Matrimony Voice

Orissa has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic cultural remains abound. The history of Orissa makes an interesting case-study in that. The word Oriya is an anglicized version of Odia which itself is a modern name for the Odra or Udra tribes that inhabited the central belt of modern Orissa. Orissa has also been the home of the Kalinga and Utkal tribes that played a particularly prominent role in the region’s history, and one of the earliest references to the ancient Kalingas appears in the writings of Vedic chroniclers.Oriya, one of the 22 languages officially recognizes in India, belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. Oriya, along with Bengali and Assamese, has been derived from the Eastern Magadhi Apabhramsa and trace its origin to the 10th century. In the 16th and 17th century, the language fell under the spell of Sanskrit. However, during the 17th and 18th centuries, it followed a new line of approach. The history of Oriya language is divided into Old Oriya (10th century-1300), Early Middle Oriya (1300-1500), Middle Oriya (1500-1700), Late Middle Oriya
(1700-1850) and Modern Oriya (1850 till present day).

By the fourth century B.C there was a centralized state in Orissa, though the hill areas often nurtured independent princedoms mostly evolving out of tribal polities. In 261 B.C, Orissa, then known as Kalinga, was conquered by the Emperor Ashoka after a bloody Kalinga war, leading to the conversion of the king into a nonviolent Buddhist who spread Buddhism in Asia. In the early second Century B . C . Emperor Kharavela, a Jain by religion and a great conqueror, had the famous queen’s cave-palace, Ranigumpha, cut into the mountain near Bhubaneswar, with exquisite sculptures depicting dancers and musicians.

Although the bravery of the Kalingas became legendary, and finds mention in the Sahitya Darpan, it is important to note that a hereditary warrior caste like the Kshatriyas did not take hold in the region. Soldiers were drawn from the peasantry as needed and rank in the military depended as much on fighting skills and bravery as on hereditary factors. In this (and other) respects, Oriya history resembles more the history of the nations of South East Asia, and may have been one of the features of Oriya society that allowed it to successfully fend off 300 years of raids initiated by numerous Islamic rulers untill the 16th century.

Orissa also suffered decisive defeats at the hands of Raja Man Singh (Akbar’s military general) and the Marathas, leaving it dismembered and particularly vulnerable against the British who colonized it soon after the victory in Bengal. As early as 1817 the agriculturist militia (Paik) of Orissa revolted against the British in one of the first regional anti-colonial movements. In 1936 Orissa was declared a province of British India, and the princely states with an Oriya population were merged into Orissa in 1948-1949. The cultures and languages of south India, western India, and northern India—and also those of the tribal peoples—have enriched the cultural mosaic and the vocabulary of the Oriya.

Oriya Language has been derived from the Eastern Magadhi Apabhramsa and trace its origin to the 10th century.In the 16th and 17th century, the language fell under the spell of Sanskrit. At earliest riya literature mainly comprised of poems and prose that had religion, Gods and Goddesses as the main theme. The earliest use of prose in the language can be traced to the Madala Panji or the Palm-leaf Chronicles of the Jagannatha temple at Puri, which date back to the 12th century. The first great poet of Orissa was the famous Sarala-dasa, who wrote the Chandi Purana and the Vilanka Ramayana, both of them praising Goddess Durga. Rama-bibha, written by Arjuna-dasa, is regarded as the first long poem in Oriya language.

Then Grate poet brough the revolution in Oriya language by writing Shri Chaitanya, whose Vaishnava influence a lot of changes in Oriya Language. Balarama Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa and Yasovanta were given a new look to oriya language. The composers of this period mainly translated, adapted or imitated Sanskrit literature. A new form of novels in verse also evolved during the beginning of the 17th century, when Ramachandra Pattanayaka wrote Haravali. Then Upendra Bhanja, Bhima-Bhoi and Arakshita Dasa brought revolutions in Oriya language by giving their own art of writing. Then Sachi Kanta Rauta Ray is the great introducer of the ultra-modern style in modern Oriya poetry. Others who took up this form were Godavarisa Mahapatra, Dr Mayadhara Manasimha, Nityananda Mahapatra and Kunjabihari Dasa. Then Rai Bahadur Radhanatha Ray, Madhusudana Rao and Phakiramohana Senapati, settled in Orissa and made Oriya their own. They brought in a modern outlook and spirit into Oriya
literature.