Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Balugaon

Probable Scholars say

Balugaon is a town on the shore of Chilika lake where boats brought in fish and grain. A train station here let goods travel on to faraway markets.

Balugaon is a town on the shore of Chilika lake. A 1929 gazetteer says the District Fishery Office moved here from Puri. Most fish and grain on the lake moved through Balugaon and a nearby spot called Kalupara Ghat. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O’Malley & Mansfield, Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteers: Puri (1929), pp. 204-205, 212-213]

The same gazetteer names Balugaon as a busy stop on the main railway line. It ranked high for both passengers and goods. Historians think the railway let Chilika’s fish and grain reach faraway markets. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., same, p. 220]

For scholars

Only one source was read here. So the tier stops at Probable. This gazetteer shows Balugaon as a fishery office and rail goods point. It sits on Chilika lake. It was not a sea-going harbour. Its trade moved by lake boat and by rail. No record from before the 1900s was found for Balugaon. No source prints a coordinate for the town. Its position is read off a modern map, at today’s railway station. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O’Malley & Mansfield, Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteers: Puri (1929), pp. 204-205, 212-213]

Facts

Coordinates
19.75°, 85.21°
[Natural Earth, 1, n.d.]
  1. *Natural Earth, 1:50m Physical and Cultural Vectors*. n.d. public domain
Modern name
Balugaon, Khordha district, Odisha
Region
kalinga

Routes through Balugaon

  • Balugaon to Puri across Chilika

    Balugaon was a fishing and grain town on the edge of Chilika lake. Boats and, later, trains carried its fish and grain on towards Puri and beyond.

    [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O'Malley & Mansfield, Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteers: Puri (1929), pp. 204-205, 212-213]
    1. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley & Mansfield, Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteers: Puri (1929), pp. 204-205, 212-213 ('From Balugaon and Kalupara Ghat the greater part of the traffic is the export of fish and grain'; the District Fishery Officer's headquarters were 'shifted to Balugaon on the Chilka lake.')
Scholar notes

Only one source (the 1929 Puri Gazetteer) was read, so the tier stops at Probable. The gazetteer documents Balugaon as a fishery-office and railway-goods point on Chilika, not as a sea-going harbour; its trade was lake and rail-borne. No pre-20th-century record of Balugaon was found in this session. No printed coordinate was found for the town; position is read off a modern map, matching the modern railway station.

  1. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley & Mansfield, Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteers: Puri (1929), pp. 204-205, 212-213 (The District Fishery Officer's headquarters 'were at Puri, but were recently shifted to Balugaon on the Chilka lake.' 'From Balugaon and Kalupara Ghat the greater part of the traffic is the export of fish and grain.')
  2. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , same, p. 220 (On the Bengal-Nagpur Railway main line: stations 'most important ... in point of passenger traffic' include Balugaon, and it is also named among the busiest 'in point of goods traffic'.)