The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c2: Preface
The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c2
- Language
- English
Preface
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Father H. Heras, S. J., Professor of Indian History, St. Xavier's College, Bombay, has already distinguished himself in promoting knowledge of the history of Central and South India by two original papers in the *Indian Antiquary* on "The Conquest of the Fort of Asirgarh" and on the "City of Jinji." He has now set himself to elucidate the history of Vijayanagara in the time of its fourth and last dynasty, that is, during the period 1542-1770 of the Christian era—a period but lightly touched on in Mr. Sewell's well-known history of Vijayanagara—*A Forgotten Empire*.
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The period is, however, a very important one in the story of Hinduism, and it covers also that of the rise of European power in India—Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, French and English—and of the struggles of the various European nations for supremacy, ending in the final victory of the English over all others. It was further a period of great Jesuit activity and of the general spread of modern European Christianity in South India. These considerations alone attest the value of its exhaustive study and the interest it cannot fail to arouse in all European students of the Indian Empire.
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It is, however, a period of great difficulty, owing to the constant and varying struggle between Hindu Vijayanagara and the Muhammadan powers of the Deccan on the one hand, and on the other of never-ending local difficulties of fighting caused by the Vijayanagara system of governing through Viceroys, who were practically independent kings in their restricted territories and appeared as such to visiting Europeans, while the representatives of European powers took sides and joined in the general *melée*. History thus appears as an almost hopeless jumble of local struggle, and indeed it requires no small research to put together the pieces of the puzzle, so that the reader has before him an intelligible account of the happenings at a period of Indian history of the first importance to those who would understand the conditions of to-day.
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This great task Father Heras has undertaken, to my mind in the manner in which it should be undertaken. He goes into the causes which led to the conditions that brought the last Vijayanagara Dynasty—the Aravidu—into existence, and then writes up the history of it from original unpublished documents, as well as from the books on the subject, and in a long appendix he gives the unpublished documents themselves in their original languages. History cannot be more fairly presented.
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Such is the method of Father Heras in attacking his subject and in this first volume we find that he commences with an account of the reigns of the last rulers of the Third Dynasty—the Tuluva—so as to show how the Aravidu family stepped quietly into its place in the person of the Aravidu minister, Rāma Rāya of Sadāsiva Rāya, the last Emperor of the Third Dynasty. He then gives an account of the administration of Vijayanagara under Rāma Rāya, the maintenance of Hinduism, and the foreign policy, especially as regards the Portuguese. As regards Rāma Rāya’s clever and tortuous dealings with the Muhammadan powers of the Deccan, a whole chapter is devoted to them.
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Father Heras then harks back to South Indian History to explain the early Telugu invasions of the Tamil country, ending with the establishment of Visvanātha Nāyaka as Nāyak (king) of Madura and the story of his successors—introducing incidentally the doings of St. Francis Xavier and other Jesuit leaders. This is followed by an account of the Nāyaks of Tanjore, Jinji and Ikeri (the very name of which last once great city has since disappeared from the general Indian maps), and of the Rājas of Mysore and other Feudatory Chiefs, including the obscure and curious Queens of Bhatkal and Ullāl.
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These minor considerations bring us back to the struggle between the Tuluva Dynasty of Vijayanagara and the Deccani Muhammadans, ending with the battle of Raksas-Tagdi, the execution of Rāma Rāya and the end of the Tuluva Dynasty. This brings the Aravidu Tirumala, Rāma Rāya’s brother, to the Vijayanagara throne and the transfer of the capital to Penukonda, giving the death blow to Portuguese commerce in India. His short reign thereafter was necessarily a time of confusion and trouble and constant struggles with the Muhammadans to the North of him. He was succeeded by Sri Ranga I, who kept the capital at Penukonda and fought back the Muhammadans. Under these rulers three Viceroyalties were established respectively over the Telugu, Kanarese and Tamil countries, to the story of which Father Heras devotes two chapters, with details of Portuguese interference with their affairs.
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History then deals with the affairs of Venkatapatideva Rāya (Venkata II), still at Penukonda, and with his struggles with his feudatory chiefs, and also with the Muhammadans and the Nāyak of Madura, giving an account of that feudatory dynasty. At this point comes in the story of Father Roberto de Nobili and his unusual behaviour, of which one is glad to have an orderly account.
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Venkata II had further many dealings with the Nāyaks of Tanjore and Jinji, the Kanarese Viceroy, the Rāja of Mysore, the Nāyak of Ikeri, and other chieftains, in which the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Jesuits were mixed up. Besides describing these Father Heras gives us an account of the dealings of Venkata II directly with the Portuguese, Dutch and English of the day, and a separate account of the Jesuits at his Court.
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The volume then goes into minor, but yet important matters such as those of painting at Venkata II's court, especially by Jesuit Fathers, his family affairs and literary activity under the first Aravidu sovereigns. Finally the volume winds up with a most valuable chapter on the struggle of Sri Vaishnavism with other Hindu sects.
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The above very brief *resumé* of Father Heras's first volume is sufficient to show what it covers and how the writer has kept the many conflicting items of history apart, so that they can be absorbed by the student without confusion of mind.
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R. C. TEMPLE