Jagabandhu Bidyadhara Mohapatra Bhramarbara Raya popularly known as "Bakshi Jagabandhu (Odia: ବକ୍ସି ଜଗବନ୍ଧୁ)" or "Paika Bakshi" was the commander (Bakshi) of the forces of the king of Khurda. He is one of the earliest freedom fighters of India. The great Paika rebellion in 1817 was under his leadership. The BJB College in Bhubaneswar has been named after this great personality.

Annapurna Maharana (3 November 1917 – 31 December 2012) was an India pro-independence activist active in the Indian independence movement. She was also a prominent social and women's rights activist. Maharana was a close ally of Mohandas Gandhi.

Mohammed Afzal-ul Amin popularly known as M.A Amin was an Indian statesman, politician and social worker from Cuttack, Odisha. He served as the general secretary of Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee during Biren Mitra's chief ministership. Afzal-ul was the Vice Chairman of Cuttack Municipality and also the President of Odisha Mohammadan Association. He played a major role in preserving Urdu language in Cuttack by establishing several lower primary and upper primary Urdu schools in the city. He is also credited for organising various nationalist meetings and mobilizing the common masses in Cuttack during the Quit India movement of 1942.

Baji Rout (1926-1938) was the youngest Indian freedom fighter and martyr, having been killed at the age of twelve. He was born on 5 October 1926. Rout, who was a boat boy, was shot by British police when he refused to ferry them across the Brahmani River on the night of 11 October 1938 at Nilakanthapur Ghat, Bhuban, Dhenkanal district.^[

Baji Rout was the youngest son of a boatman on the Brahmani river.As an active member of the Banar Sena of Prajamandal (Party of People), he had volunteered to keep watch by the river at night. The British Police force ordered him to cross the river by his boat which he denied. The police force then fired upon Baji Rout along with Laxman Mallik and Fagu Sahoo

Birsa Munda (15 November 1875 – 9 June 1900) was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe. He spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) in the late 19th century, during the British Raj, thereby making him an important figure in the history of the Indian independence movement. The revolt mainly concentrated in the Munda belt of Khunti, Tamar, Sarwada and Bandgaon.

His portrait hangs in the Indian Parliament Museum; he is the only tribal leader to have been so honored.

Madhusudan Das (28 April 1848 – 4 February 1934) was an Indian lawyer and social reformer, who founded Utkal Sammilani in 1903 to campaign for the unification of Odisha along with its social and industrial development. He was one of the main persons, helping in the creation of Orissa Province (present-day Odisha, India), which was established on 1 April 1936. He was also the first graduate and advocate of Orissa. He is also known as Kulabruddha (Grand Old Man), Madhu Babu, and Utkala Gouraba (Pride of Utkal). In Odisha, his birthday is celebrated as the Lawyers' Day on 28 April.

Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945)^[ was an Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India but whose attempts during World War II to rid India of British rule with the help of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a troubled legacy. The honorific Netaji (Hindustani: "Respected Leader") was first applied to Bose in Germany in early 1942—by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin. It is now used throughout India.

Subhas Bose was born into wealth and privilege in a large Bengali family in Orissa.

Ramadevi Choudhury(Odia: ରମାଦେବୀ ଚୌଧୁରୀ) (3 December 1899 – 22 July 1985), also known as Rama Devi, was an Indian freedom fighter and a social reformer.^[1] She was called Maa (Mother) by the people of Odisha.The Ramadevi Women's University in Bhubaneswar has been named after this great personality.

Surendra Sai (23 January 1809 – 28 February 1884) was an Indian freedom fighter who sacrificed his life fighting against the British East India Company. Surendra Sai and his associates resisted the British and successfully protected most parts of Western Odisha region for some time from the British rule. Most of them died unnoticed fighting for freedom from the British. Many of them were hanged by the British. Surendra Sai died in Asirgarh Jail on 28 February 1884.