The state of Odisha was formed/created/ established/ founded in 1936?

Almost all people in Odisha are aware that the state of Odisha was officially reorganized in April 1^st 1936 as the first linguistic based state of India along with the province of Sindh. However, there is a collective blunder by the scholars of Odisha in describing this event as if it was the birth of the state. In fact Odisha was always existent in the history vibrantly until its downfall caused by Islamic Invaders from Bengal. Odisha was dismembered, politically tampered with and heinous efforts were made to wash out the Odia identity with the help of planned cultural sabotage. For example the Bengal bureaucratic groups tried to impose the Bengali script as they had done it successfully in Assam and in the former core Odishan territory of Jaleshwar Sarkar that comprises at least 30-40% of total territory of modern West Bengal and some parts of Jharkhand.  Marathi political influence on the Tribal highlands of Western and Southern Odisha (Tri Kalinga region) in sync with the 36 Garh or 36 forts and Chota Nagpur region was not enough while Hindi was being forcibly imposed as an Official language. This ultimately resulted in the first popular Odia language moment in Sambalpur region in 1905 to reinstate Odia as the official language though the people were still to remain divided for another 31 years.

The expressions in various research, educational and government documents over the internet and other available study materials thoughtlessly dictate that the state was formed or founded in the year 1936. The terms like Odra Bishaya, Odra Desa, Oddiyana, etc are mentioned in a clear cut manner in the various ancient documents. The Suryavanshi emperor Kapilendra Deva Routray of the 15^th Century was the first to declare his kingdom prominently as “Odisha Rajya“ or the kingdom of Odisha  which  is evident from his land grants issued during his rule. The existence of the term Odisha or its previous terms like Odra Bishaya, Odra Desa, etc. can be traced back into thousands of years of history with the alongside existence of contemporary names like Kalinga, Kangoda, Utkala, etc. Mythology speaks about the sons of the blind sage Dirghatamas as Kalinga, Pundra, Sumha, Banga, Anga and the later born youngest son as Odra. All these names are the simultaneous names of kingdoms as well as the princes of the undivided mythological Anava Empire in eastern India ruling it in parts after the death of their non biological father Bali.  So Odisha was not formed, created or founded by anyone on 1^st April 1936, it was partially amalgamated, reorganized or reconstituted with majority of its ancient territories still under the rule of non Odia states.

Odisha might have been dismembered, plundered and captured by foreign forces after the 16^th Century till the year 1936 but the consciousness of being an Odia was never eradicated despite all the best efforts by the conspirators. Our glorious past echoed through the centuries of blunder by foreign rulers and we decided to stand back on our feet following the guidelines of the Ganga Vanshis and the Surya Vanshis. The modern state of Odisha is a result of collective efforts based on patriotic consciousness of the ancient people who were famous across the world as Kalinga, Odra, Kangoda, etc. So let’s not downplay our own past glory by using the terms like formed/created/ established/ founded in 1936 for the state's official reorganization under modern standards and constitutional system.

Document Submitted by Manjit Keshari Nayak
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