Trade and Agrarian Economy of Orissa: 1751-1833 (An Old and Rare Book)

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The history of Orissa in the second half of the 18th century is a record of transition from an old order to new. It witnessed the collapse of the prolonged Mughul rule, the Maratha assumption of power and the emergence of British, a new force, to grab the state. In consequence of such keen contest of class of interests, the agrarian economy and flourishing trade of Orissa was highly affected, In fact, the Maratha short rule (1751-1803) which was military in character was no way better to save the already languished economic condition. The conflict of interests between the company and the Bhonsle, constant warfare of Nagpur court, frequent revolts of Bhonsle's officers, frontier disturbances, all had serious repercussions on the trade and agrarian economy of Orissa. Thus, the Maratha rule ended in administrative chaos without necessary agricultural improvements. Further, the misfortune of the. Orissan peasants, merchants and artisans began with the British conquest of Orissa. It continued to grow more and more as the British rule progressed with their political power. During the first 30 years (1803-1833), the Company's rule witnessed unprecedented agrarian crisis, the rise of the price of daily necessaries of life food-stuff and decline of village level industries like salt and textile. The English endeavour to increase her income by collecting taxes from salt, excise and custom duty on the products of Orissa, had a pernicious effect on the economy of Orissa.

Consequently, the peasant reactions took popular shape of resistance movements in Khurda under the leadership of Buxi Jagabandhu. Thus, the paik rebellion of 1817 was a turning point in the history of Orissa. After this, the Government tried to mend some of her policies and measures in the general administration particularly in land revenue sphere.

The present study is somewhat different from other school of historians. The study is concerned exclusively with trade and agrarian economy. The present study not only makes a probe into the causes of its collapse and under development, in spite of some Maratha and British benevolent measures.

The thesis is consisting of six chapters with a conclusion. Chapter-1 deals with "Trade and Agriculture on the eve of the Maratha conquest". Chapter-Il narrates 'Orissan Trade, Communication and Maritime Activity". Chapter-Ill deals with "Changing Pattern of Agrarian Economy under Marathas". Chapter-IV denotes "Crisis in the Indigenous Trade, Industries and Village Economy'. Chapter-V deals with "Agrarian Transition and its Impact. Chapter-VI reviews "Deterioration in Trade and Indigenous Industries" and conclusion is the synthesis of all the chapters and a different assessment is made.

The thesis is conducted under three principles. In the first place, it includes the primary sources both published and unpublished. In the second place, it includes the contemporary printed reports, census reports, translated sources, accounts of foreign traders. In the third place, it includes large number of works in English Oriya sources besides magazines and journals.

Nimain Charan Pradhan (Born in 1961) obtained his M.A., L.L.B. and Ph.D. Degrees from Utkal University, Vanivihar, Bhubaneswar, Orissa. He joined as a Lecturer in Hingula Mohavidyalaya. Presently he is working as a lecturer in History Talcher College (Talcher).

Talcher in 1985 and has a great contribution in the growth and enrichment of local as well as regional history of Orissa.

As a modern researcher and scholar in History, Dr. Pradhan has written a number of useful informative and interesting articles. He has organized and participated in various national and state level seminars and conferences. He has also edited a number of journals and has paid much attention particularly to the neglected aspect of the economic history of Orissa. At present Dr. Pradhan has been engaged in the post doctoral work on "Growth of Modern Industry in Orissa".

Orissa since time immemorial was prosperous. Being situated on the shore of Bay of Bengal it presents at healthy historic tradition. Culturally it was rich and economically it was sound. Since it was divided into a number of ethnic groups and political divisions like Kalinga, Utkal, Odra, Kangoda and Kosala, It is difficult to demarcate the border line of ancient Orissa. However these areas combinedly 'form the state of modern Orissa. Starting from the date of the Mauryas upto the medieval age the jurisdiction of Orissa had been very often stretching from river Ganga in the North to Godavari in the South and from Amarakantak in the West to the Bay of Bengal in the East. Economic prosperity of Orissa was certainly due to the existence of a number of industries, its flourishing trade and commercial intercourse with other parts of India as well as with far off countries like Java, Borneo, Sumatra, Ceylon and also with China. But surprisingly. Oriyas lost their old age superiority in this field and relegated to poverty with the fall of the native rulers.

In 1568, medieval Orissa lost her independence to the Afghan power who failed to consolidate its hold over Orissa because of the rapid expansion of the Mughul Empire in Eastern India. Mansingh, the General of Akbar, conquered Orissa in 1592 which comprised five sarkars and these sarkars were placed under the subah of Bengal. As compared with the Hindu period. Orissa was not economically prosperous during the Muslim period. The Mughuls had ruled for more than 170 years and during their period the economic condition of Orissa largely deteriorated owing to the absence of a strong central Government, constant drain of wealth to Delhi and the tyranny of the local officers. Moreover, with the establishment of the European settlements on the coast of Orissa. The profits which previously came into the hands of the Oriya indigenous traders now passed into the hands of the foreign traders. This affected the economic condition of the people and particularly the traders and merchants of Orissa.

**Contents and Sample Pages**