• Jan 25 2016
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Potagada

The fort of Potagarh was the first Collectorate complex of Ganjam. Later on it was shifted to Berhampur in 1815 and subsequently to Chhatrapur in 1835, where it is continuing till to-day. Potagarh or the "burried fort" is named as such since it is burried. It is situated at present near a village named Ganjam between 180 15' and 200 15'N. Latitude and 830 49' and 850 15' E. Longitude on the mouth of river Rushikulya.

The fort is in ruins and still it stands as the mute witness to many rulers, who have used it as their administrative Headquarters to rule over this region named in different periods as Kalinga, Kalinga Dandapat, Ganjam, Chichacole Circar etc. It is not a single fort, rather a cluster of forts erected by different governments, the remanants of which tell the stories of their administrative procedures. Thus the history of Potagarh is the history of the Ganjam Collectorate that involves the history of Ganjam, Northern Circars, French Government, Madras Presidency, Bengal Presidency and the history of the East India Company as a whole.