UTKAL DIWAS

April 2, 2021

In Odisha, a number of programmes have been organised to mark the 86th statehood day today. Celebrated as Utkal Diwas, the day commemorates the coming into being of Odisha as a state in 1936.

Modern History of Odisha:

The British had occupied the Northern Circars, comprising the southern coast of Odisha, as a result of the Second Carnatic War by 1760, and incorporated them into the Madras Presidency gradually.
In 1803, the British ousted the Marathas from the Puri-Cuttack region of Odisha during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The northern and western districts of Odisha were incorporated into the Bengal Presidency.
In 1903, the Utkal Sammilani organisation was founded to demand the unification of Odia-speaking regions into one state.
On 1 April 1912, the Bihar and Orissa Province was formed.
On 1 April 1936, Bihar and Orissa were split into separate provinces.
The new province of Orissa came into existence on a linguistic basis during the British rule in India, with Sir John Austen Hubback as the first governor.
Following India's independence, on 15 August 1947, 27 princely states signed the document to join Orissa.