Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday released a stamp and a coin to commemorate the Paika rebellion of 1817 in Odisha.
He also inaugurated the new campus of IIT-Bhubaneswar, built at a cost of Rs 1,660 crore, and launched a slew of projects worth Rs 14,523 crore for the state.
The Paika Rebellion, many claim, was the first war of Independence against the British. Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan among others were present on the occasion. In the early 1800s, the farming community of Odisha had risen in rebellion when the British started tinkering with the revenue system. Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar, the military chief of the King of Khurda, had led his army of Paikas forcing the British East India Company forces to retreat.
The rebellion of 1817 came to be known as Paika Bidroh (Paika rebellion. Paiks were traditional landed militia under the state’s Gajapati rulers.