West Entrance of the Vizianagaram fort 02

Vizianagaram Estate 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 ...

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 India. The name is derived from its founder Raja Viziaram Raz (Vijayaram Raj) who established a sovereign kingdom by claiming independence from the

Kingdom of Jeypore Jeypore Estate or Jeypore Zamindari was a Zamindari estate of the Madras Presidency in British India. Historically it was a kingdom known as Jeypore Kingdom, located in the highlands of the western interiors of the Kalinga region that existed ...

in 1711. It formed alliances with the French and

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

to conquer the neighbouring principalities of

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 ce ...

Kurupam Kurupam is a village in Parvathipuram Manyam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Geography It is located at . It has an average altitude of 133 meters (439 feet). Demography census, Kurupam mandal had a population of 46,439. ...

Paralakhemundi Paralakhemundi shortly known as Parala is district Headquarter of Gajapati district and one of the oldest Municipality established in 1885, in the Indian state of Odisha. Majority of the people in the town speak Odia. The city and the Distri ...

and the kingdom of Jeypore. However, they fell out with the British and as a result were attacked and defeated in the

Battle of Padmanabham The Battle of Padmanabha occurred in Padmanabham, Visakhapatnam district (modern Andhra Pradesh, India), on 10 July 1794. This is battle between Zamindari of Vizianagaram led by Vijayram Raj II and East India Company Madras Presidency Forces l ...

. They were annexed as a tributary estate like other principalities and remained so until their accession to the Indian Union in 1949. The chieftains of Vijayanagaram claimed to be the descendants of one Veer Pratap of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

belonging to the

Sisodia The Sisodia is an Indian Rajput dynasty belonging to the clan that ruled over the kingdom of Mewar in Rajasthan. The name of the clan is also transliterated as ''Sesodia'', ''Shishodia'', ''Sishodia'', ''Shishodya'', ''Sisodya'', ''Sisodiya'', ...

clan of

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

. They migrated to

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in South India, southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bou ...

and settled down as chieftains of Pusapadu village in

Prakasam district Prakasam district is one of the thirteen districts in the coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was formed in 1970 and reorganised in 2022 on April 4. The headquarters of the district is Ongole. It is located on the weste ...

in Andhra Pradesh. Initially, the dynasty is called

Pusapati Poosapati / Pusapati was the ruling clan of the Northern Andhra region, Vizianagaram. History The Pericchedi kings were ancestors of the Pusapati royal family who built Bezawada (Modern Vijayawada) off the river Krishna by 626 AD and an ...

for this particular reason. However, another theory suggests them of being descendants of Pericchedis.

History

They founded the City of

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 ...

, named it after Vijay Rama Raju, spelled with a Z to differentiate it from the

Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

in Hampi. They obtained the title of Gajapathi, after aiding the British forces of the

Northern Circars The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude, in the pr ...

against

Vikram Dev Maharajah Vikram Dev I or Vikram Dev was the king of Jeypore kingdom from 1758 to 1781. He was born in the Suryavansh Shankara Dynasty that ruled the region since 1443. He succeeded his brother Maharaja Lal Krishna Dev in a military coup in wha ...

I of Jeypore Kingdom in the 18th century. In 1754, Pusapati Vijaya Rama Gajapathi Raju, of the ruling family of Vizianagaram, made an alliance with the French, but a few years later the territory was ceded to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. It remained under their control until independence in 1947.

Vizianagaram Fort Vizianagaram fort is an early 18th-century fort in the city of Vizianagaram in northeastern Andhra Pradesh, South India. It was built by Vijaya Rama Raju, the Maharaja of Vizianagaram in 1713. The formal ceremony, while laying the foundation fo ...

was constructed in the year 1712–1714 A.D. Traditionally five Vijayas or signs of victory were present at the inception of this fortress. It was named Vizia-nagaram (place of victory) after its founder Vijaya Rama Raju and the foundations were laid on Tuesday (Jayavaram in

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 ...

), the tenth day ( Vijayadasami) of the Dasara Festival in the year Vijaya of the

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...

. In 1827 Maharajah Vijay Rama Gajapati Raju III had several honors conferred on him by the British Government. Lord Northbrook obtained for him the title of His Highness, and had his name enrolled among those of chiefs entitled to return visits from the Viceroy. The revenue of the estate is nearly about 26lakhs by 1938 and nearly about 30 lakhs by the time of abolition. They paid a peskash of 4,96,580/- by 1877. After the

they were reduced from the position of Princely State to Zamindari in 1794 and made the Permanent settlement in the year 1802-03. They were also conferred with Maharaja titles .

List of title-holders

The prominent people who have held this title include : #Pusapati Amala Gajapati Raju (Founder) #Pusapati Rachi Gajapati Raju #Pusapati Tama Gajapati Raju #Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju I #Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju #Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapathi Raju II (1760–1794) #Pusapati Narayanadev Gajapati Raju (1794–1845) #Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju III (1845–1879) #

Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju (31 December 1850 – 23 May 1897) was the Maharaja of the Vizianagaram kingdom. Royal Family The house of Pusapati claims lineage from the Sisodias of Mewar. According to Edward B. Eastwick, The Maharajah ...

(1850–1897) #Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju IV (1897–1922) #Pusapati Alakh Narayanadev Gajapati Raju (1922–1937) #

Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju Maharaja Pusapati Vijayrama Gajapati Raju D.Litt. was an Indian parliamentarian and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Alak Narayanadev Gajapathi Raju and Vidyavathi Devi of Vizianagaram estate in Andhra Pradesh. He was born at ...

(1945–1995). His eldest son is Ananda (below) and second son is Ashok Gajapati Raju, the cabinet minister

Other prominent members

* Vijayananda Gajapathi Raju, better known as ''Vizzy'', a politician and former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, was the Maharajkumar (prince) of Vizianagram, being the second son of Maharaja Vijayarama Gajapati Raju IV (1897–1922). *Pusapati Ananda Gajapathi Raju (1950–2016), elder son of

and former Chairman of Simhachalam temple trust board and MANSAS (1995-2016) * Ashok Gajapati Raju, younger son of

, is a prominent politician and the Union Cabinet Minister for

Civil Aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

in the

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

cabinet. Chairman of

Simhachalam temple Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam, also known as Sinhachala or Simanchala is a Hindu temple situated on the Simhachalam Hill Range,which is 300 metres above the sea level in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It is dedicated to Vis ...

trust board and MANSAS (2016-20, 2021-present). * Uma Gajapathi Raju, ex-wife of Pusapati Ananda Gajapathi Raju and former MP of

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

*Sanchaita Gajapathi Raju, daughter of Pusapati Ananda Gajapathi Raju and former Chairman of Simhachalam temple trust board and MANSAS (2020-21).

References

External links

Dowager Rani Lalitha Kumari Devi ... vs The Raja Of Vizianagaram And Ors. on 25 April, 1952
{{coord, 18, 7, N, 83, 25, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Zamindari estates History of Andhra Pradesh Buildings and structures in Vizianagaram district Madras Presidency

History

List of title-holders

Other prominent members

See also

References

External links