The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c18.114

v1.c18.114

The public aspect of his life, as defender of the interests of the Empire, is not as bright as his private one. It is striking, indeed, to read in the Ramarajiyamu that Ranga "resuscitated the glory of the Karnata Empire which had waned"⁵. This poetical flattery is nothing but an echo of the laudatory expressions which we find applied to him in certain inscriptions. In one at Elvanasur he is called 'the conqueror of all countries'⁶; and in another at Tindivanam he is said to have 'received tribute from all countries and from Ilam (Ceylon)'⁷. In his own grants we also read some characteristically empty boasts, as the two following: in the Arivilimangalam plates he says that he has 'been praised by the kings of the Kamboja, Bhoja, Kalinga and Karahata countries'⁸; and in the Maredapalli grant he calls himself 'the suzerain of the Rattas and Magadhas'⁹. And even several years later the Kallakursi grant of Ranga III states that he was ‘honoured by the kings of the Bhojas and Magadhas’ ¹. More inexplicable still is an inscription of Kanchivaram, dated 1574, which gives him the titles of ‘establisher of the kingdom of the Mussulmans and destroyer of the Gajapatis’ ². We cannot fathom the real meaning of this most original piece of flattery.