Coordinates: 20°31′25″N 85°47′17″E / 20.52361°N 85.78806°E
Gajapati Empire | |||||||||||||
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| 1434–1541 | |||||||||||||
The Gajapatis at their height in the mid-15th century | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Cuttack | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Odia,[1] Telugu, Sanskrit | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Gajapati | |||||||||||||
• 1434–66 | Kapilendra Deva | ||||||||||||
• 1467–97 | Purushottama Deva | ||||||||||||
• 1497–1540 | Prataprudra Deva | ||||||||||||
• 1540–1541 | Kalua Deva | ||||||||||||
• 1541 | Kakharua Deva | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Medieval India | ||||||||||||
• Established | 1434 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1541 | ||||||||||||
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The Gajapati Empire[2][3] was an empire established by the Suryavamsa (IAST: Sūryavaṃśa, "Solar dynasty")[4][5][6] dynasty who were a medieval Hindu dynasty from the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Trikalinga (most of present-day Odisha and Northern coastal Andhra) from 1434 to 1541 CE and succeeded the reign of the Eastern Gangas. Under Kapilendra Deva, Gajapatis became an empire stretching from the lower Ganga in the north to the Kaveri in the south.[7][8][9]
The Gajapati dynasty was established by Emperor Kapilendra Deva (1434–66 CE) in 1434. During the reign of Kapilendra Deva, the borders of the empire were expanded immensely; from large parts of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, and the eastern and central parts of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The king took the title of Sri Sri ... (108 times) Gajapati Gaudesvara Nava Koti Karnata Kalavargesvara. This title is still used by their descendants at Puri during the Ratha Yatra. The significant rulers of this dynasty were Purushottama Deva (1467–1497) and Prataparudra Deva (1497–1540). The last ruler Kakharua Deva was killed by Govinda Vidyadhara in 1541, who founded the Bhoi dynasty.
The Gajapati kings patronized Vaishnavism and were ardent devotees of Lord Vishnu. They also build many temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu.[10]
In Odia, "Gaja" means elephant and "Pati" means master or husband. As such, Gajapati etymologically means a king with an army of elephants.
The region known as Kalinga (present-day Odisha) was controlled by the Odia rulers Eastern Gangas.The early Eastern Gangas ruled from Kalinga-nagara (Mukhalingam near Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh). They shifted their capital to Cuttack in the 13th century. Religious leader Ramanujacharya had a great influence on the Raja Choda Ganga Deva, who renovated the temple at Puri. Narasingha Deva built the Sun Temple at Konark and Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam at Visakhapatnam. The Gangas were succeeded by the Gajapati rulers. Two copper plates of the early Pallava dynasty have been found in the Kolleru Lake, traced to Gajapati Langula Narasimha Deva, an Oriya ruler (Odia Raja). According to legend, the Gajapati fort was located at Kolleti Kota on one of the eastern islands of the lake, which protected the Odia forces. The enemy general encamped at Chiguru Kota located on the shores and tried to excavate a channel in the modern-day Upputeru, so that the water of the lake would empty into the sea and allow an attack on the Gajapati fort.
The Gajapatis of Odisha, at the height of their power in the 15th century, ruled over an empire extending from the Ganges in the north near Hoogly to the kaveri in the south under Gajapati Kapilendra Deva. But by the early 16th century, the Gajapatis lost great portions of their southern dominion to Vijayanagar and Golconda.[11] This period was marked by the influence of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and by the expansion of Jaganatha temple across the length and breadth of the empire. One of the causes of the reduction in militarism of the population has been attested to the Bhakti movement initiated by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who arrived in the empire at the time of Emperor Prataparudra and stayed for 18 long years at Puri.[citation needed] Emperor Prataparudra was highly influenced by the works of Chaitanya and gave up the military tradition of the Odia emperors.[12] He retired himself into the life of an ascetic leaving the future of the empire uncertain. Govinda Vidyadhara took the opportunity to murder the sons of the emperor and usurped the throne himself and carved out the destruction of the once mighty empire.[citation needed]
The records of the Suryavamsi Gajapatis gives a picture of their military administration which they had inherited from the Eastern Gangas rulers. The Gangas had a vast and well-organised military which was improved by Kapilendra Deva. The empire was built on the lines of a military state, with the protection of the state and its expansion being the responsibilities of the state and population. Militarism had penetrated into different ranks of the society and the king had a large standing army which included a large number of soldiers and local-militants in the standing army. Besides the feudal tributary states of Odisha also provided a stipulated number of soldiers at the time of war and had to fight for the Gajapati in the battle field.[15]
Some of the military titles include:[16]
The Odia poet Sarala Das who lived during the era of Kapilendra Deva, has given descriptions about the military divisions in his Odia Mahabharata.[16] The divisions mentioned are:-
The infantry units of the Gajapati military are as follows:[16]
The different musical instruments used to motivate soldiers during the march and warfare. The names of the music instruments include Damalu, Damame, Tamaka, Bizighosa, Daundi, Ghumura, Bheri, Turi, Ranasingha etc. The names of the weapons used by the Gajapati army are also mentioned like Dhanu, Trona, Sara, Asi, Parigha, Pattisa, Kunta, Jathi, Buruja, Saveli etc. Information with regards to breaking of the gateways and the walls of the fort with the help of horses, elephants and iron instruments are also found in the same text.[16]
Other contemporary sources also give accounts about the characteristics of the Gajapati military. Muslim texts like Buhan-m-Mansir gives accounts of Kapilendra Deva having an elephant force numbering two hundred thousand. This number of war elephants is usually a very huge number compared even to any military of the existing kingdoms during the times of Kapilendra Deva himself in India. Nizzamuddin writes that the Gajapati encamped on the Godavari river banks with an infantry of seven hundred thousand. Fernão Nunes. the Portuguese traveler who spent three years at Vijayanagara, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire estimates size of the army of Prataparudra Deva to the extent of 13,000 elephants, 20,000 horses, while fighting against the Vijayanagara Empire and also praises that the Odia soldiers were excellent fighters. Rayavachakamu also gives interesting accounts about the feats and exercises practised by the Odia soldiers at their capital at Cuttack.[17]
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Main article: Talcher State |
During the reign of Purushottama Deva, the overlordship of Bhimanagari was established in 1471 CE in the region by Narahari Singh who was the scion of the family of the ruling Suryavanshi Gajapati Kings of Odisha. Later in 1578 under the reign of Padmanabha Birabara Harichandan, the kingdom was renamed as Talcher after the name of the family goddess Taleshwari.[18][19] The kingdom acceded to India and merged into the state of Odisha following independence in 1947.
| History of South Asia |
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