The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c25.40

v1.c25.40

On many occasions such predilections have been the origin of unspeakable family tragedies, as it was in the present case. The crime that ensued was carefully concealed by both the court poets, Yagnanarayana Dikshita and Ramabhadramba, who did not mention even the existence of such a brother. After Raghunatha's accession to the throne his brother remained under custody; and either because of a natural fear proceeding from the fact that his own right to the crown was less founded than that of his brother, or owing perhaps to a court conspiracy in which his own brother was implicated, Raghunatha murdered his elder brother; this crime is testified to by both Anquetil du Perron and Fr. Coutinho². As Fr. Coutinho speaks of both events in the same letter, dated July, 1600, this fratricide must have been committed in the beginning of Raghunatha's reign, perhaps immediately after the death of his father.