Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c12.s1: Section 1. Provincial Government

Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c12.s1

Language: English

Section 1. Provincial Government

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THE credit of conducting the Central Government to meet the greater issues of the State may be attributed to the wisdom of Vijayanagara rulers; that of continuing the administration of the local units to solve the smaller questions of the *nāḍu* or province and the village may be ascribed to the joint-action of the people. The reason why such latitude was given to the local bodies was that the rulers were sincere in their desire to preserve what they thought constituted the "ancient constitutional usage" of the country. To understand something about this "former custom'', we may rapidly review some of the main activities of the local units. But here one may be allowed to qualify one's statement. The fact that the Vijayanagara monarchs paid much respect to ancient custom did not prevent them from superimposing on the machinery of the local bodies their own officials, who, as we have seen in the previous pages, were vested with great powers of internal administration. A treatise like this, which aims at picturing the life of the people, ought to elucidate to some extent the provincial administration under the monarchs of Vijayanagara. This, however, is a matter which cannot be satisfactorily dealt with for the present for want of reliable data. The meagre information that is available on the subject is based on the *History of the Carnataca Governors*, the evidence of which can in no sense be declared to be trustworthy till it is confirmed by notices in extraneous sources.

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On one point, nevertheless, the *Pandyan Chronicle* and epigraphs agree, and that is, in connection with the designation of the provincial rulers. They were called *nāyakas*. This name was given to the great viceroys as well as to the petty collectors of customs;¹ but it is apparent that the provincial governors were also commonly known by that appellation. Kṛṣṇa Dēva Rāya the Great, for example, on acquiring the eastern parts of Karṇāṭaka appointed Tubaki Kṛṣṇappa Nāyaka over the region which extended from Nellore to the river Coleroon with his headquarters at Gingee; Vijaya Rāghava Nāyaka over the land watered by Kāvēri, with his chief city at Tanjore; and Veṅkaṭapa Nāyaka over the southern parts with his centre at Madura.² Some of the important feudatories, in the north-western and central parts of the Empire were also called *nāyakas*, as, for example, those of Bednore, Basavappaṭṭaṇa, Chitaldroog, Balam, and Hāgalavāḍi. Here we may observe that the chiefs of Yelahahṅka and Sugaṭūr were called *gauḍas*, while those of Mysore, Kaḷale, Ummattūr, and Yelanāḍu were known as *oḍeyars*.³ Much has been written about the administration of these, and especially of the later Nāyakas of the south, which cannot be corroborated by independent evidence.¹

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¹ A military commander, as we have often remarked, also called Daṇṇāyaka or Daṇḍanāyaka.

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² Taylor, Cat. Rais. III, p. 39; Heras, Aravidu, p. 112.

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³ Rice, My. Gaz., I, p. 234 (1st ed.); I, p. 357 (Rev. ed.)

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¹ Nelson, Mad. Country, P. 111, pp. 93, 147, 158; Satyanatha, Nayaks, pp. 238, 241; passim; Rangachari, I.A., XLIV., p. 113, seq.; Iswari Prasad, Med. Ind., p.

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Although it is not possible to dwell in detail upon the internal administration of the nāyakas, yet it is permissible, we believe, to ascribe to a certain extent the confusion which prevailed in southern India in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the effect of the Nāyaka rule.² It is not that the Nāyaka system of administration was without its merits. The final reduction of the south, with its numerous forests-chiefs and members of ancient families, was solely the work of remarkable rulers whom the Central Government deputed to the south. Men like Viśvanātha and Ariyanātha were needed to bring order out of chaos in the south.³ The magnitude of their task was indeed great. Viśvanātha Nāyaka was confronted with almost insurmountable difficulties: there were his own dependents, who, on coming to a more fertile region, naturally craved for rewards; there were the old Tamil hereditary chieftains and rulers jealous of the newcomers; and there were the discontented adherents of the Pāṇḍyas.⁴ Some of these descendants of the Pāṇḍyas soon joined together against Viśvanātha;⁵ and the political prospect grew worse when Travancore refused to pay tribute to the Imperial Treasury. Then came the complications that followed the avowal of a policy of protection which the Portuguese, with the desire of gaining control over the Pearl Fishery Coast, extended to the Paravars.¹ The despatch of an imperial army under Rāma Rāya Viṭhṭhala seemed to suggest that the Central Government had realized that Viśvanātha had failed to cope with the imminent dangers around him.

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⁴²⁹ Cf. The provincial administration under Vijayanagara with that under the Guptas. Radha-Govind Basak, Ep. Ind., XV., p.

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¹²⁷ As regards two points there seems to be some similarity between the provincial governments of the two periods; members of the royal family were appointed as viceroys over provinces, both under Vijayanagara and the Guptas; and the provincial rulers under the mediaeval monarchs as well as those under the Guptas were privileged to use grandiloquent titles which, in some instances, were the same as those used by the kings themselves. (e.g. In Vijayanagara, the birudus of mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, mūgu-rāyara-gaṇḍa-mahārāja, and mahā-arasu). B.A.S.

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² For an estimate of the defects of the Nāyaka rule, read Satyanatha, Nayaks, p. 258, seq.; Nelson, ibid., pp. 142, 144, 147; Heras, Aravidu, pp. 350, 352.

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³ Nelson, ibid., p.

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⁹³ Even so late as A.D. 1662 John Nieuhof noted the popularity of the officials of the Nāyakas. He says that the Nāyaka of Madura had many districts under him, each of which was governed by a particular governor; and that "each Village has two judges who are much respected by the Inhabitants". John Nieuhof, Churchill, Voyages, II, p. 297; Satyanatha, Nayaks, p. 331.

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⁴ Nelson, ibid., p. 98.

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⁵ Taylor, O.H. MSS., II, pp. 17-12.

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¹ For an account of the Portuguese and the Paravars, see Heras, Aravidu, pp. 140, 352.

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But it was the endeavour of that able administrator to "reconcile the conflicting interests of all these classes, to smooth away difficulties, and to conciliate affection".² And in the course of six and twenty years³ of efficient rule, Viśvanātha had inaugurated a number of measures the most prominent of which, while it relieved the political tension for one or two generations, came to stay in the country as the most potent factor of internal disorder. This was the Pāḷeyagāra system, which was introduced and maintained by Viśvanātha and Ariyanātha.⁴ An account of the origin and nature of this system brings us to the interesting question of the corporate activities of the people of Vijayanagara, and to the equally interesting details about the administration of villages under the Hindu rulers. But before we deal with either of these, we may note in passing some of the redeeming features of the rule of the Nāyakas. These concern their tolerant attitude towards the Muhammadans,⁵ their eagerness to construct public buildings,⁶ and their endeavours to promote the cause of Hinduism.⁷

Cites (1)

Kyāsanūr inscription of the reign of Nityavarsha Amōghavarsha (D) — Kannada