Muskan Shafi Malik
muskanshafimalik@gmail.com
Under the auspices of UNESCO, a committee of experts met at Venice in 1976. The matter was about creating an international body to study the return of cultural property taken from any country either by colonialism or illicit traffic.Thus UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP) was established.
India began to make a return in 2012.
Since then 1400 antiquities have been returned that were taken away illegally
The main agenda pointed out in the 24th session of ICPRCP, bringing back to the 21 artifacts of Chola empires Raja Raja chola.
The recent visit of PM India to ,Netherlands, Narender Modi in a ceremony witnessed a landmark remuneration of 11th-century Anaimangalam Chola copper plates to India, bringing to an end a 14-year-long diplomatic campaign for the return of the historic Tamil artefacts.
It marks more than a diplomatic gesture, where fragments of India’s historic civilisation’s recovery .
Who were cholas?
One of the most powerful and influential dynasties in Indian history, ruling large parts of South India between the 9th and 13th centuries from the fertile Kaveri delta in present-day Tamil Nadu.
The great rulers include RajaRaja I and Rajendra Chola I who took the kingdom to zenith through maritime trade and naval expeditions.
Historian Burton Stein observed that the Chola state represented “one of the most durable and expansive political systems of premodern South Asia”
So what are the Anaimangalam Plates? That PM Modi brought back to India and who did they reach to the Netherlands?
Historical investigations suggest that these plates were taken over by Dutch East India company during the 17th century when the Indian subcontinent was under the claw of colonialism.
Provenance investigations conducted by Leiden University and the Dutch Colonial Collections Committee indicate that the plates were probably removed from Nagapattinam between 1687 and 1700. So they classified the case as an “involuntary loss of possession,” leading to their return to India in 2026.
Under the administration of Rajendra chola and Rajaraja chola Anaimangalam Plates were a set of 21 inscribed copper plates issued during the early 11th century. These are bound together by rings of copper where the dynastic seal tiger is engraved whereas characters are engraved in both sanskrit and tamil suggesting the cultural amalgamation of that period.
The Tamil section records the administrative specifics of a land endowment involving 26 villages around Anaimangalam in present-day Tamil Nadu,while the Sanskrit portion is written in Grantha script which establishes royal genealogy and imperial legitimacy.
These plates are most worthy historiographically because they document the intersection of Chola imperial governance, transoceanic diplomacy, Buddhist-Saivite coexistence, and Indian Ocean commercial networks. Furthermore they provide us insight about local administration,agriculture,taxation and so on.
Historian Romila Thapar argues that inscriptions are not merely political records but “windows into the social and economic life of their times.” The Anaimangalam Plates exemplify this perfectly
Do the bringing back of artefacts serve as a strong reminder to the citizens of India?
Historian William Dalrymple has repeatedly argued that the return of displaced artefacts is essential because “objects carry memory, identity, and historical continuity.”
Yes ,it does. If they did not have stealed it illegally, how would cholas bloom again in the memories of the whole world?
Chola ships travelled across the Bay of Bengal to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, building commercial and political ties with kingdoms such as Srivijaya,from the native port of Nagapattinam. These plates themselves document a remarkable act of international cooperation.
The Cholas understood that maritime power was not limited to warfare; it involved commerce, knowledge, navigation, and diplomacy. So for contemporary India, particularly its youth, the Chola experience offers important lessons.
Historian K. A. Nilakanta Sastri wrote that “the sea was the Cholas’ highway to influence,” highlighting how naval strength was inseparable from commerce and diplomacy
The significance of the Anaimangalam Plates therefore lies beyond archaeology. They remind modern Indians that the subcontinent once stood at the centre of a vibrant oceanic network linking cultures and economies across Asia. Their return after centuries abroad symbolises not only the recovery of heritage, but also the rediscovery of India’s long maritime imagination.
BIO: The author has pursued MA history from Aligarh Muslim University. Her research interests focus on ancient Indian history, maritime civilizations, cultural heritage, and their connections with contemporary India. She writes on themes exploring how historical legacies continue to shape modern society, identity, and global relations.
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