Sambalpur is a district of Odisha. Sambalpur city is the headquarter of Sambalpur district. It is named after the presiding Sambhal to Sambalpur. Sambalpur is an ancient settlement which at its earliest was a part of Dakshin Kosala. It was thus decided that it was established around 5000 BC. Sambalpur was the dwelling place of the Sabara tribes and the Hirakud was the only source of diamond in ancient times. From its establishment to its dissolution into the British Empire, it was known as the Hirakhand Kingdom probably due to its diamond mines.The Sambalpur Odisha Region – Gospel for Asia . Gfa.org. Retrieved on 2011-01-20.https://sambalpur.odisha.gov.in/about-district/history Sambalpur is the cultural capital of Western Odisha.
Etymology
Sambalpur derives its name from that of the Goddess Samalei who is regarded as the reigning deity of the region. In history, it has also been known as 'Sambalaka'. The region in which Sambalpur city is located was also known as Hirakhanda from ancient times.Welcome to Maa Samaleswari Temple, Sambalpur, Odisha . Samaleswari.org. Retrieved on 2011-01-20. Ptolemy has described the place as "Sambalak". According to Tavernir, the French traveller, and Edward Gibbon, the English historian, diamonds were exported to Rome from Sambalpur.
History Sambalpur/ Sambal desh
The history of Sambalpur, as depicted by eminent historians, is full of events including Indian freedom struggle representing the different sections of society. Since Sambalpur is one of the ancient district of India, which survived even in the prehistoric age, much of the historical records about the origin and the existence of Sambalpur in the political scenario of Odisha are still in obscurity.
Sambalpur is mentioned in the book of Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) as Sambalaka on the left bank of river "Manada", now known as Mahanadi, other evidence are available from the records of Xuanzang, and in the writings of the celebrated King Indrabhuti of Sambalaka of Odra Desha or Oddiyan (oldest known king of Sambalpur), the founder of Vajrayana Buddhism. He has written the book Jñānasiddhi. Simhadeba (1987: p. 317) affirms that the first record of Jagannatha in literature is by the Mahasiddha Indrabhuti, the Vajrayanaadept of Buddhadharma, in his famed work, the Jnana Siddhi (Sanskrit: ज्ञानसिद्धिर्नामसाधनम्; IAST: jñānasiddhirnāmasādhanam; which is T2219 of the Tibetan Tengyur):
"N. K. Sahu emphasises Indrabhuti, the Raja of Sambhal (Sambalpur), who has been assigned to have ruled during the dark period of the history of western Odisha by the author to have been the propounder of Vajrayana Buddhism. He was the first Siddha to identify Buddha with Jagannath and he was the worshipper of Jagannatha whom he prays at several places of his famous work Jnana Siddhi. Before Indrabhuti there was no conception of Jagannath as a God to be worshipped.
Indrabhuti installed Jagannath deity Moreover, Simhadeba (1987: p. 317) outlines that an installation of a Jagannath murti in a cave in Court Samalai hill Sonepur according to local folk tradition was done by Indrabhuti but the site requires archaeological investigation: "Puri (Purushottama Puri) is the seat of Purushottama and not of Jagannath. In the 10th century A.D. a religious revolution synthesised Jagannath of Sambalpur with Purushottama of Puri. It may be said that an important cave in the Court Samalai hill near Sonepur is attributed by the local people as the earliest seat of the worship of Lord Jagannath. It appears that Jagannath of Raja Indrabhuti was installed in that cave giving rise to the tradition, which is current even in the present day. The Court Samalai hill required proper archaeological survey for coming to a definite conclusion."
French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) in his travel account "Six Voyages en Turquie, en Perse et aux Indes (1676–77)" translated into English by Valentine Ball as "Travels in India" (2d ed., 2 vol., 1925) wrote about the numerous famous diamond mines of Sumelpur (Semelpur), the present day Sambalpur. He states that, 8,000 people were at work in these mines at the time of his visit, in the dry season at the beginning of February.Tourist Places In Sambalpur | Tourist Places Near Sambalpur. www.orissatourism.net.in. Retrieved on 2011-01-20.
The Sambalpur State and beginning of British rule In 1540 A.D., the kingdom of Patna, ruled by the Chauhan Rajput dynasty was bifurcated. The southern portion of the Ang river was ruled by Narasingh Deb and his brother Balaram Deb received the northern side of the river, known as kingdom of Huma. He then started marching towards the north-east direction of Patnagarh. He first established his capital in Nuagarh (present-day near Bargarh). He faced some resistance by the old settlers of Bargarh, namely two brothers Barna and Rajiar of Bhaina-Pada. Balram Deo defeated them and established a big fort (in Odia it is Bada-Garh, hence present day Bargarh). Later Balaram Deo proceeded further north and established his new capital at Sambalpur. His descendants expanded the kingdom gradually through cultural, military and administrative expansion. They claimed the title of Raja of Sambalpur. During the reign of Baliar Singh, many brahmins from puri migrated to Sambalpur and began the festival of Sital Sasthi. In the reign of Ajit Singh, significant political instability destroyed the future of the state. The Diwan of Sambalpur Dakhin Ray, then Piloo Ray and then Akbar Rai successively began controlling power and were assassinated one after other. It also flared up conflict with the Marathas. Sambalpur was ruled by the Chauhan dynasty till the 1800s when Maharaj Sai, the last king died heirless.
The kingdom struggled under many pretenders to the throne such as Veer Surendra Sai, Narayan Singh, and the widow queen. Narayan Singh was installed as the King and met with opposition. After he had no sons due to male primogeniture, the kingdom lapsed to the British. The kingdom of Sambalpur was also known as Hirakhand and Sambalpur was its capital.Historical Sambalpur- a victim of State govt's apathy. . Kosal. Retrieved on 2011-01-20.
Sambalpur came under the Bhonsles of Nagpur when the Marathas conquered Sambalpur in 1800. After the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1817, the British Government returned Sambalpur to the Chauhan king, Jayant Singh but his authority over the other princely states were taken out.Sambalpur . Remunda.com. Retrieved on 2011-01-20.
1825 to 1827, Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert (1785–1853), later Lieutenant General Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert, first baronet, G.C.B., was the Political Agent for the South West Frontier with headquarters at Sambalpur. He made few paintings during his stay at Sambalpur by an unknown artist which are currently with the British Library and Victoria and Albert Museum.
Sambalpur uprising Maharaj Sai, the only son and heir to the throne of Sambalpur died without any heir thus political tensions arose in Sambalpur. The Queen of Sambalpur was debarred from adopting Surendra Sai and the British instead crowned Narayan Singh as king. When Narayan Singh, died in 1849 without a direct male heir, the British seized the state under the policy of doctrine of lapse. Sambalpur was kept under the South-West Frontier Agency with headquarters at Ranchi. The official language of this region at that time was Hindi. "South-West Frontier Agency" was renamed "Chhota Nagpur Division" in 1854.
The name of Veer Surendra Sai, who fought against the British Rule, is recorded in golden letters in the history of India's struggle for independence. During the Sepoy Mutiny in July 1857 the mutineers broke open the prison at Hazaribagh, where Surendra Sai was imprisoned and released all the prisoners. Surendra Sai fought against the British after reaching Sambalpur. There was no mutiny in Cuttack division, so Sambalpur was transferred to Cuttack division in 1858 and Oriya was made the official language of Sambalpur. Sambalpur along with other princely states of Western Odisha was included in the newly created Chhattisgarh division of Central Province in 1862.
Language issues In January 1896, Hindi was made official language of Sambalpur.Untitled-13 . (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-01-20. The people of Sambalpur, for whom Hindi was an alien language and their mother tongue is primarily a dialect of Odia, called Sambalpuri, objected it. Odia was re-introduced as the official language of Sambalpur district in 1903 as they demanded amalgamation with Odisha Division as a solution of the language crisis. This suited Lord Curzon, Sir Andrew Fraser and Mr. Risley, who were bent upon dividing Bengal on the basis of religion, so that British rule could continue in India. So the demand of amalgamation was accepted by the British Government during the partition of Bengal in 1905 when Sambalpur and the adjacent Sambalpuri speaking tracts were amalgamated with the Odisha Division under Bengal Presidency. Bengal's Odisha division became part of the new province of Bihar and Odisha in 1912, and in April 1936 became the separate province of Odisha. After Indian Independence on 15 August 1947, Odisha became an Indian state. The rulers of the Princely states of Western Odisha acceded to the Government of India in January 1948 and became part of Odisha state.
Twentieth Century 1956: Hirakud Dam was built across the Mahanadi River at Hirakud and VSSUT started functioning as University College of Engineering, Burla under Utkal University.
1966: Sambalpur University Act was passed.
1967 Sambalpur university located at Burla started functioning.
Vajrayana Buddhism Although it is generally accepted that Tantric Buddhism first developed in the country of Uddiyana or Odra Desha under King Indrabhuti, there is an old and well known scholarly dispute as to whether Uddiyana or Odra was in the Swat valley, Odisha or some other place.
Indrabhuti, the oldest known king of Sambalpur founded Vajrayana while his sister who was married to Yuvaraja Jalendra of Lankapuri (Suvarnapur) founded Sahajayana. These new Tantric sects of Buddhism introduced Mantra, Mudra and Mandala along with six Tantric Abhicharas (practices) such as Marana, Stambhana, Sammohana, Vidvesan, Uchchatana and Vajikarana. The Tantric Buddhist sects made efforts to raise the dignity of the lowest of the low of the society to a higher plane. It revived primitive beliefs and practices a simpler and less formal approach to the personal god, a liberal and respectful attitude towards women and denial of caste system.Welcome to BIT – "The travel people" . Bharathtravels.com. Retrieved on 2011-01-20.Official Website of Bargarh District . Bargarh.nic.in. Retrieved on 2011-01-20.
From the seventh century A.D. onwards many popular religious elements of heterogeneous nature were incorporated into Mahayana Buddhism which finally resulted in the origin of Vajrayana, Kalachakrayana and Sahajayana Tantric Buddhism. Tantric Buddhism first developed in Uddiyana, a country which was divided into two kingdoms Sambhala and Lankapuri. Sambhala has been identified with Sambalpur and Lankapuri with Subarnapura (Sonepur).Buddhist Remains in Western Odisha . Scribd.com. Retrieved on 2011-01-20.