The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c16.5

v1.c16.5

2. The death of Rama Raya, as it had been welcomed with great joy and exultation by the allied Sultans, so was, no doubt, a great and irremediable loss to the Hindu Empire. The chief of the Aravidu family had saved the Empire from the chaos created by Salakam Timma Raju and maintained the lustre which had belonged to it during the time of Krishna Deva Raya and Achyuta Raya. That chief's indisputable qualities as a statesman, combined with his victorious campaigns as a warrior, place him among the great Hindu rulers of India. His reputation is indeed clouded by his usurpation of the throne and by the imprisonment of Sadasiva. But perhaps even this fact was due more to the incapability of the young puppet sovereign than to his own ambition. From this point of view, his usurpation provides a special sidelight of self-sacrifice for the welfare of the country and the salvation of the Empire.