Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Dhamra to Chandbali

Strongly Supported Scholars say

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.

Dhamra used to be the busy port here, until the newer port of Chandbali, just up the river, took its trade away.

Dhamra was the older port at this river mouth. A government order made it official in 1858. Old records rank it right after Balasore among Odisha’s harbours. [Hunter, 1872, vol. ii, Appendix IV, pp. 107-108]

Chandbali grew up further inland, on the same estuary. It went on to take over most of Dhamra’s trade. [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O’Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 8]

For scholars

Both records describe a shift in trade over time. Dhamra was named a port in 1858. Chandbali, 20 miles further up the same river, later drew its trade away. Neither source describes boats sailing this exact stretch, so the line and any goods shown here are schematic. Neither source says when the shift was complete. [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]

Facts

Mode
River
From
Dhamra
To
Chandbali

Ports on this route

  • Chandbali

    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.

    [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), pp. 10, 144-145, 197-198]; [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, p. 92]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. ii, Appendix IV, pp. 107-108]; [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 23]
    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.)

  • Dhamra

    Dhamra is a port where two big rivers, the Brahmani and the Baitarani, join and flow into the sea. A government order made it an official port in 1858, even though a sandbank at its mouth made the entrance tricky.

    [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 ... it ranks next to that of Balasor among the Orissa harbours.' Same quote already used for 'chandbali', cited here as it describes Dhamra itself, before Chandbali existed.)
    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.' 'A dangerous bar ... vessels drawing 18 feet can pass in with safety.' 'Chandbali ... absorbed the trade of the old port of Dhamra'. From archive.org OCR, PARI.bengal-district-gazetteers-balasore.)
Scholar notes

Both quotations describe an administrative and commercial succession - Dhamra declared a port in 1858, then its trade drawn away by Chandbali, 20 miles further up the same estuary - not a description of boats plying between the two named points, so the drawn line and any specific cargo are schematic. Neither source gives a date for when the shift was complete.

  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.')