Short answers, pulled from the story.
Odia is the sixth Indian language to be designated a classical language. The designation reflects an unbroken literary tradition with inscriptions dating back over a thousand years, including the Urajam inscription of the Eastern Gangas from 1051 CE.
Odia descends from Odra Prakrit, which itself evolved from Magadhi Prakrit. Magadhi Prakrit was spoken in east India more than 1,500 years ago and is the primary language of early Jain and Buddhist texts.
Sarala Das was a 14th-century poet who wrote the Mahabharata, Chandi Purana, and Vilanka Ramayana in Odia, earning him the title Vyasa of Odisha. His translations of Sanskrit epics helped standardize the written form of the Odia language.
The curved appearance of the Odia script developed because the language was traditionally written on palm leaves, which tend to tear along straight lines. Scribes adapted their letterforms to avoid straight strokes and protect the writing surface.
The total number of Odia speakers worldwide is estimated at 50 million. According to the 2011 census, 37.52 million Odia speakers live in India, making up 3.1% of the country's population, with 93% of them residing in Odisha.
In the 19th century, Bengali scholars argued that Odia was merely a dialect of Bengali rather than an independent language. Pandit Kanti Chandra Bhattacharya published a pamphlet titled "Odia Ekti Swatantray Bhasha Noi" urging the British government to close all Odia vernacular schools and replace them with Bengali institutions.