Athagarh , literary means that combination of eight forts was one of the oldest zamindari estates of Ganjam district, Its area was about 194 sq. miles and population was about 76, 301 in 1891. The estate contained 294 villages which’s includes three present Tahasils of Kodala, Kabisuranagar and purusottampur.

Athgarsh contributed immensely to enrich the Odiya and Sanskrit literature. The renowned poets like Kabisurya Baldev Rath, Ghantakabi Jadumani Mohapatra, Kabi niladri Mishra, Brajasundar Das ,Kabi Chandrasekhar rajguru not only adorned the court but also contributed a lot to enrich the Oriya literature, At the crucial period of Sanskrit literature the royal court of Athagarh kept the banner of Sanskrit literature  alight for a long time . The famous poets Basudev Rath Samayaji, Vasu Praharaj. Dayanidhi Taraka Panchanan wrote volumes of works on Sanskrit literature.

The estate was remarkable for its martial glory, this was only the estate of Odisha (next to khurda) which’s had a large number forts. The Langalbeni fort was one of the famous fort of Odisha, which could not be seized even by Muslims. His rajas of the estate defeated the Muslims subedars of Odisha twice and released the Gajapti maharaja of Khurda.