Early History of Orissa

Author(s): Amarchand Mittal
Publisher: Jain Cultural Research Society

Page 30

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GÉOGRAPHICAL FACTOR geology, people and the last but not the least-the historic and social traditions.
TOPOGRAPHY
Nature has divided the vast country of ancient Kalinga into three different parts the first of which consists of the flat alluvial plain which begins from the western bank of the Damodar river and consists of the hilly tracts of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Angul. This tract is intersected by great streams like Rupnarayan, Haldi, Suvarnrekha, Burabelang, Vaitarņi, Brahmani and the now-defunct, Prāchi. The second division begins from the right bank of the Mahanadi, and consists of the hilly tracts between that river and the Godavari, and is bisected by the Risikulya river. Here the hills extend almost to the sea and the width of the coast-land is extremely narrow with certain extensions, as in the tract country between the Mahanadi delta and the Chilka Lake, and again between the southern bank of the Chilka Lake and the basin of the Risikulya river. To the south of the Berhampur-Ganjam area the ghats almost touch the sea and reach one of their highest points at Mahendragiri. To the south of Mahendragiri, there is a stretch of plain flat country along the banks of the Langulia river, which represents the third division. It was on this part of the coast that Kalinganagara, the ancient capital of the country of Kalinga, was situated. There is no important river between the Languliya and the Godavari rivers and the country too is much less productive.
From the Chikakole to the Godavari delta the country is very beautiful, but in this tract the ghats are divided into a number of parallel ranges, which reduce the breadth of the flat plain country to a minimum. The rivers in this tract are few and far between, and very small in size.