Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c11.s2.t4.26

v1.c11.s2.t4.26

A third turn which this thorny question took was in the shape of rebellion. A united front against foreign enemies was an imperative necessity, but such a common line of defence meant the unification of the various conflicting elements in the land. This was however incompatible with the power and prestige of the ancient families, some of which could trace their annals to the early ages of south Indian history. There were also the demands of unruly tribes that had occupied various parts of the country, especially those areas covered with jungle and mountains in the western parts of the Vijayanagara Empire. A locality which was geographically an ideal centre for the forest tribes was the Āraga or Male-rājya mentioned above. Here during the reign of Dēva Rāya I there was a serious Bēḍar incursion. We shall presently describe how it was quelled. On Narasa Nāyaka's death there seems to have been a widespread disaffection in some quarters. The Tuḷuva province was almost in revolt; the Gajapatis of Orissa had besieged Koṇḍavīḍu and Udayagiri; the Sultan of Bijapur had launched an attack on the northern frontier; and a powerful Hindu ruler within the Vijayanagara Empire had raised the standard of revolt.⁴ This last chief was the Gaṅga Rāja of Ummattūr, one of whose titles was "chief lord of the Hoysala kingdom".⁵ Evidently the Ummattūr chieftains considered themselves as the only protectors of the Hoysala-vaṁśa, and, therefore, could not tolerate the imperialistic designs of the Vijayanagara monarchs. The Gaṅga Rāja rebelled in about A.D. 1510. In the reign of Achyuta Rāya the growing strength of the Vijayanagara Empire must have been as much a matter of annoyance to some of the southern governors who were thinking of aggrandizement as it was a source of fear to some of the ancient royal families on the Malabar coast. This is evident from the expedition which was led in the times of Achyuta Rāya against the recalcitrant viceroy Vira Narasimha, and the subsequent campaigns so successfully conducted in the Tiruvadi-rājya or Travancore country.¹ While the monarch's attention was thus diverted in the south, a powerful party led by three brothers, who claimed to be sons-in-law of Kṛiṣhṇa Dēva Rāya himself or of his third brother, Raṅga, was sowing seeds of dissension in the capital.²