Mathews, commanding the Northern Circars, accompanied by some of the sibbandis of the Vizianagram Rája, marched to Jeypore. His report states that Vikrama Deo ' came and agreed to surrender the Fort and quit all pretensions to the several passes leading into the Circar, requesting that he might be suffered to keep the Country to the Westward of them; I took possession of the Fort on the 11th March. It is a square of about one Thousand yards built of Mud. The wall 20 feet high, the Bastions very good, the Rampart tolerable, and a ditch 20 feet wide and as many deep; I have ordered it to be destroyed.' The ruins of it may still be seen to the east of Jeypore village in what is known as 'old Jeypore.' The demolition was carried out by the sibbandis from Vizianagram, who were afterwards put in charge of all the passes.
Mr. Oram's report of 1784 and the report of the same year of the Committee of Circuit, of which he was one of the members, state that the frequent revolts and disturbances of the Jeyporeans soon afterwards decided the Vizianagram Rája to hand back the whole country to Vikrama Deo for an annual sum of Rs. 40,000, of which no more than three-fourths was ever paid. This restoration was apparently effected before 1777, as in that year (see p. 274) we find the Jeypore Rája assisting the Bastar chief to regain his throne.
The Committee said that the Rája of Vizianagram none the less claimed before them that the Jeypore country was his jaghir, producing as evidence of his assertion the cowle of 1769 above mentioned. 'After an attentive perusal and investigation of his pretensions,' they wrote, 'we observe that the cowle, which is to be regarded as the only substantial authority, does not assign to him the whole District in possession, but only admits the payment of Rs. 24,000 therefrom, as an inheritance during the Zamindar's. good conduct and obedience to the Company.' The Committee accordingly proposed to constitute Jeypore into a separate zamindari with a peshkash of Rs. 35,000, arguing 'that these lands being so entirely dependent on Vizianagram is not only in appearance derogatory and detrimental to the Company's interest and authority, but actually dangerous from the retreat it affords the guilty in cases of insurrection, from the command of troops and the only accessible passes that it leaves in the hands of that Zamindar.'
The suggestion was not adopted, and the position remained unchanged until Viziaráma Rázu was killed by the Company's troops at Padmanábham (see p. 53) in 1794. To reward the Jeypore family for holding aloof from the Vizianagram party in the
