Maritime history of Odisha
The Maritime history of Odisha (Odia: ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ସାମୁଦ୍ରିକ ଇତିହାସ; Oḍisāra Sāmudrika Itihāsa), known as Kalinga in ancient times, started much before 800 BC according to early sources.
[4] Located on the eastern coast of India, the ancient state of Kalinga extended from the Ganges to the Godavari River, including parts of modern Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and surrounding areas.
[5] According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts.
From these harbours, the people of the region traded by sea with Ceylon in the south, with Burma in the east, and further afield with the states of the Maritime Southeast Asia, Indochina and China.
[9] They are the following: Some of the ports mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD were Nanigaina (Puri), Katikardama (Kataka) and Kannagara (Konarak).
The important ports on the Kalinga coastline were Tamralipta, Khalkatapatna, Manikapatna (Chelitalo), Palur (Dantapura), Gopalpur (Mansurkota), Dosarene, Sonapur, Baruva (Barua), Kalingapatnam, Pithunda.
[14] After regaining independence, Anantavarma Chodagangadeva (1078–1191) established control over a wide region from the Ganges to the Godavari,[5] moving his capital from Kalinganagar to Cuttack.
From there, they continued to the southeast, then sailed down the Malay Peninsula and through the strait of Malacca, and onward to Java or Bali, or headed northeast to Indochina or China.
Archaeological exploration has unearthed fragments of Chinese celadon ware, Roman rouletted pottery and amphora pieces, showing that the port carried out significant international trade.
The kings of Kalinga, Siam and Java had to periodically mount expeditions to put down Malay and Bugis pirates operating in the Strait of Malacca and throughout Maritime Southeast Asia.
[8] According to a 6th-century AD source, Kalinga was famous for its elephants, for which it found a market in Ceylon, along with precious stones, ivory, pepper, betel nuts and fine textiles.
[7] A boat depicted in the Sun Temple of Konarak in the 13th century contains a giraffe, indicating trade with Africa, presumably carried on Arab vessels.
[11] Burma went by the name of Kalingarat (Kalinga Rastra) in the 7th century BC, and there is evidence of very early settlement in the southern Mon portion.
By the 2nd century AD, the Kalingans were ruling Kalaymyo, the Arakan River valley and Pegu, around the gulf of Martaban.
However, after Ashoka had converted to Buddhism and sent missionaries to Cambodia, they accepted the teachings and helped establish the religion in the region.
[30] A former king of Odra (Odisha) named Subhakararisha, who had abdicated in order to become a monk, voyaged to China in 716 AD.
[29] Between 813 and 818, three missions were sent from the Javanese nation of Kalinga to the court of Hsien Tung in China, bringing rarities such as a live rhinoceros, a five-coloured parrot and some black boys and girls from East Africa.
Kalinga was also strongly affected by Ceylonese culture, in particular by the Theravada teachings of Buddhaghosa, since it lay on the route followed by pilgrims from Ceylon visiting holy places in India.
[22] The Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang describes these sea voyages from the port of Tamralipta and Chelitalo to Simhala.
A prince of Kalinga named Magha invaded Ceylon with a fleet carrying 24,000 soldiers and ruled the island from 1214 to 1235 AD.
[22] Between the 11th and 16th centuries CE, the name Kalinga was gradually replaced by Odra Desa, Uddisa and eventually Odisha.
[30] In 1568, the Muslim ruler of Bengal, Sulaiman Khan Karrani and then the Mughal Empire succeeded in conquering the land, ending its independence.
[33] With the defeat of the Marathas in the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803[34] and the resulting annexation of Odisha into the British Empire, ended whatever remained of the maritime trade links.
