Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c11.s2.t3.64

v1.c11.s2.t3.64

Foreign travellers, who could not have been familiar with the detailed divisions of the Empire recorded in the inscriptions, have left to us some account of the larger provincial areas of the Hindu State. Paes relates the following: ". . . Since he (the Emperor) has so many and such great lords in his kingdom, who, the greater part of them, have themselves revenues, I answer thus: These captains whom he has over these troops of his are the nobles of his kingdom; they are lords, and they hold the city, and the towns and villages of the kingdom; there are captains amongst them who have a revenue of a million and a million a half *pardaos*, others a hundred thousand *pardaos*, others two hundred, three hundred or five hundred thousand *pardaos*, and as each has revenue so the king fixes for him the number of troops he must maintain, in foot, horse and elephants".¹ It is evident from this that there was some system of gradation among the highest officials, and that the king was the master of all land. This is further corroborated by the evidence which Nuniz gives: "These nobles are like renters who hold all the land from the King . . .".² Then again: "During his feasts and the almsgiving to his temples all these captains, who are thus like renters, must always attend the court, and of those whom this King always has about him and by whom he is accompanied in his court there are more than two hundred . . . These nobles are never suffered to settle themselves in cities or towns because they would there be beyond reach of his hand; they only go thither sometimes".³