Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c15.s4: Section 4. Reforms
Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c15.s4
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Section 4. Reforms
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Firishtah is our only authority on the subject of the reforms introduced by Dēva Rāya II. "About this time (A.D. 1437-8?) Dew Ray of Beejanuggur summoned a council of his nobility and principal bramins; observing to them, that as his country (the Carnatic) in extent, population, and revenue, far exceeded that of the house of Bahmuny, and also as his army was more numerous, he requested them to point out the cause of the successes, of the Mahom-medans, and of his being reduced to pay them tribute. Some said, that the Almighty had decreed to them a superiority over the Hindoos for thirty thousand years, a circumstance which was foretold in their own writings; that it was on this account, therefore, the Hindoos were generally subdued by them. Others said, that the superiority of the Moslems arose out of two circumstances; first that their horses were stronger, and able to endure more fatigue than the weak animals of the Carnatic; secondly, that a great body of excellent archers was always maintained in pay by the kings of the house of Bahmuny, of whom the Ray had but few in his army.
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"Dew Ray, upon this gave orders to enlist Musulmans in his service, allotting to them estates, and erecting a mosque for their use in the city of Beejanuggur. He also commanded that no one should molest them in the exercise of their religion, and, moreover, he ordered a Koran to be placed before his throne on a rich desk, so that the faithful might perform the ceremony of obeisance in his presence without sinning against their laws.¹ He also made all the Hindoo soldiers learn the art of archery; to which both he and his officers so applied themselves, that he could soon muster two thousand Mahomedans, sixty thousand Hindoos well skilled in archery, besides eighty thousand cavalry, and two hundred thousand infantry, armed in the usual manner with pikes and lances".²
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¹ Cf. Rāma Rāja's measure already described in Chapter VIII. See Firishtah, Briggs, The Rise, III, pp. 78-9.
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² Firishtah, ibid., II, pp. 430-1.
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We may be allowed to mention here the reforms introduced by Muhammad Shāh Bāhmani II in about A.D. 1477. This ruler abolished the old custom of allowing forts in each province in the hands of the governor, or turufdar, who appointed his own soldiers; and replaced it by a new measure by which only one fortress was left in the hands of the governor, while all the others were directly controlled by the officers of the king. These were distinctly appointed by the ruler, and paid from headquarters.³ Firishtah continues thus: "The mode of paying the army was also altered; formerly the officers of five hundred men had one lac of hoons per annum; of a thousand, two lacs, whether payable in cash or in jageer assignment. Khwaja Mahmood, after the entire conquest of Tulingana, in order to conciliate the army, increased the pay of an officer of five hundred to one lac and twenty-five thousand hoons, and an officer of a thousand to two lacs and fifty thousand. In the jageer assignments it was understood, if the revenues fell short of the estimate even by one hoon, the balance was pavable out of the royal treasury: at the same time, if the officers kept one soldier less than the complement, a sum equal to his pay was deducted from the allowances. By these excellent rules order every where prevailed, the government acquired strength and justice was done to all parties; but this rigid scrutiny gave offence to many ambitious chiefs, who, in consequence, entertained hatred to the minister".¹
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³ Ibid., p. 503.
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¹ Firishtah, Briggs, The Rise, II, pp. 503-5.
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With the limited information we have of Vijayanagara on this particular subject, we may now venture to compare the Hindu and Muhammadan methods of maintaining soldiers, making due allowance for other things:
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In the first place, both the Hindu and Muhammadan governments appointed their own generals and officers over the large forts in their provinces.
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Secondly, both of them assigned lands to those officers for the maintenance of their forces. The jāgir assignments of the Bāhmani government were similar to the rent-free lands or estates granted to the nāyakas and the amara-nāyakas of Vijayanagara.
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Thirdly, both the Hindu and Muhammadan governments paid their soldiers—excepting those who were attached to the personal staff of the provincial rulers²—directly from headquarters. Firishtah's remarks that the soldiers under Muhammad Shāh Bāhmani II, were paid from headquarters, may be compared with the evidence of 'Abdur Razzāq, who says, as we have already noticed, that the Vijayanagara soldiers received their salary from the capital.
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² These were the soldiers who were responsible to their immediate masters, the viceroys.
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But there was some difference between the two systems. The Bāhmani government punished its officers who had failed to keep "one soldier less than the complement" by deducting an equal sum from the allowances; the whole system proved beneficial, because everywhere order prevailed. But the nobles entertained hatred to the minister. The Vijayanagara Government obviated the latter but secured the former advantage, according to the contemporary standards of efficiency. Instead of punishing the negligent nobles by deducting amounts from their pay, they substituted, as Barbosa tells us, a worse horse or an elephant for the one which the noble had failed to feed properly. This had the desired effect of appealing to the better feeling of the officials, and of compelling them, without wounding their sense of justice, to maintain efficient contingents of horses and elephants. We may observe in this connection that the statement of Paes that every captain tried to have the best troops by giving pay to them, suggests that there may have been healthy rivalry between the officers of the Hindu army in the matter of furnishing themselves with efficient troops.
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Before we describe a military review, we may note that roads were constructed for military purposes in the Hindu Empire. The existence of military roads is proved by an inscription dated A.D. 1524 which mentions *daṇḍa-dāri* and *daṇḍa-mārga* (military road).¹
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¹ Gupte, *Ep. Ind.*, XIX., pp. 133-4.
Cites (1)
- Paṉaimalai, foundation, time of Rājasiṁha — Sanskrit