State and Society of Tel River Valley- Orissa (From C. 300 BC to C. 600 AD)

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River valley is responsible for both establishment and downfall of a civilization. The Tel river valley spreads over more than 50,000 Sq kilometres in the western part of Orissa, is terra-in-cognita in the sphere of research. The reconstruction of the picture of Tel river valley culture on the basis of literary and archaeological evidences is by no means an easy task. There has always been a divergent opinion amongst scholars about early history of Orissa, even the lack of solid sources has been the bane for historians studying the same. A credible description of this regional history from C.300 BC to C. 600 AD had brought a new dimension for the academicians.

The author's studies and findings, as given in this book have thrown much light on the period that is grey for most historians. The book has been shed much light on different aspects like geo-morphological situation, material evidences during transitional stage, early state formation, exchange system, technology as well as social condition, that were earlier unexplained.

Dr Ranvir Singh (Born 1975) graduated with Honours in History from Govt. College, Bhawanipatna in 1994. He completed Master's degree in History specialization with Archacology from Sambalpur University in 1996. During his M.phil degree he did his dissertation on "Decorative motifs in the rock art of Orissa". He did his Ph.D on "The State and Society of Tel river valley; Orissa, from C,300 B.C. to C. 600 A.D." and awarded in 2016. To accomplish the research work he was nominated for I.C.H.R. fellowship and also received Minor Research Project grant from U.G.C, Kolkata. He was also an Associate of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. He is a life member of Indian Archaeological society and others. Dr. Singh has been participating in different National, International seminars, conferences and has presented papers. He has written numbers of articles for different journals, souvenir, books, periodicals, etc. His articles mainly focus on art, architecture, numismatics, etc. which is relevance to history. Presently working as a lecturer in Archaeology and Museology at Khariar Autonomous College, Khariar in Nuapada district of Orissa.

River valley is the cradle of human civilizations. All great Civilizations of the world born, grew and disappeared on the banks of the rivers. Thus river nourishes civilization like a mother and as such, the locality drained by river is often called Nadimatrika in India. A strong bond of mankind and the river, irrespective of time and space exists. This is one among the reasons to select the river valley topic for this investigation.

However, the Tel river valley is terra-in-cognita in the sphere of research. Except upper part of the Valley, the middle and lower valley were part of the Princely states, like Kalahandi and Patna, [Bolangir] which were merged with the Orissa Province on 1" January 1948. Today they constitute one of the developing regions in the country. The upper valley of the Tel thus comprises Nawarangpur, Dharamgarh sub-division of Kalahandi, Khariar - Komna belt of Nuapada and Debhog districts of Orissa and Chhatisgarh respectively. North east of Kalahandi, Kesingha, Junagarh, Narla, Risida and the parts including the south east of the Bolangir district constitute the middle part of the valley. Whereas, the lower part of the valley consists of Soneur Baudh regions of Orissa state. The valley regions thus co-ordinates 19° 10" 20° 50' N and 82° 30" 83° 20' E. The principal mountain ranges of the landmass constitute the eastern ghat and partly Chhotnagpur mountain system. Minerals, such as graphite, Manganese, zinc, tin, lead, copper and Galan besides precious and semi precious gem stones are found in the valley. The valley is a part and parcel of the Deccan Peninsula. As such, it shares in much respect the eco-system of the Deccan. The landmass, moreover, has been inhabited by numerous primitive tribes like the Konds, Gonds., Sauras, Bhinjal, Gadva etc.

The valley was the cradle of civilization and culture. Stone age vestiges, protohistoric settlements and their artifactual remains speaks a lot about the material condition of the valley just before the dawn of historical period. Various facets of civilization such as, settlement, agriculture. technology, craft, trade art and religion developed in the Tel valley during this transition to history. However, the protohistoric people descended to the historical period. Classical Sanskrit literatures extol a river called Telavaha during the 5 and the 4th century B.C. Telavaha River has been rightly identified with the Tel river of modern Orissa by historians. Probably Taitilaka Janapada of Panini [5th century B.C] represented the middle part of the valley at that time. In the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C, the valley was the core area of the Atavikas. During 2d-3rd century A.D, it was designated as Mahavana. It also served as the hub of the Kantarakas in the 4th century, [350 A.D) when Samudragupta assaulted on it and king Vyagraraja submitted to him. Kurala was the neighbouring kingdom of Mahakantara which too submitted to the Gupta ruler with its king Mataraja.

The Telavaha alias the modern river Tel has been extolled in classical literatures. its Janapada, then was known as Taitilaka. The water course of the Telavaha was used for trade and commerce. Archaeological findings in recent time too substantiate to the fact that the river Telavaha alias the Tel of South-west Odisha and its Janapada or modern valley consisting of regions like Bastar and Deobhog of Chhatisgarh state and Koraput, Nawarangpur, Kalahandi, Khariar- Komna belt and north-east of Bolangir districts of Odisha state, were celebrated River and Land in ancient India.

Yet, during post-independence period, the Tel Valley has been blurred in archaeology and history of the country save some fragmentary analysis of its temple art, architecture, coins and epigraphs. This is due to the apathy and inconsistent academic policy that have by and large ignored the archaeological importance of this part of Odisha so far.

The present research on 'State and Society of Tel River Valley, Orissa from circa 300 BC to 600 AD.' Of Ranvir Singh is a piece of work of considerable significance in the early historical perspective. Notwithstanding the limitation of this research, the study seems to fill up the existing hiatus in Indian history and archaeology. The investigator has tried to synthesize fact from primary sources and has interpreted it logistically. The continuity of human activities from inchoate food production to technological to technological rush and trade leading to state formation and urbanization is milestone in the evolution of Civilization and Culture on the basin of the Telavaha / Tel at least two thousand years before its present backwardness. Social formation in the Valley is another dimension of the research.

The present work of Ranvir Singh thus is certainly a welcome addition in Archaeology and History and will cater to the academic need of scholars and students.

The periods, from the 3rd century BC to the 6 century AD, were landmarked in ancient Indian history and culture. In political perspective, the above chronological epochs witnessed the creation of a far-flung Mauryan Empire followed by the rise of the Kushana Empire, which was subsequently substituted by the Gupta hegemony. The periods too witnessed the evolution of many facets of Indian culture. Politically, the Tel valley was far away from the Maurya, Kushana and Gupta supremacy. Nevertheless, the valley shared the political ideology, technology, exchange system and social milieu, which are found in Maurya, Kusana and Gupta realm. Thus, at a first glance, the Tel valley provides a pretext to evaluate the cultural unity of India at microscopic level in early history.

With this backdrop, a humble attempt is made to understand the state and society of the Tel valley of Southwest Odisha.

Nature and men interacts within a limited space and time. Either man overcomes natural hazards or adjusts himself with it. Life style of human being is thus, conditioned by the geographical feature of the landmass on which he has been dwelling. Political as well as Economic development of a settlement often is also stimulated by the physical setting of the landscape, on which human acts. It is in this perspective; the study of the Physical features of the Tel valley is felt imperative. Also, the physical identification of the landmass on whose past this investigation is based is another necessity for understanding the past of the Tel valley. Next part of the discussion is concerned with the sources of the study of the Tel valley. It is followed by the ancient historical geography viz, toponomy and topology of the Tel valley or Telavaha.

**Contents and Sample Pages**