Early History of Orissa

SR No.: 006922
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Amarchand Mittal
Publisher: Jain Cultural Research Society
Publication Year: 1957
Total Pages: 506
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

Page 43

Section II POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTRY IN
EARLY TIMES Political divisions of the country differed very much during different periods of history. It was divided into three parts in very early times--Odra, Utkala and Kalinga. These different regions acquired their names from the tribal or the racial titles of the people who inhabited them and tilled the soil. In some Dravidian languages the words Oddisu' and 'Okkal' mean "the cultivator'.1 In the Canarese language, at the present day, the cultivator is called "Okkalagar' and in the Telugu language the word "Oddisu' means a labourer'. It is from these words viz. 'Oddisu' and 'Okkal' that the early Aryans might have derived the Sanskrit names Odra and Utkala respectively. Similarly, on the southern bank of the Chilka lake, there is a race of cultivators known even today as 'Kalinga or Kalinji'. And, this appears to be the derivation of the name given to the country. At some later date, however, when the tribes migrated from one place to another, either for their convenience or having been forced by other invading tribes, the names and boundaries of these regions underwent a change and some new divisions appeared under quite different names. It is, therefore, no easy task to determine the exact and permanent boundaries of any of the regions. ODRA
The land inhabited by the Odra people comprised the western Midnapur and perhaps, Manbhum or the eastern
1. Vinayak Misra-History of Oriya Language, Qtd. Mahtab, H.O. Luoknow, 1949, p. 1.