History History of Sambalpur

1 history

1.1 indrabhuti installed jagannath deity
1.2 sambalpur state , beginning of british rule
1.3 sambalpur uprising
1.4 language issues
1.5 twentieth century

history

the history of sambalpur, depicted eminent historians, full of events including indian freedom struggle representing different sections of society. since sambalpur 1 of ancient district of india, survived in prehistoric age, of historical records origin , existence of sambalpur in political scenario of odisha still in obscurity.

sambalpur mentioned in book of ptolemy (claudius ptolemaeus) sambalaka on left bank of river manada , known mahanadi, other evidence available records of xuanzang, , in writings of celebrated king indrabhuti of sambalaka of odra desha or oddiyan (oldest known king of sambalpur), founder of vajrayana buddhism , lamaism. has written book jñānasiddhi. simhadeba (1987: p. 317) affirms first record of jagannatha in literature mahasiddha indrabhuti, vajrayanaadept of buddhadharma, in famed work, jnana siddhi (sanskrit: ज्ञानसिद्धिर्नामसाधनम्; iast: jñānasiddhirnāmasādhanam; tibetan: ཡེ་ཤེས་གྲུབ་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་སྒྲུབ་པའི་ཐབས, wylie: ye shes grub pa zhes bya ba sgrub pa thabs t2219 of tibetan tengyur):

n. k. sahu emphasises indrabhuti, raja of sambhal (sambalpur), has been assigned have ruled during dark period of history of western odisha author have been propounder of vajrayana buddhism. first siddha identify buddha jagannath , worshipper of jagannatha whom prays @ several places of famous work jnana siddhi. before indrabhuti there no conception of jagannath god worshipped. in sanskrit literature jagannath deity unknown before jnana siddhi, jagannath mentioned in shantiparva of mahabharata of bangabasi edition , in publication of bangabasi edition interpolation not found in poona edition of kumbakonam edition ... .

indrabhuti installed jagannath deity

moreover, simhadeba (1987: p. 317) outlines installation of jagannath murti in cave in court samalai hill sonepur according local folk tradition done indrabhuti site requires archaeological investigation:

puri (purushottama puri) seat of purushottama , not of jagannath. in 10th century a.d. religious revolution synthesised jagannath of sambalpur purushottama of puri. may said important cave in court samalai hill near sonepur attributed local people earliest seat of worship of lord jagannath. appears jagannath of raja indrabhuti installed in cave giving rise tradition, current in present day. court samalai hill required proper achaeological survey coming definite conclusion.

french merchant jean baptiste tavernier (1605–1689) in travel account “six voyages en turquie, en perse et aux indes (1676–77)” translated english valentine ball “travels in india” (2d ed., 2 vol., 1925) wrote numerous famous diamond mines of sumelpur (semelpur), present day sambalpur. states that, 8,000 people @ work in these mines @ time of visit, in dry season @ beginning of february.

the sambalpur state , beginning of british rule

in 1540 a.d., kingdom of patna, ruled chauhan rajput dynasty bifurcated. southern portion of ang river ruled narasingh deb , brother balaram deb received northern side of river, known kingdom of huma. balaram deb established new capital @ sambalpur. sambalpur ruled chauhan dynasty till 1800. kingdom of sambalpur known hirakhand , sambalpur capital.

sambalpur came under bhonsles of nagpur when marathas conquered sambalpur in 1800. after third anglo-maratha war in 1817, british government returned sambalpur chauhan king, jayant singh authority on other princely states taken out.

1825 1827, lieutenant colonel gilbert (1785–1853), later lieutenant general sir walter raleigh gilbert, first baronet, g.c.b., political agent south west frontier headquarters @ sambalpur. made few paintings during stay @ sambalpur unknown artist british library , victoria , albert museum.

sambalpur uprising

when last ruler of sambalpur, narayan singh , died in 1849 without direct male heir, british seized state under doctrine of lapse. sambalpur kept under south-west frontier agency headquarters @ ranchi. official language of region @ time hindi. south-west frontier agency renamed ‘chhota nagpur division’ in 1854.

the name of veer surendra sai, fought against british rule, recorded in golden letters in history of india s struggle independence. during sepoy mutiny in july 1857 mutineers broke open prison @ hazaribagh, surendra sai imprisoned , released prisoners. surendra sai fought against british after reaching sambalpur. there no mutiny in cuttack division, sambalpur transferred cuttack division in 1858 , oriya made official language of sambalpur. sambalpur along other princely states of western odisha included in newly created chhattisgarh division of central province in 1862.

language issues

in january 1896, hindi made official language of sambalpur. people of sambalpur, mother tongue sambalpuri odia objected it. oriya re-introduced official language of sambalpur district in 1903 demanded amalgamation odisha division solution of language crisis. suited lord curzon, sir andrew fraser , mr. risley, bent upon dividing bengal on basis of religion, british rule continue in india. demand of amalgamation accepted british government during partition of bengal in 1905 when sambalpur , adjacent sambalpuri speaking tracts amalgamated odisha division under bengal presidency. bengal s odisha division became part of new province of bihar , odisha in 1912, , in april 1936 became separate province of odisha. after indian independence on august 15, 1947, odisha became indian state. rulers of princely states of western odisha acceded government of india in january 1948 , became part of odisha state.

twentieth century

1956 hirakud dam built across mahanadi river @ hirakud , vssut started functioning university college of engineering, burla under utkal university.

1966 sambalpur university act passed.

1967 sambalpur university located @ burla started functioning.

1980 devastating flood inundated parts of kosal. price of choorha (beaten rice) shot rs.7 per kg. g.m. college in sambalpur became large camp 6000 flood affected people. on september 22, when group of students collecting donations in main business centre, khetrajpur, 3 kilometres sambalpur, had altercation traders. in ensuring clash, surya kant bohidar beaten traders. later afternoon when large student contingent went khetrajpur, beaten up. police remained passive spectators. prominent businessmen believed have assaulted students. while 30 students hospitalised, not single trader hurt. though students named businessmen in fir, police took no action against them. incident crystallised latent anger against powerful trading community. movement not communal, made out directed against exploitative practices of trading community. called action against blackmarketeers , hoarders , demanded essential commodities reach reeling under floods of september 1980. movement later on spread other parts of odisha.

vajrayana buddhism

although accepted tantric buddhism first developed in country of uddiyana or odra desha under king indrabhuti, there old , known scholarly dispute whether uddiyana or odra in swat valley, odisha or other place.

indrabhuti, oldest known king of sambalpur founded vajrayana while sister married yuvaraja jalendra of lankapuri (suvarnapur) founded sahajayana. these new tantric sects of buddhism introduced mantra, mudra , mandala along 6 tantric abhicharas (practices) such marana, stambhana, sammohana, vidvesan, uchchatana , vajikarana. tantric buddhist sects made efforts raise dignity of lowest of low of society higher plane. revived primitive beliefs , practices simpler , less formal approach personal god, liberal , respectful attitude towards women , denial of caste system.

from seventh century a.d. onwards many popular religious elements of heterogeneous nature incorporated mahayana buddhism resulted in origin of vajrayana, kalachakrayana , sahajayana tantric buddhism. tantric buddhism first developed in uddiyana, country divided 2 kingdoms sambhala , lankapuri. sambhala has been identified sambalpur , lankapuri subarnapura (sonepur).

many celebrated vajrayana acharyas sarah, hadipa, dombi, heruka, tantipa , luipa came so-called despised classes. sect exerted tremendous influence on tribal , despised classes of people of sambalpur , bolangir region. in 9th/10th century a.d. there appeared 7 famous tantric maidens @ patna (patnagarh) region called kuanri-patana. these maidens popularly known saat bhauni (seven sisters), namely, gyanadei maluni, luhakuti, luhuruni, nitei dhobani, sukuti chamaruni, patrapindhi savaruni, gangi gauduni , sua teluni. hailed so-called low castes of society , followers of lakshminkara. because of miraculous power , feats; have been later on deified , worshipped folk people.

a systematic analysis of trend of religious development of period under review , circumstantial evidences reveal chakra sambar tantricism of tantric buddhism gained popularity in gandhagiri region. chief deity of chakra sambara tantra buddha sambara, deity worship still popular in china , tibet. according sadhanamala, god buddha sambara one-faced , two-armed. appears terrible garment of tiger-skin, garland of heads, string of skulls round head, 3 eyes , in Âlidhamudrâ, tramples upon kalaratri. number of texts relating procedures of worship of god buddha sambara have been composed siddhacharyas darikapa, santideva, jayadratha , others. king indrabhuti of shambala (sambalpur) composed chakra sambara stotra, chakra sambara anubandha samgraha, chakra sambara tantraraga sambara samuchchaya nama brutti etc. philosopher cum king indrabhuti became source inspiration adherents of tantric buddhist sect in kosal including gandhagiri region.

indrabhuti , laksminkara, 2 royal buddhist acharyas created mass of followers sects. in 9th–10th century a.d. worship , sadhana of buddha sambara, presiding deity of chakra sambara tantra gained popularity in gandhagiri region. in gandhagiri contained large number of caves , rock shelters, apparently of vajrayanists , sahajayanists, adherents of sects used live in seclusion , practice kaya sadhana or yogic practices along worshipping god buddha sambara.

this tantric buddhist culture affected religious faith , beliefs of tribal of gandhagiri, so today 1 can notice invocation of various buddhist siddhacharyas , buddhist deities in mantras of tribal ward off evil spirits or cure disease. interesting note here buddha worshipped many tribal in name of budharaja. there small hillock @ heart of present-day sambalpur name budharaja.

kalki & shambhala

kalachakra tantra first taught buddha king indrabhuti, first dharmaraja of shambhala.

lord kalki appear in home of eminent brahmin of shambhala village, great souls vishnuyasha , sumati. (srimad-bhagavatam bhag.12.2.18)