Port · The Kadambas of Goa · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Gopakapattana

The capital and best harbour of the Kadambas, on the south bank of the Zuari near its mouth.

The Wikipedia page for it names the horse trade as the great business: horses come from the Gulf to the quays and are walked up the ghats to the Deccan. The older inland capital is Chandrapura (Chandor). The Saptakoteshwara temple on Divar and the Brahmapuris of Salcete belong to the same state. The roadstead is shut by the south-west monsoon from June to September.

Who holds it

Name
Jayakeshi III
Title
King of the Kadambas of Goa
Since
1188
Born
not recorded
Family
see Jayakeshi III
Confidence
medium

Wikipedia (Kadambas of Goa, Gopakapattana)

Lord in 1200

Jayakeshi III, Kadamba king

What the town holds

Capital moved here from Chandrapura by Jayakeshi I (undated in the page read).

Allies and rivals

Hoysala and Yadava both need the horse road.

How things stand that morning

Open in January and rich: the shipping season is at its height.

Charter

none known (customs under the king)

Council

not known; merchant bodies attested in the Gulf trade

Communities

Arab and Persian merchants with mosques and a quarter (see Gulf horse merchants), Saraswat and Gaud Brahmins, Jain households

Militia

River craft and household troops; no numbers

Walls and castle

Port town on the river bank; no wall recorded; the creek forts upstream

Trade and crafts

Horse imports; export of areca, rice, salt, iron and ghat timber; shipyards; the mint (gold gadyana with a lion)

Places of note

  • Gopakapattana quays: the port on the Zuari

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Port, trade and capital are well attested; the city's officers are not named.

Primary sources for Kadambas of Goa

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
  • Inscriptions of the Silaharas, Various (Silahara chanceries), edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 9th to 13th centuries; edited 1977). Collects the records of the three Silahara houses: North Konkan (Thana), South Konkan, and Kolhapur.

Sources and studies

  1. Gopakapattana, Wikipedia (read for this sheet)
  2. Kadambas of Goa, Wikipedia (read for this sheet)
  3. History of Goa, Wikipedia (read for this sheet)
  4. OMNIA board notes for the place (a lead, checked against the other sources)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.