The Leiden copper plates, recently returned to India, are an important record of Chola history

When priceless Chola bronzes from Shivapuram and Pathur villages in Tamil Nadu were returned to India in 1986 and 1991 after protracted legal battles in the US and Britain, it created a sensation. A strong team of experts from various fields helped bring back the bronze after it was smuggled abroad. On February 17, 1988, Judge Ian Kennedy of a London court awarded the statue to Tamil Nadu in honor of R. praised Nagaswami, who testified in the case, as “an acknowledged expert in the field of Chola bronzes.” The then Director of the Tamil Nadu State Archeology Department, Nagaswamy was an epigraphist, sculptor, archaeologist and scholar of Tamil and Sanskrit.

It was once again a time of celebration for epigraphists and scholars of Chola history when Leiden University in the Netherlands handed over the Anaimangalam copper-plate charter, known as the Leiden Plates, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in The Hague on May 16, 2026.

Repatriating smuggled artifacts to their countries of origin is a difficult process. It involves a lengthy court battle and testimony from scholars, sculptors, archivists, forensic experts and police officers. More importantly, the country where the artefacts are discovered should be ready to return them, said K, Director of Archives, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Mysuru. Muniratham said.

ASI Director General YS Rawat, epigraphist S. Swaminathan and Chola history scholar Professor Y. The roles played by Subbarayalu were important in convincing the Netherlands to return the plates to India. Muniratnam said, “We have been trying for the last 14 years. The real process started in 2024, when UNESCO asked me to prepare a dossier on the Leiden plates. I did this with the help of epigraphist Swaminathan. We worked closely with UNESCO.” The ASI also prepared a video presentation and successfully established the origin of the plates, proving that they belonged to Tamil Nadu but were taken to Holland. “We have brought back 155 artefacts in the last 13 years,” he said.

Lennart Bess, assistant professor of Indian and Asian history at the Institute for History (Colonial and Global History), Leiden University, wrote to Subbarayalu seeking clarification.

According to Subbarayalu, “South Indian historians consider the two sets of Leyden copper plates, which weigh about 30 kg and which have been in the possession of the university since 1862, to be important sources for 11th-century history. While thousands of stone inscriptions document Chola history, copper plate grants are comparatively rare. Therefore, these plates are invaluable records.”

A statement from Leiden University’s Colonial Collections Committee (CCC), which conducted an independent provenance investigation before deciding to return the plates, said the artefacts were excavated “during the construction of Fort Wijff Sinnen and the redevelopment of the site into a Chinese pagoda at Nagapattinam by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) between 1687 and 1700. At the time, the VOC occupied Nagapattinam. “Was carefully buried in the ground, most likely to protect them during a period of upheaval.” Florentius Camper “brought” the plates to the Netherlands in 1712, and they were later donated to Leiden University in 1862.

Subbarayalu said, “The Leiden copper plates belong to the Chulamani Viharaya, a Buddhist establishment in Nagapattinam, an important port city of the Chola Empire. The institution and the grants made to it by the Chola kings, testify to the strong international relations between South India and Southeast Asia.”

There are two sets of copper plates. The larger set consists of 16 Tamil plates and five texts inscribed in Sanskrit in the Grantha script. Inscriptions on large plates reveal that the Sailendra king of Srivijaya (Java), Sri Mara Vijayotunga Varman, approached Rajaraja Chola I (r. 985–1014 CE) for permission to build a Buddhist vihara at Nagapattinam in memory of his father Sri Chulamani Varman. Rajaraja granted permission in 1006 AD and provided the vihara with revenue from land in Anaimangalam village, which included 8,943 kalams (a unit of measurement) of paddy and other materials for its maintenance.

Chulamani Viharaya was also called Raja Raja Perum Palli (a big viharaya). Another vihara built in Nagapattinam was named Rajendra Chola Perum Palli. So there were two Buddha Viharas in Nagapattinam.

There is an interesting story about the golden Buddha statue installed in Chulamani Vihar. In his Substack article dated November 15, 2025, TS Krishnan, an expert on the Chola, Pandya, Chera and Nayak dynasties and author of several books, wrote: “…It is important to address the oft-repeated misinformation – that Tirumangai Azhwar, one of the Vaishnava saints, looted a golden Buddha statue from the vihara and used it to build the wall of the Srirangam temple. There is no historical evidence for this claim. The inscriptions mention the monastery as ‘Chudamani Viharaya’, which was constructed centuries after the time of Tirumangai Azhwar.”

Referring to the plates, Krishnan said, “They are not mere inscriptions. They are living evidence of Chola administration, land grants, maritime connections, Tamil-Southeast Asian relations and the civilizational confidence of the Chola era.”

Nagaswamy felt that people wrote on metal for two reasons. One belief was that carving mysterious images (yantras) on metal would provide spiritual powers; The second was to create a durable document.

All the major dynasties of the Tamil region and the Vijayanagara dynasty issued these copper plate inscriptions, which were discovered at various places and times. Some were dug by farmers while plowing the fields; Others were found in closed rooms or religious monasteries. “They are full of historical facts and together with the stone inscriptions have benefited historians and archaeologists. Fascinating as it may seem, these copper plate inscriptions are wide sheets of copper, held together by a thick ring passing through holes in the plates, and crowned by the seal of the dynasty that issued them,” said R Balasubramaniam, former curator, Government Museum, Chennai.

Somehow, Rajaraja’s order was not engraved on copper plates as was the custom. after receiving it Deiva Thanmai (His demise) As mentioned in the inscription, his son ‘Madurantaka’ Rajendra Chola I got his father’s order engraved on copper plates. “It is mentioned in the Sanskrit part,” shared veteran epigraphist V. Vedachalam.

“Significantly, the word ‘Anaimangalam’ in Tamil is engraved on the ring connecting the large plates, he said.

The seals on the larger plates feature a tiger, the royal emblem of the Cholas, the twin fish of the Pandyas and the bow of the Cheras, with two fly-whisks and two lamps on either side – symbols of royal authority. A Sanskrit verse in praise of Rajendra runs around them.

Smaller plates were issued by Kulottunga Chola I (r. 1070–1120 CE) in 1090 CE, when two envoys of a Javanese ruler – Raja Vidyadhara Sri Samanthan and Abhimanothunga Sri Samanthan – visited him to reaffirm Rajaraja’s earlier grant, as the rulers had changed since then. Kulottunga not only confirmed the grant but also enlarged it, granting additional land and 4,400 kalams of paddy to Chulamani Viharaya. The seal on these plates bears a brief Sanskrit verse in praise of Kulottunga I, underscoring both royal patronage and ongoing relations across the ocean.

Subbarayalu said that he once visited the Leiden University Library and saw the care taken by its officials to preserve the plates for so long. He requested the ASI officials to take good care of the plates and provide access to scholars to study them.