History
It was the capital of Orissa from 1568 to 1803. It is also known for its fort, often described as the "last independent fort". The commander who kept it free from British East India Company was Bakshi Jagabandhu, popularly called 'Paika Bakshi'.
The Savaras tribal group, who are still to be found in the district in some pockets, once heavily populated the area. Khurda came into prominence when the first Rajas of the Khordha dynasty, Ramachandra Deva, made it the capital of his kingdom during the last part of the 16th century. Khurda suffered repeated onslaughts from Muslim and Maratha cavalry but its royal house retained independence till 1804, when the British East India Company dispossessed Raja of his territory following the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
Khurda occupies a distinct place in the historical map of Orissa. Khurda was the capital of Orissa Kingdom from 1568. British government took Orissa under its rule in 1803. But it could not include Khurda in its territory till 1827. The strong protest from Paikas of Khurda shook the backbone of British rule in Orissa. Khurdagada is known as the "Last Independent Fort" of India. Now the remains of this historic fort lies as an evidence of India's glorious past. Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa belongs to this district.
Read more about this topic: Khordha District
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)
“Man watches his history on the screen with apathy and an occasional passing flicker of horror or indignation.”
—Conor Cruise O’Brien (b. 1917)
“The history of any nation follows an undulatory course. In the trough of the wave we find more or less complete anarchy; but the crest is not more or less complete Utopia, but only, at best, a tolerably humane, partially free and fairly just society that invariably carries within itself the seeds of its own decadence.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)