Research Resources

These are the photos of the palm leaf scripts containing the records of rights (bhiāṇa) from 1776–1777 AD, collected at Manitri Fort in the Khurda kingdom of Orissa, India.

These scripts document the distribution of resources in the Manitri fort area, outlining the entitlements granted to individuals/families fulfilling various roles in the region. These roles encompassed administrators, soldiers, priests, carpenters, potters, musicians, and others.

This collection of records significant historical importance as it sheds light on how the so-called "caste system" functioned in precolonial, early modern India.

The document specifies the location as Manitri Fort bisi (county) within Kandara daṇḍāpāṭa (district), and indicates the date as the fifty-first regnal year. Based on historical records, there is only one king of Khurda, Birakeshwari Deva I, who reigned for as long as fifty-one years. Therefore, it can be reasonably inferred that the date mentioned refers to the fifty-first year of his reign, spanning from 24 September 1776 to 13 September 1777.

For a comprehensive analysis of the findings, please consult my book, Caste and Equality in India: A Historical Anthropology of Diverse Society and Vernacular Democracy (London: Routledge, 2021), particularly chapter 3.