India gets back 11th-century Chola copper plates from Netherlands
The Netherlands has returned a set of 11th-century Chola copper plates to India, more than 300 years after the artefacts were taken to Europe during the colonial era.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the restitution ceremony on Saturday during a visit to the Netherlands, describing the return as “a joyous moment for every Indian”.
The artefacts, known as the Anaimangalam Copper Plates or Leiden Plates, are considered among the most significant surviving records of the Chola dynasty, one of South India’s most powerful empires.
The plates consist of 21 large copper sheets and three smaller ones weighing around 30 kilograms in total. They are bound together by a bronze ring bearing the royal seal of Rajendra Chola I.
Written in both Tamil and Sanskrit, the inscriptions document royal grants made by Rajaraja Chola I and later formalised by his son, Rajendra Chola I, in the 11th century.
The records detail the gifting of the village of Anaimangalam in present-day Tamil Nadu to support a Buddhist monastery in Nagapattinam, then a major trading port with links across Southeast Asia.
Historians regard the plates as rare primary evidence of the Chola Empire’s administrative sophistication, maritime influence and religious pluralism during its peak.
The artefacts were brought to the Netherlands in the 1700s by Florentius Camper, a Christian missionary who was in India when Nagapattinam was under Dutch control. The legality of how the plates were obtained remains unclear.
The copper plates were later housed at Leiden University, where they remained for centuries.
India had sought their return since 2012. The restitution gained momentum after a UNESCO committee recognised India’s claim as the country of origin and encouraged bilateral discussions with the Netherlands.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
