SAMBALPUR, or Sumbulpoor, a British district in the chief-commissionership of the Central Provinces of India, between 21° 2' and 21° 57' N. lat. and between 83° 16' and 84° 21' E. long. Exclusive of attached native states by which it is surrounded, Sambalpur contains an area of 4521 square miles. Including the native states, it is bounded on the north by Chutia Nagpur, on the east and south by Cuttack district, Bengal, and on the west by the Bilaspur and Raipur districts. The Mahánadi, which is the only important river in the district, flows through it, dividing it into unequal parts. The greater portion of Sambalpur is an undulating plain, with ranges of rugged hills running in every direction, the largest of which is the Bará Pahár, a mountain chain covering an area of 350 square miles, and attaining at Dibrígarh a height of 2267 feet above the plain. The Mahánadi affords means of water communication for 90 miles; its principal tributaries in Sambalpur are the Ib, Kelú, and Jhirá. To the west of the Mahánadi the district is well cultivated. The soil of the district is generally light and sandy. It is occupied for the greater part by crystalline metamorphic rocks; but part of the north-west corner is composed of sandstone, limestone, and shale. Gold dust and diamonds have been found near Hírakhudá or Diamond Island, at the junction of the Ib and Mahánadi. The climate of Sambalpur is considered very unhealthy; its average temperature is 79°, and its average annual rainfall is 58 1/2 inches....
The census of 1881 disclosed a population of 693,499 (346,549 males and 346,950 females). Hindus numbered 632,747 and Mohammedans 2966. The only town in the district with a population exceeding 5000 is Sambalpur, the administrative headquarters, with 13,939 inhabitants, situated in 21° 27' 10"
N. lat. and 84° 1' E. long., on the north bank of the Mahánadi. It has much improved since 1864, when a cart could only with great difficulty pass through the main street. Of the total area of the district 1125 square miles are cultivated, and of the portion lying waste 888 are cultivable. Rice forms the staple crop; other products are food grains, oil-seeds, cotton, and sugar-cane. The manufactures are few and of no great value. The gross revenue in 1883- 84 was £22,445, of which the land contributed £11,388.
Sambalpur lapsed to the British in 1849, who immediately adopted a system of exaction and confiscation by raising the revenue assessments one-fourth and resuming the land grants, religious and others. Great dissatisfaction was the consequence, and the Brahmans, who form a numerous and powerful community, made an appeal, but obtained no redress. In 1854 a second land settlement again raised the assessments everywhere one-fourth. This system of exaction produced its natural results. On the outbreak of the mutiny in 1857 a general rising of the chiefs took place, and it was not until the final arrest of Surandra Sá, a chief who for some years had been the cause of great disturbances, in 1864 that tranquillity was restored; since then the district has enjoyed profound peace.
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