Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Gopalpur to Rangoon

Probable Scholars say

From the open beach at Gopalpur, steamers crossed the Bay of Bengal to Burma. Thousands of people sailed out each year to work, and most came home again.

In one year 7,400 people sailed from Gopalpur to Burma, and 8,300 came back the other way.

Gopalpur-on-Sea had no harbour at all. Ships had to anchor out in open water. Colonial officials called it “an open roadstead with no shelter whatever.” [Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.329]

From this open beach, steamers probably crossed the Bay of Bengal. They sailed to Rangoon, in Burma. A colonial record gives numbers for one year. In that year, 7,400 people sailed from Gopalpur to Burma. And 8,300 came home again. [Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.329]

This crossing was mostly a trip for workers, not goods. No record here lists any cargo on this leg. [Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.152]

For scholars

Both facts here come from the same Imperial Gazetteer. So they count as one source, not two. That keeps this route at Probable. A different gazetteer names Arakan, not Rangoon, as a trading partner for Balasore. It only shows the wider shipping world this route sat inside. [Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, p.152; District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., p.144]

Facts

Mode
Maritime (open sea)
From
Gopalpur
To
Rangoon

Ports on this route

  • Gopalpur

    Gopalpur was the main port of the Ganjam coast in south Odisha. Ships had to anchor out in the open sea because there is no shelter from the waves.

    [The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, vol. XII, pp. 152, 329-330]; [Patra, 2014, p. 121]; [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 21, section 'Palur']
    1. *The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09)*. 1908. public domain , vol. XII, pp. 152, 329-330 (p. 329: 'Gopalpur - Chief port of Ganjam District, Madras, situated in 19 deg 16' N. and 84 deg 53' E.' A call for British India Steam Navigation coasting steamers; in 1903-4, 7,400 passengers went to and 8,300 returned from Burma. p. 330: 'an open roadstead with no shelter whatever'.)
    2. Benudhar Patra. *Ports in Ancient Odisha: Historical Perspective*. in Odisha Review. 2014 , p. 121 (Gerini identified Ptolemy's apheterion, where ships bound for Khryse left the coast, with modern Gopalpur below the Rushikulya mouth; Patra argues instead for Mansurkota near Gopalpur, citing Maltby, The Ganjam District Manual, p. 31.)
    3. 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. 21, section 'Palur' (Repeats Gerini's identification of Ptolemy's apheterion with modern Gopalpur. Journal pagination not verified.)

  • Rangoon

    Rangoon is a port on a river in Burma, now called Yangon. A hundred years ago ships and thousands of workers sailed there from the Odisha coast.

    [The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09), 1908, vol. XXI, pp. 213-214, 'Rangoon City'; vol. XII, pp. 152, 329]; [District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions, n.d., O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 144]
    1. *The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09)*. 1908. public domain , vol. XXI, pp. 213-214, 'Rangoon City'; vol. XII, pp. 152, 329 (vol. XXI p. 213: 'Capital of Burma ... situated in 16 deg 46' N. and 96 deg 11' E. ... 21 miles from the sea.' vol. XII p. 152: exports of the Ganjam ports go chiefly to Calcutta, Madras, Bombay ... Rangoon and Moulmein, with much passenger traffic to and from Rangoon at the three ports.)
    2. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 144 (Chandbali and Balasore traded with 'the coast ports from Bombay on the west to Arakan on the east', placing the Burmese coast inside the same shipping circuit; Arakan, not Rangoon, is the port named.)
Scholar notes

Both statements about the Gopalpur to Rangoon link come from one work, the Imperial Gazetteer, so the tier stops at Probable. The Balasore gazetteer names Arakan and not Rangoon, and is cited only for the wider circuit. Neither source itemises a cargo, so goods is empty; the traffic they record is people. The open-water track is drawn schematically.

  1. *The Imperial Gazetteer of India, new edition (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907-09)*. 1908. public domain , vol. XII, pp. 152, 329-330; vol. XXI, pp. 213-214 (vol. XII pp. 329-330: Gopalpur, 'an open roadstead with no shelter whatever', a call for British India Steam Navigation coasting steamers; in 1903-4, 7,400 passengers went to and 8,300 returned from Burma. p. 152: Ganjam port exports go chiefly to Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Rangoon and Moulmein.)
  2. *District Gazetteers (Cuttack, Puri, Ganjam, Balasore), British-era editions*. n.d. public domain , O'Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Balasore (1907), p. 144 (Chandbali and Balasore traded with 'the coast ports from Bombay on the west to Arakan on the east', which places the Burmese coast inside the same shipping circuit. Arakan, not Rangoon, is the port named.)