Berhampur: A rare 15th-century copper plate charter of Gajapati Emperor Kapilendra Deva has revealed Odisha’s far-reaching imperial and cultural influence across South India.
The bilingual Telugu–Odia inscription, recently deciphered by Bishnu Mohan Adhikari, a young epigraphist from Paralakhemundi, was unveiled at a national seminar at the University of Delhi.
Comprising three copper plates tied by an iron ring, the 104-line charter — 81 lines in Telugu and 23 in Odia — records the Gajapati monarch’s royal endowment to Lord Mallikarjuna of Srisailam.
The grant details 21 villages across present-day Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, a donation of 25,000 Odia ‘tankas’, and even an imperial order to dedicate half the kingdom’s revenue to the deity’s treasury, a striking example of medieval devotion and power.
Bishnu Adhikari noted that the inscription demonstrates the Gajapati Empire’s wide dominion, extending beyond Odisha to regions of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Sri Lanka, and Gujarat. “It expands our understanding of Gajapati Kapilendra Deva’s pan-Indian presence,” he said.
The bilingual charter, blending Sanskrit phrases in Telugu script and concluding Odia verses, exemplifies a remarkable cultural fusion between Odisha and the Deccan. Historians observe that it reaffirms the Gajapati dynasty’s political supremacy over Andhra–Telangana during Kapilendra Deva’s reign (c.1463 CE / Saka 1384), positioning him as Srisailam’s second greatest royal patron after the Kakatiyas.
Each of the donated villages, spread across major Dandapatas such as Venukonda, Kondavidu, Kondapali, Kamavaram, and Rajamahendri, lies in agriculturally rich regions, reflecting the king’s policy of combining economic strength with spiritual service.
Scholars hail the Srisailam Ghantamatha plates as a milestone in South Indian epigraphy, reaffirming Odisha’s enduring role in shaping India’s cultural geography.
“Such discoveries rekindle Odisha’s pride in its imperial past,” Bishnu Adhikari remarked. “They remind us that the legacy of the Gajapatis still lives — inscribed in copper, carved in stone, and alive in faith.”
