Vikram Deo Verma
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Maharajah Vikram Dev IV or Vikram Deo Varma (28 June 1869 – 14 April 1951) was the 25th king of the Suryavansh dynasty that ruled over
Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writ ...
and later Jeypore Samasthanam under 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, ...
. A patron of the arts and literature, he was also a writer and playwright himself. He was also an administrator, a magistrate for
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 ...
by the Madras government in 1914 and involved in the delineation of the state of
Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
.


Early life

Vikram Dev was born in Sri Mukhalingam Parvatalapeta of
Srikakulam Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census,. it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaa ...
Taluk to Rekha Devi and Maharajkumar Krishna Chandra Dev, the junior prince of Jeypore and the younger brother of Maharaja Ram Chandra Dev III. Evidently, due to a family quarrel Krishna Chandra stayed away from Jeypore in the village of Sri Kurmam in
Srimukhalingam Mukhalingam, also known as Srimukhalingam or Mukhalinga is a village panchayat in Jalumuru mandal of Srikakulam district in indian state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Mukhalingam is derived from an Odia word ''Muhalinga'' which is the corrupt form ...
,
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
. Vikram’s mother died when he was nine and his father died six years later. He was adopted by the Queen of the Matsya Dynasty of
Madugula Madugula is a village in Anakapalli district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It was also known as Vaddadi or Vaddadimadugula and was founded by the rulers of the Matsya dynasty. Later, it merged into the kingdom of Nandapur - Jeypore and ...
and was known as 'Raja of Vaddadi-Madugula' although this adoption was challenged in court in 1881, the judges retained its validity. He learned English from J.S. Bard at Vizag and became an expert 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 ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
. He became a writer in all these languages and was awarded an honorary doctor of literature and made a Sahitya Samrat by the Andhra Bharati Tirtha Research University on 6 May 1933. He married the daughter of Sulochana of Nawrangpur who belonged to the royalty of Patna. A philanthropist, he donated to the cause of
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 ...
and helped establish various cultural and educational institutions.


Contribution to Art and Literature

Long before he was crowned as the king of Jeypore, Vikram Dev was a renowned scholar who gained expertise in five languages - Sanskrit-Hindi, Odia, Telugu, Bengali and English. He acquired enough fame through his contribution to the combined literature of all these languages. He was awarded the doctorate degree of ‘Kala-Prapūrna’ and the honorary title of 'Sahitya Samrat' by the Andhra Bharati Tirtha Research University in 1933. He wrote Telugu dramas like ‘Shree Nivas Kalyan Natak’, ‘Krushnarjuna Charitam’ and ‘Manavati Charitam’ that were staged in the iconic 'Jagannmitra Hall' established by the king which was seen as a noble attempt to flourish art and culture among the populace of the city. He annually invited and honored 100 learned scholars from all over India and donated one lac every year to the Andhra University. He donated two million rupees to fund the Andhra University which was ordered to be shifted to Guntur. He was one of the main writers of newspapers and Journals such as Nav-Bharat, Sahakar, Navin, Shishir, etc. He also contributed to the religious writings by authoring ‘Bhagawad Gita Mahatmya’ his first writing in
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 ...
, ‘Sarasa Gitavali’ in his youth and wrote many strotras Kavacham and Chautisha etc. He served as the pro-chancellor of Utkal University and Andhra University.


Philanthropist

Vikram Dev was a keen admirer of education and contributed whole heartedly for this cause. He did not only save Andhra University by donating millions but also made sure that it is well established and efficient for his subjects. Therefore, he donated one lac rupees annually to the Andhra University. He donated one lac thirty thousand rupees to the S.C.B. Medical college at
Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...
and few thousand rupees to the post-graduate scholarship to
Utkal University Utkal University (UU) is a Public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha district, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in Odisha, the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. It is a teaching-cum-affiliating university. The pre ...
. A major portion of his donations also contributed in laying the foundation of the first theatre hall of Visakhapattnam called 'Jagannmitra Hall' and Jeypore College of Technology and Science. He was the founder of the Vikram Dev College in Jeypore, named in respect of his first cousin and predecessor, Sir
Vikram Dev III Maharajah Sir Vikram Dev III KCIE or Vikram Dev was the king of Jeypore, Kalinga from 1889 – 1920. He is well known for his administration, altruism, education reforms, tribal welfare and various construction works that developed the kingdom ...
, now a government college. He bore all the cost of publications for some renowned writers that he met in his time serving as the pro-chancellor of Andhra University.


References

{{authority control Indian rulers 1869 births 1951 deaths Founders of Indian schools and colleges Odia-language writers Hindi-language writers Sanskrit writers Indian philanthropists Indian editors Telugu writers