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Ramachandra Deva established the kingdom of Khurda in the middle of the 16th century in
the coastal region of Orissa. Initially he had to struggle hard to legitimize his rule over his
newly established kingdom. Though he proclaimed himself to be the political successor of
the imperial Gajapati, the people of Orissa did not acknowledge him as the real Gajapati
of Orissa. Taking the opportunity of the absence of a central authority over the coastal part
of Orissa many chieftains declared their independence.1 While Afghans as well as Mughals
were constantly looking for an opportunity to capture Orissa, descendents of the late
imperial Gajapati were constantly claiming their right to their lost throne. Under such
adverse circumstances, Ramachandra Deva followed an inclusive to legitimatize himself as
the king of Khurda. He accommodated large sections of people into the political field. He
explicitly donated land to Brahmans, revived patronage to Lord Jagannatha and tried to
bring about an amiable relationship with all the feudatories of Orissa as once the Gajapati
rulers had. His son and successors followed his policy with equal zeal and by the middle
of the 17th century the Bhoi kings of Khurda:
succeeded in regaining the exalted position that the power of Gajapaties[sic.] of the
Ganga and Suryavamsha dynasties once had. Despite their relatively small hereditary
possessions, the Gajapatis of the 17th century assumed a position so similar to that
of the imperial Gajapatis.
In due course of time the Bhoi kings of Khurda became so powerful that the feudatories
of Khurda regarded Mukunda Deva (1657-1689) as follows:
As the leading Zamindar of the country whose orders are obeyed by the other
Zamindars, whom all the other Zamindars of this country worship like a God and
disobedience of whose order they regard as a great sin, wait on him with due
humility accompanied by other Zamindars and Khandaits of Central Orissa.
Ramachandra Deva seized power from the late Gajapati’s successor when the Mughals
were struggling hard with the Afghans to capture Orissa. Akbar deputed Mansingh to Orissa
to overcome the Afghan menace. In 1592, while Mansingh advanced towards Cuttack,
Ramachandra Deva extended his help to the Afghan General who took shelter in the court of
Khurda. Meanwhile Telinga Ramachandra Deva and Chakkadi Bhramarabar, the two sons of
the late Gajapati king, Mukunda Deva came forward to set forth their claim to the throne of
Orissa before Mansingh. |
