Courtesy: https://twitter.com/kalingaarya/status/1543582127144390659?s=21&t=ns1yktGrrXshBjeqaqEBZg
Post Mughal occupation there were many wars fought between the Mughals and the Odias. The war during 1660s was probably the largest one. Major chunk of Odia lands were freed for 3+ years atleast.
When Shahjahan fell ill and Aurangzeb and other claimant of Mughal throne fought eachother . This period around 1657-1663 was the time in western India Marathas under Shivaji Maharaj had freed great chunk of maratha land and captured many Forts from the Mughals.
Here in Odisha something similar also happened. Mughal sources themselves provide details of this obviously in their own biased way. Muraqat-i-Hasan says Raja of Mayurbhanj Krishna Chandra Bhanjadeo had captured land from Medinapur to Bhadrak.
Similarly Keonjhar king also captured some forts by kicking out Mughals. Down south Khordha Bhoi Gajapati Mukunda Deva and other zamidars had stopped paying taxes and declared independence so land south of Kathajori was freed.
However, these independent kings were not united against Mughals and Aurangzeb after consolidating power sent Khan-i-Daurani to suppress the rebellion. Odia kings were not that fortunate like their Maratha counterparts. Daurani killed king of Mayurbhanj during a friendly meeting (he claims Krishna Bhanja, the Mayurbhanj king made an Assassination attempt on him but failed and was killed). Defeated Khordha and other Rajas who had to submit ultimately. But for 3+ years period they were virtually independent. If they would have United and did something similar to what Marathas did in west history would have been different in eastern India as well.
However, there is no doubt that in the entire period of around 180 years of Muzl!m rule Odias fought continuously. Whenever the hold of Mughals weakened the Bhoi Gajapati, other Rajas & Zamindars declared independence & started rebellion. The disadvantageous for Odias was that they couldn’t indulge in guerilla warfare as it would hv ensured destruction of Jagannath temple a risk everyone avoided. This hostage diplomacy worked against them.
