Jeypore Estate
or Jeypore Zamindari
was a
Zamindari
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
estate of the
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. 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 as a tributary state of the
Gajapati Empire
The Gajapati Empire or the Suryavamsa (IAST: Sūryavaṃśa, "Solar dynasty") dynasty was a medieval dynasty from the Indian subcontinent, it originated in the region of Trikalinga (most of the present-day Odisha and North coastal Andhra) an ...
and following its decline retained various degrees of semi-independence until it became a vassal state of the British. 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. Its territory corresponds with the modern-day State of Odisha.
On 22 March 1912, both Bihar and Orissa divisions were s ...
in 1936 upon transfer from the Madras Province
and became a part of the independent
Union of India in 1947.
History
![Royal elephants of the Jeypore Kingdom of Kalinga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Royal_elephants_of_the_Jeypore_Kingdom_of_Kalinga.jpg)
Vinayak Dev, a prince claiming descent from the mythical
Suryavansh dynasty, took over the Jeypore area of the
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...
in 1453. The region was a hilly jungle, relatively unfertile, and populated mostly by aboriginal tribal peoples. The assimilation of tribal cult deities such as
Majhighariani by Hindu invaders who sought to legitimize their rule and gain local support was characteristic of the region. Throughout most of the history of the dynasty, the family has principally worshipped
Durga
Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.
Durga's legend centres around co ...
as their deity but simultaneously adopted the practice of adapting their devotions to those of the populace.
Vishwanath Dev, known as Maharajah Vishwanath Dev Gajapati, became the king of Nandapur in 1527. His realm grew such that it stretched as far as
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
in the north and
Ellore
Eluru is a city and the district headquarters of Eluru district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 14 municipal corporations in the state and the mandal headquarters of Eluru mandal in the Eluru revenue division. The city ...
in the south, thus encompassing most of the territory once held by the
Kalingas. He claimed the title of ''Gajapati'' which had been symbolically used by the powerful
Gajapati dynasty Gajapati is a regnal title from the region of modern Odisha in the Indian subcontinent. The word ‘Gajapati’ in Odia refers to "Gaja" meaning elephant and "Pati" meaning ''master'' or ''husband''. Thus Gajapati etymologically means ''a king with ...
before its end in 1541. It was during this reign that the capital city was briefly moved from Nandapur 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 Suryavan ...
.
In 1565, the dynasty that had previously succeeded in forcing several "little kings" to be
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainage b ...
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
Jeypore is one of the largest towns and a place of historical significance in Koraput district in the Indian state of Odisha. It was established by Vir Vikram Dev in the mid 17th century. The kingdom was defeated by the East India Company in ...
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 (South costal Andhra) also known as Kostha Andhra is a region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Vijayawada is the largest city in this region. It was part of Madras State before 1953 and Andhra State from 1953 to 1956. ...
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 ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
teachings of
Chaitanya. That
bhakti
''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...
sect, which remains popular in Orissa to this day, formed a significant bond between the royal family and their
Khond
Khonds (also spelt Kondha, Kandha etc.) are an indigenous Adivasi tribal community in India. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, they are divided into the hill-dwelling Khonds and plain-dwelling Khonds for census purposes; All the Khonds identify ...
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 ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
i'' to appoint a king more local and approachable than the rulers at Jeypore. Schnepel notes of
Bissam Cuttack
Bissam Cuttack is a census town in the Rayagada district, within the state of Odisha, India. It is one of the identified Tourist Centres (scenic spot) of Odisha.
Geography
Bissam Cuttack is located at . It has an average elevation of .
Bissam ...
, 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
![HH MAHARAJAH SIR SRI SRI VIKRAM DEV III K](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/HH_MAHARAJAH_SIR_SRI_SRI_VIKRAM_DEV_III_K.C.I.E.jpg)
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 Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land that had far-reaching consequences for both agricultural met ...
. 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 is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...
, 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)
No appoi ...
(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 formerl ...
'' for use by him and his successors. The
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
granted him and his successors the right, from 1896, to use the title ''
Maharaja
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
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 t ...
. 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 Software, free and Open-source software, open source groupware suite. It consists of the Kolab Server (computing), server and a wide variety of Kolab client (computing), clients, including KDE Personal information manager, PIM-Suit ...
and
Indravati
Indravati River is a tributary of the Godavari River, in central India.
The Indravati River
is a stream of the river Godavari. Its starting point, found to be the Ghats of Dandakaranya, range from a hilltop village Mardiguda of Thuamula Ra ...
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
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
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, 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.
The structure was built in 1799 by the Maharaja Sawai ...
, or the Palace of Winds, on the beach of Visakhapatnam.
![Statue of ‘Sahitya Samarat’ HH Maharajah Vikram Dev IV D](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Statue_of_%E2%80%98Sahitya_Samarat%E2%80%99_HH_Maharajah_Vikram_Dev_IV_D.Litt_in_Andhra_University%2C_Visakhapatnam.jpg)
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 India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
,
Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
,
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
,
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
—he earned the literary epithet of ''Sahitya Samrat'', meaning the "Emperor of Literature", and a doctorate degree (D.Litt.) from
Andhra University
Andhra University (IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926.
History
King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest do ...
. He donated large amounts to Andhra University and served as the vice-chancellor of Andhra and
Utkal
Utkala Kingdom was located in the northern and eastern portion of the modern-day Indian state of Odisha.This kingdom was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, with the names ''Utkala'', ''Utpala'', and ''Okkal''. It is mentioned in India's national ...
universities. He married his daughter to an
aristocratic
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word's ...
family of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
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
![HH Maharajah Sri Ramkrishna Dev](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/HH_Maharajah_Sri_Ramkrishna_Dev.jpg)
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
Ra ...
, in
Malwa
Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...
, 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 t ...
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
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
of Jeypore. The coronation took place on the auspicious day of
Makar Sankranti
Makar(a) Sankranti (), also referred to as Uttarayana, Maghi, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of January 14 annually, this occasion marks the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sag ...
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 ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu ...
and
Ratha Yatra
Ratha Yatra (), or Chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. The term particularly refers to the annual Ratha Yatra in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other East Indian states, particularly the Odia festival that involve a ...
.
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
Zamindaris were established in the Madras Presidency by the government of the British East India Company starting from 1799 onwards. These settlements were established in order to delineate authority to landlords and thereby relieve the ryot fro ...
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
Zamindari estates
History of Odisha
History of Andhra Pradesh
Madras Presidency