It was founded in Odisha in 1903 by Madhusudan Das and continues in present times.
[3] The organization's first objective was to campaign for the unification of the state of Odisha, known as the Oriya Movement.
[4][5] A conference was held in 1920 in Chakradharpur and the organization decided to join the non-cooperation movement that had recently been endorsed by the Indian National Congress.
[7] In 2010, Utkal Samilani, requested that the Indian government grant "Classical language status" to Odia and take appropriate actions to preserve the interests of the people who speak Odia but reside outside their home state.
[8] Utkal Sammilani was a key player in the transformation of the state of Orissa to its modern-day status as Odisha and it opposed Andhra Pradesh's Polavaram project in 2010.