Sambalpur

Sambalpur stands on the Mahanadi in western Odisha, a centre of the old country of Hirakhand. The city is closely associated with Samaleswari, its presiding goddess, whose worship became a defining feature of the Chauhan kingdom. The Mahanadi and the surrounding forested uplands formed the setting for a state that ruled over neighbouring forts and landed estates.

The Chauhan ruler Balaram Deo founded the kingdom of Sambalpur after receiving territory north of the Ang River from his brother, the ruler of Patna. Sambalpur grew into the strongest of the neighbouring Chauhan states. In the eighteenth century it came under the Marathas of Nagpur; the East India Company subsequently occupied the region during its wars with the Marathas. After the Third Anglo-Maratha War, the Chauhan ruler Jayant Singh was restored, though the neighbouring states were no longer subject to his authority.