Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c8.s2.23

v1.c8.s2.23

However that may be, to the three animals which have become famous in the Hindu classics, because of their association with the greatness of Indra,—the cow, the horse, and the elephant,⁴—the Vijayanagara princes became very partial. The mediaeval monarchs shared with the ancients the affection which they had for the horse. According to Bāṇa, the people of the times of Harshavardhana had Gōvinda as the tutelary god of the stables,⁵ and the horse was held high in the royal estimation.⁶ The best horses in the Vijayanagara age were mostly imported from Persia. Commenting on the short life of the horses brought from abroad, Barbosa says: "These horses live but for a short time, they are not bred in this country, for all of them are brought there from the kingdom of Ormuz and that of Cambay, and on that account, and for the great need of them, they are worth so much money".¹ Varthema, too, has something to say about the Persian horses. "He (i.e., Narsinga, Emperor of Vijayanagara) is a very powerful king, and keeps up constantly 40,000 horsemen. And you must know that a horse is worth at least 300, 400 and 500 pardai and some are purchased for 800 pardai, because horses are not produced there, neither are many mares found there, because those kings who hold the seaports do not allow them to be brought together".²