King Rajendra I Chola Charter
| King Rajendra I Chola Charter | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Donation charter issued by king Rājendra Chola I Or. 1687 | |
| Created | between 1012 and 1042 |
| Location | As of May 2026 to be sent to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), New Delhi. Formerly at Leiden University Library (Academisch Historisch Museum (nl)) |
| Commissioned by | King Rājendra I |
| Media type | 21 copper plates on a bronze ring, circa 54 x 38 cm |
| Subject | Genealogy of Chola dynasty, achievements of Rājendra I's father King Rājarāja I (reigned 985 - circa 1014) |
King Rajendra I Chola Charter (also known as Anaimangalam Chola plates and Leiden copper plates) refers to the donation charter issued by King Rajendra I of the Indian and Southeast Asian Chola Empire, consisting of twenty-one copper plates on a bronze ring with the royal seal, dating from between 1012 and 1042.
Object and history
The size of the object is circa 54 × 38 cm, with copper plates of circa 35 × 12 cm, and inscriptions in Sanskrit on 5 plates, and in Tamil on the remaining 16 plates. Florentius Camper, a Dutch minister in Batavia in 1703–1712, had obtained the plates which by inheritance and marriage came in the possession of Dutch orientalist professor Hendrik Arent Hamaker. His heirs donated the charter in 1862 to Leiden University Library. In 2024 the Indian government initiated diplomatic motions to return the charter from Leiden to India through the UNESCO committee. Subsequently, acting on the advice of the Dutch Colonial Collections Committee (Dutch: Commissie Koloniale Collecties), Leiden University decided in 2026 to return the Chola Plates to India. As of May 2026, this cultural heritage piece will be restituted to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in New Delhi, which will decide whether the plates will be exhibited to the public in India.
Content
.jpg)
The first five copper plates expound the genealogy of the Chola dynasty starting with a mythical solar ancestor Manu, the son of Ahimakara (the sun, Surya), after an invocation of the Hindu god Vishnu, all in Sanskrit in Grantha script. The other sixteen plates in Tamil relate the donation by Rajaraja I (reigned 985 - circa 1014), the father of Rajendra I, of the whole proceeds of paddy from the land assessment of a village to a Buddhist monastery (Vihāra) in Nagapattinam on the Coromandel Coast, founded by the Malay king Chulamanivarman (Cudamani Warmadewa) of Sriwijaya.
| Description | Start of the text | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | First copper plate, first side, with a Sanskrit inscription | Svasti Śrī உ Laksmī-pīna-payōdhara-dvaya-tatī-kāśmīra-paṁk-āṁkitā... | Hail! Prosperity! May the arms of Sarngin [Vishnu] of the harinila-blue body (increase greatly your prosperity)... |
.jpg) | Sixth copper plate, first side, the first with a Tamil inscription. | Svasti śri உ Konerinmaikoṇḍān Kahatriyaśikhāmaṇi-vaḷanāṭṭu pPaṭṭana-kkūrrrattu... | Hail! Prosperity! (This is the order of) Kōnērinmaikoṇḍān (issued) to the nāṭṭār (the members of the Divisional Assembly) of Paṭṭaṇa-kūrram... |
See also
References
- ↑ Rājendra Chola (1012–1042). "Charter issued by king Rājendra Chola I Or. 1687". hdl.handle.net. Leiden University Library. hdl:1887.1/item:2694123. Archived from the original on 2022-10-26. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
21 copper plates held together by a massive bronze ring bearing the seal of Rājendra Chola I. 5 plates contain text in Sanskrit in Grantha script, 16 plates contain text in Tamil. Provenance: Donated in 1862 by the successors to the estate of professor Hendrik Arent Hamaker (1789–1835). This charter and another one (Or. 1688) were brought from India by Mr Florentius Camper (1675–1748), minister of faith in Batavia in 1703–1712. By inheritance both charters (Or. 1687, Or. 1688) came into possession of his great-granddaughter Johanna Camper (1797–1835) who was married to H.A. Hamaker.
- 1 2 Jedamski, Doris (2017). "Large charter on copper plates with seal of King Rajendra Chola I". In Reeuwijk, Alexander (ed.). Voyage of discovery. Exploring the collections of the Asian library of Leiden University. Leiden: Leiden University Press. pp. 134–135. ISBN 9789087282745. OCLC 990548766.
- ↑ Subrahmanya Aiyer, K.V. (1933–1934). "The larger Leiden plates (of Rajaraja I)". Epigraphia Indica. XXII: 213–266.
The Leiden University Museum in Holland preserves two sets of copper-plate charters of the Cholas of which the larger contains 21 leaves or plates and the smaller 3 leaves. These are popularly known as the Large and Small Leiden Grants. They were edited nearly half a century ago, i.e., in 1886 by Pandit Natesa Sastri and Burgess in Volume IV of the Archeological Survey of Southern India.
- ↑ Majumdar, R.C. (1933). "No. 36. Notes on the Sailendra kings mentioned in the Leiden plates". Epigraphia Indica. XXII: 281–284.
The Larger Leiden Plates of Rajaraja I contain references to two Sailendra kings, viz., Chujamanivarman and his son Sri-Maravijayottungavarman. The Sailendra dynasty is known to have ruled over Malay Peninsula and Java towards the close of the eighth century A.D.
- ↑ Imranullah, S. Mohamed (November 30, 2024). "Steps afoot to bring back King Rajendra Chola's Charter from the Netherlands: Centre. Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat informs Rajya Sabha member N.R. Elango of having taken up the issue with a UNESCO committee too". thehindu.com. Chennai: The Hindu, THG Publishing PvtVT Ltd. Archived from the original on 2024-12-01. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ↑ Sivaraman, R. (October 19, 2020). "Efforts on to bring back Chola royal charter. Preserved in the Netherlands, it was a sasana to a Buddhist vihara". thehindu.com. Chennai: The Hindu, THG Publishing PvtVT Ltd. Archived from the original on 2024-11-30. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ↑ "Leiden University to return Chola Plates to India". universiteitleiden.nl. Leiden University. 16 May 2026. Archived from the original on 2026-05-16. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
- ↑ Subramanian, T.S. (May 19, 2026). "Return of Leiden copper plates should spark efforts for further repatriations, say Indian archaeologists. Efforts needed to bring back copper plates issued by an 8th-century Pandya ruler from the British Museum; inscriptions on Leiden copper plates record a Chola gift of land to build a Buddhist vihara". The Hindu. Chennai. Archived from the original on 2026-05-19. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
The return of the Chola-era Anaimangalam copper plates charter from the Netherlands this week marks a watershed event in the history of the repatriation of India's invaluable bronzes, stone sculptures, and carved temple pilasters, according to historians and archaeologists.
- ↑ Subrahmanya Aiyer, pages 238 (Sanskrit) and 254 (translation).
- ↑ Subrahmanya Aiyer, pages 243 (Tamil) and 258 (translation).
External links
- Markandeya, Aravind (December 5, 2024). "What's written in these 1,000-year-old Tamil copper plates?". projectshivoham.com. ProjectSHIVOHAM. Archived from the original on 2025-09-19. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
- "Information from the Anaimangalam Copper Plates that are now set to return to their homeland". telibrary.com. 17 May 2026. Archived from the original on 2026-05-28. Retrieved 2026-05-28.
- Netherlands Hands Back Ancient Chola Copper Plates to India | World DNA on YouTube. Video duration 1m 06 s. Uploaded by WION on May 27, 2026. Ceremonial transfer of the Chola plates to Indian prime minister Narenda Modi by his Dutch conterpart Rob Jetten on May 16, 2026, during Modi's visit to the Netherlands.
