Chronicles of the Royal Family of Bonai : Odisha

Contents: 1. The Kingdom of Bonai and the chronicles of its royal family: an introduction. 2. Bansabali of Bonai Raifamily (English translation). 3. Bansabali of Bonai Raifamily (Oriya Text). 4. Kadamba gatha by Rajpurohit Gopinatha Mishra (English Translation) 5. Kadamba Gatha by Rajpurohit Gopinatha Mishra Original Oriya text. 6. Kadamba Gatha by Madan Mohan Mishra. 7. Kadamba Gatha: synopsis by Surendranath Mishra. 8. Chapter XIV of Kadamba Gatha by Surendranath Mishra. Whoever visits the former kingdom of Bonai now a sub-division of Sundargarh district in North-Western Orissa, and its capital and headquarter Bonaigarh, can hardly fail to notice roads jammed with trucks and dumpers over loaded with ore. The area close to the borders of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, is rich in minerals. Iron ore has been supplied to the Rourkela Steel Plant for decades, but only in the wake of the most recent industrialization the valley has been dotted with sponge iron factories. Looking at these new chimneys, one easily pass and overlook the former fort garh with the palace located slightly away from the busy main road with court high school, bus stop and market. Venturing into the history of Bonai one encounters a variety of texts assembled for the first time in this volume. These chronicles have been produced, modified re-compiled or perhaps even fabricated under specific historic circumstances-stimulated by internal and external factors. They record power configurations as well as family histories. Like Puranic genealogies as discussed by Romila Thapar, they may not be faithful records of the past but rather memories of social relations. (jacket)