Vira Pratapa Purushottama Deva (Odia: ବୀରପ୍ରତାପ ପୁରୁଷୋତ୍ତମ ଦେବ) was the second ruler from the Suryavamsa Gajapati dynasty. His father Gajapati Kapilendra Deva chose him as his heir to rule the Gajapati Kingdom at the banks of river Krishna where he died. This decision infuriated his elder brother Hamvira Deva who was a battle hardened and successful warrior fulfilling the task of conquering the southern territories and expeditions against the Vijayanagara Empire as wished by his father.

There is a legend that when, under divine guidance, Kapilendra Deva announced that he was naming Purushottama as heir apparent, the eighteen older sons in anger threw spears at Purushottama, all of which missed. Purushottama Deva is also the lead character of the legend of Kanchi Kaveri Upakhyana (poem) written by the poet Purushottama Dasa in sixteenth century and later adapted to Bengali by the Bengali poet Rangalal Bandyopadhyay. This legend is also popular among the Hindu devotees of the Jagannath worship tradition of Odisha.

Crown Prince Hamvira Deva, the eldest son of Emperor Kapilendra Deva revolted against Purushottama as the latter ascended the imperial throne. Purushottama had a militarily advantageous fortification in Cuttack's Barabati fort, which in turn was protected by a string of other extensive fortifications and camps of the Gajapati forces. To make matters worse, Saluva Narasimha of Vijayanagara had attacked and seized portions of the Gajapati Empire like Kondapalli and Rajamahendravaram amidst this internal conflict of the ruling family.

A disgruntled Hamvira solicited a treaty with the Turko-Persian Bahmani Sultan Muhammad Shah III. Willing to capture Rajamahendravaram and Kondapalli, Muhammad Shah III placed conditions on Hamvira to accept his suzerainty when he becomes the ruler of the Gajapati realm and cede the desired territories from his father's empire. This deal between Hamvira and Muhammad Shah III has been mentioned in the works of Ferishta and Sayid AliTaba Taba. The Bahmani Sultan sent his commander Hussain Bheiry with troops to support Hamvira in overthrowing Purushottama. Gaining the support of the Bahmani forces, Hamvira Deva declared himself Gajapati in the year 1472. Purushottama lost more than half of his father's empire in the initial years to Hamvira and the Bahmani forces. Hamvira became a doppleganger Gajapati in the southern portions of Odisha and tried to invade the Gajapati capital ruled by his younger brother but was defeated.

Hamvira had ceded Rajamahendravaram and Kondapalii to the Bahmani Sultanate for which commander Hussain Bheiry, was appointed as the governor and Hamvira ruled as a vassal king under them. In 1476, Bahmani sultanate weakened due to internal conflicts and a severe famine. Using this situation as a perfect opportunity, Purushottama Deva launched an offensive from the north and defeated his elder brother Hamvira, expelled the Bahmani garrisons and restored Rajamahendravaram and Kondapalli to his empire. Ferishta writes that due to the severe mismanagement amidst famine in the regions of Telangana until Rajamahendravaram by the Bahmanis, Saluva Narasimha of Vijayanagara had aided some internal rebellions. Sayid AliTaba Taba writes that when Purushottama's forces arrived in the region, the garrison at Kondavidu fort rebelled and killed their general before making Hamvira in charge. Hamvira not only surrendered to his brother but also resolved to help him in his further expeditions.

In 1477, Purushottama invaded Bahmani territories and occupied Rajamundry without much opposition. Thus, Sultan Muhammad III marched against Purushottama himself and defeated him. Purushottama surrendered and sued for peace. Sultan demanded 25 elephants and Purushottama had to agree to this condition.^{[better source needed]}

An inscription of Purushottama Deva dated to 1484 states that Azam Khan gifted the village of Mutukumalli located in the Vinukonda taluq of Guntur district to Purushottama on the occasion of a lunar eclipse. After dealing with the Bahamni forces and his rebellious elder brother, Purushottama turned his attention towards southern territories, which Saluva Narasimha of Vijayanagara Empire conquered amidst the internal conflict with his elder brother. He captured the Krishna-Godavari delta, parts of Telangana and expanded his march until Udayagiri fort where he imprisoned the Vijayanagara ruler.

While the civil war and conflict with the intervening Bahamanis were going on, the emperor of Vijayanagara, Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya, wanted to seize the opportunity for regaining the lost territories of the empire from the Gajapati. The Vijayanagar emperor declared war on the Gajapati in the year 1468 and attacked the southern fortified territories of Udayagiri and Chandragiri situated in and around today's Nellore district. In the initial attempt and as in corroboration with the legend of Kanchi-Kaveri expedition, the Gajapati forces lost their ground and were defeated while many of them losing their lives. Saluvabhuigayam, a Sanskrit literary work of the period records the exploits of emperor Saluva Narasimha against the Kalingas (Odisha Kingdom) while another reference is provided in the Varaha Purana that the General named Ishwara Nayaka captured the Udayagiri fort from the Gajapati forces stationed there on behalf of the Vijayanagara Emperor. The Turko-Persian Bahamanis had equally captured the southern parts of the Gajapati Empire named as Rajamahendravaram and Kondavidu during the ongoing Gajapati civil war. The Persian Muslim chronicle Burhan-i-Ma'sir states that the Narasimha Deva Raya advanced north with an army of 700,000 "cursed" infantry, 8,500 elephants like mountains of iron to capture Rajmahendry.