The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c18.122

v1.c18.122

Now, if we consider dispassionately the reign of Sri Ranga I, we cannot but say that it is one of the most fatal periods in the history of Vijayanagara. The Mussulmans were not checked at all in their conquests within the boundaries of the Empire; in their depredatory expeditions they thrice reached the walls of Penukonda, and on one of these occasions even Ranga himself fell a prisoner into their hands. The territory to the North of Penukonda was already in the possession of Bijapur, and the Sultan of Golkonda had likewise taken possession of the province of Udayagiri; the only territory that was recovered by Vijayanagara was the country round Ahobilam in the Karnul district. We do not deny Ranga’s good qualities and military prowess; we even admit that he perhaps deserved the appellation of ‘long-armed brave king’, found in a grant of Venkata III ³, and borne out by the very fact of his imprisonment. But ill-luck dogged his footsteps. In managing his home affairs he was, it seems, more fortunate; but even here the subjugation of the rebel chiefs was only apparent, as the desertions to the Muhammadans prove. Even some of the rebellions that broke out during the reign of Venkata II were nothing but later manifestations of the same antipathy towards the new dynasty which had been created by the bloody event that had opened to its members the door to the throne.