NATIONAL CADET CORPS
4(O) CTC NCC
ARMY WING SD
C.V. RAMAN GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
BHUBANESWAR ODISHA INDIA
Cadet Ramswaroop Padhy
BTECH 2 Year
nd
4(O) CTC NCC
ODISHA
Eminent
Personality
Of
ODISHA
The Great Revolutionary Leader
JAYEE RAJGURU
………………………………
Jayakrushna Rajguru Mohapatra
Father – Shri Chandra Rajguru
Mother – Smt. Haramani Devi
Born – 29 October 1739
(Puri, Odisha, British India)
Died – 06 December 1806
(Medinipur, Bengal, British India)
Jayakrushna Rajaguru Mohapatra popularly known as
Jayi Rajaguru was a prominent figure of the INDIAN
INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT in the state of ODISHA.
Jayi Rajaguru was born on 29 October 1739 (occasion of
Anla nabami as per the Odia calendar) in
Biraharekrushnapur, near Puri, Odisha to father Chandra
Rajaguru and mother Haramani Debi.
In the history of Odisha the Bhoi dynasty was established in 1568 at Khordha
by Ramachandra Deva-I and he constructed a fort at Khordha in 1570 declaring
it as the capital of his kingdom and 12 kings of the dynasty ruled over the
kingdom for near about 226 years (1568-1805). When the king of
Paralakhemundi Jagannath Narayan Deva, who claimed the title of ‘Gajapati’ as
the real inheritor from the dynasty of the Gangas attacked Khurda, Bira Kishore
Deva, the son of Rama Chandra Deva-II took the help of Marahatas and in liu of
their service Marahatas demanded one lakh Rupees.
After the war, the king of Paralakhemundi defeated and due to financial crisis Bira
Kishore Deva unable to satisfy the prior condition of Marahatas and compelled to
hand over four Praganas namely Rahanga (near Puri), Chabiskud (near
Brahmagiri), Sirai (near Satyabadi) and Lembai (near Delanga) which were the
good revenue earning praganas and mainly meant for maintaining the various
rituals and expenses of Jagannath Temple.
During the period of the king Dibyasingha Deva-II; Jayee Rajguru was appointed
as the Rajguru. Being an excellent scholar in Sanskrit like his grandfather
Gadadhara Rajaguru and a great Tantra Sadhaka, he was appointed as the Chief
Minister-cum-Rajaguru of the king of Khurda, Gajapati Dibyasingha Deva in the
year 1780 at the age of 41 also he was the Royal Priest, Commander-in-Chief and
the real administrative representative of Gajapati Mukunda Deva-II.
The rule of Dibyasingha Deva-II was not conspicuous, as he was unable to face
the financial crisis. After his death in 1790, his brother Syam Sundar Deva staked
his claim to the throne with the help of external power.
But Jayee Rajguru, a great champion of
justice and supporter of the king made
substantial arrangements for the ascendance
of the minor son of Dibyasingha Deva-II,
named Mukunda Deva-II in 1798. Jayee
Rajguru was bestowed with twin
responsibilities of performing the functions of
a Rajguru and controlling the administration
of the kingdom of the minor king.
There was unanimous support of the king
and the council of ministers and all had great
faith in Jayee Rajguru as he was not only a
great exponent of sastras, but also an
efficient and able soldier, quite capable of
handling all sorts of arms and ammunitions,
and above all he was a great diplomat.
In 1779, during the war between the Khordha King and Januji Bhonsala at
Badamba Gada, Narasingha Rajaguru was killed who was handling the army of
Khordha. In this precarious condition Jayi Rajaguru was appointed as the head
of the administration and the chief of Army of Khurda and carried out his duties
till his death.
Revolt against the Intruders
Burgis
Taking advantage of the weak administration during the battles, the attack of
Burgis was become intensified on the people of Khordha. This was intolerable to
the patriot Rajaguru. He personally moved from village to village to encourage
the moral strength of the Paiks (soldiers). He organized village youths and
trained them in military practices and making arms and ammunition. He
developed a five-point programme (Panchasutri Yojana) to fight against the
Burgis.
British
During his rule the British were ruling the country. However, the main trouble started
in 1757 when the British won the battle of plassey and occupied the provinces of
Bengal, Bihar and Medinapur in Odisha. In 1765 they occupied a vast region of
Andhra Pradesh from the Parsis and the Nizam of Hyderabad. They built a fort in
Ganjam south to Khurda. For the purpose of transportation between Ganjam and
Medinapur, they attacked Khurda in 1798 with the help of Shyamsundara Deva, the
treacherous brother of the king of Khurda. Even with the sudden death of Khurda
King Gajapati Dibyasingha Dev at that particular time, Rajaguru did not let them to
succeed in their effort. Rajaguru Supported Mukunda Dev-II and made him the king
of Khurda.
The District Magistrate of Ganjam Col. Harcourt made an agreement with the king of
Khurda for the communication of Ganjam and Balasore. It was agreed that the British
would pay one lakh Rupees (₹1,00,000) towards compensation to the king & return
the four Praganas which were under the control of the Marathas since 1760 A.D.
But, they cheated in both the ways. Rajaguru tried his best to get the both, but was
unsuccessful. Then in 1803–04, he marched with two thousand armed Paiks to
Cuttack to collect the money but was only paid ₹ 40,000 and was refused to get the
Praganas.
After seen this type of behaviour of Britisher’s Jayee Rajguru requested all the
residents not to bow down before the British but to fight for the honour of their
motherland. He was also successful in gathering the support of the people of the
neighboring kingdoms and carefully planned a defense strategy against the British.
With time it almost became a mass movement with every household contributing
a solider called Paika. These were well trained in different war skills. Under the
leadership of Jayee Rajguru the group of men were properly trained. Rajguru not
only proved to be a great scholar and visionary leader but also an immensely
talented soldier. He was a wise strategist who was well versed with all the
knowledge of weaponry. His warfare skills were outstanding and he was probably
the first to have employed the guerrilla warfare technique against the British.
He was well aware about the superior quality of weaponry of the British and
drawbacks of the conventional weapons of his army men.
On 1804 he along with his troops attacked the British force on the banks of
Mahanadi River. They all fought very bravely that resulted in a serious set back
for the British. The British soldiers thus arranged many other soldiers from
Chennai to reinforce its troop. On December 1804 the final `Battle of Barunei`
took place on the foothills of Barunei. In the battle the Paikas with their war skills
and valour defeated the 7000 strong British army. The British officials finally
resorted to Divide and Rule policy. They offered a few of the locals, large tax free
land holding. In return they asked for information on Jayee Rajguru and also
about his battle plan.
Trial and execution
Finally, the historical fight occurred between the military of Khurda and the
British. Fight continued for a long period & after some month when britisher’s
realised that they are not able to defeat Jayee Rajguru in battle then they took
the help of a insidious person of khordha Gada and by the help of that insidious
person Jayee Rajguru was captured & arrested by the Britisher’s. He moved
the King to a safe hideout and himself surrendered to the British. After
his arrest the British officials took Rajguru to Medinipur.
The trial of Jayee Rajguru was a mockery and with the help of Col. Harcourt’s
preplanned King’s prepared letter and planted witness he was found guilty & was
given capital punishment for going against the state and the British officials. Jayee
Rajguru fearlessly accepted the punishment as he thought that fighting for one`s
freedom and for the honour of the motherland was not a crime.
Then he was killed in a very brutal manner On December 6, 1806 at Medinipur,
Bengal. His legs were tied to two different branches of a banyan tree and the
branches were let off splitting his body in to two parts. And our Mother INDIA loss
a great leader & a fearless patriot with a heart of lion and an illustrious warrior.
BANDE
UTKAL
JANANI
THANK
YOU
