49,61,497. From this amount the rent of 32 mahals then unconquered, i. e., in the possession of indigenous chiefs of Orissa, valued at Rs. 8,73,518, was deducted, making the nett revenue of the Ṣūbah of Orissa Rs. 40,87,979.
v2.c38.s1.31
The date of the division of the three original Sarkārs into 12 can be determined by the mention of the Gajapati Rājā of Khurdah who heads the list of feudatory chiefs who ruled over these 32 mahals :
v2.c38.s1.32
1. To Rajah Derrup Sing Deo, heir of line and representative of the royal house of Gajeputty; guardian of the Tajore, Duarah or Jaggernaut, and proprietor of 11 mehals dependent on the Kellah of Khurdah ... ... 6,15,616
2. Rajah Muckender, of the fort of Aul 2 ... 26,121
3. Ramchunder, &c of Sarengurrah 2 ... 36,973
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| 4. | Sirbeser Bunjee, of Bahmenhutty, &c. | 2 | ... | 80,875 |
| 5. | Herchunder, of Derepen | 1 | ... | 37,088 |
| 6. | Persotim Bunjee, of Rientoo ... | 2 | ... | 10,883 |
| 7. | Ragonaht Sindh, of Coojung ... | 2 | ... | 9,126 |
| 8. | Raotera, of Mudhoor | 1 | ... | 5,921 |
| 9. | Teigchund Dhol, of Kerapoor ... | 1 | ... | 6,470 |
| 10. | Ramsah, of Nagpoor, &c | 2 | ... | 9,705 |
| 11. | Jaggernaut Dhol, of Chatnah ... | 1 | ... | 16,175 |
| 12. | Mahomed Yar, of Cassijurah ... | 1 | ... | 2,000 |
| 13. | Gerdher Narrain, of Chourassijurah ... | 1 | ... | 6,235 |
| 14. | Bubhedir, of Mynajura | 1 | ... | 4,700 |
| | Nancar of the pergunnah of Susso ... | 2 | ... | 5,630 |
| | | | | 5,630 |
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In all 27 whole and 5 kissmut mehals, rated ... 8,73,518¹
v2.c38.s1.35
¹ The fifth Report from the Select Committee on the Affairs of the East India Company, Vol. I, Madras, 1866, p. 527.
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This “Derrup Sing Deo” is undoubtedly Divya Simha Deva I, the son and successor of Mukunddeva I, who ruled from 1692-93 to 1719-20. His name is written as Driva Simha in the inscription on the metal wheel on the top of the Vimāna of the temple of Jaggannātha at Puri.²
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² Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, old series, Vol. LXVII, 1898, part I, pp. 381-2.
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The partition of the three Sarkārs into the twelve, therefore, must belong to the reign of Aurangzib ‘Alamgir, but neither Grant¹ nor Stirling² who copied it *verbatim* mention the date of this partition. The list contains some interesting names, one of which is Sarveśvara Bhañja of Bamanhati or Mayurbhanj. It proves that up to the reign of Divya Siṃha, the chiefs of Darpan, who are represented by Harachandra, had not turned Musalman. Another interesting name is Purushottama Bhañja of the place called “Ryntoo,” which I am unable to identify. It shows that Nagpur, Chhātna and Kerapur were still included in Orissa. Chhātna is now in the Bankura district, Nagpur in the Ranchi district and Kerapur in the Manbhum district.
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¹ *Fifth Report on the Affairs of the East India Company, Vol. I.* pp, 526-27.
v2.c38.s1.40
² *Asiatic Researches, Vol. XV, p. 213. Note.*
v2.c38.s1.41
During the reign of Divya Siṃha I Aurangzib sent orders to Mir Saiyad Maḥmūd of Bilgram to destroy the temple and idol of Jagannātha, according to the *Tabṣirat-ul-Nāẓirin*. Divya Siṃha was compelled to break the statue of a Rākshasa which stood over the entrance to the temple and surrender the wooden images, which were carried off to Bijapur, where the emperor then was. This account is corroborated by one of the manuscripts of the *Mādalā Pānji*, which states that during the government of Ikrām Khān, in the seventh *aṅka*, the temple of Jagannātha was damaged according to the orders of the emperor Aurangzib and the Nawab went inside the temple. This desecration took place on the 17th May 1697. Divya Siṃha was a patron of Oriya literature, as three poets, Upendra Bhañja, Bhupati Paṇḍita and Viśvanātha Khuntiā, mention him.¹ Divya Simha I of Khurdah continued to rule for 13 years after the death of Aurangzib and died about 5 years before the death of Ja'afar Khān Nāṣiri Nāṣir Jang.
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¹ Journal of the Asiatick Society of Bengal, old series, Vol. LXVII, 1898, part I, pp. 381-82.
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The Mughal mint at Katak began to issue coins from the time of Akbar I both in gold and silver. It continued up to the end of Aurangzib's reign and was the only mint in Mughal Orissa. The name Katak Banaras has been found on one of the Dāms of Akbar. Some very rare rupees of Jahāngīr with Ilāhi year have been discovered. Of Shāh Jahān's rupees those bearing the Kalima but with the Ilāhi year were also issued from this mint, Muhars and rupees of Aurangzib are still found in fairly large numbers all over Orissa, but his copper coins are rather rare. The fine collection of Mughal coins in the Lahore Museum contains only one specimen.²
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² R. B. Whitehead—Catalogue of Coins in the Punjab Museum, Lahore, Vol. II, pp. xcv, 268.
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The first new English settlement in the province of Orissa was effected during the Mughal rule. In March 1633 eight Englishmen started in an Indian ship and arrived at the mouth of the Mahanadi, where their boat cast anchor at the Mughal customs-station of Harishpur. The port officer was a Rājā and received them kindly. On the same day a Portuguese frigate came into the port and began to quarrel with the English. The latter were saved by the Rājā and their chief Ralph Cartwright left the port in charge of the crew, and the port officer proceeded to Katak to the court of the Na’ib Nāẓim of Orissa. The Na’ib received them kindly, and negotiations followed. Cartwright had come with two distinct objects: licence for trade and redress for the Portuguese attack on them. A counter-complaint was lodged against the English by the Portuguese captain. The governor decided both cases by ordering the confiscation of both vessels. Cartwright rose from the Na’ib Nāẓim’s Durbar in great rage but was recalled. The Portuguese frigate was retained but on the 5th May 1633 the Na’ib Nāẓim gave to Cartwright a licence to trade free of custom at any port of Orissa, to purchase land, erect buildings and build or repair ships. Next day the Na’ib invited the Englishmen to a feast and then sent them away. Cartwright built a factory at Hariharpur in the Mahanadi delta and in the next month founded the factory of Balasore. The council of English merchants as Masulipatan supported their own men by sending them the ship *Swan* just arrived from England with its entire cargo. The *Swan* arrived at Harishpur on the 22nd July 1633, but as Cartwright was not there, she sailed on to Balasore. The English venture in Orissa ended in disaster. The *Swan* had broad-cloth and lead, which could not be sold at Balasore for nearly a year. Cheap living and malaria of the country caused terrible havoc among the Englishmen. Before the end of the year five out of six factors were dead. The Portuguese and the Dutch now began to trouble them very much. Portuguese pirates from the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal attacked their boats in the river mouths and a Dutch fleet from the Madras coast blocaded them with pinaces of 10 to 16 guns with an occasional ship. Cartwright had planned founding fresh factories at Puri and Pipli, but he was compelled to give up the idea. His main factory at Harishpur fell into decay on account of the silting of the river mouth. Very soon Balasore was the only English factory left in Orissa and the Company in England began to look upon the Orissa settlement as an unprofitable burden. In 1641 the *Diamond* was ordered to go to Orissa and bring away the English factors after paying their debts. Balasore was saved by Francis Day, the founder of Madras in 1642. He protested against the abolition of that factory and succeeded in saving it. In 1650 the English company decided to found a settlement in Bengal and the Madras Council resolved to make Balasore a port of transhipment whence cargoes could be carried in Indian boats to Hooghly. But in 1657 the Madras Council again decided to abolish Balasore. On this occasion the factory was saved by Cromwell, who placed the affairs of the Company on a broader basis. Hooghly became the principal settlement in Bengal and Balasore was placed under its control. The factory was administered by a chief and three councillors.
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Linked texts (3)
- Bhuvanesvar
- Mādaḷā Pāñji — Professional employees of the state and the Temple, Odia
- Rasikamaṅgal — Gopīvallabh Dās, Bengali