The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c22.70

v1.c22.70

10. The suspicions aroused among the nobles at the court of Venkata were very well grounded. Fr. Jerome Xavier who was in Akbar's retinue when he was about to besiege the fort of Asirgarh in the kingdom of Kandesh, writes that "the purpose of this journey was to conquer Goa and the Malabar and the whole kingdom of Bisnaga (Vijayanagara) after having taken the Deccan kingdoms" 2. And one of the secret purposes of the embassy to the court of Venkata was probably to examine the efficiency of his army and the strength of his fortresses, in order to enable Akbar to plan his intended campaign in the South. Fr. Xavier informs us that this was Akbar's method of ascertaining the enemy's strength. "And for this purpose, (viz. for conquering Goa), he very often sends some one of his courtiers to Goa with the title of ambassador. But it is understood that he is really a spy, sent in order to see either what the Portuguese are doing or what they are able to do; and he does this at the time of the arrival of the ships from Portugal, in order to estimate how much wealth and how many people have come" 3. The same kind of espionage was probably now employed in the court of Venkata. Hence Fr. Coutinho rightly suspected that the formidable army, headed by excellent generals which Venkata had assembled round him, was for no other purpose than "for driving back the army of Akbar, and garrisoning the northern cities and fortresses against the Mughal invasion" 4.