Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c4: Preface
Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c4
- Language
- English
Preface
v1.c4.1
IN writing this book I have endeavoured to describe the activities of the princes and people of Vijayanagara in spheres related to their political and social wellbeing. We have been interested in Vijayanagara till now only as a political experiment with its interminable wars and its perennial political factions. I have eschewed these and have, on the other hand, applied myself to the elucidation of many an interesting problem connected with the private and public life of the mediaeval rulers and their subjects in all its manifold aspects.
v1.c4.2
This has led me to adopt a treatment of the various facts relating to the history of the Empire of Vijayanagara different to the one we have hitherto been accustomed. Vijayanagara rulers and their people may be judged in terms of the actions and thought of their predecessors both in and outside Karṇāṭaka. It is with this object that the following method has been adopted in the work. Classical and mediaeval Hindu theories relating to government and society have been first given followed, wherever possible, by Vijayanagara conceptions of the same. Further, the origin of the political and social institutions of the Vijayanagara princes and people has been traced to their Hoysala and Tamil antecedents, in order to bring out more clearly the historical sequence that sometimes may be said to govern the actions of the mediaeval Hindu monarchs. In this way an attempt has been made for the first time to bring before the reader classical and mediaeval Hindu theory in harmony with Vijayanagara maxims and practice; and to enable him to estimate for himself the achievements of the rulers of Vijayanagara who have so often been called custodians of the Hindu Dharma.
v1.c4.3
And in so doing evidence from all available sources has been utilized. And no source of information has been found so fruitful as the numerous epigraphical records which, far from being merely documents that "seldom yield us more than a few names and dates" contain, especially in regard to governmental and social matters, innumerable details which throw a flood of light on the internal organization of Vijayanagara. Among the many other sources of information mention may be made of the testimony of foreign travellers. Although these supplement to a very large extent the accounts of Hindu writers and of inscriptions, yet they too have been critically examined, on occasions when they appeared to me as being either extravagant or untrustworthy.
v1.c4.4
But I must confess that I have not exhausted the subject. The exigencies of examination did not permit me to deal as thoroughly with the topic as I had originally intended when I had planned the whole work. The evidence of some foreign witnesses, for example, had to be curtailed and much matter gleaned from epigraphs and literature expunged. But the works of these foreign travellers as well as those of other writers who have left their impressions of Vijayanagara, are given in the bibliography which, as far as possible, has been brought up-to-date.
v1.c4.5
A glossary of some important fiscal and governmental terms, occurring in inscriptions and literature used in this work as well as in those sources not mentioned in the treatise, has been appended in the belief that it will be found useful. But it is by no means complete or final.
v1.c4.6
I acknowledge with pleasure my indebtedness to the following: the authorities of the British Museum; Sir E. Denison Ross, Director, School of Oriental Studies; the High Commissioner for India; the Librarian, India Office Library; Mr. H. L. T. Gonsalves, Assistant, India Office Library; the Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, London; Miss F. H. Latimer, Assistant Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society; the Rev. Henry Heras, S.J., Bombay; Dr. M. H. Krishna, Director of Archaeological Researches, Mysore; Mr. G. Powell; and Dr. K. M. Ashraf, Ph. D. I am particularly indebted to Mr. C. S. K. Pathy, Lecturer in Dravidian Languages, School of Oriental Studies, for having taught me the Tamil and Telugu languages. To Dr. L. D. Barnett, M.A., D. Litt., under whose directions this work was written, I owe a deep debt of gratitude. I am all the more grateful to him for having allowed me to dedicate this book to him. I am also thankful to Dr. S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar for writing a Foreword to my work. Finally, I must say that but for the generous endowment which the University of London made, supplemented by an equally generous contribution from another quarter, I would not have been able to publish my work. To the London University as well as to the gentleman, who unfortunately prefers to remain anonymous, I beg to convey my profound gratitude.
v1.c4.7
15th December, 1933. "VASUDEVA BHUVAN", 2, LABURNUM ROAD, BOMBAY, 7.
v1.c4.8
B. A. S.