The curved appearance of the Odia script is a result of the practice of writing on palm leaves, which have a tendency to tear if you use too many straight lines. The earliest known inscription in the Odia language, in the Kalinga script, dates from 1051. The Odia script developed from the Kalinga script, one of the many descendents of the Brahmi script of ancient India. Odia is also known as Oriya, and Odisha as Orissa, however Odia and Odisha are now the preferred names in English as they are closer to their native names: ଓଡ଼ିଆ (oḍiā) and ଓଡ଼ିଶା (oḍiśā).
Odia is closely related to Bengali and Assamese. It is also designated as a Classical Language in India as it has a long literary history. It is the official language of Odisha, and the second official language of Jharkhand. Odia is one of the many official languages of India. Odia is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 40 million people mainly in the Indian state of Odisha, and also in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
