False Point is a low headland in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. It is located in the Kendrapara district of Odisha,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The point derives its name from the circumstance that vessels proceeding up the Bay of Bengal frequently mistook it for Point Palmyras, less than a degree farther north. A

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

is situated 2 km inland from the point, at a place which screens it from the southern

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

.False Point (Batighar) Lighthouse - Wikimapia
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History

False Point is also the name of a harbor in the area. It was reported by the famine commissioners in 1867 to be the best harbour on the coast of India from the Hooghly to

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. The anchorage is safe, roomy and completely landlocked, but large vessels are obliged to lie out at some distance from its mouth in an exposed roadstead. The capabilities of False Point as an anchorage remained long unknown, and it was only in 1860 that the port was opened. It was rapidly developed, owing to the construction of the Odisha canals. Two navigable channels lead inland across the

Mahanadi The Mahanadi River is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around and has a total length of . Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam which was the first major multipurpose river valley project after India's independenc ...

delta and connect the port with

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

city. The trade of False Point was chiefly with other Indian harbours, but a large export trade in rice and oil-seeds sprung up with

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, the

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire existed mainly in the Americas and Asia. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the second French colonial empire existed mainly in Africa and Asia. France had about 80 colonie ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. False Point was also a regular port of call for Anglo-Indian coasting steamers. Its capabilities were first appreciated during the

Orissa famine of 1866 The Orissa famine of 1866 affected the east coast of India from Madras northwards, an area covering 180,000 miles and containing a population of 47,500,000; the impact of the famine, however, was greatest in the region of Orissa, now Odisha, whic ...

, when it afforded almost the only means by which supplies of rice could be thrown into the province.

References

External links

True story of False Point - Spectrum May 9, 2010
{{EB1911 article with no significant updates Headlands of India Mahanadi River Kendrapara district

History

See also

References

External links