Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c8.s2.54

v1.c8.s2.54

Man driven by the desire to possess more wealth and power must have been tyrannical in those days; and elephants must have broken their bondage, pursuing their mahouts as they have done in our own times. 'Abdur Razzāq gives us a story of how an elephant ran for its freedom from its keeper; and Varthema adds his remarks on the intelligence, discretion, and strength of these animals. These two accounts speak as much for the wisdom of the elephants as for the astuteness with which the Vijayanagara people curbed them. The story as given by 'Abdur Razzāq is the following: