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English: Jeypore is the most important place in the history of Dandakaranya and the undivided Koraput district which was the second largest district in India till its division. The history of Jeypore is inextricably linked with that of the ruling Deo or Dev dynasty.

Jeypore was, for very large period of time, the capital of the kingdom at Koraput which belonged to the Atavikas, a feudatory of the powerful Kalinga Empire (Ancient Orissa) who are known for having valiantly fought the Kalinga War in the 3rd century BCE. Kalinga regained its former glory during the Mahameghabahan Dynasty in the first century BC. The third king of this dynasty Kharavela made the Kalinga empire and the Atavika land was very strong under his rule. The successive dynasties – the Satavahanas (2nd century CE), Ikshvakus (3rd century CE) had headquarters at Pushkari, near the modern town of Umerkote. The Kesaribeda excavations bear testimony to the rule of King Bhabadatta Varma and King Arathapati. The inscriptions of Podagarh refer to King Skanda Varma. The overlord Nala kings are traced to the kings who ruled from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. Their rapid growth landed them in the Oriya regions of Bastar and Koraput. Around the 10th century CE a Nala king Bhimesen was ruling over a region now located in Koraput and Ganjam District.

The Koraput area was a small principality of Tri Kalinga under the Ganga era of the 5th century CE. The patches of Utkala, Kalinga and Kosala were brought under the control of the Ganga kings of Orissa. This dynasty became prominent during the 11th century CE with the rise of Somanakshi. Their suzerainty extended from the modern Sambalpur, Sonepur to the Bastar and Koraput regions and they enjoyed control until the beginning of the 14th century CE.

The Matsya family ruling over the Oddadi region of modern Jeypore dominated the next generation. The best known kings included Bhanudeva and Narasingha Dev, as is known from the Oriya inscription of Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.