#Thread
Why Odisha stayed independence from Turkic invaders for such a long time when rest of India perished?

Recently in some YouTube podcast AIM said that land in Odisha is wet & soft which is why Turkic cavalry failed in Odisha. Let's discuss what is the truth 1/n

This is a fact that most historians hv just tried to make wild guesses to describe the real reason of this. There is no single answer to it and it is subjective and might draw criticism. What I'm writing here are basically my personal opinion. I could b wrong. U can comment 2/n

1. Elephants
Use of Elephants in Indian military was nothing new. However, I believe Odias used the elephants the best in that period in whole of India. Kalinga region was full of huge elephants. Odia kings used to posses a lot many elephants. That is the reason they were 3/n

Known as Gajapati (lord of elephants). Chodaganga is said to have 99k Elephants and Kapilendra around 200k. Well it is an exaggeration but, the no of elephants Odia kings had was definitely huge and much more than their counterparts. Many raids were made into Odisha for 4/n

Elephants only.
In one instance Bahamani king is said to have ordered one of his commanders not to engage with a king who is the possessor of a large no of elephants (he was talking about Kapilendra Deva)
2. Sea Trade: We all seems to ignore sea trade part. Odias were among 5/n

best seafarers in India. Odisha from the ancient times was having trading relationship with SEA,China, Persia, Roman Empire etc. It flourished till 16th century. I believe due to this they were able to get much prized Persian and Central Asian horses (directly or 3rd party) 6/n

Along with that I believe new ideas, tactics of warfare were continuously flowing to Odisha. Which must have helped them in dealing with Turks.
3: Iron deposit: Odisha today has around 33% of iron ore in India and quality is the best. I assume it was the case then as well. 7/n

So, availability of good quality iron deposit was always a very positive point for manufacturing of weapons in huge quantities. There are information on Odia kings leasing iron mines then as well.
4: Better land revenue structure: Many historians suggest Odisha from the time 8/n

Of Gangas was having an excellent land revenue system. This along with flourishing sea trade helped Odia kings to accumulate wealth and a large chunk of which could be easily utilised for military purpose. They kept a large disciplined standing army with centralised 9/n

Military Structure. Other than that they gave Jagirs to other Paika groups who could aid them during the time of crisis
5: Idea of Lord Jagannath: Other than traditional weapons, the muslims were having a very strong psychological weapon with them. They were always motivated 10/n

And united under the banner of Islam. The rulers could easily motivate them to die for the cause of Islam, it could also be used for uniting warring fractions. Their unity and motivation against Kaffirs hardly had any counter from disunited Hindus.
However, Odias under the 11/n

Banner of lord Jagannath were having an equal level of unity and motivation. This was further strengthened when Anangabhima III declared himself the Rauta(deputy) of lord Jagannath. He declared that the lord is the king of Odra desha. Therefore, the Odias were super motivated12/n

And united for lord's cause. Any blasphemous act against the lord was severely punished. So, Odias naturally had disdain towards the muslims who were always known for their iconoclastic behaviour.
6:Martial Tradition: Odisha was continuously attacked from north, west & south 13/n

From muslims. Therefore, it literally turned into a military state. Everyone irrespective caste creed joined military. Military structure was well defined and flexible with strict discipline. They were trained well and motivated enough to sacrifice their lives 14/n

For the motherland. Even today a lot of Odia surnames like Samantaraya, Dalei, Baliarsingh and many more are just military titles.
7: Series of Great rulers: A country stands up to the enemy when its leader is competent. And to withstand Turkic hoards of superior man and 15/n

Material resources it must have great leaders. Odisha produced great rulers like Anangabhima III, Narasimha I, Bhanudeva II, Kapilendra, Purusottam regularly. Who were not only defending their kingdoms but also leading from the front in offensive operations. Kapilendra alone 16/n

Fought with Sultanates of Malwa, Bengal, Jaunpur and Bahamani and captured their territories or prevented them from capturing any from Odisha. Similarly Narasimha made an offensive aggressive March to capital of Bengal province when rest of India was failing to even defend 17/n

Other than that Odisha had great commanders like Gopinath Mohapatra, Hamavira, Bishnu, Paramardi Deva etc who were great generals and victorious in many battles extending territorial limits of Odra desha. 18/n