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During the 16th Century the kings of
Sambalpur appreciating the physical prowess, valor and loyalty of Gonds gave
them shelter as subjects and the Gond Chieftains were given responsible
posts in the earning. Jayant Singh the King of Sambalpur had appointed
‘Sansadhar Singh’ as the Jamindar of Kolabira.
After Sansadhar Singh his son ‘Karunakar Singh’ (Nayak) took charge of
Kolabira Jamindari. At this time Maharaja Sai was the king of Sambalpur and
after his death his widow Queen Mohankumari was made the queen, but the
actual administration was done by the British. As a result, there was an
armed revolt started against the British. The queen was sent as pensional to
Cuttack and the British appointed an old Khytriya named ‘Narayan Singh’ as
the king of Sambalpur.
BirSurendraSai, the Chauhan Jamindar of Khinda started armed revolution
against British and Karunakara Naik the Jamindar of Kolabira Joined the
revaluation as a follower and his property was confiscated because of his
support to Surendrasai. The shrewd British authorities declared clemency to
those who surrendered and to escape gallows and to get back the Jamindari.
The rebel Kolabira Jamindar alternately surrendered. But illegally and
treacherously he was hanged in the jail premises of Sambalpur on 11th
February, 1858. The British army in the mean time had blown the palace of
Kolabira Jamindar by Cannons, later the son of Karunakar Nayak appealed
before the ‘Court of Wards’ at Nagpur and got back his confiscated Jamindari
and properties in 1860.
The English repaired the damaged palace
and fort as compensation. At present the descendants of Kolabira Jamindar
recide in the premises of the old fort which is grossly damaged. In the
history of freedom struggle Kolabira is known as ‘Agni Tirtha’. Many people
including historian and researchers visit this place often.
Getting There
Kolabira Fort is situated at a
distance of 17 km from the Jharsuguda town on the bank of river ‘Telen’.
Jharsuguda is well connected with
other nearby cities by State Highway 10 and National Highway. Rickshaws are
available in town. There are a number of moderately priced
hotels in the town.
Jharsuguda is an important
railway junction on the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai
line and Jharsuguda-Vizianagaram line. The railway station comes under South
Eastern Railway.
Jharsuguda has its own airport named
Jharsuguda Airport,
located 5 km north east of the town.
Air Odisha is starting
chartered services to
Jharsuguda Airport from its main hub
at Biju Patnaik
International Airport, Bhubaneswar.
The nearest domestic / international airport is
Swami Vivekananda International Airport, located in
Raipur, 310 km southwest of Jharsuguda. It is about
five hours
drive to Swami Vivekananda
International Airport from Jharsuguda. To make arrangements for a taxi from Airport
to Jharsuguda, contact one the taxi operators and travel agents that have
counter in the Airport.
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