Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c13.s3.4

v1.c13.s3.4

From the above it appears that there were regular courts of justice and judges specially appointed for that purpose under the mediaeval form of government.¹ The *Danāik* of 'Abdur Razzāq was evidently a *daṇḍanāyaka* or military commander; and if we are to rely on the evidence of the Persian Ambassador, the Vijayanagara monarchs entrusted the duty of administering justice to an officer of the army, or to one who had seen service as a general. If this were really the case, no graver error could have been committed by the Hindu rulers of Vijayanagara, since such a procedure would have meant the violation of one of the most important injunctions of the ancient lawgivers in regard to the administration of justice. We have seen that according to Manu, Gautama, Vasiṣṭha, and Baudhāyana, the king was to be assisted by at least three Brahmans well versed in the Sacred Law. A *daṇḍanāyaka* or military commander was in no sense a substitute for a Brahman learned in the *smṛtis*, although, as remarked elsewhere, we have instances of very wise and able minister-governors well acquainted with the *śāstras* and *smṛtis* in Vijayanagara history. The fact that 'Abdur Razzāq is positive about the name of the high dignitary who administered justice makes one suspect that the rulers of Vijayanagara had indeed acted, at least in the important question of the composition of what may be called the court of chief justice, contrary to the classical notions of *daṇḍa*. This supposition is strengthened to some extent by the fact that in the list of the eight ministers (*aṣṭha-pradhāna*), as given in the *Accounts of Rāma-Rāja*, no mention is made of a supreme judge or chief justice.²