Jeypore

Kingdom of Nandapur/Jeypore holds a significant spot in the history of Kalinga and was blessed with kings who were warriors, devotees, administrators and later noted philanthropists-reformists in the British Raj.

Raja Vinayak Dev's arrival from North Kashmer and his installation as the king of Nandapur marked the beginning of a long predominant rule of the Suryavanshi Kings in the historic domain of Kalinga. The father of Vinayak Dev was Maharaja Kumbha Raj who ruled over a kingdom near Naga Parvat in Northern Kashmer. As mentioned in the Jeypur Rajyavamshavali, before moving to the North Kashmer region, this clan of Suryavansh ruled over Saurashtra and Ujjain for a distinct period. The royal family claims to be the descendants of Maharaja Kush, son of Bhagwan Shri Ram. They abandoned Ayodhya after the defeat of the last Suryavanshi king, Maharaja Sumitra by Mahapadma Nanda of Magadha.

Being a junior prince Vinayak Dev had the less chances of succeeding his father, therefore, he made a decision of renouncing the societal lifestyle and becoming a Sanyasi. He was an ardent follower of the Kashmer Shaivism and went on a pilgrimage to Kashi Vishweshvara where he began to live as a recluse on the service of the supreme god. However, one night he gets a vision of Lord Shiva in his dream, commanding him to fulfill his duty as a Kshatriya. Moreover, the Lord advised him to travel to the forest of Dandakaranya in the South-East where he would eventually become a king. Vinayak Dev followed the command and upon crossing the forests of Dandakaranya he found the kingdom of Nandapur. This kingdom was ruled by Raja Pratap Ganga Raju, who was a tributary of the Gajapati kings of Cuttack. Vinayak Dev stayed for a night in Sarveshwar temple and that very night the Raja of Nandapur had a vision about the arrival of Vinayak Dev. The king invited Vinayak Dev and offered her only daughter, Lilavati to the prince declaring him as his successor. He gave the name of Lord Shiva to his dynasty and named it as Shankar Vansh.

In 1443, Vinayak Dev was crowned as the king of Nandapur. He successfully conquered the neighboring Reddy chiefs and drove them across the banks of River Krishna. His next two successors remained tributary chiefs of the Gajapatis and participated in the two famous battles - Purushottam Deva's Kanchi Vijay and the historic defense of the Kondapalli fort under Pratap Rudra Deva. However, the third king, Vishwanath Dev claimed sovereignty after the fall of the Gajapatis and seeing the opportunity, began conquering far distant lands. The Fifth Report of the East India Company studied the inscriptions found in Lakshmi Varaha temple in Visakhapatanam and analyzed that the territories of Vishwanath Dev were expanded from the confines of Bengal to Telangana in South and all former feudatories of the Gajapatis were paying tributes to him. He adorned the title of 'Gajapati' and performed the illustrious 'Vajpayee Yagna' in a place that was later renamed as 'Vishwanathpur'. He shifted his capital to the newly formed city of Rayagada and constructed a fort on the banks of Nagavali river. In the last years of his reign he witnessed the invasion of the Qutb Shahi Sultans of Golconda. In the past, Vishwanath Dev Gajapati was successful in stopping the advance of Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk and signed a treaty with him on the banks of River Godavari but the new Sultan Ibrahim Qutb Shah rescinded the treaty and invaded the territories of Nandapur. Due to old age, Vishwanath Dev died in that same year and was succeeded by his son, Balram Dev, who fought bravely but lost the battle to the Qutb Shahis.

For 103 years, Jeypore remained a tributary vassal kingdom under the Qutb Shahis of Golconda and henceforth it was never included in the dominion of the Mughal empire. In 1674, Vishwambhar Dev defeated the Fouzdar of Chicacole (appointed by Qutb Shahis) and declared independence from the deteriorating sultanate of Golconda. He is regarded as the father of the feudal system of the vast territory of Jeypore that was spread over the entire region of modern South Odisha & North Andhra. Many zamindaris of the region like Kurupam, Pachipenta, Bobbili, Andra, Vijayanagaram etc were established by Maharaja Vishwambhar. His successors, until Balram Dev III, ruled over this vast domain but due to the family feud between Ramchandra Dev I and Balram Dev III and the desperate efforts of minister Viziaram Raz, a large number of zamindaris rejected the authority of the Jeypore Maharaja and claimed independence. This was done under the instructions of Viziaram Raz who bifurcated the Northern Andhra territories from Jeypore and established his own kingdom named Vizianagaram. Later, the great warrior king, Vikram Dev I defended his kingdom from all four sides. He was defeated by the British - Vizianagaram allied forces. The fort of Jeypore was destroyed and Jeypore was demoted as a zamindari due to their hostility towards the British Company.