The Gajapati Empire was a medieval Hindu monarchy that arose in the region of Odisha in eastern India after the collapse of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, founded by Kapilendra Deva of the Suryavamsa lineage in 1434 and ruled from its capital at Kataka, modern Cuttack, until 1541. Its rulers took the title Gajapati, meaning master of elephants in Odia, reflecting their large elephant forces, and at its height under Kapilendra Deva in 1464 the empire stretched from West Bengal to Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, making it one of the most powerful states in medieval India; Odia served as its court language alongside Sanskrit for religious purposes. The Gajapati rulers were major patrons of Vaishnavite Hindu art, architecture, literature and temple construction, particularly the Jagannath temple at Puri, but the empire's territory contracted through the early sixteenth century under pressure from the Vijayanagara Empire and the Golconda Sultanate.
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