Information:
Dynasty - Suryavanshi
Agency - Madras Presidency
Accession - 17th July 1951
Revenue - INR .1,300,000 (1928)
Area - 38,849 Square Kilometerskm²
Population - 443,000 (1928)
Hindi Name - जयपुर
Also known as - Kalinga
Present Head/Ruler
His Highness Maharajadhiraj Maharaja Sri Vishweshvar Chandrachud DevBahadur, 20th Maharajah of Jeypore since 2013, 27th Head of the Shankar dynasty formed by the Suryavanshi Raja Vinayak Dev in 1443; born 25th December 1994
History
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.
Rulers
1443–1675 (from Nandapur and Rayagada)
Vinayak Dev 1443 -1476
Vijaychandraksha Dev1476 -1510
Bhairav Dev 1510 -1527
Vishwanath Dev Gajapati 1527 -1571
Balaram Dev I 1571 -1597
Yashasvan Dev 1597 -1637
Krishna Raj Dev 1637 -1637
1675–1947 (from Jeypore)
Rulers 1675–1947
Veer Vikram Dev 1637- 1669
Krishna Dev 1669 -1672
Vishwambhar Dev 1672 -1676
Malakimardhan Krishna Dev 1676 - 1681
Hari Dev 1681 -1684
Balram Dev II 1684 -1686
Raghunath Krishna Dev 1686 -1708
Balaram Dev III 17111713- 1711
Vishwambhar Dev II 1713 -1752
Lal Krishna Dev 1752 - 1758
Maharajah Vikram Dev I 1758 -1781
Ram Chandra Dev II 1781 - 1881
Maharajah Vikram Dev II 1825 -1860
Ram Chandra Dev III 1860 -1889
Vikram Dev III 1889 -1920
Ram Chandra Dev IV 1920 -1931
Vikram Dev IV1931 -1951
Ram Krishna Dev (titular) (pretender)1951 -2006
Vishweshvar Dev (pretender) 2013
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