Aali previously Aul is a town and the headquarters of Aali CD Block and Aali Tehsil in Kendrapara district in the Indian state of Odisha. It is 17 km from Chandabali. Aali is surrounded by the river Kharasrota and Brahmani on north and south respectively. To its east is Bhitarkanika National Park.

History Aali has a clear history and heritage. This state is an outcome of the war between the Suryavanshis and Bhoivanshis for the throne of Utkala at Kataka. The ancestors of Aali royal family belonged to the last independent king Gajapati Mukunda Deva. Gajapati Mukunda Deva ruled Odisha for 16 years, from 1559 to 1567. His ancestors were considered the feudal chiefs under the Gajapati and before acquiring the throne he worked there as the military chief.

When Gajapati Maharaja Prataparudra Deva died in 1540 his minister played foul and started conspiracy against Kalua Deva Allias Ramachandra Deva-I and Kakharua Devs alias Purusottama Deva-II, the two legal heirs of Gajapati Maharaja. They were killed by him in 1541.

After this incident, Minister Gobinda Bidyadhara acquired the throne at Kataka and ruled till 1548. In the meantime Gobinda's nephew Raghubhanja Chhotraya created chaos and attacked Gobinda to get the throne but could not succeed. During this period, Utkala was also threatened by the Afghans of Bengal. Chakrapratapa became the King from 1548 to 1557 and after Chakrapratapa, Raghuram Ray Chotaraya and Narasingha Ray Jena ruled Utkala till 1559.

In 1559, Mukunda Deva, the Army chief of Gajapati ascended the throne and started his reigning in the name of Gajapati Mukunda Deva.

He fought bravely against the Afghans and became popular by digging ponds and establishing new villages in different places of Puri. But the Minister named Janardana Bidyadhara started treachery against him. Looking forward to the throne of Gajapati, Janardana made friendship with the Afghans and dethroned Mukunda Deva by killing him in the Gohira Tikiri Fort. Janardana made his son on the Gajapati's throne in the name of Ramachandra Deva-II.

The wife of Mukunda Deva ran away with some of the king's followers and her two kids Rama Chandra Deva and Chakadi Bhramarbara. They approached the Mughal emperor at Delhi but couldn't succeed. Mughal emperor Akbar sent two Hindu kings, Todar Mall and Raja Maan Singh from his Durbar to Puri to look into this matter and have a solution. Janardana tried much to establish Ramachandra Deva-II as the real Gajapati of Odisha. During the Chandana Yatra, Raja Maan Singh entitled Ramachandra Deva-II as the real Gajapati and offered him the Gadi Prasad. On the other hand, he divided Utkala into three parts between Ramachandra Deva-II and other two brothers.

Ramachandra Deva got Aali killa (fort) as his new Kingdom and Chhakadi Bhramarbara got Patia with Sarangagad fort. From that day Aali came to the front and prospered with Ramachandra Deva but always cheeked the Gajapati rule in Odisha. History says that they were always supportive of the external forces, tried to save their state and never cooperated with the Gajapati and his allies.

Education Colleges Aul College, Aul Laxmi Barah College, Ayatpur Olaver College, Olaver Debaray Samarsingh College, Ganeswarpur National ITC., Aul Gandhi Memorial College, Gobindpur

High schools Hadua Up School Godabarisha Bidyabhaban, Gobindpur C.P.B.E.T. High School, Tunga Sarat Kumar Dev High School, Giribandha Aul High School Samant Singhar Kelu Charan High School, Patrapur Panchayat Sitaram Bidyapitha, Manikapatana Damodar High School, Ayatpur Chakradhar High School, Dahisahi Nrusinghajew A.D.M High School, Aragal Sasan Namouza High School Batipada High School Rameswar Nial GP High School, Chhotanathpur Sasan G.D. High School, Sanamanga Utkalmani Uchha Bidyapitha, Atal Mahu High School Chandiagari High School D.P.S. High School, Padanipal Dadhibamanjew Bidyapitha, Desahi Manapur High School Janata High School, Palimi Mohanpur Ganeswarpur High School Panchayat High School, Sahira S.C. High School, Madhuban Janakalyan High School, Kusumi Athapatana Binapani High School, Dasipur Sahadev Girls High School, Demal Ekamania U.G. High Schools. Govt. U.G. High School, Chandan Nagar, Kolidiha Gopabandhu Girls High School, Hinjal Sansidha High School Panchayat Girls High School, Desahi Mendhapur G.P. High School, Padanpur Odisha Adarsh Vidyalaya, Belasarpur, Nial, Aul Balakati Panchayat High School, Balakati

Transportation Road SH-9A from Jagatpur, Cuttack to Chandabali passes through Aali. It connects it with Pattamundai and Rajkanika on either sides. The Manpur-Singhpur Road connects Alli with Jajpur. Another road connects Aali with SH-35 at Aradi, Bhadrak. It is also has a network of roads interconnecting the villages.

Rail There is no railway station near to Aul in less than 10 km. However Cuttack RailWay Station is major railway station 87 km near to Aul. A newly constructed rail link from Paradip to Haridaspur is at final stage.

Distance from surrounding towns Hadua - 15 km Rajkanika – 11 km Pattamundai – 14 km Rajanagar - 35 km Dhamra - 54 km Dhamarai Temple - 50 km Chandabali- 17 km Akhandalamani Temple- 20 km Jajapur – 45 km Kendrapara-35 km Bhadrak – 57 km

Health Aul block has one Community health Center at Aul and PHC(N)'s at Batipara, Dasipur, Govindpur, Mahu, Palimi, Sanamanga.

Law and order The Court of Judicial Magistrate, First Class was established at Aul in 2011.

Politics Aul (98) is one of the five Assembly Constituencies of Kendrapara parliamentary constituency. It consists of Aul and Kanika Block with 315 polling stations and 237969 voters. Odisha Vidhan Sabha in 1961 in the midterm election : Raja Sailendra Narayan Bhanjdeo, Aul (INC) 4th Bidhan Sabha (1967–71) : Dibakar Nathsharma Aul (INC) Total Votes : 73890 Part Won : Congress Votes Secured: 15049 5th Bidhan Sabha (1971–73) : Sharat Kumar Deb Aul Swatantra Total Votes : 81617 Part Won : Swatantra Votes Secured: 6th Bidhan Sabha (1974–77) : Sharat Kumar Deb Party: Independent % of Votes: 34.08 7th Bidhan Sabha (1977–80) : Sharat Kumar Deb Party: Janata Dal % of Votes: 57.02 8th Bidhan Sabha (1980–85) : Sharat Kumar Deb Party: Janata (S) % of Votes: 52.00 9th Bidhan Sabha (1985–90) : Dolagovinda Nayak Party: Congress (I) % of Votes: 52.01 10th Bidhan Sabha (1990–95) : Smt. Sushree Devi Party: Janata Dal % of Votes: 56.61 11th Bidhan Sabha (1995–2000) : Dolagovinda Nayak Party: Congress(I) 12th Bidhan Sabha (2000–04) : Pratap Keshari Deb Party: BJD % of Votes: 59.50 13th Vidhan Sabha (2004–09): Pratap Keshari Deb Party: BJD No of Votes Secured: 61,869 14th Vidhan Sabha (2009–14): Pratap Keshari Deb Party: BJD 15th Vidhan Sabha (2014–19): Devendra Sharma Party: INC 16th Vidhan Sabha (2019–24): Pratap Keshari Deb Party: BJD

Aul Tehsil comes under Kendrapara parliament constituency and the current sitting MP is Baijayant Panda.

References