ORISSA, an extensive province of Hindustan, in the Deccan, between the sixteenth and twenty-third degrees of north latitude. It has Bengal for its boundary to the north, to the south the river Godavery, to the east the Bay of Bengal, and to the west the province of Gundwana. It may be estimated from north-east to south-west at 530 miles in length by ninety in average breadth. Orissa was formerly an independent Hindu kingdom. It was first conquered by the Afghans, and afterwards by the Moguls towards the end of the sixteenth century. It was in ancient times divided into five districts, namely, 1. Jellasisir, comprising Midnapoor and the British possessions lying north and east of the river Subunreeka; 2. Buddruck (now Cuttack); 3. Cuttack; 4. Kulling or Cicacole; and, 5. Rajamundry. The principal modern subdivisions of this extensive province, independently of other petty states and large zemindaries, are, 1. Singhboom; 2. Kunjeur; 3. Mohurbunge; 4. Balasore; 5. Cuttack; 6. Khoordah.
This province, in the interior, is of a rude and barbarous aspect, consisting for the most part of rugged hills, uninhabited jungles, and deep water-courses. It is surrounded by pathless deserts, forests, or valleys; and the atmosphere is pestilential. There are only two passes in the great mountainous ridge that extends from the Godavery to the Mahanuddy; the one direct, from Chandah to Cicacole; the other oblique, from Choteesghur by the way of Kaluhindi, and both uniting at the pass of Saloor or Saurecca. But though Orissa is, generally speaking, a barren country, the south-eastern or maritime parts are equal in fertility to most parts of India.
At present the British rule over nearly one half of this extensive region, and the remaining part is possessed by tributary zemindars, called ghurjauts or hill-chiefs, who pay a fixed rent to the British, under whose jurisdiction they live. The woody and interior division of the country belongs to them; whilst the other division, belonging to
the British, comprehends all the low lands extending along the coast, a tract generally plain and fertile, but not well cultivated or peopled. But the country occupied by the natives, though a barren tract of rock, forest, and jungle, and thinly inhabited, produces a surplus of grain beyond the consumption of its inhabitants. The British portion of the country produces, as its chief staples, rice and salt, the former of which is an article of export. Every sort of grain and vetch is cultivated, and the country is improving under its present administration; whilst the portion that is still under its native chiefs presents a scene of oppression and decay. The low lands along the Bay of Bengal abound with wild animals, such as hogs, deer, tigers, and jackals; and the high lands are infested by such numbers of wild animals, that in many places they are regaining possession of the country from which they were driven by the progress of cultivation. Fish swarm in the rivers, which are also infested with reptiles and alligators; and in the plains and jungles are innumerable noxious insects. The chief rivers are the Godavery, Mahanuddy, Byturnee, and Subunreeka, besides innumerable mountain streams of a short course.
The country between the rivers Gaintee and Bamoni is peculiarly fertile, and is inhabited by an industrious class of persons, weavers, chiefly of coarse muslins for turbans, and sanacs, which are a staple manufacture. The districts to the west of Bengal are mountainous, and inhabited by a savage race of Hindus, who are still called Oureas. They go nearly naked, and are armed with bows and arrows, and are nominally subject to the Mahrattas, though they pay but little revenue. They are naturally a fierce people, possessing personal courage in a great degree. They are great enemies of the Mahrattas, who plunder and oppress them; but those under the British dominion are a mild and tractable people, and the palanquin-bearers in Calcutta are mostly from that country. These bearers have high and proud notions: they pretend to be of a higher caste than the bearers from Bahar, and are very fastidious about performing their duties.
In the ancient history of the Hindus, Utcala or Odradesa, implying the great or famous country of Cala, was nearly co-extensive with the modern Orissa; but the martial race by whom it was inhabited were at last extirpated by the karnas or kings of Magadha. A race of Hindu princes governed the country in 1592, and were conquered by the viceroy of Akbar, to whose dominion the country was annexed as a dependent government. It then measured 600 miles along the sea coast by forty in medium breadth, extending from Tumlook on the banks of the Great Ganges, to Rajamundry on the Lesser Ganges; and was inhabited by the Oureas, a race of Hindus, of peculiar and distinct language, manners, and religion. From disjointed fragments of its history, and from existing relics, it appears to have been a flourishing empire, even before the Mahommedan invasion; but it soon afterwards fell into decay. When the Afghans were expelled from Bengal by the Moguls in the sixteenth century, they took refuge in Orissa, and retained possession of part of it, including the celebrated temple of Juggernaut, till near the year 1615. (F.)