The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c21.101

v1.c21.101

Now there is an inscription of 1587, in which Venkata appears ‘in the residence of Hampe-Hastinavathi (Vijayanagara), ruling the kingdom in peace and wisdom’ ¹⁰; then another of 1602-3, which shows him ‘seated on the diamond throne at Vijayanagara...ruling the kingdom of the earth' ¹; and even two more, of 1613 ² and 1614 ³, in which he is simply said to be 'ruling at Vijayanagara'. It is obvious to us that Chandragiri received also at this time the appellation of Vijayanagara, as Penukonda was likewise formerly called ⁴. In the map of India by Sr. Sanson d' Abbeville, published in the year 1652, Chandragiri is marked as 'Bisnagar or Chandragiri' ⁵. Moreover a traveller from Holstein named Mandelslo, who visited the Coromandel coast in 1639, says that the king 'resides sometimes at Bisnagar, sometimes at Narasinga' ⁶. This must be respectively understood of Vellore, which was then the capital of the Empire, and of Chandragiri, which was also called Narsinga, as already stated. This information is of great importance to us, because it seems to prove that the capital of the Empire was always called Vijayanagara, whether it was Hampi-Anegundi, or Penukonda, or Chandragiri, as at this time, or as some years after, Vellore.