Prataprudra Deva

Prataparudra Deva was the third Gajapati emperor of Odisha from the Suryavamsa Gajapati Empire founded by his grandfather Kapilendra Deva. He reigned from 1497 to 1540 CE. Besides being a monarch, he was a devout Vaishnava and adherent of the famous saint, Sri Chaitanya who arrived in Odisha during his reign. His life was extremely occupied with overwhelming military campaigns in defense of his inherited territory from three frontal invasions by the enemy states Vijayanagar, Hussain Shahi dynasty of Bengal and Turko-Persian Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. He lost large portions of his territory to the neighboring enemy states initiating the dissolution of Odisha's military hegemony and imperial status that continued for nearly a period of 600 years before him.