Social history of Orissa on 19th century

The rise and expansion of British rule in India not only resulted in the establishment of new political and administrative institutions in place of the indigenous ones but also in the introduction of important and far-reaching changes in the social life of the people. While British authorities enforced certain social reforms like the abolition of Sati, female infanticide and Meriah (human sacrifice) through drastic legislative and administrative action, other social changes such as the growth of education and press and rise of a new intelligentsia took place gradually through the evolution of social consciousness due to the impact of British rule in the land of Orissa.

Orissa came under the British rule in 1803. Within a short time thereafter the Christian Missionaries came to Orissa and started their proselytizing and reforming activities. The abolition of Sati in 1829 had its impact on Orissa. In the mid-nineteenth century the practice of human sacrifice, called Meriah sacrifice was suppressed by the British authorities. In the latter half of the nineteenth century profound and far-reaching social changes such as the growth of modern education and press which had already been introduced earlier, slow but significant change in women's social condition, emergence of a native intelligentsia, formation of socio-political associations, socio-religious reform movements, growth of a few urban centers and the gradual slackening of caste system became visible. Considerable amount of data about these social changes were made available in contemporary official records, Oriya newspapers and periodicals, Oriya literature and accounts of the Missionaries and other observers.