Maritime of Kalinga

From the early times the people of Kalinga were engaged in maritime activities with other countries. Many factors motivated the people of Kalinga for such activities. The lure of foreign trade was the prominent factor and along with this the spirit of adventure, the establishment of colonies and kingdoms and the spread of religion added courage for the growth of maritime activities.

The people of Kalinga entered into lower Burma in large numbers, settled there permanently sharing even the names of some cities of Burma. Such change was the result of the steady flow of immigrants from Orissa as has been described by Dr. Nihar Ranjan Ray in his ‘Brahmanical Gods in Burma’.

In Thalon i.e., the ancient Rammanadesa, the land par-excellence of the Tailangas, at last the Brahmanical elements was imported decidedly from Orissa, the ancient Odra or Kalinga. The ancient name attributed to old Promo is Srikshetra, so often mentioned in the Mon records as Sikset or Srikset and by the Chinese pilgrims as Si-li-cha-ta-lo and Srikshetra is the holy land of Puri of ancient Kalinga coast.

The old name for Pegu is Ussa which is but a form of Odra or Orissa. It is thus difficult to disbelieve that Pegu colonized from Orissa or was once dominated by the people who migrated from Orissa. Lower Burma is the land of the people who were and are still called ‘Tailangas’.

The term used as early as 1107 A.D. in Mon records is but a deviation of ‘Telingana’ or ‘Trikalinga’ the name used to mean almost the whole of the Andhra-Kalinga zone. Likewise the earliest colonization of the Malaya Peninsula and Java and probably had been made from Kalinga, for the Hindus of the Peninsula and the islands were and are still known as ‘Kling’.

Emigrants from all parts of India, Eastern India and Orissa, the Chola country and Ceylone began to pour in incessantly in the wake of mainly trade and commerce. The coming of the emigrants changed the social and cultural life which gave birth to a new period known as classical period.

The monuments present in Pagan when closely analysed and examined reveal the influences from Bengal on one side and Orissa on the other. The sculptures found in Burma seem to have very intimate artistic affinities with Brahminical and Mahaynist divinities from Orissa. Srikshetra with the capital Prome became a Hind Kingdom and the kings of Hindu ruling family that established itself there bore such names as Hari Vikrama, and Surya Vikrama which are distinctly Oriya names.

Malaya Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Bali, the group of islands situated in South-East Asia and also the Malaya Peninsula received from early time’s streams of Indian immigrants and mostly from Kalinga. The empire built by Sailendra dynasty that included these islands was a branch III the Sailodbhava dynasty of Orissa in the 7th century A.D. Another significant fact about this time is the adoption of a new name Kalinga from Malaysia at-least by foreigners. The Chinese called the island Holing which is a transcript of Kalinga and as Dr. Nihar Ranjan Ray observes, the Hindus of the Malaya Peninsula and Java were and are still known as Kling which is a variant of Kalinga.

It is thus said that although colonists from different parts of India entered into the Malaya Peninsula and this group of islands the colonists from Kalinga predominated among them. Since the Sailendra dynasty of Orissa established a vast empire in the South-East Asia, the people of the homeland of the imperial dynasty must have been encouraged to migrate into these parts in large number changing in course of time their culture and religion including their original names.

In Orissa itself, the history of its maritime activities and cultural expansion has been forgotten through reminiscence of the sea voyages still Kalinga to the folklore of the land. Many stories speak of the merchants (Sadhavas) who went on sea voyages with their glotilla (boitas) and returned home with wealth.

In the month of Bhadrava (August, September) a particu­lar festival known as Khudurakuni Osa is observed throughout Orissa and at the end of it, a story is recited to those who observe fast during the occasion. The story relates to a merchant family consisting of seven brothers and only one sister named Tapoi, the youngest one of the family.

These seven brothers after entrusting their beloved sister to the care of their wives went on sea voyage with their flotilla (boitas) and after a long period of absence returned home with their boats filled with treasures. Their wives welcomed them at the port by the burning lamps and blowing conch shell but to their utmost surprise the brothers did not see their beloved sister in the company of their wives.

After making enquiry they came to know that because of the ill- treatment of all her sister-in-laws except the youngest one, Tapoi had left home in a pitiable condition. The brothers took prompt steps to bring her back and to punish all their wives except the wife of the youngest brother. But on the moment Tapoi breathed her last.

It is said that the particular festival referred to above originated from the day of her death. Many other festivals like the above are still observed in Orissa, which appears to be reminiscent of ancient sea voyage. On Kartika Purnima (October-November) while taking their bath in rivers and tanks in the morning, all Oriyas men and women have even now the custom of floating miniature boats made of the barks of the plantain trees or of paper with the lamp burning inside them, which appears to be symbolic of the sea voyage.

The different kinds of commodities on the ancient people of Orissa used to trade to foreign countries. One kind of pumpkin known as boitikakhara or boitalu which its name indicates was certainly a sea-borne vegetable brought from outside in boitas or boats. This vegetable is used even in the temple of Jagannath at Puri which fully indicates that its entry into Orissa took place at a remote time whereas the vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, etc., of recent arrival are not used in the bhoga of Lord Jagannath of Puri.

During ancient time Orissa was a great maritime power and from time immemorial she had her reputation for seafaring due to the availability of perennial rivers and as such played a prominent role in the transoceanic commerce and maritime history of Orissa. It was great in power and resources on account of its maritime trade and overseas colonies.

Due to the flourishing maritime trade led to the growth of urban centres and urbanisation along the sea coast of ancient Orissa then known as Kalinga. The maritime trade of Kalinga can be traced to the 4th century B.C. A number of suitable ports existed on the sea coast of Orissa. Ports like Palur, Dantapura, Dosarene, Pithunda, Kalingapatanam have been referred to by different sources during the ancient Kalinga.

According to Greek sailor Ptolemy, Palur was a significant port which he used as the base for the preparation of his map and fixed it as the beginning of the Gangetic gulf. The overseas trade had helped generating economic affluence to Kaling in the past during dynastic role. But with the increasing political instability and internal disturbances, the kings in course of time withdrew their patronage and left the ports featherless isolation.

The activities of the sea pirates, loss of profitability of the trade together with the complexity of the society where crossing sea was considered as sinful by the higher castes, all combinedly became responsible for the quick decline of the maritime activities of ancient Kalinga.