HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jeypore Estate or Jeypore Zamindari was a
Zamindari A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous Indian feudalism, feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian language, Persian was the offi ...
estate of the
Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...
and later of
Orissa Province Orissa Province was a province of British India created in April 1936 by the partitioning of the Bihar and Orissa Province and adding parts of Madras Presidency and Central Provinces. Its territory corresponds with the present-day state of Odi ...
in
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
. Historically it was a kingdom known as Jeypore Kingdom, located in the highlands of the western interiors of the Kalinga region that existed from the mid-15th century to 1777 CE. It was earlier a tributary state of the
Gajapati Empire The Gajapati Empire was a Medieval India, medieval Hindu monarchy in the Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent, originally from the region of Odisha that reigned from c.1434 to 1541. It succeeded the Eastern Ganga dynasty, Eastern Gangas as ...
and following its decline in 1540, it gained sovereignty and later became a tributary state of the Qutb Shahis until 1671. The kingdom regained degrees of semi-independence until it became a vassal state of the British in 1777. It eventually formed a part of the linguistic
Orissa Province Orissa Province was a province of British India created in April 1936 by the partitioning of the Bihar and Orissa Province and adding parts of Madras Presidency and Central Provinces. Its territory corresponds with the present-day state of Odi ...
in 1936 upon transfer from the Madras Province and became a part of the independent Union of India in 1947.


History


Origin of Silavamsa of Nandapur

The Earliest mention of the Silavamsa rulers are about a king named Ganga Raja who ruled from Nandapur. His son Viswanadha Raja or Bhairava Raja was married to princess Singamma, the daughter of Jayanta Raju of Matsya dynasty of Odda-Adi in Madugula. The Matsya territory was called 'Vaddadi' (meaning beginning of the
Odra kingdom Odra was a kingdom located in the northern Odisha in Eastern India. This kingdom was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Odras were neighbours to the Vangas. It is believed that the Odia language and the state Odisha got their names derived from t ...
) and a small village named Vaddadi (170°50' N - 82°56' E) is found even today at the entrance of the hilly tract of Madugula which was under the possession of the Jeypore rulers.The Machkund or Matsyakund River (also called
Sileru River Sileru River is a tributary of Sabari River in southern India. It originates in Andhra Pradesh and also flows through Odisha before merging with Sabari. Sabari river crosses the border into Andhra Pradesh to merge with Godavari river. Sileru (kno ...
in Andhra Pradesh) formed the border between the two kingdoms. The Silavamsa and Matsya family were connected by matrimonial alliances and the Vaddadi kingdom of Matsya family was eventually destroyed by
Krishna Deva Raya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 to 1529 and the third ruler of the Tuluva dynasty. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rulers in Indian history, he presided over t ...
and absorbed into the Nandapur kingdom. Viswanadha Raja's son Pratap Ganga Raja gave lands in
Bobbili Bobbili is a town in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Geography Bobbili is located at . It has an average elevation of 103 metres (337 feet). History The town of Bobbili was founded during the 17th c ...
to his generals in 1427 CE. Around 1434 CE, he led an expedition up to the Bay of Bengal. As a Srikurmam temple record dated to 1435 CE states, he "washed his sword in the ocean". He would not have done this for Bhanu Deva IV, the last ruler of
Eastern Ganga dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty (also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas) were a large medieval era Indian royal Hindu dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas rul ...
. He was subdued by
Kapilendra Deva Kapilendra Deva (died 1467) was the founder of the Suryavamsa Gajapati dynasty that ruled parts of eastern and southern India with present-day Odisha as the center of the kingdom. He ascended to the throne after staging a military coup agains ...
. * Ganga Raja (1353–??) * Viswanadha Raja or Bhairava Raja * Pratap Ganga Raja (??–1443) Both Jainism and Saktism are known to have flourished in the Nandapur kingdom during this period and ruins of Jaina and Sakta temples are still found in the neighbourhood of the village Nandapur.


Vinayak Dev and the advent of a new dynasty

Pratap Ganga Raja only had one daughter, Lilavati. She married Vinayak Dev, the ruler of Gudari and he became the ruler of Nandapur after Pratap Ganga Raja's death. According to myths in the Jeypore chronicles, Vinayak Dev claimed to be the 33rd descendant of Kanakasena of
Suryavansha The Solar dynasty or (; ), also called the Ikshvaku dynasty, is a legendary Indian dynasty said to have been founded by Ikshvaku. In Hindu literature, it ruled the Kosala Kingdom, with its capital at Ayodhya, and later at Shravasti. They ...
. He was a general and feudatory of the king of Kashmir, left Kashmir for Varanasi and after praying at Kashi Vishwanath migrated to the Nandapur kingdom. But according to the study of the sign-manual at the end of a copper-plate chatter of Raghunath Krishna Dev, then ruler of Jeypore, the new dynasty was founded by one of the feudal vassals of the Gajapati of Cuttack and the crescent seal indicated that they originally claimed to be
Somavanshi The Lunar dynasty ( IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling varna (Social Class) mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-relat ...
rulers. According to ''Gangavamsanu Charitam'', a Sanskrit work composed in 1760-61 by Vasudev Ratha, Khajjala-Bhanu (possibly Bhanu Deva IV) became the ruler of Gudari after Kapileshwara occupied his throne. Gudari was also the capital of Khemundi Ganga rulers for some time and according to family traditions they do claim to be Somavanshis. According to other interpretations he was a Somavanshi Rajput or the Nandapur kingdom was conferred to him by Kapilendra Deva, who also claimed to belong to Suryavansha, to one of the scions of Kapilendra's family as a mark of favor. It is said that at the beginning he was not recognised as a ruler by a section of people who overthrew his rule and he was helped by an influential merchant named Lobinia who provided him with cavalry and infantry and also 10,000 cattle for transport, and with this help he reoccupied Nandapur and suppressed the turbulent enemies. Vijaya Chandra's successor Bhairava Dev was a feudatory of
Prataprudra Deva Prataparudra Deva ( Odia: ଗଜପତି ପ୍ରତାପରୁଦ୍ର ଦେବ) was the third Gajapati emperor of Odisha from the Suryavamsa Gajapati Empire founded by his grandfather Kapilendra Deva. He reigned from 1497 to 1540 CE. ...
who defended
Kondapalli Fort Kondapalli Fort, also locally known as Kondapalli Kota and Kondapalli Quilla, lies to the west of Kondapalli in Ibrahimpatnam mandal of NTR district in Andhra Pradesh, India was built by Prolaya Vema Reddy of Reddi Kingdom during the 14th ce ...
against
Krishna Deva Raya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 to 1529 and the third ruler of the Tuluva dynasty. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rulers in Indian history, he presided over t ...
's invasion in 1516 CE and constructed a reservoir called ''Bhairava Sagar'' in Bobbili. His successor Vishwanath Dev Gajapati shifted his capital to
Rayagada Rayagada is a municipality in Rayagada district in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of Rayagada district. History The city of Rayagada was founded by King Vishwanath Dev Gajapati (1527-1531 CE) of the Suryava ...
for better economic prospects in trade and agriculture and built a mud fort. He also constructed many temples along
Nagavali River The River Nagavali also known as Langulya is one of the main rivers of Southern Odisha and Andhra States in India, between Rushikulya and Godavari River, Godavari basins. Origin and course Nagavali River originates from a hill near Lakhbaha ...
including the
Majhighariani Temple Majhighariani Temple is a shrine to a goddess in the Rayagada township of Odisha. It was built by King Vishwanath Dev Gajapati of the Suryavansh dynasty of Nandapur - Jeypore kingdom. It is believed that he made Rayagada his capital and after the ...
. During his reign
Shri Chaitanya Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; ), born Vishvambhara Mishra () (18 February 1486 – 14 June 1534), was an Indian Hindu saint from Bengal and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna with bhajan-kirt ...
migrated southwards and the title of ''Nauna Gajapati'' or "no less than a Gajapati" was adopted by the royal dynasty of Nandapur, but after the accession of Govinda Vidyadhara he seems to have submitted to the sovereign authority of the Bhoi dynasty.


Under Qutb Shahi dynasty

In 1571, the dynasty that had previously succeeded in forcing several "little kings" to be
tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
was itself forced into tributary status by the Shah of Golkunda. In the mid-17th century, Maharajah Veer Vikram Dev, the eighth king, founded the city of Jeypore and moved his capital there. This move is recorded as taking place because astrologers had determined that the reason each of the preceding six rulers had each fathered only one son was because Nandapur was cursed; however, Schnepel notes that the gradual movement of Muslim invaders from
Coastal Andhra Coastal Andhra, also known as Kosta Andhra (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kōstā Āndhra), is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, comprising the coastal districts of the state between the East ...
into Orissa probably influenced the decision. He died in 1669 and was succeeded by his only son, Krishna Dev. Narayanapatna was the capital for several rulers, including Vishwambhara Dev II (), whom the later panegyrist of the family (himself a member by marriage) said was an ardent follower of the
Vaishnavite Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...
teachings of
Chaitanya Chaitanya or Chaithanya may refer to Philosophy *Chaitanya (consciousness), Hindu philosophical concept People *Chaitanya (name) *Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism Media *Chaitanya (film), ''Chaitanya'' (film), ...
. That
bhakti ''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...
sect, which remains popular in Orissa to this day, formed a significant bond between the royal family and their
Khond Khonds (also spelt Kondha and Kandha) are an indigenous Dravidian tribal community in India. Traditionally , hunter-gatherers, they are divided into the hill-dwelling Khonds and plain-dwelling Khonds for census purposes, but the Khonds the ...
tribal subjects. The bond, however, could be tenuous and the dynasty ruled by consent of their notional subjects. Although the dynasty could rely on support from tribal warriors at times, Schnepel notes, as an example of shaky authority, the unrest in the "quasi-royal estate ... or 'little little kingdom" of Kalyansingpur. There the Khond people at one point sought to take advantage of a dispute over succession to appeal to the ''
zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...
i'' to appoint a king more local and approachable than the rulers at Jeypore. Schnepel notes of Bissam Cuttack, which was another area within the dynastic realm, that "powerful local rulers ... held a position which was nominally subordinate to the Jeypore kings but in fact was held independently of them".


British India

Jeypore covered an area of around and was assessed to pay a tribute of 16,000 rupees in the 1803
permanent settlement The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was an agreement between the East India Company and landlords of Bengal to fix revenues to be raised from land that had far-reaching consequences for both agricultural m ...
. Vikram Dev I () had joined other minor kings of the region in military opposition to the British colonial influence, leading to an attack by the British in 1775 which destroyed the fort at Jeypore. His son, Rama Chandra Dev II () reversed the strategy, preferring co-operation to resistance and was favoured by the British for that reason. An additional factor in the vastly improved status of the dynasty was that the British fell out with
Vizianagaram Vizianagaram, also known as Vijayanagaram, is a city and the headquarters of the Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapa ...
, another minor kingdom and long a rival of Jeypore. Flushed with confidence, Rama Chandra Dev arranged for a new capital and palace to be built at Jeypore, some distance away from the ruined fort. Vikram Dev III (1889–1920), also known as His Highness Maharajah Sir Sri Sri Vikram Dev, was aged 14 when his father died, and he could not legally assume his responsibilities as ruler until he turned 28. His father had made arrangements for his education to be continued by a Dr. Marsh until that time. He was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander ( GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) Appoint ...
(KCIE) and granted the title of ''
His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style (manner of address), style used to address (in grammatical person, second person) or refer to (in grammatical person, third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly ...
'' for use by him and his successors. The
British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...
granted him and his successors the right, from 1896, to use the title ''
Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...
h'', which was originally held by his ancestors. In 1893, he was married to the princess of
Surguja State Surguja State was one of the main princely states of Central India during the period of the British Raj, even though it was not entitled to any gun salute. Formerly, it was placed under the Central India Agency, but in 1905 it was transferred ...
. He laid the foundation of the new palace known as Moti Mahal and was a liberal philanthropist, donating to many institutions that helped the public. He funded the construction of bridges over the
Kolab Kolab is a free and open source groupware suite. It consists of the Kolab server and a wide variety of Kolab clients, including KDE PIM-Suite Kontact, Roundcube web frontend, Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Lightning with SyncKolab extension ...
and Indravati rivers. He died in 1920. Ramchandra Dev IV (1920–1931), also known as His Highness Lieutenant Maharajah Ramchandra Dev, ascended the throne in 1920. He received the rank of a Lieutenant for his aid in the First World War by sending his navy's twelve ships and a small unit of his troops. The king died in
Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...
in 1931 without any issue and was succeeded by his uncle, who was also named Vikram Dev. Although he died unexpectedly and young, he is known for building the grand
Hawa Mahal The Hawa Mahal is a palace in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Built from red and pink sandstone, it is on the edge of the City Palace, Jaipur, and extends to the '' Zenana'', or women's chambers. Hawa Mahal is known as the “palace of ...
, or the Palace of Winds, on the beach of Visakhapatnam. Vikram Dev IV (1931–1951), known as Sahitya Samrat HH Maharajah Vikram Dev, was crowned as the last king of the kingdom in 1931. He was a scholar, poet, playwright and leader. Being a prolific writer and proficient in five different languages—
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
, Odia,
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
,
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, and English—he earned the literary epithet of ''Sahitya Samrat'', meaning the "Emperor of Literature", and a doctorate degree (D.Litt.) from
Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...
. He donated large amounts to Andhra University and served as the vice-chancellor of Andhra and Utkal universities. He married his daughter to an
aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...
family of
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
and had his son-in-law Kumar Bidyadhar Singh Deo look after the affairs of his kingdom. His daughter gave birth to two sons and, as per traditional vedic rule, which suggests that the younger son belongs to the mother, eventually Ram Krishna Dev, being the younger prince, was appointed as the crown prince. He was the last king, as the kingdom merged into the newly formed Union of India.


Post-independence India

Ram Krishna Dev was the last king of the estate, as the titles were abolished in independent India soon after its creation with the first amendment to the constitution of India which amended the right to property as shown in Articles 19 and 31. Ram Krishna Dev (1951–2006) became the titular king of Jeypore at his coronation in 1951, following the death of his grandfather. He married Rama Kumari Devi of
Sitamau State Sitamau State was a princely state of the British Raj before 1947. Its capital was in Sitamau town, Mandsaur district, Madhya Pradesh. The total area of the state was 350 square miles. The average revenue of the state was Rs.130,000. History ...
, in
Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...
, and had three children: a daughter, Maharajakumari Maya Vijay Lakshmi; and two sons, Yuvraj Shakti Vikram Dev and Rajkumar Vibhuti Bhusan Dev. The senior prince was married to Mayank Devi and had a daughter named Lalit Lavang Latika Devi; the junior prince was married to Sarika Devi of
Nai Garhi Naigarhi is a rural town in the Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It was founded by a Sengar Rajput king, Raja Chattradhari Singh. The town is notable for its medieval era architecture constructed by the Sengar kings. History The town ...
royalty and had a son named Vishweshwar Chandrachud Dev. However, after the untimely deaths of both princes in 1997 and 2006, respectively, the right to the throne was disputed. On 14 January 2013, Vishweshvar Dev was crowned as the Pretending
Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...
of Jeypore. The coronation took place on the auspicious day of
Makar Sankranti Makar(a) Sankrānti (), () also referred to as Uttarāyana, Makara, or simply Sankrānti, is a Hinduism, Hindu observance and a mid-winter harvest festival in India and Nepal. It is typically celebrated on 14 January annually (15 January on a ...
and the royal rituals were performed by Bisweswar Nanda, a descendant of the early Raj Purohit lineage. On days of cultural importance and festivals, Vishweshvar appears as the Maharaja and conducts the royal ceremonial duties at
Dussehra Vijayadashami (), more commonly known as Dassahra in Hindi, and also known as Dashāhra or Dashain in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Nepali, is a major Hindu festival celebrated every year at the end of Durga Puja and Navarahtri. It is observed o ...
and
Ratha Yatra Ratha Yatra (), or chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. They are held annually during festivals in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The term also refers to the popular annual Ratha Yatra of Puri that involves a public process ...
.


Rulers

The royal genealogical table of Jeypore mentions 25 kings.


1443–1675 (from Nandapur and Rayagada)


1675–1947 (from Jeypore)


See also

* List of zamindari estates in Madras Presidency


References

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * {{cite journal , last=Rousseleau , first=Raphael , title=The King's Elder Brother: Forest King and "Political Imagination" in Southern Orissa , journal=Rivista di Studi Sudasiatici , date=2009 , volume=4 , pages=39–62 , doi=10.13128/RISS-9116 , url=http://www.fupress.net/index.php/rss/article/view/9116/8896 , doi-access=free , ref=none , access-date=30 July 2020 , archive-date=7 August 2020 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807091339/http://www.fupress.net/index.php/rss/article/view/9116/8896 , url-status=dead Zamindari estates History of Odisha History of Andhra Pradesh Madras Presidency