History of Odisha
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
The history of Odisha begins in the Lower Paleolithic era, as Acheulian tools dating to the period have been discovered in various places in the region. The early history of Odisha can be traced back to writings found in ancient texts like the Mahabharata, Maha Govinda Sutta and some Puranas. The region was also known to other kingdoms in region of East Indies due to maritime trade relations.
Quotes[edit]
- From the time that India was conquered, none of the princes had raised his standard over Orissa. The rulers of that country had always been powerful, and the Rajah who was now ruling them was especially so. From the time when the Afghans had stretched their hand out over Bengal they had continually planted in the gardens of their as- pirations the wishing tree of the conquest of Orissa, but it never bore fruit. For on the borders thereof there were dangerous passes and lofty mountains, and heights and declivities innumerable, and difficult forests so that grasping hands of princes could not reach it. It is difficult for armies to tread on that soil.
- Akbar nama, Abu Fazl, also in Lal, K. S. (1995). Growth of scheduled tribes and castes in medieval India. 95 [1]
- “Kalapahar, by successive and numerous fightings, vanquished the Rajah's forces, and brought to his subjection the entire dominion of Odîsah (Orissa), so much so that he carried off the Rani together with all household goods and chattels. Notwithstanding all this, from fear of being killed, no one was bold to wake up this drunkard of the sleep of negligence, so that Kalapahar had his hands free. After completing the subjugation of the entire country, and investing the Fort of Barahbati, which was his (the Rajah’s) place of sleep, Kalapahar engaged in fighting… The firm Muhammadan religion and the enlightened laws of Islam were introduced into that country. Before this, the Musalman Sovereigns exercised no authority over this country. Of the miracles of Kalapahar, one was this, that wherever in that country, the sound of his drum reached, the hands and the feet, the ears and the noses of the idols, worshipped by the Hindus, fell off their stone-figures, so that even now stone-idols, with hands and feet broken, and noses and ears cut off, are lying at several places in that country. And the Hindus pursuing the false, from blindness of their hearts, with full sense and knowledge, devote themselves to their worship!
It is known what grows out of stone:
From its worship what is gained, except shame?
“It is said at the time of return, Kalapahar left a drum in the jungle of Kaonjhar, which is lying in an upset state. No one there from fear of life dares to set it up; so it is related.”- Sulaiman Karranj of Bengal (AD 1563-1576) Orissa. Riyazu’s-Salatin Riyuz-us-Salatin, translated into English by Abdus Salam, Delhi Reprint, 1976 p.17-18
- 'The victorious standards set out from Jaunpur for the destruction of idols, slaughter of the enemies of Islam and hunt for elephants near Padamtalav. The Sultan saw Jajnagar which had been praised by all travellers'...'The troops which had been appointed for the destruction of places around Jajnagar, ended the conceit of the infidels by means of the sword and the spear. Wherever there were temples and idols in that area, they were trampled under the hoofs of the horses of Musalmans... After obtaining victory and sailing on the sea and destroying the temple of Jagannath and slaughtering the idolaters, the victorious standards started towards Delhi...
- Jajnagar (Orissa) . Insha-i-Mahru by Ãinud-Din Abdullah bin Mahru, Translated from the Hindi version by S.A.A. Rizvi included in Tughlaq Kalina Bharata, Aligarh, 1957, Vol. II, p. 380-82. In Goel, S.R. Hindu Temples - What Happened to them
- Order issued on all faujdars of thanas, civil officers (mutasaddis), agents of jagirdars, kroris, and amlas from Katak to Medinipur on the frontier of Orissa:- The imperial paymaster Asad Khan has sent a letter written by order of the Emperor, to say, that the Emperor learning from the newsletters 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 the worthless infidels. Therefore, you are commanded with extreme urgency that immediately on the receipt of this letter you should destroy the above-mentioned 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 crushed Hindus and despicable infidels to repair their old temples. Reports of the destruction of temples should be sent to the Court under the seal of the qazis and attested by pious Shaikhs.
- Aurangzeb's order in Orissa recorded by Muraqat-i-Abul Hasan, completed in 1670. Bengal and Orissa . Muraqat-i-AbuI Hasan by Maulana Abul Hasa, quoted in Sarkar, Jadu Nath, History of Aurangzeb,Volume III, Calcutta, 1972 Impression. p. 187 [2], also in Last Spring: The Lives and Times of Great Mughals by Abraham Eraly. also in Northern India, 1658-1681 by Jadunath Sarkar p. 187 also in The Panjab Past and Present, Volume 9 [Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University, 1975], p. 105
- 'The victorious standards set out from Jaunpur for the destruction of idols, slaughter of the enemies of Islam and hunt for elephants near Padamtalav. The Sultan saw Jajnagar which had been praised by all travellers'...'The troops which had been appointed for the destruction of places around Jajnagar, ended the conceit of the infidels by means of the sword and the spear. Wherever there were temples and idols in that area, they were trampled under the hoofs of the horses of Musalmans... After obtaining victory and sailing on the sea and destroying the temple of Jagannath and slaughtering the idolaters, the victorious standards started towards Delhi...
- Jajnagar (Orissa) . Insha-i-Mahru by Ãinud-Din Abdullah bin Mahru, Translated from the Hindi version by S.A.A. Rizvi included in Tughlaq Kalina Bharata, Aligarh, 1957, Vol. II, p. 380-82. In Goel, S.R. Hindu Temples - What Happened to them
- Allah, who is the only true God and has no other emanation, endowed the king of Islam with the strength to destroy this ancient shrine on the eastern sea-coast and to plunge it into the sea, and after its destruction, he ordered the nose of the image of Jagannath to be perforated and disgraced it by casting it down on the ground. They dug out other idols, which were worshipped by the polytheists in the kingdom of Jajnagar, and overthrew them as they did the image of Jagannath, for being laid in front of the mosques along the path of the Sunnis and way of the musallis (the multitude who offer prayers) and stretched them in front of the portals of every mosque, so that the body and sides of the images may be trampled at the time of ascent and descent, entrance and exit, by the shoes on the feet of the Muslims.
- It (Sîrat-Fîrûz Shãhî) is a text either written or dictated by Sultãn Fîrûz Shãh Tughlaq himself. According to this book, the objects of his expedition to Jajnagar were: “extirpating Rai Gajpat, massacring the unbelievers, demolishing their temples, hunting elephants, and getting a glimpse of their enchanting country.” ‘Ain-ul-Mulk also says, “The object of the expedition was to break the idols, to shed the blood of the enemies of Islãm (and) to hunt elephants.”
- After some time he proceeded to Orissa with the intention of jihãd. He attacked places in the neighbourhood of that province and laid them waste, and destroyed the temples after demolishing them…
- Sultãn Mahmûd bin Ibrãhîm Sharqî (AD 1440-1457)Orissa, in Nizamuddin Ahmad : Tabqãt-i-Akharî, in : S.A.A. Rizvi included in Uttar Taimûr Kãlîna Bhãrata, Aligarh 1959, Vol. II. p. 9. , in Goel S. R. & Shourie Arun (1991). Hindu temples what happened to them. vol. 2
- “…Mahmood Shah Shurky, having recruited his army, took the field again for the purpose of reducing some refractory zemindars in the district of Chunar, which place he sacked, and from thence proceeded into the province of Orissa, which he also reduced; and having destroyed the temples and collected large sums of money, returned to Joonpoor.”
- Sultãn Mahmûd Shãh bin Ibrãhîm Sharqî of Jaunpur (AD 1440-1457)Orissa Tarikh-i-Firistha , in Goel S. R. & Shourie Arun (1991). Hindu temples what happened to them. vol. 2
