historiography of freedom movement in orissa -...

Orissa Review * August - 2009

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In the post-independence India freedom strugglewhich was a forbidden subject for academics incolonial period has become an important area ofresearch and study. Freedom movement has beenstudied at three levels-nation, province andlocality and the history of the anti-colonialmobilisation has been broadly divided into twophases - the pre-nationalist and nationalist; thenationalist phase which began with the foundationof Indian National Congress has been divided intopre-Gandhian and Gandhian phases.

In pre-nationalist era, with the exceptionof the revolt of 1857, the anti-colonial uprisingswere local in character. In the first century ofBritish rule it is said that there were forty majorlocal uprisings, and many minor ones. Theseuprisings were initially organised by dispossessedprinces and landlords and afterwards by the tribalsand peasants. The latter rebellions were causedby the harsh administrative rules and regulationsand economic exploitation by landlords,merchants and money-lenders. In Orissa duringthe first century of British rule there wereintermittent rebellions in four places -Paralakhemundi (from 1768 to 1856, Ghumsur(There were rebellions in two phases; in the firstphase (1836-1846) the rebellion was led by theKandha leader Kamal Lochan Dora Bisoyi andin the second phase (1846-1856) it was led byhis nephew Chakra Bisoyi). Khurda (1805, 1817,

1827 and 1836) and Sambalpur (The rebelliousactivities were carried on by Surendra Sai from1857 to 1864 i.e. till his imprisonment). Besidesthese direct challenges to the colonial power, therewere rebellions in princely states in which theparamount power had to intervene. The BritishLand Revenue Policy i.e. exorbitant increase inrevenue demand was the crucial factor behindthese rebellions. The tribals (Sabars inParalakhemundi, Kandhas in Ghumsur andKhurda and Gonds in Sambalpur) playedimportant roles in all these rebellions. Theserebellions, generally called resistance movementswere marked by anti-alien antagonism andindividual acts of heroism and patriotism. AboutBakshi Jagabandhu's rebellion in Khurda in 1817,W.Ker an English official observed "Jagabandhuhas given a lead in organising a movement, nomatter in how haphazard manner for ousting thenewly established English from Orissa, heexpected that other people who also hit hard bythe maladministration under the English and theOrissa Chiefs who had been deprived of all theirfreedom would follow up the lead to make acommon cause with him for the purpose ofliberating their motherland from foreign yoke.1

In the second half of the nineteenth centuryregional as well as national identity consciousnessgrew among the newly emerging intelligentsia indifferent parts of the country. Although nationalism

Historiography of FreedomMovement in Orissa

Dr. Atul Chandra Pradhan

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emerged as an all-India phenomenon aiming atthe unification of all sections of population in acommon platform, yet the character of nationalismin any part of the country was influenced byregional identity consciousness and local issues.In Orissa regional identity consciousnesspreceded and paralleled the growth of nationalistmovement, because Oriya-speaking tracts layscattered in three provinces - Bengal, Madras andcentral provinces and being a minority in each ofthese provinces the Oriyas found their identitythreatened by the dominant majority groups.Another important local factor was the existenceof Garhjats i.e. the Oriya-speaking princely states,enjoying autonomy in internal administration,which were under the control of the Commissionerof Orissa Division till 1922. As popular unrestgrew against the misrule of the princely rulers, itgot linked up with the nationalist movement in thedirectly ruled British territory, which was calledMughalbandi.

In view of the peculiarity of the Orissansituation the nationalist theory that there was acentral contradiction between the British rule andIndian people irrespective of distinctions of classand status which accounted for the growth of anti-colonial movement does not hold good in case ofOrissa, as for many years the Oriya elite andintelligentsia tried to achieve the goal ofamalgamation of Oriya-speaking tracts throughcollaboration with the British authorities. Beingaloof from centres of power in colonial India-Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, the Oriya eliteand intelligentsia wanted to create a centre ofpower for themselves through the creation of theprovince of Orissa. In a relative sense because ofproximity to Bengal, direct railway link withCalcutta and cultural link and affinity, Bengalrenaissance and growth of nationalism in Bengalexercised considerable influence on the growthof nationalism in Orissa. Some celebrities ofBengal like Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray and

Satish Chandra Dasgupta were associated withfreedom movement in Orissa. Swadeshimovement had its impact on Orissa. During theCivil Disobedience Movement the Congressvolunteers were coming from Midnapore to assistand encourage their counterparts in the Balasoredistrict.

In spite of the pan-Oriya identityconsciousness and the growing feeling of Oriyairredenta the foundation of Indian NationalCongress had an enthusiastic response from theemerging Oriya intelligentsia. On 3 March 1886,a public meeting, held in the building of CuttackPrinting Company approved the resolutions,passed in the first session of Congress. Afterreturning from the Madras session of Congress,held in 1887 Madhusudan Das, one of the Oriyaleaders who used to attend Congress sessions inthe early phase told the audience at Cuttack. "Thepeople of Orissa should work for the country'sgood side by side with their willingness to improvethe administrative, cultural and linguistic conditionsof Orissa. Narrow racialism and provincialismshould be forgotten for the benefit of the wholeof India which constitutes the motherland.2 In theearly phase of Congress the Utkal Sabha ofCuttack, the National Society of Balasore andUtkal Hitaishini Sabha of Paralakhemundi usedto send their delegates to its annual sessions.

Towards the end of December 1903Madhusudan Das organised Utkal Sammilani atCuttack to carry forward the movement for themerger of Oriya-speaking tracts. It is held by somethat having failed to raise the amalgamationquestion in Indian National Congress,Madhusudan steered an independent path andsought to achieve the amalgamation incollaboration with the British authorities. Early inDecember 1903, Lord Curzon's government hadcirculated a plan among the Governments ofCentral Provinces, Madras and Bengal whichenvisaged partition of Bengal, creation of the


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province of Eastern Bengal and Assam andmerger of the Oriya-speaking tracts of Bengal,Madras and Central Provinces. This plan whichwas disapproved in the Congress Session, heldin Madras in December, 1903 was heartilywelcomed in the first session of Utkal Sammilani.Whatever might be the plans of BritishGovernment and Madhusudan's rapport with theauthorities, from popular perspective, theformation of Utkal Sammilani was the naturalculmination of the growing Oriya identityconsciousness among the Oriyas scattered in threeprovinces.

The Utkal Sammilani has been criticized onseveral grounds. The detractors have called itloyalistic as it sought to achieve its goal throughpetition and prayer; they have called it parochialas its jurisdiction was confined to Orissa; somehave held that initially the Utkal Sammilani wasdirected against the non-Oriya intermediariesbetween the Governmet and the Oriyas. TheBritish historian Judith M. Brown says that theOriyas wanted "a separate Oriya province wherethe local vernacular speakers would be free ofthese foreign Indian administrators who wereintermediaries between them and the British."3 Itis alleged that the Utkal Sammilani was dominatedby Rajas and Zamindars against whomCongressmen had to fight later through electionsand agitational activities. During the first 17 yearsof its existence (1903-1920) the Utkal Sammilaniheld sixteen annual sessions out of which elevenwere chaired by Rajas and Zamindars, and fiveby middle class gentilemen. During the next 26years (1921-1947) there were seventeen annualsessions out of which 14 were chaired by middleclass gentilemen and three by Zamindars.Madhusudan Das intended Utkal Sammilani tobe a national body in a regional setting. Heobserved in its second session : "In this conferencerepresentatives of various nationalities, such asOriyas, Bengalis, Telgus, Rajputs and Marwaries

are present. If this is not to be treated as an all-India body Congress can not be called an all-India body."4 As reported in Amrit BazarPatrika, in this session the princes, zamindars,gentry and poor and people of differentcommunities such as Hindus, Muhammedans andChristians were present.5 Though dominated bythe Rajas and Zamindars, the Utkal Sammilaniwas not devoid of popular base. The princes andzamindars were bound up with the commonpeople by the ties of language, religion and socialcustom. Some attempts were also made throughemissaries to organise the branches of theSammilani at grass root level. In certain areas ofSouthern Orissa the Utkal Sammilani sessionsroused popular enthusiasm.

Though a regional organisation UtkalSammilani was national in outlook. Every sessionof Utkal Sammilani began with the singing of anationalist Sanskrit song, titled 'Bharat Gitika',composed by the poet Radhanath Ray. TheSammilani aimed at building a united andprosperous Orissa as an integral part of India.Madhusudan held that a strong Orissa wouldcontribute to the strength of India as a whole. Inthe fifth session of Utkal Union Conference, heldat Puri in 1908, he pointed out : "There is nodifference between mother Utkal and motherIndia. If there is pain in any limb of the body, thatlimb has to be treated. That treatment wouldstrengthen the whole body. The purpose oftreatment of Utkal is India's amelioration."6 Awareof the multi-national character of the Indian polity,comparable to Europe, he endeavoured to buildOrissa as a strong constituent unit. Having thesame consideration in view, though critical ofMadhusudan's methods of prayer and petition,Aurobindo Ghose, the extremist leaderappreciated Madhusudan's goals. He held "thatOrissa is beginning to feel its separateconsciousness and to attempt to grow into anorganised life under a capable and high-spirited

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leader" and that backward provinces likebackward communities should awake and "musttake their place in the advancing surge of Indianpolitical life" and "must prepare themselves for ahigh rank in the future federated strength of India."7

Utkal Sammilani created a new socio-political consciousness; it roused the dormantpublic spirit of the people of Orissa. It acted as aspring board for some who later on joined theGandhian nationalist movement. From the forumof the Utkal Sammilani Gopabandhu Dasemerged as the organiser of Gandhian Congressin 1920. In the fourteenth session of the UtkalUnion Conference held at Cuttack in April 1919he observed in his presidential speech."Associating our aspirations with Indianaspirations, we should devote ourselves to thebest of our ability to welfare of the whole Indiannation."8 At his instance in the sixteenth sessionof the Utkal Sammilani, held at Chakradharpurimmediately after the Nagpur session of IndianNational Congress, a resolution was passed,supporting and accepting the objectives of theNational Congress. In terms of practical gain,because of the Utkal Sammilani, Orissa's identitywas recognised in Indian National Congress andIndian body politic. The Utkal Sammilanicontinued to maintain its separate existence inspite of having accepted the goals of Congress atChakradharpur under certain compulsion.

After the First World War, as there wasan upsurge of nationalist feelings all over thecountry because of anti-Rowlatt bill agitation andPunjab and Khilafat wrongs, young elements inOrissa became disenchanted with the UtkalSammilani's methods of constitutional agitationand felt it improper to remain aloof from thenational mainstream. At this stage Gopabandhuemerged as the leader of Congress movement inOrissa. He became the first President of UtkalProvincial Congress Committee, whose formationhad been sanctioned by the Nagpur session of

National Congress, 1920 in 1921. He held thatby joining Congress the Oriyas would be able toachieve two goals through its agitationalprogramme and methods - Deshamishran(amalgamation of Oriya-speaking tracts) andSwaraj Prapti (freedom from foreign rule) andthat these goals could not be achieved throughthe Sammilani's methods of petition and prayer.As an idealist Gopabandhu felt that Orissa shouldsacrifice her interest for the cause of the nationalistmovement :It may be that Orissa may lose her identityaltogether as a result of the national movementand we must be prepared for it. If obliteration ofOrissa can save Indian nationalism, is it notdesirable ? It will rather be a stroke of goodfortune for Orissa. People may not appreciate thissacrifice of Orissa. Still Dadhichi's sacrificeremains very noble.9

The staunch Utkal Unionists howevercontinued to adhere to their method ofcollaboration with British authorities. They placedtheir demand for the amalgamation of Oriya-speaking tracts before the Indian StatutoryCommission, for which they were stigmatized inthe Congress circles as 'Jayachandras' and'Mirjafars'.10 But the Orissa Congressmen whoraised the amalgamation question in the forum ofAll-parties Conference and Congress did not getproper consideration of their case. SubhasChandra Bose, the young Congress leader whowas a domiciled resident of Orissa raised theOrissa question in the All-Parties Conference. TheAll-parties Conference made the followingobservation on the Orissa question in its report :"We have also received a small book giving thecase for Utkal, but we regret we have been unableto consider it in the absence of any specialmemorandum or representation. Our colleagueMr. Subhas Chandra Bose is however satisfiedthat the Oriya-speaking areas should beamalgamated and constituted into a separate


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province if this is financially possible."11 In theforty-third session of the Indian NationalCongress, held at Calcutta in December 1928,where Niranjan Patnaik, the Congressman fromGanjam stood up to raise the Orissa question inthe subject committee, the Congress PresidentMotilal Nehru did not allow him to do so. Inprotest the Oriya members left the meeting. Theybrought out a procession of Oriyas in Calcutta,and held a meeting at Deshabandhu Nagar on 1January 1929. A feeling of helplessness aroseamong the Oriyas. The Utkal Dipika, themoderate newspaper wrote on this occasion : "TheOriyas can not ameliorate their condition eitherby appealing to the Government or by denouncingthe Government as the supporters of Congress.As long as they have not been able to stand ontheir own feet, wherever they go, they would onlyface humiliation."12

The Gandhian movement in Orissa aselsewhere envisaged implementation of aconstructive programme which includedpromotion of Khadar, national education andremoval of untouchability, and mass mobilisationon issues like boycott of British goods andmanufacture of contraband salt. So far as councilentry was concerned, though initially it was animportant item of Gandhian movement,subsequently it was dropped under the influenceof pro-changers or Swarajists. As a resultCongressmen entered legislatures and electoralpolitics became an integral part of the Congressmovement. Initially constructive work appears tohave been started with zeal. In spite of lack ofsuitable and experienced workers by 30 June1921 the Utkal Pradesh Congress Committeecould enroll 39,000 Congressmen, raiseRs.21,000/- for Tilak Swaraj Fund and distribute16,000 spinning wheels.13 National Schools wereestablished in places like Sakhigopal, Sambalpur,Singhbhum and Jagatsinghpur. To supervise thenational schools and to conduct their examinations

Utkal Swarajya Shiksha Parishad (Orissa Councilof National Education) was established withGopabandhu Das as President and NandaKishore Das as Secretary. When the Congressleaders became involved in district board andcouncil elections, the constructive work came toa standstill and the organisation of Congress partyat grass root level which had started with Non-Cooperation Movement became extinct.

After the Calcutta session of the Congressheld in December 1928 which was attended byan "unprecedented" number of delegates andspectators from Orissa mass mobilisation wasstarted once again. The movement for boycott offoreign cloth and wearing of Khadar gainedmomentum. After the Lahore session of Congressheld in December 1929, where the resolution wasadopted to launch Civil Disobedience Movementfor the attainment of Complete Independence, theUtkal Provincial Congress Committee asked theOriya Congressmen to resign from the central andprovincial legislatures and district Congresscommittees to make "effective arrangements" forobserving 26 January 1930 as the Day ofIndependence, 26 January 1930 was observedas the Day of Independence in Orissa's "hamlets,villages and towns in a very befitting manner defyingpolice and magisterial orders." In February andMarch 1930 thousands of people got enrolled asthe members of the Congress and signed thepledge of independence. From April to June 1930the Congress leaders organised Salt Satyagrahain four coastal districts - Balasore, Cuttack, Puriand Ganjam in which thousands of villagersparticipated. About the participation of thevillagers in the Salt Satyagraha, Prana KrushnaPadhiary the Secretary of Utkal PradeshCongress committee made the followingobservation :This movement has found recruits from themasses, exclusively so to say. People fromremote villages have enrolled themselves as

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volunteers and are giving splendid account ofthemselves. The apathy of the rich landed classesas well as people receiving and having receivedhigher English education is marked. In refreshingcontrast the enthusiasm of the so-called illiteratemasses and the mercantile community in generalis very encouraging. The sight of rustic men andwomen defying European officers is worth livingfor.14

Most of the people, jailed during the SaltSatyagraha, nearly 3000 in number hailed fromvillages. The organised participation of womenurban as well as rural in the Civil Disobediencemovement of 1930-32 was a spectacular featureof the movement. Out of this movement emergedwoman leaders like Rama Devi, Malati Devi andSarala Devi who played important roles in thenationalist movement and public life in Orissa. 14women delegates attended the Karachi sessionof the Congress held in March 1931. Theparticipation of school students, called Vanar senaas volunteers was another significant feature ofthe Civil Disobedience movement. NilamaniPradhan made the following observation aboutthe courage and sufferings of the Vanarsena :The young boys came as if they had been directedby some great and unseen power. They didwonderful work in Utkal as in other provincestheir Satyagraha and suffering enlisted publicsympathy as nothing did they were absolutelyfearless and their fearlessness was contagious ....Many boys got caning four to five times.15

During the second phase of CivilDisobedience Movement picketting of foreigncloth and cloth of boycotted mills (specially BengalNagpur Cotton Mill), foreign sugar and keroseneof British Companies and excise goodsconstituted the main programme of the movement.During this phase, while the Policemen becamemore repressive, the Satyagrahis militantly resistedthe Police. In Balasore district, at the instance of

the Satyagrahis from Midnapore, the localCongressmen interfered with the collection ofrevenue. Early in October 1932 the Collector ofBalasore reported to the Commissioner that theMidnapore Congress was regularly sendingvolunteers to assist their counter-parts in Balasorein the mischievous practice of violent picketting.16

Gandhian constructive work and organisedpeasant movement were two importantdevelopments after the withdrawal of CivilDisobedience Movement. While during the Non-Cooperation Movement there was a peasantmovement in Kanika Zamindary which was anautonomous movement supported byCongressmen from outside mainly for politicalreasons, as the Raja of Kanika, Rajendra NarayanBhanjadeo, a stalwart of Utkal Sammilani wasan opponent of Congress and a favourite of theGovernment, in 1930's peasant movementsbecame a wide phenomenon, spearheaded byOrissa Kisan Sangha which was formed in 1935.The peasant movement aimed at the abolition ofcollection of illegal dues by the Zamindars andreduction of land rents and interest charged onloans. The progress of peasant movement led tozamindar-peasant conflicts and conflicts betweenzamindars and congressmen in the provinciallegislative assembly elections held in 1937. Sofar as Congress party was concerned thoughinitially both Leftists and Rightists supported thepeasant movement, later on there was a rift. WhileLeftists like Nabakrushna Choudhury, Malati Deviand Pranakrushna Padhiary wanted to developthe peasant movement as a separate force alongsocialist line, Right wing Congress leaders suchas Nilakantha Das and Harekrushna Mahtabraised objection to separate peasants'organisation. Criticizing Nilakantha Das in apeasants' meeting held on 30 April 1937 atAnakhia in Govindapur P.S. Malati Devi said thatif at any time a revolutionary change was to be


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introduced in India, the initiative must come fromthe peasants with hungry stomachs.17

According to the Government of India Act,1935, Orissa became a separate province,consisting of six districts - Balasore, Cuttack, Puri,Ganjam, Koraput and Sambalpur on 1 April1936. The creation of a separate Governor'sprovince which was a great achievement of theUtkal Unionists roused "a lot of hopes andaspirations in English-educated class." But somenationalists like H.K. Mahtab doubted the Britishmotives behind the creation of the separateprovince :The British policy-makers are ever intent onperpetuating the division between Hindus andMuslims. For this reason Muslim-dominated Sindwas constituted into a separate province and formaintaining communal balance the Hindu-dominated Orissa was made a separate province.Mahtab considered this step "harmful to thegeneral interest of Orissa" and "attainment offreedom by the country."18

In the election for the provincial legislatureheld in January 1937 the Congress party scoreda decisive victory over the parties of the zamindars.The party position was as follows - Total no ofseats-60, Congress-36, Orissa Nationalist partyand United Party-10, Independents-10, non-elective-4. In July 1937 Bishwanath Das formedthe Ministry as the leader of Congress Legislatureparty after a brief spell of non-Congress ministryheaded by Krushna Chandra Gajapati, theMaharaja of Paralakhemundi.

After the formation of the CongressMinistry by Biswanath Das, the peasants putpressure on it for the fulfilment of their demands.On 1 September 1937 All-India Peasants' Daywas observed at Cuttack and 10000 peasantsmet the Prime Minister and placed their demands.Consequently Orissa Tenancy (Amendment) Actand Orissa Money Lenders' Act were passed in

1938. The Tenancy Act sought to safeguard thepeasants against the zamindars oppression andillegal exactions. Money Lenders' Act loweredthe rate of interest charged by the money-lenders.

In the meantime at All-India level the statespeople's movement got activated. The All-IndiaStates people's conference, while adoptingattainment of fully democratic responsiblegovernment as its objective called upon theNational Congress to give up their policy of non-interference towards the princely states. TheCongress session, held at Haripura on 19-21February 1938 expressed moral support to themovements for responsible governments inprincely states and permitted Congressmen torender assistance to such movements in theirpersonal capacities. Under these circumstancesthe movements in the princely states of Orissagained momentum. The second session of Orissastates people's conference was held at Cuttackon 24 June 1937 under the Presidentship ofDr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya. This conference, whilereiterating the earlier demands for abolition ofillegal exactions like Bethi, Begari, Magan andRasad asked the rulers to introduce responsiblegovernments, grant civic rights and occupancyrights to their subjects and carry on administrationaccording to declared and published laws. Thisconference constituted a committee of inquiry toenquire into the misrule of the states. In the meantime the states people formed their associationscalled Praja Mandals. The Inquiry Committee,headed by H.K. Mahtab in its report suggestedthe conversion of states into zamindaries and theirmerger with the province of Orissa. The PrajaMandal movement got merged in the nationalistmovement. An official report of 4 November1938 thus observed :"A noticeable feature of most, if not all thesemeetings is the fact that the British Government isdescribed as the root of the trouble. The economiccondition of the states people appear to be

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forgotten and the whole agitation is apparentlyconsidered as part of the general struggle againstthe British imperialism."19

The Prajamandal movement shook themorale of the princely rulers and created the baseof popular support for the accession of the statesto the Indian Union and merger with the provinceof Orissa which was accomplished afterindependence through the initiative of the premierH.K. Mahtab under the guidance of SardarVallabhabhai Patel, the Home Minister of India.The peasant movement in Mughalbandi andPrajamandal movement in princely states in bothof which the socialists played leading rolesprepared the ground for the organisation of PrajaSocialist Party and Communist Party in Orissa.After the merger of princely states the ex-rulersformed a party called Ganatantra Parishad whichheld sway over the electorate in ex-state areas atleast up to 1960.

On 4 November 1939 Congress Ministryresigned in protest against Government's warpolicy. On 1 December 1940 with H.K. Mahtabas the General Director the Orissa Congressstarted the Individual Civil Disobediencemovement which was basically an anti-warmovement with a constructive programme. On 5August 1939 Subhas Chandra Bose visitedCuttack. On this occasion steps were taken toorganise the Orissa branch of Forward Block withDibakar Patnaik as the President. With thesupport of dissident Congressmen Maharaja ofParalakhemundi formed a coalition ministry whichworked from 24 November 1941 to 29 June1944.

During the ministry of Maharaja ofParalakhemundi at Mahatma Gandhi's call thepeople of Orissa participated in Quit IndiaMovement. As the leaders were arrested andjailed soon after the adoption of Quit IndiaResolution by AICC, it was the people who

carried on revolutionary activities in their own way.In certain places such as Papadahandi and Mathili(Koraput district), Nimapada (Puri district)Bhandaripokhari, Dhamnagar, Khaira, Lunia andEram (Balasore district), Kaipara, Kalamatia andJajpur (Cuttack district) there was large scalemobilisation of people. In these places localCongressmen were carrying on propaganda fornon-cooperation in war efforts, non-payment oftax and defiance of Government officials. Theoverall situation in the country was tense due towar, failure of Cripps Mission and shortage offood stuff. (The rich people were apprehensiveof their food stock being looted). Meetings andprocessions roused a spirit of militancy anddefiance among the people. In Basudevapur P.S.of the Balasore district people declared an areaindependent naming it after Banchhanidhi Mahanti,the nationalist poet of the locality. The policerataliated on the defiant mob by firing. At Eram,a village in Basudevapur P.S. as a result of policefiring upon a gathering of 6000 people in the Melanground 28 persons including a woman were killed.In Koraput district Laxman Naik, the AdivasiCongressman organised an army of 200followers. Wearing Khadar, carrying Congressflags and Gandhi's portrait, while being armed withsaplings, cudgels and lathis Naik's followersmarched through dense forests, destroyed liquorshops on the way and attacked the Mathili PoliceStation on 21 August 1942, Policemen fired uponthe insurgent people resulting in the loss of fourlives. Laxman Naik was sent to gallows on 29March 1943 on the basis of fabricated charge ofkilling the Forest Guard Ramaya.

In the provincial assembly election held in1946 the Congress party won a more spectacularvictory as compared with the election of 1937.the Congress got 47 seats (including 36uncontested seats) while others got 9 electiveseats (Muslim League-4, Communists-1 andIndependents-4). Formation of second Congress


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ministry against the background of peasantmovements and Prajamandal movement in theprincely state and transfer of Power prepared theground for radical measures like merger ofprincely states and abolition of zamindary in post-independence period.

To conclude, it seems appropriate toidentify the different phases in the freedom strugglein Orissa. First, as mentioned earlier, in the pre-nationalist period there were local insurrectionswhich are generally characterised as resistancemovements. Secondly, the pre-Gandhian phaseof the nationalist movement in Orissa is markedby participation of Oriyas in the early sessions ofCongress and formation of Utkal Sammilani inisolation from national mainstream. The UtkalSammilani was not a separatist movement; it wasa sub-nationalist movement with nationalistoutlook. Madhusudan Das, the founder of UtkalSammilani was a member of Congress in itsmoderate phase; he broke away from Congressand preferred to be a sub-nationalist in the interestof Orissa. No doubt he loved India, but he lovedOrissa more. Thirdly, Orissa joined the nationalmainstream in the Gandhian era with GopabandhuDas as the leader. Orissa played active roles inNon-Cooperation movement, Civil DisobedienceMovement, implementation of Gandhianconstructive programme and Quit IndiaMovement. Forthly, there was a new phase inthe mid-thirties which saw the formation of theseparate state of Orissa and formation of Congressministry, peasant movements in Mughalbandi,Prajamandal movement in princely states, the riseof a Leftist group in Congress and left-rightbipolarisation.References :1. Quoted in B.C. Ray, Bakhshi Jagabandhu, The

Path Finder of Freedom Movement of India,Bhubaneswar, 2001, p.179.

2. Quoted in Suryanarayan Dash, DeshapranMadhusudan, Cuttack, 1971, p.65.

3. Judith M. Brown, Modern India, Oxford, 1984,p.170.

4. Madhubabunka Odia Kabita O Baktruta(Oriya) Cuttack, 1997, p.16.

5. Amrit Bazar Patrika, 9 January 1904.

6. Op. cit. no.4, p.21.

7. Bande Mataram, 17 December 1907.

8. D.K. Dash (Ed.) Utkal Sammilani 1903-1936,Rourkela, 2005, p.459.

9. Quoted in S.C. Dash, Pandit Gopabandhu Das:A Biography, Cuttack, 1964, p.87.

10. Utkal Dipika, 18 August 1928, BanshidharMishra's statement.

11. Nehru Committee Report, 1928.

12. Utkal Dipika, 5 January 1929.

13. Samaj, 16 July 1921.

14. Pranakrushna Padhiary's Report, AICC file,Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, NewDelhi.

15. Nilamani Pradhan's Report, AICC file, NehruMemorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.

16. Letter from Collector, Balasore to theCommissioner, Orissa Division, 2 October 1932,WWCC 56, Orissa State Archives.

17. Fortnightly Report from Collector, Cuttack to P.T.Mansfield, Chief Secretary, Orissa, dated 10 May1937, Confidential file No.625 Orissa StateArchives.

18. H.K. Mahtab, Dasha Varshara Orissa (Oriya),Cuttack, 1977, pp.96-97.

19. Quoted in A.C. Pradhan, A Study of History ofOrissa, Bhubaneswar, 2002 edition p.343.

Dr. Atul Chandra Pradhan lives at MIG - 68, BaramundaHousing Board Colony, Bhubaneswar - 751003.

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It is a matter of pride for every Indian to think ofthe role played by their ancestors in freeing Indiafrom the shakles of British colonial government.In this regard, the name of Ghanashyam panigrahigets prominence as being a true patriot of Orissawho dedicated a larger part of his life participatingin our national freedom struggle. Other prominentleaders of Sambalpur District were PanditLaxminarayan Mishra, Nrusingha Guru, ChandraSekhar Behera, Bhagirathi Pattnaik and LaxmanSatpathy etc. The Civil Disobedient Movementwas lunched by Gandhiji in 1921 and they decidedto jump into the fray and after having done so,never looked back till the goal was achieved.Many junior members of this group began theirlives with the freedom struggle and after playingtheir destined role in the freedom movementchoose other vocations after independence. Weought to bow our heads with deep reverence tothese freedom fighters because their selflessservice and tremendous sacrifice gave us freedomfrom the slavery of the British Rule.

Pandit Ghanashyam Panigrahi of Manpurwas one of the very senior freedom fighters ofundivided Sambalpur district. In the book "SmurtiTirtha" about ten of his relatives in theirrecollections have extolled his virtues as a son, afather, a brother and a father-in-law. But whatappears to be very exceptional is that all of thethirty odd of his co-workers and acquaintances,who have written about him, have praised him inno uncertain terms both as a freedom fighter and

as an exceptional human being and haveacknowledged that he was a versatile genius whoturned into gold whatever he touched.

Ghanashyam Panigrahi was born atManpur on 27th October 1881. The villageManpur is now situated in the Bargarh district ofOrissa. He was the middle son of his parentsUddhaba Panigrahi and Rahi Devi, GhanashyamPanigrahi started his carrier as a school teacherat the age of 21 with a monthly salary of Rs.10/-. He was the first teacher of the U.P. School atManpur which was opened in 1901. He was avery sincere teacher. He had visited many placesin his teaching life. While he was working as ateacher in village Ganiapali around 1910, he camein contact with a local Kaviraj, a practitioner ofAyurvedic medicines and thus he began his longinnings in Ayurveda.

It was no surprising that when Gandhijigave a call to his countrymen to join the non-cooperation movement against the British rule in1921, Ghanashyam Panigrahi was one of the firstindividual to respond to that call wholeheartedly.He was an active member of Indian NationalCongress till India achieved independence. Upto this period he was a teacher of his pupils inschools and now he became a teacher of thegrown ups in real life struggle. In 1921 heattended the All India Congress CommitteeMeeting at Ahmedabad as a representative of theSambalpur District Congress Committee. After

Pandit Ghanashyam Panigrahi :A Freedom Fighter

Saroj Kumar Panda


11

returning from Ahmedabad he devoted his entiretime and energy to enrolling people as primarymembers of the Congress Party particularly in theeastern part of the then Sambalpur district and inSonepur and Birmaharajpur Gadjat area. Thiswas the most hectic period in his life when hemoved on foot from village to village explainingto the people the message of Gandhiji and of theCongress. Though the students of Zilla Schoolwere the first to adopt the non-co-operationmovement in Orissa by abstaining from theirclasses, Ghanashyam Panigrahi was one of thefirst individual to take the lead in organizing themovements in the rural areas of Sambalpur withthe help of other volunteers. In continuation of hisefforts in this direction he formed a CongressCommittee at Remanda and another at Garturumin 1936. The same year he formed a CongressCommittee with sixty members at Bargaon withthe help of Upendra Panigrahi.

Ghanashyam Panigrahi also played animportant role in the establishment of the nationalSchool at Sambalpur in 1921 for impartingtraining to the Congress volunteers to enable themto effectively participate in the freedom struggle.Nrusingha Guru, along with other freedom fightersjoined this school where Pandit Nilakantha Dash,worked as Headmaster for sometime. In courseof time Ghanashyam Panigrahi developed closeconnection with the Congress members and theSatyagraha centers at Bheuria, Panimora andSamalipadar of the Zamindari of Raj Borasambaras he had worked as teacher in that area for someyears. In 1939 he helped in the formation ofCongress Committee at Dhama and later atSahaspur and Batemura Near Sambalpur.

At the Congress Working Committeemeeting at Ahmedabad in 1921 he becameacquainted with the 18 points constructive andcreative programme adopted by Gandhiji. Thisprogramme was formulated by Gandhi keepingin view his idea of Rama Rajya which he sought

to establish in due course of time in India. ThatIndia was ruled by a foreign power and that Indianswere treated as slaves by the British, accordingto Gandhiji, were not the only problems thatneeded to be attended, because the countrysuffering from a host of social evils and theeconomic backbone of the people had beenbroken. There was mass illiteracy acute povertyand ignorance and the common people hadbecome a pray of social evils like untouchabilityand superstitions. Thus the people in India becameslaves not only politically but also economically,socially and morally. And political freedom alonewas not going to bring the desired changes. Hencehis 18 points constructive programme includedall such programmes which, if implemented, wouldensure an all round transformation of the existingIndian society.

In the year 1922 Ghanashyam Panigrahiattended the Congress Session at Gaya. TheNon-Cooperation Movement launched by Gandhitook a violent turn in 1922. Due to Chauri Chauraincident Gandhi decided to called off the Non-Cooperation Movement and asked Congressworkers to devoted themselves to the 18 pointsprogramme. Ghnashyam Panigrahi decided todevote all his efforts towards putting into practicethe creative and constructive programmes ofGandhi. He inspired the people to boycut theforeign cloths and gave thread to local weaverswho were preparing clothes. He workedassiduously for popularisation of Khadi in theeastern part of the then Sambalpur district. In 1939he established a Charkha Sangha which hadmembers from villages like Kardola, Tulandi,Mahada, Larambha, Dhatukpali, Rusuda,Rampur and Solepali. 'Samagra Gram SevaMandal' was established at Sambalpur topopularise Khadi and Village Industries in the ruralareas. Ghanashyam Panigrahi worked as thePresident and Shiba Narayan Padhi worked asthe Secretary of this Mandal.

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He performed Suta or Sutra Yagyan atmany places. One such Yagyan was organized atBargaon in 1938 where District CongressPresident Prahallad Rai Lath and SecretaryDayanand Satpathy were present along withGhanashyam Panigrahi. Ghanashyam Panigrahiaccepted truth and non-violence as a way of life.Ghanashyam Panigrahi foght for the eradicationof untouchability and it was one of the importantmission of his life. He tried for the upliftment ofHarijans and tried to educate themselves forchange in society. In course of time he becamethe President of the Sambalpur District Committeefor Eradication of Untouchability. In 1925 onDecember 12 and 13, the South Chitrotpala TantiSammelan was organized at Ambapali.Thousands of Tantis or untouchables residing invillages in the South of Mahanadi attended thismeeting. He was very particular about theeducation of the children of the Harijan families.He therefore directed his efforts towardsestablishment of schools for them. He establishedHarijan School at Kudopali. He thereforedirected his efforts towards establishment ofschools for them. He established another HarijanSchool at Burda and a night school for Harijansat Turum. He was a dedicated Harijan Sebak andhis Sangha entrusted him with the task ofdistributing books to untouchables in the society.

Ghanshyam Panigrahi attended theCongress Session at Gaya, Kolkata and Ramgarhin 1925, 1928 and 1940 respectively. In theCalcutta Session of 1928 it was decided that theCongress should demand complete Independenceand not just Dominion status for India from theBritish Government and that the declarationshould be made all over India on 26th January,1930. Accordingly a large meeting was held at

Sambalpur near Balibandha Shiva Temple at midnight on 30th January 1930. GhanashyamPanigrahi presided over this meeting. NrusinghaGuru was also present in the meeting. BhagirathiPattnaik read the Congress Declaration paper andin this meeting the Congress adopted thedeclaration, which said, that India wanted fullindependence and not Dominion status.

Ghanashyam Panigrahi attended themeeting of Prajamandal movement at differentplaces like Sonepur, Dhenkanal and Sambalpur.He presided over a Gadjat Karmi Sammelan ofabout six thousand people at Kalapathar inSonepur Gadjat. Sarangadhar Dash presidedover such a rally at Sonepur and Shiba NarayanPadhi presided over a rally, that was held atTarbha. After that many meetings were held inthe Princely States of Orissa. GhanashyamPanigrahi attended most of the meetings and spokeagainst the British cruelties and injustice of theirrule. Ghanashyam Panigrahi was not only afreedom fighter but also a social reformer. Hededicated his whole life for the upliftment of down-trodden people in the society. He has occupied aplace of honour in the pages of history.References :Dr. Raghunath Meher , Smruti Tirtha , a collection ofEssays on the life history of late Ghanshyam Panigrahi,the Freedom Fighter, 1992 , Sambalpur

Prof. G.P. Guru, Ghanshyam Panigrahi : A FreedomFighter.

Dr. Saroja Kumar Panda is a Lecturer in History,Parbatigiri College, Mahulpali, Po- Birsinghgarh, Via-Jujomura, Dist. Sambalpur


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In Orissa, a good number of freedom fighters likeDr.H.K. Mahatab,Gopabandhu Chaudhuri,Bhagirathi Patanaik, Surendra Nath Dwibedi,Rabi Narayana Das, Mukunda Prasad Das,Banamali Maharana, Sarala Devi, JagannathaMishra, Dibakara Patanaik, Sashibhusana Rath,Mangalu Pradhan etc, dedicated their lives fightingagainst the British rule. Among the freedomfighters, Mangalu Pradhan was one among them,who took charge of Remunda Area of Baragarh.He was born in 1907 in a Kulta family in Remundavillage in the district of Baragarh. His father's namewas Chandia Pradhan, who was a farmer and hismother's name was Parvati Pradhan, a lady ofhigh spiritual character.1 Their family wasconsisting of four members, namely the couple;the only son Mangalu and daughter Ganden.Agriculture was their main sources of income.When he was about 20 years old, his fatherpassed away. After his father's death, the familyresponsibility was on his head. The responsibilityof his sister's marriage was also on his head. Lateron his sister was married in Patarpali.2 He alsomarried in the age of 25. His main occupationwas agriculture. Like his father he was also a manof art and craft. In his early youth he was famousfor his carpentry. At that time he found somedefects in Ghana (sugar cane mill) then he appliedhis technical knowledge in repairing it.3 At that

time India was under the British rule. Meanwhilethe freedom struggle was in its peak beinginfluenced by Gandhiji. Some Congress leadersof Orissa like Gopabandhu Chaudhuri,Ramadevi,Bhagirathi Pattanaik and Dr.Harekrishna Mahatab etc took initiative forcollecting men power and wealth for freedomstruggle. They organized meeting in differentvillage and motivated people to join the freedomstruggle.4

The eminent Congress leaders ofSambalpur district like Bhagirathi Pattanaik, hiswife Smt. Jambubati Devi lunched theirprogramme at Remunda by organizing meetingand picketing. The people of Remunda wereinfluenced by the freedom movement. So, theytook active part to strengthen the movement. Theytook oath to actively engage themselves incollecting men power at Remunda, among themthe natable freedom fighters were MangaluPradhan and 15 followers. Mangalu Pradhan tookthe leadership at Remunda to collect men powerand his chief objective was to get freedom andsave the people from the inhuman activities of theBritish Government. He had participated in thefreedom struggle as a young soldier at the age of30.5 Before this, he participated in the non-cooperation movement. The other freedomfighters of Remunda had assisted him in the

Mangalu Pradhan :A Freedom Fighter of Orissa

Ramesh Meher

14


freedom struggle. He went to jail for three times.6In the jail he was in contact with Dr.H.K.Mahatab,C.S.Behara, G.S.Panigrahi and BhagirathiPatanaik.

On 10th March 1920 Mahatma Gandhihad issued a manifesto to lunch non-violentmovement of non-cooperation.7 The leader ofKhilafat movement also joined this movementwhich strengthened not only the ideas andprinciples of Gandhi but also the Hindu MuslimUnity. Thus it turned into a mass movement. Itwas inaugurated on 1st August 1920, thoughLokmanya Tilak promised his help but he diedmidnight. His funeral showed the Hindu MuslimUnity.

The programme of the non-cooperationmovement :

Surrender of titles and honorary offices.

Resignation from nominated seats in localbodies.

It included number of boycotts such as:Boycott of British goods, BritishGovernment, Government controlledschool's and college, boycott of BritishCourts and Legislatives, boycott ofelections to the Assembly and the ProvincialCouncils.

With these destructive programmes it hadconstructive programme also, which were anintegral parts of this movement. It included;

Promotion of Swadeshi goods especiallyhand spun and hand woven Khadi cloth.

Distribution of 20 lakh Charkhas amongthe unemployed to provide employment tothem.

Enrollment of volunteers in large number.

Removal of untouchabilities.

Establishment of National College andSchool.

The Government was shocked as themovement became a tidal wave and swept allsections of people. Hindu Muslim Unity wasanother feature of this movement; the Governmentdeclared this movement illegal.8 Police openedfire and lathi-charged on the peacefuldemonstrators. The repression was very seriousand widespread in U.P. Police opened firepeaceful pilgrims, assembled in GurudwaraNankana Saheb in the 1st weak of March 1921.Throughout India, that movement spread like wildfire and also reflected in the small village Remunda,where the minor boy Mangalu Pradhan alsotook-up some activities against the British. At thattime he advised the local people not to cooperatewith the British and by organizing public meetinghe tried to create consciousness among thepeople.

The civil disobedience movement, whichlasted from 1930-32, was another land mark offreedom movement. The goal was adopted in theLahore Session in 1929. The Congress and thepeople all over the country observed completedIndependent day on 20th January by taking pledgeof Independence and carrying out the Congressinstructions issued from time to time establishingPurna Swaraj.9

Besides breaking the Salt Laws, the CivilDisobedience Movement included boycott ofBritish goods and clothes, refusing payment ofrevenue by the peasant and jamindar, picketingin front of liquor shops, strikes by railwayemployees and mill workers, Hartal anddemonstration against the foreign rule Studentswere asked to leave Government schools andcolleges. Employees were asked to resign fromtheir services to give tough time to Britishadministration etc. People followed Gandhi and


15

joined this movement. Student and woman werealso active in this freedom struggle.

The Civil Disobedience Movement inOrissa was led by leaders like Gopabandhu Das,Dr. Harekrishna Mahatab, NabakrishnaChaudhury, Gopabandhu Caudhury etc. In themean while, in western Orissa the CivilDisobedience Movement spread rapidly. Leaderslike Nrusingha Guru, Chandra Shekhar Behera,Bhagirathi Patanaik, Dayananda Satapathy andMangalu Pradhan led this movement.

Once, when a meeting was held atRemunda, the police came and disturbed themeeting by blank fire of some rounds. MangaluPradhan got down from the stage and said,standing in front of the gun,"fire me; if you havecourage."10 there is no necessity of making somuch noise." This prominent fighter wasimprisoned in the year 1938, where he stayed inthe jail for 15 days and gave a fine of Rs 30/- inSambalpur jail,11 where they were bound to dosome work. In the year 1940, he was againarrested by police and kept in jail. He stayed fortwo months in jail. At that time Ramananda wasthe youngest prisoner among them.

The Quit India Movement commenced on8th August 1942. It was proposed to start a nonviolent mass struggle under the leadership ofGandhi, to achieve the immediate end of Britishrule in India. Gandhi also appealed the people totake pledge not to take rest until the freedom wasgranted to them. He called for "Do or Die." Healso appealed the people to face the danger andhardship with courage Gandhiji and other leaderswere arrested. Their arrest left the movement inthe hand of masses and the revolution spread likewild fire all over the country. The police did notspare the local Congress men. They were alsoarrested. Therefore, it became a leaderless mass

movement. The people plunged into revolutionunprepared, agitated, angry and without anyguidance. Thus it became famous as AugustKranti or Quit India Movement.12

After 11th August 1942, situation wentcompletely out of control. The non-violentmovement turned violent as the revolutionariestook advantage of the situation and attackedpolice stations, Government officers andGovernment officials.13 This included cutting oftelephone wires, damaging railway line, bridges,post offices, telegraph system, raising barriers incities and towns and other form of violentdemonstrations. As in many places communicationwas disrupted, public life virtually came to a standstill and business was suspended. Any place orany act, which was considered as the Britishsymbol was destroyed. The students took part inthe revolutionary work. There were strikes in thepolice stations, post offices, railway stations,colleges, schools, and factories and small officeswent in to hartal.14

At many places Action Committees wereformed to conduct the movement. The peasantswere asked not pay taxes and even in somevillages they stated parallel Government in Bengal.The Government did not run for weeks. The localleaders took over the towns and to have beendriven out by arm forces. It was very powerful inMadhya Pradesh, Bengal, Orissa but less popularin Sindh, Rajastan, Punjab, North West FrontierProvince and South India in spite of cruelly; andviolent attacks which continued to grow. TheBritish Government miscalculated the power ofthe leaderless masses. It was big surprise for themas people were striking to establish the motto of"Do or Die". The Viceroy Linlithgow reportednervously to Premier Churchill on 31st August1942 that the rebellion was more serious andpowerful than the Revolt of 1857.15

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So the Government tried to crush themovement by adopting barbarous methods againstthe demonstrators. But it succeeded in crushingthe movement in about two months. Firing, lathicharge, merciless beating and inhuman torture onthe demonstrators became a regular feature. EvenChurchill had to reinforce white soldiers in Indiato crush the movement. Even police did not sparethe simple villagers gathered in protest meetings.It is not possible to know the actual number ofpeople who died in this movement, as there wascompletely blackout of news. But the BritishGovernment held Gandhiji responsible for all theviolence in the movements to prove his honesty.Gandhiji's influence increased not only in Indiabut also at the international level. Thus BritishGovernment failed to crush spirit of freedomamong the Indians.16

The Government released political prisonersin a phased manner and the return of Mahatabfrom Ahmed Nagar Jail signalled the beginning offresh development in the state. He recovered theSwaraj Ashram at Cuttack from police controlwhich served as a meeting place for nationalists.Then different leaders including BhagirathiPatanaik, Chadra Sekhar Behera, BudharamDubey, Mangalu Pradhan came to the politicalscenario of Dr Mahatab.17

Mangalu Pradhan was arrested by policein this movement and faced an imprisonment ofthree months in the jail where he suffered a lotdue to legal punishment.18 According to DwarakaNath Mahapatra, a close associate of MangaluPradhan, they had undertake painstaking workin jail such as gardening pounding wheat and rice,hammering the stone etc. While pounding wheatMangalu Pradhan eat all the wheat given by theJailer and asked other also to do so. He raisedhis voice against the Jailer for unpalatable food.19

That is why he was transferred from SambalpurJail to Cuttack Jail. When he returned fromCuttack Jail the village saw him with hatred anddid not allow Mangalu Pradhan to participate insocial activities. Having seen the wrong intentionof people towards him, he explained the peoplethat, "Going to Jail is not a crime but it was just anattempt to gain independent from Britishers." Inthis way he motivated the minds of people andcreated nationalism as well as patriotism in heartand soul of the peoples of Remunda and adjacentarea. There after a large number of peoplefollowed his ideology and did not afraid the policeand imprisonment.

From the above discussion it is clear thatMangalu Pradhan was a freedom fighter. In termof his role in freedom struggle the major part tobe seen in the Quit India Movement. But beforethis, during the non-cooperation movement heattended different meetings and gained theknowledge about freedom struggle. During theCivil Disobedience Movement, he took major partin organizing meetings to aware people. In theQuit India Movement Mangalu, Pradhan playedan impotent role in picketing and marches inBargarh area. He was also put in the jail thrice.All these activities show his dedication for themotherland.

References :

1. J. Pradhan, Baraputra, Baragarh, 1993, p-16.

2. J.Pradhan, Op.cit, p-17.

3. Ibid, p-16.

4. Ibid.

5. N.Pradhan, (ed.) Smaranika, Mangalu BabunkuJepari Jane, Madanmohan Sahu, Remunda,1982.

6. Mangalu Pradhan Janma Sata Barsiki ,Bargarh, 2008.


17

7. P.K.Mishra, History of Freedom Movement inIndia and National Integration, Cuttack, 1999,p-71.

8. Ibid, p-75.

9. P.K.Mishra, Op.cit, p-91.

10. J.R.Sahu, Mangalu Pradhan : His life and Time(unpublished M.Phil Dissertation), 2007, p-22

11. Ibid.

12. V.L.Grover and S.Grover, Modern IndianHistory, Delhi, 1992, pp. 557-558.

13. P.K.Mishra, Op.cit, p-94.

14. N.K.Sahu and others, History of Orissa, Cuttack,1985, pp.467-468.

15. N.K.Sahu,and others, Op.cit, p.466..

16. N.K.Sahu and others, Op.cit, p.115.

17. J.K.Sahu, Orissa History, Part-III, Cuttack,pp.247-248.

18. J.R. Sahu, Op.cit, p.28.

19. Ibid.

Ramesh Meher is working as Conservator atManuscript Conservation Centre, P.G.Department ofHistory, Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, Sambalpur.

Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik visiting TribalMuseum with Tribal Children Bhubaneswar on 6.8.2009.

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Ghumusar has a unique History. The Bhanja familyof Ghumusar produced a line of able andsuccessful kings who strengthened the fortunesof the family and of Ghumusar by keeping foreigninvasion at bay. Ghumusar was ruled by 32 Rajasbefore it was ruled by Mahapadmananda ofMagadha. It came under the Asokan Empire afterthe great Kalinga War in 262 B.C. Its one morename Kangoda Mandal was incredibly famousduring the rule of Mahameghabahan Kharavela.It was ruled by the Satabahans of Andhra Pradeshfrom 1st A.D. to 2nd A.D. From 2nd century to7th century it came under the Sailodbhaba dynastyand till 8th century it was ruled by theBhoumakaras. There are so many views andobservations regarding the past history ofGhumusar.

Evidences on the origin of the Bhanja familyare very scanty, but from legend it would be logicalto conclude that the Bhanja family emerged froman egg of a peahen. The episode has beenconfirmed from the Ghumusar history. On a finemorning while Basistha was returning from hismorning bath, he saw the sexual union betweenone male and one female antelope. The sexualpleasure of the antelopes created erotic in himand out of control he oozed a little bit of humansperm. A hunting peahen grabbed the sperm andbecame pregnant. After few months she laid

down two eggs. Basistha came to known the realthing and brought the eggs into his safe haven(Ashram). He hatched the eggs and waited tillthe eggs matured. One egg automatically brokeand kid came out of that egg. Basistha named thekid as Madan Rama. The other egg did not breakin the natural process. Therefore Basistha himselfbroke the egg and a kid came out of that egg.Breaking is a synonym to the Sanskrit word'Bhanjan'. Therefore he named the kid as ModakaBhanja.

Modak Bhanja invaded Haripur andestablished his own Kingdom. Haripur Empirelater on divided into two parts known as MayuraBhanja and Kedujhara. Meanwhile DaitariBhanja, the younger brother of Kendujhara Rajarevolted against the State Authority and for hisannoyance he was expelled from Kendujhara. Hecame out of the Kingdom along with his two sons,Banamali and Raghunath and took shelter in thefortress of Dinabandhu Nanda, the Brahmin kingof Boudh. Having no son, Dinabandhu took careof the two sons of Daitari like his own sons.Banamali and Raghunath had a dream ofbecoming the future king of Boudh. Butsubsequently, aged Dinabandhu was blessed witha son. Dinabandhu named his son after the nameof God Ganesh and called him Binayaka.Following the birth of Binayaka, the dreams of

Ghumusar Revolt : The Opening Combat forSelf Determination in India

Dr. Dasarathi Bhuyan


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Bhanja brothers for becoming king of Boudh verysoon traumatized. They hatched a plan and verysoon materialized the plan into reality. One daythey mislead Binayak to an unknown place on anelephant. On the way Raghunath and Banamaliunexpectedly shoved Binayak and he wastrampled by that elephant. Distressed fatherDinabandhu instantly came to know about thetreacherous handiwork of Banamali andRaghunath. Out of anger he cursed the Bhanjabrothers and prophesied that Bhanja dynastywould be smashed in future due to their deceitfulnature. After the death of Dinabandhu, BanamaliBhanja became the king of Boudh. During thistime Khinjili Mandal was a part of Boudh kingdomand the people of Khinjili Mandal deniedaccepting Banamali as their new ruler. The vassalsof Khinjili Mandal revolted against the foreignruler and did not pay allegiance to him. With theaim of suppressing the revolt in Khinjili Mandal,Banamali Bhanja sent his brother RaghunathBhanja to that region and advised him to becomethe king of Khinjili Mandal after the suppressionof revolt. At the start he reached at Chakapadaand then entered into the mainland of KhinjiliMandal. Raghunath Bhanja employed all hisresources and strength for the suppression ofrevolt in the Khinjili region. He also killedKuladaha, the tribal chieftain of the revolutiontenants. After killing him he became the ruler ofKhinjili in 832 A.D. He selected a beautiful placenear a cave (Guma) adjacent to a lake (Sara).From these two words the new name came to beknown as Ghumusar and the old name of Khinjiliceased to dub. He ruled Ghumusar from 832 to852 A.D. After the death of Raghunath Bhanja,his son Arjun Bhanja ascended the throne ofGhumusar.

According to S.C. Macpherson, theassistant Surveyor General, who has compiled theHistory of Ghumusar and Boudh, has described

that, the Bhanja Rajas came from the Boudhkingdom and entered into the Ghumusar regionin search of a new State in 840. They killed anative Kandha Raja, Kulladaha and renamed thenew kingdom after the assassinated chieftainKulladha as Kullada. This kingdom of Ghumusarwas established as an independent Kingdom asearly as 832 A.D. by Banamali Bhanja, the firstRaja of the Ghumusar Bhanja ruling dynasty. TheGajapati King of Orissa, Purusotam Dev,recognized the ruling Bhanj dynasty of Ghumusarin the fifteen Century A.D. Ghumusar then cameunder the rule of the Muslim Nawab of Golkondain 1571 as a sequel to the conquest of SouthernOrissa by Ibrahim Qutabsahi, the FourthQutabsahi, Sultan of Golkonda (Hyderabad), asa zamidary estate. In 1753 A.D. the NawabGolkonda Ralaquatjang sent M.D.Busy, a FrenchGeneral for the collection of revenue in Ganjam.Busy crossed the threshold of Ghumusar but couldnot entered into the Ghumusar Kingdom due tostaunch protest from the patriot tenants. Later onhe returned immediately to Madras by an officialorder of M.Lady, the Governor of Pundicherry.In 1759 A.D. Lord Clive the Viceroy, sentColonel Ford to Northern Circar against theFrench in order to check their influence in Ganjam.In apprehension of British aggression, the Frenchhanded over all the Factories of Ganjam alongwith the Ghumusar Malihas in the hands of theBritish East India Company. Further more, theSultan of Golkonda snatched away the NorthernCircar from the French and approved thecollection of revenue by the British. As a sequelto this approval, Ghumusar freed from the Frenchauthority and fully came under the British rule. Itsubsequently came under the Mogul rule in 1687with the conquest and occupation of GolkondaState by the Mogul Emperor of Delhi, AurangzebAlamgiri. The estate remained under the Frenchauthority from 1753 till 1757. It finally came under

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the authority of the British East India Company in1766, and in 1836 it was brought under the directBritish administration consequently upontermination of the line of the Bhanja rulers withthe death of Dhananjaya Bhanja, the last Raja, in1835. Thus, the history of Ghumusar is the endlessstory of rare glory, greatness, glamour, patriotism,rebellions, strikes, and strives.

It is believed that Pratap Bhanja ruled thekingdom from 1590 to 1611, his son DhananjayaBhanja from 1636 to 1701, then by KrushnaGhana Bhanja from 1717 to 1754, KrushnaBhanja from 1754 to 1773, Tribikram Bhanjafrom 1773 to 1782, Lakhman Bhanja from 1782to 1788, and Srikara Bhanja from 1788 to 1789.

After the annexation of Ganjam, Monsieurde Bussy camped at Potagarh at Ganjam in 1753and collected revenue from the local Chiefs ofGanjam with military control. In 1766 Ganjambecame a part of the Madras Presidency. MrCotsford was appointed as the first Collector ofGanjam district. Though all the Zamindars ofGanjam paid allegiance to the British authority,Krushna Bhanj, king of Ghumusar paid no heedto the demands of the British and delayed payingtaxes. He had a regular paid army of 10050. Duringemergency he used to employ a supplementarytroop of 1000 soldiers. In addition to these regularforces he had also deployed forces at differentmilitary bases for the security of Ghumusar. Themilitary bases were Kulada, Kokalaba,Jaggannathprasad, Andharigada, Bishnu-chakragada, Gallery, Badangi, and Durgaprasad.Krushna Bhanja also took into custody of 23villages from the British possession. But later onCotsford recovered all the13 villages fromKrushna Bhanja. After a compromise in 1767Krushna Bhanja paid a sum of 30,000 Rupees tothe British as land revenue. Krushna Bhanja had

a cordial relation with the Marathas. The Britishwas afraid of the Marathas. Krushna Bhanjastopped to pay the revenue in 1768 when heheard a romour that Marathas were attackingGanjam. The British planned a sturdy actionagainst Krushna Bhanja and in 17th December1768 Bishnuchakragada was attacked with fourcompanies of British soldiers. The result was infavour of the British side. They captured theBishnuchakragada and it was fully under thecontrol of British forces. As a result, an agreementwas signed between Krushna Bhanja andGovernor, Cotsford. By this treat Krushna Bhanjaagreed to pay allegiance and land revenue to theBritish. In 1771 A.D. when the Britishadministration hoisted the cost of land revenue,Krushna Bhanja revolted once more against theBritish authority.

In 1773 Krushna Bhanja died and after hisdeath Tribikrama Bhanja ascended the throne ofGhumusar and ruled from 1773 to 1782. Afterhim Laksman Bhanja ruled Ghumusar from 1782to 1788. Lakshman Bhanj's son Srikara Bhanjabecame the king of Ghumusar in 1788. WhenSrikara Bhanja took the charge of Ghumusaradministration the financial condition of the statewas very poor. Therefore he could not pay thefixed annual revenue of one lakh to the Britishadministration.

In 1792 A.D. Srikar Bhanja, wanted tovisit some of the holy places of India. He went ona pilgrimage and for that reason he handed overthe administration of Ghumusar to his sonDhananjaya Bhanja second. When the Britishadministration asked for the revenue, thesuccessor Dhananjaya Bhanja second deniedpaying the revenue fixed by his father. Annoyedwith the decision of Dhananjaya Bhanja second,the British administration invaded Ghumusar


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several times and all the efforts of the British werein futile. The sturdy resistances of native Kandhascould not be suppressed by the British. The thenGanjam Collector, Stephenson immediately wrotean emergency letter to Edward Sahib, theGovernor of Chenaipatna to send more refinedsoldiers in a view to tackle the situation. Verysoon Edward Sahib deployed a skilled andcapable person George Russel as the SpecialCommissioner of Ganjam. He also delegatedspecial power to him and deployed a strongmilitary force in Ghumusar. The new deployedsentinel joined General Taylor's army which wasalready deployed at Nuagaom near Russelkonda.Both the forces planned to defeat the nativeGhumusar forces. George Russel attacked fromthe Southern side of Kulada Gada (fort) andGeneral Taylor attacked from the eastern side.Dhananjaya Bhanja second, the inexperiencedRaja of Ghumusar was not ready enough to resistthe British forces. There was incessant and toughwar between the British forces and the Ghumusarnative forces. But the Kondha forces could notmatch the sophisticated bullets of the British forces.

Meanwhile, Srikar Bhanja returned fromhis pilgrimage in 1795. The state of affairs inGhumusar was depreciated during his absent.Hence he dethroned his son and he took thecharge of administration. Due to the economiccrisis in Ghumusar he was able to clear only twoyears revenue to the British and could not paidfor next three years. In 1797 Thomas Snodgrasswas appointed as the Collector of Ganjam.Snodgrass wanted to collect all the dues fromSrikara Bhanja. Apprehending an attack fromSnodgrass, he fled from his kingdom and tookshelter in the Seragada Raj family. Some nativekings of Ganjam hatched a plan to defeat theBritish force. In 1799, a combine force ofParlakhemundi, Badakhemundi, Dharakote,

Sheragada Rajas declared war against the British.Governor of Ganjam, Snodgrass lost no time tosend Lieutenant General Cornel Smith to defeatthe combined forces of the Rajas. They met at awar near Shergada. On the spot Raja of Sheragadadied and the united army men of Rajas ran helterskelter out of fear. Finally they run away from thewar field.

Meanwhile in 1800 A.D. William Brownwas appointed as the Collector of Ganjam. SrikarBhanja came out of hiding and shook hands withWilliam Brown. Collector of Ganjam, WillamBrown reinstated Srikara Bhanja to his formerposition with the intention of getting revenue fromhim. But he was also proved himself as a defaulterregarding the payment of dues of last 18 years tothe British. In the meantime Dhananjaya Bhanjaassured the British that he would clear all the duesif he is reinstated to the throne. As a follow-up tothe assurance of Dhananjaya Bhanja, the Britishdeposed his father Srikara Bhanja and reinstatedDhananjaya Bhanja to the position of a king on22 April, 1801. Again the relation betweenSrikara Bhanja and the British administration wasstrained and they were drifted away. Loosingthe title of a king Srikara Bhanja fled to the junglesof Ghumusar and invigorated the tenants againstthe maladministration of the British rule. He diedat last at Puri on 11 October, 1845.

Dhananjaya Bhanja could not satisfy theneeds of the British. The British administrationdeclared Dhananjaya Bhanja a defaulter. TheBritish administration in Ganjam lost no time tosend an army to Ghumusar for recovering debt.On 22 September 1835 Lieutenant CornelHudgson mobilized his army against Ghumusarfrom Asika side. On November 3, 1835 he seizedthe Kuladagada, the capital of Ghumusar.Apprehending danger to his life, Dhananjaya

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Bhanja second, the Raja of Ghumusar at last fledto Udayagiri. He died at Udayagiri on 31December, 1836. After his death the Britishadministration declared Ghumusar as a part ofBritish administration. Then they arrestedBrajaraja Bhanja, the last kinsman of the Bhanjaruling dynasty and took over the charge of theGhumusar estate and declared as a part of BritishEmpire in 1837. Brajaraja was imprisoned in theVellore jail. He breathed his last in the jail.Ghumusar lost its all rulers and the kingdom alsolost its entity.

After conquering Ghumusar, George Russelestablished a beautiful Bungalow (the present DSPoffice at Bhanjanagar) at the foot step of a hill.Some of the nearby Telugu inhabitants requestedRussel Sahib for the establishment of a revenuevillage and pledged that the new village would benamed after him. Afterwards the village came toknow as Russelkonda. In Telugu Konda meansa hill. Therefore Russelkonda means Russel's Hill(Russel Konda).

After the death of Dhananjaya Bhanjasecond, the last Raja of Ghumusar, KamalLochan Dora Bisoi maintained dogged resistanceto the British Rule in Ghumusar from 1836 till1844. All the British efforts failed to capture himtill he was handed over to the British treacherouslyby Somnath Singh, the Raja of Angul. The rebelleader was arrested and sent away to Gooti nearMadras, where he died as a state prisoner in1846. His death had left behind an immortal legacyof irresistible bravery of a man who fought for hispeople and the Raja with-standing all the ordeal'sand hurdles that came in on the way. After his

death the residence movement against the Britishwas led by his nephew Chakara Bisoi, the son ofhis younger brother Shyama Bisoyi, from 1846till 1856, being uncaptured till he was reportedmissing into the jungles of Central India. It hasbeen rightly said that Chakara Bisoi, the Chief ofsome insignificant Muthas, had been ignoredbecause of his obscure birth though he deservedto be ranked with Jagabandhu Vidyadhar andSurendra Sai.

Chakara Bisoi had no personal motive. Herose for the restoration of the Ghumusar family tofulfill the pledge given by his uncle Dora Bisoi tothe last Raja. He fought for the Vindication of thefamily honour, as the Bisoi family was driven outof Ghumusar Malihas and his uncle languished ina prison at a distant place for more than ten yearshe carried on intermittent struggle against theBritish power.

Chakara Bisoi led the life of a fugitivehunted from place to place, from Athagaon inParlakhemundi, and from Angul to Ghumusar,turning down the offer of pardon. He eludedcapture in spite of the combined efforts of theCommissioners of Cuttack, Chotanagapur andNagpur, which belied the expectation of LordDalhousie.

Dr. Dasarathi Bhuyan lives at Vanivihar, Asika, Ganjam,Orissa - 761110.


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Sri Biswanath Pattnaik who is known as theGandhi of Koraput has made his life a successthrough a lot of obstacles and struggles. Biswanathof Balliguda is now 93 years old. His educationalqualification is up to class 8th. His native village isKumarada, Digapahandi. He has served as a non-formal teacher for a few years. He has been highlyinspired by B. SatyanarayanReddy, former Governor ofOrissa, Pyarimohan Mohapatra,Rajya Sabha M.P., Dr. SujataAcharya, Reader at Cochin,Kerala and Giridhari Gamango,M.P. Different newspapers andjournals of Orissa have publishedhis activities through interviewsand features. Print Media as wellas electronic media have veryoften brought him to limelight. Hehas been awarded Jamnalal BajajAward. He has identified himselfas a great patriarch of a lot ofmembers. Though he is abachelor and a Sanyasi, he is the parent of a lotof Orphan children. He has given hope to manyhopeless and helpless persons. He has establishedmany children's homes, Kanyashram, Short StayHomes for destitute women and old age Homes.He has opened High Schools for the Deaf, Dumb

A Benevolent Freedom Fighter andJamnalal Bajaj Awardee 'Ajnya'

Gadadhar SarangiBibhuti Bhusana Acharya

and Blind children. His way is long from Bari toKujendri form Kujendri to Kalahandi and fromKalahandi to Kandhamal. He has been able toprovide free education to the Scheduled caste andScheduled tribe children of undivided districts ofPhulbani, Koraput, Kalahandi and Ganjam. Hehas also made efforts for the education of women.

He has inspired all his followersto keep up with the GandhianPhilosophy and ideals of Vinovaand Jayaprakash. He has become"Gramadan Sardar" bydistributing land to the landless.He has spread and expanded theBasic Education among people.He has covered a vast area onfoot. He has set free the innocentAdivasis from the exploitation ofthe money lenders. He stands inthe Character of Jagannath in thenovel of Gopinath Mohanty. Hehas been imprisoned twice and hasbeen behind the bars for more

than 3 years for taking active part in the freedommovement. He has spent some time with LaxmanNaik in Koraput jail. He was kept under policesupervision for a long time. He has notrecommended his name for Political Prisoner'sstipend although his name is in the Selection Board

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for stipend. His favourite Bhajan is "God take methere where people are in tears". His favoriteprayer is "Work is Worship, follow the right pathand break the walls that stand against making thereal man". Sri Subash Chandra Mishra of Koraputhas been awarded by Orissa Sahitya Academyfor his work on the life of Sri Biswanath Ajynawhile Abhaya Mahapatra has been honoured forhis writing "Way to the forest". Dr. BhubanmohanPattnaik, the pleader of the tribal has come incontact with Sir to solve the native problems.Mohammod Baji of Nawarangpur is a co-workerof Sir. He is the Chief Editor of the BanabasiMagazine, which reflects the tune of the Adivasi.His life is simple and real. He has given up takingsalt in his food since the death of GopabandhuChoudhury. He has settled many inter-castemarriages.

He always puts on Khadar. He speaksabout Gandhi. His knowledge is as high asHimalayas and personality is as clean as dew drop.He has escaped many plots of assassinations.

His Economy is strange. He setup"Banabasi Seva Samiti" in 1972 at Balliguda(Kandhamal) with a capital of five thousand only(just as Gopabandhu started the Samaj).

Now its activities are wide spread. It is theoldest voluntary organization in Kandhamaldistrict. He has travelled a lot on foot in Orissa inthe company of mother Ramadevi, MalatiChoudhury and others. He is associated with manySocial Service organizations. He is also thepioneer and advisor of many. He has started his'Padjatra' on the 2nd October 2008, theInternational Non-violence day, at Baliguda onthe woke on the woke of the communal riot inKandhamal district.

His life, thoughts, and philosophy in thepresent materialistic world are worthpraising. He

likes to embrace death without being a burden toany body. He wants to lose himself in isolationand hopes to be of some use in the new life. Thereis absolutely non charge in his work and work.He has announced an annual prize of Rs.25000/-(Twenty five thousand) each for illustrativeexample in social service one for men and theother for women's as Acharya HariharGopabandhu Choudhury Smarak Samman andMaa Rama Devi Malati Choudhury SmarakSamman respectively.

His work to remove untouchables fromsociety is beyond description. He is far away formhonour award and prize. He never fails toaccomplish any work how so ever diffcult it maybe. He is an ideal for his age and to come. He isaffectionate to all restrictive of caste , creed andreligion. "Service to Mankind is Service to God"is his motto. He picks up any one in difficultly tohis Samiti.

Let his blessings be showered on all on hisauspicious occasion . Let the Scheduled caste andScheduled tribes get the opportunity to bow downto him for ever. We pray for his long life. He hasshown the light of education to many orphans.He has opened residential schools for themeritorious students.

His dreams are to introduce technical,medical and management education free of costbringing about a change in the fields of Tribaleducation, he wants to open school for mentallyretarded children. He is of the opinion that auniversity should be setup for adivasi culture,language and literature. We congratulate andwarmly welcome him as he is conferred withDoctorate Degree on the completion of 150 yearsof freedom movement. This is our highest regardsfor him. Let him life long for hundred years.


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Eventful life of Biswanath PattnaikBirth : 11.11.1916

Place of birth : Kumarada (Digapahandi)Father: Upendra Pattnaik

Mother : Indumati

Come in contact at Puri with Acharya Harihar,Stayed at Kujendri (Koraput busy in Bhudanwork; a life long bachelor, Established BanabasiSeva Samiti, Associated with differentorganizations and volunteers strarting from the Carfestival at Puri to Kumbhamela at Alahabad.

Chief Editor : The Banabasi

And awarded Honors : Justice Rajendra DasAward, Indian Tribal Sevaka Sangh Award, SaralPrize, Pradyumna Bal Award, Radhanath Award,Adivasi Mahavidyalaya, Balliguda N.S.S.Award, Sarbodaya Sevak Award, Jamnalal BajajAward for constructive work - 2008 with a cashprize of five lakh rupees.

Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation citation says -Shri Pattnaik is a dedicated, constructiveGandhian social worker, freedom fighter andSurvodaya leader. He has spent his life for thewell-being of poor tribals and rural people. Hetakes a simple diet, wears Khadi clothes and leadsa simple life. He likes to pray with children everymorning and evening. He is a bachelor.

Shri Pattnaik received Best Social WorkerAward from the Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh,New Delhi, in 1995 & 1996. He also receivedthe Justice Rajkishore Das Award in 1996. Healso received the Justice Rajkishore Das Awardin 1996-97, and the 23rd Sarala Award foroutstanding contribution in the field of social workfor the year 2002. He received the Rajiv GandhiSadbhabana Award-2003 by outstandingdedicated social service.

Gadadhar Sarangi and Bibhuti Bhusana Acharya live atBanabasi Seva Samiti, Balliguda, Kandhamal, Orissa.

His Excellency the Governor of Orissa Shri MurlidharChandrakant Bhandare inaugurating the newly built

Ramadevi Ladies Hostel at O.U.A.T on 5.8.2009.

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Introduction:Pandit Gopabandhu Das was a real

freedom fighter as well as social worker whosincerely dedicated his life for the betterment ofthe distressed people ofOrissa. His untiring effort forthe unit of all Oriya speakingtracts in a separate provincewas indeed remarkable.Among all the freedomfighters as well as socialworkers of Orissa, PanditGopabandhu Das occupies aunique place. He was aversatile genius andpossessed various qualitieslike freedom fighter, poet,educationalist; founder of theOriya Newspaper "TheSamaj", good legislator andabove all a selfless and selfeffacing person everdedicated to the cause ofsuffering people by the BritishIndia and the flood affected people of Orissa. Hisselfless social service as well as literary workindirectly contributed much towards the creationof a separate province (state) for Orissa, whichwas born eight years after his death. His

contributions to different aspects of humanityimmensely helped our ancestors to be consciousabout the creation of the separate state for Orissa.His selfless social service always reminds theOriya people to lead a prefect citizen of the

society. Pandit GopabandhuDas was really a legendaryperson of Orissa who alwaysthought about the well-beingof society. For the sake ofservice of the distressedpeople, he completelyneglected to the rest of hisown family members. Thecreation of the separate statefor Orissa is the result of thehard labours and untiringefforts of PanditGopabandhu Das and otherfreedom fighters of ourmotherland.

His Early Career:Pandit Gopabandhu

Das was born on 9th October, 1877 in a Brahminfamily of the village Suando in Puri district ofOrissa. His father Daitary Das was a Mukhtiarand mother Swarnamayee Devi was the third wifeof his father. Gopabandhu Das married Moti atthe age of twelve. After completion of his primary

Pandit Gopabandhu Das: As a UniquePersonality of Orissa

Dr. Ratnakar Mohapatra


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education from the Rupadeipur MiddleVernacular School, he went to take admission inthe Puri Zilla School in 1893. There he came tocloser contact with his teacher MukhtiarRamachandra Das, who was not only a geniusbut also a nationalist. Ramachandra was a manof very generous nature. Here Gopabandhulearned many nationalistic ideas and values fromthis teacher. At the time of student period in PuriZilla School, victims of Cholera inspired him tostart a voluntary corps named "Puri Seva Samiti".In 1899 Gopabandhu passed the Matriculationexamination from the Puri Zilla School and joinedthe Ravenshaw College to study Arts. He passedhis B.A. degree from the Ravenshaw College in1904. During the college life at Cuttack, hereceived the news of the death of his only son.Thereafter he passed B.L. degree from theCalcutta University in 1906. After coming fromCalcutta, he served for sometime as theHeadmaster of School in Nilgiri and then startedlegal practice in his home town, Puri. PanditGopabandhu Das had super humanity in him andhe did not attach much importance to worldly life.This was evident on the occasion of the death ofhis only son in 1903. The death of his parents,wife, preceptor and sons left him a lonely man tofollow an independent course of life. His twoyoung daughters were left in the care of his elderbrother Narayan Das.

As an Educationist:

Thereafter, Pandit Gopabandhu Das joinedas a Government advocate at Mayurbhanj Court.Gopabandhu had no interest in law, so he gaveup his practice. Then he worked for the welfareof the people. The Swadeshi Resolution of theNational Congress Party had a deep impact onhim for which he started a National School onthe model of the Deccan Education Society. Healso realized that the proper education can

improve and develop society. He decided toestablish a High English School at Sakhi-Gopala.Initially he set up a Middle English School on the12th August 1909. There were only 19 studentson the roll and himself was the Secretary of it.This was the beginning of the great SatyabadiVana Vidyalaya or the "School in the Grove",which had tremendous impact on the national lifeof Orissa. The foundation of an ideal open airSchool known as "Satyabadi Vana Vidayala" in1909 was the first major constructive work ofPandit Gopabandhu Das. In this noble venture,he was assited by Pandit Nilakantha Das, PanditGodavarisha Mishra, Pandit Krupasindhu Mishraand Acharya Harihara Dash. All of them joinedin this School as teachers giving up the lure ofGovernment service. The teachers of this Schooldedicated their lives to building up their studentsinto ideal citizens and dispelling social superstitionsand prejudices from the surrounding villages,which were mostly inhabited by the conservativeBrahmins. They introduced such patterns ofeducation, which was most suitable to Indiansociety. The main objective of this Vanavidyalaya(School) was to spread idealism, patriotism,nationalism and intellectual awakening among itsstudents in a Gurukula environment. PanditGopabandhu Das had made untiring efforts forthe development of education and society ofOrissa. The Education Department accordedrecognition to the Middle English School and theprocess of conversion into a high school beganwith the arrival of Pandit Nilakantha Das on the11th October, 1911. This was the beginning ofGopabandhu's desire for a high school. The schooldid not have smooth sailing. Since it stood forprogress and introduced certain reformistmeasures like joint living and community feedingof people of different castes and communities. Itcreated consternation among the orthodox

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Brahmins of that area. They feared that if theschool continued as a permanent institution, itwould destroy the originality and excellence ofHindu religion in general and Brahmin communityin particular. They were therefore, determined toruin the institution. In spite of severe criticise andopposition from their side, the foundation stonefor the new building was laid in early 1913. PanditGopabandhu Das had certain novel ideas on asuitable system of instruction for the youth ofOrissa. Eminent persons like Sir AsutoshMukherjee and Mahatma Gandhi visited thisschool and highly appreciated its educationalsystem. For about 40 years the school providedleadership in the sphere of political, social andliterary activities in Orissa.

His Contribution to Journalism:

Pandit Gopabandhu Das realized thenecessity of Newspapers and Journals forventilating people's grievances as well as foreducating them. He was an instrumental in makingOriya Journalism suitable for the common man.From 1913 to 1919 he was editing theNewspaper 'Asha' which had been started atBerhampur, Ganjam by Sashi Bhusana Ratha. In1915, he brought out from the Satyabadi pressat Sakhigopal a monthly literary magazine entitled"Satyabadi". Then Pandit Gopabandhu decidedto bring out a weekly Newspaper and so "Samaj"(society) was founded from the Satyabadi pressin October, 1919. Thereafter, the 'Samaj" becamethe most popular Newspaper of Orissa. He wasthe Editor of it continuously till his death. 'TheSamaj" is published every week on Saturday fromthe Satyabadi press. The situation of the country(our motherland) is discussed in it. It particularlyventilates the grievances of the rural people anddispassionate discussion is made on thoseproblems of the people, which the governmentought to know. Again, the Government's

oppressive policy and activities are also discussedto the people through its columns. Specialattention is paid in it to the problems of health,primary education, social conditions, agriculture,rural industries and allied matters of the ruralpeople. The 'Samaj" was subsequently publishedfrom Puri and finally from Cuttack. It became adaily Newspaper after his death in 1930. PanditGopabandhu Das's "The Samaj" played animportant role among the people of Orissa. Onthe eve of his death, Pandit Gopabandhu donated"The Samaj" to the branch of 'Lok Sevak Mandala'(Servants of the People Society), which wasestablished by him at Cuttack.His Political Career:

The advent of Pandit Gopabandhu Das inOrissa politics brought a radical change in theoutlook of the political minded people. Since hisstudent days Gopabandhu associated himself withthe Utkal Union Conference, which had beenstarted in 1903 for the merger of the Oriyaspeaking tracts. Bihar and Orissa were made aseparate province under a Lieutinant Governorin 1912. There was a Legislative Councilconstituted under the Government of India Act,1909, in which there were some elected membersstyled as additional members. Utkal GaurabMadhu Sudan Das proposed the name of PanditGopabandhu Das that he was the most suitableperson to represent Orissa. In 1917, PanditGopabandhu Das was elected to the Bihar andOrissa Legislative Council. Inside the LegislativeCouncil, he raised his voice on various problemsof Orissa, particularly flood and famine. He alsopresided over a meeting of the Utkal UnionConference at Cuttack in 1919. PanditGopabandhu Das wanted the Utkal UnionConference to identify itself with the main streamof national consciousness. He persuaded othersto merge Utkal Union Conference with theNational Congress to make the Oriya movement


29

a part of the Indian National movement. He toldthe Utkal Union Conference in his presidentialspeech "Oriya nationalism consists of Universallove and fullness of life. It is not selfish, lifeless orinterested in inactive love, etc. The Utkal UnionConference is a part of India's Nationalmovement."

In September, 1920 Pandit GopabandhuDas attended the special session of the IndianNational Congress held in Calcutta where theCongress adopted Mahatma Gandhi's programmeof Non-cooperation. He had attended thisCongress as a delegate from Orissa. Before hisdeparture for Calcutta, Pandit Gopabandhu Dashad formed a District Congress Committee at Purion the 30th August, 1920, with himself as thePresident. Later in December 1920, Gopabandhuattended the annual session of the Indian NationalCongress, held at Nagpur. Thereafter, thiscongress session, a session of Utkal UnionConference was held at Chakradharpur on 30thDecember, 1920. The Chakradharpur session ofthe Utkal Union Conference passed the followingresolution, moved by Pandit Gopabandhu. "Theaims and objects of the Indian National Congressbe accepted as those of the Utkal UnionConference in addition to the accepted objectivesof the Conference". At Gopabandhu's persuasionthis session of Utkal Union Conference acceptedthe Congress party's revolutionary goal of selfgovernment and the merger of Oriya speakingtracts by collaboration with the BritishGovernment.

As per Gandhi's programme of Non-cooperation, Pandit Gopabandhu and otherfreedom fighters started the Non-cooperationmovement in Orissa. In pursuance of the decisionof the Nagpur Congress for the formation ofProvincial Congress Committee on linguistic basis,Pandit Gopabandhu Das formed the Utkal

Pradesh Congress Committee and he also becamethe President of it. Thus he is the founder Presidentof the Congress in Orissa. The Newspaper"Samaj" spread the message of Non-cooperationthroughout the nook and corner of Orissa. PanditGopabandhu founded the Utkal Swarajya SikshaParishad (Orissa National Education Council) forthe promotion of National education accordingto the programe of Non-cooperation. In 1921,Pandit Gopabandhu converted his SatyabadiSchool into a National School. PanditGopabandhu set himself heart and soul to the taskof organizing Congress Committees in eachdistrict. At Pandit Gopabandhu's requestMahatma Gandhi visited Orissa in March, 1921.Mahatma Gandhi had been impressed with thesincerity and devotion of Pandit Gopabandhu Dasto the national cause and so when the latter neededhis help to spread the message of the Congress inOrissa, Gandhiji could not resist his call. Whileintroducing Mahatma Gandhi to the people ofOrissa in the Kathjuri river bed meeting; heappeared to them "to imbibe the message ofGandhi in full recollection of the ancient glories ofthe Oriya people.

At Gandhi's request, Pandit Gopabandhuraised subscription for "Tilak Swaraj Fund", afund, which had been instituted in the memory ofBal Gangadhar Tilak, the extremist nationalist, forbuilding up the finances of the Congress. PanditGopabandhu sincerely made untiring efforts tointroduce the constructive programs of MahatmaGandhi viz, promotion of Khadar, villagePanchayat and prohibition (against the selling ofBritish goods).

Pandit Gopabandhu Das brought the IndianNational Congress to Orissa. He was an evangelistof the Congress and he visited every nook andcorner of the province to spread the message ofthis national organization. The Non-cooperation

30


movement aroused great enthusiasm in Orissa,mainly on account of Gopabandhu's sincereefforts. He moved personally from place to placeaddressing large meeting and explaining themessage of Gandhi's when the call for Non-cooperation was given hundreds of students lefttheir schools and colleges. Pandit Gopabandhu'sefforts to merge Orissa with the main stream ofnationalist movement did not go in vain. Leadersfelt encouraged to intensify the movement.Incidents of haratals, picketing and boycottbecame numerous. The elections to the LegislativeCouncils were totally boycotted. SomeNewspapers like "The Samaj' and "Utkal Dipika"played a significant role in insisting the pubic toactively participate in the struggle for freedom.The British Government initiated some sternmeasures against the swelling tide of Nationalism.In the last week of September 1921, he paid avisit to Calcutta and presided over a rally of Oriyaworkers in the Jute and Cotton Mills. PanditGopabandhu's inspiring speech to the Oriyaworkers in Calcutta produced the desired result.Puri had been exposed to a severe famine in 1921.Pandit Gopabandhu did not like the idea ofexporting rice and paddy from Puri when lakhsof people had been suffering from starvation. Forthis he went to meet the local officers to stop theexport.

Pandit Gopabandhu went to Ahemedabadto attend the Indian National Congress session.In the middle of February, 1922, PanditGopabandhu and Lingaraj Mishra went toBombay to collect subscriptions for relief worksin Orissa and stayed there as guests of theServants of People Society. Pandit Gopabandhuhad arranged a public meeting there for addresswith regard to the vivid picture of conditions inOrissa. He further elaborated the purposes,methods and objectives of the educational

experiment at Sakhigopala and showed to whatextent this new institution satisfied the educationalneeds of the poor people of Orissa. All theseactivities of Pandit Gopabandhu and his associatesevoked considerable sympathy and praise andproduced financial help from the businessmen ofBombay.

On 13th August, 1921 "The Samja" ofwhich Pandit Gopabandhu was the editorpublished an article entitled "Serious indeed iftrue", criticizing the police oppression upon awoman in the Begunia Police Station of the Puridistrict. The British Government filed a criminalcase against him on the charge of offensivelanguage used in the article. But PanditGopabandhu was honorably acquitted by theCourt.

Though the Rajas and Zamindars had acounter propaganda against Non-cooperationmovement but the boycott agitation was started.The Government officials were advised to adoptpersuasive measures to neutralize the effect ofGandhi, failing which to take drastic measures likearrest and imprisonment. A series of arrests weremade. Rajkrushan Bose became the first politicalprisoner in Orissa. Other leaders like PanditGopabandhu Das, Jadumani Mangaraj,Harekrishna Mahtab and twenty-four otherfreedom fighters were taken to custody.

As a Prisoner and Litterateur:Pandit Gopabandhu Das took up the cause

of the oppressed tenants of the KanikaZamindary. He published some articles in "TheSamaj" and 'Utkal Dipika' about the problems ofthe tenants. For upholding the cause of Kanikatenants, he was sentenced to two yearsimprisonment i.e. from 1922-1924 AD. PanditGopabandhu was in Cuttack Jail for the sake ofthis trial and when the case was ultimately


31

withdrawn, he was transferred to the HazaribaghCentral Jail on 24th January, 1923. PanditGopabandhu utilized his time in Jail in very usefulavocations. His brief sojourn in Jail was fullyutilized in studies and composition. Literature wasnot a passion of Pandit Gopabandhu Das, he usedit as a medium for the propagation of his ideas,ideals and spirit of patriotism among the people.In his school and college days, he kept the habitof writing poems and a selection of these poemsentitled "Abkasha Chinta" (Leisure time thought),which published in 1899. The lofty ideas of PanditGopabandhu Das are continued in "AbkashaChinta". Among his literary works "BandiraAtmakatha" (Autobiography of a prisoner),"Dharmapada" (The exemplary sacrifice of boyarchitect Dharmapada at Konark temple,"Gomahatmyam" (Utility of cattle), "NachiketaUpakshyana" (Story of Nachiketa) and "KaraKabita" (poems composed in Jail) were writtenduring his stay in the Hazaribagh Jail. InGomahatmyam, Pandit Gopabandhu mentions ashort story to explain the extent of humanindebtedness to the bovine population. In BandiraAtmakatha, there are thirteen prison poemsdealing with miscellaneous subjects like the newsof the death of a friend, thought of a prisoner, ofhis motherland, the evening devotions of aprisoner, perennial Nilachala, etc. The 'NachiketaUpakshyana' of Pandit Gopabandhu is used on astory of Kathakaupanisada. Pandit Gopabandhuwas also not inattentive to the other inmates inthe Jail. His life in Jail had created such animpression on their mind that they themselves hadreformed their characters on account of hisinfluence. While he was in Jail, he immersed indeep meditation and was observing everyWednesday as a day of silence. On this day, hespent his time in writing and meditation. He wasreleased from the Hazaribagh Jail on the 26th June,1924.

Achievement of Honorary Title:

After his release from the Hazaribagh Jail,at this stage, the first session of All OrissaProvincial Conference was held at Cuttack underthe Presidentship of Acharya Prafulla ChandraRay, the eminent Patriot-Scientist of Bengal. Theappearance of Pandit Gopabandhu in theConference spread a wave of joy among hisassembled people of Orissa. Knowing the selflesssocial works of Pandit Gopabandhu andobserving the people's love for him, AcharyaPrafulla Chandra conferred upon him the title of"Utkalamani" or the jewel of Utkal.

As a Social Worker:

Initially, Pandit Gopabandhu Das started alife of service and dedication which made him agreat personality of modern Utkal. Love ofmotherland and literature (Oriya) was his desiresince his school days. While he was a student inthe Ravenshaw College, with the help of his friendBrajasundar Das, he formed the Central YoungUtkal Association. This Asscoaiton sent batchesof volunteers to render service to the flood affectedpeople of Orissa. There was serious flood havocin August, 1906 and the rivers like Brahmani,Baitarani and Kharasuan were in terrible spate.This brought wide spread devastation in largetracts in Jajpur and Kendrapara sub-divisions ofthe Cuttack district. A large number of dwellinghouses were destroyed and innumerable lives ofmen and animals lost. The harrowing tales of floodhavoc made Gopabandhu restless. He startedcollection of food and clothing and immediatelyleft for the flood devastated areas with a numberof students of the Ravenshaw College asvolunteers. He organized the Central Young UtkalAssociation with R. Shaw, the then Principal ofRavenshaw College as the President and himselfas the General Secretary. Most of the membersof this Association were students of the

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Ravenshaw College. This was also to function asthe Central organ for the relief of the distressedpeople of the different parts of Orissa. PanditGopabandhu established branches of thisAssociation in all high schools and in different partsof Orissa. This organization continued as a Centralorgan of student's activities for a number of years.

Suffering was an indispensable part ofPandit Gopabandhu's life; yet the sufferings of theinnocent people always encouraged him to movethe affected areas. There was a famine causedby drought in 1924. Gandhiji had paid a visit toOrissa during this famine. He was tremendouslyimpressed with Gopabandhu's efforts to organizerelief operations. There were unprecedentedfloods in the Puri district and large areas of thedistrict remained submerged under flood waterfor about three months i.e. from June to August,1925. The flood stricken people were in amiserable condition and their hardship can not beexpressed in words. In his anxiety to relief thedistress of the flood stricken people, PanditGopabandhu Das had organized relief operationswith the help of Acharya Harihara Das and witha number of other volunteers and as the villageswere under water movement from one village tothe other was not possible. Soon after, the PuriFlood Relief Committee met at his instance andthey paid relief measures. The Committeerequested Pandit Gopabandhu to take up theresponsibility of organizing spinning and weavingcentres in the affected villages. After assuming thisresponsibility Pandit Gopabandhu got in touchwith the Khadi Pratisthana of Bengal and soughttheir help for the establishment of spinning andweaving centres. Pandit Gopabandhu hadestablished the Puri Charakha Relief Organsiation.To render relief to the flood affected people,Pandit Gopabandhu opened a number of spinningcentres in some parts of Orissa. The spinnerswere paid high wages; the clothes woven out of

the yarns were sold, and the sale proceeds wereinvested in further spinning. It was a successfulprogramme for the flood affected people.

In 1926, the Elections for the Central andProvincial Legislatures were held. PanditGopabandhu disassociated himself fromcontesting for the seats in the Legislatures anddedicated himself heart and soul to the Gandhianconstructive works. Soon after the elections wereover, flood havoc destroyed wide areas inCuttack, Puri and Balasore districts in August1926. This was an unprecedented flood. At thattime Pandit Gopabandhu fell ill and it was notpossible on the part of him to star this visitimmediately for the affected people from Puri todifferent places of the affected areas. PanditGopabandhu sent message to Mahatma Gandhi,C.F. Andrews and others about the distressedcondition of the Oriya people. He also publishedstories of devastation in the Newspapers of Orissaand outsides. Money came from different partsof Orissa as well as outside. Inspite of his brokenhealth, he visited a number of places in order togive relief to the affected people. In 1927, therewas severe flood in Orissa. Heavy and incessantrains started from 27th July, 1927 and continuedfor three days. Thereafter, on the 12th August,1927, a crowded meeting was held in the CuttackTown hall where it was decided to constitute aFlood Relief Committee with Pandit GopabandhuDas as General Secretary. As a result of theappeals published in the Newspapers, moneycame flowing in from different parts of the countryfor flood relief for the affected people of Orissa.Pandit Gopabandhu formed volunteers' parties todistribute relief in the affected areas. PanditGopabandhu moved from village to village on foot.Such types of selfless social works of PanditGopabandhu remind us that he was really a kindhearted man and his greatness as a humanitarian.


33

As a Member of the Servants of the PeopleSociety:

Pandit Gopabandhu met Lala Lajpat Raiin the special session of Indian National Congress,in September, 1926 in Calcutta and wasimpressed with his personality. At the request ofLala Lajpat Rai, Pandit Gopabandhu Das becamemember of the Servant of the People Society,founded by Lala Lajpat Rai. His humanitarianactivities in Orissa received fillip and the Societybecame a tower to strength for him. Soon afterhis acceptance of the membership he establisheda branch of the Servants of the People Society atCuttack and took a rented house as itsheadquarters where a library was opened. Hestarted making use of this organization forrendering service to the people. Social reform wasthe main aim of this Society. Though the "Samaj"was till then an independent Newspaper he lookedupon it as a mouthpiece of the Society. PanditGopabandhu affiliated to the branch of Societywith his weekly Newspaper "The Samaj", whichhe started in 1919. Further, with the help of thisSociety he started the Orissa Relief Fund and setup four Paddy-husking Centres in the flood-affected areas of Cuttack and Puri districts. Theworkers of the Society worked for the upliftmentof the depressed classes and also for organizingthe Oriya labourers in Calcutta. In 1926, PanditGopabandhu founded the "Jagannath WidowsAshram" at Puri to provide education to helplesswidows and train them in the means of earninglivelihood. This 'Ashrama' trained the unfortunatewidows in crafts, made them live a dedicated lifeand brought them out as volunteers for the nationalwork. In April, 1928, Pandit Gopabandhu Dasand Pandit Lingaraj Mishra left Orissa forattending the annual session of the Servants ofthe People Society. Pandit Gopabandhu'sreputation in the Society was so high that when

he attended the Annual meeting of the Society inLahore in April, 1928, he was elected its Vice-President. No one Oriya before him is foundsucceeded in securing such a high position in anAll India organization. In fact, he was the first Oriyaperson who was initially selected as the Vice-President of that Annual meeting of the Servantsof the People Society.

Last Phase of His life:

After return from the Annual session of theServants of the People Society at Lahore, he wasattacked by Typhoid. It took him about twenty-five days to recover from his illness. The workersof Calcutta wanted Pandit Gopabandhu Das andso he left for Calcutta on the 2nd June 1928. Hehad told there that the Oriya workers of BurraBazzar had formed a labour union and he shouldsee their work. During this visit, he laid thefoundation of a strong labour organization ofOriyas of Calcutta and placed Lingaraj Mishra incharge of the movement there. He retuned toSatyabadi on the 11th June, 1928 after which hehad an attack of Fever. Even on the death bed,Pandit Gopabandhu Das had not forgotten aboutthe distressed people of his motherland. He passedaway at 7.25 PM. on the 17th June, 1928 at theearly age of 52 on account of his ill health forpublic works. Pandit Gopabandhu Das is reallydead but his memory remains in the heart ofmillions of people of Orissa. His untiring effortsand selfless social works for the betterment ofthe distressed people as well as the developmentof society will remember in the minds of the truesocial workers of Orissa for ever. PanditGopabandhu Das is aptly the "jewel of modernUtkal" and he was a versatile genius by nature.

Conclusion:

Thus, it is known from the above discussionthat Pandit Gopabandhu Das was the true social

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worker who excelled in the field of both politicsand literature. Pandit Gopabandhu was an ultra-nationalist. Since the studentship period ofRavenshaw College, Gopabandhu sincerelydevoted his life for the welfare of the distressedpeople, who suffered from flood havoc, severefamine and oppressive measures adopted by theBritish Government in different parts of Orissa.As a social worker, he dedicated most of his lifefor the upliftment of the affected people of ourmotherland. As an educationalist he introduced anew pattern of education for the young mass fornation building in future. As a politician heintroduced different programs of Indian NationalCongress adopted by Mahatma Gandhi for thecause of people of Orissa as well as whole India.As a Legislator he lodged different types ofdemands of Oriya people who suffered fromnatural calamities like flood, famine and theproposal of a separate province for the Oriyaspeaking people. His weekly Newspaper "TheSamaj" made valuable contribution to thebetterment of the distressed people of Orissa.Because, he published various types of articles init with regard to the situations of Oriya peopleaffected by natural calamities like flood, famine,etc in different periods. While he was staying inthe Hazaribagh Jail, he was fully immersed instudies and compositions. As an active memberof the Servants of the People Society, he usedthis organization for rendering proper service tothe distressed people of our motherland. Thesocial reform was the main aim and objective ofthe People Society. Pandit Gopabandhu alsoestablished an Ashram at Puri for the unfortunatewidows of Orissa. As a humanitarian, he hadpractically done some remarkable benevolent

works in different aspects of society, which havebeen discussed on the subject. For his sacrificeand selfless social works for the betterment ofthe distressed people as well as of our motherland,he will be remembered by us as a jewel of Orissafor ever.

References:1. A.C. Pradhan, A Study of History of Orissa,

Bhubaneswar, 1985.

2. H.K. Mahtab (ed.), History of the FreedomMovement in Orissa, Cuttack, 1957.

3. J. Choudhury, "Participation of Oriya Leaders inIndian National Congress", in Orissa Review,Cuttack, January; 2006.

4. K.M. Patra, Orissa State Legislature and FreedomStruggle 1917-47, New Delhi, 1983.

5. N.K. Sahu, P.K. Mishra and J.K. Sahu, Historyof Orissa, Cutack, 1981.

6. Nivedita Mohanty, Oriya Nationalism Quest fora United Orissa, New Delhi, 1982.

7. P.K. Mishra, Political History of Orissa, (1900-1936), New Delhi, 1979.

8. S.C. Dash, Pandit Gopabandhu Das, New Delhi,2002.

9. S.C. Patra, Formation of the Province of Orissa,Calcutta, 1972.

10. S.N. Sahu, "Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das as theHarbinger of Social Modernization", in OrissaReview, Cuttack, August; 2006.

Dr. Ratnakar Mohapatra is an ICHR Post-DoctoralFellow, P.G.Department of History, SambalpurUniversity, Jyoti Vihar, Burla, Sambalpur


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Two revolutionary movements occurred duringnineteenth century in the Gadjat areas of WestOrissa. One was a socio-religious movement ledby Bhima Bhoi and the second one was a politicalmovement led by SurendraSai. Both were massmovements against theexisting social order. Itwould be difficult to establishthat both had any linkages.But definitely they were notunaware of each otherbecause they were aware ofthe mass upsurge in theirrespective field.

Mutiny in the year1857 was an importantoccurrence in the history ofstruggle against British Rajin India. This historic andremarkable occurrence hasbeen referred to by some asa mutiny of the Company'ssepoys only. For them,mutineers fought for theirown immediate ends. Further it is said that,mutineers had failed to take the common peoplewith them and they had left much of the countryand more of its people largely unaffected and

unconcerned. At times, it has been referred to asthe revolt of feudal lords. In view of this, it couldbarely be called a war of independence.Moreover it is said that, it was not a national war

since India in those dayswas far from being a nation.All these notions are largelybased on the British officialversions of the revolt of1857.

Contribution of Orissain this historical event wassignificant and noteworthy.It is pertinent to mentionthat, Orissa has played asignificant role on twooccasions to drive out theforeign power from herland. The first was in 1820when the Khurda rose torebellion. It was theoccasion when a number ofBritish soldiers were killed.However, it was ruthlesslysuppressed. The second

was in 1857 when the Sambalpur rose in rebellionagainst the foreign Government. During this time,the movement had deep impact in the Gadjatstates of West Orissa. In other words,

Surendra SaiBefore and After First War of Independence

Dr. Chitrasen Pasayat

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involvement of natives particularly in princelystates and their Gadjat rulers was remarkable andworth mentioning. They contributed to it to a largeextent prior to the outbreak of this mutiny andcontinued to struggle for the cause, till the climaxand even after, despite the fact that British rulersadopted and approved all possible measures toface such a revolt.

Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi passed away on17.06.1858. It was an immeasurable loss for thefighters a fatal blow to the movement as well. Afterher death, First War of Independence becameweak and feeble. On 01.11.1858, the historicalProclamation of Queen Victoria was announcedby Lord Canning in Allahabad. It marked theending of the First War of Independence. But therebellion against the British authority could notbe contained and suppressed in Sambalpur area.The revolt continued with unabated fury for severalyears even after that. In this context, Mahatab(2009:10) has written, "The rebellion inSambalpur was so serious that the BritishGovernment had to bring large number of Bhuyanand Santhal soldiers from Keonjhar as found inthe Keonjhar Raj Durbar Records." Why?Answers to this question provide us theimportance of Surendra Sai and significance ofSambalpur movement led by him in the history offreedom struggle in India.

In the year 1803, Orissa came under theBritish rule. In many parts of Orissa, PrincelyStates or Gadjat rulers in particular opposed themvehemently. They flatly refused to accept theirauthority. They did not recognize British policy.They declined and refuted their principles. It tooka violent turn in Sambalpur when Surendra Saitook part and headed this movement.

After the death of Raja Jayanta Singh, thewidow Rani Mukta Devi submitted a petition ofprayer to the British Government regarding the

succession of her step-son Maharaja Sai. Herpetition was accepted and Maharaja Sai wasrecognized as the Raja of Sambalpur in 1820.

In 1827, Maharaja Sai, the ruler ofSambalpur passed away leaving behind twodaughters only. He had no male heir to inherit theSambalpur Rajgadee. Mohan Kumari, the widowof Maharaja Sai ascended the throne. There isno denying that, it was a historical occasion whena widow stepped into the throne of Sambalpur.Of course, Sambalpur was not prepared andready to see a widow as Rani. In fact, Britisherswere behind her. Though Mohan Kumari was thefirst lady to succeed the throne in the knownhistory of Sambalpur, people believed that it wasan abuse of practice and violation of tradition.Prettify the throne with a widow was notacceptable to the people of Sambalpur.Apparently and allegedly, Britishers also ignoredthe successive family chain. Question of the"Doctrine of Lapse" also did not arise at thatmoment.

Surendra Sai was a young bachelor then.As a youngster, he was ready to take on anything.He raised his claim as a notable claimant to thethrone. He identified him as a descendant fromRaja Madhukar Sai (1630-1650), the fourthChauhan ruler of Sambalpur. He was born on23rd January, 1809 on the full moon day of Pausa.Reportedly, Surendra Sai at the age of 18 wasthe natural heir of Sambalpur Rajgadee as pertradition. He was the eldest son of Dharam Sai,who was the brother of Maharaja Sai. DharamSai was the Zamindar of Khinda. Though this wasa contentious and controversial issue, yet peoplesupported Surendra Sai's concern and interest.They firmly stood behind him.

One way or another, Surendra Sai's claimgained momentum in his favour. In fact, thispopular thrust and drive was the origin of the


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movement against British Raj led by Surendra Sai.It was fundamentally a tribal movement, for thereason that the defiant groups and resistant fightersmostly belonged to the tribal communities likeGond and Binjhal. Gauntias and Zamindars,mostly belonging to Gond and Binjhal tribes ofSambalpur kingdom extended their support.Moreover, by and large tribal people were behindthis movement. It was suppressed by theBritishers with firm hands.

Sambalpur was passing through a roughphase of its history. The installation of a Ranicreated discontentment among the people.Britishers could not face this resentment. CaptainWilkinson came from Hazaribagh with a strongforce to meet the situation and to put down therebellion. However, he could not control thesituation either. He recommended that RaniMohan Kumari should be replaced. Hisrecommendation was accepted. The Britishdeposed Rani Mohan Kumari and sent her off toCuttack with a pension of Rs. 600 per month.She lived at Panchagarh near Khurda. However,she ruled Sambalpur for five years.

Thus, the British had to get rid of MohanKumari and fitted one Narayan Singh of Barpalifamily. Then Narayan Singh was residing in Bonai.He was brought to Sambalpur and installed onthe Rajgadee on 11.10.1833. He was notacceptable to Surendra Sai and his supportersowing to his (Narayan Singh's) mother being ofinferior caste (Senapati and Mahanti, 1971:71).Once when Narayan Singh wanted to negotiatewith Surendra Sai and invited him for a dinner,Surendra Sai declined his offer on this ground.Disturbance was going on in and aroundSambalpur to destabilize the kingdom. NarayanSingh was perhaps the only man who was sadabout what was happening in Sambalpur. Thesewere the reasons that he preferred Sambalpur to

be annexed after him. British also planted him forthe reason that, he had no male issue. Thus, itwas a plan cleverly made by the Britishers toannex Sambalpur under the provision of the"Doctrine of Lapse."

However, Rampur (Brajrajnagar)Zamindar Dariar Singh was not in support ofSurendra Sai. In September 1838, a large bandof revolutionaries led by Surendra Sai and hisbrother Udanta Sai marched against Rampur.Surendra Sai with his brother Udanta Sai brokeinto his palace. Dariar Singh desperately tried toresist and withstand but soon he wasoverpowered. So he escaped to Himgiri to savehis life. The Rampur village was set on fire andthe house of Dariar Singh was reduced to ashes.In the scuffle, the young son of Dariar Singh andhis father Duryodhan Singh were killed. DariarSingh reported the matter to the Britishers.

When Colonel Ousely, the Agent to theGovernor General, visited Sambalpur in 1840,he captured Surendra Sai. There was severe fightbetween Surendra Sai and British at Deheripalinear Sambalpur. Surendra Sai was overpoweredand captured along with Udanta Sai, his brotherCol. Ousely tried their cases and sentenced themto imprisonment for five years and seven yearsrespectively.

Subsequently, they were sentenced torigorous life imprisonment and locked up inHazaribagh Jail of Bihar, where he was behindbars till 1857 for long 17 years. Notably,Sambalpur went under the British rule in the year1849 but the Rampur incident took place in 1840.In other words, even when Sambalpur was notannexed, Britishers were interfering in the Stateaffairs of Sambalpur kingdom. So, in 1840 theBritishers took Surendra Sai as a prisoner to aBritish prison instead of keeping him in the prisonof Sambalpur Raja.

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After nine years of this incident, SambalpurRaja Narayan Singh died on 10.09.1849. It issaid that, under the pressure of Britishers,Narayan Singh had to recommend that theGovernment should take over the State after hisdemise. In addition, Narayan Singh was not infavour of Surendra Sai to ascend the throne. Healso clearly apprehended that Surendra Sai, if atall return from jail, would definitely struggle forSambalpur Rajgadee. So, he wanted to preventhim by making such recommendation. Britisherswere also quite unwilling to consider SurendraSai for this purpose as he was a prisoner for life.

However, there was some delay in arrivingat a decision. Consequently, the widow ofNarayan Singh, Rani Mukhshyapan Devi wasallowed to succeed to the throne. Thus, in theknown history of Sambalpur, Rani MukhshyapanDevi was the second widow lady who ascendedthe Sambalpur Rajgadee, though the administrationwas in her hand for a very brief period of aboutthree months only. Since she had no son,consequently, Sambalpur was merged intoCompany Rule in December 1849 in pursuanceof Lord Dalhousie's most famous "Doctrine ofLapse." Dr. J. Cadenhead was appointed as thePrincipal Assistant Agent of Sambalpur inDecember 1857 and Rani was sent to Cuttackwith a pension of one hundred rupees per month.

The direct administration assumed by theBritish Government was not liked by all sectionsand there was widespread murmuring against suchdrastic measure (Sahu, 1985: 65). Sambalpur wasin the throes of a fiscal change. The British mightcall it growth and augmentation; others dubbed itdegeneration and deterioration. The newGovernment immediately after taking overadministration made a fresh settlement of lands in1849. The revenue was at once raised by one-fourth indiscriminately. Further, in 1854, a second

settlement was made on equally indiscriminateprinciples, the assessment of all villages being againraised by one-fourth. The result was an enormousrise in the revenue collected by Government.Thus, the new fiscal policy of the new Governmentgave rise to ear and hatred in the minds of thepeople (Sahu, 1985: 68-69).

In other words, in the mid-19th century,policy of increasing revenue collection from theZamindars and Gauntias by the Britishers madethe situation explosive. According to aGovernment report, the Gauntias and Zamindarsof Sambalpur were required to pay Rs.8800/-only in the year 1849. But, all of a sudden itincreased to an unexpected amount ofRs.74000/- in 1854. A number of Zamindars andGauntias belonging to Gond and Binjhal tribesopposed to pay such huge revenue. In fact, theydid not want their subjects to shoulder thisenormous burden. This state of affairs went infavour of Surendra Sai. Commissioner C. F.Cockburn made an announcement for theconfiscation of property of those who haddeclined to pay revised and enhanced revenue.On 25.08.1858, this announcement waspublished in Sambalpur.

When the Sepoy Mutiny broke out in 1857,the revolutionaries devastated the Hazaribagh Jailon 30.07.1857. Surendra Sai and Udanta Saiwere unchained from a long 17 years ofconfinement. The two brothers had the onlychoice to come to their native place Sambalpur.It was rainy season. They could only tell thestruggles they faced in the deep forests anddangerous terrains when they came fromHazaribagh Jail. They had to take the roads whichwere woven through the valleys. They bravedeverything, from bad weather to wild animals.Journey was rough and tough but there was hopeand expectation. They came to Sambalpur.


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Captain E. T. Dalton, the OfficiatingCommissioner of Chotanagpur lost no time tointimate this matter to Captain Leigh, the AssistantCommissioner of Sambalpur. Reportedly,Captain Leigh received this news in the night of09.08.1857 (Sahu, 1985: 139). He declared areward of Rs. 250 for apprehension of each ofthem (Sahu, 1985: 141). A 'Parwana' was alsoserved to all the Rajas and Zamindars todissociate themselves from Surendra Sai. But, itwas of no use.

Surendra Sai reached Sambalpur sometimein the mid-September of 1857. After 17 years inJail when he was freed, he reviewed his mind. Heknew that, he was an absconder from jail. Hewas acquainted with the fact that, the British wouldnot spare him easily. It was one of the mostupsetting and worrying periods in his life. Perhaps,he was thinking of a new, friendly plan onSambalpur. Possibly, he had nothing in his mindlike raising arm struggle against the British inSambalpur for Rajgadee though he was only 48years old at that time. It was evident from hispetition submitted before Captain Leigh inSambalpur subsequently.

On the other hand, the Zamindars and theGauntias of Sambalpur could realize the potentialof Surendra Sai as a leader. This was reflected inthe support and grand welcome he received bythem after his arrival at Sambalpur. Hundreds oflocal people, Zamindars and Gauntias ofSambalpur region gathered at a place to receivehim. They gave him a rousing reception. Amongthem, Zamindars and Gauntias namely MadhoSingh of Ghess and his family, Janardan Singh ofPahad Sirgida, Karuna Gadtia of Kolabira,Manohar Singh of Bheden, Dayal Sardar ofKharsel and Madhu Gauntia of Loisingha seemedto have joined Surendra Sai and revolted againstBritishers at this stage. Perhaps, by thenexploitation of British rule had attracted some

more dosage of mass discontentment. Leighapprehended a mutiny. He declared Surendra Saiand his brother rebels and offered a reward ofrupees two hundred and fifty for each of them.

Surendra Sai had reassessed his plan in thewake of the mutiny. But he adjusted his plan inline with changes in the local situation ofSambalpur. He was pondering a new and friendlypolicy on Sambalpur because of mountingpressure of local Gauntias and Zamindars on himafter the hike of revenue and subsequent actionagainst them who were defaulters or who did notpay revenue deliberately. He could understandthe volatile situation of Sambalpur at that time.

In October 1857, Surendra Sai was foundcamping with large number of followers in thejungles near Sasan village about six miles offSambalpur town. It is said that, in the morning of07.10.1857, Surendra Sai came to Sambalpurescorted by a contingent of about one thousandfollowers and met Captain Leigh, the AssistantCommissioner of Sambalpur. He explained himthat if the British Government would recognizehis claim to Sambalpur Rajgadee and remit theremaining part of their punishment; they wouldlike to remain in peace (Sahu, 1985: 145). Nextmorning on 08.10.1857, Surendra Sai metCaptain Leigh for the second time (Sahu, 1985:146).

Then, Captain Leigh told him to dispersehis forces and wait for Government order on theirpetitions. For that reason, Surendra Sai askedhis brother Udanta Sai to return to Khinda withthe followers and he remained in Sambalpur witha handful of trusted guards. But during his stay atSambalpur, Surendra Sai was closely watchedby the Britishers. He also received some rumoursthat he would be deported. Consequently, heapprehended some danger. He could not takeCaptain Leigh into confidence.

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However, on records, Captain Leigh, theAssistant Commissioner of Sambalpur favoureda kind of understanding with Surendra Sai to putout the battle between his followers and Britishers.An agreement for peace was sought on08.10.1857, which did not contain that SurendraSai would ascend the throne of Sambalpurthereafter. In his letter dated 17.10.1857, CaptainLeigh remarked on their petitions that "thepetitioners entertain the hopes which are, ofcourse, utterly vain" (Sahu, 1985: 147). But,unfortunately, it was the impression of the commonpeople and his followers that Surendra Sai wouldbe the king of Sambalpur subsequently.

Captain Leigh sent the representation ofSurendra Sai and his brother to Captain T. E.Dalton, Commissioner of Chotanagpur. In turn,Dalton forwarded it to the Government of Bengalwith his observations on 30.10.1857. Daltonrecommended that the sentences on Surendra Saiand Udanta Sai be commuted on condition thatboth the brothers would reside either at Cuttackor Ranchi. He further stated that the claim ofSurendra Sai to the Rajgadee of Sambalpurmerited no consideration whatsoever (Sahu,1985: 147). In other words, Surendra Sai's claimto the throne of Sambalpur could never beconsidered. Most probably, the British did notwant the Sambalpur issue to be settled amicablyin the emerging situation. Surendra Sai wantedpeace but it did not mean that he was renouncinghis stance or showing a weakness. If there wasany such impression in any quarter, it wascompletely wrong.

There is no denying the fact that, SurendraSai and his radical colleagues had noorganizational linkages with the epicenters of1857. But, they were not ignorant of it.Reportedly, there were 32 prisoners from Orissaand the Tributary Mahals. Most probably, theactivities of the rebels in Hazaribagh Jail

encouraged and provoked Surendra Sai and hiscolleagues to renovate their ideas and to renewtheir struggle against Britishers in Sambalpur evenafter 17 years of long imprisonment. Due tochanged socio-economic condition, manyZamindars and Gauntias of Sambalpur welcomedSurendra Sai and his radical colleagues andrelatives when they arrived at Sambalpur. Thiswas also a motivational force behind him to restorehis old revolutionary mind set. So, it would beinjudicious and unwise to say that, particularly afterhis release from Hazaribagh Jail in the year 1857,Surendra Sai was fighting for his own interest.

During this time, Surendra Sai became arole model for his new followers. He wastransformed into a symbol of protest andresistance to the British rule for his supporters. Itwas during this period that, support poured in forhim from all quarters specifically because of illfeelings towards British administration and suddenrise of revenue payment. A common platformconsisting of all walks of people was erectedagainst the British authority under the leadershipof Surendra Sai. There was no narrow andpersonal motive of Surendra Sai. The tremendoussupport that Surendra Sai had is apparent fromthe fact that there are many myths, folk tales andfolk songs on him as if every village was proud tobe connected with him and his struggle.

It is said that, in the night of KartikaChaturdasi (29.10.1857), Surendra Sai went tothe bank of the river Mahanadi in Sambalpur fora holy dip on the occasion of Kartika Purnima /Rasa Purnima (30.10.1857). But, he wasdisappeared. British intelligence was surprised.Britishers could not locate him. It would not beout of place to mention here that, CaptainCockburn, the Commissioner of Cuttack wroteto Captain Leigh of Sambalpur on 04.11.1857advising him to persuade Surendra Sai and UdantaSai to agree to reside at Cuttack as a proof of


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their unconditional surrender to Government(Sahu, 1985: 148). But by that time Surendra Saihad escaped. This time, the flag of rebellion washoisted firmly and the authority of the British waschallenged strongly in Sambalpur.

It is believed that, Surendra Sai escapedon horse back courageously in the night of31.10.1857 from Sambalpur to Khinda, his nativevillage. There heralded the great revolution knownas 'Ulgulaan'. After that, he never looked backand fought some historically most unforgettablebattles. He started guerrilla fighting against theBritish force. He shook the very foundation ofcolonial rule in Sambalpur and neighbouring areas.His heroic deeds gave inspiration to his followerswho joined him.

On 06.11.1857, Madras Artillery underthe Command of Captain J. B. Knocker was sentto Kolabira and Khinda. The troops wereopposed by the rebels at Jhar Ghati, 12 milesfrom Sambalpur. But British were far superior tocountry made weapons of the rebels (Sahu, 1985:150). However Surendra Sai fought an importantbattle of Laxmi Dungri on 17.12.1857.

Meanwhile, Sambalpur was temporarilytransferred from the Commissionership ofChotanagpur to that of Cuttack to meet theexigency of the situation. So, Cockburn tookcharge of Sambalpur district on 19.12.1857.

The followers of Surendra Sai took theresponsibility of protecting the Singoda Ghati andthe Nisha Ghati. Singhoda Ghati was impregnableand invincible. It was guarded by Madhab SinghBariha, the Zamindar of Ghess at the age of 71.Madho was his nick name from childhood. FromBritish records also, he is commonly known asMadho Singh. He had five sons namely HatiSingh, Kunjal Singh, Bairi Singh, Airi Singh (aliasUday Singh) and Narayan Singh. They alsoextended their full support to him.

The other strategic spot close to this routewas at Pahadsirgida about 30 kms fromSambalpur. Janardan Singh, the Zamindar ofPahadsirgida was placed in charge of this Ghatior pass. They stopped all communication for someperiod. On 08.12.1857 Captain E. G. Wood leftNagpur and reached Singhoda Ghati after 19 daysof arduous and exhausting journey. He wasresisted by Madho Singh. On 27.12.1857, therewas a severe clash between Madho Singh andCaptain E. G. Wood who was leading the cavalrysquadron. Many English soldiers were killed. ButCaptain Wood by some means escaped toSambalpur and saved his life.

However, Captain Wood could reachSambalpur on 29.12.1857 only. The incident ofSinghoda Ghati enraged him. Next day hesurrounded Kudopali where the most ghastlybattle took place on 30.12.1857. It is amemorable episode not only in the history ofSambalpur but also in the history of freedommovement in India. Captain Wood besieged therebel stronghold of Kudopali. The rebels met withtheir first major debacle at this point. As many as53 revolutionaries were killed in this battle and11 were arrested. Subsequently, out of theseeleven war prisoners four were released and twowere sentenced to imprisonment and the remainingfour were released. It is true that nowhere inOrissa, so many revolutionaries were killed in asingle action during this period. In this battle,Chhabila Sai the fifth brother of Surendra Sai wasshot in the back while running away to catch hishorse.

There was a dispute between GhessZamindar Madho Singh and Bijepur Zamindarover Bhatibahal region. Bijepur Zamindar wasacting as an informer, He informed the Britishersabout the rebellious activities of Madho Singh andhis family. Earlier, Madho Singh opposed and also

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did not pay the enhanced revenue. On the otherhand, he joined his hands with Surendra Sai andfought against the Britishers. When a list ofdefaulters was prepared by the Britishers toconfiscate their property, Madho Singh was foundat the top of this roll. Bijepur Zamindar was veryclever and smart. He took the advantage of thissituation and rushed to Sambalpur to justify hisclaim over Bhatibahal region. The Britishsupported his claim to award Bhatibahal toBijepur Zamindar and amalgamated that regionwith his estate.

Early in February 1858, CaptainShakespeare was dispatched from Raipur with asquadron of cavalry to clear off the SinghodaGhati in order to facilitate mail communicationbetween Sambalpur and Nagpur. CaptainShakespeare came and did his job and returnedto Raipur. Surendra Sai was a master tactician inovercoming apparently insurmountable odds. Heagain captured this Ghati and reorganized itsdefense under the command of Kunjal Singh andBairi Singh.

It was not only a set back to British butalso a matter of pride and prestige. It was anecessity for the safe communication betweenSambalpur and Nagpur and between Calcutta(Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai). So, on12.02.1858, Captain Woodbridge and CaptainWood went to Singhoda Ghati to reoccupy theGhati. On the way, they attacked the PahadsirgidaGhati which was strongly fortified by the rebelsunder the leadership of Janardan Singh, theZamindar of Pahadsirgida. Woodbridge waskilled in this battle.

On 14.02.1858, when Captain EnsignWarlo proceeded to Singhoda Ghati he saw aviolent scene on the top of the hill. Headless andnaked corpses were seen hanging in the trees.Naked and headless body of Captain

Woodbridge was also found among those ofothers. Captain Warlo carried the body of CaptainWoodbridge with a horse and came toSambalpur.

As a sequel to the pro-active role ofKharsel Zamindar Dayal Singh in the battle ofPahad Sirgida, he was hanged on 03-03-1858.The Zamindar of Bheden was killed in the battleof 1858. The violent armed conflict of Papangahill is also on historical record. G. F. Cockburnleft Sambalpur towards the end of March 1858.Captain Forster came to Sambalpur on29.03.1858 to relieve Captain Leigh.

Forster demonstrated very severe andstern attitude towards the Rajas and Zamindarswho had support to Surendra Sai and his rebelcolleagues. In April 1858 Forster, officiatingCommissioner of Sambalpur convened aconference of the Rajas and Zamindars andpressed them to completely support the BritishGovernment against the rebels. He urged them towithdraw all their sympathy from Surendra Saiand his associates and contacts. The Raja ofRairakhol, the Raja of Sonepur, the Raja ofSaranggarh and the Raja of Patna assured toextend their all cooperation with the BritishGovernment.

Patna Raja Hira Brajadhar Dev betrayedUjjal Sai. On 01.06.1858, Ujjal Sai was capturedand hanged by orders of Forster. Surendra Saihad obvious grouse. He could not excuse PatnaRaja and incited the Kandhs inside Patna Stateto rise against the Raja, while his followersconsistently invaded the Patna territory and gaveno respite for him. In this mission, Kunjal Singhplayed important role in mobilizing tribal peopleagainst the Patna Raja.

Bamanda Raja Braja Sundar Dev wasbacking Surendra Sai diplomatically and morally.He abjectly committed himself in writing that he


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was prepared to render his services either to fightand capture Surendra Sai or to compromisematters with him, whatever was desired by theBritish Government. He also assured Forster ofhis sincere loyalty and thereby incurred greatdissatisfaction of the rebels. The Bamra territorywas frequently invaded by the rebels who resortedto loot, arson and murder and allowed no peacefor Raja. Raja himself was once imprisoned bythe rebels and was ultimately set free by theintervention of Surendra Sai. In fact, it was drama.But The British could observe that the Raja ofBamanda had sympathy for the revolution ofSurendra Sai and that his Paikas were invadingthe villages of the British territory. The AssistantCommissioner of Sambalpur was of the view thatthe Raja was guilty of gross misconduct.

Cockburn had already confiscated theestates of 13 Zamindars who were in support ofSurendra Sai. On 25.08.1858, Forster notifiedthe list of these Zamindars namely Madho Singhof Ghens, Manohar Singh of Baseikella (Bheden),Dial Sardar (Dayal) of Kharsel, Pitambar Singhof Patkulunda, Janardan Singh of Pahadsirgida,Ananta Sai of Mundomahal, Chandra Gartia ofLoisingha, Karuna Gartia of Kolabira, DariarSingh of Rampur, Unjare Singh of Kodabaga,Dhanu Singh of Machida, Khageswar Das ofBonda and Ujjal Sai of Khinda and Talabira.

Major Forster made a sudden and surpriseattack on the fort of Ghess with enormous force.There was deep silence in the village when theyarrived at Ghess. No one was there, no one wasfound. Everybody concealed himself either in thedistant village or hid in the deep forest. That againenraged the British soldiers. They burnt the entirevillage into ashes. Such cruel and unkind activityof the British soldiers was intolerable andunbearable for the villagers.

Finally, British soldiers caught the oldZamindar Madho Singh. It is said that, Madho

Singh was caught while going to Matia Bhatavillage secretly. He was taken to Sambalpur andwithout proper trial he was hanged to death. Atthe age of 72 he became a martyr. It is said thatBijepur Zamindar was instrumental in thisconspiracy of capturing Madho Singh.

Surendra Sai shifted his activities to Khariararea in the later part of 1858 and entrenchedhimself in the inaccessible Manikgarh hill fort. Atthat time Krishna Chandra Dev was the Raja ofKhariar. During his reign Khariar became animportant scene of revolution as Surendra Saimade the Manikgarh hill as one of his strongholdsto fight against the British. From this place, hemobilized tribal people in particular andstrengthened his force against the British authority.He pooled the tribal people like the Gongs,Binjhals, Souras and others who inhabited the hillytracts of West Orissa and east Jharkhand. In thissense, his rebellion was a tribal rebellion underhis leadership. Hence, it was different from earlierrevolutions in other parts of Orissa.

During this historical period of fightingagainst the Britishers, some did not extend theircooperation to the rebels; rather acted asinformers on behalf of Britishers. For example,with the help of Saranggarh Raja Sangram Singh,Britishers could capture Kamal Singh. SangramSingh was awarded and was also given the titleof "Chief Feudatory".

Narayan Singh was the Zamindar ofSonakhan. He revolted against the Britishers andwas defeated and captured by Lt. Lucie Smith.In the month of December 1857 he wasexecuted. His Zamindari was confiscated andmade over to Maharaj Sai, who was the Zamindarof Deoree. In fact, Maharaja Sai, Binjhal by castewas a nephew of Narayan Singh. In 1857 revolt,Narayan Singh was hanged by the British due tothe help rendered by Maharaja Sai to the British.

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His son Gobind Singh was also arrested andtransported to Nagpur jail. In July 1859, he wasreleased. He swore to take revenge of his father'sdeath from Maharaja Sai.

Gobind Singh had married Purnima, theonly daughter of Kunjal Singh. At that time, hisfather-in-law Kunjal Singh with Surendra Sai andother rebel colleagues had taken shelter inSunabeda plateau of Khariar due to tough actiontaken by the British in Sambalpur region.Sunabeda was declared as 'Rebel Land' by theBritish.

One day, Gobind Singh asked SurendraSai for help to kill Maharaja Sai. It is said thatSurendra Sai sent his 120 rebel colleagues withKunjal Singh, the father-in-law of Gobind Singhto support Gobind Singh in his mission. On16.07.1860, they marched and assaultedMaharaja Sai in his residence and killed him. Hishouse was ransacked and his two daughters andone son-in-law were kidnapped. Major E. K.Elliot, the Commissioner of North Provincedeclared rewards of Rs.500 and Rs.250 forcapture of Gobind Singh and Kunjal Singhrespectively. Subsequently, Gobind Singh wascaught and executed by the Britishers.

It was the period when British Governmenttook direct control of Indian administration underthe proclamation of 1858. The Indian Council Act,1861 had been enforced and Sambalpur had beenincorporated with the Central Province under thisAct. In the mean time, Major Impey became theDeputy Commissioner of Sambalpur in April,1861. He suggested some peace proposals on22.08.1861 including granting of pardon to therevolutionaries, who would surrender, return theseized property and lead a normal life.Commissioner of Cuttack issued a proclamationon 24.09.1861 to free the rebels confined in thejails of Sambalpur and Cuttack. As a matter of

goodwill gesture, prisoners were released. He alsodeclared a package of pension to the membersof the royal family including Surendra Sai.However, some revolutionaries namely Udant Sai,Dhruv Sai (brothers of Surendra Sai) surrenderedon 07.01.1862.

Subsequently, Surendra Sai wrote toMajor Impey, the new Deputy Commissioner,offering to surrender on the condition that his claimto the throne was conceded. Impey replied thatthe throne could never be given to him thoughliberal provisions would be made for hismaintenance. Finally he and some of his strongrebel colleagues namely Gajaraj Singh,Khageswar Dao, Fate Singh and Kunjal Singhsurrendered on 16.05.1862 on guarantee of 'Life,Liberty and Free Pardon'. Major Impeypersonally received him at a place near Sambalpurwith all cordiality. He was granted a pension ofRs.1200/- per year, whereas his family wasgranted a pension of Rs.4600/-.

Surendra Sai surrendered not because hewas vanquished but because he was offered peaceand general amnesty by the British Government.Mahatab has written that "though at one stagethe British authority granted amnesty to the rebels,it is not known in what circumstances the amnestywas withdrawn and again repression started".Finally, Surendra Sai was subsequently betrayedand put under arrest in 1864 along with his closerelations and friends.

But, after the death of Major Impey inDecember, 1863 things changed rapidly.Cumberledge who succeeded Major Impey wasvery hostile to Surendra Sai. He did not honourthe earlier measures taken by Major Impey. Itwas partly because of the fact that, submission ofSurendra Sai did not bring peace. Unrestcontinued in Sambalpur. Cumberledge found himto be a strong centre of problem even after hissurrender.


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At last, with the help of one DayanidhiMeher, he was taken captive in a surprise raid.He was arrested in a treacherous way on hisbirthday (as per English calendar) i.e. on23.01.1864 night. There was no fight. There wasno opposition as well. There was no bloodshedtoo. His capture was due to conspiracy.Reportedly, Dayanidhi Meher was a British spy.He was also a liquor vendor. By some means, hecould manage to pick up friendship with SurendraSai and his followers. It was the night of "Pus-Puni" or Pousa Purnima i.e. the full-moon day inthe Hindu month of Pousa, an important festiveoccasion of the entire Sambalpur region.Dayanidhi Meher offered Surendra Sai, hisbrothers and his followers sweets mixed withheavy intoxicant, saying that the sweets were"Prasad" of the deity. Surendra Sai and hisfollowers did not hesitate to accept the sweets /Prasad. Soon they became intoxicated andunconscious.

Dayanidhi Meher had reported to thedistrict authorities about the hide-out of SurendraSai. He had also given prior information to theBritish authorities about his plan and the time tostrike. The Deputy Commissioner and theSuperintendent of Police Mr. Beryal and othersraided the place at dead of night. They could easilyarrest Surendra Sai and his brothers Udant Sai,Dhruba Sai and Medini Sai and his sonMitrabhanu. Later on Dayanidhi Meher wasrewarded. He was bestowed with a "Jagir". Itcame to be known as the "Namak Haram Jagir".

British authorities did not consider it safeto keep Surendra Sai in Sambalpur. Rightly, theyapprehended mass upsurge. Without delay, abatch of 17 prisoners was forwarded to Raipurof Chhattisgarh under heavy escort on 25thJanuary, 1864. The prisoners were tried for wagingwar against the Queen and other charges.Surendra Sai, Udant Sai, Khageswar Dau,

Dhruba Sai, Medini Sai, Lokanath Gadtia,Shradhakar Malik, Mrutyunjay Panigrahi andJagabandhu Hota were convicted and sentencedto transportation for life. Mitrabhanu Sai, MohanDau, Dharanidhar Mishra and Padmanabha Guruwere sentenced to seven years' imprisonmenteach.

There was an appeal to the JudicialCommissioner. Whatever might have been thecharacter and temperament of British officers andmilitary personnel, the British judges were abovesuspicious. The Judicial Commissioner set asidethe order and sentences. Immediately after thedelivery of the judgment of their acquittal by theJudicial Commissioner, they were re-arrestedunder Regulation III of 1818. They weredispatched on 19.11.1864 to Nagpur Sitabuldijail. There from, they were sent to Asirgarh jail inNimar on the Satpura hill range where he spenthis last days.

However, Madho Singh's son Kunjal Singhalong with friend Saligram Bariha carried on thestruggle till 1865. Kunjal Singh, his brother andhis friend were hanged. But Hathi Singh wassentenced to life imprisonment and transportedto Andamans. Allegedly, Surendra Sai was cruellyand inhumanly tortured inside the lockup. It isbelieved that, he spent a very agonized and painfullife in Asirgarh jail. It is said that, due to negligenceof the jail authority, he lost his eyesight. After 20years, he passed away in that dungeon on28.02.1884.

The movement led by Surendra Sai wasnot a simple struggle. It was not a mereconfrontation with the British power or plainopposition to the British authority. The mostsignificant point of this movement was that, itcontinued for several years even after collapseand end of the Sepoy mutiny in the later part of1857. It is pertinent to point out that, the First

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War of Independence subsided by the end of1858 but Surendra Sai and his rebel colleaguescontinued to fight against the British who werethen an enormous power and supremacy in thewhole world. There are two main reasons for thepersistence of this movement in Sambalpur areafor so long.

First, Surendra Sai received support notonly from local Zamindars, Gauntias and Rajasbut also from common people. Consequently, itwas widespread and extensive. Surendra Saicould fight against the British for such a long periodnot because people were afraid of him, butbecause they loved and cherished him. Theyappreciated and supported his cause. They werenot only conniving at rebellious activities ofSurendra Sai but also always behind him and hisrebel colleagues with food and other resources.They kept everything about Surendra Sai and hisrebel colleagues concealed from the notice of theBritish and their horde of spies.

Secondly, although the rebels were poorlyand inadequately equipped and were no matchfor the British force in the open plain, they were,in fact, very strong in the hills and invincible in theforests. They were very tough in the difficult terrainand unbeatable in the mountains. They were verydangerous and furious in the jungles. The Britishalso realized that on many occasions their militaryoperation against Surendra Sai and his rebelcolleagues had failed because of the difficult terrainof Sambalpur area and their amazing andastonishing adaptability to jungle andmountaineering life. So, on one occasion theBritish authority of Sambalpur had to requisitionthe tribal army from Keonjhar in order to fighthim in Sambalpur.

On official record, he spent 37 years in jailin two spells. In the history of freedom struggle inIndia, no one has been put into the confinement

for so many years. Perhaps, no political prisonerin the known history of the world has ever spentsuch a length of 37 years in jail. It is the longestduration of a freedom fighter's life consumed byjail. Despite the extreme British repression, thehighest sacrifice and best spirit of nationalismexhibited by these fighters is commendable andexemplary for all time to come. The names ofthese fighters who fought an epic struggle againstthe British rule should have been recorded ingolden letters of history of India's struggle forindependence, but unfortunately they are yet toget the right place because of our ignorance andcarelessness.

There is no denying the fact that, SurendraSai was one of the most valiant sons of the soilwho sacrificed his life fighting against the Britishand died in obscure. In this perspective Supakar(2009:11-16) writes, "Surendra Sai, the greatfreedom fighter in the first war of Indian strugglefor independence in the 19th century, is the leastknown and yet one of the bravest and most valiantmartyr for the cause of independence of thecountry. It is pity that, his name has been omittedin many annals of this first war of independenceof India…History refuses to recognize the valour,the patriotism and the noble qualities of a hero,who has fought and lost." However, it is duringthe centenary celebration of martyrdom ofSurendra Sai in 1984 that this brave man wasacclaimed and commended as a national hero toreckon with in the first freedom struggle of India.It could be described as a unique moment for thepeople and state of Orissa. Department of Postsreleased commemorative stamp on this legendaryfighter.

Given the controversy over this greatwarrior's place in the 'First War of Independence',the stamp issued by the Department of Posts cameas a huge boost to the people of Orissa. It was a


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matter of great pride for Orissa as well as Oriyasand a clear acknowledgement by the Governmentof India that, Surendra Sai was a greatrevolutionary. The author was at that time a M.A.second year student of Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, New Delhi. It is still in the mind andheart of Oriya students of JNU, Delhi Universityand Jamia Milia University how they had observedthis memorable occasion with much pomp andsplendor.

It would not be out of place to mentionthat, virtually the entire family of Surendra Sai wascourageous and valiant freedom fighters. Asdiscussed elsewhere, his uncle Balaram died inHazaribagh jail. He languished there for 16 years.His brother Chhabila Sai was killed in an encounterwith the British army at Kudopali. Another brotherUjjal Sai was sent to Patnagarh for help. Sadly,the Raja betrayed him and surrendered him tothe British. Subsequently, Ujjal was executed. Hisother brothers Udant, Dhruba and Medini andhis son Mitrabhanu were also among the freedomfighters. His only sister Anjana did not marry andextended all her support to these fighters for thelarger cause of the society. His wife Sunakumarihad hardly spent her married life with her husband.She born and brought up her son Mitrabhanu for

the same cause of sacrifice. It is pity that, thesenames have been omitted in many annals of thisfirst war of independence.

References :Mahatab, Harekrushna (2009), "Bira Surendra Sai" inPanda, S. S. and Chitrasen Pasayat (Eds.) (2009), VeerSurendra Sai: The Great Revolutionary, Sambalpur:Anusheelan, pp.9-10.

Panda, S. S. and Chitrasen Pasayat (Eds.) (2009), VeerSurendra Sai: The Great Revolutionary, Sambalpur:Anusheelan.

Pasayat, Chitrasen and P. K. Singh (Eds.) (2009), VeerSurendra Sai, Bhubaneswar: Paschim Orissa AgraniSangathan.

Sahu, N. K. (1985), Veer Surendra Sai, Department ofCulture, Government of Orissa, Bhubaneswar.

Senapati, N. and B. Mahanti (Eds.) (1971), SambalpurDistrict Gazetteer, Cuttack: Orissa Government Press.

Supakar, Sraddhakar (2009), "Surendra Sai: The GreatFreedom Fighter" in Panda, S. S. and Chitrasen Pasayat(Eds.) (2009), Veer Surendra Sai: The GreatRevolutionary, Sambalpur: Anusheelan, pp.11-16.

Dr. Chitrasen Pasayat resides at 152-Vijay Vihar,Nuagaon Road, Sishupalgarh Post Office,Bhubaneswar-751002, Orissa.

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work.3 In fact it was he who mainly organised theAugust Revolution in Orissa remaining underground as all other top-ranking leaders were putbehind the bars. While issuing instructions bepublished two bulletins namely Congress Bartaand Satyasambad and guided the movement fromCuttack. Correspondences were made in thename of C.O. (Central Office) and B.O. (BranchOffice). All these were done to escape the seizureof Correspondence by the Police.4 Of coursedifferent other circles of Orissa including theSocialists, the Forward Blockists, Communistsand Student Federationists combined together tolend their support to the national cause anddemonstrated protest against the Governmentrepression. The demonstrations appeared in theform of strikes, hartals, protest meetings andpasting of threatening posters on the walls. Butreviewing the political situation in Orissa the officialreport of 15 August, 1942 stated, "The Congressmeasures against the Government have so far hadno serious repercussions in this province. Thearrest of Congress leaders appears to haveinduced the so-called Communists, Socialists,Forward Blockists, and Student Federationistsof this province to give their support to theCongress cause. Workers from these parties areconcentrating on propaganda amongst students."However, it was in the latter part of August, 1942

The Congress working committee, in their meetingat Wardha, adopted a long resolution, popularlycalled as the 'Quit India Resolution' which initiateda new phase of the freedom struggle in the country.This historic idea was adopted by the A.I.C.C.in the night of 8th August 1942 at Gwalia Tankfield in Bombay. The Government swiftly movedits machinery of repression against the Congressleaders and their organisations throughout thecountry from the early morning of 9 August1942.1 In Orissa, as in other parts of the country,early in the morning of 9 August 1942 all importantCongress leaders were taken to custody. By theGazette notification on that day, the Governmentof Orissa declared all Congress bodies, theiroffices and other allied organisations, thirty-eightin all, as unlawful ones and Police took possessionof those notified places as quickly as possible.2

The arrest of the important leaders of Orissaand the declaration of Congress as illegal causeda strong resentment among the people speciallyafter the advent of Surendra Nath Dwivedi inCuttack from Bombay on 11 August, 1942 andof Malati Choudhury next day, political situationin Orissa became tense. Surendra Nath Dwivediissued instruction to sabotage communications byremoving Railway lines so as to isolate certainparts of the country in order to make it easier forCongress workers in their area to carry on the

August Revolution in TributaryMahals of Orissa

Dr. Janmejay Choudhury


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that the agitation took a serious turn when thepeople openly defied the Government authorities,broke the law and paid no tax. Instances of arson,looting and acts of sabotage became more andmore frequent among the unruly mob in differentparts of Orissa. From time to time demonstrationsagainst the British authorities were organised bythe students. The leaders told them to leave theschools and colleges and violate all laws of theGovernment.5

The August Revolution was spearheadedby the local leaders. During the rule of East IndiaCompany, the Tributary Mahals had beenclassified in three categories. They were firstly,there were certain Tributary Mahals on the plainand cultivated land of the Magolbandi area. It wascustomary that these mahals would pay theirtribute direct to the state. Secondly, there wereother tributary mahals on the coastal tract andthey were paying relatively a lighter amount. Theypaid without relevance to their possessions orincome. Thirdly, there were a number of Mahalswhose rulers claimed descendence from theRajput dynasties. These rulers occupied wild andunproductive land and served the Orissa Rajason defence.6

The Tributary chiefs were classified in twocategories. In the first category, there were sixteenof them who were placed beyond the ordinaryCivil and Criminal law of the British. These Mahalswere : Mayurbhanj, Nilgiri, Angul, Dhenkanal,Banki, Tigiria, Athagarh, Dasapalla, Nayagarh,Narasingpur, Ranpur, Talcher, Hindol, Sukinda,Keonjhar, and Khandapara. In the secondcategory, they were not enjoying the specialprivileges and immunity offered to the aboveMahals. These states were under the jurisdictionof the British Civil and Criminal law and weredescribed as Kilajat and Ekrajat Estates. Thesewere : Kanika, Marichpore, Aul, Kujanga,

Haripur, Sukinda, Madhupur, Chedra, Dampara,Darpan, Pottas, Bisenpore and Kulluta.7 Out ofthese Mahals, the August Revolution mostlystarted from Talcher, Athgarh, Dhenkanal andNayagarh.

In Talcher Pabitra Mohan Pradhan tookthe leadership. The movement took such a violentform that the British government had to make air-gunning. In Athgarh, Braja Pattanaik, NandaKishore Pattanaik and Achyutananda Das tookthe lead role against the government. InDhenkanal, Baishnab Charan Pattanaik was theprincipal director of the Quit India Movement.Maheswar Subuhu Singh of Parajanga wasanother who included himself in the movement. Itwas on 26 August 1942 that 19 people under theleadership of Baishnab Charan Pattanaik, burntthe jail, police station, armoury and Govt.Institutions. Musha Mallick, Anukul Sahu andAnanda Sahu were sentenced to death. They hadalso burnt the Parjanga police station. The policeopened fire at Janapada. Bira Sahu and Bena diedin police firing. Baishnab Charan Pattnaik wasalso injured.8 In Nayagarh, in the village Nuagaonof Odagaon Police Station, Kashi Dakua died inPolice firing on 16 October 1942. Similarly inNayagarh jail Kanduri Parida and his son BudhiParida died being mercilessly beaten by the Police.The leaders of Nayagarh were Sridhar Das andLaxman Maharana.9

Meanwhile the Police men at the instanceof the government framed charges against theleaders who fanned the fire of the movementremaining underground. They were chargedunder various sections of Indian Penal Code, theRailway Act and the Defence of India Act. Thetrial took place in the Court of the Special Judge,Cuttack and is known as the Congress conspiracycase. Of them Surendranath Dwivedi was foundto have implicated himself in many subversive

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measures against the government. He wasarrested on 11 October, 1942 at Cuttack. Anumber of anti-governmental documents wereseized from him. So he was further convictedunder Section 120(B) IPC and sentenced to 5years Rigorous Imprisonment. Bhairab CharanMohanty, Biswanath Parida and GhanashyamParida were sentenced to four years RigorousImprisonment. Nishamani Khuntia, Banka BihariDas, Narayan Prasad Mahanty, NarasinghCharan Mahanty, Loknath Mishra, NabaghanaBehera, Pyarimohan Das and Ramakanta Daswere sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment.Sachidananda Mishra and Jadumani Jena wereacquitted.10

When the fire of revolution began to spreadto various parts of Orissa, the coalition ministrywas functioning in province with popularity at thelowest ebb. It was by the mid of 1943 that theAugust Revolution came to an end. It occupiesthe same place as to the French Revolution andRussian Revolution in the history of their respectivecountries.

References :

1. Patra, K.M. and Devi, Bandita - An AdvancedHistory of Orissa, New Delhi, 1983, p.196.

2. Amrit Bazar Patrika, 10 August 1942.

3. Home Political - I 1942 No.3131/42 Political.

4. Dwivedi Surendranath - Mo Jibanara EkaAgyanta Adhyaya (O), August Biplab, Cuttack,p.68.

5. HFMO, Vol.IV, Calcutta, 1959, p.94.

6. Report of the Land Revenue and Land TenureCommittee, Orissa, p.70.

7. Report from the Commissioner at Cuttack on 20thDecember, 1814, Revenue Records, Acc.No.488,p.77, O.S.A.

8. Interview Report of Baishnab Charan Patnaik.

9. Pattanaik, Surendra - Orissa SwadhinataAndolana (O), Cuttack, 1972, p.173.

10. HFMO, op.cit. p.98-99.

Dr. Janmejaya Choudhury is a Lecturer in History, SriJagannath College, Kaipadar, Khurda, Orissa.


51

Legislator, social activist and freedom fighterMadhab Chandra Routaray was born in anaristocratic Khandayat family of villageBaghamari under Khurda district in 1923 as theson of Dinabandhu Routaray.Since his childhood he wasloved and liked by his friendsand relatives for his sober andamicable nature. He got hiselementary education in hismaternal uncle's village andpassed matriculation fromBhakta Madhu Vidyapitha ofOld Town, Bhubaneswar. Hewas admitted to SamantaChandrasekhar College, Purifor his higher studies. While hewas studying as a collegestudent he joined the famousQuit India Movement of 1942being inspired by the clarion callof Mahatma Gandhi leaving behind his collegeeducation and bright career. He came to limelightby criticizing the British Govt. and was chased bythe British Police. In order to avoid Police arrest,Madhab Chandra went underground and livedincognate.

India became free from foreign yoke on15th August 1947 and the first general election

of the country commenced in 1952. MadhabChandra contested in the general election as aCongress candidate and was elected to OrissaLegislative Assembly from Khurda Constituency.

He had got the rareopportunity of becoming thefirst M.L.A. of Khurda inIndependent India. Hecompleted his full tenure as alegislator from 1952 to 1957successfully. During his tenureas a M.L.A. of Khurda he haddevoted his time for thedevelopment of roads andelementary education,establishment of new PostOffice and health centers. Hehad close intimacy with lateNabakrushna Choudhury,Late Harekrushna Mahatab,Late Radhanath Rath,

prominent Communist leader Late GangadharPaikaray and many other dignitaries of the State.He was the son-in-law of famous Dalabeherafamily of Tapanga in Khurda district.

In course of time Madhab ChandraRoutaray preferred to plunge himself in social workkeeping distance from active politics. He becamethe founder President of Baghamari U.P. School.

Madhaba Chandra Routaray - A ForgottenFreedom Fighter of Khurda

Braja Paikaray

52


He advocated before the Central and StateGovernment for grant of Pension to non-Prisonedfreedom fighters and had become successful inhis endeavour. He was elected as the ActingPresident of "Orissa Pradesh SwadhinataSangrami Seva Sangha" and took up many welfaremeasures for the freedom fighters of the State.He was working tirelessly for the development ofagriculture and agriculturalists. He was closelyassociated with the Orissa branch of "BharatKrushak Samaj" as a State Organiser. He wasan active organizer of "Samaj Sanjojak Mandali"an association of Dalits and was striving for socialjustice to downtrodden.

Besides the above mentioned associationsand organizations he was the Vice-President of

"Utkal Sammilani" and was the office bearer of"Odisha Khandayat Kshyatriya Mahasabha." Hehad established himself as a committed socialworker and popular leader by dint of his selflessservice to the general public.

Madhab Chandra Routaray passed awayto his heavenly abode on January 2002completing his life's journey successfully. He shallbe remembered for ever as an able Legislator,Committed Social Worker, freedom fighter andbeloved leader of the people of Khurda.

Braja Paikaray is a Government Advocate and Notary-Public, Bhubaneswar Court, Bhubaneswar-751014.

Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik plantinga sapling at Gandamunda, Bhubaneswar on 25.7.2009.


53

History of India's freedom struggle can never becomplete without a mention of the significant roleof Thakur Abhiram Paramhansa Deva played inhis own unique style.

Among the five saints ofnineteenth and twentiethcentury who had illuminisedthe spiritual sky of Orissawere (1) BiswagunaBayababa of Kaliaboda ofCuttack (2) Thakur ShriAbhirama Paramahansa Devof Karamala Ashram, Puri(3) Namacharya Bayababa ofNrusinghatikiri Math ofKendrapara (4) PremacharyaBaba Madhusudan ofPrachigumu Dhurmakshetra,Nayahat, Puri andBaikunthanatha Brahmachariof Jalowka Anandhadham,Choudwar, district Cuttack.Their spiritual contributions have illuminised themthat those are the treasures of Oriya literary worldwhich have enriched the Oriya literature for allages to come.

Thakura Abhirama Paramahansa birth wasthen when India was ruled by Britishers and so

many martyrs of India like Nawab Sirajuddwla,Jayee Rajguru, Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhara andSurendra Sai had given stiff battle against

Britishers. Shri Thakur wasarrested for his controversialbook 'Kali Bhagabata'where he had prophessedthat "the then British kingEmperor George the fifth,would not last long, all theCongressmen would grouptogether under theleadership of MahatmaGandhi. All the foreignsoldiers would be sent outof the country and Indiawould gain freedom fromforeign rule." All thesepassages were composedaround 1927-28 almosttwenty years before Indiagained freedom.

On sedition complain the Britishers arrestedShri Takar and he was taken to Chatrapur(Ganjam district, Orissa) on 27.9.1934. He wasthirty years of age. The trial was conducted from29.9.1934 and was completed on 13.12.1934.It was conducted in the Court of the then DistrictMagistrate A.F.W. Dixan.

Role of Shri Abhiram Paramahansa Dev toThe Freedom Struggle of India

Tarakanta Mohanty

54


It was at Icchapur village, Shri Thakurcomposed the first six chapters of the famousphilosophical treatise 'Kali Bhagavat'. It was thefirst book written by Shri Thakur. 'Kali Bhagavat'is an embodiment of metaphysical thoughts inallegorical style, having a surface reference tocontemporary political situation in India.Especially chapter-VI and XXII, some stanzawould reveal surface meaning, foretelling thefuture political situation in India namely that Indiawould be freed from British domination and wouldgain freedom under the noble leadership ofMahatma Gandhi. Kali Bhagabat was firstpublished in 1928.

Some atheists, who used to attend theevening preaching meetings addressed by ShriThakur, listened to few discussions on KaliBhagavat. Of course, they were not able tounderstand the deeper philosophical meaningtherein. In those times in the whole of Utkal(Orissa), no human being was worshipped norwas there any historic account of any human being,being worshipped as God or divine being, the waySri Thakur was being worshipped. Witnessingall that ritualistic manner in which Shri Thakur wasbeing worshipped, this atheist group becameagitated. They thought, that was a goldenopportunity to denigrate Shri Thakur and alsoperhaps feel that was an opportune time to testspiritual power and the knowledge of Shri Thakur.

They all went as a group to the nearbyMahanga Police station and complained to theSub-Inspector that the book written by ShriThakur contained derogatory comments aboutemperor George V and praise for the Satyagrahisand their leader Mahatma Gandhi etc.

At that time Shri Thakur was camping atKochilapada village close to Mahanga. The Sub-Inspector Durgananda Mishra, surreptitouslymanaged to obtain a copy of Kali Bhagavat and

sent a confidential report to the Bihar-OrissaPolice Headquarters at Cuttack. On 2.2.1934,the C.I.D (Special Branch, Superintendent ofPolice) forwarded this confidential report toMadras State Government C.I.D (SpecialBranch, Superintendent of Police Mr.A.P.Bulkcey. Mr. G.T.H.Braken, the then ChiefSecretary of Madras Government ordered that acase be initiated against the author and publisher/printer of the book Kali Bhagavat.

The case was filed under C.P.C Rule-195Section 124 on 20-9-1934 and the offence was" the said publication contained several passagesand seditious matters intended to bring into hatredand contempt His Magestry the King emperorand the Government established by law in BritishIndia.

Under order No.437 Public (General) of30-4-1934, vide section 19 of India Press(Emergency Powers) Act, a notification waspublished in the Gazette of the then MadrasGovernment, to the effect that all the copies ofthe book "Kali Bhagavat' were to be seized andall State Governments were duly notified. Alsoanyone who was found reading the book wasliable for imprisonment for one month and a fineof Rs.50/-.

After Thakur's arrest at Chatrapur on27.7.1934 Shri Ganapati Sahu and Shri BayapuniSahu offered bail on behalf of Thakur. ShriLingaraj Panigrahi (Ex-Speaker of OrissaLegislative Assembly, Ex-Education Minister andChief Justice of Orissa) and Shri Ramana Murty,advocate were the defence council for Shri Thakurand Shri Shashi Bhusan Rath, owner of the Pressat Berhampur where the book was printed.

During the trial, Shri Thakur wasunperturbed and was alway with his serenebewitching smile on his lips. The saffron-rebel


55

young Sannyasi made an unforgettable impressionon all who saw him during the trial.

A noted Oriya scholar and writer, Ex-Speaker of Orissa Legislative Assembly, PanditNilakantha Das expressed the feelings of all aboutShri Thakur in the 'Gita Pravesh', which is hiscommentary on Bhagavat Gita (1st Edition, Page-320)

" The young ascetic stood in the Court roomday after day. He knew that he would serve along jail sentence. But there was always a naturalsmile on his lips."

After completion of the case hearings, to aspecific question from the Judge and DistrictMagistrate Mr. A.F.W.Dixon, Shri Thakur withhis usual serene smile replied "not guilty". He wasawarded punishment of rigorous imprisonment forone year.

The then Advocate of Madras High Court,Late Bachu Jagannath Das (Ex-Chief Justice ofOrissa High Court and later Justice of SupremeCourt) had preferred an appeal against thisjudgement, on behalf of Shri Thakur. It was,however rejected. Shri Thakur was taken toBerhampur (Ganjam) District Jail and admittedon 13-12-1934 to undergo punishment.

Shri Thakur, by then, became well knownamongst the people. There was widespreadagitation showing indignation at the ruthless torture

of an innocent Sannyasi by the then foreign rulersBritish Goverment. Fearing that there might bemass upsurgen, the Government shifted ShriThakur, secretly, to a distant place to undergothe jail sentence. Accordingly, on a mid-night, ShriThakur was escorted from Berhampur District Jail,and made to board a south-bound train. he wasdetained at Rajahmundry (on the bank of theGodavari river, Andhra Pradesh). He wasadmitted to the Central Jail thereon 9.1.1935.Although Shri Thakur was to be released on12.12.35 as per the Court order, a remission of41 days was granted to him. He was released on1.11.1935.

By the time Shri Thakur was released fromRajahmundry Jail, he had become a well knownfigure in the whole of Orissa. People began tolook to him not only because he was a saint withdivine powers but also as a great freedom fighteron his own unique way. It can be said, this divinesport of Shri Thakur was largely responsible insowing the seed of love of freedom and adetermination to win the same at any cost in thehearts of the millions of people of Orissa.

Tarakanta Mohanty lives at B-35, Starcity(Patia Jali)Bhubaneswar - 751024.

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In this proposed study I wish to examine thepattern of leadership during and after theAmerican Revolution and the Indian FreedomMovement. Although both the historic events wereseparated by more than 150 years the commonbackground of this study, however, is the BritishColonial Rule in both the countries and thesubsequent emergence of these two countries asthe two largest constitutional democracies in theworld. Besides, both the United States and India,more than any other country in the world, havegreatly diverse people with their varied cultureand tradition. My objective is to identify the basicdifferences in the pattern of leadership betweenthese two countries that emerged since thebeginning of their freedom movement. The caseof the United States was somewhat different inthe beginning as they looked upon England as their"Mother Country". But the illusion was soon lostand they fought against the British Colonialgovernment as bitterly with their guns and bulletsas the Indians did with their Civil Disobedienceand Satyagraha (non-violence). Incidentally again,the very concept of Civil Disobedience which infact became the formidable weapon of non-violence under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhiwas imported from America. Moreover, theresentment of both the Indians as well as theAmericans against the British was same: it was

the colonial motif of exploitation. The BritishColonial government, openly in India andcunningly in North America, wanted to make theircolonies a perpetually subordinate agricultural andextractive area that would serve the mothercountry as a source of raw material, a safety valvefor excess or unwanted population, and a marketfor finished goods.

However, among the striking differences,the Americans were, by and large, educated,politically conscious and comparatively far morevigilant about their own rights and liberties thanthe Indians. But ironically, their very strengthturned out to be their weakness. Some of them,with all their knowledge, still failed to shake offtheir emotional attachment with their "MotherCountry" which posed a formidable problem forthe revolutionary American leaders to fight bothinside as well as outside. The common mass,obviously, had an initial conflict whether toabandon their loyalty to their "Mother Country"at the instance of the new radical leaders. Thusthe pressure on the leaders of the Americanrevolution was initially very great which was in noway less despairing than the state of Indian politicsin the beginning. But the manner in which the greatpamphleteers of the American Revolutionestablished their stand in the course of theprotracted political debate gave a special

The Indian Freedom Struggle and TheAmerican War of Independence : An insight

into the Pattern of LeadershipDr. Satyabrata Das


57

significance to the American Revolution. And inthe process, it could make the general mass greatlyinvolved in the cause, both intellectually andemotionally. Whereas, in the case of India thesituation was different. Unlike the Americans, theIndian leaders had no problem convincing thepeople that the British were exploiting them, buttheir real problem was to fight against the age-old, deep-seated cynicism and fear that filled theIndian minds. That explains why the Indianfreedom movement which started as early as1857 with the Sepoy Mutiny could not really takeoff till Mahatma Gandhi arrived on the IndianPolitical scene in the early 20th century. Indiafinally got its long cherished freedom. The Britishinvaders quit the country. The people got politicalright to choose their own leader. But in reality thefruit of freedom did not reach the masses. Gandhi'sdream of another golden age, 'Rama Rajya" ashe used to say, remained a far cry. We may recallhow poor Gandhi, soon after independence, lostall his magical charm and influence and preferredto languish away from the point of fierce strugglefor power and position till of course he was putto rest by a mad fanatic.

Since that ominous beginning, India hasbeen in and out of political crisis largely due toineffective, corrupt and a thoroughly degenerateleadership. And the power has been passingdown from the hands of one corrupt set up toanother who seek their own vested interest andblissfully ignore the cause of the suffering millions.The few good leaders, therefore, find themselvesineffective and helpless in the face of a vast andformidable counter-force. Even during thedynamic leadership of Nehru this counter-forcewas no less powerful. Before Nehru died, as thereports of some ambassadors like Chester Bowleand Galbraith (1) show, there were no visiblesuccessor around. Similarly, when Mrs. Gandhiwas killed there was no acceptable leader to

succeed her, and finally her only (surviving) son,an immature politician then, was nearly coronatedto her place. When Rajiv Gandhi was killed, againa similar crisis arose and his widow was forsometime at the top of the succession list till sheherself turned down the offer. Is it not reallysurprising that a country which claims to be thelargest Democracy in the World with one sixth ofthe world's population perpetually runs into suchcrisis of leadership ?

Then the next question follows, where liesthe problem possibly ? Was it with the earlyleaders like Gokhale, Gandhi, Tilak, LalaLajpatray and Nehru ? Or, does the problem liewith the people, with their high rate of illiteracy,unlimited power of tolerance, fatalism, apathy andpoverty ? To that effect, we can take the verycase of the United States whose internal conditionwas greatly disappointing till as late as 1760, theperiod preceding the revolution. As a notedAmerican historian observes on the state ofAmerican colonies just before the revolution : "…every colony engaged in perennial boundarydisputes with its neighbours" (2) So notorious wasthe hostility between these colonies that JamesOtis, one of the founding fathers of the AmericanRevolution, painfully observes : 'Were thesecolonies left to themselves ... America would bea mere shamble of blood and confusion' (3) AnEnglish traveler who toured the colonies in 1759and 1760 reports that, were they left tothemselves "there would soon be civil war fromone end of the continent to the other" (4) But, is itnot surprising that just two decades after, thesesame people got united, realized theirindependence, and established a constitutionalparliamentary democracy that has had a longercontinuous existence than any other country in theworld ? That again with such stupendous internalproblems like the terrible Civil War.

58


To get some light in this direction, a studyof the major political pamphleteers of theAmerican Revolution like James Otis, ThomasPaine, Daniel Dulany, John Dickinson. JohnAdams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamiltonand James Madison in close comparison with thepolitical pamphleteers in India such as Gokhale.Tilak, Lala Lajpat Ray, Sri Aurovindo, MahatmaGandhi and Nehru could be useful. But at thesame time a study of the social, political, economicand psychological factors would be certainlyhelpful. And the preliminary hypothesis to beginwith this study may be that : in the course of Indianfreedom struggle, the leaders like Gandhi reliedmore on their emotional appeal to the commonmasses without a corresponding attention to the

cerebral part of it, as a result the effect faded outas quickly as it had set in. In America, on theother hand, the appeal was more through and tothe intellect, to the reason of the people. And thatprecisely explains the success of AmericanDemocracy and the failure of Indian Democracy.

References :1. U.S.A. National Security File on India.

2 to 4. Edmund S. Morgan.

(To Continue….)

Dr. Satyabrata Das is a Reader & Head, Department ofEnglish, Ekamra College, Bhubaneswar-751002.

Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik releasing the Special Issue of UtkalPrasanga and Orissa Review on "Poet Jayadev & Gitagovinda" at Jayadev Bhawan

on 27.7.2009. On this occasion Shri Prafulla Samal, Minister, Panchayati Raj,Information & Public Relaitons, Dr. Prasanna Kumar Patasani, M.P., Shri ArabindaDhali, MLA, Ms. Yashodhara Menon, Chief Post Master General, Orissa Circle and

Shri Tarun Kanti Mishra, Development Commissioner-cum-Addl.Chief Secretary are also present.


59

The works for the Orissa Coast Canalstarted in the year 1880-81. The amount oforiginal estimate of the Orissa Coast Canal wasRs.36,02,297 inclusive of indirect chargessanctioned in India Govt. No.155 dated 20th Aug.1879. The estimate was revised in 1888 chieflyon account of excess in navigation works due tobad foundation and cost of extra land. The revisedestimate was Rs.44,74,941.

The main causes, which attributed for theconstruction of the coast canal was that theprovince of Orissa was only in Bengal, which wascompletely isolated and cut off from allcommunications with Calcutta by rail or river. Sotrade was compelled to take the sea route. Butthe ports were so inferior that transport waseffectuated with many difficulties and consequentexpenses. The False Point harbour was rapidlydeteoriating and steamers of British IndiaCompany were forced to lie outside while the onlyother port Dhamra was blocked by a bar, onwhich the depth at low water was only nine feet.The construction of costly bridges due to thepresence of several rivers did not encourage theBritish Government to extent the railwayconstruction to Orissa. Famine, poverty and highmortality in Orissa did not receive theconsideration of the Government for extension ofrailway to Orissa.

In 1866 Orissa was visited by a mostdevastatating famine in her colonial history. It wasso terrible that one third of its population wereperished .It is called Na Anka famine in Orissabecause it came in the 9th Regnal year of kingDivya Singha Deva, the Gajapati king of Orissa.The Secretary of State for India ordered for aninquiry in to the appalling catastrophe and aCommission was appointed in December1866 bythe Govt. of India under the chairmanship ofGeorge Campbell. The Commission submitted itsreport on 6th April 1867.

The Famine Commission of 1866 directedthe attention to the state of communication ofOrissa and measures were taken thereafter toprevent the recurrence of similar disaster byimproving the communication. The commissionrecommendations constituted important milestonein the economic history of Orissa. It realized howgreater part of Orissa, as it were, out of world,how in accessible it was to the ordinary trade,and with this fearful results that inaccessibility wasattended during the famine. With these facts inview, the commission suggested for speedyexecution of Trunk Road from Cuttack toCalcutta. Further the commission recommendedfor making the irrigation canals navigable. So,several canals were developed in Orissa forcommunication purposes.

The Coast Canal in Orissa During theColonial Era

.Dr. Ganeswar Nayak

60


Since the famine of 1865-66 in Orissa,actually nothing had been done to improve themeans of communication with Orissa. But if thecoast canal would be constructed and if anotherfamine visited Orissa a vast number of boats fromthe rivers of lower Bengal would be concentratedfor the carriage of grain without any additionalexpenses to the Government.

Further Orissa Coast Canal wasconstructed not as a productive public work butas a famine protective work. It was designed notto yield profit but to afford protection to Orissafrom famine.

The Lt. Governor of Bengal was of theopinion that the High-level canal should eventuallybe connected with the coast canal by a link fromthe Matai to Bhadrak, and that the locks on thislink should be of the full size. (150 feet by 20feet) Direct thorough communication with Cuttackwould then be established for a class of boats,which could traverse the branch canal to the coast,viz., the Taldanda, the Kedrapara, the Gobri; thelocks on which was only 100 feet by 17 feet.

Its construction was undertaken becauseit was considered that it could be valuable as aprotection against famine and remunerative as atrade route. It was anticipated that all the importand export trades of Orissa would pass throughit and that it could yield revenue of over Rs.2½lakhs.

The Coast Canal connected the riverHoogly at Geonkhali; 45 miles from Calcutta withriver Matai at Charbatia near Bhadrak. It ran alongthe sea face at a distance varying between 2 to10 miles. By this it was planned to open thenavigation via Gobri Canal to Cuttack and by tidalcreek to False Point Port. It was also furtherplanned to connect Chilika Lake and Ganjam intodirect communication with Calcutta and thusconnect large towns and marts. (Calcutta, Balighai

Hidgelee, Balasore, Chandbali, Cuttack, Puri andGanjam). It length in Orissa was 92 miles andwas divided into four ranges The canal was fedby tidal water so it was not useful for irrigation.The four ranges of coast canal were as follows.

RANGE-III

1. It connected the Badga river, a branch ofRasulpur River in Hidgelle with SubarnarekhaRiver, in Balasore District thirty one and quartermiles in length.

RANGE- IVA

2. It connected Subarnarekha River withPanchapara River seventeen miles in length.

RANGE-IVB

3. It connected Panchapara River withBurabalanga River seven miles in length.

RANGE-VI

4. It connected Burabalanga River with MataiRiver in Balasore District, thirty eight miles inlength.

Each of these ranges was an open cut withlevel bed, provided with a lock at each end.During the dry season the canal was filled by tidesand during the rains by surface drainage from theadjoining country. The canal was generally laidout parallel to the great line of sand-hills extendinguninterruptedly along the whole coast from Contaiin Hidgelee to Dhamra. Thus the canal was to agreat extent protected the country from cyclone.

The northern terminus of the range III wasplaced on the south or right bank of the BadgaRiver. It was located opposite to the village Surpaiwhere a tidal creek connected Badga River withContai, the headquarter of Hidgelee sub divisionof the Midnapur District. The southern terminusof Range III was on the left bank of SubarnarekhaRiver. But due to excessive flood of the


61

Subarnarekha River, and the incapacity of itschannel to carry off its maximum discharge, thesouthern terminus of the range III was placedGoocheeda River about one mile from its junctionof the Subarnarekha River near Kalaburea.

The terminus of ranges No IVA and IVBand V were placed as to interfere as far as possiblewith flood sections of the rivers connected bythem, viz. the Burabalanga and the PanchaparaRivers. There was inconvenience to the boatnavigation owing to the termini not being exactlyopposite to each other. The Southern terminus ofRange No V was placed on the left bank of theMatai River, a little below Charbatia village. TheMatai River was one of the finest natural tidalcanals in Orissa. The average width of the riverat surface of low water was over 130 feet and itsdepth was 12 to 15 feet.

The bed level of the canal was determinedwith reference to the average spring tide of thecold season, when the rise of the tide was theleast .The minimum depth of water in the canalwas 7 feet. But it was to be remembered that thisminimum depth was only for about 8 or 10 daysat the outside in the 12 months i.e., during thespring tides of December, January, and February.The interval between two successive spring tideswas taken to be the period between the days thatthe tide raised to the maximum height to the periodto the days that its rise was the least. Or from thefirst or 14th day of the moon to the 10th or 24thday, according as spring tides due to new moonor full moon.

The bed level of the different ranges of thecanals was fixed in accordance with thecalculations given below.

Range III - 101.50IVA - 99.00 Plus datumIVB - 98.00V - 101.00

The datum line used in all the levelsconnected with these coast canals was the meansea level at Karachi, as used almost all overBengal and upper India. The mean tidal level onthe coast here, where as it was actually three tofour feet below it.

The canal originally had a minimum bottomwidth of 40 feet. But to raise the side banks inseveral places above the flood level and alsoincrease the width near the terminal locks, themean bottom width of the several ranges wasconsiderable more. The following table indicatesthe bottom width of different Ranges of the coastcanal.

Table-1

Different Ranges of Coast Canal.

Name of the Range Bottom width

Minimum width Mean Width

Range No. - III 40 50.00

Range No. - VA 46 56.08

Range No. -IVB 36 40.00

Range No. -V 40 43.00

The average depth during the cold seasonwas eight feet and during remainder of the yearten feet. The minimum depth in No III and V wasexperienced once or twice during 12 month andit was continuing a day or two in the tide. Theaverage minimum mean width of the canal at thewater surface at the cold season was 64 and 74feet. The average minimum mean width duringrest of the year was 70 or 80 feet, according asthe base of the canal was fixed at 40 to 50 feet. .

Range III in prolongation of Range-I andII of the Hijli canal was opened in July 1885 andthe first return from the revenue shown in 1885-86. Ranges IVA and V were temporarily openedfor traffic from 15th July to 31st December 1886.

62


The entire length of 92 miles was opened on 1stSept 1887.

But with the opening of railway in 1896the canal became a dead loss to the Government.It failed to fulfill the expectations. The canal wasbeing fed by tidal water, so it was not useful forirrigation. So it did not benefit the agriculture. Itwas a common complaint of landlord and raiyat,that its effects had been deleterious. It was difficultfor one who was not a Civil Engineer to arrive atany conclusion upon this point. One of the popularview was that the embankment of the coast canalprevented free egress of the Subarnarekha floodand thus raised its depth on the western side fromPragana Kamardachour as far south as Sarthaand also similar effects produced in PraganaAnkur. On the other hand, it was supposed thatcanal bank would afford protection againstcyclonic erruptions of the sea. But on the otherhand the water passed over the embankment andapproached to within two miles of Balasore town.

So the coast canal did undeniable damageto the people. In Orissa, where the capacity ofthe river is often fraction of total volume of waterto be disposed off, the excess water mustnecessarily pass to the sea over the surface of theland. In that circumstances, it was unwise to

deliberately interpose a barrier of 60 miles long(between the water and the sea). The result wasthat the formation of a reservoir of hugedimensions. So the proposal for numerous andlarge cross drainage planned but abandoned dueto heavy expenditure. So the flood advisorycommittee of 1928 recommended theabandonment of canal. So the ranges of IVA, IVBof the canal were abandoned.

References :1. G Nayak, Development of Transport and

Communication in colonial Orissa, Delhi,2001

2. G. Nayak, Development of Water transport incolonial Orissa, Post Doctoral Thesis submittedto Utkal university, Bhubaneswar,Orissa 2007

3. C E Buckland, Bengal under Lt Governer, Vol. 11

4. Bengal Orissa Famine Commission Report,1866

5. Report of the Orissa Flood Committee,Patna,1928

6. A Statistical account of Bengal, London,1872

7. NAI, P.W.D, Irrigation Reports (1885-1890)(Relevant documents)

Dr Ganeswar Nayak is a Lecturer in History in SKCGAutonomous College, Parlakhemundi, Dist Gajapati.

School students are tieing Rakhi on thewrist of Shri Murlidhar Chandrakant

Bhandare His Excellency the Governoron the occasions of Rakhi Purnima

on 5.8.2009.


63

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Mission strives tosecure the right to quality basic education for allchildren in the 6 - 14 age group. The goals of theSSA Mission are :(a) Enrollment of all children in school,Education Guarantee Centre, Alternative School,"Back to School"camp by 2005.(b) Retention of all children till the upperprimary stage by 2010.(c) Bridging of gender and social category gapsin enrolment retention and learning.(d) Ensuring that there is significant enrolmentin the learning achievement levels of children atthe primary and upper primary stage.Mission Promotes(a) Empowerment of the children to be activeparticipants in a knowledge society.(b) A result oriented approach withaccountability towards performance and outputat all levels.(c) A people centred mode of implementationof education interventions with involvement of allstakeholders, especially teachers, parents,community and Panchayati Raj institutions andVoluntary institutions.(d) An equity based approach that focusseson the needs of educationally backward areas and

Role of Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan inEmpowerment of Elementary School Teachers

Radhamohan PandaDr. Jagannath Das

disadvantaged social groups including childrenwith special needs.(e) A holistic effort to ensure convergence ofinvestments and initiatives for improving theefficiency of the elementary education system.(f) Institutional Reforms & Capacity Buildingto ensure a sustained effort for Universalizationof Elementary Education (UEE).Need of Inservice Education of Teachers andSSA :

SSA envisages provision for trained andcommitted teachers in all schools. It intends toimprove the quality of pre-service and in-serviceteacher education.

The teachers working in primary and upperprimary schools have carried back content andpedagogy knowledge, motivational skill,qualifications and level of training.

There is a need to design continuous in-service training programme for different categoryof teacher working in primary & upper primaryschools, head teacher and teachers working atBRCs & CRCs etc.Emerging Focus of Teacher Education :

Recommendations of National CurriculumFramework - 2005 concerning major shifts inTeacher Education Programmes are :

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Understanding the learner needs to be givenpriority. The learner needs to be seen as an activeparticipant rather than a passive recipient in theprocess of learning and his/her capabilities andpotentials are seen not as fixed but dynamic andcould be developed through direct selfexperiences. Teaching-learning will be sodesigned as to provide opportunities to directlyobserve learner's questions and observationsabout natural and social phenomena ; insights intochildren's thinking and opportunities to listen tochildren with attention, humour and empathy.

Learning is to be appreciated as aparticipatory process taking place in a sharedsocial context of learner's immediate peers as wellas wider social community or nation as a whole.Learning as essentially a self-experience-basedprocess in which the learner constructs his/herknowledge in his/her own ways throughabsorption, interaction, observation and reflection.

Teacher's role needs to be shifted from asource of knowledge to a facilitator oftransforming information into knowledge / wisdomthrough multiple exposures.

Knowledge is to be taken as a continuum,as generated from experiences in actual fieldthrough observation, verification and so on.

Conceptual inputs in teachers training needto be articulated in such a manner that they areable to understand and explain an educationalphenomena in terms of concepts, application -action points / tasks, learning processes andevents.

In teachers training adequate scope needsto be provided for viewing theoreticalunderstanding and its practical applications in amore integrated manner rather than as twoseparate components. The teacher in the classneeds to develop a critical sensitivity to the fieldapproaches.

Different contexts invite differences inlearning. Learning in school is influenced andenhanced by the wider social context outside theschool.

The teacher-educators/resource personsshould evaluate the teacher's ability to cooperateand collaborate, investigate and integrate and alsoevaluate competnecies and originality in approach,presentation, so on and so forth.

Several kinds of training appraisal takeplace in the form of self-appraisal, peer appraisal,teacher's positive feedback and formal evaluationat the end of the programme. All appraisal aim atimprovement, understanding strength andweaknesses of the concerned programme.Principles of Organising InserviceEducation :-

While organizing in-service education ofteachers the following guiding principles need tobe followed :

In-service training programmes need to bebuilt on the basis of the felt needs and sharing ofexperiences of the teachers. There is a need togive teachers a space to develop and listen theirown voices.

Teachers as adults already possess aworking professional identity and already haveexperiences of teaching and beliefs about learners,about colleagues and about teaching-learningprocess. Any in-service programme, whether itattempts to alter practice or simply providecontent knowledge, needs to acknowledge andrespect the professional identity and knowledgeof the teachers. As adults and professionals,teachers are critical observers of the contents ofin-service activities and the extent to which theylearn from these training is a function of theirassessment of its quality based on the extent towhich the training programme relates to theirneeds.


65

In-service training programme needs to bedesigned with a clear sense of the aims and howthe strategies of the programme are going toachieve these aims. This condition alone canensure that programmes remain on track and'alive' rather than be routine when they areimplemented. This would also require that everygroup of trainers directly participates in thedesigning of the programme, keeping in mind aspecific group of teachers, or adapts a givenprogramme for a specific group of teachers.

In-service training programmes mustestablish and nurture the linkage with the academicdisciplines of the teacher's interest.

In-service training programmes that seekto develop or alter basic practices need to beplanned based on extensive interactions over timewith the teachers as well as the trainers.

The content of in-service programmes mustbe such that teachers can relate to their ownexperience and also find opportunities to reflecton these experiences.

In-service training programmes thatcompromise on the professional identity of theteachers and their autonomy, will be unsustainablein the long run, providing very little psychologicalframework/theory based on the process oflearning and the aims of education.

Interaction between the teachers must notbe compromised on any account. The use ofelectronic media in place of human interaction isnon-negotiable. However, electronic mediashould be used in a way that it supports teacher'sinteraction.

Formulation of Training Objectives : -Keeping the following broad objectives in

view, the State / Uts / districts may formulatetraining objectives based on local needs. Specifictraining objectives could be formulated on the

basis of identified training needs of the concernedtarget group by local level training institutions likeDIETs / BRCs / CRCs. The general objectivesfor providing in-service training to the teachers ofelementary schools are :

To orient the teachers in the goal,philosophy and strategies of SSA with respect toformulation of strategies for - (a) Enhancementof enrolment, (b) Regular Attendance andretention of all children in the school,(c) Minimizing the social gap (girls, SC, ST, othersocially disadvantaged groups)

In-service training of teachers should havea special focus on training of teachers for GradesI and II as these grades are most important forbuilding a strong foundation in basic reading andnumeric competencies.

To facilitate the achievement of quality inlearning by adopting content-cum-methodologyapproach wherein use of activity based strategies,reading materials, multi-media, demonstration,joyful learning methods (such as folk songs, folkdance etc.), innovations, experiementations,information and communication technology, localspecific contextual strategies, peace and othervalues, remedial instructions, environmentalissues, continuous and comprehensive evaluationetc. are meaningfully integrated.

To sensitize the teachers about the need ofaccountability to the community, to enable themto work in close collaboration with parents,community and VEC / PTA and to mobilizecommunity support for the schools.

To orient the teachers in the methodologyof developing habits, attitudes, values and life-skills necessary for cultivating good citizenshipamong the children.

To help the teachers in undertaking actionresearch and reflect on suitability of interventions

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To orient the teachers to transact teaching-learning in multi-level, multi-grades, large sizedclasses and tribal context.

To help the teacher to act as a reflectiveprofessional who engages children in criticalthinking, problem solving and meaning making.

To develop in the teachers neededcounseling skills and competencies for performingeffective facilitating roles in finding solutions today-to-day problems related to educational,personal-society situations.

To provide an opportunity to the teacherto explore, reflect on and develop his / her ownpractice.

Dimension of Different type of TeacherTraining in Orissa :

In Orissa, the following group of teachershave been identified.

Trained Regular primary and upper primaryteachers : 20-days training in a year throughdifferent type of modules.

Trained newly-recruited teachers : 30-daystraining is being imparted in a year.

Untrained regular and newly recruitedteachers are receiving training for 60-days in ayear through distance mode by TE & SCERT,Orissa.

Module used in Orissa for In-service Training of Regular trained and newly recruited teachers :

ACHIEVEMENTS :

FOCUS OF DIFFERENT TEACHER TRAINING MODULES

Target Group Focus

Primary School Teachers (a) Understanding children

UNMESH-I (7-day) (b) Activity - its nature and elements

First General Round (c) Teaching Language through activity based approach

(d) Teaching Mathematics through activity based approach

(e) Teaching EVS/Science through activity based approach

(f) Integration of different subjects/contents

(g) Preparation of lesson note

(h) Learners' Evaluation

(i) Development of School Improvement Plan

(j) Preparation of plan for activities after training.

Primary School Teachers (a) Class room transaction based on imagination and experienceUNMESH-II (7- day) of the child

Second General Round (b) Learning activity based on child' nature and ability

(c) School Climate Building with focus on Health, Sanitationand Hygiene


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(d) Management of Multi level situation

(e) Subject specific demonstration and practice (language,Math., Science, Social Science)

(f) Continuous and comprehensive evaluation

(g) Preparation of Unit test and use of unit test data

(h) Learning Achievement Tracking System and Identificationof training needs

(i) Building resource centres

(j) Mainstreaming of children passing out of EGS and AIEcentres

Primary School Teachers (a) Sharing of experiences and self introduction.

UNMESH-III (7- day) (b) Understanding children - Why & How

Third General Round training (c) Understanding MGML situation

module on MGML situation (d) Nature and elements of activity in MGML situation

Theoretical orientation - 3 days (e) Types of activity & its multifarious use

Hands on - 3 days (f) Classroom management in MGML situation (demonstratedConsolidation - 1 day by the Resource Person)

--------------- (g) Planning for activity preparation & classroom management Total - 7 days (by the participants)

(h) Classroom management in MGML situation (by theparticipants) and follow up discussion

(i) Consolidation and group presentation

(j) Evaluation of the support system

Primary School Teachers (a) Learner and Learning Achievement : Constructivism (As perUNMESH-IV (5- days) NCF guideline), Sources of learning, Characteristics ofSecond General Round Learning activity, Local experiences and Materials, Evaluation

process

(b) Constructing Learning Experiences : Indoor /outdooractivities of the school

(c) Designing Learning Activity in basic subjects : Mathematics,Science, Environmental Science, Social Studies, Language

(d) Planning : ADEPTS, Lesson Plan, Activity Schedule

(e) Follow - up action

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Upper Primary Teachers (a) Understanding Upper Primary school children

UDAYA-I (7-day) (b) Problem of the focused group

First General Round (c) How children learn

(d) Activity-its nature, preparation and use

(e) Learners' Evaluation

Upper Primary (a) Using the results of LATS for improving the performance ofTeachers UDAYA-II (7-day) Upper Primary children

Second General Round (b) Identifying the learning needs of the children with the help ofLATS and developing strategies to address these needs

(c) Developing the skills of textbook analysis and organizingactivities for difficult sub-concepts

(d) Developing worksheets in different subjects

(e) Orienting teachers on importance of continuous evaluationand acquainting them with the techniques of development oftest items.

(f) Analyzing test items, identifying specific weakness areas ofeach child and providing remedial teaching

Upper Primary (a) Understanding children

Teachers UDAYA-III (7-day) (b) How children learn

Third General Round (c) Resources for learning and learning environment

(d) Learners' evaluation - What, Why & How

(e) Preparation of subject-wise question papers in groups forlearners' evaluation

(f) Continuous and comprehensive evaluation

(g) Basic problems of classroom situation

(h) Preparation and presentation of activities for language, Math.,Science, History & Civics and Geography teaching

(i) Identification of visible indicators of the school

(j) Conduct of concurrent evaluation

BRCC-SANJOJIKA-1(6-day) (a) SSA Programme

(b) Educational problem of the block

(c) Types and sources of data


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(d) Dimensions and preparation of block level plan

(e) Plan implementation in the block with focus on pedagogicalactivities

(f) Monitoring and academic support(g) Visioning of a good BRC

CRCC- SANJOJIKA-II (7-day) (a) SSA and DPEP Programme

(b) Educational and Social status of cluster(c) Activity-Preparation and use

(d) Preparation of TLMs and their use

(e) Management of activity-based classroom

(f) Integrated textbook and THB(g) Evaluation of learners' achievement

(h) Problems of the focused group

(i) Innovation in SSA(j) Monitoring academic support

(k) Identification of educational needs and training needs ofteachers

(l) Visioning of a good School and good CRC

SANJOJIKA - III (a) Causes of success and Failure of different programme ofSSA

(b) Components of Quality Education(c) Planning for Quality Education

(d) Preparation and Implementation of School Development Plan

(e) Scope of BRC(f) How children learn

(g) Analysis of Textbook

(h) National Curriculum Framework,2005

(i) Activity-Preparation and use(j) Action Research at school level

(k) Finalization of Action plan for BRCCs

SANJOJIKA - IV (a) Analysis of the situation in the context of quality education

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(b) Monitoring and Evaluation of School & Classroomtransaction

(c) National Curriculum Framework-2005

(d) Evaluation of learners' achievement

(e) Model school

(f) Planning for Cluster Resource Centre

For newly recruited teachers - (a) Understanding children

JAGRUTI - 30-days (b) How children learn

(c) Activity-Nature, necessity, preparation and use

(d) Transaction of Activity-based textbooks

Induction - 15 days (e) Management of Multi-grade and Multi-level situation

Hands on - 15 days (f) Learners' Evaluation

__________ (g) Preparation of Blue print

30 days (h) Preparation of Lesson Note

(i) 10-days pedagogical practices in the concerned school

(j) 5-days consolidation and sharing of experiences

Primary School Teachers (a) Awareness raising on learners' problem and teachers'(ENGLISH) (5-day) problem

(b) Listening and Speaking skill(Class-II-V)

(c) Reading Skill (Class-II-V)

(d) Writing Skill (Class-II-V)

(e) Vocabulary Skill (Class-II-V)

(f) Integration of different Skills (Class-II-V)

(g) Classroom management

(h) Teaching vocabulary through activity based approach

English Training Programme for (a) Awareness raising on learners' problem and teachers' Upper Primary Teachers problem at U.P. Level

(b) Importance of Vocabulary

(c) Listening and Speaking skill(Class-VI-VII)

(d) Reading Skill (Class-VI-VII)

(e) Writing Skill (Class-VI-VII)


71

(f) Vocabulary Skill (Class-II-V)

(g) Integration of different Skills (Class-II-V)

(h) Classroom management

(i) Teachers' skill

(j) Questioning SkillIntegrated Module for all teachers (a) Situation analysis of girls education, CWSN, SC & ST(Girls Education, SC & ST educationEducation, CWSN & Pedagogy) (b) Major issues of girls education, CWSN, and SC & ST

education

(c) Provisions for education of girls, CWSN, SC & ST children

(d) How to address the general and specific problems of girlseducation, CWSN, SC & ST education

Rupantar (a) Attitude of teachers towards tribal education

(b) Collection of local resources : Types, sources

(c) Social life and Education

(d) How children learn

(e) Exploration of village tradition and language

(f) Educational values of local stories, folklores, games, songsetc.

(g) Use of local experiences and knowledge of children

(h) How tribal children learn language in their family and village.

(i) To understand the tribal children

(j) Attitude of tribal children towards education

(k) Qualities of a teacher

Achievements in Teachers Training(2006 - 07)

Physical Target Physical Achievement % age

In-service Training of Teachers (20-days) 1,22,287 1,14,547 93.67

Trained Newly Recruited teachers (30-days) 32478 24637 75.85

Untrained Teachers - -

72


(2007 - 08)


In-service Training of Teachers (20-days) 1,25,431 1,08,422 86.43


Untrained Teachers 9288 8571 92.28

(2008 - 09)


In-service Training of Teachers (20-days) 1,22,250 97459 79.72


Untrained Teachers 11429 7456 65.23

Conclusion

It is felt that there is a specific need of in-service training for teachers to meet the publicdemand in the changing norms of educationalvalues in the society. In-service training has shiftedthe teachers' role from a source of knowledge tofacilitate the transmission of information intoknowledge / wisdom through multiple exposures.The teacher in the class has developed sensitivityto the field approaches. A continuous approachto the teacher through different need basedmodules will enable them to reach at the gaps ofthe child and assist them to contract the knowledgeof the child to enrich him to heal it at proper time.

References :Thaltej Takre, Ahemadabad (1997) - The Great ActionGuide, Centre for Environment Education.

Thaltej Takre, Ahemadabad (1999) - Garbage to Garden,Centre for Environment Education.

NCERT, New Delhi (2003) - Awareness Package forUpper Primary School Teachers.

Halvi, Ganesh / Shukla, Subir (1999) - Mendak AurSaanp, National Book Trust, India.

Kumar, Krishna (1996) - Bache Ki Bhasa Aur Shikshyak,National Book Trust, India.

Radhamohan Panda lives at D-10/4, Unit-VIII,Bhubaneswar-751012.

Dr. Jagannath Das lives at D-10/4, Unit-VIII,Bhubaneswar-751012.

Message ofSHRI M.C. BHANDARE,

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR OF ORISSAON THE OCCASION OF

INDEPENDENCE DAY-2009

Dear Sisters and brothers,I extend my warm greetings to all my brothers and sisters of Orissa on the

auspicious occasion of the Independence Day.On this day, India attained freedom from the British rule. Independence was

achieved under the able guidance and leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostleof peace and non-violence. The long cherished dream of the people of Indiabecame a reality with the advent of freedom from foreign occupation.2. On this occasion, every year we recall the heroic struggles of our freedomfighters, whose supreme sacrifices brought us independence. History bears witnessto the selfless sacrifice and invaluable contributions made by the great heroes ofOrissa like Jayee Rajguru, Buxi Jagabandhu, Chakra Bisoyi, Veer Surendra Sai,Chakhi Khuntia, Birsa Munda, Laxman Naik, Baji Rout, Raghu-Dibakar, UtkalmaniGopabandhu, Pandit Nilakantha, Godavarish Mishra, Acharya Harihar, GopabandhuChowdhury, Harekrishna Mahatab, Biju Patnaik and others.3. We also recall with immense gratitude the courageous deeds of our valiantsoldiers and other defence personnel in defending the borders of our nation andpreserving its territorial integrity. Many Jawans from Orissa have attained martyrdomwhile fighting the foreign army, the terrorists and infiltrators from across our borders.We pay our respectful homage to all those great souls.4. Post-Independence era has witnessed many changes on socio-economic frontsof our country. While rebuilding the nation we have already initiated many people-oriented programmes to better the standard of living of the poor people of the

State. Our State also has forged ahead in inducing changes in the infrastructuraldevelopment sectors.5. Orissa in the 21st century holds plethora of possibilities. Endowed with richnatural resources and skilled manpower and a conducive climate for inclusivegrowth and prosperity with equity and justice, our State has exhibited a strongcommitment to improvement of the public delivery system. Policies & Programmeshave been put in place targeting a robust growth and sustainable development.6. In ameliorating the living condition of 40% population of our State who belongto Schedule Tribes & Schedule Castes, holistic development approaches are beingensured consistently. Providing hostel accommodation for more than one lakh ST& SC girl students, putting in place 19 educational complexes for the children ofprimitive tribal groups and implementing Orissa Tribal Empowerment and LivilihoodProgramme are some important steps in this direction.7. Schemes like Mission Shakti, Gopabandhu Grameen Yojana, Mo Kudia, BijuKrushak Yojana and Biju KBK Yojana have already yielded tangible results. Inharnessing natural resources the State has also created conducive atmosphere forall investors making Orissa a favoured destination. Rural Development programmesincluding roads, power, pipe-water supply and sanitation are being pursuedvigorously to transform the scenario of rural Orissa. Panchayati Raj System is alsobeing encouraged to take forward the participative development initiatives of theGovernment.8. Success of any Government only hinges on the active participation of thepeople in general. It should, therefore be our endeavour to work together to attainwelfare objectives of the State.

On this auspicious occasion of the Independence Day, I urge upon all of youto come forward to usher in a brighter and prosperous Orissa.

Jai Hind

Message ofSHRI NAVEEN PATNAIK,

HON'BLE CHIEF MINISTER OF ORISSAON THE OCCASION OF THEINDEPENDENCE DAY - 2009

To-day is the auspicious Independence Day. On this occasion I extend mybest wishes and felicitations to my dear brothers and sisters of the State.

Independence Day carries pride and glory for all of us. It reminds us thesacrifice and patriotism of our freedom fighters. I offer my heartiest homage toinnumerable freedom fighters who joined the struggle for Independence under theleadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation.

Orissa contributed significantly to the freedom struggle of India. Under theleadership of great leaders like Utkalamani Pandit Gopabandhu Das, GopabandhuChoudhury, Maa Rama Devi, Nabakrushna Choudhury, Malati Choudhury andSaheed Laxman Naik, many freedom fighters from Orissa participated actively inthe freedom struggle of our country. On this occasion, I pay my humble tribute toall of them.

After Independence our country has achieved success in different sectors.To-day India has established herself as a powerful country of the world.

Our efforts are on to transform our State Orissa as a prosperous State in thecountry. We are continuing to accord priority on the development of Agriculture,Industry and Infrastructure alongwith many social welfare and employmentprogrammes.

Agriculture is our mainstay. Therefore, the development of agriculture is ourprime responsibility. This excercise will help strengthening economy as well ascreating ample scope of employment in rural areas. The New Agriculture Policydeclared by the State Government envisages promotion of agriculture in all fronts.

In the field of seed distribution we have already registered a record during thecurrent year. Our State has also achieved much success in the seed production ofground-nuts. While meeting our own need we have also been successful to providethese seeds to other States. I solicit the co-operation of my farmer-brothers and allother connected with this field to transform Orissa an advanced state in theAgriculture sector.

Development of Agriculture has a direct bearing on the Rural Development.We are laying much emphasis on Road Communication, Energy and provision ofclean drinking water in the rural area. Along with these, we are making all outefforts to make available new technologies for rural people.

Irrigation is an important input for Agriculture. Our motto is to extend irrigationfacility to more cultivable land. Therefore, we have taken steps for early completionof different irrigation projects.

Our State is endowed with rich mineral resources. I have always accordedpriority to harness these resources for development of the State and its people.There is a proposal for investment of more than Rupees six lakh crore in the steel,aluminium, power and cement sectors. There is a production of ten million tons ofsteels in our State now. Steps have already been taken to establish downstreamindustries. It has created employment opportunities for our youths. According tothe World Bank Report, Bhubaneswar occupies the third place among the cities ofour country for business activities. ITIs are being opened up in each block of ourstate targeting the needs of upcoming industries. We intend to create one lakhtechnically skilled persons a year.

It is the most important programme of my Government to ameliorate thecondition of tribal people along with the development of backward areas likeKBK. Steps have already been taken to provide road connectivity, drinking wateralong with education and health. One thousand hostels have already beenconstructed to accommodate tribal girl students. Another one thousand hostelsare targetted to be constructed for the accommodation of another one lakh girl-students during the current year. All these programmes seek to improve the livingstandard of scheduled tribes and bring them into the mainstream of all activities.Similarly, more funds are being provided to WODC.

Women constitute a vital section of our society. They have already gatherednew awakening under Mission Shakti Programme. They are actively participating

in different social development programmes with the positive changes in familyfronts. We have to encourage them all. On this auspicious occasion I especiallycongratulate our mother community.

Now there is an improvement in our economy. Our growth rate is more thanthe national average. We have launched many social welfare programmes with ourown resources. Social welfare holds the key for development imperatives.Development of poor becomes the prime tasks of our society as well as theGovernment. To forward this move many welfare programmes are beingimplemented by our Government. It is a matter of great satisfaction that theseinitiatives have reposed trust and confidence among the poor people.

The aim of Independence was to establish a society free from exploitation,based on justice and equality. We can pursue these ideals by peace and prosperity.Let us work together to attain this goal.

Jai Hind

Message ofSHRI PRAFULLA SAMAL,

HON'BLE MINISTER, PANCHAYATI RAJ,INFORMATION & PUBLIC RELATIONS

ON THE OCCASION OF THEINDEPENDENCE DAY - 2009

Dear Sisters and Brothers,I extend my heartiest greetings and good wishes to the people of the State on

the auspicious occasion of Independence Day.15th of August is a memorable day for every citizen of India irrespective of

caste, creed and religion. For the sake of Independence the Martyrs who laid downtheir lives, will be ever remembered. On this sacred day I alongwith all countrymenpay respectful homage to those immortal souls. Many valiant leaders of Orissasacrificed their valuable lives by their active participation in the freedom movement.As a result of indomitable struggle by great sons of Orissa like Jayee Rajguru, BuxiJagabandhu, Veer Surendra Sai, Birsa Munda, Utkal Gaurab Madhusudan Das,Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, Raghu-Dibakar, Laxman Naik, Pandit Nilakantha Dashand many others we have attained Independence. To uphold our Independence wehave to toil hard unitedly.

Our State Government is consistently endeavouring to establish socialjustice by ensuring the social and economic development for the poor section ofthe society, and improvement of status of women. To upkeep the on-goingreformation your active co-operation is imperative.

On this auspicious occasion, let us take oath in the name of our motherlandand join hands to work for the over-all development and prosperity of our countryand our State.

Jai Hind

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VOL. LXVI NO. 1 AUGUST - 2009

CONTENTS

Historiography of Freedom Movement in Orissa Dr. Atul Chandra Pradhan ... 1

Pandit Ghanashyam Panigrahi : A Freedom Fighter Saroj Kumar Panda ... 10

Mangalu Pradhan : A Freedom Fighter of Orissa Ramesh Meher ... 13

Ghumusar Revolt : The Opening Combat forSelf Determination in India Dr. Dasarathi Bhuyan ... 18

A Benevolent Freedom Fighter and Jamnalal Bajaj Gadadhar Sarangi ... 23Awardee 'Ajnya' Bibhuti Bhusan Acharya

Pandit Gopabandhu Das : As a Unique Personalityof Orissa Dr. Ratnakar Mohapatra ... 26

Surendra Sai Before and After First War of Independence Dr. Chitrasen Pasayat ... 35

August Revolution in Tributary Mahals of Orissa Dr. Janmejay Choudhury ... 48

Madhaba Chandra Routaray - A Forgotten FreedomFighter of Khurda Braja Paikaray ... 51

Role of Shri Abhiram Paramahansa Dev in the FreedomStruggle of India Tarakanta Mohanty ... 53

The Indian Freedom Struggle and The American Warof Independence : An Insight into the Pattern ofLeadership Dr. Satyabrata Das ... 56

The Coast Canal in Orissa During the Colonial Era Dr. Ganeswar Nayak ... 59

Role of Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan in Empowerment of Radhamohan PandaElementary School Teachers Dr. Jagannath Das ... 63

historiography of freedom movement in orissa -...

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