Corrmpturl Overview

Social s t r a t i f i c a t i o n has been understood a s the

horizontal d i v i s i o n of s o c i e t y i n t o groups o r categories
which are governed by structurally determined
relationships in many ways1. In India these social
categories a r e found t o have been consisted of an ethnic
or a caste group o r a number of caste groups leveled off
as a s o c i a l c l a s s . From a purely conceptual angle the
caste and class configurations posit a problem in
r e l a t i o n t o t h e i r points of convergence. But given the
substantive super imposition of colonial f o r c e s on India
during the 1 9 t h century these points of convergence
became more frequent. Consequentially s t u d i e s on s o c i a l
s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i n India pertaining t o the colonial period
l e n t g r e a t e r focus on ( a ) the economic dimension of
stratification, (b) the material and non-material
differences in styles of life, (c) endogamy as a
mechanism i n maintaining boundaries between the s o c i a l
s t a t u s and (d) power as a source of maintenance and
reproduction of s o c i a l s t r a t i f ication2. This l i n e of
inquiry chalked out a common agenda t o study s o c i a l
stratification as a whole. However, the obsessive
phenomenon af c a s t e permeating a l l s o c i a l processes i n
India could not thus be wished away.
 In the o r i s s a n Context the swathe of changes which
affected the s o c i a l f a b r i c i n more than one way i n over
f i f t y years before the famine of 1866 could not prevent
caste from p a r t i c u l a r l y determining the system of ranking
i n the society. Throughout the whole of the post-famine
period a130 c a s t e remained the e s s e n t i a l bulwark round
which every i s s u e of modernization i n escapably
gravitated. In some respects there seemed t o have been a
blurring of c a s t e d i s t i n c t i o n s during t h i s period due t o
the fundamental changes i n the economic order introduced
by the B r i t i s h .
But i n others there were indications of
a caste consciousness more acute than ever before. Caste
continued t o e x e r t a v i t a l influence on the prospect of
upward s o c i a l mobility of any group i n i t s place of
origin. I t a l s o simultaneously impressed upon the
existing dominant groups t o make every e f f o r t t o maintain
hierarchical s t a t u s quo. I n view of t h i s r e a l i t y i t i s
quite legitimate t o study s o c i a l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i n Orissa
giving c a s t e i t s due prominence.

As regards the link between social

s t r a t i f i c a t i o n and change, i t i s but n a t u r a l t h a t the two
processes converge theoretically as well as
substantively. Any objective analysis of the system of
s o c i a l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i s only possible w i t h reference t o
tho corresponding processes of s o c i a l change. But f o r
meaningful e l u c i d a t i o n the focus here i s on the study af
s o c i a l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i n the l i g h t of t h e h i s t o r i c i t y and
p e c u l i a r i t i e s of t h e s o c i e t y a t hand.
Sourcec
However, before entering i n t o the subject of
s o c i a l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i n Balasore it i s pertinent to
point out t h e p i t f a l l s involved i n such an attempt.
s u p e r f i c i a l l y a v a s t range of l i t e r a t u r e i s a v a i l a b l e i n
connection with the s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e of Orissa during the
period under study. But on c l o s e r s c r u t i n y a g r e a t e r
portion of t h i s l i t e r a t u r e ensconced i n the contemporary
gazettes, accounts of the British administration,
p e r i o d i c a l revenue settlement r e p o r t s and the decennial
census r e p o r t s i s found overlapping and f o r most p a r t s
unconcerned of the dynamics of the l o c a l s o c i e t y . As per
the c o l o n i a l view, whenever the p e r s i s t e n t l y archaic
s o c i a l system of Orissa required mentioning a point vas
made of changes t o place on record the happy outcomes of
the so-called beneficial measures of the colonial
administration. Even the reconstruction of the l o c a l
h i s t o r y by t h e o f f i c i a l s c r i b e i n the contemporary
g a z e t t e e r s was an amplified version of t h i s biased viev
of the l o c a l s o c i e t y . Attempts vere made a t every stage
t o f i t i n t h e processes of the l o c a l s o c i e t y w i t h the
master imperial scheme. The revenue settlement r e p o r t s
on t h e o t h e r hand i n conformity with the demands of the
discipline confined the inquiry into the existent
r e l a t i o n s h i p between the s o c i a l groups and the types of
land-holdings in each groups possession. Only the
decennial census reports supply the much needed
information on the d i s t r i b u t i o n and s t r u c t u r e of the
population. But here tog the l o c a l s o c i e t y has received
a flak. Much of the v i t a l l o c a l information i n most
cases were merged with the general imperial o r provincial
statistics. I t was only a f t e r independence i n 1951 t h a t
a systematic e f f o r t was made t o compile d i s t r i c t w i s e
census d a t a . But i t was a l s o the year since when
c o l l e c t i o n of information on c a s t e s and communities was
discontinued t o the detriment of prospective s o c i o l o g i c a l
studies. In a l l fairness, however, i t can be t h a t
i n s p i t e of t h e s e obvious handicaps the census r e p o r t s a r e
s t i l l a dependable body of documents which possess u s e f u l
material on the responses of the d i f f e r e n t s e c t i o n s of
l o c a l s o c i e t y t o the processes s e t i n motion by the
colonial rule. Unfortunately i n Orissa s o c i o l o g i s t s ,
s o c i a l h i s t o r i a n s and p o l i t i c a l s c i e n t i s t s have made very
l i t t l e use of these r e p o r t s . combining these r e p o r t s
w i t h the r e s t of the sources w i l l , t h e r e f o r e , present a
discernible picture af t h e social structure in the
d i s t r i c t of Balasore.
Geo-Political Profile of Balerore
The t e r r i t o r i a l configurations of Balasore had
undergone s e v e r a l changes s i n c e the B r i t i s h conquest of
Orissa. c a p t a i n Morgan, t h e first ~ r i t i s ho f f i c e r i n
charge of the d i s t r i c t i n 1804, exercised a u t h o r i t y
southern border of t h i s newly created d i s t r i c t by joining
~hadrak and Jaipur with it. Subsequently a f t e r Jaipur
was transferred back t o Cuttack, r i v e r s Baitarani and
Dhama formed the d e f i n i t e boundary between Balasore and
cuttack t o the south. On the broth a perplexing s e r i e s
of territorial exchanges continued w i t h some f i s c a l
divisions being transferred backwards and forwards as
many as three times. Ultimately the d i s t r i c t acquired
the present dimension i n 1870' a f t e r Balipail, Bhograi
and Jaleswar were taken away from Midnapore and added t o
It.
From O r i s s a f s point of view the reorganisation of
the d i s t r i c t of Balasore undid t o some extent the process
of i t s t e r r i t o r i a l disintegration which had begun since
the closing years of the reign of Aurangzeb. I n this
context i t may be pointed out t h a t the d i s t r i c t of
Midnapore was originally a part of the Jalesvar Sarkar
under the great Muqhals which included t e r r i t o r i e s from
both sides af the r i v e r Subarnarekha. On 1 2 August, ~ ~
1765, when Ribert Clive acquired the Dewani of Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa from the t i t u l a r sovereign of m g b a l
Empire Shah Alam 11, the 'Orissal of t h a t transaction
meant only the d i s t r i c t af Midnapore as the r e s t of
Orissa, south of the r i v e r Subarnarekha had already come
under the EJaratha sovereignty according t o an e a r l i e r
agreement signed between Raghuje, the Bhonsla Raja of
Nagpur and ~ ~ i v ~ Khan,
r d i the Navab of Bengal i n 1751'.
 The joining of the southern portion of the
district of Midnapore with Balasore added newer
dimensions to the socio-political ambiance of the
district. The East India Company Government i n Bengal
had introduced permanent settlement a s e a r l y a s 1793
a f t e r a prolonged debat'e. But the same measure vas not
applied t o Orissa a f t e r the whole t e r r i t o r y was annexed
by the Company i n 1803 under the nomenclature of the
"Lower Bengal Province". The Company i n s t e a d perpetrated
a s e r i e s of short-term settlements i n the newly conquered
province much t o the detriment of the economic well
being. To subserve i t s c o l o n i a l i n t e r e s t s the Company
Government only cared t o e n t e r i n t o a s o r t of permanent
settlement w i t h a few erst-while Rajas. The acceded
portion t o the Balasore D i s t r i c t , on the other hand, had
come under t h e system of permanent settlement a s an
i n t e g r a l p a r t of Bengal proper. The system was l e f t
undisturbed i n those a r e a s even a f t e r t h e i r merger with
the d i s t r i c t of Balasore. T h i s d u a l i t y i n the system of
revenue administration stayed i n the d i s t r i c t u n t i l a f t e r
independence when Zamindary was f i n a l l y abolished by t h e
Orissa E s t a t e s Abolition Act I of 1952'.
Besides, the Company' 3 over zealousness in
f a c i l i t a t i n g the e a r l y immigration of speculators and
job-seeking educated Bengalis i n t o Orissa had done damage
t o t h e genuine i n t e r e s t s of t h e n a t i v e Oriyas on land.
Balasore being located at a distance from the
administrative c e n t e r s of the Orissa d i v i s i o n had escaped
t o some e x t e n t the pernicious e f f e c t s of this early
~ e n g a l i i ~ i g r a t i ~ n .Only t r a d e i n t e r e s t s had drawn a
considerable body of Bengali merchants t o Balasore who
a f t e r i t vas c o n s t i t u t e d i n t o a separate d i s t r i c t i n 1828
turned t h e i r eager a t t e n t i o n towards the a c q u i s i t i o n of
estates. the M a s of the Salt Agency and the
c o l l e c t o r a t e a l s o d i d not e n t i r e l y become unsuccessful i n
t h e i r attempt t o convert themselves i n t o p r o p r i e t o r s .
The f a m i l i e s of Raja Baikunthanath De, the Kars and
Bhagban Chandra Das of Balasore tovn dated t h e i r r i s e a s
Zaaindars from t h i s period. These people became highly
i n f l u e n t i a l i n the s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l and economic l i f e of
the d i s t r i c t with the passage of time6.
The d i r e c t incorporation of t e r r i t o r i e s from
Midnapore was an a d d i t i o n a l boost t o t h e i r sphere of
influence . The merger added f o r obvious reasons s i z a b l e
segments of Bengalis population t o the d i s t r i c t ' s s o c i a l
f a b r i c and s u r r e p t i t i o u s l y accounted for raising the
language controversy i n the 1870s.
The d i s t r i c t of Balasore a s i t emerged i n 1870
vas divided i n t o 2 sub-divisions and 9 thanas (Police
s t a t i o n s ) f o r r e g u l a r administration. The headquarters
sub-division contained t h e thenas of Balasore, Basta,
Jaleswar, Baliapt, Soro and the Bhadrakh sub-division
contained the thanas of Bhadrakh, Basudarpur, Dhamnagar
and Mutoh. After the p o r t of Chandbali was i d e n t i f i e d
and e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1877 the name of thana m t o h was
rechristened as thana Chandbali . The thanas were
initially constituted in 1906 as convenient local
d i v i s i o n s f o r Police administration, constituting the
whole of previously demarcated Parganas which bore l i t t l e
reference t o the physic'al f e a t u r e s of the d i s t r i c t 7 .
Generally speaking the d i s t r i c t of Balasore was
consisted of a c e n t r a l s t r i p of a r a b l e land between the
sea and the h i l l s varying i n breadth from about 30 miles
a t the north-east extremity t o 10 miles a t i t s narrowest
i n the middle 40 miles i n the south. Co-terminous with
this broad topographical f e a t u r e of the d i s t r i c t the
thanas of Baliapal Balasore, Soro, Bhadrak and Dhamnagar
were more populous. The o t h e r two well-defined s t r i p s
were the sub-montane t r a c t of h i l l s and jungles on the
west and the s a l t t r a c t along the coast on the e a s t .
Then thanas of J a l e s v a r and Basta comprising much of the
sub-Montana t r a c t and the thanas Basudepur and Chandbali
lying on the s a l i n e t r a c t were not s o densely populated.
A l l the t h r e e t r a c t s ran p a r a l l e l t o each other from
north t o south on the 8 5 miles long c o a s t l i n e .
The sub-Montana t r a c t merged with the h i l l y
t r i b u t a r y s t a t e s of Mayurbhanj , ~ i l g i r iand ~ e o nhar
j to
the n o r t h r e s t e r n and v e s t e r n s i d e af the d i s t r i c t .
These t r i b u t a r y s t a t e s v i t h a preponderance of various
t r i b a l conununities l i k e San t a l s , Bbumatjs and S~algiris
formed the hinterland market for the indigenously
produced and inported goods of Balasore. The d i s t r i c t i n
exchange of such goods the bulk of vhich was consisted of
rice, salt, c l o t h e s and Kerosene o i l , availed of the
numerous types of f o r e s t produce from these t r i b u t a r y
states. The t r i b a l people r e g u l a r l y came t o the l o c a l
hats (weekly markets) o f Balasore f o r the purchase of
t h e i r necessary a r t i c l e s of d a i l y usee. Besides, i n the
~ h a r i f seasons when Balasore, a predominantly r i c e -
groving d i s t r i c t , required e x t r a hands, the t r i b a l people
leaving on t h e o u t s k i r t s of t h e jungle used t o come f o r
wage labour. I n north Balasore p a r t i c u l a r l y many S a n t a l s
i n course of time s e t t l e d down and reclaimed the jungle
f o r cultivationg. After the s a l t i n d u s t r y was closed
down i n 1892, a l a r g e portion of the s a l t t r a c t i n the
c o a s t a l b e l t of thanas Balipal, Basta and Balasore was
reclaimed f o r c u l t i v a t i o n by Chakdars ( s p e c u l a t o r s ) from
Midnapore with the labour of these Santals from
Mayurbhanj and t h e Muslims from ~ i d n a ~ o r e " . Stone-
c u t t i n g and making of u t e n s i l s out of stone was another
area vhich linked the economy of Balasore v i t h the
tributary state of ~ilgiri. Muguni a black stone
quarried c h i e f l y i n the ~ i l g i r ih i l l s a s a l s o i n K i l m
Talmunda of Mangalpur was brought i n bulk t o be converted
i n t o u t e n s i l s i n ~ u g u n i p u r , ~ a r i k p u rand o t h e r v i l l a g e s
of thana Soro. The market of Balasore then served a s
conduits for the export af these stoneware, vhlch had
r i t u a l sanctity i n ~alcutta'l. Balasore was a l s o the
conduit f o r passage of caste-Hindus from the c o a s t a l
d i s t r i c t t o the t r i b u t a r y s t a t e s a s p r i e s t s , teachers,
s e t t l e d c u l t i v a t o r s and service-holders. Thus t h e r e was
a many-sided i n t e r a c t i o n , b e t w e e n the d i s t r i c t of Balasore
and the C O ~ ~ ~ ~ U native
O U S s t a t e s t o i t s v e s t which had
l a i d the broad b a s i s f o r c a s t e - t r i b e socio-economic and
c u l t u r a l correspondence over the years.
The S a l t t r a c t about 3 miles broad on the
eastern edge of t h e d i s t r i c t running the whole way down
the coast was home t o a vegetation of low scrub jungle.
The s a n d h i l l s on the verge of the ocean were 'carpeted
with the fleshy leaves of creepers and the vild
convolvulus" vhich supported the myriad antelopes. The
prairies of coarse long gross f u r t h e r inland was a
n a t u r a l grazing ground f o r t h e herds of c a t t l e from the
adjoining a r a b l e tract". The scrub jungle supplied
cheap f u e l t o the c h u l i a s (heads of s a l t gangs) f o r
producing Panga s a l t t o a considerable extent. his
provided off-season employment to a good number of
agricultural labourers specially belonging to semi-
Hinduised aboriginal cornunities like Pans and
~andaras". Among the places which were most known f o r
producing t h e " f i n e s t Panga s a l t " on t h e Balasore c o a s t
were Bolang and Sartha of thana Baliapal; Dasl~elang,
Panchr~alanq and Ankura of thana Balasore; churamoni i n
thana Basudevpur and Dhma and ~ h a r d i a of tJIdntI
chandbalil'. When s a l t production ceased the Malangis
f l e d t o the i n t e r i o r of the d i s t r i c t f u r t h e r depopulating
these places.
The Arable t r a c t formed over centuries w i t h the s i l t
deposited by large r i v e r s l i k e Subarnarekha, Burhaba tang
and Bditarani vas "a long dead l e v e l of r i c e f i e l d s " .
Besides these large r i v e r s there were other small r i v e r s
such as the Panchpara, the Jamka and the Kansban.
Together these r i v e r s made the natural drainage system of
the d i s t r i c t . Despite being rained almost a l l of these
r i v e r s had excellent e s t u a r i e s on the mouth which enabled
the s a i l of ocean going ships. P i p l i on the mouth of
r i v e r SubarnareWla and the port-town of Balasore on the
mouth of r i v e r Burhabalanga had p a r t i c u l a r l y a t t r a c t e d
the various European trading companies i n the middle of
the 17'~ century t o s e t up t h e i r ware-houses and carry on
trading a c t i v i t i e s from these bases i n the eastern zone
of the country. During t h i s period Balasore had earned
considerable reputation f o r the weaving and ship-building
industries. Thousands of weaving f a m i l i e s had flocked
i n t o Balasore t o vork around the ~ n g l i s hf act0rf5.
D u r i n g the second half of the 19"
century Chandbali on the mouth of the r i v e r Beitarani
emerged as another major port .on the Orissan coast.
However, due t o excessive s i l t i n g these ports declined
rapidly leaving only a few f i s h i n g harbors. these
f i s h e r i e s were recognised as appertaining t o the c o a s t a l
landlords. Their income was presumably derived from the
fishermen who s e t t l e d i n l a r g e numbers around the harbors
and paid f o r the use of the f i s h e r i e s f o r drying and
fixing t h e i r nets t o the ~ a n i n d a r s ' ~ . The opening of the
railway g r e a t l y encouraged the trade i n f i s h by providing
easy access t o the large markets i n Kharagpur and
Calcutta. The r o l e played by the Bengali middlemen i n
this export trade of f i s h by r a i l from Bahanaga Bazar and
BalaSor0 t o Calcutta was considerable17.
The geo-political configuration of Balasore
remained unchanged from 1870 f o r the whole of the
colonial period. Due t o the inane p o l i t i c a l sense
exercised by Hare Krishna Mahatab the administration of
the ex-state of N i l g i r i belonging t o the Eastern s t a t e s
Agency was taken over by the Government of Orissa on the
1 4 ' ~ November, 1947. N i l g i r i formally merged w i t h Orissa
on the lst January, 1948 and was constituted i n t o a
regular sub-division of the d i s t r i c t on 15'~ December,
1949''. After t h i s the d i s t r i c t was divided i n t o three
sub-divisions and i n course of time i n t o 9 T e h e i l s ( u n i t
of of land revenue administration) and 2 1 thanes. But no
major change has been affected i n i t s component p a r t s and
the d i s t r i c t s t i l l remains the smallest i n the S t a t e of
Orissa.
Demographic Profile of Balarore
P r i o r t o 1872 rough attempts had been made from
time t o time t o estimate the number of i n h a b i t a n t s of
Balasore. In first such estimate a f t e r the cyclones of
1831 and 1832, the population was put at 450,000.
Shortly a f t e r v a r d s i n 1837, another estimate, conducted
by the v i l l a g e Chaukidars ( r u r a l policemen) i n the wake
of the t r a n s f e r of a l a r g e area t o the d i s t r i c t from
Midnapore, reported a population of 463,750. A rough
survey of the i n h a b i t a n t s was next conducted i n 1840 a t
the time of the f i r s t tridecennial settlement which
returned an estimated population of 650,000 persons. In
1865 the f i g u r e was 732,000 before the famine. The
famine which took a heavy t o l l of l i f e i n the d i s t r i c t
reduced the populations t o 485,000~'.
In 1871 the first attempt to begin a regular
enumeration of the ~ n d i a n population was made by the
Government. Accordingly a general census of the d i s t r i c t
of Balasore was taken between the 15'~ and 22- December,
1871 19. The r e s u l t of t h i s census "approximating t o the
truth" revealed a t o t a l population of 770,232 persons
dwelling i n 3266 v i l l a g e s and inhabiting 138,913 houses.
If the post-famine figure of population was any
i n d i c a t i o n of the a c t u a l mortality, then the degree of
recuperation by 1872 was r e a l l y impressive. With -an
average d e n s i t y of 373 persons per square mile i t was
obvious for such a phenomenal population to get
progressively established. The 1881 census found the
increase only by 22 per cent, t h e pressure of population
on land having r i s e n t o 453 per square mile. The next
decade recorded a f u r t h e r diminished r a t e of progress.
The t o t a l number of persons estimated i n 1891 being
994,675 vas only 5 per cent more than i n 1881. However,
t h i s "increase was very evenly d i s t r i b u t e d " a l l over t h e
d i s t r i c t . The stagnancy found i n thana Jaleswar due t o
excessive m a t e r i a l death was counterbalanced by an 11 per
cent i n c r e a s e i n Chandballfs population which witnessed
great development of t r a d e and reclamation of wasteland.
During the ensuing decade t h e population of Chandbali and
the adjacent Basudevpur thanas shoved f u r t h e r growth
owing to the continuing trading activities. The
d i s t r i c t a s a whole a l s o accounted f o r a 7 . 7 per cent
increase s i n c e 1891 d e s p i t e a d i s a s t r o u s f l o o d vhich
caused temporary l o s s of population i n thana Dhamnagar.
Thus by t h e turn of the century the population of
Balasore stood a t a high of 1,140,102 w i t h a d e n s i t y of
514 persons t o t h e square mile. The d e n s i t y i n i t s
extremities v a r i e d from 662 and 591 persons per square
mile i n thanas Bhadrak and Dhamnagar which contained much
of the southern f e r t i l e p l a i n of the d i s t r i c t t o 302
persons per square mile i n t h e maritime p o l i c e c i r c l e of
Chandbali. However, t h e population s t a r t e d declinQg
a f t e r reaching t h i s high water-mark i n subsequent decades
a s the Table 1" b e l w shows only t o recoup f u l l y i n 1961.

TABLE - I
DECADAL VARIATION OF POPULATION I N BALASORE

Y BAR POPULATION PERCENTAGE OF VARIATION

The opening decade was the f i r s t i n the s e r i e s of

the census vhen the d i s t r i c t l o s t i t s population by 1 4
per cent. This marginal l o s s was a s much due t o bad
harvests f o r seven consecutive years from 1903 onwards a s
due t o d e b i l i t a t i n g impact of the epidemic of cholera i n
the years 1907 and 1908. The t v i n maladies not only
checked the n a t u r a l growth of population but a l s o forced
people t o emigrate on a l a r g e s c a l e . The trend p e r s i s t e d
i n recurring f e a s t s during the next two decades a l s o .
Barring f i r s t f o u r years a f t e r 1911 the remainder of the
decade was a period of the bad .health and poor harvest.
Inadequate rainfall in 1915 and 1916 brought about
s c a r c i t y of food a s w e l l a s outbreaks of cholera. The
havoc of influenza a l s o v i s i t e d the d i s t r i c t i n 1918.
 The culminative e f f e c t of t h e s e a f f l i c t i o n s r e s u l t e d i n
the death r a t 0 of w e r 50 p e r thousand i n 1919. In
addition the Sadar sub-division was affected by a
v i r u l e n t v i s i t a t i o n of malaria. The containing s p e l l of
which was heightened by a s e v e r e outbreak of smallpox and
heavy f l o o d s i n 1927. The lost three years of this
decades were not enough t o make good the e n t i r e l o s s of
l i f e . Almost a l l t h e thanas i n t h e d i s t r i c t shared t h e s e
aqonising experiences even though t h e Sadar thana and
some were t h e worst s u f f e r e r s . The t a b l e I1 below w i l l
shov t h e thana-wise l o s s of population during t h e s e two
decades.
TB5I.E - I1

THANA-WISE V A R I A T I O N OF P O P U L A T I O N I N BALBSORE
 Source: *(Population figures for the
d i s t r i c t t o t a l h e r e v a r i e s from t h e 1961 census
owing t o t h e r e a d l u s t r n s n t o f p o p u l a t l o r r done i n t h e
l a t e r merger o f t h e N i l q i r i s u b - d i v i s i o n w i t h the
d i s t r i c t o f Balasore).

The decade of 1931-40 recorded a modest

increase i n the population over the f i g u r e of 1931.
~ e s p i t etwo floods which occurred i n the years 1933 and
1940 the average out-turn of crop was satisfactory
throughout the decade. The population could have
recovered s u b s t a n t i a l l y but f o r the prevalence of cholera
and the v i r u l e n t outbreak of smallpox i n the year 1938.
As a result, t h i s was the lowest percentage of growth
recorded by any d i s t r i c t of the S t a t e during the decade.
However, the marginal recuperation was l o s t during the
next decade because of a destructive cyclone t h a t swept
over North Balasore particularly affectlng Bhograi,
Baliapal and Jalesvar police circles in 1942. The
subsequent years also experienced heavy floods and
pestilence. The rigorous of f e v e r which had decreased i n
the previous decade reappeared t o take i t s t o l l on the
marooned people. The distress was assuaged in a
concerted manner only a f t e r the country's independence.
The entire district was covered by the Community
Development and National Extension Service Blocks.
Intensive drive f o r the r e s t o r a t i o n of public health
particularly yielded good results. Multi-pronged
development efforts in the f i e l d s of extension o f ,
a g r i c u l t u r e , r u r a l medical f a c i l i t i e s , lift irrigation,
spread of primary education and road communications
shoved up i n an impressive decadal growth of population
during 1951-60. I n 1961 t h e population of Balasore stood
a t 1,415,923 persons accounting f o r an increase i n each
of the p o l i c e s t a t i o n s .
In another aspect of the demographic
composition of the census enumeration of 1872 showed a
favourable s e x - r a t i o on t h e s i d e of t h e female. The
upsuring i n the trend continued upto 1921 when the r a t i o
began declining i n successive census. In the post-
independence period p a r t i c u l a r l y , a s the Table I1 1 ~ ~
shows, the r a t i o became d i s t i n c t l y unfavourable. The
census of 1951 f o r t h e f i r s t time returned a s h o r t f a l l of
11 females t o every 1000 males. The next census, a s i f a
p a t t e r n , reported a f u r t h e r d e c l i n e i n the number of
females. The reasons which the superintendent of Census
Operations attended t o t h i s phenomenon pertained t o t h e
b i r t h of more male than female babies, normality among
female infants and maternal mortality due to
malnutrition, d i s e a s e and frequent c h i l d bearing under
poor medical condition. However, t h e h i s t o r i c a l f a c t o r s
responsible f o r the pre-1921 s e x - r a t i o i n t h e d i s t r i c t
assigns on a l t o g e t h e r d i f f e r e n t reason f o r the subsequent
declining trend.
 TABLE - I11

DECADAL S E X - R A T I O I N T H E D I S T R I C T OF B A L A S O R E

YERR NO. OF F E M A L E S
P E R 1000 M A L E S

The t i l t i n t h e balance towards females before

1921 vasn't s o much because of t h e women's ability to
survive n a t u r a l c a l a m i t i e s o r t o the b i r t h of more female
than male babies. The small proportion of girls t o boys
i n the 1872 census and excessive proportion of females
about 12 y e a r s of age t o males of the same c l a s s was more
due t o t h e s t a t u s which a g i r l c h i l d enjoyed i n t h e
contemporary Orissan societyz3. I t vas not an unusual
p r a c t i c e f o r a s c r i b i n g vomanhood t o a g i r l a t a much
e a r l l e r age than t h e boys. Most of t h e c a s t e s and t h e
semi-Hinduised communities looked upon l a t e marriage of
the girls a s s o c i a l l y repugnant. Despite the e f f o r t s
made by t h e c o l o n i a l government and t h e f o r v a r d looking
natives, female education i n t h e d i s t r i c t d i d not take-
off u n t i l a f t e r independence. Under t h e circumstances
t h e n a t u r a l course open f o r a g i r l c h i l d was t o look
forward t o r a i s i n g a family. As distressing poverty
forced the male members t o move o u t of t h e d i s t r i c t i n
search of work, t h e females stayed back. Looking a f t e r
the family and their ancestral holdingz4. I n 1920s
Calcutta, Jamshedpur and Rangoon were t h e main c e n t e r s
which received t h e s e emigrees from ~ a l a s o r e " . Even among
the people who went o u t p e r i o d i c a l l y t o work i n t h e
neighbouring d i s t r i c t s , m o r t a l i t y vas f r e q u e n t and high
due t o c o n t r a c t i o n of d i s e a s e s . I t was not u n l i k e l y ,
therefore, t o f i n d an excess of females i n t h e d i s t r i c t .
.4 s i g n i f i c a n t segment of t h i s excess was formed by t h e
widows. A f t e r 1931 t h e economy of t h e d i s t r i c t g r a d u a l l y
started looking up. Especially after Independence
because of t h e Governments v a r i o u s welfare measures t h e
pernicious t r e n d of out-migration was checked t o some
extentz6. As a r e s u l t t h e s e x - r a t i o within the d i s t r i c t

began acquiring normality.

I n s p i t e of t h e r e being suggestions i n regard t o

the e x i s t e n c e of manufacturing and mercantile townships
I n Balasore preceding t h e B r i t i s h occupation of O r i s s a ,
the d i s t r i c t had a compelling r u r a l look during the
period under study. The census of 1872 r e t u r n e d Balasore
a3 t h e only town with a population of 18,263. The o t h e r
places which had some semblance of town life vere
Bhadrak, Jaleswar and Soro. But none had enough
population t o be r e t u r n e d a s townships by t h e Census
Superintendent, C. F. Magrath. Collectively, however,
the people l i v i n g i n these places c o n s t i t u t e d 4.18 per
cent of the t o t a l population. The remainder l i v e d i n
3,529 v i l l a g e s .

Table-IV.
Growth o f Urban P o p u l a t i o n i n Balasore
Tovn dua6ed DlcdJ. Flsrr.
1872 lml 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951
B J ~ 19163
~ m5 m 5 lo~so 21362 ~xm I R ~19425 nu51 m1
Bhdnl; - - 1- 18518 lDSR 18175 18283 1959 1i795
Idem - - - - - 102
Charctbla - - - - 946
Sso 3091

Toul 1918 10265 36515 R198 3994) 35212 #I16 3s9B 41606 91905
-
Toul Tmm 920s0 994675 1141102 1
1
a 106726 1059194 IlOgnJ 1106612 1415923
pup^

%ofUlbm 1 4 2 2 3 7 3 5 3.6 3 4 3 4 3 $ 3 8 6 5
PDpullllon

As the Table IV" above indicates, the

proportion of urban population t o the t o t a l population of
the d i s t r i c t made very t a r d y progress over the decades.
There were no avenues f o r people t o congregate i n any
p a r t i c u l a r place. Rapid development of commerce and
manufacture which i s s o powerful a f a c t o r i n the i n c r e a s e
of urban population remained elusive throughout the
periad. Balasore and subsequently Bhadrak which was
recoghised a s a town i n 1891, grew only a s c e n t e r s of
c i v i l administration. The markets i n both the p l a c e s
could never outgrow the primary commodity types. The
government had no policy t o guide urban developmentZB.
TWO o t h e r important r e l i g i o u s groups i n the d i s t r i c t ,
accounted for a minuscule percentage of the total
population. The Census of 1872 reported t h a t 18,878
number of muslims and 530 number of c h r i s t i a n s a s l i v i n g
i n the d i s t r i c t . No attempt seems t o have been made
during the Afghan and the Hughal r u l e t o obtain l a r g e
s c a l e conversion i n t o Islam. The s o l e exceptions were
the Bhatta Brahmins of Garhpada who had been forced t o
embrace Islam by Aurangzeb i n the l a s t q u a r t e r of the
llth century. According t o the 1872 census, the other
people who switched w e r t o Islam were the Paniabandhar,
one of the Hindu low castes. Muslims remained
e s s e n t i a l l y an e x c l u s i v i s t community and a l l w e d l i t t l e
l a t i t u d e f o r demographic expansion. it was not usual t o
f i n d a person professing Islam i n the usual garb of a
contemporary Oriya. Even among the depressed c l a s s e s who
practiced no discrimination i n t h e i r food h a b i t s one
noticed no tendency i n g e t t i n g converted i n t o Islam.
I n comparison, the c h r i s t i a n missionaries
were l e s s bothered about the language, food and d r e s s
habits while seeking conversion of the natives. A native
was welcomed i n t o the church while s t i l l continuing v i t h
h i s Oriya i d e n t i t y . Infact, i n q u i r i e s r e v e a l t h a t a good
number of high caste Hindus got converted into
C h r i s t i a n i t y even before 1865. Prominent among those
early converts vas the ~ r a h m i n eamindkt of Sahaa,,
parshuram Mahapatra. Some 8 t o 10 Khandait f a m i l i e s
bearing t h e casteryrn of Nayak and Kuanr and a number of
sahukars (money-lenders) a l s o got converted during t h i s
time. For these converts purposes other than seeking
s p i r i t u a l solace i n t h e " f a i t h " were the main motivation.
Whereas the Sahada Zarnindar sought t o use h i s church
a f f i l i a t i o n f o r s e t t i n g property disputes, the Sahukars
wanted t o acquire Zamindaris by exercising t h e i r church
influence. The IChandait f a m i l i e s , on the other hand,
wanted to avail educational as well as material
assistance from t h e church f o r g e t t i n g s e t t l e d i n l i f e .
In rural areas, the Mission didn't encounter much
resistance. Church sources i n Balasore maintain t h a t i n
the e a r l y decades of its activity at places like
Santipore i n Jaleswar, Mitrapur i n the N i l g i r i Tributary
S t a t e and a t s e v e r a l places i n the Basta and Chandbali
police c i r c l e s , the Mission received requests e s p e c i a l l y
from t h e womenfolk t o take c a r e of t h e i r son's education.
w i t h the b e n e f i t of hindsight, of course, one could say
t h a t t h e l i b e r a l a t t i t u d e on t h e p a r t of the church i n
allowing native converts t o r e t a i n t h e i r pre-conversion
names and s o c i a l i d e n t i t y might have been a cause f o r
poor rate of conversion and negligible growth of
C h r i s t i a n population i n t h e d i s t r i c t a s t h e Table V 29

below shows.
 TABLE-V
Trend3 i n t h e D i s t r i b u t i o n of Population by t h e Main
~ e l i g i o n si n Balasore.
C a w Totd Pacadsge Pacahge Chric- Percsdrge
yem popJllian HindLu of the Total Mwlim of the TOM t i a i of the T d
of the Population Populdon Populslim
Dirtrict

1961 1.415.923 1.368347 96.6 45.401 3.2 1.945 0.13

As regards t h e Muslims, an attempt had
been made by the reformist elements during the
century t o b u i l d up a s y n e r g e t i c base i n t h e c u l t of
Satyapir between t h e Hindus and t h e Muslims a t t h e s o c i a l
level. But t h e e f f o r t d i d not grow i n t o an autonomous
s o c i o - r e l i g i o u s movement. People who reposed f a i t h i n
the c u l t did not f e e l impelled to come out of the
rigidities of their respective religious folds to
i d e n t i f y themselves a s a s e p a r a t e s o c i a l category t h e way
some Brahmos and Mahima Dharmis l a t e r f e l t i n c l i n e d t o do
during t h e l a t t e r half of t h e 1 9 century.
~ ~ Even t h e
followers of S r i Chaitarya q u i t e e a r l y i n t h e s o c i a l
h i s t o r y of 0rissa30 had shown g r i t t o include a l l ranks
i n t o t h e i r fold. I t i s another matter t h a t with t h e
passage of time this once powerful socio-religious
reformation movement had l o s t i t s force. By t h e l a t t e r
half of t h e 19* century, many of t h e s e Vaishnavas l i v e d
a s r e l i g i o u s mendicants. The r e s t had been absorbed i n t o
the l a r g e r f o l d of Hindu s o c i e t y a s an intermediate
sudra c a s t e
31
.
In a like manner, various aboriginal
communities who came i n c l o s e r c o n t a c t with t h e Hindu
Castes g r a d u a l l y became Hinduised, though a c t u a l l y they
remained o u t s i d e t h e pale of t h e Varna order. T i l l 1911
the term "depressed c l a s s " was not used i n r e l a t i o n t o
these people. But afterwards i f gained more p o l i t i c a l
currency. I n the 1930s t h e c o l o n i a l Government i n i a c t
t r l e d t o use i t a s a p o l i t i c a l weapon t o cause d i s s e n s i o n
within t h e ranks of the Indian N a t i o n a l i s t Leadership.
Responding t o such a p o l i c y of d i v i d e and r u l e a movement
was launched by Mahatma Gandhi t o accord s o c i a l e q u a l i t y
t o t h e depressed c l a s s e s . But much before t h e beginning
of the "Harijan Movement", t h e census r e p o r t s adopted t h e
term to denote those groups by reason of their
disabilities i n traditional society. As f a r instance
members belonging to these social groups were not
permitted t o p e n e t r a t e beyond t h e o u t e r p r e - u n i t s of t h e
v i l l a g e temple, were not supposed t o draw water from t h e
common v e l l and t o s i t w i t h o t h e r c h i l d r e n i n t h e v i l l a g e
school. Judged by t h i s standard, t h e d i s t i n c t i o n between
t h e depressed c l a s s e s and o t h e r underprivileged c a s t e s
down t h e s o c i a l hierarchy, which a l s o f a c e d degrees of
u n t o u c h a b i l i t y .from t h e r i t u a l l y s u p e r i o r c a s t e s was a
genuine one. In t h i s c o n t e x t , t h e Telis o r sunris, could
not be considered a s "depressed" though in orthodox
assembly t h e y Would be denied access t o t h e i n t e r i o r of a
Hindu ~ e m ~ l eOn~ ~t h .e o t h e r hand, because of t h e stigma
attached t o t h e i r c a s t e i n t h e i r every day l i f e r t h e y
vere deprived of o p p o r t u n i t i e s what could be regarded a s
the ordinary r i g h t s of a c i t i z e n .
These obvious handicaps not v i t h s t a n d i n g , the
Hindu s o c i e t y a t l e a s t accorded a t h e o r e t i c a l base f o r
i n c l u s i o n of d i v e r s e s o c i a l groups within i t s ambit and
the process of "Hinduisation" that ensued contributed
substantially to the numerical preponderance of the
Hindus i n t h e census records. The Muslim communities
characteristically lacked this wide-embracing trait.
Infact, most of t h e Muslims vhom t h e census of 1872
recorded as native converts bearing "little in his
personal appearance t o d i s t i n g u i s h him from t h e Hindu"
were immigrants, who had come t o t h e d i s t r i c t a t one o r
the o t h e r p o i n t of time. The p a r t i c u l a r growth i n t h e i r
number recorded i n t h e 1931 census while the overall
population of t h e d i s t r i c t s u f f e r e d l o s s was due t o t h e
immigration them a t t h e behest of t h e Chakdars t o reclaim
s a l i n e land i n t h e Baliapal, Basta and Balasore p o l i c e
circles.

Carte Syrtem
The b a s i c component which permeated and t o a
great extent defined the Hindu Society was caste.
conceptually it was based on the principles of (a)
endogamy, Ib) h e r e d i t a r y occupation t h a t went with i t , o
the number of taboos i t p r a c t i s e d , (dl t h e amount of
a u t h o r i t y it exercised on i t s f e l l o w members and, abaove
a l l , (el t h e p o s i t i o n i t held i n t h e r i t u a l hierarchy of
the s o c i e t y . The f i r s t census taken i n 1872 i n the
d i s t r i c t r e t u r n e d a s many a s 99 c a s t e s . These c a s t e s
were graded into 14 categories such as, (1) Hindu
superior castes, (2) Intermediate castes, (3) Trading
castes, (4) Pastoral castes, (5) Castes engaged in
preparing cooked food, (6) A g r i c u l t u r a l castes, (7)
c a s t e s engaged c h i e f l y i n personal s e r v i c e , (8) Artisan
castes, ( 9 ) Weaver c a s t e s , (10) labouring c a s t e s , (11)
c a s t e s occupied i n s e l l i n g f i s h and vegetables, (12)
Boating and f i s h i n g c a s t e s , (13) Dancer, Musician, Beggar
and Vagabond castes and (14) Persons of unknown or
unspecified c a s t e s . Hunter who reproduced C.F. Magrath's
separate District Census compilation for ~alasore~~
rearranged t h e s e c a s t e s i n t o 4 broad c a t e g o r i e s , v i z . (1)
High castes, (2) Respectable Sudra Castes, (3)
Intermediate Sudra Castes and (4) Low c a s t e s . This
r e c l a s s i f i e d o r d e r i n t h e view of Hunter stood 'as far
as p o s s i b l e according t o t h e rank vhich they hold i n
l o c a l p u b l i c esteem". Broadly i t was a h i n t a t t h e
change vhich had come about i n t h e l o c a l s o c i e t y under
t h e impact of t h e mechanics of c o l o n i a l governance. The
f a c t t h a t M r . Hunter f e l t i n c l i n e d t o i n c l u d e Brahmim,
~aj p u t s , Karanas, Khandayats, Baidyas, Ganaks, Bhats,
shagird Peshas and Bais-banias i n t h e same s t r a t a , who
t r a d i t i o n a l l y would have belonged t o Brahmana, Vaishya
and Sudra c a t e g o r i e s i n a descending order, smacked
of nev s o c i a l dynamics vhich had come t o assume a q u i e t
significance i n colonial Orissa.
The Karnas, vhose response t o t h e demands of
the c o l o n i a l s t a t e vas unequivocal, accounted f o r t h e
maximum number of educated men i n Orissa by t h e t u r n of
the l g t h century3'. Commenting on t h e i r r a p i d r i s e i n the
echelons of c o l o n i a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n OIMalley wrote i n
1907:
"Among t h e more educated c l a s s e s t h e Brahmans
a r e o b s t i n a t e and bigoted, but they a r e of a r e f i n e d and
educated type; and t h e w r i t e c a s t e of Karans, o r a s they
are called locally the Mahantis, have as high a
r e p u t a t i o n f o r acuteness a s t h e Kayasthas of Bihar. The
o l d reproach of u r d i t n e s s f o r government employment can
no longer be l e v e l e d a g a i n s t them. The purely f o r e i g n
element has almost disappeared from among t h e m i n i s t e r i a l
establishment, and even t h e domiciled Bengali who has
adopted t h e country a s h i s own i s l o s i n g ground before
the advancing n a t i v e of O r i s s a . Young Oriya graduates
passing out of the Ravenshaw College a t Cuttack are
e n t e r i n g t h e sub-ordinate executive s e r v i c e and a t t h e
present r a t e af recruitment, t h e r e w i l l i n a s h o r t time
be a staff of Oriya officers sufficient for the
recruitment of t h e whole ~ i v i s i o n " ~ The
~. achievement
undoubtedly brought a s w i f t t u r n around i n t h e s o c i a l
p o s i t i o n of t h e Karana who not before long worked a s
D a f t a r i s (head-clerks) i n t h e O f f i c e s of t h e Zamindars o r
as Gomastas (accountants) i n the houses of the T e l i
businessmen. Through matrimonial relations they
g e n e r a l l y drew s o c i a l sustenance from both t h e Khandayat
and the Chasa castes. But with their status
s u b s t a n t i a l l y enhanced i n t h e 2oth century, they began
p r a c t i c i n g s t r i c t endogamy36. By 1931, t h e r e were a s many
as 3 7 2 l i t e r a t e Karans i n every 1000 w i t h one l i t e r a t e
female t o about 6 l i t e r a t e males37.
I n comparison, t h e number of l i t e r a t e s among
Brahmins by t h e same time vas 136 per mile and the
d i s p a r i t y was twice a s g r e a t i n the female sex a s i t was
i n t h e male s e x . For 1 4 l i t e r a t e Brahmins, t h e r e was
only one l i t e r a t e woman. Thus t h e obvious advantage i n
the realm of education and government s e r v i c e which t h e
Karans could acquire enabled them t o r i s e v e r t i c a l l y up
i n t h e changed s o c i a l s e t up even a t times d i s p u t i n g t h e
p o s i t i o n held by t h e Brahmins i n i t .
What t h e Karans achieved i n g r e a t measure, t h e
Khandayats gained i n b i t s and p i e c e s . Once a claimant t o
the status of Kshatriyas in Orissa, this c a s t e was
woefully o u t s t r i p p e d by t h e immigrant Bengalis and l a t e r
by Karans under t h e c o l o n i a l d i s p e n s a t i o n . The "Sunset
l a m " wrought havoc v i t h many l a n d l o r d s belonging t o this
c a s t e i n t h e f i r s t f l u s h of t h e c o l o n i a l occupation of
Orissa. Even their services as s o l d i e r s were not
required by the ~010nial state. Commenting on t h i s
aspect 0' Malley v r o t e : ". . . . the decline i n the military
s p i r i t among t h i s people i s an extra-ordinary p o i n t i n
the development of t h e i r c h a r a c t e r . Though a few y e a r s
ago orders were passed f o r t h e e n l i s t i n g of Oriyas i n t h e
w i n g of a Madras regiment quartered a t Cuttack none were
found s u i t a b l e o r w i l l i n g f o r t h e employment"3B. However,
the t e n a c i t y of t h e Khandayats t o hold on t o "Brahmanical
culture" and t h e i r land largely as occupancy r a i y a t s
st111 preserved t h e i r p o s i t i o n among the higher c a s t e s i n
orissa. Slowly they e x h i b i t e d s i g n s of mobility by
taking to English education and government services.

~nunent personalities like ~akirmohan Senapati and

Madhusudan Das rose from among t h e i r ranks. But by then
the Khandayats had a l r e a d y conceded a much superior
s t a t u s t o t h e Karans. By 1931, they could claim only 97
l i t e r a t e s p e r every 1000 of them.
The downgrading of the chasa c a s t e t o share
equal rank with t h e h i t h e r t o s e r v i c e c a s t e s l i k e t h e
Bhandari, Kamara, Kumbhara etc., in the same way,
happened quite incoherently with their pre-colonial
social status. But t h e f a c t was poignant and i n d i r e c t l y
pointed t o t h e i r economic m e r g i n a l i s a t i o n i n c o l o n i a l
Orissa. The Chasas, a s a matter of f a c t , i n not s o
d i s t a n t a p a s t formed the v e r y base of the agrarian
social structure i n orissa. ~ 0 t ht h e Karans 4 the
Khandayats, who by v i r t u e O f t h e i r e d u c a t i o n a l and
economic a t t a i n m e n t s e f f e c t e d an upward s o c i a l m o b i l i t y ,
were a c t u a l l y t h e p r o d u c t s of t h i s once g r e a t c u l t i v a t i n g
caste of orissa. The widely applied caste proverb,
Khandayat Badhite Karana, C h h i n d i l e chasa meaning "when a
Khandait moves up t h e s o c i a l l a d d e r , be becomes a karana
but when he goes down, becomes an o r d i n a r y c u l t i v a t o r "
s t i l l stands testimony t o t h i s inference. /
/ 1307
Traditionally the chasas accounted for the
upkeep of t h e i n s t i t u t i o n of Jajman and t h e c o r e of t h e
Orissan folk culture. But when the laws of land-
ownership changed a l l t o o suddenly and c h o r e s of life-
s t y l e began g e t t i n g transformed w i t h t h e w e l l to-do
s e c t i o n s of O r i s s a n s o c i e t y p u t t i n g a premium on E n g l i s h
e d u c a t i o n and government s e r v i c e , t h e c e n t r a l i t y of t h e
chasas t o t h e s o c i a l economy of O r i s s a n l i f e was l o s t .
In their new status, they increasingly became an
inconsequential c l a s s of tenants-at-will and hence no
b e t t e r t h a n t h e ~ e r v i c ec a s t e s . By 1931, t h e c a s t e had
o n l y 40 t o 50 l i t e r a t e s p e r 1,000 men.
Another contemporary s o c i a l anachronism which
Hunter's r e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of O r i s s a n c a s t e s p o i n t e d o u t
was t h e placement of shagird-Peshas and Rajus in two
different categories. The Shagird-Peshas, vho were said
t o be t h e o f f - s p r i n g s of low-caste women by Karan, Bhat
an$.-soloetimes, though r a r e l y , Brahmin f a t h e r s were put i n
r

r 137. ..
ANAHDA RARCA rILLAl UBRARY
PONDICHERRY V N I V L W f Y
the list of "Higher c a s t e s " v h i l e t h e Rajus, supposed t o
be t h e o f f - s p r i n g s of a mixed parentage of t h e s i m i l a r
kind were p u t below on t h e rank of t h e Chasas, Tambulis,
Kultas and Gauras. The c a t e g o r i s a t i o n was perhaps not
done inadvertently. Social portraits drawn in the
contemporary Oriya l i t e r a t u r e and a l s o mentioned in
scores of a d m i n i s t r a t i v e r e p o r t s p o i n t t o t h e p r a c t i c e of
extra-marital relationships as prevalent among the
persons of t h e upper s t r a t a . I t might not have been
wholly improbable, t h e r e f o r e , f o r t h e Zamindars and the
noveaux-rich, bidders of an up-market f o r t u n e , w i t h a l l
the power and p e l f which t h e c o l o n i a l a g r a r i a n system and
bestowed upon them, t o have f o s t e r e d t h e s o c i a l o r i g i n of
the shagird-peshas. A s a c a s t e , they do not f i n d mention
in the annals of t h e pre-colonial s o c i a l h i s t o r y of
Orissa. Thus, being a p o s s i b l e off-shoot of t h e neo-
e l i t e i n t h e Orissan s o c i e t y t h e i r claim t o a higher
s o c i a l rank was not unnatural. I n the census of 1872
t h e i r number was r e t u r n e d a s 3373. But gradual omission
of t h e c a s t e i n t h e subsequent census p o i n t s t o i t s
4
ultimate merger with t h e c l a s s of i t s origin3'.
The Rajus, on t h e otherhand, were a product of
the pre-colonial times. A numerous c a s t e i n the
northern p a r t of t h e d i s t r i c t , t h e i r merginaLisation was,
however, temporary. While reviewing t h e s o c i a l bases of
land administration in the district, periodical
s e t t l m m n t r e p o r t s elnphasised on t h e i r gradual progress
i n t h e f i e l d of education, government s e r v i c e s and t r a d e
and businesses. Not s u r p r i s i n g l y , t h e i r claim t o t h e
~ s h a t r i y a s t a t u s vas p r o j e c t e d vigorously sooner than
laterq0. Formerly a numerous c u l t i v a t i n g c a s t e w i t h the
common surname "Raju they adopted a d i s p a r a t e range of
surnames from "Mahapatra" to "Das" and established
extensive m a r t i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s v i t h t h e Khandayats of
Orissa.
The r i s e of T e l i s , who o r i g i n a l l y were returned
i n t h e 1 8 7 2 census a s belonging t o an a r t i s a n c a s t e along
w i t h t h e D a r z i l s ( t a i l o r s ) and Sunris ( d i s t i l l e r s ) t o the
p o s i t i o n of a r e s p e c t a b l e Sudra c a s t e a s a l s o i n keeping
with t h e i r adaptability t o the changed socio-economic
atmosphere. At a time when the cultivating castes
s u f f e r e d on account of r e p r e s s i v e revenue administration,
the T e l i s , from t h e p o s i t i o n s of small-time o i l p r e s s e r s
and sellers rose as money-lenders, traders, and
ultimately as proprietary tenure-holders. On their
educational attainments t h e census of 1931 s t a t e d : h heir
dealings i n t r a d e have l e d a f a i r number of t h e i r men-
f o l k about one i n t e n t o acquire some f a m i l i a r i t y v i t h
the three R's but their females are still very

Hovever, t h e r i s e of T e l i s was e f f e c t e d when

Marwaris and Gujaratis had a l r e a d y taken c o n t r o l of t h e
business market i n Orissa. The T e l i s co-existed with
them b u t conceded t o t h e Mkwaris t h e leading p o s i t i o n i n
operating commercial c a p i t a l d 2 . The f u r t h e r improvement
in the status of the Telis a s t h e dominant l o c a l
e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l community would not only have moved them
up s u b s t a n t i a l l y on t h e s o c i a l s c a l e b u t could a l s o have
changed t h e economic f a c e of Orissa. But t h e lack of
avenues f o r forming an indigenous high c a p i t a l base i n
the hands of t h e Telis s h i f t e d t h e i r a t t e n t i o n towards
land a c q u i s i t i o n and stymied whatever p o s s i b i l i t i e s there
e x i s t e d f o r economic regeneration of Orissa w i t h i n t h e
c o l o n i a l frame-work. A s f o r t h e i r contemporary p o s i t i o n
i t was s u f f i c i e n t f o r them t o claim a higher s o c i a l
status i n the d i s t r i c t .
Even the Gauras vho traditionally were a
pastoral caste, consequent upon their large-scale
migration t o and from C a l c u t t a , claimed g r e a t e r s o c i a l
respectability. A few of them a l s o boasted of modern
education.
On the whole, therefore, the emergent social
s t r u c t u r e i n t h e d i s t r i c t t o be l a r g e l y defined by the
changing occupational scenario. The c a s t e s which adopted
t o the emerging occupational demands could materially
achieve upvard mobility i n t h e s o c i a l s c a l e . But many
numerous c a s t e s which f a i l e d t o respond s q u a r e l y e i t h e r
remained t r a n s f i x e d i n t h e i r p i e - e x i s t i n g position or
a c t u a l l y went down t h e s c a l e . Tdntis, Kewdts and Dhobas,
numerous though they were in the district, were
increasingly merginalised because af decline in the
profitability of their hereditary occupations. The
~ a n t i 3especially, who accounted f o r the former economic
prosperity of the d i s t r i c t , had t o join the ever-swelling
rank of land-less-labourers. T h i s was not withstanding
the emergence of a c l a s s of Matibansi ~ j h a s (teachers)
from amongst them, who were being eagerly sought a f t e r t o
teach Village pupils arithmetic i n the period presaging
the introduction of English education i n Orissa. Their
irrelevance pushed them below the pollution level. As
the'census of 1 9 3 1 ~ on
~ occupational s t r u c t u r e i n o r i s s a

shows, these three castes were the most immune t o change

i n t h e i r hereditary occupations.
Again commenting on the extent t o which castes
i n o r i s s a had changed t h e i r hereditary occupations the
same authority quoted a correspondent from Orissa as
saying: "with the advancement of education and growth of
cosmopolitan views the tendency t o s t i c k t o t r a d i t i o n a l
occupation has t o t a l l y disappeared i n towns, where a t
present, the profession of a man i s purely one of h i s
choice, or of h i s guardians. But i n d i s t a n t muffassils
adherence to such traditional occupation has been
determined more by the economic necessity of the v i l l a g e s
and t h e i r inhabitants than by any s a n c t i t y of custom or
r e s t r i c t i o n of caste government o r opposition from other
castes o r comunitiasw4'.
 As a d i r e c t consequence of t h i s new phenomenon
a general d e s i r e was observed among many upwardly mobile
Hindu c a s t e s t o be recognised a s higher c a s t e s . For the
purpose they attached various mythological and,
therefore, f a r f e t c h e d a p p e l l a t i o n s t o t h e i r pre-existing
caste names. Table V I ~below
~ presents a l i s t of new
names f o r the upwardly mobile old c a s t e s .
TABLE - V I

NEW N A M E S F O R O L D C A S T E S I N O R I S S A

Rha t Brahmans Rha t

tiaran S r i Karana
Khandayat Mahanaik/Srestha
tihandai t
Tnl i h'uhnra
R R u
~ t . Shuk t a v a t
C h ~ n d a ~a~n d
Ksha t r i yns
Gaura - Jaduvamsi
tiha t r i ya/ Jadava
Rarhai
h'ama r - Vishwakarma Rrahmana
Pathusia
Sunri - Shaundi k a Ksha t , r i ya
Napi t / R h a n d a r i - Nai Rrahmana

The instrument t o which these c a s t e s resorted

t o f o r legitmising t h e i r f r e s h claims were the c a s t e
Sabhas. These a s s o c i a t i o n s p r o l i f e r a t e d p a r t i c u l a r l y
during the 1920s. I n most cases the procedure was t o
s e l e c t f o r t h e c a s t e a new name and pass r e s o l u t i o n s i n
regard t o i s s u e s dealing with food and drink, abandonment
Of occupations unbecoming of the nev claim, postponement
of the age af marriage e t c . The a t t i t u d e of the r i t u a l l y
superior c a s t e s towards these movements was i n i t i a l l y
hostile. The abandonment of beqari (menial work) on the
part of certain castes particularly caused great
rnconvenience t o them. When t h e Gauras, f o r instance,
refused t o c a r r y palanquins i n Balasore a s p a r t of t h e i r
campaign t o g e t recognised a s Yaduvamsi Kshatriyas, the
Khandaits and Karans "vhose idea of false prestige
combined with an exaggerated notion of Purdah system"
received a rude j o l t , pecked up r i v a l r y a g a i n s t them.
B u t gradually an a t t i t u d e of i n d i f f e r e n c e gave way t o the
f e e l i n g of h o s t i l i t y . The Brahmins who received gracious
f e e s f o r according these new castenomes d i d s o without
inhibition knowing f u l l y w e l l t h a t such sanctions vould
not bring r e a l change i n the ritual status of the
concerned c a s t e s .
I n y e t another aspect, the changing c a s t e
equations even made occasional f o r a y s i n t o the endogamy
p r a c t i c e s of s e v e r a l c a s t e s . Progress i n public l i f e had
already made a dent on the observations of commensal
r u l e s . The p u r i f i c a t i o n r i t u a l s associated w i t h personal
contact, for example, after availing motor-lorry
passenger s e r v i c e s between Balasore and Bhadrak, which
46
had been introduced i n the 1920s , had become almost a
formality. The 1 9 2 1 census reported about c l e a r s i g n s of
l a x i t y i n matters of matrimonial r e l a t i o n s between
various sub-castes belonging t o the same c a s t e . The 1931
ceftsus quoting a correspondent from O r i s s a on t h i s s c o r e
s t a t e d : '\Money works i n t h e s e c a s e s a s a mighty l e v e l e r
of sub-castes. I f a member of a l w e r sub-caste a c q u i r e s
money, pover or authority, he marries into the
immediately higher sub-caste and gradually becomes
amalgamated i n t o i t . Thus most of t h e sub-castes of t h e
Brahmans Caste a r e g r a d u a l l y being amalgamated i n t o the
common genus. The chasas of Puri d i s t r i c t a r e thus
trying t o i n t e r - m a r r y i n t o , and pass themselves o f f a s
members of t h e Khandait c a s t e , while the Khandaits i n
their turn are trying to inter-marry into and pass
themselves o f f a s members of, t h e Kdraff c a s t e . This is
not due t o any r e l a x i n g of t h e r u l e s of i n t e r m a r r i a g e o r
commensality. These r u l e s a r e a s hard and inexorable a s
ever; but, a s s o c i a l r u l e s have l o s t t h e i r s a n c t i o n and
t h e i r binding f o r c e , people never f e a r o r s c r u p l e t o
v l o l a t e them whenever if s u i t s them t o do so. The man of
power and pelf can s h u t t h e mouth of t h e c a s t e people
with gold and break t h e s o c i a l r u l e s w i t h inpurity"".
Mutatis Mutandis t h e same observation was e q u a l l y
a p p l i c a b l e t o t h e r e s t of O r i s s a including Balasore which
always stood on t h e p r e c i p i c e of t h e pan-Orissan s o c i a l
complex.

F i n a l l y , t h e c a s t e s which survived and expanded

through combinations and re-combinations by 1931 were few
i n comparison t o t h e i r r e t u r n a s r e f e r r e d t o i n t h e 1872
census. Table vllle below g i v e s an i n d i c a t i o n of t h e
trends i n the q u a n t i t a t i v e expansion of c e r t a i n s e l e c t e d
castes i n Balasore.
TC\BLE - V I I

TRENDS I N THE POPULATION OF SELECTED CeSTES I N BALASORE

castes 1872 1931

Brahmin 110.658
Karan 22,354
Khandai t 199.750
Chasa 11,541
Gaura 69.157
Tel i 43.783
Rani a 9.200
Guri a 21 " 3 4 1
Rhandari 15.500
K~mbhara 13.177
h'ama r R LO. 8 4 0
Tan t i 47.570
Dhoba 24.066
Kent a 14.204
Gokha 33.912
Pan 59.545
Kanda r a 30.791
Dom 1.959
Chamar 7 . 7s2
Mihtar-/Hari 5.515

Ritual Base of Stratification

Doubts began t o be r a i s e d by 1921 about the e f f i c a c y

of c a s t e a s an i n s t i t u t i o n on account of i t s dwindling
hold on the Hindu s o c i e t y . As discussed above, a t l e a s t
i n one abiding aspect, i. e. occupation, c a s t e had been
losing i t s former c o n t r o l . But i n r e l a t i o n t o p r a c t i c e s
of e n c l o g q and'various taboos c a s t e s t i l l held its sway.
The r e l a a t i o n experienced i n the s o c i e t y due t o various
exogenous influences had not y e t broken the core of i t s
vital for S U ~generis. Not only that the castes
continued to be ritually differentiated as per the
traditional varna order but every caste was also
i n t e r n a l l y s t r a t i f i e d i n t o an agglomeration of sub-castes
which were linked t o each other through a mutually
perceptible high-low r e l a t i o n s h i p .

Brahminn (Priests)
Brahmins occupied the premier p o s i t i o n i n the
ritual hierarchy. Despite changes in the material
circumstances of a number of them, they continued t o
maintain the Samskaras ( r i t u a l s ) a s ordained by the Hindu
scriptures. I t was i n t h i s r o l e of being the custodian
of s h a s t r i c r i t e s i n s o c i e t y t h a t they exercised moral
authority on a l l other castes. They o f f i c i a t e d as
priests in temples as well as on important family
functions of c a s t e Hindus. On t h e i r sanction, therefore,
depended t o a g r e a t e x t e n t the a d m i s s i b i l i t y of the claim
of any c a s t e group t o e n t e r i n t o the f o l d of cleaner
castes (Nabasakhas) . I t was an obligation not graciously
f u l f i l l e d and not v i t h o u t i n c u r r i n g a t e l l i n g e f f e c t on
t h e i r combined l i f e - s t y l e . The t y p i c a l environment i n
which they functioned l e f t L i t t l e by way of e i t h e r d r e s s
or food h a b i t s t o keep them d i f f e r e n t from r e s t of the
"Sarskritised" . caste~s'~. Infact the process of
a a ~ k r i t i - s a l t i m aaosrg non-brahinin cleaner cartes had
become s o e f f e c t i v e t h a t t h e r e was hardly any d i f f e r e n c e
In t h e observations of v a r i o u s f a m i l y r i t e s between them
and t h e ~ r a h m i n s . The only exception was t h e Upanayana
ceremony ( i n v e s t i t u r e of t h e sacred thread) which was
exclusive t o t h e Brahmins. Though some s e c t i o n s of t h e
Karans and Khandayats adopted t h i s i n s t i t u t i o n , y e t t h e
content of t h e i r ceremony r i t u a l l y d i f f e r e d from t h a t of
the Brahmins. A t any r a t e t h e presiding p r i e s t s on such
occasions were i n v a r i a b l y t h e Brahmins. Possibly i n view
of such similarities in the cultural life some
a u t h o r i t i e s f e l t i n c l i n e d t o regard t h e c a s t e system i n
Orissa a s more f l e x i b l e than what i t obtained i n other
p a r t s of 1ndiaS0. But s u p e r f i c i a l opinion of t h i s kind
did not d i s t r a c t c a r e f u l observers from i d e n t i f y i n g i n n e r
cleavages t h a t e x i s t e d v i t h i n t h e c a s t e system i n o r i s s a .
John Beames noticed a broad d i v i s i o n among the
Orissan Brahmins on t h e l i n e s of t h e Dakshina (southern)
and U t t a r a ( n o r t h e r n ) , srenis ( c l a s s )51. Such a d i v i s i o n
i n h i s opinion sprang i n t h e common stock of ~ananj
Brahmins when worship of Lord Jagannath began t o be
revived a t Puri around 12'~ century A.D. The southern
Sreni who s e t t l e d round t h e "Temple" claimed "greater
esteem f o r l e a r n i n g and p u r i t y of r a c e U because of t h e i r
a s s o c i a t i o n with t h e s e r v i c e of Lord Jagannath. But
there was no hard and f a s t geographical separation
betwabn t h e two branches. Sections of both t h e s r e n i s
wore .fairly represented i n most parts af the d i s t r i c t ,
though t h e southern s r e n i was l e s s numerous than t h e
northern Sreni.
A s r e g a r d s t h e i n t e r n a l s t r u c t u r e of each s r e n i they
were more appropriately classified according to the
p a r t i c u l a r Veda whose r i t u a l they professed t o observe
and i n t o g o t r a s (septs). Each g o t r a was i n t u r n sub-
divided i n t o Kulas ( f a m i l i e s ) d i s t i n g u i s h e d by Upadhis
(surnames) whereas Brahmins from t h e southern o r Puri
branch represented t h e f i r s t t h r e e Vedas i . e . the Rig
Veda, t h e Sama Veda and t h e Yajur Veda, the northern o r
Jajpur branch represented mostly t h e l a t t e r two Vedas
i . e . the Yajur Veda and the Athanra Veda. The Commonest
surnames i n Balasore were Panda and Mahapatra probably
became t h e f a m i l i e s of the s e p t s t o which they belonged
had m u l t i p l i e d more e x t e n s i v e l y there5'. Panda, however,
was a l s o a t i t l e being applied t o a l l Brahmins who
o f f i c i a t e d a s temple p r i e s t s . I n keeping w i t h t h e i r
Vaidik s t a t u s , most of these Brahmins spent t h e i r l i v e s
in performing their strict caste duties and outside
r e l i g i o u s boundaries adopted vocations only a s men of
letters, or as government officials in the higher
branches of land managements3. Amongst them, those who
headed t h e Shsans (Brahmin v i l l a g e s ) assumed t h e t i t l e of
Panigrahi (land holder .
I n c o n t r a s t t h e r e was a l s o a l a r g e s e c t i o n of
la?&
.& o r vort&ly Brahmins who adopted v a r i o u s "Less
whmmw vocations. They bore the sept nantas of
~ a l a r # R - g O t r i , m s t a n i and Paniyari or sarua. The
eaniyaris s p e c i a l l y indulged i n growing and s e l l i n g
vegetables, while the Mistiness o f t e n held the post of
v i l l a g e headman o r Pradhan.
Padhans they were highly
As
appreciated by the rapacious and tyrannous eamindars who
found i n them u s e f u l toads i n t h e i r oppression of the
raiyats5'.
Although the worldly Brahmins were as numerous
as t h e i r V a i d i k counterparts, t h e r e was nothing by way of
caste i n t e r a c t i o n between these two c a t e g o r i e s .

K a r a n ~(Writers)
Karans ranked next t o the Brahmins i n the s c a l e
of s o c i a l precedence a s was commonly recognised i n
Orissa. In matters of personal law they were governed by
the Mi takshara of Sambhukara Bajpayi and availed the
services of U t k a l i y a Brahmins f o r r e l i g i o u s and
ceremonial purposes. The exogamous d i v i s i o n s amongst
them were of the standard Brahmanical type though c e r t a i n
septs l i k e Nagesa and Sankba were totemisticS5. As
regards endogamous u n i t s they recognised only two sub-
castes i . e . Karan and S r i s t i Karan. While the former
claimed t o have o r i g i n a l l y hailed from Bengal, the l a t t e r
were taken t o be of a mixed parentage. Therefore on
matrimonial and commensal matters the two sub-castes did
not i n t e r a c t . B u t another group k n m a s lvauli K U M ,
whose members vore sacred thread f o l l w i n g mythological
reasons, i n t e r married with t h e Karans proper. The
intra-caste differentiation which developed among the
Karans vas, however, consequential t o t h e i r r a p i d r i s e i n
public l i f e a s Zamindars, Patnidars, holdrs of Lakhiraj
tenures and well-accounted government servants.

Khandaitn (Swordrmen)
The Khandaits followed the Karans i n the r i t u a l
hierarchy i n Orissa. The Shasani Brahmins, who served
them a s p r i e s t s , vere received on equal terms by other
members of t h e sacred order. The Khandayats were divided
i n t o t v o sub-castes which reminisced the respective
ranks they held i n t h e peasant m i l i t i a under t h e medieval
kings of Orissa. The Mahanayaks o r Srestha Kbandaits,
who assumed the sacred thread a t the time of marriage
distinguished themselves from the Chasa-Kbandaits as the
l a t t e r did not do so. Thus inter-marriage between the
two groups, though not a b s o l ~ l t e l y forbidden, occurred
very r a r e l y . Also i n regard t o the u n i t s of exogamy
while the Chasa-Kbandaits r e t a i n e d t h e i r t o t e m i s t i c
i d e n t i t y , t h e Sreshtha-Iolandaits adopted the Brahmanical
gotras. However, ~ r a h m i n s took water from both t h e sub-
c a s t e s and i n terms of r i t u a l p r a c t i c e both f o l l w e d the
common Hindu usage.
Cbaras (Cultivators)
The Chasas comprised the chief cultivating
caste of O r i s s a and along with t h e Khandayats formed t h e
bulk of t h e Hindu population i n t h e d i s t r i c t . hey
employed Brahmins f o r r e l i g i o u s and ceremonial purposes
though t h e s e p r i e s t s were not received on equal terms by
the Brahmins, who served t h e upper castes6. However,
Brahmins i n g e n e r a l took water from t h e i r hand. This
accorded a ritual status to the Chasas which
distinguished them from o t h e r s e r v i c e c a s t e s . Gauras and
Bhandaris were t h e lowest c a s t e s from whom t h e chasas
accepted sweet meets. But w i t h i n themselves, they were
divided i n t o f o u r sub-castes, i.e. Orha o r Mundichasa,
Benatiya, Chukulia and Sukulia. The l a s t named sub-caste
was a small one found along t h e sea-coast. I t was mainly
engaged i n t h e manufacture of s a l t . The other sub-castes
were s o c a l l e d more i n view of t h e methods of c u l t i v a t i o n
which they followed and as such had no binding
segregational e f f e c t . Rather because of t h e i r l o o s e l y
organised s t r u c t u r e i t was p o s s i b l e on the p a r t of
o u t s i d e r s t o g e t admitted i n t o t h e Chasa c a s t e , a s i t was
possible f o r a wealthy Chasa t o give up s e l f ploughing
and j o i n t h e ranks of t h e immediate upper c a s t e . This
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f l e x i b i l i t y of t h e chasa c a s t e a c t u a l l y
a l l w e d o t h e r major c u l t i v a t i n g c a s t e s l i k e t h e Sadgop,
L

Raju and TaPlbuli, t o share equal r a n k with i t i n t h e

district.
Telis (Oil-men)
They were a f u n c t i o n a l c a s t e group r e c r u i t e d
from t h e r e s p e c t a b l e middle order of the Hindu s o c i e t y .
The f a c t t h a t 011 was used by a l l the Hindus f o r domestic
and ceremonial purposes, i t s manufacture could only be
c a r r i e d on by men whose s o c i a l p u r i t y was beyond d i s p u t e .
o r i g i n a l l y , i t was supposed t h a t a l l T e l i s belong t o one
caste. But i n course of time, a s wealth accumulated i n
t h e i r hand, t h e r i c h e r f a m i l i e s s t y l e d themselves as
Sahukars o r K'uberas. Of course, i n their traditional
form a l s o t h e T e l i s were divided i n t o t h r e e sub-castes
1 . e . Haladia, Kbari and Baldia o r m a r i a . Not only t h a t
these sub-castes d i f f e r e d i n t h e methods of vocation, but
they a l s o held t h e i r totems i n reverence and regulated
the inter-marriage of members accordingly. However,
while conducting f a m i l y f u n c t i o n s a l l these sub-castes
conformed to the ritual prescribed in the Hindu
scriptures. Commonly they employed p r i e s t s who were
received on terms of equality by the ~ r a h m i n s who
ministered t o t h e s p i r i t u a l wants of t h e higher castess7.

Bhandaris (Berbars)
Popularly knm as Bakiras the Bhandaris
enjoyed wide patronage in Orissa of a
as members
r e s p e c t a b l e rudra c a s t e . not only take
A Brahmin would
uat+r\from t h o h i hand but would a l s o v i s i t h i s house ta
pwtWM Pf i b d d cooked by a brahain. As a JAIW tW
practised t h e i r h e r e d i t a r y profession of c u t t i n g h a i r s .
In addition they played an important r o l e i n family
functions l i k e marriage, death and Shraddha ceremonies i n
the house holds of c a s t e Hindus. Some Bhandaris a l s o
served a s Sebayats or s e c u l a r p r i e s t s of Gram-devatis
( v i l l a g e d e i t i e s ) and i n the capacity held small grants
of r e n t - f r e e lands. However, t h i s p r i v i l e g e was mostly
being enjoyed by the Oriya-barika who used an open piece
of Leather c a l l e d Muths t o pack h i s shaving k i t s and
shaved only persons of clean-castes. He even did not
touch a T a n t i , T e l i o r Keniat without putting on a v e t
napkin (gamucha). The Kana muthia b a x i k a on the other
hand used a wooden box t o go round the places t o shave
people i r r e s p e c t i v e of c a s t e . He did not have service
a l l i a n c e with the v i l l a g e r s on the b a s i s of ~ a j m a n i
system
58
.

Dhobas (Washer men)

The Dhoba was another e s s e n t i a l s e r v i c e c a s t e
I n Orissa. The i n d i s p e n s a b i l i t y of his service f o r
r i t u a l purification sprang from the universal custom,
which disallowed a Hindu from vashing his puerpetal
clothes. But f o r doing such works, the Dhobas were
reckoned a s unclean and o f t e n vere classed v i t h the
numerous weavihg, fishing and other labouring and
vag&&d castes. Havever, unlike those castes, the
~ h o b s s held Chakran ( s e r v i c e ) l a n d s i n r e c o g n i t i o n of
their services to the community and partook of the
customary p r e s e n t s a t a l l v i l l a g e f e s t i v a l s .
I n g e n e r a l they followed t h e standard custolns of
lower c l a s s ~ i n d u s , but within themselves they were
divided i n t o d i s t i n c t t o t e m i s t i c groups. Each such group
observed t h e p r i m i t i v e r u l e of exogamy which forbade a
man from marrying a women belonging t o t h e same totem a s
himself. usages of prohibited degrees were later
incorporated t o emplify t h i s old method of preventing
marriages between persons of near k1ns9. Llke t h e i r more
superlor Bhandari counterparts they allowed window
Ixmarriage. But the practice varied as the Dhobas
generally followed t h e r i t u a l of Sanga (consent marriage)
whereas they former p r a c t i s e d !Fhai (change of place)
under t h e f u l l supervision of t h e bridegroom's family
priest. However, i n terms of t h e d i s p o s a l of the dead
there was no v a r i a t i o n between these two s e r v i c e c a s t e s
as both followed t h e standard Hindu customs.
Pans
Pans o r Panos were a weaving basket making and
labouring people s c a t t e r e d under v a r i o u s names throughout
the north of Orissa. In terms of number, they
c o n s t i t u t e d f i v e p e r c e n t of t h e t o t a l population of
Balasore i n 1872 A.D. Over t h e decades they maintained
t h e i r n m r i c a l s t r e n g t h and accounted f o r more than four
psreslrt of t h e district's p o p u l a l t i o n i n 1961. Wring
medieval times, t h e y v e r e believed t o have f i l l e d t h e
ranks of f o o t - c o l d i e r s i n t h e armies of t h e king's of
orissa. Under the British, village level Chvkidars
(watchman) and postal-runners still continued to be
r e c r u i t e d from t h e i r ranks. On t h i s b a s i s some of t h e
Pans held j a g i r lands. But t h e i r p o s i t i o n i n t h e s o c i e t y
was exceedingly low. Though they vorshipped Hindu gods
and goddesses t h e i r u n i n h i b i t e d e a t i n g h a b i t s kept them
outside t h e p a l e of t h e varna order. They consumed a l l
klnds of meat and d r i n k and regarded themselves as
superiors t o t h e Haris (scavangers) only because of t h e i r
abstention from taking horse f l e s h . I n important s o c i a l
practices a l s o they d i f f e r e d s u b s t a n t i a l l y from the
lower Hindu c a s t e s . As a r u l e Pan girls married a f t e r
they v e r e f u l l y grown up and t h e i r deads were buried i n
contravention t o t h e g e n e r a l Hindu custom of cremation.
Pan widovs could marry a second time and divorce used t o
permitted f o r almost any reason, w i t h t h e sanction of the
c a s t e Panchayat (assembly). The presence of numerous
t o t e m i s t i c groups among them regulated t h e simple r u l e of
exogamy b u t k i n s h i p by both p a r e n t s had not y e t come t o
be r e ~ o ~ n i s e dThe
~ ~ .Pans n e i t h e r received nor demanded
the s e r v i c e of t h e Brahmins o r o t h e r Hindu s e r v i c e CateS.
Their ceremonies were performed by a member of t h e Pan-
Vaisbanava sub-caste, who served a s t h e i r p r i e s t .
Apart from t h e s e Pan-Vaishnwas t h e Pans were
did&& i n t o four o t h e r sub-castes Y i z (1) Qrb-Pan o r
vriya-Pan, ( 2 ) Buna-Pan, ( 3 ) Betra-Pan o r ~ a j - p a n and ( 4 )
patradla. The Urlya Pens were a semi-Hinduised group.
They were supposed t o have sprung from t h e union of a pan
woman and a member of one of t h e l w e r Oriya c a s t e s . The
p r a c t i c e of infant-marriage was confined t o a few w e l l
to-do members among them and t h e p r a c t i c e was obviously
i n keeping w i t h t h e i r d e s i r e t o seek g r e a t e r s o c i a l
r e s p e c t a b i l i t y by emulating t h e i r r i t u a l l y s u p e r i o r Hindu
neighbours. The Buna-Pans on t h e o t h e r hand, continued
with t h e i r age-old customs. T h e i r main vocation was
weaving, whereas a s e c t i o n of them c a l l e d Betra-Pans took
t o Basket-making and cane-works. Some of t h e Betra-Pans
were a l s o employed a s musicians, syces and Chawkidars.
The P a t r a d i a sub-caste, which performed f o r t h e Kandhs a
v a r i e t y of s e r v i c e f u n c t i o n s i n t h e southern high-lands
or Orissa, was not p r e s e n t i n Balasore. However, f o r
Pans as a whole, to keep up their c a s t e vocations
untempered was not easy. With the gradual recusancy of
the Chaukidari t e n u r e s and growth of t h e i r numbers, a
g r e a t m a j o r i t y of pans became a p a r t of t h e massive land-
l e s s labour f o r c e i n Orissa.
Dom
The Dom o r Dombo was another depressed c a s t e which
s u f f e r e d t h e ignominy of being kept o u t s i d e t h e p a l e of
Varna order. A l l c l a s s e s of hindus kept away from them
on account & t h e i r e a t i n g h a b i t s . Not only t h a t they
epyypqi 311 UMS of meat l i k e th Pans, but i n a
r a d i c a l d e p a r t u r e from t h e l a t t e r ' s h a b i t , they a l s o a t e
the f l e s h of dead animals. Whereas t h e Dom's services
were e a g e r l y sought a t t h e time of n a t u r a l c a l a m i t i e s a s
I n case of an epidemic t o bury t h e dead, they were not
served i n any manner by t h e c a s t e Hindus. Their p r a c t i c e
of disposing t h e dead was by dismembering t h e corpse a t
n i g h t and then sinking the p i e c e s i n t h e n e a r e s t r i v e r i n
a container6'. Thus f u r t h e r d i f f e r e n t i a t e d t h e Doms from
the Pans. Their belief-system represented a curious
mixture of p r i m i t i v e usages and haphazard borrowings from
the Hindu neighbourhood. Clear c u t r u l e s of emogamy
perse d i d not e x i s t , but g e n e r a l l y a man was not supposed
t o marry from t h e same s e c t i o n . Doms believed and, i n
fact, e x c e l l e d i n t h e i r o r i g i n a l profession of making
bamboo-baskets and mats. But some s e c t i o n s of them a l s o
did menial and scavanging jobs. I n North Balasore, they
too served t h e l o c a l Shiva temple a s r i t u a l drummbers.
I n r e t u r n they received one and half a c r e s of temple land

as j a g i r
62
.
Agrarian Basis of Stratification
The agrarian social s t r u c t u r e which evolved
under t h e c o l o n i a l d i s p e n s a t i o n t o a g r e a t e x t e n t
Conformed t o t h e order of r i t u a l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n i n
Orissa. The Zamindars, placed at the top of this
structure, v i r t u a l l y presided over a l l a s p e c t s of s o c i a l
and economic m e of t h e people. I n t h e i r hands was
d ' p r o p r i e t a r y r i g h t s over land, p o r t i o ~ af
~ e ~ r % the
which they lent out to individual raiyats for
cultivation. The r a i y a t s i n t u r n paid revenue f o r t h e i r
possessions t o t h e Government through the Zamindars.
T h i s c e n t r a l i t y of t h e i r r o l e i n t h e system of revenue
administration made them p i v o t s i n t h e e n t i r e a g r a r i a n
life-cycle. I n t h e b e s t t r a d i t i o n of t h e English landed
a r i s t o c r a c y t h e Zamindar's p o s i t i o n had been created t o
make them agents of expeditious r u r a l development. But
the e x p l o i t a t i v e a t t i t u d e i n h e r e n t i n t h e c o l o n i a l mind-
s e t made a f a r c i a l o u t t u r n of t h e o r i g i n a l conception.
The Zamindars on their part established
Kacheris ( o f f i c e s ) and appointed managers, gomastas and
peons f o r r e g u l a r maintenance of land records and
p e r i o d i c a l c o l l e c t i o n of revenues. I n them was vested an
army of power regarding mutations t r a n s f e r , purchase and
s a l e of land and bestowal of chakran ( s e r v i c e ) lands on
village sevaits (servants). When the Acts regarding
a g r i c u l t u r a l loans and land improvement loans were passed
i n 1 8 8 4 ~they
~ were made t h e recommending a u t h o r i t y f o r
any c u l t i v a t o r t o be l e g a l l y e n t i t l e d f o r such loan.
They exercised jurisdiction over f o r e s t - l a n d s , Waste-
lands and even on t r e e s standing on c u l t i v a t o r ' s land.
In times of flood o r droughts when a g r i c u l t u r e suffered,
remissions of revenue tsccavi advances were
and
i n v a r i a b l y routed through them. A l l t h e s e enabled t h e
Zadndars W , e x e r c i s e enormous a u t h o r i t y on the
i n b b i t a n t s nesidiq i n t h e i r e s t a t w . The U s U
melthods involved could be e i t h e r by extending patronage
t o t h e f a v o u r i t e s o r by coercing t h e dis-obedient.
The Government a l s o allowed handsome percentage
to t h e Zamindars on revenues which they c o l l e c t e d r a t h e r
r e l i g i o u s l y t o keep t h e a u t h o r i t i e s a s much i n good
humour a s t o f i l l t h e i r own cougars. Consequently they
lived a l i f e of c a s u a l a f f l u e n c e o f t e n c r e a t i n g a r i n g of
medieval ambience around t h e i r person. The non-residents
among them l i v e d i n towns l i k e Cuttack, Midnapore o r
~ a l c u t t a ~and
~ v i s i t e d t h e e s t a t e s only occasionally.
The r e s i d e n t Zamindars i n s t e a d stayed i n t h e e s t a t e s and
kept d i r e c t c o n t a c t w i t h t h e peasants. As for their
o b l i g a t i o n s towards t h e l o t of the peasantry some of them
did take c a r e t o run v i l l a g e Chatsalas ( s c h o o l s ) , put up
p o s t - o f f i c e s , l a i d roads, maintained irrigation-works and
organised community f e s t i v a l s . But nothing was ever done
as a matter of duty. For a v a i l i n g o r not-availing any
such f a c i l i t y an ordinary c u l t i v a t o r had t o s h e l l out
e l t h e r a t a x o r a bheti. I n f a c t , d e s p i t e t h e i r having
enough doubt in the system, some British officers
lamented an a b s o l u t e lack of p u b l i c - s p i r i t o r sense of
commitment towards t h e improvement of t h e e s t a t e s among
the ~ a m i n d a r s ~ ~ .
The Zamindars' conduct was, of course,
conditioned by t h e g e n e r a l l a c k of security t o their
P r o p r i a t o r y r i g h t s . Even a f t e r t h e 30 y e a r ' s s e t t l e m e n t s
became a r o u t i n e , t h e sense af i n s e c u r i t y prevailed. The
pace at which the estates were multiplied due to
arti it ion was alarming. Whereas t h e r e were only 803
temporarily s e t t l e d e s t a t e s i n 1837 A. D . , t h e i r number
rose t o 1417 i n 1897 A . D . and t o 2394 i n 1932 A . D . The
progressive s t e p s of bestowing the r i g h t s of occupancy on
the c u l t i v a t o r s was another source of worry which o f t e n
soured t h e e x i s t a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the Zamindars
and t h e i r Raiyats. But, on t h e whole, i n a sustenance
economy vhere every constitutent strata viz., the
landlords, t h e t e n a n t s and t h e a g r i c u a l t u r a l labourers,
had equal s t a k e , t h e Zamindars t h r i v e d a t t h e c o s t of the
rest.
I n terms of t h e s o c i a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of t h i s
class, the following extract from D.H. Kingf ord's
statement66 would show how the ritually top strata
dominated t h e a g r a r i a n c l a s s s t r u c t u r e .

TABLE - VIII
Recorded s h a r e s of t h e P r o p r i e t o r s i n t h e Temporarily
s e t t l e d Zamindari e s t a t e s i n t h e d i s t r i c t of Balasore
according t o s e l e c t e d c a s t e s
Clrtes Shresncarded P W Shns P ~ ~ c n t r g c ParePhCF
h1837d- o f t b e W h118P7 0fthetotJ ofthctogl
em m o t 1504 rdlhped m.of7461 pqpQPioP
drrm nport rbra wwd&€o
1891 earrr
 Kalul
Khsndait
Bengali Kaysrth
Teli
Tambuli
Banis
Gu
m
-----------
The Brahmins and Karans alongwith t h e Bengali
Kayasths held Zamindaries far in excess of their
p r o p o r t i o n t o t h e t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n of t h e d i s t r i c t . The
sub-proprietary t e n u r e - h o l d e r s a l s o l a r g e l y h a i l e d from
among them. The o n l y q u a l i t a t i v e d i f f e r e n c e t o t h i s
p a t t e r n was made by t h e Tambulis, T e l i s , Banias and t o
some e x t e n t t h e Gauras. These c a s t e s a c q u i r e d Zamindaris
with t h e s u r p l u s income which t h e y earned from t h e i r
respective businesses. But t h e i r p r e s e n c e v a s n o t l a r g e
enough t o d e l i n k t h e a g r a r i a n c l a s s - s t r u c t u r e from i t s
corresponding s o c i a l base. The s m a l l urban e l i t e which
f i l l e d t h e r a n k s of t h e emerging p r o f e s s i o n a l c l a s s a s
Advocates, Pleaders, Deputy Collectors, Clerks,
Munshiffs, Teachers, Professors, Inspector and Sub-
I n s p e c t o r s of s c h o o l s e t c . , v a s a l s o a d e r i v a t i v e of t h i s
s o c i a l segment6'.
For the ordinary cultivators to send their
wards f o r e x p e n s i v e E n g l i s h e d u c a t i o n i n t h e t W n 9 was
not on easy option. Godavarish Hishra, an eminent
literature and p o l i t i c a n from O r i s s a . While rumaging
through t h e d i f f i c u l t phase of h i s e a r l y l i f e has given a
graphic d e s c r i p t i o n of t h i s r e a l i t y B B . Rack-rented t o t h e
b r i n k of s t a r v a t i o n and over-burdened with a l l kinds of
s o c i a l and economic o b l i g a t i o n s t h e average c u l t i v a t o r
lived a sendentary l i f e . The only source of h i s income
was h i s s m a l l holding69. H i s h a b i t a t i o n was consisted of
a court enclosed by f o u r mud-walls, which were used as
the gables of l i t t l e rooms. Sometimes, but r a r e l y , the
cow-shed was b u i l t o u t s i d e t h e w a l l s . A patch of green
aside t h e house n e a t l y "shut i n w i t h a f e n c e of p r i c k l y
shrubs" s p a r i n g l y supplied h i m w i t h vegetables7'. His
summer d r e s s c o n s i s t e d of a coarse c o t t o n Dhoti (waist-
cloth) and a Gamucha (scarf). Household furnitures
included a few b r a s s pots, p l a t e s and cups, one o r two
bed steads, a few mats and various agricultural
implements. The owners of comparatively l a r g e r holdings
possessed one o r two palm-leaf manuscripts of t h e o r i y a
Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Rice, m i l k and occasional
side-item of d r i e d fish,meat o r vegetabales formed h i s
usual d i e t .
But d e s p i t e t h i s miserable e x i s t e n c e t h e c u l t i v a t o r s
as a c l a s s sustained the community l i f e by ensuring
v e r t i c a l s o l i d a r i t y among v a r i o u s c a s t e s . ~elonging t o
the numerous mandait, Chasa, ludastan, M l i , Gaura and
Tanbuli castps7' , t h e y formed t h e core of t h e ~agrnani
mtm. With an earning of about rupees of a month, an
av-e c u l t i v a t o r family s p e n t around rupees seven fog
itself. Out of the r e s t , the family p r i e s t , barbar,
blacksmith and t h e washerman received around 8 annas. In
addition t h e c u l t i v a t o r a l s o obliged them with annual
payments i n kind a t harvest time7'.
At the bottom of the agrarian order lived the
numerous a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s .
Mostly drawn from among
the low and t h e untoucable c a s t e s such a s Gaura, Rarhi,
Tanti, Pan, Kandara e t c . , they formed an enormous army of
approximately one lakh persons. Many of them, were
employed by Zamindars, Lakhirajdars, and Bazyaftidars i n
good circumstances a s ~ a r a - m a s i ~ a s But
~ ~ . many more s t 1 1 1
worked f o r t h e cultivators e i t h e r as Nag-mulza, Thika-
mulla o r j u s t mgrated t o C a l c u t t a t o work t h e r e as
coolles.
The Bar-maszya stayed with h l s master round the
year avalllng free lodging and boarding. He also
recelved an annual payment of rupees 12 and f o u r garments
1 . e . two Karujas, one Gamucha and one Chadar (shawl).
The Nag-mulie worked on c o n t r a c t b a s l s f o r a
s p e c i f i c period of t h e year. H i s payment included half a
gaun ( 5 b s e r s ) of paddy p e r dlem, an annual present of a
new Gamcha and a Puruna Sirupa ( c a s t - o f f c l o t h ) of h l ~
master. A Nag-mulia was a l s o allowed a p l o t of land
c a l l e d b e t a t o cultivate f o r h i s m n b e n e f l t f r e e of
rent. The IIlhika-mulie vas a casual labourer who
Worked only f o r money wage a t t h e r a t e of 2 annas par
di~ep.
 B e l w t h e labouring c l a s s , t h e r e were p l a i n
destitutes. The census r e p o r t s categorised them i n t o
several c a s t e s v i z . Kasbi ( p r o s t i t u t e ), Chukar ( o f f-
spring of prostitute), Khelta (Jugglers), Mngta
[vagabonds) and Bhikari (beggars). Nobody knew about
their s o c i a l antecidents. But that extreme economic
deprivation had made t h e i r u n s o l i c i t e d dependants on the
agrarian system can not be e a s i l y disputed.

Placement o f Immigrants in Native Society

Balasore, by virtue of its geographical
proximity to Bengal and because Orissa remained an
administrative division of it for hundred and eight
years, a t t r a c t e d a s i z e a b l e number of Bengalis t o s e t t l e
there. By 1872 they formed t h e s i n g l e l a r g e s t domiciled
immigrant community i n the district. Many of these
domiciled people i n i t i a l l y came a s traders but later
acquired e x t e n s i v e Zamindaris. Although the overall
number of e s t a t e s i n t h e i r possession was s u b s t a n t i a l l y
low i n comparison t o the number held by the native
Oriyas, y e t o u t of t h e 28 l a r g e s t Zamindaris, 9 belonged
t o them. Kayasths who were s t a t e d i n t h e census r e p o r t s ,
as s u p e r i o r t o t h e n a t i v e Karans possessed 5 of these
l a r g e Zamindaris. Out of the. r e s t Taarbulis had 2,
Subarna Banik 1 and Sundi 174. As owners of s i g n i f i c a n t
Zalaindari~ ill hf them wielded considerable i n f l u e n c e
Over t h e n a t i v e population. I n p l a c e s l i k e Balasore ahd
~ h a d r a kthey even owned ~narkets'~. The f i s h e r y e s t a t e i n
the River Burabalang e ~ p e c i a l l ybelonged t o t h e Zamindars
of the Mandal f a m i l y who displayed e n t e r p r i s e and
business c a p a c i t y i n providing t h e fishermen w i t h means
f o r disposing of t h e i r catch. A f t e r t h e famine t h e De
family of Balasore a l s o e x h i b i t e d g r e a t p u b l i c - s p i r i t i n
s e t t i n g up schools and c h a r i t a b l e h o s p i t a l s . In 1873,
the same f a m i l y e s t a b l i s h e d a p r i n t i n g p r e s s i n Balasore
which s i g n i f i c a n t l y contributed t o the growth of socio-
p o l i t i c a l consciousness towards t h e l a s t q u a r t e r of l g t h
century i n O r i s s a .
The o t h e r important s e c t i o n among the Bengalis,
were t h e Kayasths who f l o u r i s h e d i n t h e d i s t r i c t as the
professional c l a s s . Many of them came i n i t i a l l y a s Amlas
to work i n t h e o f f i c e s of t h e S a l t Agency. But gradually
they also entered into semices in the revenue
department. They l i v e d i n s p e c i f i c colonies l o c a l l y
called Paras and c r e a t e d a c u l t u r a l ambience t y p i c a l of
Bengal. community f e s t i v a l s l i k e Durga pula which they
celebrated every y e a r became widespread i n the d i s t r i c t .
B u t i n t h e i r s o c i a l d e a l i n g s they p r e f e r r e d t o maintain
distance even from t h e l o c a l Karans who held the same
rank a s t h e Kayasths i n t h e r i t u a l hierarchy. The
Karans, on t h e i r p a r t n e i t h e r . i n t e r - m a r r i e d w i t h t h e
Kayasths, nor a t e with them. Hwever, they had no
objection t o drinking v a t e r o f f e r e d by a Kayasth t o
t1tegi79:
 The Kayasths by v i r t u e of being the d d n e n t
caste among t h e Bengali immigrants formed the reference
group i n t h e d i s t r i c t . But by no means, were the
eng gal is a monolith community. Persons belonging t o
various low c a s t e s from Bengal a l s o came t o Balasore.
The most s i g n i f i c a n t among them were the Tambulis. Soon
emulating t h e i r Kayasth compatriots they took t o English
education and entered i n t o government services. Some of
them a l s o took t o d i f f e r e n t businesses and s i g n i f i c a n t l y
improved t h e i r m a t e r i a l circumstances.
In comparasion t o the Bengali's other immigrant
groups were numerically i n s i g n i f i c a n t . In 1872, there
were only two Telinga land-holders i n Balasore. The
Marwaris and the G u j a r a t i s were a l s o very small in
number. But persons belonging t o a l l these communities
were highly prosperous. In most p a r t s they maintained
active l i n k s with t h e i r respective places of o r l g i n and
engaged themselves only i n business i n the d i s t r i c t .

The Tribal Component

The t r i b a l component i n the d i s t r i c t ' s population
was minimal. They were primarily concentrated i n the
north-western and western p a r t s of the d i s t r i c t bordering
the Garjat states. According . t o 1872 census, their
number was only 3,699, a t r i f l e 0.5 per cent of the
d i s t r i c t ' s t b t a l population. The Bhdjs and the S a n t a l ~
were the only t r i b e s which had a number above on*
thousand. But, c o n c e p t ~ a l l ythough they were outside the
fold of Hindu society, y e t over the years, there had
evolved a base i n the d i s t r i c t f o r meaningful i n t e r a c t i o n
between these t r i b e s and t h e i r Hindu neighbours. In a
sense, however, t h i s i n t e r a c t i o n was contagious. The
closer a t r i b e came t o the predominant Hindu s o c i e t y the
greater were the chances of i t s losing i t s autonomous
tribal identity. I t happened t o a great degree among the
~humijs. The Santals on the other hand retained much of
their autonomous character. Food touched by a Munda
m i g h t be anathema t o a c a s t e Hindu, but so was a l s o the
case with food touched by an European or a m ~ s l i m ' ~ . The
Santal was l e a s t affected by the r u l e s govering the
ritual hierarchy of the Hindu society. In this
connection, the Table I X ' ~ below would show the degre of
Hinduisation and the increase i n the number of these two
t r i b e s t h a t had taken place over the decades i n Balasore.

TABLE - IX
Population and Hinduisation among selected Tribes i n
the D i s t r i c t of Balasore.

Tribe# and their Camw year

Religicm ..........................................................................
1872 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931
---________________-----------------------------.----
 Bhndi
Total 1615 25M 3211 4279 5256 47M 3944
Hinth 3274 4339 5256 4701 5900
Tribal Religion 40 - 3 44

Santal
Total 1176 389 4599 8564 10,524 9535 15,644
Hindu 1374 2269 2455 3172
Tribal Religion 7482 8255 7380 12,272

Overall Social Condition

On t h e one end of t h e spectrum the s o c i e t y
presented a p i c t u r e of depravity and f a t a l i s m . In a
way the l i a b i l i t y of the d i s t r i c t , a s indeed of
the whole of Orissa, t o n a t u r a l calamities was
instrumental i n sapping i t s d e s i r e f o r progress. A
f u r t h e r contributing element t o this a l l glaring
predicament was the d i v i s i o n of s o c i e t y i n t o
numerous markedly graded c a s t e groups. The
atmosphere was s o depressing t h a t 'no one outside
the p r i e s t l y c a s t e m i g h t even p l a n t a coconut tree".
B u t on the other end the people from the d i s t r i c t
whenever they were provided w i t h some opportunities
proved t h e i r capacity f o r hard-work and c r e a t i v e
imagination. his was not only borne out i n case of
city-ward emigrants from t h e d i s t r i c t a s has been
parodied by t h e contemporary ~ n g l i s h commentators,
but a l s o found aloquent expression within the
natural boundaries of o r i s s a i t s e l 3 i n succeeding
times. The years of transformation i n the aftermath
of t h e famine of 1865-66 experienced t h i s f a c t .
 NOTES AND RE-CES
P.Gisbert, Fundamentals o f Sociology. Bombay:
o r i e n t longman ~ t d . , 1987 (srd ~ d x t l o n ,) p . 3 u .
Yogendr a Si ngh
chanps in
. Social S t r a t i fYcetion and
I n d i a , New D e l h l : Monohar Pub.
1989, P . x .
Balasore D i s t r i c t Gazetteer, C a l c u t t a : 1907.
0.44.
OrisSa S t a t e Gazetteer, V o l . I.C u t t a c k : 1990.
p . p . 213 and 217,
€3. K . Mlshra, Land Tenure and Land Reforms i n
Orissa, C u t t a c k : 1962, p.97.
D.H. Klrigsford's " F l n a l Report on t h e D ~ s t r ~ c t
ot B a l a s o r e , 1899," l n S.L. Maddox, Final
Report on the Survey and Settlement o f the
Province o f Orissa. 1890-1 900, Vol II.Para .
53. p.431.
I b i d . , p.412.
I b l d . . pp. 417-418.
W.W. Dalzlel. Final Report on the Revision
Settlement o f Orissa. 1922-1932. A . D . .
Patna: 1934, Chapter X , p.94.
I b l d . Para 232. p.96.
I b i d . . p.95 and D.H. K ~ n g s f o r d , 0 p . c l t . . P 497
W.W. Hunter, O p . c l t . , p.249
Jagannath M l s h r a ( a d ) , Report on the
Possibility of EstablishmentofSalt
I n d u s t r y i n the Coastal nreas o f Orissa. 1938,
C u t t a c k : 1938. p.12.
C u t t a c k S a l t Records, Gcc. No.575.
W.W. Hunter. O p . c l t . , pp. 280-283.
W.W. D a l z l e l , Op.cit., Chapter X , p.100
Ibid.,
Baleshwar D i s t r i c t Gazetteer. C u t t a c k : 1994.0 2
Balasore D i s t r i c t Gazetteer, 1907, P . 43.
W.W. H u n t e r . O p - c l t . , P.264.
Ceqsus o f I n d ~ a . 1931. V o l . V I 1 . Chapter I. Sec.
VI. p.42.
Compiled from W . W . Hunter. o p . c i t . , pp. 266-
267 ; S.L. Maddox. 0 p . c i t . . V o l . I, p.37 and
Census o f 1961. O p - c i t . . pp. 13-14.
Note: Fakirmohan's s h o r t s t o r y m h t i p r e s e n t s
a t r u e r p i c t u r e o f the s t a t u s of a gar1
child i n a contemporary O r i y s f a m i l y than
any o f f i c i a l account does.
B a l a s o r s D i s t r i c t G a z e t t e e r . 1907, p.45-
W.W. Dalziel, 0P.cit.. Chapter 1 1 , p.5.
Census o f 1961, O P - c i t . , P.17.
W.W. Hunter, O P . c i t . , PP. 279-284; Balasore
D i s t r i c t Gazuttoor. 1907, pp. 45-46 and Census
of 1961. O p - c i t . . p.13.
L . N.P. Wohanty, "Urbabanisation i n Orissa"
i n Urban I n d i a . V o 1 . 3 ( 3 ) , September. 1983,
p. 31.29.222

W .W. Hunter, OP.cit., p.277; I m p e r i a l Gazetteer

of I n d i a . ( P r o v i n c i a l S e r i e s ) : O r i ssa
D i v i s i o n , Bengal 11, pp. 268 - 269: Census
o f 1937, o P . c i t . , p.260 and Census o f 1961,
op.cit.. p.221.
Vaishnavs n o t i n i t i a l l y a c a s t e but a c l a s s o f
Hindus who p r e r e s s e d t h e t e a c h i n g s i n c u l c a t e d
by Sr i C h a i t a n y a , a V i s h n a v i t e re1 l q i o v r
retormer o f t h e 16th c e n t u r y . whose
principal d o c t r i n e was t h e denial o f ~ a s t e
and t h e a f f i r m a t i o n o f t h e eaualltv of a l l
men i n t h e eyes o f t h e i r maker.
W.W. Hunter. 0 p . c i t . . p.270.
Census o f 1931, 0 p . c i t . . P.284.
W.W. Hunter. O p . c i t . , pp. 268-270.
S.L. Maddox. O p . c i t . , P. 182.
B a l a s o r e D i s t r i c t G a z e t t e e r , 1907. O p . c i t . .
Radhakanta B a r i k , " C a s t e S y s t e n ~a n d Economic
Backwardness i n O r i s s a " , Social Science
Probings V o 1 . 2 ( 2 ) ; June 1985. p.257.
Census o f 1931, 0 p . c i t . . p.217.
B a l a s o r e D i s t r i c t G a z e t t e e r , 1907, O p . c i t . ,
P.51.
Census o f 1931, O p - c i t . , p.267.
Baleshwar D i s t r i c t G a z e t t e e r . 1994, 0 p . c : i t . .
pp. 138-39.
Census o f 1931, O p - c i t . . p.217.
Manoranjan Mohanty, " S o c i a l roots of
backwardness i n O r i s s a : A Study o t c l a s s ,
c a r t e and power". Social Scionce Probings.
V o l . l ( 2 ) ; June 1984. p. 195.
Census o f 1931. O p - c i t . . Vol.'I. pp. 191 and
210; and VoL.11, PP. 98-100.
Ibid., Vol.1. P. 190.
H . H . R i s l e y . The T r i k s a d Cast- o f awl,
a l c u t t a : 1981. V o l . 1 and 11. r e l e v a n t c a s t e s .
W*\,W. Dalrirl. O P - c i t . . P - 9 2 -
S ~ h q u so f 1931. O p - c i t . . P - 2 6 7 -
Ibid., pp. 136-139: W.W.Hunter, Op.cit.,
PP. 268-270.
R.K. Barik, Op-cit., p.255.
Census o f 1931, 0 p . c i t . .
John Beames, "On the sub-divisions of the
Brahaman c a s t e i n n o r t h e r n O r i s s a " i n The
Indian Antiquary, V o l . 11, ( 1 5 ) 1873. p.68.
I b i d . . P.69.
W.W. Hunter, 0 p . c i t . . P.272.
John Beames, "On Mastan Brahmans" i n The
Indian A n t i q u a r y , V o l . I,June 7, 1872.
P. 195.
H. H . R i s l e y , O p . c i t . , p.425.
I b i d . . Vol.1, p.193.
I b i d . . Vol.11, p.305.
Nityanand Pattanaik, "Barbars and t h e i r
clients i n an O r i s s a V i l l a g e " l n Man i n
I n d i a , Vo1.40 ( 2 ): A p r i l - J u n e 1960,
p. 150.
H.H. Risley, O p - c i t . , Vol.1, P.231.
I b i d . . Vol.11, P . 156.
I b l d . . V o l . 1 , p.248.
H.L. Das, "Economic l l f e o f t h e Doms o l
Barbarla -A V i l l a g e l n north-Ba1asore"ln
Orissa Historical Research J o u r n a l . V o l . X I
( 4 ) ; p.263.
S.L. Maddox, O p . c i t . , Vol.11. p.492.
I b i d . , pp. 438-439.
Ibid., p.492.
I b i d . . Appendix - N ( b ) . P.520: Census o f 1891,
Population tables.
B.S. Das, " O r i s s a ' s y e s t e r d a y ' s Background t o
Backwardness" i n S t a t e and S o c i e t y , V o l . 5 ( 3 )
July-September, 1985, PP. 67-69.
Godavarlsh Mishra, Ardhashatabdhira Odisa 0
T a n h i r e Flo Sthana ( i n O r i y a ) , C u t t a c k : 1973,PP.
26-35.
S.L. Maddox, O p . c i t . , V o l . 1 1 , p.452.
W.W. Hunter. 0 p . c i t . . P.289.
S.L. Maddox, O p . c i t . , Vol.11, p.493.
W.W. Hunter, Op.cit., p.294. '
S.L. Maddox. O p . c i t . , Vol.11, p.493.
Ibid., 9ppendix Y . PP. 534-536.
Ibid.. P.418.
M.w. H u n t e r . OP-tit., P . 2 7 3 -
Cansus o f 1931. OP-tit.. P.285-
Xbid.. P. &42-