Before the coming of the Marathas, it is alleged that the rajas of Koriya "lived in perfect independence, and never having been necessitated to submit to the payment of any tribute, they had no occasion to oppress their subjects."

Historically, Korea State also seems to have had some indefinite feudal relations with Surguja, but the British government ignored this claim when Koriya was ceded to them by the Bhonsle Raja of Nagpur in 1818.

Upon the extinction of the direct line in 1897, a distant collateral branch of the ruling family was recognized as successor by the British Raj.

[3] In 1891, the Raj decided that the five states of the Surguja group (Surguja, Udaipur, Jashpur, Korea, and Changbhakar), as well as the states of Bonai, Gangpur, Seraikela, and Kharsawan, formerly known as the Tributary Mahals of Chhota Nagpur, were not part of British India, and revised sanads were issued in 1899, formally recognizing them as feudatory states and defining their relations with the British Raj.

[4] The rulers of the state have apparently always held the title of 'Raja' and were so recognized by the British as early as 1819.