Daspalla Copper-Plate Agreement
By Binayak Misra
Summary
This article examines a copper-plate inscription from Daspalla (in present-day Odisha) that records an agreement between a king and his subordinate chiefs. The inscription is transcribed and translated, revealing that the king granted land or privileges to certain families in exchange for loyalty and service. The document specifies the boundaries of the granted lands, the rights and obligations of the grantees and the penalties for disloyalty. It provides insights into the administrative practices, land tenure systems and political relationships in medieval Odisha. The article situates the inscription within the broader corpus of copper-plate charters and discusses its paleography and dating. It argues that the document illustrates how rulers consolidated power by negotiating with local elites and highlights the legal language used to formalise such agreements.
Conclusion
The Daspalla copper-plate agreement sheds light on regional governance in medieval Odisha, demonstrating that kings codified land grants and alliances through detailed legal documents. Such charters reveal the reciprocal nature of feudal relationships and contribute to our understanding of state formation in eastern India.