The History of

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Samb ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

can be traced back to 100 AD. It was mentioned in the book of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

(

Claudius Ptolemaeus Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

) as Sambalaka on the left bank of river "Manada", now known as

Mahanadi The Mahanadi is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around and has a total length of . Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam. The river flows through the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha and finally merged with Bay o ...

. Other evidence is available from the records of

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

, and in the writings of the celebrated King

Indrabhuti Indrabhuti (alternatively King Ja) is a name attributed to a number of individuals that have become conflated in Vajrayana Buddhism. One Indrabhuti, considered a Mahasiddha, was a disciple of Lawapa. Identities of the king Samten Karmay attempte ...

of Sambalaka of Odra Desha or Oddiyan (oldest known king of Sambalpur), the founder of

Vajrayana Buddhism Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

and the Lama cult. He has written the book Jñānasiddhi (Sanskrit: ज्ञानसिद्धिर्नामसाधनम्;

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: jñānasiddhirnāmasādhanam; which is T2219 of the Tibetan

Tengyur The Tengyur or Tanjur or Bstan-’gyur (Tibetan: "Translation of Teachings") is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises". The Buddhist Canon To the Tengyur were assigned commentaries to b ...

Up to 18th century

1540 - Balaram Dev established his new capital at

. French merchant

Jean Baptiste Tavernier Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant traveling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 League (unit), leagues in making six voya ...

(1605–1689) visited

19th century

1800 -

came under the Bhonslas of Nagpur. 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

. He made few paintings during his stay at Sambalpur by an unknown artist, which are currently with the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

and

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. 1849 - British seized the state under the Doctrine of Lapse. 1857 -

Municipality established. 1858 -

was transferred to

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

division. 1862 -

along with other princely states of

Western Orissa Western Odisha or the western part of Odisha, India, extending from the Kalahandi district in the south to the Sundargarh district in the north. History Historically It's a region of 'Greater Kalinga' & ruled by various dynastys. *Mahameghav ...

was included in the newly created

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

division of Central Province. 1893 - The Bengal-Nagpur Railway Company opens a branch line to Sambalpur, it opened to goods traffic on 1 February and for passengers on 10 March. 1896 -

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

was made official language of

, by abolishing

Odia language Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also ...

, which after violent protests by people was reinstated again in 1903 1903 - Hindi is abolished and Odia is reinstated as the official language again.Untitled-13
(PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-01-20. 1905 - Sambalpur district is transferred to the Orissa Division of the Bengal Presidency. 1936 - New province of Orissa is formed.

20th century

1956

Hirakud Dam Hirakud Dam is built across the Mahanadi River, about from Sambalpur in the state of Odisha in India. It is the longest earthen dam in the world. Behind the dam extends a lake, Hirakud Reservoir, long. It is one of the first major multipurpos ...

was constructed and VSSUT started functioning as University College of Engineering, Burla. 1966

Sambalpur University Sambalpur University is located in Burla town, of district Sambalpur, India, in the state of Odisha. Popularly known as Jyoti Vihar, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The governor of Odisha is the chancellor of t ...

Act was passed. 1967

located at Burla started functioning. 1979 King Shaun rules the

. 1980 A devastating flood inundated parts of

References

{{Reflist History of Sambalpur