History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c29.23

v1.c29.23

The account of *Firishta* differs a good deal from that given in the *Burhān-i-Ma'āṣir*, the most important differences being the mention of a traitor named Bhīmarāja Oṛiyā and the substitution of Koṇḍapalle for Koṇḍavīḍu. The *Burhān-i-Ma'āṣir* is also silent about the capture of Katak, the capital of Purushottama by Muḥammad III. On the other hand, *Firishta* does not mention anything about the presence of Sāḷuva Narasiṃha in the neighbourhood of Rājamahendrī. The presence of the Sāḷuva chief on the bank of the river Godāvarī may be interpreted in different ways. In the first place, he may have allied himself with Purushottama against the common enemy of all Hindus, the Musalmans of the Deccan. In the second place, he may have made an independent attack on the then southern frontier of the empire of Orissa. The third interpretation is more probable. The Bahmanī Sulṭān and the Gajapati king of Orissa were both his enemies and Sāḷuva Narasiṃha, like a prudent general, was prepared on frontiers for an invasion from both of them. He was right, as immediately after the close of the campaign against Rājamahendrī Muḥammad III Bahmanī invaded the Vijayanagara empire. The people of Koṇḍavīḍu had broken out in open rebellion against the Musalmans in A. H. 885=1480 A. D., and thrown themselves on the protection of the Sāḷuva chief. So Muḥammad III was compelled to march against Koṇḍavīḍu in November of that year. Therefore, in 1480 Koṇḍavīḍu was included in the empire of Vijayanagara and the Bahmanī campaign of that year was in northern Telingana and not in the Tamil country. The war of 1474-77 was for the recovery of Musalman possessions in the delta of the Godāvarī and that of 1480 against the Vijayanagara empire in the delta of the Kṛṣṇā. For the time being, Purushottama had to give up all hopes of recovering the southern provinces of his father's empire. Sāḷuva Narasiṃha had become the *de facto* king of the Eastern Coast of the Bay of Bengal, though the emperor Virūpāksha II was still living and ruling in 1487.¹ But the north-eastern provinces of Vijayanagara empire had passed out of his control. It was mainly in his own interest that Sāḷuva Narasiṃha was present on the south bank of the Godāvarī in the war of 1474-77. This campaign ended in the total loss of the Godāvarī-Kṛṣṇā *doāb* to the empire of Orissa and that of 1480 drove Sāḷuva Narasiṃha to the south of the Kṛṣṇā.