Vizagapatam/Gazetteer/Rayagada Taluk
RÁYAGADA TALUK.
Ráyagada lies next north of Párvatípur and is in the Agency. It consists of the upper valley of the Nágávali and is a charming country. Along either side of it runs a line of hills, now advancing, now receding, sometimes rocky and bold, but oftener rounded and wooded. Between these, stretches an undulating plain, part woodland, part green fields. Among the latter, tamarind, jack, mango and other shady trees stand up singly or in groups and give the country almost the appearance of some gigantic park, and through them shows now and again the glint of some broad reach of the perennial river. The population, which is denser than in any taluk in the Agency except Jeypore, consists mainly of Khonds of the more civilized kinds, is industrious and frugal, and has an excellent outlet for its produce in the road between the Kálahandi State and Párvatípur, which traverses the taluk from north to south. Three places in Ráyagada may be referred to : —
Páyakapád : An agraháram of 431 people on the bank of the Nágávali which contains the uppermost of the five shrines (see p. 10) built along that river and is the chief place in a mokhása granted by a former Mahárája of Jeypore to Bhuvanésvara Praharázu, an Uriya Bráhman. On the grantee dying and leaving a minor son named Gangádhara Praharázu, the estate was taken under management by the Agent in 1869. Gangádhara was put in possession in 1875, but died in 1881 leaving a childless widow who was incapacitated by age, weak health and deficient intelligence; and the estate was again taken under management. The widow eventually adopted a son, to whom the estate was handed over on 25th March 1901.
Ráyagada ('king's fort') is the head-quarters of the taluk and a thriving trading village of 1,999 inhabitants. It stands 687 feet above the sea on the high red bank of the Kumbikóta-gedda (near its junction with the Nágávali) about 150 feet above the bed of that stream. Consequently, wells are useless and all water has to be carried up from the gedda. The latter flows along a fairly wide valley with steep banks which suddenly contract to form a gorge about 120 feet deep and 70 feet wide with sheer rock sides. The approach to Ráyagada used to be exceedingly difficult for carts, as they had to descend to the bottom of the wider part of this valley and then climb a severe ascent on the other side. Mr. Willock (see p. 142) threw a girder bridge across the gorge and took the road over this, almost on the level. The new road from the bridge to the town was cut through the large and substantial old mud fort which gives Ráyagada its name. This is supposed to have been built by one of the Rájas of Jeypore, who made it his residence. Within it, near the tumble-down temple to its guardian deity Majji Giriya, is pointed out the spot where his wives committed sati on his death. Alongside the road is a black slab called the Janni pothoro, or 'priest's stone,' on which human sacrifices are said to have been offered formerly. The hill people still regard it with awe and decline on any account to touch it. In the police-station compound lies an old iron cannon which was taken from the fort. It is an exceedingly primitive weapon consisting of a core made of straight bars on to which successive rings of iron have been shrunk. It is some six feet long and is provided with four iron rings for lifting it. The imprisonment of Rája Vikrama Deo in this fort by his son in 1849 is referred to on p. 268 above and the neighbouring falls of the Nágávali are mentioned on p. 9.
Singapur, usually known as Kalyána Singapur to distinguish it from Bhairava Singapur in Jeypore taluk, stands 30 miles north by west of Ráyagada on the main track to Kálahandi 997 feet above the sea in a narrow valley immediately west of the Nímgiris. The population is 1,996. It contains the remains of an old fort, is surrounded on three sides by the Nágávali river, and is almost buried in a jungle of bamboo. Just south-west of it rises sacred Dévagiri, a steep rocky hill in which there is a cave containing a lingam where a feast is held at Sivarátri, and on which are several pools of water and an inscription which seems undecipherable.
Singapur is the chief village of a subdivision of Jeypore, consisting of Khond villages, which was granted by Rája Vikrama Deo II (1825-60) to a kinsman on service tenure. In 1864 1[1] the then Rája sued the grantee's son, Krishna Deo, for the possession of the property or an annual payment of Rs. 5,000 for it. It was decreed that the Us. 5,000 should be paid and the decision was upheld on appeal by the High Court 2[2] and the Privy Council. Krishna Deo, who was always known as the Rája of Singapur, died in 1884 leaving a young widow named Níla Dévi, to whom he had given authority to adopt, and an illegitimate son named Gópinátha Deo, twelve years of age. The Jeypore Mahárája claimed that on the death of any holder he was entitled to resume the estate and allow the heirs maintenance; and he sent men to take over the management of the property. The widowed Ráni disputed his right; and the Khonds of the place all wanted to have Gópinátha for their Rája saying that, whether legitimate or not, he had often been pointed out to them by his father as their future chief and that Srípati Dolapati, the Ráni's manager and right hand man, bullied them, unbearably.
Exciting events followed in this triangular duel.1[3] At the next Dasara the thousands of Khonds assembled at Singapur demanded that Gopinatha should play the part usually allotted to the Raja at that feast. The Rani refused to allow this, so the Khonds broke into the fort, carried off the boy (who joined in their views with much spirit) and took him to Jeypore, with an escort 300 strong, to represent matters to the Mahárája. There they were persuaded to take him down to Párvatípur, that the Divisional Officer might enquire into the case, and from that place the boy was induced to go to Vizianagram, where he was given an allowance and sent to the local college.
For a time the threatened trouble seemed to have blown over. But the Rááni's manager continued to oppress the Khonds and in the beginning of 1885 a party of 70 of these people marched all the way to Vizianagram, intending to seize Gópinátha, carry him to Singapur and make him Rája. The Agent then sent a nominee of his own to manage the estate, removing the Ráni's man, and the hill men were once more pacified. The Ráni, however, proceeded to adopt an heir, and once more care was required to check trouble with the Khonds.
Meanwhile the Jeypore Mahárája brought a suit for the possession of the property or the enhancement of the quit-rent paid upon it, and the Ráni, a most determined lady, fought the case, waving aside the Agent's repeated suggestions that she should compromise. She was defeated, the Agent holding that her family were only tenants-at-will and directing the enhancement of the rent from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000. An appeal preferred to Government was transmitted to the High Court for decision and decided against the Ráni. The property was handed over to the Mahárája in 1892 and the Ráni was given an allowance of Rs. 500 a month and the produce of certain land yielding about 30 garces of paddy. The Khonds' desire to have Gópinátha Deo as their chief died a natural death, and he retired to Jeypore.