

5. Notes on the Geography of Orissa in the Sixteenth 



Century. 



By Rai Monmohan Chakravarti, Bahadur. 



The special use of geography for historical studies has been 

 often emphasized. Unfortunately very little is known about the 

 old geography of Bengal and Orissa. So in the present paper I 

 propose to discuss the available geographical details of mediae- 

 val Orissa, and its fiscal divisions. 



By mediaeval Orissa, I mean the time of its latest Hindu 

 kings, and of the earliest Musalman occupation, that is, the 

 sixteenth century. For the Hindu period the main authority is 

 the Madala Panji or the chronicles of the Jagannatha temple 

 at Puri. 1 These chronicles furnish us with two valuable lists. 

 The first list is headed desa-khartja, or lands allotted to the 

 gods Jagannatha and Krttivasa throughout Orissa. The 

 second list gives a table of gods with their places throughout 

 Orissa who were endowed with money grants from the govern- 

 ment. These lists thus supply us with the names of many 

 villages and their fiscal divisions as existing towards the close 

 of the Hindu rule. 



For the early Musalman period our main authority is the 

 Ain-i Alcbari of Abul Fazl.' 2 In the Am 15 he describes the 

 Imperial dominion as existing in the fortieth year of the Haiti 

 era (1594-5 a.d.). In this account Orissa is placed under Subah 

 Bangalah, but only nominally. In fact its description and its 

 list of mahals are all put at the end quite separate from those 

 of Bengal. 



The information given in the Madala Panji are only 

 incidental to other topics, and therefore though valuable are 

 incomplete. But the Ain purports to give a complete list of 

 the fiscal divisions constituting Orissa under the Mughal rule. 

 Hence the Ain's list has been made the basis of the present 

 paper. 



During the subsequent Mughal rule the fiscal divisions of 



1 The meaning of Madala is not yet known. It is derived, I think,, 

 from Mudala, sealed with madi or ring. The word mudalena is used in 

 inscriptions, e.g., BaitJ : -Mahasenapat"i-mudalena (J.A.S.B ., 1895. p. 149). 



again avadharita-m adale (Do., p. 162); and Hali-PraJ<!ada-mudalena 

 (J.A.S.B.. 1896. p. 254). Compare also Mudrasta, mudra and hasta, seal- 

 handed, an officer in the temple of Jagannatha whose duty is to seal the 

 temple doors at the end of the daily ceremonies Madala Panji would 

 thus mean a chronicle of the (royal) order*. 



* Jarrett's English Translation. Bib. Ind. ed.. vol. II, pp. 126-129, 

 142-144. 



