The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c9.87

v1.c9.87

There are several grants and inscriptions belonging to this second stage, which prove that this final step was long contemplated: in 1551 in the Bevinahalli grant of Sadasiva, Rama Raya is already given the title ‘King of Karnata’ ⁴. The same is the case in another grant of Sadasiva of the year 1556-7 ⁵. In 1554 Mangala Timmoju Kondojugaru calls himself a feudatory of Rama Raya without mentioning Sadasiva at all ⁶. In the same year Rama Raya himself made another grant to some Brahmans in the same form as the old grants of the Emperors of Vijayanagara. In the beginning, it invokes Ganesa and the Boar, the sportive incarnation of Vishnu. Then it proceeds to trace Rama Raya’s pedigree from Buddha and the Pururavas, and speaks of the deeds of Rama Raya and his brothers, without mentioning Sadasiva at all, and says finally: “while having uprooted all the enemies, Rama Raya ruled over the earth as famous as Baratha and Bagiratha”¹.