Prataparudra Deva (Odia: ଗଜପତି ପ୍ରତାପରୁଦ୍ର ଦେବ) was the third Gajapati emperor of Odisha from the Suryavamsa Gajapati Empire started by his grandfather Kapilendra Deva Routaraya. He ruled from the year 1497 to 1540 A.D. Besides being a ruler, he was a devout Vaishnava and adherent of the famous saint, Sri Chaitanaya who arrived in Odisha during his rule. His life was extremely occupied with overwhelming military campaigns in defense of his inherited territory from three frontal invasions by the enemy states Vijayanagar, Hussain Shahi dynasty of Bengal and Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. He lost large portions of his territory to the neighboring enemy states initiating the dissolution of Odisha's military hegemony and imperial status that continued for nearly a period of 600 years before him. Military Conflicts on All Fronts and Decline of Imperial Odisha Prataparudra Deva's life was heavily occupied in dealing with continuous military threats by his neighboring rulers on multiple fronts. First War with Hussain Shahi Dynasty of Bengal (1497-1500 A.D) On the death of Purushottam Deva, Prataparudra Deva was immediately engulfed with the defensive measures for his empire from the consistently invading parties of Gauda or Bengal sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah. The Bhakti Bhagavata Maha Kavyam states that he was only 17 years old when he faced this challenge and finally drove the invaders out of his northern borders. He reinforced the northern frontiers with more military deployment though minor skirmishes continued. Southern Expedition and brief occupation of Vijayanagar (1500-1508 A.D) After being able to halt the invasions from Bengal, Prataparudra Deva marches south to recover and capture territories from Vijayanagar Kingdom. For a brief time he was able to capture Vijayanagara or Vidyanagar fort. Anantavarman copper plates of Prataparudra Deva states that he reached the banks of river Krishna on 4 November 1500 AD. First conflict with Vijayanagar The Saluva dynasty ruler Immadi Narasimha Raya was ruling Vijayanagar when Prataparudra Deva sets out for his southern expedition. His influential commander Tuluva Narasa Nayaka tried to recover Kondavidu and Udayagiri forts from the Prataparudra Deva in a military contest with the Gajapati. Prataparudra Deva's Anantakarma grant declares that he was able to capture the Krishna river basin with the use of force. The Odia army was unable to make any advance into Vijayanagara territory beyond their stronghold of Udayagiri region. The Odia army though managed to march to the tip of the Sethu Bandha or