Bhubaneswar, Aug. 25: Secret tunnels, a moat, an armoury and a magnificent view. Potagada has all that tourists would love. But the name gives away its condition. In the local language, Potagada means “the buried fort”.

The fort, which is located near the district headquarters town of Chhatrapur in Ganjam, is a living testimony of the region’s prosperity and symbol of its trade influence since the Mauryan era.

But neglect over the years has left its mark. It is now nearly buried in undergrowth while a flood in 1999 also affected it badly. The State Archaeology, however, is working on renovating it.

During the Mauryan era, Odia sadhabas, or business community members, used to regularly visit East Asia until the arrival of colonial settlers such as the French and the British.

Potagada, however, came into existence as a fort in 1769, according to records available with historians. However, the ruins of the fort are completely uncared for and can be seen from a distance of about 2km from Ganjam town.

Along the coast of the state, the picturesque Potagada is perhaps the only spot with such a wide range of tourist destinations located nearby such as the Rushikulya mouth, the cemetery of European settlers near the fort, an Olive Ridley turtle nesting ground and the lake Tampra, just 2km from Chhatrapur town.

The scenic view will delight the tourist on the way from Chhatrapur railway station to Tampra lake, on to the nearby sea beach near the Nuagaon fishermen’s village before reaching Ganjam town passing through the NH-5 bridge over the Rushikulya river against a backdrop of the Eastern Ghats.

Besides the turtle rookery, the ongoing conservation project on house sparrows in villages adjacent to the Rushikulya mouth makes for an interesting stopover. The villages, which had less than a dozen sparrows each till last year, now boasts of hundreds of the endangered birds.

Secretary, Odisha Institute of Maritime Studies in East Asia, Sunil Patnaik said: “From the maritime trade of point of view, Potagada has immense importance. Extensive studies should be made to link its existence to the era.”

Sources said the fort and the cemetery were now being renovated by the State Archaeology under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan. The programme is being implemented with assistance from World Bank.

Curator of State Archaeology Ashwinee Satpathy said: “The first British settler Cotsford had designed the fort. It had public buildings, trading transit houses, residential buildings, parks, gardens, wide roads, large stone wells and tanks.”

Potagada, the local name of the settlement, was a star-shaped fort surrounded by a wide and deep moat. Its strong earthen walls were 15 feet high, 2,250 feet long, 2,100 feet wide and there were two main gates — one facing the city and the other, the confluence of the sea and river.

Within the fort complex there were huge residential buildings, which lie in ruins today. There were office buildings, artillery armoury, stables, stores and tunnels to escape in case of an attack. Two of these tunnels still exist today. Both open directly to the nearby river. The fort was affected badly during a severe flood in 1990.

Rabindranath Behera, co-ordinator of the Turtle and the Sparrow Project, said: “The tourism potential of the area with Potagada as its main attraction, the nearby Tampra lake and the sea beach should be explored. The state government should emphasise on developing tourism infrastructure here.”

The origin of Ganjam can also been linked to ancient times as historians think that the small town derived its name from the Persian word ganj-e-aam, meaning “common marketplace”.

The fort is perhaps also an indicator, as many historians believe that Potagada was built much before the arrival of the colonial settlers. The place, ideal for a fort overlooking the seaport, was planned near the confluence of the Rushikulya river and the Bay of Bengal.

Many historians also believe that Qutabsahi Sultan Ibrahim, the fourth Qutabsahi Sultan of Golkonda, had built the original fort long before European colonists came in. A flourishing centre of maritime activities — which is the traditional practice of the great Kalinga empire — the port was considered the granary of the entire eastern Indian territory.

Chhatrapur-based travel writer Sujata Patnaik said: “From the last decade of the 17th century to the middle of the 18th century, Ganjam was one of the busiest ports for maritime trade on the Coromondol coast. Among foreign traders, the French arrived here first in 1757 to establish a manufacturing unit in Ganjam under General De Bussy. The British arrived a little later and took possession of the territory and trade in 1766.”

Edward Cots Ford, the first English president and engineer of Ganjam, was appointed in 1766.

Potagada and Palur port in Ganjam district both have important links to the history of the region. Palur was a famous port and commercial business centre on the east coast near Humma near the Chilika coast. Well-known historian-turned politician Harekrushna Mahtab had identified Palur as the capital of the ancient Sailodbhava dynasty.

Mahatab believes that Palur was the place where maritime trade reached its pinnacle and it was a sought-after destination on the entire south-east Asian coast. During the rule of the Sultan of Golkonda, a lighthouse and a harbour were operational and the tradition continued even later. The structures, though, are in now ruins and much of them were washed away by floods.

Apart from maritime trade, the rulers of Golkunda played a pivotal role in shaping the fate of the ancient fort and port settlement near Ganjam town. The fourth Qutabsahi Sultan Ibrahim, the sultan of Golkunda, was happy with the commercial prospects of the area. The fort was then a large administrative set-up dotted with offices, a mosque, a prison and burial grounds.

Historians say that in 1687, Aurangzeb occupied Golkunda and posted his representative as head of the Hyderabad Nizamabad. In 1753, Nizam Salabat Jung handed over five northern pockets to French General De Bussy. In 1762, Nizam Ali gave four pockets (sarkar) to the East India Company and thus, Ganjam came under British rule in 1766.