Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c7.s2.32

v1.c7.s2.32

We are told that Harihara, along with his brothers, some nobles, and one Ballappa Daṇṇāyaka, went in A.D. 1346, on a pilgrimage to the famous Śringēri Maṭha which was then under the guidance of Bhārata-tīrtha Śrīpāda.² This Ballappa Daṇṇāyaka is mentioned as the *Aliya* or son-in-law of Harihara. A guess may be hazarded as to the lineage of this Ballappa whom Harihara, the founder of a great dynasty, thought fit to make his son-in-law. In A.D. 1297 we have Dāṭiya Sōmeyya Daṇṇāyaka’s son Singeya Daṇḍanāyaka and inhabitants of Periya-nāḍu remitting certain taxes for the god Dāmōdara.³ About the year A.D. 1314 we have under Ballāḷa Dēva his great minister Sōmeyya Daṇṇāyaka.⁴ In about A.D. 1319 the same minister was under the same monarch.⁵ In A.D. 1334 while Vira Ballāḷa was ruling, Singeya Daṇṇāyaka’s younger brother, Vallappa Daṇṇāyaka, made some grants.⁶ In A.D. 1336 Vallappa, younger brother of Dāṭi Singeya Daṇṇāyaka, figures again.⁷ In A.D. 1343 Vallappa, son of Dāṭi Sōmeyya Daṇṇāyaka, is the chief minister of Ballāḷa III.⁸ In the same year under Vira Ballāḷa’s son, Virūpāksha Ballāḷa, we have Ballappa Daṇḍanāyaka, son of Pāḍiya Sōmaya Daṇḍanāyaka.¹ In A.D. 1346 Vallappa was a Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara under Harihara.² Hence this Vallappa Daṇḍanāyaka was the younger brother of Singeya Daṇḍanāyaka, son of Dāḍiya Sōmaya or (Sōmeyya) Daṇḍanāyaka.