Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c10.s7: Section. 7. Gold Treasury
Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c10.s7
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Section. 7. Gold Treasury
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The fact of the Hindu government having assessed revenue in money brings us incidentally to the question whether it had any treasury worth the name. We do not know whether the Vijayanagara State maintained the tradition of testing gold by stone which, we are told in an inscription dated A.D. 907, was known to the ancient Tamil people.¹ There are valid reasons to suppose, however, that a government like that of Vijayanagara, which dazzled the world with its splendour, must have had a gold treasury, and perhaps a diamond treasury as well. Foreign travellers, Hindu writers, and engravers are all unanimous about the existence of both in Vijayanagara. The opinion of 'Abdur Razzāq as regards the "universal practice" of the people bringing their revenue in gold to the mint, has already been cited. The Persian ambassador further tells us that the Daṇṇāyaka after his victorious return from Gulbarga, heard of the vile deeds of "Hambah Nunīr", and gave 'Abdur Razzāq "an assignment of 7,000 fanams on the mint the very day of his arrival".² The Portuguese chronicler Paes has the following to say about the treasury: "And now I wish you to know that the previous kings of this place for many years past have held it a custom to maintain a treasury, which treasury, after the death of each, is kept locked and sealed in such a way that it cannot be seen by any one, nor opened, nor do the kings who succeed to the kingdom open them or know what is in them. They are not opened except when the kings have great need, and thus the kingdom has great supplies to meet its needs. This king has made his treasury different from those of the previous kings, and he puts in it every year ten million *pardaos*, without taking from them one *pardao* more than for the expenses of his house. The rest remains for him, over and above these expenses and of the expenses in the houses of his wives, of whom I have already told you that he keeps near him twelve thousand women; from this you will be able to judge how great is the richness of this kingdom, and how great the treasure that this king has amassed".³ Then again, "Here I saw a little slab of green jasper, which is held for a great thing in this house. Close to where this jasper is, i.e., underneath some arches where is the entrance into the palace, there is a little door closed with some padlocks: they told us that inside it there was a treasury of one of the former kings".¹
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¹ S.I.I., III, P. III, p. 237.
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² Elliot, Hist. of India, IV, p. 122.
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³ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 282.
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¹ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, p. 286.
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'Abdur Razzāq speaks of a centralized treasury, the moneys of which, as in his own case, were used for State purposes, and for the disbursement of the pay of soldiers. Evidently a treasury which could on demand produce 7,000 *fanams* must have been sufficiently well organized. But Paes makes us believe that it was a collection of gold hoarded in vaults to be used only when the kings were in great distress. The remarks of Paes, it is admitted, are supported by those of Nuniz, who, in his description of the capture of the six officers of the King of "Bisnaga" by the soldiers of the Sultan of Delhi, says: "These were made captive and were taken before the King (of Delhi), and the King asked them who they were and how they had escaped, and they told them who they were; at which the King greatly rejoiced, because one of them was the minister of the kingdom and another the treasurer, and the others were leading officers in it. They were questioned by the King concerning the treasures of the King of Bisnaga, and such riches as were buried in the vaults of the fortress were delivered up to him. . ."² The concluding words of the above, "the treasures of the King of Bisnaga and such riches as were buried in the vaults", seem to corroborate the statement of Paes about the treasures.
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² *Ibid.*, p. 295.
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But the suggestion implied in the remarks of these two travellers, viz., that the treasury of Vijayanagara consisted of wealth that was hoarded and that it was not used for State purposes, can only be accepted with great reservation; firstly, because of the direct evidence of 'Abdur Razzāq, who speaks from personal knowledge of the existence of a royal treasury and of a mint, the location of which he gives in detail. "Behind the king's palace are the house and hall allotted to the Danaik. To the left of the said palace is the Mint".³ Secondly, there is explicit reference in Hindu literature and inscriptions to the existence of officers of the royal treasury in Vijayanagara. We believe that the "treasury" which Paes describes is the same place where bullion was stored underneath the ground, about which too 'Abdur Razzāq has also something to say. The Persian ambassador remarks: "In the king's palace are several cells, like basins, filled with bullion, forming one mass".¹ Our surmise that this place which contained bullion could not have been the royal treasury, is based on the evidence found in literature and inscriptions. The Tanjāvūri Āndhra Rājula Charitra informs us that on the application made by the Pāṇḍyan king Chandrasēkara, Kṛiṣhṇa Dēva Rāya sent his general Nāgama Nāyaka, who is called Tōṣēkhāna-adhikāri (Officer of the Treasury) against the refractory Chōḷa.² Nārāyaṇa Dēva, son of Timmarasa of the treasury of gold, granted in A.D. 1530 two parts of the village of Ballāpura for the annual (avasara) satra of the god Harihara in Harihara-sīme.³ Four years later we have one of the officers of Achyuta Dēva Rāya called the treasury officer (bhaṇḍārakke karttarāda) Timmappayya, probably the same Timmarasa mentioned above.⁴ As distinct from this officer we have evidence of a Palace Treasurer. This latter was called maneya-bayakāra. The maneya-bayakāra of Achyuta Rāya in A.D. 1535 was Rāmappayya, who was placed over Kandikere-sīme.⁵
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³ *Ibid.*, p. 91.
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¹ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 92.
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² The Sources, pp. 319, 327; Heras, Aravidu, p. 121.
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³ E.C., XI, Dg. 28, p. 38.
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⁴ E.C., IX, Cp. 152, p. 164.
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⁵ E.C., XII, Ck. 44, p. 87, text, p. 252.
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It is not possible to find out in what respects the functions of a House or Palace Treasurer differed from those of a Tōṣēkhāna-adhikāri. We can only conjecture that the latter may have been in charge of the treasury of the kingdom, and the former, of the personal treasury of the monarch. However that may be, Achyuta Rāya seems to have been careful even as regards the financial stability of the villages. For the villages seem to have had a village treasury. We are told in an inscription, in which unfortunately the name of the village is defaced, that in A.D. 1535 Achyuta Rāya ordered that the immemorial customs dues of that village were to be paid and that they might be made use of for the treasury chest (bhaṇḍārada-bokkasa).¹ References to the officers of the State treasury are also found in later years. Rāma Rāya Nāyaka, having inquired into the disorders of the agrahāra of Sadāśivapura, in A.D. 1577, made new grants, and appointed as manager Kṛṣṇappayya, son of Nārāyaṇappa of the treasury of gold.² Hariyappa of the palace, son of Nārāyaṇappa of the gold treasury, in A.D. 1583, has left some evidence of his benevolence.³ We are informed that in the same year the treasurer was Koṇḍapparasa, and that his agent Timma Rāja granted certain specified lands to Māgaḍi Keñchamalla Siddaya Gauḍa.⁴
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¹ E.C., IX, Cp. 50, p. 142.
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² E.C., VIII, Tl. 5, p. 163.
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³ Ibid., Tl. 172, p. 199.
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⁴ E.C., IX, Cp. 1, p. 137.
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As regards a diamond treasury, we gather that Muttina Lakshmi Seṭṭi, officer in charge of the vajra-bhaṇḍāra or diamond treasury, at Karūru, in the Varuvakoṇḍe-sime, granted in Śaka 1453 (A.D. 1531-32), lands in Gaḍēkallu, Gooty district, to Koṇḍa Jyōsya, son of Purushōttama Bhaṭṭa of Polaki.⁵
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⁵ 387 of 1920.
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While we have, therefore, some evidence for affirming that there was a centralized treasury at the capital, proof is not easily forthcoming to enable us to suppose that the provincial governments had treasuries of their own. Nevertheless there are some inscriptions which suggest that the provincial rulers must have had some kind of treasury to meet current expenses of administration. In A.D. 1506 the Mahā-prabhu Vighnēśvara Oḍeyar was placed over Sigala-nāḍu, which is described as a province belonging to "Chikka-Rāja Oḍeyar's treasury".⁶ We may conjecture that the miscellaneous tolls for the council and accounts, mentioned in A.D. 1563,⁷ refer to the revenue administration and treasury of the provincial government.
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⁶ E.C., V, Hn. 2, p. 2, op. cit. For remarks on provincial revenue, read Satyanātha, Nāyaks, pp. 243-8. Nelson's conjectures may also be read. Madura Country, P. III, pp. 179-80.
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⁷ Rice, My. Gaz., I. p. 475, (1st ed.); I. p. 584, seq. (Rev. ed.) for remarks on land rent.