History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c44.88

v2.c44.88

It was in this period of revenue reform that the earliest engagment was entered into with the State of Mayurbhanj. By antiquity of descent, extent or area of possessions and power the Bhanja chiefs of Mayurbhanj were naturally the foremost princes of Orissa. After the fall of the Gajapatis of Khurda the Bhanjas became the most important chiefs in the whole of the Mughalbandi and the Garhjat. The papers regarding the settlement of the tribute or Peshkash are not forthcoming as yet, but this is certain from the correspondence about the claims of Trivikram Bhanja, Jamunā Dei and Champā Dei that the State was paying a Peshkash of Rs. 1,001 from sometime before 1812. It is also certain from copies of correspondence preserved in the Board of Revenue of Bengal that Mayurbhanj paid a Peshkash of Rs. 6,000 to the Marathas immediately before the British conquest of Orissa. The reduction of the tribute to one-sixth was in consideration of the great help received by the British armies from Mahārāṇī Sumitrā Deī when entering and passing through Balasore. It was necessary to continue the policy of conciliation adopted by Wellesley in 1803 till the fall of the Peshwa in 1818 and the re-occupation of Chhattisgarh in the same year. Then Medinipur, Singhbhum, Ranchi and Hazaribagh lost their importance as the south-western frontier of Bengal and Bihar. With it the big State of Mayurbhañj lost its significance as a powerful State on the border. It was at this time that a treaty engagement with Mayurbhañj was pressed. The treaty was entered into with Rājā Jadunāth Bhañja, the son and successor of Rājā Trivikram Bhañja. According to the State records, Rājā Trivikram died in 1828. The tenor of the treaty is altogether different from that executed with Mahārājā Mahārāj Sāhī of Sambalpur two years previously. The first clause is the usual engagement of submission and loyalty while the second is an engagement for the payment of the annual Peshkash or tribute of Rs. 1,001 by the Rājā and his heirs. The third clause should be read along with the fourth and by these the Rājā engages to restore any inhabitant of the Mughalbandi who might fly to his territory, also to surrender any of his subjects committing any offence in Mughalbandi. Also the Rājā engaged himself to submit his claims on residents of the Mughalbandi to the British authorities. The fifth clause was an engagement to supply conveyance and provisions to British troops passing through his territory and not to detain any of the Company's subjects, holding a *dastak*, passing through his territory. The sixth clause refers to an engagement on the part of the Rājā to help the Company with a contingent of his own troops in case of disturbances in the neighbouring Garhjat States on receiving rations only. After the first and the second clauses the most important is that by which the Rājā of Mayurbhañj surrenders his right to a 6-16ths share on the tax levied on pilgrims and other passengers at Khunta Ghaṭ which he had received from time immemorial.¹