323 
1897.] M. M. Chakravarti — Language and Literature of Orissa. 
settle in large numbers. Their influence lay chiefly in the few towns, 
where they introduced a good many Urdu words, and where they 
affected even the tone. In the mofussil they influenced chiefly through 
their various land settlements beginning with flodai Malls. From 
Urdu was gradually borrowed a number of words relating to courts and 
land tenures such as &c. In 
several cases the new words superseded the old forms, e.cj. 
for 5 
for iRT. 
TOOT . for fafa, 
for fa€ts;. 
‘All Yard! Khan, the Mahomedan ruler of Bengal and Orissa, 
failed to cope with the yearly invasions of the Maratha’s. He then 
bought off peace by Ceding them Orissa up to the river Suvarnarekha 
in the north. The Marathas ruled for half a century and treated the 
country more as invaders than real rulers. The Maratha language 
had hardly any influence on the Oriya. A few words were added 
among which might be such words as 3TUET, (?) and the more 
extended use of the word in the place of the old form XTR«R. 
(5). In 1803 A.D. the British conquest of Orissa took place. 
Since then the English language is being used by a gradually increasing 
number of the reading classes. On account of the wide difference 
between the English and the Oriya, it has not yet been able to modify 
grammatical forms. Its influence now lies chiefly in the addition of 
nfew ideas and new words. The study of English literature has opened 
the full vista of European civilisation to the native eye, and thus a 
world of ideas has come in for which no words previously existed. To 
express these ideas in writing, either Sanskrit words are being borrowed 
or coined, or the English words themselves are being adopted, with 
more or less variations such as (collector), (school), 
(stamp), (police), (receipt), (company), 
(English). Furthermore among the English-knowing classes 
the custom has grown up of using English words verbatim in the 
midst of Oriya sentences. This custom chiefly prevails in the spoken 
language, and is evidently due to want of Oriya words for the new 
ideas to be expressed. During the Musulman period, Urdu or Hindi 
words similarly got mixed in the current speeches. 
The above sketch of the past history of the Oriya tongue may 
be concluded with a brief survey of its present position. It is notice¬ 
able that at present Oriya is practically homogeneous and displays no 
great dialectical varieties. From the river Salandi on the north 
(Bhadrak) to the Chilka lake on the south (Puri) practically the same 
