Netherlands to return 11th-century Chola copper plates to India during PM Modi’s visit

In a significant victory for India’s cultural heritage efforts, the Netherlands is set to return the renowned Anaimangalam Copper Plates, also known as the Leiden Plates, to India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. The 11th-century Chola dynasty artefacts, at Leiden University for over three centuries, embody the grandeur of Tamil history and the cosmopolitan ethos of one of South India’s most powerful empires.

Weighing around 30 kg and comprising 21 plates bound by a bronze ring with Rajendra Chola I’s royal seal, the inscriptions date to the reign of Emperor Rajaraja Chola I (985–1014 CE) and his son Rajendra. The Sanskrit portion traces the Chola genealogy, invoking divine legitimacy from Vishnu through a line of ancestors.

The Tamil section, however, forms the heart of this Tamil treasure: it records Rajaraja’s grant of revenue from villages near Anaimangalam to support a Buddhist vihara (monastery) in the bustling port of Nagapattinam, built by the Malay king of Srivijaya.

At its zenith, the Cholas, quintessential Tamil dynasts, controlled much of South India, Sri Lanka, and launched audacious naval expeditions across Southeast Asia. Their legacy of grand temple architecture, like the Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur, administrative innovation, and patronage of Tamil literature and arts remains central to Tamil identity. The plates, etched on durable copper at Rajendra’s initiative to immortalise his father’s verbal order, offer rare primary evidence of this golden age of Chola civilisation.

The plates’ journey abroad began around 1700 when Dutch missionary Florentius Camper acquired them during the Dutch East India Company’s control of Nagapattinam. They eventually found their way to Leiden University Library, where they have been studied by scholars but largely inaccessible to the public.

India’s repatriation campaign, intensified since 2012, received a boost through UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee in 2023, which validated India’s claim as the country of origin and urged bilateral talks.

The return symbolises not just the recovery of artefacts but a reconnection with Tamil Nadu’s Chola heritage, a civilisation that fused devotion, trade, and cultural exchange across the Indian Ocean. Their homecoming is expected to fuel renewed interest in Chola studies.