The Mughal conquest of 1592 closed the turbulent quarter-century of Afghan rule (see The Afghan Rule in Odisha) and incorporated Odisha into the largest and most sophisticated state in Indian history. For the first time, the coastal plains of Odisha were governed as part of an empire that stretched from Kabul to Bengal and from Kashmir to the Deccan, with a common revenue system, coinage, administrative language and court culture.
Yet Mughal Odisha was always a frontier province. It was distant from the imperial capitals, bordered by the forested hills of the interior, and dominated in religious terms by the great Hindu temple at Puri, whose guardian, the raja of Khurda, claimed the title of Gajapati. Mughal governors had to balance the demands of the emperor for revenue and order against the realities of a province where local chiefs held the hills, the Khurda raja commanded popular loyalty, and the temple attracted pilgrims from all over India.
This article examines how the Mughals governed Odisha and how Odia society experienced their rule. It asks how the province was organised, how its revenue was assessed and collected, how the Mughals dealt with Khurda and the Jagannatha temple, how trade developed, and how Mughal rule ended. It also considers the long debate among historians over whether the Mughal period was one of oppression and decline or of integration and stability.
Table of Contents
Background: From Conquest to Province
The settlement of 1592–1593
Raja Man Singh’s conquest of 1592 was followed by a settlement that shaped the whole Mughal period. The coastal plains from the Subarnarekha to the region of Puri were brought under direct Mughal administration. The raja of Khurda, Ramachandra Deva I, submitted in January 1593 and was recognised as a tributary ruler and guardian of the Jagannatha temple (see Formation of the Khurda Kingdom). The chiefs of the hill states were left in possession of their territories in return for tribute. The southern coast beyond the Chilika lake remained in the hands of Golconda until the Mughal conquest of that kingdom in 1687.
The Ain-i-Akbari picture
Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari, compiled in the 1590s, describes Orissa as part of the subah of Bengal and divides it into revenue districts (sarkars), including Jaleswar, Bhadrak and Cuttack, together with southern districts such as Kalinga Dandapat and Rajmahendri that were claimed but not yet held. It records the assessed revenue of each district and notes the existence of the Hindu raja of Khurda. This document is the starting point for any study of Mughal administration in Odisha.
Sources and Historiography
Mughal Odisha is documented by imperial histories and administrative records, by the Madala Panji and other Odia texts, and by the records of the European trading companies. Together they allow the historian to see the province from the imperial court, from the temple and from the ports.
| Source group | Main examples | What it gives | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial histories | Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari; Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri; histories of Shah Jahan’s and Aurangzeb’s reigns | Appointments of governors; campaigns against Khurda; imperial orders | Court perspective; Odisha a minor province |
| Provincial and regional Persian works | Baharistan-i-Ghaibi of Mirza Nathan; later Bengal histories such as the Riyaz-us-Salatin | Campaigns in Bengal and Odisha under Jahangir; the Bengal nawabs | Partial; often late |
| Administrative records | Ain-i-Akbari revenue tables; later revenue documents, many preserved in British records after 1803 | Sarkars, mahals, revenue, zamindars | Incomplete for the 17th century |
| Odia sources | Madala Panji; Khurda chronicles; Odia literature | Conflicts with Mughal governors; attacks on Puri; temple affairs | Temple- and Khurda-centred |
| European records | English, Dutch and Portuguese company records; travellers’ accounts | Trade at Balasore, Pipli and Hariharpur; relations with Mughal officials | Commercial focus |
| British reports after 1803 | Settlement reports and early accounts of Orissa | Retrospective descriptions of Mughal institutions | Written after the fact, with colonial assumptions |
Key documents examined
The Ain-i-Akbari. The revenue tables of the Ain-i-Akbari are the foundation of Mughal administrative history in Odisha. They list the sarkars and their sub-divisions (mahals), the assessed revenue and the military contingents of the province at the end of the 16th century.
The Baharistan-i-Ghaibi. Mirza Nathan’s memoir of the Mughal campaigns in Bengal under Jahangir includes material on the governors and conflicts of the early 17th century and gives a soldier’s view of Mughal rule in the eastern provinces.
The Madala Panji. The temple chronicle records the attacks of Mughal officers on Puri, the repeated hiding of the deities, the negotiations of the Khurda kings with the governors, and the effects of imperial religious policy on the temple. It is the main Odia source for the period.
English East India Company records. The records of the English factories at Hariharpur and Balasore, from the 1630s onwards, describe the company’s negotiations with the Mughal governors at Cuttack, the conditions of trade and the operation of Mughal authority in the ports.
How scholars have studied Mughal Odisha
Colonial writers such as Andrew Stirling and W.W. Hunter portrayed Mughal rule in Odisha as oppressive and exploitative, a view that served to justify British rule as a restoration of order.
Historians of the Mughal empire have studied Odisha as part of the eastern provinces, analysing its revenue system, its governors and its relationship with Bengal.
R.D. Banerji and later historians reconstructed the political history of the Mughal governors and their wars with Khurda.
Odia historians have examined Mughal rule from the perspective of Odia society, the Khurda kingdom and the Jagannatha temple, and have debated both its oppressive aspects and its contributions to administration and trade. Their views are discussed in Section 5.
1. Political History, 1592–1751
The history of Mughal Odisha falls into four phases: incorporation as part of the subah of Bengal (1592–c. 1605); the separate Subah of Orissa under Jahangir and Shah Jahan (c. 1605–1658); the reign of Aurangzeb (1658–1707); and rule by the deputies of the nawabs of Bengal, ending in the Maratha conquest (1707–1751).
The phase boundaries are approximate; the separate subah is dated here to 1605, following the historyofodisha.in study, and some historians date it a few years later.
Phase 1: Part of Bengal (1592–c. 1605)
After Man Singh’s conquest, Odisha was governed as part of the subah of Bengal. Mughal officers were stationed at Cuttack and in the frontier districts, and the remaining Afghan chiefs were either absorbed into Mughal service or pushed into the margins. Afghan unrest continued in Bengal for some years, and the Mughal hold over Odisha was not fully secure. The raja of Khurda, Ramachandra Deva I, kept his position as a tributary ruler and guardian of the Jagannatha temple.
Phase 2: The separate Subah of Orissa (c. 1605–1658)
Creation of the subah. Under the emperor Jahangir, Odisha was made a separate province with its own governor (subahdar) at Cuttack. According to the historyofodisha.in study of Mughal Odisha, this took place in 1605, with Hashim Khan as the first governor. The separation reflected the importance of Odisha as a revenue-producing frontier province and the need for a governor on the spot to deal with Khurda and the hill chiefs.
Governors and Khurda under Jahangir. The early governors pursued an aggressive policy towards Khurda and the Puri temple. Odia sources describe how Kesho Das Maru, a Mughal officer, plundered the Jagannatha temple during the car festival. Raja Kalyan Mal, governor from around 1611, attacked Khurda, and the Khurda raja, Purushottama Deva, was forced into humiliating terms, including the payment of a large indemnity and, according to the historyofodisha.in account, the surrender of his daughter to the imperial household. Mukarram Khan, governor from around 1617, is remembered in Odia tradition for iconoclastic attacks, including damage to the image of Sakshi Gopala.
Consolidation under Shah Jahan. Under Shah Jahan (1628–1658) relations became more stable. Governors such as Muhammad Baqar Khan and Mutaqad Khan concentrated on administration and revenue. During Mutaqad Khan’s governorship, the English East India Company, through Ralph Cartwright, obtained permission to trade in Odisha and established its first factories in the province at Hariharpur and Balasore in 1633. Later governors, including Muhammad Zaman Teherani, continued this pattern.
Phase 3: The reign of Aurangzeb (1658–1707)
Revolt and submission of Khurda. At the beginning of Aurangzeb’s reign, during the war of succession among Shah Jahan’s sons, the raja of Khurda, Mukunda Deva I, rebelled against Mughal authority. The governor Khan-i-Dauran suppressed the rebellion, and in 1661 Mukunda Deva surrendered. Khan-i-Dauran is also remembered for remitting a large revenue of about fifteen lakh rupees to the imperial court.
Religious policy. Aurangzeb’s orders against major Hindu temples reached Odisha. According to the historyofodisha.in account, he ordered the destruction of the Jagannatha temple in 1662, but the Khurda raja persuaded the officials to report falsely that it had been carried out. Other sources and traditions describe later orders and periods when the temple was closed and the deities were hidden. A religious officer (muhtasib) named Junaid is said to have demolished a number of temples, including the shrine of the goddess Sarala at Jhankada. The temple’s worship was fully restored only after Aurangzeb’s death in 1707.
The southern districts. After the Mughal conquest of Golconda in 1687, the southern coastal districts that had been under the Qutb Shahis came under Mughal authority as part of the Deccan provinces, not of Orissa.
Phase 4: The Bengal nawabs and the Maratha conquest (1707–1751)
Murshid Quli Khan. After Aurangzeb’s death, the power of the imperial centre declined. Murshid Quli Khan, who had been the diwan (revenue officer) of Bengal and governor of Orissa, became the effective ruler of Bengal and Orissa and founded the line of the nawabs of Bengal. From this time Odisha was governed by deputies (naib nazims) of the Bengal nawabs.
Shuja-ud-din and Taqi Khan. Shuja-ud-din Muhammad Khan, Murshid Quli’s son-in-law, governed Orissa as deputy before becoming nawab of Bengal in 1727. His son Taqi Khan then governed Orissa and came into conflict with the raja of Khurda, Ramachandra Deva II, who was captured and, according to tradition, converted to Islam.
Alivardi Khan and the Marathas. In 1740–1741 Alivardi Khan seized power in Bengal and defeated the deputy governor of Orissa, Murshid Quli II, who had resisted him. Almost immediately, the Marathas of Nagpur under Raghuji Bhonsle began a series of invasions of Bengal and Orissa, led by Bhaskar Pandit and others. After a decade of war, Alivardi Khan agreed in 1751 to cede Orissa to the Marathas and to pay them an annual tribute. Mughal rule in Odisha came to an end.
Governors of Orissa (selected)
| Governor | Period (approx.) | Notable events |
|---|---|---|
| Hashim Khan | from 1605 | First governor of the separate subah |
| Raja Kalyan Mal | from c. 1611 | Attack on Khurda; humiliation of Purushottama Deva |
| Mukarram Khan | from c. 1617 | Iconoclastic attacks remembered in Odia tradition |
| Ahmad Beg | 1621–1628 | Late Jahangir period |
| Muhammad Baqar Khan | from 1628 | Early Shah Jahan period |
| Mutaqad Khan | 1632–1641 | English factories at Hariharpur and Balasore (1633) |
| Muhammad Zaman Teherani | 1642–1645 | Administration under Shah Jahan |
| Khan-i-Dauran | from c. 1660 | Suppression of Mukunda Deva’s revolt (1661); large revenue remittances |
| Murshid Quli Khan | to c. 1707 and after | Diwan of Bengal; founder of the Bengal nawabs’ rule |
| Shuja-ud-din (deputy) | early 18th century | Later nawab of Bengal (1727) |
| Taqi Khan (deputy) | c. 1727–1734 | Conflict with Ramachandra Deva II of Khurda |
| Murshid Quli II (deputy) | 1730s–1741 | Defeated by Alivardi Khan |
2. Administration and Revenue
Mughalbandi and Garhjat
The most important feature of the Mughal administrative order in Odisha was the division between two kinds of territory.
- The Mughalbandi was the coastal plain, from the Subarnarekha to the region of Puri, under direct Mughal administration. Here the Mughals assessed and collected land revenue through their own officers and local intermediaries.
- The Garhjat (“land of forts”) was the hilly and forested interior, divided among many hereditary chiefs, each with his fort (garh). These chiefs paid tribute (peshkash) to the Mughals but governed their own territories according to local custom.
Between the two stood the kingdom of Khurda, which was tributary like the Garhjat states but held a special position because of the raja’s role as Gajapati and guardian of the Jagannatha temple. This threefold division of Mughalbandi, Garhjat and Khurda continued under the Marathas and was inherited by the British in 1803.
The provincial government
The Subah of Orissa was governed by a subahdar (governor, also called nazim) at Cuttack, who was responsible for military command, law and order and relations with the tributary chiefs. Revenue administration was supervised by a diwan, who reported separately to the imperial finance department, in keeping with the Mughal principle of dividing authority. Below them were:
- the faujdars, military officers responsible for districts and strategic places such as Balasore and the northern frontier;
- the qazi, responsible for justice according to Islamic law in matters involving Muslims and in the towns;
- the kotwal, in charge of order in the city of Cuttack;
- officers in charge of the mint, customs and ports.
The revenue system
Sarkars and mahals. The Mughalbandi was divided into revenue districts (sarkars) and sub-districts (mahals or parganas). The Ain-i-Akbari lists the sarkars of Orissa with their assessed revenue at the end of the 16th century.
Todar Mal’s settlement. The revenue system introduced by Raja Todar Mal in north India, based on the measurement of land and the assessment of revenue according to the quality of the soil and the crop, was extended to Odisha after the conquest. In practice, the Mughals relied heavily on existing local records and on Odia revenue officials, and the assessment was adapted to local conditions.
Intermediaries. Revenue was collected through a hierarchy of intermediaries:
- zamindars, local landholders responsible for collecting revenue from the peasants of their estates and paying it to the state;
- chaudhuris, heads of groups of villages;
- qanungos, hereditary registrars who kept the revenue records of each pargana;
- village headmen and accountants.
Many of these offices were filled by members of Odia communities, especially the Karanas, and several Odia family names, such as Kanungo and Chaudhury, derive from these Mughal-period offices.
Jagirs and khalsa. Part of the revenue was assigned to Mughal officers as jagirs in return for maintaining troops, while part was collected directly for the imperial treasury (khalsa). The large remittances sent to the court by governors such as Khan-i-Dauran show that Odisha was a significant source of revenue for the empire.
The tributary chiefs
The Garhjat chiefs and the raja of Khurda paid a fixed tribute (peshkash), which was often in arrears and became a frequent cause of conflict. Mughal governors used military expeditions, diplomacy, hostage-taking and marriage alliances to secure the tribute and the loyalty of the chiefs. In practice, the chiefs retained great autonomy, and Mughal authority in the hills depended on the strength of the governor at Cuttack.
Coinage and the language of administration
Mughal coinage circulated in Odisha alongside cowrie shells used for small transactions. Persian became the language of the provincial government, but Odia remained the language of village records, temple documents and much local administration, so that a class of bilingual officials developed in Cuttack and the district towns.
3. Economy, Society, Religion and Culture
The agrarian economy
The wealth of Mughal Odisha, like that of its predecessors, came from rice cultivation in the deltas of the Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani and Subarnarekha. The Mughal revenue demand fell heavily on the peasants of the Mughalbandi, and the frequent wars with Khurda, the rebellions of chiefs and, in the 18th century, the Maratha invasions disrupted cultivation. Periods of stability, especially under Shah Jahan, appear to have allowed recovery and expansion of agriculture.
Trade and the European companies
The Mughal period saw the rise of Odisha’s northern ports as centres of overseas trade.
- Pipli, near the mouth of the Subarnarekha, was an early centre of Portuguese and later Dutch trade, known also for its role in the slave trade of the Bay of Bengal in the early 17th century.
- Hariharpur, in the Mahanadi delta, was the site of the first English factory in Odisha, established in 1633 after Ralph Cartwright obtained permission from the Mughal governor at Cuttack.
- Balasore became the most important port of Mughal Odisha. The English opened a factory there in 1633, and the Dutch, Danes and French later traded there as well. It served as a gateway to Bengal before the rise of Calcutta at the end of the 17th century.
The main exports were textiles, especially the cotton cloth woven in the villages of northern Odisha, rice and other foodstuffs, and goods brought from the interior. The European trade brought silver into the province and linked Odisha to the wider world economy, though most of the profits went to the companies and to Mughal officials and merchants.
Towns
Cuttack, the provincial capital, grew as an administrative and military centre with the fort of Barabati, the governor’s court and a mixed population of Mughal officials, soldiers, merchants and artisans. Balasore developed as a port town, and Jajpur, Bhadrak and Puri remained important regional centres.
Society
Mughal rule brought new groups into Odia society. Mughal officials, soldiers and merchants, Muslim and Hindu, settled in Cuttack, Balasore and other towns, contributing to the growth of Muslim communities whose descendants form part of Odisha’s population today. Persian-educated Odia officials, many from the Karana community, became intermediaries between the Mughal government and local society. In the countryside the old landholding and warrior families either adapted to the new order as zamindars or retreated into the Garhjat states and Khurda.
Religion and the Jagannatha temple
The relationship between the Mughals and the Jagannatha temple was complex. On one hand, the temple attracted pilgrims from all over India, generating income for the province, and Mughal officials taxed and regulated the pilgrim traffic. On the other hand, the temple was repeatedly a target: early governors and officers under Jahangir plundered it and attacked images, and under Aurangzeb orders were issued against it, so that worship was disrupted and the deities were hidden more than once. The rajas of Khurda used negotiation, payments and evasion to protect the temple, and their success in doing so strengthened their position as its guardians.
Islamic institutions also developed in Mughal Odisha. Mosques were built in Cuttack, Jajpur, Balasore and other towns, Sufi figures settled in the province, and Islamic law was administered by qazis in the towns.
Culture and literature
Odia culture flourished in this period, but its centres shifted. With the old royal court gone, the patrons of Odia literature were now the rajas of Khurda and especially the chiefs of the Garhjat states. The 17th and 18th centuries saw the rise of the ornate riti style of Odia poetry, whose greatest master, Upendra Bhanja, belonged to the ruling family of Ghumusar in the south. Devotional literature centred on Jagannatha and Krishna also flourished, and the temple traditions of music and dance at Puri continued. Persian culture influenced the language of administration and the life of the towns, adding new words to Odia.
4. Case Studies
Case Study 1: Khurda and the Mughal governors under Jahangir
The events. In the early 17th century the Mughal governors of the new Subah of Orissa pursued an aggressive policy towards Khurda and Puri. Kesho Das Maru plundered the Jagannatha temple during the car festival; Raja Kalyan Mal attacked Khurda; and Purushottama Deva, the raja of Khurda, was forced to accept humiliating terms, including a large indemnity and, according to the historyofodisha.in account, the surrender of his daughter to the imperial household. Mukarram Khan’s governorship brought further attacks on images.
The reasons. The governors sought to establish Mughal authority over the tributary raja, to extract revenue from the wealthy temple and its pilgrims, and to demonstrate their power in a new province. The raja’s position as Gajapati and guardian of Jagannatha made him both a natural intermediary and a potential rival.
Assessment. The episode shows that Mughal rule in Odisha began with a period of conflict and extraction before settling into a more stable relationship under Shah Jahan. It also shows how the temple became the focus of the struggle between the imperial governors and the Odia raja.
Case Study 2: Balasore and the English East India Company
The events. In 1633 a party of English merchants led by Ralph Cartwright travelled from the Coromandel coast to Odisha and obtained permission from the Mughal governor, Mutaqad Khan, to trade in the province. They established factories at Hariharpur in the Mahanadi delta and at Balasore. Balasore became a major centre of English trade in eastern India and a base for the company’s expansion into Bengal.
The significance. The opening of Balasore marked the beginning of a relationship that would transform Odisha’s history. The Mughal governors welcomed the trade for the revenue and goods it brought, and the companies depended on Mughal permission. Less than two centuries later, the English company would conquer the province.
Assessment. Mughal Odisha’s ports were integrated into the expanding commerce of the Indian Ocean and the European companies. This was a real contribution of the Mughal period to Odisha’s economy, though the profits flowed largely outwards.
Case Study 3: The Jagannatha temple under Aurangzeb
The order. According to the historyofodisha.in account, Aurangzeb ordered the destruction of the Jagannatha temple in 1662. Other sources and Odia traditions describe later orders and periods during which the temple was closed and the deities were removed to safety.
The response. The raja of Khurda and the temple servants responded with a combination of negotiation, payment and deception. The historyofodisha.in account describes how the raja persuaded the officials to report falsely that the order had been carried out. The deities were hidden until it was safe to bring them back.
The outcome. The temple survived, and worship was fully restored after Aurangzeb’s death in 1707.
Assessment. The episode illustrates both the threat that imperial religious policy posed to Odisha’s sacred centre and the effectiveness of local resistance. It also shows that the implementation of imperial orders in a distant province depended on local officials, who could be persuaded to compromise.
Case Study 4: Why did Bengal give Orissa to the Marathas in 1751?
The situation. From 1742 the Marathas of Nagpur under Raghuji Bhonsle invaded Bengal and Orissa almost every year. Alivardi Khan, nawab of Bengal, fought them with some success, but the invasions devastated western Bengal and Orissa and drained his resources.
The treaty. In 1751 Alivardi Khan made peace. He agreed to cede Orissa to the Marathas and to pay an annual tribute in return for an end to the invasions of Bengal.
The reasons. Orissa was a distant, frontier province, expensive to defend and less valuable than the rich heartland of Bengal. By giving it up, Alivardi protected Bengal. For the Marathas, Orissa provided revenue and a route to Bengal.
Assessment. The cession of 1751 ended Mughal rule in Odisha not through conquest by the Marathas alone but through a calculated decision by the rulers of Bengal. It shows how, by the mid-18th century, Odisha had become a bargaining counter in the politics of the successor states of the Mughal empire.
5. Odia Historians on Mughal Odisha
Odia historians have approached Mughal rule with mixed judgements. For many, it was a period of foreign domination, economic extraction and attacks on the Jagannatha temple; for others, it also brought administrative integration, trade and a measure of stability, while Odia culture continued to flourish under local patrons.
Harekrushna Mahtab, in his History of Orissa, stressed the oppressive aspects of Mughal rule, the humiliation of the Khurda rajas and the attacks on Puri, while emphasising the resilience of Odia culture and the role of Khurda and the Garhjat states in preserving it.
Krishna Chandra Panigrahi and other critical historians placed Mughal Odisha in the wider context of imperial administration, discussing the revenue system, the Mughalbandi and Garhjat division, and the variation in policy between different emperors and governors.
Historians of the Jagannatha cult have examined the repeated threats to the temple under Jahangir and Aurangzeb, the hiding of the deities and the strategies of the Khurda rajas, and have shown how these experiences deepened the identification of Jagannatha with Odia identity.
Historians of Odia literature, such as Mayadhar Mansinha, have emphasised that the Mughal period was the age of the riti poets, above all Upendra Bhanja, and that the Garhjat courts became the new centres of Odia culture.
Economic and social historians have studied the development of Balasore and Pipli, the European companies, the role of Karana officials in the Mughal revenue system and the settlement of Muslim communities in the towns.
On historyofodisha.in, Brajabandhu Mahanta, in “Odisha under Mughal Rule” (2022), dates the creation of the separate subah to 1605 under Jahangir, gives a list of governors from Hashim Khan to Murshid Quli Khan, and describes the conflicts with Khurda under Purushottama Deva, Narasimha Deva and Mukunda Deva, the plunder of the temple by Kesho Das Maru, the iconoclasm of Mukarram Khan, Aurangzeb’s order of 1662 against the Jagannatha temple and its evasion, the demolitions by the muhtasib Junaid, and the establishment of the English factories at Balasore.
Main debates
| Question | Main positions |
|---|---|
| Was Mughal rule oppressive? | Yes, especially for the temple and Khurda (many Odia historians and colonial writers); oppressive in phases, with periods of stability and growth (other historians) |
| When did Orissa become a separate subah? | Under Jahangir, around 1605 (historyofodisha.in and others); a few years later in some accounts |
| How did Mughal policy towards Puri vary? | Hostile under some governors and under Aurangzeb; pragmatic under Akbar, Man Singh and Shah Jahan |
| What were the lasting effects? | The Mughalbandi–Garhjat division; revenue offices and officials; the growth of Balasore and European trade; Muslim communities in the towns |
| Why did Mughal rule end? | Decline of imperial authority, the rise of the Bengal nawabs and the Maratha invasions; cession in 1751 |
6. Assessment
Mughal rule in Odisha lasted 159 years and left a deep and lasting imprint. It brought the coastal plains into a large imperial system of revenue, administration and trade. It created the division between the directly governed Mughalbandi and the tributary Garhjat that shaped Odisha’s political geography until 1947–48. It introduced revenue offices and administrative practices, many of them staffed by Odia officials, that outlived the empire. And through the ports of Balasore and Pipli it opened Odisha to the European companies whose successor would conquer the province in 1803.
Mughal rule also had a darker side. The early governors under Jahangir and the policies of Aurangzeb brought attacks on the Jagannatha temple, humiliation for the rajas of Khurda and heavy revenue demands. The 18th century brought the decline of imperial authority, rule by the deputies of the Bengal nawabs and a decade of devastating Maratha invasions, ending with the cession of the province in 1751.
Throughout, Odia society showed great resilience. The Jagannatha cult survived every threat and became more firmly identified with Odia identity; the rajas of Khurda preserved the Gajapati tradition; and Odia literature flourished in the courts of the Garhjat chiefs. Mughal Odisha was therefore both a period of foreign rule and a formative stage in the history of the region, in which imperial institutions and Odia culture met and shaped each other.
Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Chaudhuri | Head of a group of villages responsible for revenue |
| Diwan | Head of revenue administration in a province |
| Faujdar | Military officer in charge of a district |
| Garhjat | The tributary hill states of the interior, “land of forts” |
| Jagir | Revenue assignment to an officer for military service |
| Khalsa | Land whose revenue went directly to the imperial treasury |
| Mahal / Pargana | Sub-division of a revenue district |
| Mughalbandi | The coastal plain under direct Mughal administration |
| Muhtasib | Officer responsible for enforcing religious law and public morals |
| Naib nazim | Deputy governor, especially of Orissa under the Bengal nawabs |
| Peshkash | Tribute paid by a subordinate chief |
| Qanungo | Hereditary keeper of revenue records |
| Sarkar | Revenue district |
| Subah / Subahdar | Province / provincial governor |
| Zamindar | Landholder responsible for collecting revenue |
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When did Mughal rule in Odisha begin and end? It began with Raja Man Singh’s conquest in 1592 and ended in 1751, when Alivardi Khan, nawab of Bengal, ceded Orissa to the Marathas.
2. When did Orissa become a separate Mughal province? Under Jahangir. The historyofodisha.in study dates it to 1605, with Hashim Khan as the first governor; some accounts give a slightly later date.
3. What were the Mughalbandi and the Garhjat? The Mughalbandi was the coastal plain under direct Mughal administration; the Garhjat was the hilly interior ruled by tributary chiefs.
4. How did the Mughals treat the Jagannatha temple? Policy varied. Some governors under Jahangir plundered the temple, and Aurangzeb ordered action against it, but the raja of Khurda and the temple servants protected the deities. Under other rulers the temple was tolerated and its pilgrim traffic taxed.
5. When did the English begin trading in Odisha? In 1633, when Ralph Cartwright obtained permission from the Mughal governor and established factories at Hariharpur and Balasore.
6. Who were the last Mughal-period rulers of Orissa? The deputies of the Bengal nawabs, including Shuja-ud-din, Taqi Khan and Murshid Quli II, until Alivardi Khan took control in 1741.
7. Why did Mughal rule in Odisha end? The decline of imperial authority after 1707, the rise of the Bengal nawabs and a decade of Maratha invasions led Alivardi Khan to cede Orissa to the Marathas in 1751.
How to Cite This Article
Mahanta, Brajabandhu (ed.). “The Mughal Rule in Odisha.” History of Odisha, 2026. https://historyofodisha.com/mughal-rule-in-odisha/ (accessed [date]).
References
Primary sources and editions
- Abul Fazl. Ain-i-Akbari. Trans. H. Blochmann and H.S. Jarrett. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1873–1894.
- Abul Fazl. Akbarnama. Trans. H. Beveridge. 3 vols. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1897–1921.
- Jahangir. Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri. Trans. A. Rogers and H. Beveridge. London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1909–1914.
- Mirza Nathan. Baharistan-i-Ghaibi. Trans. M.I. Borah. 2 vols. Gauhati: Government of Assam, 1936.
- Ghulam Husain Salim. Riyaz-us-Salatin. Trans. Abdus Salam. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1902–1904.
- Mohanty, Artaballabha (ed.). Madala Panji. Cuttack: Prachi Samiti, 1940.
Secondary works
- Banerji, R.D. History of Orissa. 2 vols. Calcutta: R. Chatterjee, 1930–31.
- Hunter, W.W. Orissa. 2 vols. London: Smith, Elder, 1872.
- Stirling, Andrew. “An Account, Geographical, Statistical and Historical, of Orissa Proper, or Cuttack.” Asiatic Researches 15 (1825).
Works by Odia historians
- Mahanta, Brajabandhu. “Odisha under Mughal Rule.” History of Odisha (historyofodisha.in), 2022.
- Mahanta, Brajabandhu. “Mughal-Afghan Conflict in Odisha.” History of Odisha (historyofodisha.in), 2022.
- Mahanta, Brajabandhu. “The Bhoi Dynasty of Khurda.” History of Odisha (historyofodisha.in), 2022.
- Mahtab, Harekrushna. History of Orissa. 2 vols. Cuttack: Prajatantra Prachar Samiti, 1959–60.
- Mansinha, Mayadhar. History of Oriya Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1962.
- Panigrahi, Krishna Chandra. History of Orissa (Hindu Period). Cuttack: Kitab Mahal, 1981.
Online resources
- Mughal conquest of Odisha (Wikipedia)
- Mukarram Khan (Wikipedia)
- Subah (Wikipedia)