The present Baramba block under Athagarh subdivision in Cuttack district was a kingdom before its merger with independent India in 1948 and was ruled by the benevolent and honest kings who imparted good governance.
The then Baramba kingdom was surrounded by the feudatory States like Dhenkanal, Hindol, Tigiria, Khandapara, Banki and Narsinghpur. As per its history available with the royal family here, Baramba State was believed to be formed in the year 1305 AD with Hattakeswar Rout, a wrestler to King Kisori Narsingh of the then Puri, as its first king who ruled the State till 1327 AD.
His descendants till merger with independent India were Mallikeswar Rout (1327-1345), Durgeswar Rout (1345-1375), Jambeswar Rout (1375-1416), Bholeswar Rout(1416-1459), Kanhu Rout (1459-1514), Madhab Rout (1514-1537), Nabin Rout (15537-1560), Brajadhar Rout (1560-1584), Chandrasekhar Mangaraj (1584-1617), Narayan Chandra Mangaraj (1617-1635), Krishna Chandra Mangaraj (1635-1650), Gopinath Chandra Mangaraj (1650-1679), Balabhadra Chandra Mangaraj (1679-1711), Fakir Chandra Mangaraj(1711-1743), Benudhar Chandra Mangaraj (1743-1748), Padmanav Chandra Mangaraj (1748-1793), Pindik Chandra Mangaraj (1793-1842), Gopinath Chandra Mangaraj ( 1842-1869), Dasarathi Birabara Mangaraj Mohapatra (1869-1881), Biswambhar Birabara Mangaraj Mohapatra (1881-1922)and Narayan Chandra Birabara Mangaraj Mohapatra (1922-1954).
After independence, even though there is no king’s regime, still the royal dynasty perform coronation ceremonies and install the king on throne as per their tradition. King Narayan Chandra was followed by his son Krushna Chandra Birabara Mangaraj Mohapatra who continued till 1979.
Since then, his elder son Tribikram Chandra Birabara Mangaraj Mahapatra has been on the throne as per tradition. As the king at present remains mostly outside of the State, his younger brother Tribhuban Chandra popularly known as Rajakumar is maintaining the edifices of the kingdom as well as the agricultural properties still in the name of the royal family.
During royal time, the condition of the subjects was good enough than at present, opined most of the senior citizens of the area. They said that the local administration, jail system and court were quite good and development of education, art and culture, religion, ayurvedic health services reached great heights.
Different litterateurs like Baikuntha Pattnaik and Kabichandra Kalicharan Pattnaik could get their education at the vernacular school opened here by the kings.
King Biswambhar Birabara Mangaraj Mohapatra opened a primary school in Queen Sushila Devi's name. He was a good sports person who gave priority to football and formed "Rajah Biswambhar Club Football Eleven" and was claimed as the best football team in Odisha during 1940s. King Narayan Chandra Birabara Mangaraj Mohapatra established Baramba Police Station, jail, Tehsil office and started civil and criminal courts. He loved the litterateurs and poets and organised various inter-State literary meetings at his palace.
He encouraged the weavers of Maniabandha of his State to produce very good quality handicraft sarees for which Maniabandhi saree now has got recognition worldwide.
Narayan Mangaraj had also received the certificate of honour with a medal from the British Government in 1924 for participating in the British Empire Exhibition at Wembly with Maniabandhi sarees. He was a lover of nature and environment. large quantity of forest products were exported to foreign countries during his time.
Cattle rearing and agriculture were the main occupation of the general masses. Ornament making with ivory, brass and gold skill was also promoted. This apart, his kingdom was free from any kind of contrabands.
liquor drinking and ganja consumption was seriously dealt with by the king. Being followers of Sanatan Dharma, the kings had built temples of lord Jagannath where world's tallest wooden statue of about six feet high being worshipped for more than 200 years without Nabakalebar or change of the idol. lords Gopinath, Sun and other deities are worshipped in the temples situated in the premises of the palace. A Sundial of hundreds year old is still working in the palace. The grand palace at some places has got broken due to lack of proper care.
However, Rajkumar Tribhuban is trying hard to restore it. King Tribikrama Deb and his brother Rajkumar Tribhuban Chandra Deb are not interested to join today's nasty politics. Tribikram is the president, governing body of the Rajkumar College at Raipur, specially meant for the royal families.
