Kolabira Fort, Jharsuguda - Jaypur Estate
Abstract:-
Kolabira fort is situated at a distance of 17 km. from the Jharsuguda town on the bank of river Telen. The Kolabira Jamindari was formed during the reign of Jayant Singh (1781-1818), the Chouhan King of Sambalpur. He appointed Sansadhar Singh as the Zamindar of Kolabira, After Sansadhar Singh his son Karunakara Singh‘ (Nayak), took charge of Kolabira Zamindari. At this time Maharaja Sai was the king of Sambalpur and after his death his widow Queen Mohankumari was made the queen, but the actual administration was in the hands of the British. As a result, there was an armed revolt against the British. The queen was sent as personal to Cuttack and the British appointed 'Narayan Singh‘ as the king of Sambalpur. Veer Surendra Sai, the Chouhan Zamindar of Khinda started an armed revolution against the British and Karunakara Nayak the Zamindar of Kolabira joined the revolution as a follower and his property was confiscated because of his support to Surendra Sai. He was hanged in the jail premises of Sambalpur on 11th February 1858. The British army in the meantime had blown the palace of Kolabira Jamindar by cannons. Subsequently, the son of Karunakara Nayak appealed before the 'Court of Wards‘ at Nagpur and got back his confiscated Zamindari and properties in 1860. The English repaired the damaged palace and fort as compensation. At present, the descendants of Kolabira Zamindar reside in the premises of the old fort which is grossly damaged. In the history of freedom struggle, Kolabira is known as 'Agni Tirtha'.Many people including historians and researchers visit this place.
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| ( Kolabira Fort ) |
Introduction:-
Not far away from the Jharsuguda town, on the bank of river telen, there is an old, bare and semi-ruined citadel called Kolabira fort, named after its original village where it is situated, often remain away from the gaze of politicians, tourists, historians, researchers, media and academicians. Even today descendants of this fort reside there, which require to be preserved and necessary maintenance works to be undertaken by the government so that this historical monument will not lose its identity and tell the stories of its glorious past to future generations. The estate constructed in 1785 during the reign of the tenth king of Sambalpur Jayat Singh (1781-1818), was the second biggest estate with 278 square miles of administrated area, after the Borasambar estate with 841 square miles. Fortified with several layers of prickly bamboo bushes, dense and indiscernible, further bordered with ring-like deep water, wherein dangerous wild reptiles such as toxic snakes and crocodiles having expertise in attacking enemy not only guard the fort from bullets and fire cannons but also makes every entry impossible for an intruder.
Kolabira, near Chhapra under Jharkhand kingdom was a Kolh tribal inhabited area in the twelfth century AD. A group of kohal community people of this village infiltrated the Gangpur Gadajat (Sudargarh) of the neighboring kingdom of odisha for purpose of earning the livelihood, established Kolabira Village, and settled there. Though, another Kolh group from Kolabira of Jharkhand migrated to the ground of the Veden River and the IB River, which flows near Jharsuguda under the Sambalpur kingdom. Gonds belonged to the Gondwana region of central providence (present Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) migrated to Sambalpur district after the disintegration of the Gondwana kingdom during the fourteenth century.
Many Gondwana kingdoms were established in madhy Pradesh during the thirteen century. These vast empires collapsed In the fourteenth century. Therefore, a large number of Gond peoples relocated to the neighboring kingdom of Sambalpur. They infiltrated in the village of Kolabira, located on the banks of the then Veden River, led to intense clashes between both the Kolh and Gand. Eventually, the Gond defeated the Kolh in battle and extended their dominance in the Kolabira region.
Earlier, King Vishwanath Dev of the Kalchuri dynasty ruled the estate of Jaipur on the eastern border of Kolabira village. The kingdom was unfurled in three directions such as Bamanda, Gangpur and Suguja. Most of the people of the remote estate of Jaipur, which is surrounded by the deep forest and the river mountain, belong to the tribal community of Bhuyan, Kumura, Gond. Raja Bishwa Nathdev being childless created political instability in the estate. On this occasion, the Bamanda king Rudranarayan Deb and the king of Gangpur jointly invaded the estate of Jaipur.However, King Bishwanathdev died in the war, and Jaipur estate collapsed. Eventually, some parts of Jaipur estate Included under both Bamanda and Gangapur king. The disintegration of the Jaipur estate had led to severe anarchy throughout the tribal areas. So the notorious gond expanded their lordship in the area. He installed a lemon on the throne and Eight Gond leaders ruled the kingdom according to turn. That is, the Ashtamallik rule prevailed here.
Balaramdev, king of the Chauhan dynasty, the founder of the kingdom of Sambalpur, conquered Gangapur, a feudal kingdom of Suraguja in 1514 AD, and invaded Bhogragarh fort near Kolabira on the banks of the Veden river. As a result, war broke out between the kings of Sambalpur and the king of Suraguja on the banks of the Veden River. However, Bhogragarh fort demolished and Suguja king Lalit Singh fled to his kingdom after losing the battle. Later entire Jaipur estate became part of the Sambalpur. The demolition of Bhogragarh fort leads to the migration of its population to modern Kolabira, where they rebuild their village and fort, as well as re-established their tutelary deities Bhubaneswari inside a shapeless temple as Maa Samaleswari. Later on, zamindars of Kolabira build an earthen temple for Maa Samaleswari near their fort which today existed at the fort premises.
the Kolabira zamindari was established in the late 18th century, during the reign of King Jayant Singh of Sambalpur (1781-1818), i.e. in 1785 AD. In honor of the bravery and loyalty of the Gond, the kings of Sambalpur rewarded them as zamindars and gauntis of different regions. Thus, Sambalpur kingdom has an area of 181 square miles, consisting of 18 zamindars, 10 Gand zamindars (Kolabira, Machida, Kodabaga, Laida, Loisingha, Kharsal, Pahadsrigida, Veden, Patkulunda and Madomahul), 2 bijhal zamindars (Rajpur, Barpali) who were descendants of the king of Sambalpur, one was the Kulta zamindar (Bijpur) and the other was the zamindar of Rampur. In the context of the identity of the first zamindar, San Sadhar Singh. It is clear from a petition filed by Ghanshyam Singh that he was the heir to the zamindari at the Settlement Court, Kolabira Camp on 9.04.1862
“ About 150 years ago one Biswambar Mohanty seduced away one of the Ranies of Sambalpur Raja Jait Singh and kept her at Dultigarh in Bamra . Raja Jait Singh ordered to kill Biswmbar Mohanty and called Sansadhar Singh who was staying at Laikera along with his brother Bisnu Naik of Garh Laida ... “
Sansadhar Singh rescued Rahas Kumari, the third queen of King Jayant Singh, from the clutches of Devan Vishwambar and ceded to the king, and King Jayant Singh expressed satisfaction and granted him the first zamindar position in the new Kolabira zamindari, Ghanshyam Singh said in his petition.
“Lal Patta cloth given at the time of granting pattern “
Nevertheless, the first zamindar of Kolabira, SanSadhar Singh had two queens. The first queen's only son was Nilambar Singh. But the second queen had 11 sons and the eldest son was Karunakar. It is true that the zamindar Sansadhar Singh divided his zamindari among the sons of both queens; But he made Karunakar the kolabira zamindar, the son of the second queen, and the villages of Naxapali, Bidmal, Leikera, Tareikela, Jharmal, Kadobahal, Khuntamal, including Kolabira were given. Nilambar, four villages namely Khunapali, Sialrama, Kelda, Jamal, Parmanpur and Siriapali were granted to Nilambar, son of the first queen.
The Kolabira zamindari at that time had a total area of 278 square miles (720 square kilometers). The zamindari is bounded on the north by the Bamra zamindari boundary on the border to Bagdihi, on the south by the Bamanda kingdom boundary on the Sahaspur, PakelPada, Ganji Dhi, Talmunda, on the east by LuDung, Kariapalli, Rabdega, Hadipali and on the west by the Jharsuguda zamindari border.
Solider family inhabited in Paikpada, not far from the zamindar's capital Kolabira. Kalabhanj was his commander since the reign of Sansadhar Singh. Landlords also hired staff to oversee land revenue and farm work. Krishnabas was employed as a guard in his court. Even though, after the death of zamindar Sansadhar Singh, Karunakar Naik, the son of his second queen, ruled as Kolabira zamindar. Kolabira zamindar Karunakar Naik had more prestige than all the zamindars in the kingdom of Sambalpur. He also had the right to enter the king's palace directly.
Role of Kolabira Fort in Sambalpur Freedom Struggle:-
An Indian rebellion commenced in northern India against the British government In 1856. On this occasion, the Ramgarh Battalion Rebel soldiers Smashed the gates of Hazaribagh Prison in Bihar. Surendra Sai and his brother had been sentenced to life in that prison since 1840 for slaying Rampur Zamindar and his son. Surendra moved to Sambalpur and his brother Udanta remained in Khinda. On 13 October 1856, Surendra applied to the then Deputy Commissioner of Sambalpur G.F. Cockburn to release him from his remaining imprisonment and anoint him on the throne of Sambalpur. But in the meantime, the British have declared him a fugitive and have already announced 250 rupees reward for arresting him and Udant. The Odisha Commission rejected Surendra's request and ordered to arrest him without any sympathy. As a result, Surendra fled to his brother in Khinda.
About 1,400 rebels gathered in Khinda village and declared a revolt on the night of October 31, 1858 Then came the second phase of Surendra Sai’s armed campaign. It includes his brothers Karunakar Naik of Kolabira zamindar, Balabhadra Singh Deo of Lakhanpur zamindar, Anjar Singh of Kodabga zamindar, Kharsal zamindar, Boss Zamindar,, Patkulunda zamindars, the Kurkata zamindars, the Loisingh zamindars, Pahad Srigida zamindar, Munde Mahul zamindars, etc. began their armed revolution against the British government by their loyalists and the Binjal tribal rebels.
On October 10, 2 company troops, 40 Madras Artillery and 50 Oriya Pike troops under the leadership of Captain J.V. knoker from Cuttack were consigned to Sambalpur to assail Khinda and Kolabira. Captain Hado planned to assault Kinda at Sambalpur. They thought that Surendra and his brothers would be concealing in Kolabira. Under leadership of Captain Hadow and knoker jointly attacked Kolabira Zamindar Palace. On 05/11/1857, they reached Samasingha through Katarbaga and passed a night. The next day, They crossed Samasingha village and got to Kolbira on the 7th. At the behest of the captain, 40 Madras artillery troops attacked the Kolabira fort . Captain was angry as he did not find Surendra or Karunakar in the fort. Enraged Captain Hado ordered the troops to destroy the kolabira zamindar's palace. Even so, Hado’s anger did not subside. They then tortured and looted innocent villagers and their house burned up. After this incident, the villagers started living in the forest to save themselves..
The villagers no longer felt safe to be inside the fort after the incident. Houses were also destroyed. So a few of the zamindar's followers of the fort re-established a colony at relatively high altitudes. Over time it became known as Nuapada or Upper Pada. Once over failure exacerbated the anger of the British. They were waiting for an opportunity. Kolabira's failure ended in Kudopali. In the first part of December after the Kolabira incident, the rebels killed Dr. Murray while Hansan was on his way to take Mr. Murray to treat the wounded British soldiers. however, Mr. Hanson managed to survive and hide in the forest. To take revenge of it, Captain Legion took the troops and approached the woods, but returned because of the rebellion. A few days later, Mr. Hanson dead body was rescued by British troops from the forest.
On Wednesday, December 30, 1958, the British had the opportunity to take revenge of the Kolabira defeat. The British received information that about 1,600 rebels had gathered in the village of Kundopali.. At this time Captain Wood also arrived Sambalpur from Nagpur . Under his leadership, 73 of his troops, 150 from the 40 Madras Artillery and 50 from the Ramgarh Battalion, launched a astonished onslaught in Kundopali. At the same time, Surendra Sai was at Panchpada village near Jharsuguda to collect troops.
The village of Kudopali was turned into a battlefield that day. The revolutionaries led by hero Karunakar Naik, fought fiercely with Captain Wood's sophisticated army with their traditional weapons. Fifty-seven revolutionaries were martyred by British forces. Among them were Surendra Sai's brother Chhabil Sai, Karunakar Naik's son Krishnachandra Singh and Patrapali's Biviya Balabhadra Das. Ten rebels were arrested by the British. But Karunakar escaped. Thinking that Karunakar was hiding in Kolabira, Britisher assailed Kolabira again and destroyed the house when they returned from Kundopali. The events of December 30 are still alive by flok song.
'Uli ... Uli ... Uli ... Uli ...
Buli ... Uli ... Uli ... Uli ...
Chhabil Sai Dihe Bajila Guli ...
Bajila Guli ... Kudopali Mjha Khuli.....
On April 1861, Major Impey took charge of the Sambalpur Deputy Commission. His view of Surendra Sai was different. He was the first to give Surendra the status of a rebel. He wanted Surendra to surrender and get back his zamindars. He issued his first declaration on September 24, 1861. The second manifesto was released on October 11. It was ordered to surrender by November 20. Karunakar Naik, his brother Khag Naik and his son Kahnei Naik surrendered believing in Impery's declaration. The lieutenant Cockburn unaware of Karunakar's surrender sentenced Karunakar to be hanged like other prisoners.
However, before being hangings, the British authorities agreed to fulfill Karunakar Naik's last wish. Therefore, on the day of the hangings, as the last wish of the revolutionary Karunakar Naik, son of Balabhadra Das was declared as the Mafidar of Patrapali village at the Samia (Somnath) Shiva temple located on the banks of the Mahanadi river of Sambalpur.
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| ( Karunakar Naik ) |
On December 22, 1861 just before sunrise, the great hero of Kolabira Karunakar Naik was hanged at the Sambalpur Jail. 12 other followers were hanged along with him. On the same day, R. N. Shore Commission arrived Sambalpur from Cuttack after the hanging.
After examining the documents, he came to know that the lieutenant governor of bengal ordered to apologize all revolutionaries except Surendra and return their confiscated zamindars and properties on 26/06/1956. Kolabira zamindari was regressed to Karunakar's grandson Ghanshyam Singh and a three floors fort was built for him as per the order of the ‘Nagpur court of ward'. For the next Kolabira zamindar, the three floors fort was also constructed by the British government, which remains in semi-ruined condition.
Estate Administration of Kolabira Fort:-
Examining the administration arrangements of the various zamindars of Kolabira, it seems that the system of administration of the zamindars before Mr. Nrupalal Singh was not very well organized. They controlled the regime through a small number of loyalists and admirers. But Mr. Nrupalal Singh was the first zamindar in Kolabira to reform the system of zamindari administration. He was the only zamindar in Kolabira who was specially trained in zamindari administration by the British to manage the zamindari properly. Nrupalal was just 19 years old on the death of his father Shri Chintamani Singh on December 21, 1903. Realizing that the juvenile Nrupalal couldn't run such a large zamindari, the British (Court of Ward) took over the rule of Kolabira.
Sri Nrupalal Singh was appointed as zamindar on 15th January, 1910. During these six years, Nrupalal's education and training on estate administration was imparted to Sri Nrupalal under direct supervision of Britishers. To reform administration, Nrupalal first divided administration into different departments such as revenue, forestry, treasury, etc. And appointed individuals with knowledge of various departments based on fidelity.
The time of Nrupalal's zamindar is called the Golden Age of the Kolabira zamindari. Nrupalal has been a landlord for more than 40 years, has established a school and hospital to improve education and health, and has created a unique tradition of helping people with happiness and sorrow , financial and material support in various social activities.
Later, his son Lal veer Mahendra Singh and grandson Lal Rajendra Singh also maintained the tradition in some respects. The income and expenses of the zamindari were recorded daily in cashbooks and Nrupalal signed in every entry. All of the zamindari's documents, including the cashbook, were stored in the zamindar's office. Nrupalal placed the treasury in his house. At the time of Nrupalal, about 60 to 45 employees were working in various departments of the zamindari. Of these, 5-6 were trusted employees, such as Revenue Sealer, Manager, Forrester, and 2 clerks were present at the zamindar's office almost all the time. But the most loyal of these was Nrupalal's driver, Mr. Brishvanu Mohapatra. He was hired as a driver In 1939. Nrupalal Singh believed in his driver wholeheartedly, and he often stayed close to Nrupalal. Of the 18 zamindars under the king of Sambalpur, Kolabira is the second-largest zamindari according area after Bodasambar.According to the 1901 census, the Kolabira zamindari had a population of 40,110 and had an annual income of Rs 13,074. The landlord paid Rs 3,500 to the king in the form of taxes.
The Kolabira zamindari is also known as the Jaipur estate. As the second-largest zamindar in the kingdom of Sambalpur, the Kolabira zamindar had to visit for royal work and spend the night in the Sambalpur at various times. So the king of Sambalpur gave some land to the Kolabira zamindar to build a guest house. It was the only property of the Kolabira zamindar in the town of Sambalpur. The land with an area of 28 decimals was remained ground until 1902.
In 1902, Srichintamani Singh bought bricks from a man named Basu Mistry and built a wall around the site. It cost about Rs 1,000. Later, When the rule of Kolabira passed to the British. Between 21.12.1903 and 15.01.1910, the British built a permanent house on the land at a cost of about Rs 6,000. They named the house Kolabira House. Nrupalal borrowed a total of Rs 7,500 in four installments from Brusabhanu at various times (Rs. 2,000 on 17.07.1949, 03,09,1994 on Rs. 2,000 , Rs. 2,000 on 31.12.1949, Rs. 1,500 on 24.03.1950 ) .He borrowed a total of Rs 7,500. In return, he sold his land and house to Brusabhanu in Sambalpur on 26.03.1950. The document was registered on 27.06.1951 in Sambalpur. Nrupalal was staying at Kolabira House during his visit to Sambalpur and most of the time he was going to Allahabad for pilgrimage.
Six to seven years before his death, His left arm and leg were paralyzed. but he continued to work as a landlord until 1956. After he died in 1956, his son Lalbir Mahendra Singh became the zamindar of Kolabira for a very short time. He died in 1963, and his son, Lal Rajendra Singh (born on 29/02/1963)became the zamindar of Kolabira. However, Under the 1951 zamindar system ( abolition ) act, the zamindari system was abolished in Odisha in November 1952. Mr. Lal Rajendra Singh joined a political party called the Swatantra Party In 1958.
Later, Rajendra Narayan Singhdeo became a special member of the party. Lal Rajendra was elected to Fourth Legislative Assembly (1967 to 1971) from the Laikera reserved seat. Out of the 140 assembly seats in Odisha, Harekrishna Mahatab's Jana Congress won 26 seats and Rajendra Narayan Singhdeo's special party won 49 seats, forming a coalition government under Rajendra Narayan's chief minister, But MLA Lal Rajendra could not become a minister.
Getting There :-
Kolabira Fort is situated at a distance of 17 km from jharsuguda .
Jharsuguda is well connected with other nearby cities by State Highway 10 and National Highway. Rickshaws are available in town. There are a number of moderately priced hotels in the town.
Jharsuguda is a railway junction on the Tatanagar-Bilaspur section of the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line and the Jharsuguda-Vizianagaram line. The railway station comes under the South Eastern Railway.
Jharsuguda has an airport called Jharsuguda Airport which is located 5 km northeast of the city.
You easily get plane for Jharsuguda from Delhi,Raipur,Kolkata and Bhubaneswar airport
Thank you for reading
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Organized By :- Rohit Kumar Lohara
Purunabasti, Jharsuguda
Credit :-
(1) Agnitirtha - Kolabirara Krati Katha
By :- Mr Govind Chandra Tripathy
(2) Kolabira Ra Sangram Katha Oo Sasana Bybasta
By :- Dr Dhamendra Kumar Mishra
(3 ) Jharsuguda Gazetteer
Good Map Location of Kolabira Fort provided Below, Check it out.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/TvxEGkrrAWy72n258
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