Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Sambalpur

Strongly Supported Scholars say

Sambalpur is a town far up the Mahanadi river, deep inland. Boats carried salt, spices and pots up to Sambalpur and came back loaded with diamonds, iron, silk and grain.

Sambalpur is a town far up the Mahanadi river, deep inland. River boats carried salt, spices, coconuts and brass pots up to the town. They came back loaded with cotton, wheat, oil-seeds, ghee, iron, turmeric, silk cloth and rice. [Hunter, 1872, vol. ii, Appendix III, p. 74]

Salt used to be a big export from Sambalpur. Traders once sent more than 300,000 maunds of salt out each year, along the road by the Mahanadi. Money from the salt trade was worth more than all the land rents put together. [Stirling, 1825, pp. 194, 218]

Old records say diamonds were once worked at Hirakud, near Sambalpur, under local rulers. The area had 160 native iron furnaces. Its sal forest covered 238 square miles, and tasar silk weaving was an important trade there too. Later, salt reached Sambalpur by rail instead of by river boat. [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, pp. 12-13 (Sambalpur District)]

For scholars

Sambalpur is a river and land trade point, about 300 km inland. It was never a sea port. The diamond-working is dated only to “native rule”, the pre-British Chauhan state of Sambalpur. The furnace, forest and rail facts come from British-period records. No source gives a printed coordinate for the town; its position is read off a modern map. [Stirling, 1825, pp. 194, 218; Hunter, 1872, vol. ii, Appendix III, p. 74; Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, pp. 12-13 (Sambalpur District)]

Facts

Coordinates
21.47°, 83.98°
[Natural Earth, 1, n.d.]
  1. *Natural Earth, 1:50m Physical and Cultural Vectors*. n.d. public domain
Modern name
Sambalpur, Odisha
Region
kalinga

Routes through Sambalpur

  • Cuttack to Sambalpur along the Mahanadi

    Boats went far up the Mahanadi river from the coast to Sambalpur. They carried salt, spices and pots inland, and came back loaded with diamonds, iron, silk and grain.

    [Stirling, 1825, pp. 194, 218]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. ii, Appendix III, p. 74]; [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, pp. 12-13 (Sambalpur District)]
    1. Andrew Stirling. *An Account, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of Orissa Proper or Cuttack*. in Asiatic Researches 15. 1825. public domain , pp. 194, 218 ('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.')
    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 III, p. 74 (Mahanadi river towns 'carry salt, spices, cocoa-nuts, and brass utensils up to Sambalpur ... bringing thence, in exchange, cotton, wheat, oil-seeds, clarified butter, oil, molasses, iron, turmeric, tasar cloth, rice.')
    3. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , vol. XXII, pp. 12-13 (Sambalpur District) (Diamonds worked at Hirakud 'when Sambalpur was under native rule'; salt 'now brought by rail instead of river as formerly' - implying the river itself carried it before the railway.)

Goods documented here

  • Salt

    Boats carried salt upriver to Sambalpur and came back loaded with cotton, wheat, oil-seeds and rice.

    [Stirling, 1825, pp. 194, 218]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. I, p. 41; vol. II, pp. 159-162; vol. II Appendix III, p. 74]; [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, p. 13 (Sambalpur District)]; [Patnaik, 2014a, p. 104]
    1. Andrew Stirling. *An Account, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of Orissa Proper or Cuttack*. in Asiatic Researches 15. 1825. public domain , pp. 194, 218 (p. 194: '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'. p. 218: the salt monopoly's revenue exceeds all the land rents.)
    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. I, p. 41; vol. II, pp. 159-162; vol. II Appendix III, p. 74 (vol. I p. 41: 'The only manufacture of Parikud is salt', solar and boiled processes. vol. II: the Tributary States and Central Provinces send rice, grain, oil-seeds and cotton to the coast 'in exchange for salt' (page not isolable: between the running heads for pp. 159 and 162).)
    3. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , vol. XXII, p. 13 (Sambalpur District) ('Salt comes principally from Ganjam, and is now brought by rail instead of river as formerly.')
    4. Sunil Kumar Patnaik. *Puri: A Study of Early Trade and Pilgrim Routes*. in Odisha Review. 2014a , p. 104 (Abul Fazl described Manikapatna as a sea port where taxes were collected; reported here as a salt-tax centre.)

  • Diamonds

    Hirakud means 'diamond island': searchers called Jharias sifted the Mahanadi's sand and were paid in land.

    [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, p. 12 (Sambalpur District)]; [McCrindle, 1927, pp. 71, 169, 333]
    1. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , vol. XXII, p. 12 (Sambalpur District) ('When Sambalpur was under native rule diamonds were obtained in the island of Hirakud (diamond island) in the Mahanadi. The Jharias or diamond-seekers were rewarded with grants of land... The diamonds, which are of very poor quality, [were] leased by the British Government for Rs. 200.')
    2. John Watson McCrindle. *Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy*. ed. Surendranath Majumdar Sastri. Calcutta: Chuckervertty, Chatterjee & Co. 1927. public domain , pp. 71, 169, 333 (p. 169: 'The Sambalaka of the Mandalai may perhaps be Sambhalpur on the Upper Mahanadi, the capital of a district which produces the finest diamonds in the world'. p. 71: 'Adamas is a Greek word meaning diamond'. p. 333: V. Ball's objection to the identifications.)

  • Sal timber

    Tolls on timber in Ganjam were so steep that a shilling's worth cost one shilling and fourpence to move 42 miles.

    [Stirling, 1825, p. 194]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. II, p. 235; vol. II Appendix III, p. 75]; [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, p. 12 (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 (Exports liable to duty include 'sal timber, congni wood, karbeli, shirbeli'.)
    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, p. 235; vol. II Appendix III, p. 75 (p. 235: 'the transit dues on timber mounting up 133 per cent. on a journey of 42 miles' in Ganjam District. Appendix III p. 75: 'The chief marketable timber of the Tributary States is Sal.')
    3. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , vol. XXII, p. 12 (Sambalpur District) (Sal forest covers about 238 square miles; 1903-4 forest revenue Rs. 34,000, of which Rs. 10,000 came from timber and Rs. 12,000 from bamboos.)

  • Iron

    Sambalpur still had 160 village furnaces turning out about 1,120 hundredweight of iron every year.

    [Stirling, 1825, p. 194]; [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, p. 12 (Sambalpur District)]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. II Appendix III, p. 74]
    1. Andrew Stirling. *An Account, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of Orissa Proper or Cuttack*. in Asiatic Researches 15. 1825. public domain , p. 194 ('The exports liable to duty are as follows: Piece goods, bees wax, iron, kut'h..., oil, lac, stone plates, sal timber, congni wood...')
    2. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , vol. XXII, p. 12 (Sambalpur District) ('Iron ores occur in most of the hilly country on the borders of the District... There are 160 native furnaces, which produce about 1,120 cwt. of iron annually.')
    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 III, p. 74 (Mahanadi river towns 'carry salt, spices, cocoa-nuts, and brass utensils up to Sambalpur... bringing thence, in exchange, cotton, wheat, oil-seeds, clarified butter, oil, molasses, iron, turmeric, tasar cloth, rice'.)

  • Tasar silk

    Tasar silk comes from wild forest silkworms, and a whole caste, the Kostas, made their living dealing in it.

    [Hunter, 1872, vol. II Appendix III, p. 75]; [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., vol. XXII, p. 13 (Sambalpur District)]
    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 III, p. 75 ('The jungle yields an annual supply of resin, lac, tasar, bees-wax, dyes, fibres'; class (9.) 'Kostia, dealers in tasar'.)
    2. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , vol. XXII, p. 13 (Sambalpur District) ('Tasar silk-weaving is an important industry in Sambalpur. The cocoons are at present not cultivated locally, but are imported from Chota Nagpur... A little cloth is sent to Ganjam, but the greater part is sold locally.')
Scholar notes

A river and land trade node about 300 km inland, never a sea port; included on the Cuttack precedent already in this file. The diamond-working is dated only to 'native rule' (the pre-British Chauhan state of Sambalpur), so it is tagged mughal-maratha; the furnace, forest and rail figures are British-period gazetteer statistics. No printed town coordinate was found in any of the three sources; position is read off a modern map.

  1. Andrew Stirling. *An Account, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of Orissa Proper or Cuttack*. in Asiatic Researches 15. 1825. public domain , pp. 194, 218 ('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.' p. 218: the salt monopoly's revenue exceeded all the land rents.)
  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 III, p. 74 (Mahanadi river towns 'carry salt, spices, cocoa-nuts, and brass utensils up to Sambalpur ... bringing thence, in exchange, cotton, wheat, oil-seeds, clarified butter, oil, molasses, iron, turmeric, tasar cloth, rice.')
  3. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , vol. XXII, pp. 12-13 (Sambalpur District) (Diamonds worked at Hirakud 'when Sambalpur was under native rule'; '160 native furnaces' making iron; sal forest of 238 sq. miles; tasar silk-weaving 'an important industry'; salt now 'brought by rail instead of river as formerly.')