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Cuttack, now the metropolis of Orissa is one of its old cities, located in latitude
/ /
20029 North and longitude 85050 East. It is situated at the bifurcation of the
Mahanadi and its main branch, the Kathjori. These two rivers form an extensive delta
of which the Bay of Bengal serves as the base and Cuttack as the apogee. From the
geographical point of view, the city is also unique because it is surrounded on three sides
‘Madala Panji’, the temple chronicle of Lord Jagannatha throws some light on it, but its
accounts are based more on traditions. On the basis of ‘Madala Panji’, Andrew Sterling
writes, “Raja Nrupa Kesari, a martial and ambitious prince, who was always
fighting with his neighbours, is said to have planted a city on the site of modern
Cuttack, about A.D. 989. The reign of Markata Kesari was distinguished for the
the ancient one of which the remains are yet to be seen to protect the new capital
from inundation in A.D. 1006; and Madhava Kesari has the credit of building a
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But from the ‘Madala Panji’, it is known that Nripa Kesari ruled up to
Saka 875 (i.e. 953, A.D.) but regarding the foundation of Cuttack no reference is
made in it.2 Markata Kesari, the successor of Nrupa Kesari is acclaimed with
construction of the fort of Barabati on the bank of Mahanadi, whereas the stone
embankment along the Mahanadi is credited to one Nabaghana Singh during the
named Nrupa Kesari ruled the kingdom after defeating many kings. There is the city of
Kataka in the middle of Mahanadi. The construction of the fort of Barabati is ascribed to
him. Markata Kesari, the successor of Nrupa Kesari ruled upto Saka 929, i.e.1007, A.D.
His brother Nrisimha Ray constructed the stone embankment around the city of
Cuttack.
confusing and the authentic history of the Kesari dynasty cannot be ascertained
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from it. However, neither the history of the Kesari Vamsa of these traditions is totally
imaginary nor the ‘Madala Panji’ is totally devoid of historical evidences. Of course,
these legendary stories might have embodied certain elements of historical truth which
Kataka, situated on the bank of river Mahanadi, had not attained the status of a
metropolis during the rule of the Somavamsis as they had their capital at ‘Abhinava
place his arguments that Cuttack was a “place of importance even during the Bhauma
rule in Orissa”5. Of course, his view, to some extent, has been supported by the
existence of a few sculptural and structural remains of the ancient temples of the 8th
- 9th century A.D. at Cuttack belonging to the Bhauma kara period. But it is doubtful
whether it had enjoyed the status of a metropolis, during this time. Most probably, it
visaya with Cuttack6. But scholars have rejected this identification of R. C. Majumdar
on the ground that the Sailodbhava territory never expanded beyond the Puri-
After the conquest of Orissa by Codagangadeva during the early part of the
12th century A.D., the importance of Kataka gradually increased. ‘Madala Panji’ reveals
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that ‘Biranasi Kataka’ is one among the Pancha katakas being occupied by
Codagangadeva, the founder of the Ganga dynasty at the time of his conquest of Orissa.
‘Biranasi’ but subsequently this name was being mentioned as ‘Baranasi’ in ‘Madala
Panji’. From this, one can conclude that two distorted names, i.e. ‘Biranasi’ and
‘Baranasi’ were being created out of the original name ‘Baranasi’. Amongst these, the
name ‘Biranasi’ gradually converted to ‘Bidanasi’ and the name ‘Baranasi’ was
converted to ‘Benaras’ in the writings of muslim historians. Just as the city of Baranasi
is situated between the rivers Baruna and Asi, likewise Cuttack is situated between the
rivers Mahanadi and Kathjori, and, was, therefore, named as Baranasi Kataka.
Codagangadeva had occupied Orissa during the early parts of 12th century.
plates of Codagangadeva, dated 1108 A.D. refer to his restoration as the king of Utkala,
which is also supported by his Korni plates, dated 1112 A.D. From these two plates, we
can conclude that Codagangadeva occupied Orissa or Utkala around 1108 A.D. In order
to check the Kalachuris, Codagangadeva shifted his capital from Kalinganagara after
1135 A.D. to Kataka, which was centrally located in his vast empire.
village near Cuttack. This proves that a certain “Varanasi Kataka” already existed by
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the time Anangabhimadeva came to power. ‘Madala Panji’ assigns the construction of
Kataka. One day the king crossed the Mahanadi and while was on the southern bank of
it, in the vicinity of Bisvesvara Siva situated in the village Barabati in the Kodinda
Dandapata, he saw that a heron killed a hawk. The king was astonished at this unusual
event and laid foundation of a Kataka in the Barabati village and after building the
palace and making it a Kataka, called the place as the Varanasi Kataka and left
Varanasi – Kataka.”8
The Nagari copper plate issued by Anangabhimadeva III also corroborates the
transfer of capital from Choudwar to Varanasi - Kataka. From this Nagari copper plate it
is known that the king, a devout Vaisnava, built a gigantic temple for Lord
Purusottama at his new capital and the images were installed on the 9th day of the bright
fortnight of Chaitra. In the Nagari plate the king made land grants to a Brahmin named
Sankarsana Nanda of Silo who had taken part in the consecration ceremony of this
temple.9 This Nagari plate of 1230 A.D. definitely confirms the fact that Abhinava-
Varanasi-Kataka as the capital seat of Anangabhimadeva-III was existed before that year.
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Abhinava-Varanasi-Kataka, which clearly indicates that this new capital had definitely
The temple of Purusottama seems to have been destroyed by Firuz Shah Tughlaq
in 1360-1361 A.D. during the reign of Bhanudeva III (1351-1388 A.D.). During his
invasion, Firuz Shah Tughlaq had destroyed many temples from Khiching to Banarasi-
Kheda district of Gujrat and also in the Persian texts such as ‘Sirat-i-Firuzshahi’ and
‘Tarikh-i-Firuzshahi’. After occupying Banarasi Kataka, Firuz took away the idol of
Purusottama made of stone from the Rai’s or ‘Bhanu Diw’s fort to Delhi.
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earliest structure within the fort. The badly mutilate sculptures discovered show close
About four hundred architectural fragments belonging to temple parts and sculptures
depicting erotic couples, musicians, standing female figures, heads of females showing
ornaments and different hair styles and mutilated images of Ganesa and Surya were
recovered from the filling in the palace. The temple covered with debris was completely
destroyed. It is found that the pillars of later period are resting over it, causing damage to
later lime plaster flooring associated with the temple. It clearly indicates that the palace,
to which these pillars belong, was constructed at the time when the temple was
already passed into oblivion. This implies a gap of more than a century between the
destruction of the temple and the construction of the palace. The Nagari plate of
Anangabhimadeva III refers to a temple being constructed by the king for Lord
Purusottama. The temple excavated at Barabati Fort was the only temple that was built
invasion of Cuttack and carrying off the idol of Purusottama to Delhi has been
mentioned. Thus it can be presumed that the ruins of a temple found during the
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Abhinava - Varanasi-Kataka. On the eve of the consecration of God Purusottama in Saka
1152 (1230 A.D.), the king donated the land. Again in Saka 1152, while standing before
the God Purusottama at Abhinava-Varanasi Kataka, the king had granted four vatis and
eight manas of land to a Brahmin named Devadharasarma. The date, recorded in the
present city of Cuttack. The area seems to have been known as Varanasi because of
the presence of the temple of Visvesvarasiva on the bank of the Mahanadi, which
the founder of Suryavamsi Gajapati dynasty, had his capital at Kataka on the bank of
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river Mahanadi which is known from a copper plate grant of Ganadeva Rautraya of
virajate
Mahanadi-parisare-
sakrasyeva-amaravati”
Kataka, the capital of Kapilendra deva, has been compared with Amaravati, the
celestial abode, which reveals its importance and prosperity. The Anatavaram plates12
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of Prataprudra Deva, dated 1500 A.D., refer Kataka as the capital of Kapilesvara
Gajapati. Thus Kataka served as the capital of Orissa during the reign of Suryavamsi
Gajapatis.
after killing his master’s two minor sons – Kakharudeva and Kaluadeva, established a
new dynasty, called Bhoi dynasty. Kataka remained as the capital of Orissa under the ill-
after imprisoning Raghubhanja Chhotray, the last ruler of the Bhoi dynasty. He was the
first and last ruler of this dynasty and also the last native king of Orissa. Mukundadeva
undertook the reconstruction work of the magnificent Barabati fort, the greatest
citadel of the illustrious monarchs of several dynasties who ruled from Kataka for about
seven centuries. Mukundadeva, besides repairing the defensive walls of the fort, also
constructed a nine-storied palace. Since that time, the fort of Barabati was known as the
palace of Mukundadeva.
After the death of Mukundadeva, Orissa came under the influence of the Afghans
who ruled from Barabati fort from 1568 A.D. till 1592 A.D., when the Mughals finally
supplanted them. The Mughals ruled Orissa from Kataka, which was mentioned by
Abul Fazl that the Mughal Governor was staying at Kataka, which had “a stone fort of
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In 1633 A.D. a new palace known as Lalbag palace, on the bank of Kathjori, was
built which became the residence of the Subahdar of the province. The Mughal rule
over Orissa continued up to 1767 A.D. after which the Nazims of Bengal had a brief
The Marathas had remarkably improved the fort of Barabati by strengthening the
ramparts while the ditch round the fort was widened and deepened. During their
rule, Kataka flourished as an emporium of trade and became the central market of
exchange between the Marathas of Nagpur and the English merchants in Bengal
and Northern Sircars. It was by this time that the English power was considerably
growing in Bengal, in the north and in the Northern Sircars, in the south of Orissa. After
the battle of Plassey, the relationship between the Marathas and the English was strained.
By 1799 A.D. the Eastern Coast up to Ganjam came under the control of the English. The
continuous line of seacoast with Bengal. Finally by the treaty of Deogaon concluded on
17th December 1803, A.D. Raghuji Bhonsala ceded in perpetual sovereignty of the
province of Cuttack along with the port and the district of Balasore to the East India
Company.
During the early part of the British rule, Puri served as the headquarters of Orissa.
But from 1816 A.D. onwards, Cuttack served as the headquarters of Orissa
Cuttack has witnessed the rise and fall of several kingdoms and empires in the history of
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Orissa. Cuttack had enjoyed the opportunities of becoming the capital of several
kingdoms, empires and the political headquarters of Orissa for a long time. It also
Thus in the past, the present city of Cuttack was famous in various names
‘Kataka’. This famous city had gone through various stages of metamorphosis, from a
mere military cantonment to that of the capital of Orissa. Unlike many other ancient
cities of India, it does not meet its end in the cross current of time. It continues to be one
References: -
1. Andrew Sterling, Orissa; chronology and History, reprinted in N. Sahu (Ed.) History of
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8. Ibid. p. 27
10. Ibid
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