The unique collection of Chola copper plates from 11th-century has been officially handed back to India from the Netherlands. This has taken place in a formal event that was organized at Leiden University in the presence of Indian PM Narendra Modi and Dutch PM Rob Jetten. It is an end to the centuries-old presence in Europe of one of the greatest historical documents that have emerged from South India. It is estimated that the document was removed from India about 300 years ago and it has been preserved in Leiden University's collection of Asia.
The Chola copper plates were made up of 21 copper plates which were inscribed in the period of the Chola dynasty in the 11th century. These are from the periods of King Rajaraja Chola I and his successor King Rajendra Chola I. The weight of these plates is approximately 30 kilograms and they are tied together using a bronze ring, which carries the royal seal of King Rajendra Chola I.
The Sanskrit inscription is about the ancestry of the Chola kings, which includes invocations to Lord Vishnu. The purpose of these invocations was to prove the divine connection of the Cholas. The Tamil inscription deals with the gift made by King Rajaraja Chola. This inscription talks about the villages close to Anaimangalam being assigned for generating revenue for the Buddhist vihara located at Nagapattinam, constructed by the king of Sri Vijaya.
The Chola copper plates arrived in Europe around the year 1700 CE. One theory has it that the plates were collected by a Christian missionary known as Florentius Camper when he was in India at a time when the Netherlands had established colonial rule in Nagapattinam. Nonetheless, it seems that there is no historical account that tells us how the plates were initially removed from India.
The plates illustrate that the Cholas governed an extensive area spanning all of South India and Sri Lanka and had control over the maritime areas of Southeast Asia as well. Another fact that is brought into focus by the inscriptions is the support that they gave to institutions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The plates have also been referred to in connection with Tamil folklore; they are part of the novel Ponniyan Selvan by Kalki Krishnamurthy.
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