Dr. Santosh Kumar Mohapatra
Odisha, as it is known today, came into being as a unified province in 1948 following the unification 27 princely states, carrying with it the scars of invasions, famines and natural calamities in iterations. The famine of 1866, for instance, killed a million people. Invasions ravaged the landmass and its people. The region, also known in history sheets as Utkala, still carries the wounds of these, principally the invasions by marauding armies from within and by the British through the instrument of the Bengal presidency.
The Marathas added a prominent chapter in the history of these invasions and engaged in outright loot. Yet, this remains a less-focused part of history books. It is well-documented as to how the Marathas led by the Bhonsle chief of Nagpur plundered and despoiled this landmass during their half a century’s rule here – from 1751 to 1803 AD – turning the life of the inhabitants upside down through a mix of strong-arm tactics and plunder. It was the Nawab of Bengal, Alivardi Khan, who ceded the land to the Marathas. The Maratha rule in Odisha was essentially military in nature and a replica of the Mughal administration.
Odisha had in those days been divided into two political divisions – the Garajat or Gadjat states consisting of 24 tributary chieftains (puppets as leaders) and Mughalbandi, the coastal tract extending from Suvarnarekha in the north to the Chilika Lake in the south. Gadjat means where locals ruled from their Gadas (Gaṛa is fort). Among the 24 feudatories (a system of holding land by payment of feudal fee) or princely states, the most powerful was the king of Khurda. The Rajas of Kanika, Dhenkanal, Ranapur, Badamba, Athagarh, Kujang, Aul and Mayurbhanj had also retained their relative importance during the regime of the Marathas.
Significantly, the Maratha governors did not poke their nose in the internal administration of these chiefs. The feudatories were paying tributes – a substantial gift of wealth, such as gold, farm produces, or slaves – to the Raja of Nagpur.
The Mughalbandi, an area under direct Mughal rule, was divided into 150 Paraganas or a group of villages or a subdivision of a district, which were left under the management of 32 Amils or local Diwans. Each Paragana was subdivided into two, three, four, or more Mahalas or allotments. The Amil or Revenue Commissioner was responsible for the assessment of revenue and entrusting charges to different officers for the revenue collection.
During the Maratha rule, the normal practice was to grant various allowances by way of money or land to the revenue officer together with other expenses for these collections and also authorise deductions in the expenses. Records show there was a surplus of about `4 lakh to be annually dispatched to the court of Nagpur.
In those times, people were paying rent based on the amount of land under cultivation. The Maratha government imposed heavy customs duties and discouraged cotton cultivation in Odisha. Its aim was to procure more rice from here to be sent to Nagpur. Paddy was cultivated in huge quantities here and was a main item of export to Bengal. The export of commodities from Odisha like sugar, textiles, muslin, earthen pots and other handicrafts was a net addition to the economy of this province.
Under the Marathas, Odisha was producing salt in plenty due to the existence of a large saliferous tract along the coastal belt. A flourishing salt trade brought huge income to the Maratha government by way of annual revenue. This exceeded the amount of land revenue derived by them from this province. Towards the close of the 18th Century, an economic dispute unfolded on the issue of salt trade between the Maratha government in Odisha and the East India Company in Bengal. Irritated over this, the British decided to conquer Odisha.
During the Maratha rule, Odisha was well-connected by roads with Bengal, Madras, and Nagpur. Roads were made not for the benefit of the people but with the motive of controlling the administration in Odisha and Bengal from Nagpur. Roads were a source of income to the state. Taxes were collected at toll gates on the way from people coming from outside to Odisha. A Customs duty was also collected. For instance, a bullock load of silk was taxed at six rupees.
Notably, the Marathas were not pro-people but pro-Brahmin. They were often portrayed as agents of Hindu nationalism. They gave priority to aspects like maintenance of the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri, maybe to woo majoritarian Hindus and camouflage their repressive, nefarious and exploiting nature. Puri used to receive pilgrims from all over India. A pilgrim tax was imposed on them by the Marathas. Some `9 lakh – a huge amount in those times — came in as pilgrim tax from those visiting the Jagannath temple.
The Marathas were tyrannical. The one and single aim of the Bhonsle of Nagpur was to treat this land as a milching cow and extort maximum as rent from the local inhabitants. This infuriated the masses. The frequent change of governors made the administration of this land wobbly, shaky, and risky.
Allowing frequent march of the British troops through Odisha sparked a sense of trepidation and consternation in the local inhabitants’ minds. Lawlessness prevailed and that was perhaps one reason why there began a mass upsurge against the Marathas. This helped the British to conquer Odisha in 1803.
(Part-II of this article to follow)
The writer is an Odisha-based columnist.