252 J. Beames —Notes on the TIistory of Orissa. [No. 3, 
It will be observed that the trade in stone-plates and rice constituted 
then as now, the principal export of Balasore. 
The only other notice of this period is a petty squabble in 1766 with 
the Dutch about a rope walk which was made by the English on land 
claimed by the Dutch. The land was given up by the former. 
Commencement of English rule. 
When the war broke out with the Marathas, as a part of the 
general operations, it was resolved to drive them out of Orissa, and while 
General Wellesley attacked them from the south, and General Lake from 
the north, and were victorious respectively in the celebrated battles of 
Assave and Laswaree, the 1st Madras Fusileers, with two native Madras 
Regiments all under Lieutenant-Colonel George Harcourt marched from 
Ganjam and took the town of Cuttack on the 10th October 1803. 
At the same time a detachment of troops, European and native, 
about 1000 strong under Captain Morgan, and Lieutenant Broughton 
sailed for Balasore. I cannot find where they came from, but it was most 
probably from Calcutta, as the native troops belonged to the Bengal army 
and a detachment of the same troops was sent under Col. Fergusson* to 
Jellasore to protect the Bengal Frontier. They arrived in three ships, 
and landed at Jampada near Gabgaoti a village adjoining old Balasore 
on the east, and about three miles below the present town. They were in 
want of provisions, which were supplied to them by Prahlad Nayak, za- 
mindar of old Balasore. They then advanced along the bank of the river, 
and owing probably to the difficult nature of the ground, were not opposed 
by the Marathas till they got close to Balighat just below Barabati. Here 
a band of horsemen bore down on them, and in the skirmish which ensued, 
one European soldier was killed. The English then rushed forward and 
attacked the Maratha fort, which stood on the the site of the salt gola, 
and soon took possession of it. The Marathas appear to have made but a 
faint resistance, and quickly disappeared. Immediately after this, a 
drum was beaten in all the bazars announcing that the English had taken 
possession of the province and would protect all who behaved themselves 
peaceably. 
Finding the old factory in ruins Captain Morgan took up his 
quarters in a new house built by Mr. Wilkinson the last resident and at 
once set to work to pacify the district and restore order. The date of the 
capture of Balasore is 21st September 1803.f 
* They were the 1st batt. 5th Bengal N. I. and 2nd batt. 7th N. I.—(Balasore 
Collectorate records 1801). 
t (Morgan to Post Master General 26-9-1804 and Grant Duff History of Mara¬ 
thas.) 
