History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c38.40

v2.c38.40

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