Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Chandbali

Strongly Supported Scholars say

Chandbali is a river port far up the Baitarani, safe from storms out at sea. A hundred years ago steamers left here for Calcutta three times a week.

Chandbali is a river port far up the Baitarani river. It sits about 20 miles from the sea. Being so far inland kept its ships safe from storms out at sea. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., p.197; Hunter, 1872, p.107]

The wider Dhamra estuary, which carries Chandbali’s channel to the sea, became an official port in 1858. Chandbali itself was still just a few fishing huts until about 1872. It later grew and took over the trade of an older port named Dhamra, 15 miles downstream. [Hunter, 1872, p.107; District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., p.197]

A hundred years ago, steamers left Chandbali for Calcutta three times a week. They carried people and goods along a canal from Cuttack. [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., p.92; Hunter, 1872, p.107]

Historians agree Chandbali traded with Calcutta, Bombay, Arakan, the Maldives and Ceylon. This made it one of Odisha’s two top ports in British times, along with Balasore. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., p.144; Hunter, 1872, p.107]

For scholars

Chandbali is a young port. Records say it was just a few fishing huts until about 1872. So it should not count among the older 1500s-1700s trading ports of this coast. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., p.197; Hunter, 1872, p.107]

Facts

Coordinates
20.78°, 86.75°
[District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d.]
  1. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain
Modern name
Chandbali, Bhadrak district, Odisha
Also known as
Chandabali
Region
kalinga

Routes through Chandbali

  • Cuttack to Chandbali by canal

    Steamers left Cuttack and went down a canal to the port of Chandbali. Boats had carried salt and grain along the Mahanadi here for far longer than that.

    [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, pp. 92, 98]; [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), pp. 10, 197]; [Stirling, 1825, p. 194]
    1. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, pp. 92, 98 (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.' p. 98: Cuttack is 'connected by canal with Chandbali and False Point'.)
    2. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), pp. 10, 197 (p. 10: 'Chandbali, 20 miles from the mouth, is the most important port in Orissa.' p. 197: Chandbali stands on the left bank of the Baitarani, 20 miles from its mouth; land was leased to the India General Steam Navigation Company in 1877.)
    3. Andrew Stirling. *An Account, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of Orissa Proper or Cuttack*. in Asiatic Researches 15. 1825. public domain , p. 194 (Cited for the cargo, not for the canal: 'formerly salt was an important article of export by way of the great road leading along the Mahanadi to Sembelpur and Berar ... more than three lacs of maunds being exported annually.')

  • 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.')

  • Dhamra to Chandbali

    Dhamra was the older port on this river mouth, made official in 1858. Chandbali grew up a little further inland and took over most of Dhamra's trade.

    [Hunter, 1872, vol. ii, Appendix IV, pp. 107-108]; [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 8]
    1. 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 IV, pp. 107-108 (The Dhamra estuary 'was declared a port by Government Notification, No. 877, of the 18th May 1858 ... As a port for native shippers, it ranks next to that of Balasor among the Orissa harbours.')
    2. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 8 ('The Dhamra ... is a fine estuary formed by the junction of the Brahmani and Baitarani rivers.' 'Chandbali ... absorbed the trade of the old port of Dhamra.')

Goods documented here

  • 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

Chandbali is a 19th-century creation: the Balasore gazetteer p. 197 says it was a few fishermen's huts until Captain McNeill leased land there about 1872, and that it later absorbed the trade of the older port of Dhamra, 15 miles downstream. Dayalan's inclusion of it in a list of 16th-18th century European trading ports is therefore doubtful and is not followed here. Dayalan also glosses Dhamra as 'Dosarene'; that identification is not accepted - Dosarene remains an unlocated region. Goods: rice is the district export of gazetteer p. 139, shipped through Chandbali; not a port-specific record.

  1. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), pp. 10, 144-145, 197-198 (p. 197: 'Chandbali - Port in the Bhadrakh subdivision, situated on the left bank of the Baitarani river ... 20 miles from its mouth, in 20 deg 47' N. and 86 deg 45' E.' p. 144: it and Balasore are the only ports of importance, trading with Calcutta, Bombay to Arakan, the Maldives and Ceylon.)
  2. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, p. 92 ('The chief trade centres are Cuttack city, False Point port, and Chandbali, which is situated just outside the District.' '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.')
  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, Appendix IV, pp. 107-108 (The Dhamra estuary, the channel that serves Chandbali, 'was declared a port by Government Notification, No. 877, of the 18th May 1858 ... As a port for native shippers, it ranks next to that of Balasor among the Orissa harbours.' Hunter, writing in 1872, does not yet name Chandbali itself.)
  4. Duraiswamy Dayalan. *Ancient Seaports on the Eastern Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network*. in Acta Via Serica 4. 2019 , offprint p. 23 (Lists Chandabali among the Odisha seaports in active European trade contact in the late medieval period. Journal pagination not verified.)