The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c13.67

v1.c13.67

It was formerly supposed that Vitthala was the son of the Regent Rama Raya himself²; but it has been proved that he was only his cousin³, and the son of Ramaraja Timmaya⁴. It seems that before his appointment in the South, he had held in Penukonda some kind of authority over that fort and city, in view of the fact that he remitted certain taxes there⁵. He was also, according to Mr. Rangacharya, the one who exempted the barbers from taxes in Namala Dinnah, Cuddapah⁶; but in the year 1543 he was appointed generalissimo of the army of Vijayanagara to conduct a great expedition to the South, having for its object a firm establishment of the authority of the Empire in its most distant corners ¹.