Srisailam Copper Plates Reveal Gajapati Empire’s Footprint Across India
A rare bilingual Telugu-Odia copper plate charter of the 15th Century Gajapati Kapilendra Deva, discovered in 2021, has brought to light a new dimension in the history of south India
By : K.M.P. PATNAIK
Update: 2025-10-11 18:33 GMT
Visakhapatnam: A rare bilingual Telugu-Odia copper plate charter of the 15th Century Gajapati Kapilendra Deva, discovered in 2021, has brought to light a new dimension in the history of south India.
The fully deciphered 104-line royal grant had been presented for the first time during a national seminar at the University of Delhi by Bishnu Mohan Adhikari, an epigraphist from Paralakhemundi, Odisha.
The three-plate inscription, tied by an iron ring, records the Gajapati monarch’s extensive endowment to Lord Mallikarjuna of Srisaila (Srisailam). It comprises 81 lines in Telugu and 23 in Odia, blending Sanskrit and regional idioms. The charter details the grant of 21 villages across present-day Andhra and Telangana for temple service, along with the king’s donation of 25,000 Odia currency (Tanka). The grant dedicates half the revenue to the deity’s treasury — a striking example of royal devotion during medieval times.
Bishnu, who has deciphered over 200 inscriptions across India, explained that the plates reveal new evidence of Gajapati Empire’s lordship extending far beyond Odisha — into Karnataka, Dravida (Tamil Nadu), Gouda (Bengal), Pragdharadhiswara of Simhala (Sri Lanka), and Lata (South Gujarat).
“This discovery expands our understanding of the Gajapati Empire’s territorial and cultural span,” the epigraphist underlined, talking to this correspondent on Saturday. He says the inscription also positions Gajapati Kapilendra Deva as possibly the second-largest royal patron of the Srisailam temple after the Kakatiyas of Telangana.
The bilingual charter contains royal prasastis in Sanskrit written in Telugu script and concluding in Odia verses, symbolising a unique cultural synthesis between the two regions. Scholars observe that it attests the Gajapati Empire’s dominance over Andhra-Telangana during Kapilendra Deva’s reign and illustrates Odisha’s strong religious and political engagement with southern India.
The donated 21 villages are currently distributed across Venukonda, Kondavidu, Addanki, Kamavaram and Rajamahendri. All these regions are considered highly productive regions of the present day Andhra Pradesh.
Bishnu says Prime Minister Narendra Modi would for himself see these copper plates during the PM’s visit to Srisailam on October 16.