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News: In the presence of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rob Jetten, the Leiden University Library restituted Chola-era Anaimangalam Copper Plates to the Government of India.
About Chola-era Anaimangalam Copper Plates
- It is a set of 21 large plates and 3 small plates with a combined weight of nearly 30 kg.
- It is bound together by a bronze ring bearing the seal of King Rajaraja Chola I (985–1014 CE).
- Belongs to: They are royal charters issued by Chola Kings during the 11th century CE.
- They are also known as the Leiden Plates across Europe.
- Language used: Five plates bear inscriptions in Sanskrit, whereas sixteen are engraved in Tamil.
- Another group of plates, featuring the seal of Kulottunga Chola I, also includes inscriptions in Tamil.
- Significance:
- The copper plates are regarded as one of the most valuable records of the Chola Empire, detailing its administration, taxation, land reforms, irrigation systems, and trade practices.
- The inscriptions also highlight the dynasty’s religious harmony, recording the grant of Anaimangalam village for a Buddhist vihara established by the Srivijaya rulers of Southeast Asia.
- Historians believe the plates provide rare evidence of strong maritime, diplomatic, and cultural links between South and Southeast Asia nearly a thousand years ago.
- According to Historians, the inscriptions were transported to the Netherlands during Dutch colonial control over the Coromandel Coast in the 18th century.
- The plates later reached the collections of Leiden University in 1862 and were subsequently preserved in the university library’s Asian collections.
