Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c11.s2.t4.89

v1.c11.s2.t4.89

But it is not to be imagined that the liberality of the regents sometimes did not take the shape of material aid which they gave to their relatives. The reign of Rāma Rāja was eventful in many ways. The fact that even Manucci, whose narrative is mainly concerned with the Mughals, was struck by the rather extravagant stories of Rāma Rāja's granting gifts on plates of gold suggests that the fame of the Hindu ruler might have travelled beyond the limits of his worst enemies, the Sultans of the Dekhan, into northern India. This popular conception of the generosity of the great Regent is, we admit, not altogether incredible. But at the same time we have to remember that Rāma Rāja, according to Firishtah, aimed at giving the highest honours to members of his own family. Firishtah says the following: "By degrees raising his own family to the highest rank, and destroying many of the ancient nobility, Ramraj aspired to reign in his own name, and intended totally to extirpate the race of Shew Ray".² This explains the rise to power of Rāma Rāja's nephew, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Kōmara Koṇḍarājayyadēva Mahā-arasu; of the Regent's cousin Viṭhṭhala, who became the viceroy of the south; of Jilleḷḷa Raṅgapati Rājayyadēva Mahārāja, who was related to the Regent on his mother's side, and who became the governor of Rāmadurga-sīmā; of Siddhirāja Timma Rāja, also a nephew of Rāma Rāja; and of Rāma Raja's own son Kṛṣṇarājayyan, who ruled over Tanjore.³ In view of the fact that, as we have seen, the sons of Saṅgama themselves had set an example of elevating their relatives to high rank in the government, and that it was an age in which the personal element counted for much as regards the success or failure of a ruler, Rāma Rāja's desire to strengthen the position of the house of Āraviḍu by bringing in the forefront members of his own family may, perhaps, to a certain extent be justified.