Nandapur

Nandapur lies in the highlands of southern Odisha, where it was the seat of the Silavamshi rulers and the early capital of the kingdom later known as Jeypore. Among its relics is the Batrisa Simhasana, a throne of thirty-two steps associated with the legendary king Vikramaditya. Temples and images at the old capital recall the religious traditions of the region.

The Silavamshi king Ganga Raja ruled from Nandapur in the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth century Vinayak Deo, who married a daughter of the ruling family, inherited the kingdom and founded the line of the later Jeypore rulers. His successors held a broad territory extending from the inland hills toward the coastal plains. In the sixteenth century Vishwanath Deo shifted the royal seat to Rayagada; by 1571 his successor had accepted the overlordship of Golconda and paid tribute to its sultans.