The fourth region may said to be the distinctive or typical or at least the tone-setting one, in both cultural institutions, social customs and linguistic and literary sophistication. This region comprises roughly the coastal districts of Balasore, Cuttack and Puri and portions of adjoining districts. Some of the tribes like the Kond and Saora have developed internal social differentiations along occupational specialisations as potters, weavers and basket makers. Some of these tribes like the Bhuiyan, the Bathudi, the Gond and the Binjhal (Binjhawar) of northern and western Orissa have been very much Hinduised.

(washer-man), the Kumbhar (potter), the Chasa (farmer), the Tanti (weaver), the Keuta(flattened-rice-maker or fisherman), the Barhai (carpenter), the Kamar (blacksmith), the Teli (oilman) and the Chamar (shoemaker), Karana (writer), Guada (cattle keeper), Khandeita (Swordsman) and the Paana (untouchable weaver).

Each caste practically had its own cultural world and social milieu, with its peculiar festivals and rituals, its own tutelary deities and sacred centres, its peculiar marriage, funeral and other customs, and its own level and limitations of social interaction with members of other castes and religious communities in the village society.

These inter-caste relations were usually limited to social necessities. Some cementing bonds were established through a peculiar social institution called ritual Kinship and friendship (Mahapatra 1968).This institution ensured a semblance of social interaction between the families of persons so related.

Language

Oriya is the regional language of Orissa. It belongs to the Aryan family of languages and is closely related to Assamese, Bengali and Maithili as a direct descendant of eastern Magadhi. Under the influence of neighbouring regional languages of the Aryan and Dravidian families, as also that of the Austric group of languages current among the tribal groups, Oriya has developed many linguistic variations, such as Baleswari (Balasore), Bhatri (Koraput), Laria (Sambalpur), Sambalpuri (Sambalpur and other western districts), Ganjami (Ganjam and Koraput), Chhatisgarhi (Chhatisgarh of Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas of Orissa) and Medinipuri (Midnapur district of West Bengal). Besides, hilly regions of north and south Orissa have their own local versions of Oriya with many linguistic peculiarities.

The first dated, inscription in Oriya goes back to 1051 AD discovered at Urajang. But recent discoveries of Sanskrit inscriptions with Oriya words thrown in, reported from Orissa and Andhra Pradesh areas of the ancient Kalinga empire, push back its lineage to the 6th century AD. During the Surya dynasty(1435-1523), Oriya literacy activities were remarkable and the great epics and almost all the Puranas and some Upanishads were translated and often reinterpreted. The Oriya script, descending from Brahmi script, has been given the round or Dravidian finish, probably during the reign of the Ganga kings. The shape was admirably adopted to writing on processed palm leaves with an iron stylus.