Netherlands to return Chola-era copper plates to India during PM Modi’s visit

The Netherlands will formally return the 11th-century Anaimangalam Copper Plates, among the most significant surviving records of the Chola dynasty, to India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country, marking a major act of cultural restitution linked to artefacts taken abroad during the colonial era, as per reports.

The copper inscriptions, widely known as the Leiden Plates in the Netherlands, date back to the reign of Rajaraja Chola I between 985 and 1014 CE and are regarded as one of the most important pieces of Tamil heritage preserved outside India. Their repatriation follows years of diplomatic engagement between India, the Dutch government and Leiden University, where the artefacts had remained for over a century.

The inscriptions reportedly document grants of land revenues and taxes to the Chudamani Vihara, a Buddhist monastery in Nagapattinam established by Sri Mara Vijayotunga Varman of the Srivijaya kingdom in present-day Indonesia.

As per reports, the historians say the records provide rare insight into the maritime trade networks, cultural exchanges and religious pluralism that linked South India with Southeast Asia during the height of Chola influence. The inscriptions are also seen as evidence of the patronage extended by Hindu rulers to Buddhist institutions during the period.

The Anaimangalam plates consist of 21 large and three smaller copper sheets weighing nearly 30 kilograms and bound together by a circular copper ring carrying the royal Chola seal. While the original grant was issued during the reign of Rajaraja Chola I, historians believe his son, Emperor Rajendra Chola I, later ordered the inscriptions to be engraved on copper plates for permanent preservation, as per reports.

The Cholas, who rose to prominence after ruler Vijayalaya captured Thanjavur around 850 CE, oversaw one of the most prosperous eras in Tamil history. Their rule witnessed the construction of monumental temples, including the Brihadisvara Temple, now recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as the flourishing of the renowned Chola bronze tradition.

According to historians, the copper plates were reportedly taken to the Netherlands during Dutch colonial rule on the Coromandel Coast in the 18th century. They are believed to have been acquired by Dutch official Florentius Camper through a Christian missionary when Nagapattinam was under the control of the Dutch East India Company.

The artefacts later entered the collection of Leiden University in 1862 through the estate of Prof Hendrik Arent Hamaker and remained part of the university library’s Asian collections. Over the decades, the plates were extensively studied by historians and Tamil epigraphists and also gained wider recognition through Ponniyin Selvan, the celebrated Tamil historical novel set during the Chola period.

India had long pursued the return of the artefacts through diplomatic channels. The breakthrough came after the Netherlands adopted a restitution policy for colonial-era artefacts in 2022. Subsequent provenance research by the Independent Colonial Collections Committee and Leiden University Libraries concluded that the inscriptions should be repatriated to India.