Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Calcutta

Strongly Supported Scholars say

Calcutta was the capital of British India, standing on the bank of the Hooghly river. Steamers carried rice and passengers there from the Odisha coast every week.

Calcutta grew into the capital of British India. It sits on the bank of the Hooghly river, about 86 miles from open sea. [The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.260]

Steamers linked Calcutta to the Odisha coast every week. They sailed to and from the ports of Chandbali and Balasore. They carried rice, people, cloth and other goods both ways. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., p.144; The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.260]

By the early 1900s, Calcutta was the seat of British rule in India. Much of the Bay of Bengal’s shipping bent toward it. [The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.260]

Historians agree that as trains and steamships grew, Calcutta slowly pulled trade away from Odisha’s smaller ports. Balasore’s own trade fell as traders sent more goods through Calcutta instead. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., p.144; Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., p.92; The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.260]

For scholars

No source here tells of Calcutta before British rule. Its story is here only as the place that later drew trade away from Kalinga’s own ports. [The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.260]

Facts

Coordinates
22.57°, 88.37°
[The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908]
  1. *The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09)*. 1908. public domain
Modern name
Kolkata, West Bengal
Also known as
Kolkata
Region
bengal

Routes through Calcutta

  • Chandbali to Calcutta by sea

    Steamers sailed from the river port of Chandbali up the coast to Calcutta. Odisha's own trade slowly drained away to that much bigger port.

    [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, p. 92]; [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), pp. 144-145]
    1. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, p. 92 ('Steamers carrying passengers and goods ply three times a week from Cuttack city to Chandbali port by canal, and from Chandbali to Calcutta by sea.' The chief imports of Cuttack district come from Calcutta.)
    2. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), pp. 144-145 ('The ports which trade with Chandbali and Balasore are Calcutta, the coast ports from Bombay on the west to Arakan on the east, and foreign ports, such as the Maldive islands, Ceylon, and occasionally Mauritius.')

  • Balasore to Calcutta

    A 19th-century report said Balasore was the only sea port Orissa could boast of at that time. Ships took rice and fine cloth north to Calcutta.

    [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 144]; [Stirling, 1825, p. 194]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. ii, pp. 40, 247]
    1. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 144 ('At the commencement of the 19th century Balasore was the only port of which Orissa could boast.' Its trading partners are 'Calcutta, the coast ports from Bombay on the west to Arakan on the east, and foreign ports'. Trade was 'declining owing to the advent of the railway'.)
    2. Andrew Stirling. *An Account, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of Orissa Proper or Cuttack*. in Asiatic Researches 15. 1825. public domain , p. 194 ('A considerable exportation of rice takes place from the several small ports along the coast to Calcutta.' 'Piece goods' heads the list of exports liable to duty.)
    3. William Wilson Hunter. *Orissa: Or the Vicissitudes of an Indian Province under Native and British Rule*. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1872. public domain , vol. ii, pp. 40, 247 (Cited for the cargo: p. 40, the Orissa factors 'bought up at the lowest prices for ready money the fine muslins of Cattack'; p. 247, 'the Cattack and Balasor muslins formed an important item in the yearly Investments'.)

Goods documented here

  • Cotton cloth and muslin

    Kautilya's handbook put Kalinga on its short list of the seven best cotton-weaving lands in India.

    [Kautilya, n.d., Book II, ch. 11]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. II, pp. 40, 247]; [Stirling, 1825, p. 194]
    1. Kautilya. *Arthashastra*. n.d. public domain , Book II, ch. 11 ('Of cotton fabrics, those of Madhura, of Aparanta, of Kalinga, of Kasi, of Vanga, of Vatsa, and of Mahisha are the best.' Read in Shamasastry's translation, p. 84.)
    2. William Wilson Hunter. *Orissa: Or the Vicissitudes of an Indian Province under Native and British Rule*. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1872. public domain , vol. II, pp. 40, 247 (p. 40: the Orissa factors 'bought up at the lowest prices for ready money the fine muslins of Cattack'. p. 247: 'the Cattack and Balasor muslins formed an important item in the yearly Investments'.)
    3. Andrew Stirling. *An Account, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of Orissa Proper or Cuttack*. in Asiatic Researches 15. 1825. public domain , p. 194 ('Piece goods' heads both the list of exports liable to duty and the list of goods imported from the adjoining districts of Bengal.)

  • Rice

    Ships from the Maldive Islands sailed all the way to Balasore just to fill up with rice and clay pots.

    [Stirling, 1825, p. 194]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. II Appendix I, p. 13; vol. II, pp. 159-162]; [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, p. 13 (Sambalpur District)]
    1. Andrew Stirling. *An Account, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of Orissa Proper or Cuttack*. in Asiatic Researches 15. 1825. public domain , p. 194 ('A considerable exportation of rice takes place from the several small ports along the coast to Calcutta'; Maldive vessels 'resort annually to Balasore and Dhamra, to take on board cargoes of rice and earthen pots'.)
    2. William Wilson Hunter. *Orissa: Or the Vicissitudes of an Indian Province under Native and British Rule*. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1872. public domain , vol. II Appendix I, p. 13; vol. II, pp. 159-162 (Appendix I (Puri): at Machhagaon near the Devi river mouth 'a considerable export rice trade is done here'; Pipli and Bhubaneswar are 'seats of a considerable trade in rice and cloth'.)
    3. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , vol. XXII, p. 13 (Sambalpur District) ('Rice is the staple export of Sambalpur, being sent principally to Calcutta, but also to Bombay and Berar.')
Scholar notes

Included as the colonial-era destination that drew Odisha's coastal trade away from its own ports; the Balasore gazetteer p. 144 says Balasore was 'declining owing to the advent of the railway'. Nothing here documents Calcutta before the British period. Goods: rice and piece-goods are linked as cargo moving to and from Calcutta (Imperial Gazetteer vol. XI, p. 92; Balasore gazetteer p. 144), not as things made there.

  1. *The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09)*. 1908. public domain , vol. IX, p. 260, 'Calcutta' ('Capital of the Indian Empire and the official residence of the Viceroy and Governor-General, situated in 22 deg 34' N. and 88 deg 22' E., on the east or left bank of the Hooghly river ... The city lies about 86 miles from the sea.')
  2. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 144 ('The ports which trade with Chandbali and Balasore are Calcutta, the coast ports from Bombay on the west to Arakan on the east, and foreign ports, such as the Maldive islands, Ceylon, and occasionally Mauritius.' Steamers ran three times a week between Chandbali and Calcutta.)
  3. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, pp. 92, 98 (p. 92: steamers ply from Cuttack city to Chandbali by canal and from Chandbali to Calcutta by sea; the chief imports of Cuttack district - piece-goods, kerosene, metals, yarn, spices - come from Calcutta. p. 98: Cuttack is connected by canal with Chandbali and False Point.)