Jeypore - History of Jeypore

History of Jeypore

Jeypore is an ancient town with a niche in the history of Orissa. The town in is surrounded by forests with mostly Sal (Dalbergia Latifolia) and teak (Tectona Grandis) trees. The town was the capital of the local king in the olden times and is known for its ancient forts, palaces and temples. The major language spoken in this region is Oriya. Though Oriya is predominantly spoken in Jeypore, there is a diverse cultural mix with people speaking in Telugu and Hindi as well.

Jeypore, being situated at the middle of the south-west horn of Orissa, is an amalgamation of the culture and traditions of the East and the South India. This blend of different languages and cultures gives Jeypore its unique cuisine, language and lifestyle.

Jeypore is the most important place in the history of Dandakaranya and the undivided Koraput district which was the second largest district in India till its division. The history of Jeypore is inextricably linked with that of the ruling Deo or Dev dynasty.

Jeypore was, for very large period of time, the capital of the kingdom at Koraput which belonged to the Atavikas, a feudatory of the powerful Kalinga Empire (Ancient Orissa) who are known for having valiantly fought the Kalinga War in the 3rd century BCE. Kalinga regained its former glory during the Mahameghabahan Dynasty in the first century BC. The third king of this dynasty Kharavela made the Kalinga empire and the Atavika land was very strong under his rule. The successive dynasties – the Satavahanas (2nd century CE), Ikshvakus (3rd century CE) had headquarters at Pushkari, near the modern town of Umerkote. The Kesaribeda excavations bear testimony to the rule of King Bhabadatta Varma and King Arathapati. The inscriptions of Podagarh refer to King Skanda Varma. The overlord Nala kings are traced to the kings who ruled from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. Their rapid growth landed them in the Oriya regions of Bastar and Koraput. Around the 10th century CE a Nala king Bhimesen was ruling over a region now located in Koraput and Ganjam District..

The Koraput area was a small principality of Tri Kalinga under the Ganga era of the 5th century CE. The patches of Utkala, Kalinga and Kosala were brought under the control of the Ganga kings of Orissa. This dynasty became prominent during the 11th century CE with the rise of Somanakshi. Their suzerainty extended from the modern Sambalpur, Sonepur to the Bastar and Koraput regions and they enjoyed control until the beginning of the 14th century CE.

The Matsya family ruling over the Oddadi region of modern Jeypore dominated the next generation. The best known kings included Bhanudeva and Narasingha Dev, as is known from the Oriya inscription of Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.

The next dynasty belonged to the Sailavansis, who ruled over Vindhya during the 14th century CE. The earliest king Ganga Raju was ruling over Nandapur, a former capital of the Maharaja of Jeypore. Nandapur is famous for the throne of 32 steps or Singhasan Batisi erected in the line of king Vikramaditya of Ujjain. Jainism and Shaktism grew side by side in the kingdom of Nandapur.

The last king of Sailavansa, Pratap Ganga Raju was succeeded by Vinayak Dev of Surya Vansa which lasted until the time of the British Empire. Vinayak Dev was said to be married to the daughter of the last ruler of Silavansi Paratap Ganga Raju. He and his six succeeding generation of kings had only one son each and on advice from astrologers the headquarters of the kingdom was switched from Nandapur to Jeypore.

During the Anglo-French conflict, Vikram Dev I (1758–1781 CE) was successful in driving out the French from Malkangiri area and the Marathas from the Umerkote belt. He was succeeded by the brave Oriya king Ramachandra Dev II (1781–1825) while his other two sons Jagannath and Narasingh Dev were placed in charge of Nabarangpur and Gudari regions. Jagannath Dev’s son Arjun Dev and Narasingha Dev’s son Chaitanya Dev were issueless. Hence, Nabarangpur and Gudari were remerged to Jeypore kingdom.

During the 20th century Ramachandra Dev IV (1920–31) was an honourable lieutenant in World War I. He was issueless and was succeeded by a benevolent, aged, scholar king Vikram Dev IV, the son of Krishna Chandra Dev. During this period the Boundary Commission headed by Sir O’Donnel was entrusted with the task of writing the different Oriya speaking tracts. The Commission went round Jeypore, Paralakhemundi, Ganjam, and Visakhapatnam before finalizing its decision. The state of Orissa was formed on 1 April 1936 with Koraput as one of the six districts.

Vikram Dev: His munificence towards promotion of education and arts saw the establishment and growth of several educational institutions both in Jeypore (Orissa) and Visakhapatnam. He was more interested in the promotion of arts than his kingdom.

He was Maharaja Vikram Deo IV of the Sankara Dynasty of Jeypore, who succeeded Krishnachandra Deo in June 1931. Within a few years after ascending the throne, he carved a niche for himself as an able administrator who was loved by his people.

A connoisseur of all fine arts including folk and tribal arts, he spotted the talent of a youth, who used to draw on the walls, during one of his evening strolls. He sent the youth to Bhubaneswar for honing his skills. He established the School of Fine Arts in Jeypore and on the return of the youth, made him principal of the school. Though he was not a man of letters, Vikram Deo mastered Telugu, Oriya, Bengali, Sanskrit and English. A `Shat Dharma Sabha' used to be convened under his auspices at the Hawa Mahal on the Beach Road. A total of 100 scholars used to be invited and competitions held amongst them as part of the sabha. He renovated the tribal museum at Araku, which was built by his forefathers.

Born in Sri Mukhalingam in 1869, Vikram Deo, was the only Maharaja to become the Pro-Chancellor of both Andhra and Utkal Universities. He generously donated annually Rs.1 lakh towards recurring expenses of the AU College of Science and Technology.

In recognition of his contribution, the AU renamed the college as Jeypore Vikrama Deo College of Science and Technology. His bronze statue which was installed in the precincts of the college was sculpted by Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury from West Bengal. During World War II, when the university buildings had to be vacated to accommodate the Army, he offered to the university to shift the equipment and infrastructure in the colleges to Jeypore and Gunupur at his own expense. Three colleges were established on his name in Jeypore. They are Vikram Deo College of Law, Vikram Deo College of Commerce and Vikram Deo College of Arts. His concept of astrology was that it was a part of astronomic science. Vikram Deo exerted pressure on the Madras Governor to appoint Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan as Vice-Chancellor of AU. He was appointed Pro-Chancellor of AU in 1937 in which post he continued till his death in 1951. In him, the scholar and the writer were coupled with the philanthropist and the administrator. A stalwart among Andhra benefactors, he had not only richly contributed to the coffers of the university year after year but also fostered its development in every way.

The nine-day Dasara festival and Rath Yatra used to be conducted on a grand scale in Jeypore during Vikram Deo's rule. He used to ride his favourite white horse and hold durbar during the festival. The car festival, performed on the lines of the Puri Rath Yatra, used to attract thousands of devotees. The huge chariot, which was pulled by thousands of devotees, had to be pushed by elephants from behind. He had and no sons and adopted Ramakrishna Deo, the second son of his only daughter.

In 1951 Vikram Dev IV died at 82 and the Estate Abolition Act was passed the next year. The Estate of Jeypore was taken over by the Government of Orissa.

The late M.L.A. Hari Hara Mishra single handedly worked to keep Jeypore within the jurisdiction of Orissa. He traveled from village to village and gathered consensus of individual who believed that Jeypore belongs to Orissa.

Jeypore is an ancient city of high strategic and historical importance. The Dev or Deo dynasty is probably related to the Kakatiya dynasty. Some of the rulers established their own rule when the Kakatiyas were ruling around the jungles of Bastar. Since the area was inaccessible and hostile, these kingdoms - including that of Jeypore (previously in Nandapur), Jagdalpur, Parlakhemundi, etc. got established under the supreme rule of Gajapati monarchs of Orissa. And, from then a unique culture, food, tradition and pride could be seen in common at these areas. The above mentioned dynasties also have close ties till date through marital alliances. The jeypore royal palace crumbled down in August 2012 due to sheer neglect on the part of the royal family and the state administration, which signifies the sorry state of affairs of the present royal family.