Kapilendra Deva
Kapilendra Deva was the founder of the Gajapati Empire that ruled parts of eastern and southern India with present-day Odisha as the center of the kingdom. Kapilendra was the most powerful Hindu king of his time, and under him Orissa became an empire stretching from the lower Ganga in the north to the Kaveri in the south. He was known for his aggressive military campaigns, He defeated the Muslim forces like the Sultan of Jaunpur, Bahmani Sultanate and the young ruler of Bengal Samsuddin Ahmad Shah who were continuously preparing to invade Odisha and had continuous rivalries with powerful kings such as Deva Raya II of Vijayanagara along with Reddys of Rajmahendri.
Kapilendra reduced the taxation and warned the nobles not to oppress the people. He was a devoted worshipper of Jagannath but the Siva temples did not miss his benefactions. Kapilendra was a patron of arts and letters and the renaissance in Odia literature may be traced from his reign. He imparted fresh vigour and life to a declining kingdom and left it to his son Purushottama, in a prosperous condition. After his death his youngest son Purushottama Deva became the successor by the wish of his father which led to a civil war with his elder brother Hamvira Deva.
Early life
There are multiple popular theories about the origin of Kapilendra Deva's family and his initial life. Records from the Madala Panji of the Jagannath Temple in Puri state that he was known as Kapila Rauta and belonged to the Surya Vamsa line. He used to graze cattle along with a Brahmin named Kasia. Due to a divine symbol of cobra seated by his head covering him from the sunlight while he was resting, Kasia predicted that Kapila would become a king one day. Later Kapila went to Puri where he used to beg near the Vimala Temple of the Puri Jagannath temple complex and was later adopted by the last Eastern Ganga dynasty ruler Bhanudeva following a divine dream. He was later appointed in his younger days as a military general of the Ganga forces and was assigned the task to fight the Muslim forces of Bengal. Another version of the Madala Panji maintains the same account with regards to the origin of Kapilendra Deva but changes his name to Kapila Samantara who was at the service of the Ganga king Bhanudeva IV and stayed inside the palace. When the kingdom of Bhanudeva was threatened by an invasion, Kapila Samantara gave a good account of himself as a brave soldier and after the death of Bhanudeva, Kapila became the ruler of Odisha assuming the name Kapilendra Deva.Inscriptions
Raghudevapuram copper plate grant of Raghudeva Narendra who was the governor of Rajamahendravaram Rajya and also a nephew of Kapilendra Deva gives valuable details about the family's history. Their lineage can be traced back to Kapilendra Deva's grandfather Kapileswara who was holding the position of a Nayaka. Kapileswara Nayaka was thus in the military service of the Gangas and occupied the position of a lieutenant in the army. He had a son named Jageswara who was also in the service and possessed a great number of elephants. Jageswara was married to Belama and they had three sons named Balarama, Kapilendra and Parashurama Harichandana. Raghudeva Narendra was the son of Parashurama.Suppressing internal rebellions
Due to the weakening administration of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, Kapilendra Deva ascended the throne with internal support while the last ruler of the dynasty, Bhanu Deva IV was on a military expedition in the southern territories. He was declared as the new Monarch with a Rajyabhisheka ceremony at Bhubaneswar. Since the ascension was through a coup or rebellion, some vassal kings from Odisha such as Matsarvamshi of Oddadi, Shilavamshis of Nandapur, and Bishnukundina of Panchadhara refused to acknowledge his authority and declared themselves independent. Around the same time, the Sultanate of Jaunpur also posed an external threat to his realm. He appointed his able minister Gopinath Mahapatra to deal with the Jaunpur threat, which he successfully executed, and Kapilendra Deva himself suppressed the internal rebels with force. The rebels were suppressed by the year 1440 CE. The rebellious troubles that he dealt with by force are proven by his Lingaraj Temple declaration in which he ordered the rebels to accept his rule or be toppled from power.Coronation
The chronicle Madala Panji detailed the event of Kapilendra Deva's coronation as Gajapati of the realm succeeding Bhanu Deva IV, the last ruler of the Eastern Gangas. It mentioned that the coronation took place at Bhubaneswar on 2 kākara śukḷa 4 aṅka 2. The date with respect to the Odia calendar corresponds to the Gregorian calendar on 29 June 1435. Thus with the coronation of Kapilendra Deva as the Gajapati of the Odradesa realm, he started his era known as Kapilabda and laid the foundation of the Suryavamsa dynasty.Kapilendra Deva's Odia military
Different historical sources give varied accounts about the Odishan military commanded by the Gajapatis. According to the Muslim text Buhan-m-Mansir, Kapilendra had 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. Another Muslim source documents that Kapilendra Deva raided Bidar with only 10,000 foot soldiers while being assisted by the Vellamati chiefs of Telangana.Conquests
The military hegemony of Odisha had declined during the last line of Eastern Ganga dynasty rulers which provided enough opportunity for the rising powers in its neighborhood. When Kapilendra Deva took over the throne, hostile Muslim powers like the Sultan of Jaunpur, Bahmani Sultanate and the young ruler of Bengal Samsuddin Ahmad Shah were continuously preparing to invade Odisha. Rival Hindu powers such as Deva Raya II of Vijayanagara along with Reddys of Rajmahendri had conquered advancing as far as the Simhanchalam territory in the south. Along with suppressing internal rebellions, Kapilendra Deva first defeated the Jaunpur forces and then contained the Bengal forces with the help of his minister Gopinath Mahapatra after which only he initiated his aggressive military campaigns of the Southern and Deccan parts of India.Conquest of Gauda region in Bengal
The Gopinathpur inscription of 1447 CE describes his campaign against the Sultan of Bengal who tried to raid Odisha but was beaten back by the Gajapati army led by Gopinath Mahapatra, the minister of Kapilendra Deva. The Gajapati army conquered territories of Bengal to the west of Ganga river including the fort of Gar Mandaran. Historian R. Subramaniam describes that the title 'Brhamarbara' retained by Kapilendra Deva from the days of his service at the Ganga king's court clearly signifies his control over Brhamarkuta region of Bengal. An inscription in the Jagannath temple of Puri that is dated to the year 1450 CE narrates the conquest of Gauda by Kapilendra Deva after defeating Malika Parisa which in short refers to the contemporary Persianate Sultan of Bengal by the name Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah. The region east of the river Ganga and until modern Burdhawan district was known as the Jaleswar division which was handed over to the later ruler of Bengal Ali Vardi Khan by the Marathas during their time. Kapilendra Deva's aide Jalesara Narendra Mahapatra was appointed as the governor of this region. After this victory, Kapilendra Deva accepts the title epithet of Gaudeswara meaning the Lord of the Gauda kingdom. Katakarajavanshavalli records state about the holy dip of the Gajapati himself in the river Ganges and the Dāna of Tulasipur shasan villages to the Brahmins there. This clearly indicates that Kapilendra Deva was in control of regions beyond the river Ganga to its East.The conquest of Rajamahendri
- First Campaign in 1444 CE - The first campaign against the alliance of Vijayanagara Empire and Rajamahendri Reddys was unsuccessful as Odia forces had to face a two front war with both the Jaunpur Muslim forces in the north and the rival Vijayanagara Hindu forces under the able leadership of the Deva Raya II's able general Mallapa. Kapilendra Deva first diverted his attention in dealing with the invasion in the northern frontiers and hence the campaign in the south was abandoned.
- Second Campaign in 1446 CE and Capture of Kondavidu by Hamvira Deva - The Odia forces returned in the year 1446 CE led by the Prince Hamvira Deva or Hamvira Kumara Mahapatra, the eldest son of Kapilendra Deva. The political alliance between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Reddy Kingdom had ceased to exist as Deva Raya II had died and the power passed on to a weaker successor in Mallikarjuna Raya. Kapilendra took advantage of this position in the kingdom of Rajahmundry and sent his son Hamvira with a large army and succeeded in defeating the Reddis very easily. The kingdom of Rajahmundry was thus brought under the sway of Kapilendra before A. D. 1448.
Conquest of Kondavidu
Dr. Venkataramanaya, points out that some of the Telugu chiefs transferred their allegiance to Kapilendra. when the power of the Raya of Vijayanagara declined on the banks of the Krishna. We learn from chatu verse that Pushapati Tammaraju occupied many forts including Bellamkonda, Vadapalli, Ramgarajukonda as a overlord Kapilendra.