The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.185

v3.c29.185

Krishna ascended the throne at a critical moment in the history of South India. The Portuguese had landed in India eleven years before, and, just as he was settling himself on the throne at Vijayanagar, had taken possession of Goa, which has remained in their possession since. The entry of this European nautical power created an unsettling factor in the commercial relations of the kingdom with the outer world. The kingdom itself was disturbed, and the very heart of it was in the hands of a rebellious vassal. Although the Bahmanī kingdom had broken up into five separate states there was considerable activity on that frontier, chiefly from the direction of Bījāpur. The rajas of Orissa still held the east coast as far as Nellore, and were in possession of the most important fortresses in the Telugu country, extending north-westward from Udayagiri in the Nellore District. Krishna came to the throne between May and November of the year 1509, and his coronation did not take place until the following January. The delay seems to have been due to a circumstance recorded by Nuniz. The young king's elder brother ordered the Brāhman minister, Sāluva Timma, to blind him, and the minister was inclined to obey the order until his pity was moved by his master's entreaties. Sāluva Timma remained in power, treated almost with deference by Krishnadevarāya, who used to style him Āppāji ('reverend father'), and the relations between the two gave rise to the stories of Rāyar and Āppāji which are current in Southern India and resemble those related of Hārūn-ur-Rashīd and Ghafūr, and of Vikramāditya and Bhattī.