History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c41.142

v2.c41.142

When Clive became the Governor of Bengal for the second time he sent an agent, named T. Motte, to enquire and, if possible, to establish a factory at Sambalpur for the purchase of diamonds. The singular narrative of Mr. Motte is preserved in the *Asiatic Annual Register* and contains a very reliable account of the condition of Orissa fifteen years after the cession of that province to the Marathas. In the middle of March, 1766, the Rāja of Sambalpur sent one of his servants to Calcutta inviting the Governor of the English East India Company to send a trusted person to purchase diamonds at Sambalpur. The Rāja had purchased a horse from a Pathan merchant and being unable to pay for it in cash had sent a rough uncut diamond for sale to Calcutta and for payment of the price of the horse. The servant made a present of the diamond to Lord Clive but the price of the horse remained unpaid. The Pathan merchant raised a commotion, which drew Clive's attention to the matter. Clive sent Motte to Sambalpur after promising him a third share in the profit of the enterprise. Motte started from Calcutta on the 13th March and reached Jaleswar on the 23rd. We learn from his narrative that the Englishmen introduced into Orissa as postal agents at Balasore, Katak and Malud had come to be designated Residents. He crossed the Subarṇarekhā on the 25th and entered Mayurbhañja territory. He passed Amardah fort and reached the first Maratha outpost at Bastah, an old Mughal Thāna. He passed by Garhpadā which had been fortified by Aṣadullah Khān, an officer in Mayurbhañja service, and states that the fortifications had been dismantled by the Marathas with the exception of the inner fort where Aṣadullah’s son, Badia’-uz-zamān, now lived. Regarding the condition of Mayurbhañja, Motte states that the old king, Dāśarathī Bhañja, had been dispossessed by his nephew Dāmodar Bhañja and had retired into Nilgiri. He was joined by the chief of Mayurbhañja troops, Jahān Maḥmūd, and went with him to the Marathas. They tried to enlist the sympathy of Bhavānī Pandit by promising to discover buried treasure and came back with a contingent of Maratha troops. Dāmodar Bhañja had to retire to Bamanghati (mis-spelt Bommimgaulee) among the hills and left Dāśarathī and his Maratha allies in possession of his capital Hariharpur. Jahān Maḥmūd captured the forts at Mangovindapur, Māntrī and Bindah. Subsequently Dāmodar Bhañja came to be acknowledged as the Rājā of Bamanghati or Mayurbhañja.