1916.] The Geography of Orissa. 37 



of Dakhinadiga Dandapata, and from the sea by the saliferous 

 tract of Kujariga and Harisapura. 



Some of the Bisis are pretty old. Lands were granted 

 in Dera-visaya and Svanga-visaya (Bisis of Purbadiga) by a 

 copperplate grant dated 6th August. 1296 a.d., under orders of 

 the Ganga king Narasimhadeva II. 1 



A good many names of the above llisis can be derived, and 

 therefore could not have been very old. For example, take 

 Asuresvara or Lord of the Asuras, the name of a Siva ; Kusa 

 = grass + mandala = circle ; cauda = fourteen + killdta = forts ; 

 Derd = a caste + Visaya == a division; ti = three + Jcona = angle ; 

 payas = milk +da = giver ; bdli — sand ; Birhi = a kind of pulse + 

 mula = source ; Brahma = the name of a god + bayalisi = forty- 

 two (villages) ; Yadi — an aboriginal tribe + sahi = quarter ; 

 Sarasvaii = the name of a holy stream ; sukha = pleasant + na-i 

 = river; Khandi = tract; bend = grass + hdra = removal. In 

 fact the very names indicate that cultivation progressed east- 

 wards with increase in pasturage and reclamation of wastes and 

 sandy tracts. 



The mahal covered a very large tract, and had the largest 

 revenue payable in whole Bengal, Rs. 5,72,0391. 



(5) Pachchham Dikh. This included kilas Darpan, Madhu- 

 pur, Balrampur and Chausathpara between the Brahmin! and 

 Mahanadi, and probably also Dompara and Patia, south of the 

 latter river (Beames). Another erroneous remark. It is really 

 the Pacchimadiga Dandapata of the Temple chronicles, sub- 

 divided into thirteen Bisis, of which eight have been named, viz. 

 AIM. Katarkua, Klnalakhanda, Kulakhanda, Koroarakhanda, 

 Khandilokhanda, Tapanakhanda, Dharmupura. Of these Nos. 1 , 

 5 and 7 still exist as parganas in West Katak. Dharmupura 

 included the present killah of Darpana, as the Mahavinayaka 

 temple of Barunai is said to have been in it. In this Dandapata 

 the substitution of the suffix khanda for Bisi is worth noticing. 



From the parganas still existing taken with the special 

 use of the term khanda, the position of this mahal can be 

 roughly traced. It spread above the Birupa branch of the 

 Mahanadi north-east towards the Brahmani river which formed 

 the northern boundary while that on the west was ill-defined, 

 but probably extended up to the Brahmani river in the Dhen- 

 kanal tributary state. The tract was mostly on laterite soil 

 covered with jungles and scrub woods. Hence though the 

 money revenue was small, Rs. 16,562^ only, the quota of 

 men were considerable, 100 cavalry and 50,000 infantry. This 

 infantry can only be the local militia of paiks, in which every 

 able-bodied man was counted as a soldier. 



The old P&dshShi road passed through this mahal. Todar 



* J.A.S.B. 1890, p. 255, Pera-visaya-madhy-asinam Edaro.gr&mam, 



s >'anga-vi8aya-madlnj-a$tfiafh sunailo- grama. 



