Etymology of Sambalpur...

Sambalpur in 1825, Watercolour of the fort at Sambalpur, by an anonymous artist for the Gilbert Collection, c. British Library

             

         Sambalpur derives from the name of the Goddess Samalei (ସମଲେଇ ଠାକୁରାଣୀ), the reigning deity of the region. The region in which Sambalpur city is situated was also known as Hirakhanda from former age. In history, it has also been known as 'Sambalaka'. Claudius Ptolemy has narrated the place as "Sambalak".According to Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, the French traveller, and Edward Gibbon, the English historian, It was famous for the diamonds, were exported to Rome from Sambalpur.

       Sambalpur's history is full of events including Indian freedom struggle representing the different sections of society, as depicted by eminent historians. Since Sambalpur is one of the age-old places of India, which survived even in the prehistoric age and holds a very key place in the history of Orissa as well as India.

       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 and the Lama cult. He has written the book Jñānasiddhi.

           Kalapahad was the title of a Iconoclast Muslim general of Mughal governor Sultan Sulaiman Karrani of Bengal. According to some historical documents he was either, Rajiv Lochan Ray, a Oriya convert to Islam or a Pashtun from Afghanistan. After conversion to Islam he took a Muslim name but is popularly know as Kalapahad. He was instrumental in conquering Orissa for Mughal Empire. Kalapahad was buried in Sambalpur. Large number of tombs believed to be those of the dead soldiers of Kalapahar are also located in a mango grove near Samaleswari College building on the bank of river Mahanadi in Orissa. The tomb of Kalapahad and the graves of his soldiers were destroyed in 2006 by Hindu extremists.

     

       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.

         In 1540 A.D., the kingdom of "Patna", ruled by the Chauhan dynasty was bifurcated. Southern portion of river Ang was ruled by "Narasingh Deb" and his brother "Balaram Deb" received northern part of the river, known as kingdom of "Huma" . Balaram Deb established his new capital at Sambalpur. Sambalpur was ruled by the Chauhan dynasty till 1800. The kingdom of Sambalpur has sambalpur sritd its capital.

      Sambalpur came under the Bhonsle of Nagpur when the Maratha 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.

When the last ruler of Sambalpur, 'Narayan Singh', died in 1849 without a direct male heir, the British seized the state under the Doctrine of Lapse. Sambalpur was kept under "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 Veer Surendra Sai was imprisoned and released all the prisoners. veer 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 Orissa was included in the newly created Chhattisgarhdivision of Central Province in 1862. In January 1896, Hindi was made official language of Sambalpur. During the partition of Bengal in 1905 Sambalpur and the adjacent Sambalpuri speaking tracts were amalgamated with the Orissa Division under Bengal Presidency. Bengal's Orissa division became part of the new province of Bihar and Orissa in 1912, and in April 1936 became the separate province of Orissa. After Indian Independence on August 15, 1947, Orissa became an Indian state. The rulers of the princely states of Western Orissa acceded to the Government of India in January 1948 and became part of Orissa state.

       1825 to 1827, Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert (1785–1853), later Lieutenant General Sir Walter Gilbert, 1st 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.