The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c16.185

v1.c16.185

From these two extracts it seems quite evident that the one who committed that murder was not Tirumala, but one of his sons; there is no contemporary authority that attributes such a crime to Tirumala. Nevertheless, the common juridical test 'cui bono' points to him at least an accomplice and abettor. Whether the murdered man was the king himself or his son is not so evident. As a matter of fact it seems that Sadasiva had a son named Vitthala Raya, who made a grant to a temple as recorded in a copperplate of Tirukarangudi, Tinnevelly ⁶. The fact is that the two above-mentioned authorities have not the same value: Frederick was probably still in India, when this abominable crime was perpetrated; while Anquetil du Perron travelled through the country one century later. Frederick's authority seems therefore more reliable. Hence we may venture on the assertion that Sadasiva Raya was murdered by one of the sons of Tirumala ¹.