Kapilendra Deva was the founder of the Suryavamsa Gajapati Empire that ruled parts of eastern and southern India with the present-day Odisha as the center of the empire. He ascended to the throne after staging a military coup against the preceding and the last ruler from the Eastern Ganga dynasty, Bhanu Deva IV. He is also referred to as Kapilendra Routray or Sri Sri Kapilendra Deva. Kapilendra claimed descent from the Surya Vamsha of the Mahābhārata and was conferred the regnal title Shri Shri ...(108 times) Gajapati Gaudeshwara NabaKoti Karnata Kalabargeswara i.e. the Lord of Bengal (Gauda), the lord of the Karnataka region or Vijayanagara, the Lord of Kalaburagi and of nine crore subjects.

The Gajapati Empire, was an empire established by the Suryavamsa dynasty or Routray dynasty, who were a medieval Hindu dynasty in the Indian subcontinent. It originated in the region of Trikalinga and reigned from 1434 to 1541 CE. It succeeded the reign of the Eastern Gangas. Under the Emperor Kapilendra Deva, the Gajapati empire stretched from lower Ganga in the north to Kaveri in the south.