Jai
Jagannath,
Bande Utkala
Janani
Wish you all a patriotic breath full of
pride and respect to the forgotten freedom fighters of the first
independent state of India - our mother land.
The territorial dismemberment of Orissa pushed into a confused
period of internecine struggle. The last independent Hindu king of
Orissa, Mukunda Deva was killed by his feudatory Chiefs while
engaged in a prolonged struggle with the Afghan rulers of Bengal.
Thus 1568, medieval our beloved mother land Orissa lost her
independence. It was the last Hindu kingdoms of India to fall to the
Muslims. By the time of Akbar, the territories of Orissa were
apportioned into five Sarkars such as Jaleswar, Bhadrak, Cuttack,
Kalinga Dandapat and Raj Mahendri. In 1765-66, the East India
Company attacked from both ends of Orissa, southern part guarded by
Madras Presidency and northern part guarded by Bengal Presidency.
Only three districts Balaswar, Cuttack and Puri in coastal region
and 18 Garjats in the hill tract fell to Bengal Presidency.
The incident that triggered Battle of Orissa :
The problem that agitated the minds of enlightened Oriyas for a long
time was the amalgamation of Oriya-speaking tracts into one
administrative unit and then the formation of a separate province.
It led to an organized movement - a sustained struggle for many
years in a constitutional way to achieve the said objective. All
protests were in vain, and by the end of 1895, Oriya was abolished
in the courts of Sambalpur. Such a decision naturally wounded the
sentiments of the Oriya-speaking people very much and efforts were
made in all directions to reverse the step taken by the government.
Birth of a state "Orissa" :
Responding to the fighters Sir. H.G.Cooke a british colonial
suggested to form princely state of Orissa with
(a) Sambalpur district of the Chatisgarh Division of the Central
Provinces,
(b) Tributary States of Patna, Sonepur, Rairakol, Bamra and
Kalahandi and
(c) The whole or part of the Ganjam district with the States of
Kimidi and Ghumsur
(d) Oriya-speaking portions of the districts of Ganjam, Vizagpatnam,
Sambalpur, Chhota Nagpur and Midnapur
Utkala mani Sri. Madhusudan Das, who was a member of the Bengal
Legislative Council by that time, informed Lord Curzon, the Governor
General that the people of Orissa fully supported the Memorial
submitted to Sir Andrew Fraser, and it was their desire that the
Oriya-speaking territories should be placed under a Chief
Commissioner. Early in 1903 a small group of enthusiastic Oriyas
assembled in the town of Rambha on the shore of Chilka lake.
The crunching tigers of "Utkal Sammilani" :
Finally, the representatives of the Oriya-speaking tracts of Madras,
the Central Provinces and Bengal met in a conference at Cuttack on
30th & 31st December 1903. It was the historic gathering of 'Utkal
Sammilani' which met amidst unprecedented enthusiasm and spearheaded
the Oriya Movement till the formation of a separate Province on 1st
April, 1936.
A weapon called "National Anthem" :
Besides, the movement for a separate province also gathered momentum
in Orissa. The Utkal Sammilani (a federation of Oriyas) was leading
this movement. This influenced the poet Laksmikanta Mohapatra, who
was then young and energetic. He started writing Vande Utkal Janani
(Glory to the Mother Utkal) and some other fiery songs with a
patriotic motive. Well known national poet of Orissa Banchhanidhi
Mohanty was also a good singer. He used to sing Laksmikanta's
patriotic songs throughout Orissa and inspired everyone.
This song was used as a powerful weapon by the Utkal Sammilani to
emancipate Orissa. It is learnt from history that when this song 'Vande
Utkal Janani' was first sung at Utkal Sammilani Conference at
Balasore in 1912, the song had its spell-bound effect on the
audience and surprised many dignitaries in the dias, including
Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das, who was presiding over the Session.
Sri. Biju Patnaik and Sri Judhistir Dash, made compulsory to sing
this national song at the end of any Assembly Session. Long live
Orissa, Long live our culture and tradition. Vande Utkala Janani.
Regards
Nilachakra
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