Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c8.s3: Section 3. The Means of Communication

Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c8.s3

Language: English

Section 3. The Means of Communication

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Ancient writers on polity have laid down definite rules as regards the means of communication between the city (pura) and the country (janapada). Although it is not possible at the present stage of our investigations to say in what respects the Vijayanagara monarchs and people followed in every detail the directions of the Hindu writers, yet it is not improbable that in most matters connected with the general well-being of the State, scrupulous care was bestowed by them on the observance of such of the rules that were most suited to their times. Hindu theorists like Śukrāchārya have, as is well known to students of Hindu polity, carefully considered the question of linking the capital with the country, and, consequently, the topic of building good roads for the comfort and convenience of travellers and for State purposes. An efficient government of a large empire like that of Vijayanagara for a period of nearly three centuries presupposes, in addition to other things, the existence of some means of communication. In this section we shall see to what extent the Vijayanagara people solved the question of land and water transport.

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The Vijayanagara Empire embraced the lands of the Karṇāṭaka and Tamil peoples; and to neither of these was it a new thing to traverse the seas. The Tamilians were an ancient maritime people whose influence had reached the shores of Sumatra.¹ In the days of Rājēndra I, a great army seems to have been sent across the ocean to Burma.² As regards the people of Karṇāṭaka, the activities of the Vira Baṇajas were so varied and extensive as to justify their claims to have penetrated "into the regions of the six continents" "by land routes and water routes".³ From the Tamilians and the Karṇāṭakas was handed down the impulse to trade with trans-oceanic people in the Vijayanagara age. Water transport in the mediaeval days was regulated by boats, ships, and by the maintenance of a system of ferries and fords.

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¹ Kanakasabhai, *The Tamils 1800 Years Ago*, pp. 11, 38, 185.

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² S. K. Aiyangar, *Ancient India*, p. 130.

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³ E.C., VII, Sk. 118, p. 86. See infra, Volume II, Chapter II, Section on Guilds.

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Evidence as regards the overseas trade in the Vijayanagara times may be gathered both from the accounts of Hindu and foreign writers. According to the *Harivilāsam* of Śrinātha it appears almost certain that Vijayanagra could boast of enterprising traders.⁴ This is corroborated by the remark of 'Abdur Razzāq that Vijayanagara possessed "300 seaports, every one of which is equal to Kālikot (Calicut)"—a port which in the opinion of that same traveller, was populated by bold navigators, and which was one of the greatest shipping centres of the world.⁵ From the inscriptions we can make out that at least in two parts of the Empire the Vijayanagara monarchs maintained fleets. An inscription dated A.D. 1412 speaks of Seṭṭi Gauḍa, who is styled *Navigada-Prabhu* (Lord of Ships), at Maṅgaḷūr (Mangalore).⁶ There is no doubt that in the southern part of the Empire there was a navy. This can be inferred from an inscription dated Śaka 1361 (A.D. 1439-40) which mentions Lakkaṇṇa Daṇṇāyaka Oḍeyar, the *Lord of the Southern Ocean*.⁷ We may suppose that the eastern coast of the Empire was also under the jurisdiction of a high official from the fact of Viraśri Sōvaṇṇa Oḍeyar having been mentioned as the *Lord of the Eastern Ocean* in Śaka 1275 (A.D. 1353-4).⁸

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⁴ S. K. Aiyangar, *The Sources of Vijayanagara History*, pp. 4, 57.

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⁵ Elliot, *Hist. of India*, IV, p. 103.

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⁶ E.C., VIII, Sb. 467, p. 78.

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⁷ 26 of 1913.

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⁸ 500 of 1906.

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But the inscription which gives us positive evidence of an intimate acquaintance of the people with the art of shipbuilding, prior to the advent of the Portuguese, carries us to the year A.D. 1413, when the following was written about the Jaina sages: "May they dwell in my heart—the Tīrthaṅkaras, who taking on board the ship of sacred lore,—possessed of all brilliant jewels, freed from bilge-water (otherwise saving the ignorant), containing cabins of various modes of argument, painted with the lime (or nectar) of the syāt-kāra, and furnished with the high mast of compassion for living creatures—others (found) in the middle of the ocean, of worldly existence—carry them over to the land of immortality".¹ According to Barbosa, however, southern India got its ships built also in the Maldio (Maldive) Islands, where many great ships were made of palm trunks sewn together with threads, having keels and being of great burden. "They also build smaller boats for rowing, like bargantins or fustas; these are the most graceful in the world, right well-built and extremely light".²

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¹ E.C., II, No. 258, p. 116. (Second Ed). The art of building merchant-ships can, as is well known, be dated to the earliest times of Tamil history. B.A.S.

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² Barbosa, Dames, II, pp. 107-8. Cf. Chablani, Economic Conditions, p. 64.

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River transport was a source of revenue to the monarchs. The trade of the people of southern India was retarded to some extent by the rugged beds of the rivers, especially near the capital; nevertheless, it is interesting to note that by means of ferries, fords, and a peculiar type of boat, the Vijayanagara people solved successfully the question of the rivers. They were careful to make the rivers highways of traffic and to remove the impediments presented by them as advised by Śukra.³ In this as well as in other matters, old usuage was allowed to have its own way. The custom of ferrying people across a river with and without a fee was prevalent even in the times of Rājēndra Chōḷa Dēva.⁴ To facilitate free ferrying, fords were sometimes constructed at the royal bidding. Thus in about A.D. 1383 Kumāra Kampaṇa ordered the building of easy fords across the Tuṅgabhadrā.⁵ The ferrymen and their boats, especially near the capital, have figured in the inscriptions and in the accounts of foreigners. A ferryman was called harugola and a boatman ambiga; the peculiar boat of the former was known as harigōlu, and the raft went by the name of teppa.¹ The harigōlu was a coracle or round basket-boat, covered with hides, commonly used in Mysore at the ferries. These round boats are mentioned so late as A.D. 1671 when Keladi Sōmaśēkhara Nāyaka caused to be written, and gave to Harugōl Mudaliṅga and the other boatmen of the Tuṅgabhadrā river, near Simoge, a copper-śāsana as follows: "Whereas you have applied for the grant of an umbali,—so that you may remain under the control of the Simoge fort, and keeping harigōls, ferry across passengers going to and fro, taking money from them, and will when necessity arises provide abundance of harigōls, for the service of the palace—we have granted land to you etc".² This inscription of Sōmaśēkhara Nāyaka enables us to conjecture that the harigōls of Anegundi must also have been under the direct supervision of the governor of Anegundi, since the Tuṅgabhadrā joined that ancient city with the capital at a vulnerable point. Our supposition is strengthened by a lithic record of A.D. 1453 which confirms a grant made to ambigaru,³ and especially by an unpublished inscription dated A.D. 1556 which records that the ferrymen of Anegundi were entitled by royal permission to a fee of one kāśu per head.³

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³ Śukrācharya, Nītisāra, IV, iv. ll. 125-29, p. 166; Sarkar, Pol. Back., I, p. 35.

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⁴ South Indian Ins., III, P. I, p. 15; Arch. S. of W. India, IV, p. 100.

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⁵ My. Arch. Report for 1920, p. 36.

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¹ Rice, My. Ins. p. 26. n.

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² E.C., VII, Sh, 3. p. 4.

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³ My. Arch. Report for 1920, p. 16. I am indebted to Dr. M. H. Krishna, Director of Archaeological Researches, Mysore, for this information, vide his letter dated 13-12-1929.

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What interests us more is the manner in which these curious conveyances are rowed. Paes gives us an account of the purpose to which these round basket-boats were put, and the skill with which they were used. "A captain lives in this city (Anegundi) for the king," says Paes. "People cross to this place by boats which are round like baskets: inside they are made of cane, and outside are covered with leather; they are able to carry fifteen or twenty persons, and even horses and oxen can cross in them if necessary; but for the most part these animals swim across the river. Men row them with a sort of paddle, and the boats are always turning round, as they cannot go straight like others; in all the kingdom where there are streams there are no other boats but these".⁴ That Paes was correct in his supposition that these boats were used in other parts of the kingdom is proved by the remark of Nuniz who, while describing the activities of the Sultan (Muhammad Tughlaq), narrates that that monarch after conquering "Ballagate" (Bālāghāṭ, or the region above the Ghats) passed into "the kingdom of Bisnaga" across "the river of Duree" "in basket boats without finding any one to oppose the passage".¹

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⁴ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 259.

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¹ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, p. 292, also p. 293.

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There is every reason to believe that on the southern and eastern shores the fisher-folk swept the seas with their catamarans, which, however, do not figure prominently in Vijayanagara days. Nevertheless from a letter dated A.D. 1700 from the Jesuit Father Peter Martin we learn that he was met, on his approaching the southern coast, by a fisherman "sitting on a catimaron, or several thick Pieces of Wood fastened together in the Form of a Raft".² These catamarans (kaḷḷumaram) are to be classed with the leppa mentioned above.

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² Lockman, *The Travels of the Jesuits*, I, p. 358.

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In spite of the foregoing observations made by the foreigners and the Hindu stone-masons, our information is inadequate as regards the manner in which the Vijayanagara monarchs dealt with the important question of ocean transport. In fact, it may not be far wrong to state that they failed to handle satisfactorily this vital topic of oceanic trade and maritime activity. The Vijayanagara people were essentially a land people; and to them as well as to their rulers, the problem of land transport seemed of greater significance than that of water transport. What a profound effect this had on the fate of the Hindu Empire can only be understood when we follow the thread of political events that ushered in the maritime powers of the Occident on the southern, eastern and western parts of the peninsula. But in judging the Vijayanagara people due consideration is also to be given to the fact that, lacking as they were in all the modern means of transport, they succeeded in maintaining, according to the standards of the age, a brisk commercial and social life in all parts of their Empire.

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Man and beast enabled them to tackle the problem of trade and travel. Some general notion of travel in those days can be got by contrasting the conditions in Vijayanagara with those prevalent in the times of Harshavardhana.

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The news of the illness of that monarch's father was conveyed to him, while he was in the northern forests, by a man called Kuraṅgaka who approached "with a billet tied in a forehead-wrap of rags of deep indigo hue".¹ Then that prince, Harsha, prepared to march home. "Footmen being sent ahead to secure a relay of villagers to show the best way, he passed the night in the saddle".²

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¹ Bāṇa, Harshacharita, p. 133.

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² Ibid., p. 135.

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In Vijayanagara times speed in travelling was secured by means of relays of Bōyees or palanquin-bearers. Vijaya Rāghava Nāyaka, son of the famous Raghunātha Nāyaka, used to go daily from his palace at Tanjore to the temple of Srīraṅgam which was at a distance of 3 āmaḍa (30 miles). He had fifty changes of Bōyees on the road, and used to start early in the morning at sunrise and return after worshipping the god after 16 ghaḍis (12.24 o'clock).³ But to the average citizens it must have been an age of tedious travelling. Nicolo dei Conti writes that "eight days journey from Bizenegalia (i.e., Vijayanagara)" was the "very noble city of Pelagonda (i.e., Penugoṇḍa)".⁴ According to 'Abdur Razzāq, it took eighteen days to go from the capital to the port of Mangalore.⁵

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³ Aiyangar, The Sources, p. 324.

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⁴ Major, India, p. 7.

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⁵ Elliot, Hist. of India, IV, p. 124.

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This brings us to the question of roads in Vijayanagara. But here again our knowledge is meagre. How far they followed the precepts of the mediaeval Hindu writers like Sukra in the matter of the construction of roads cannot be made out. The assumption is that there must have been good roads, if we are to believe contemporary foreign opinion. Roads are of different width in the Nitisāra of Sukra. The footpaths of a grāma and the mārga or narrow streets of the capital, the rural lanes and the king's highway or rājamārga—all these have been dealt with by that great Hindu writer.⁶ From the accounts of travellers and epigraphical records we are able to gather a little about the existence of these in Vijayanagara. The Russian traveller Nikitin speaks of a road going straight through the town.⁷ Barbosa, as we shall see later on, definitely tells us that the streets and squares were very wide.¹ Paes informs us of "a broad and beautiful street",² while dealing with the outer circles of the capital. Then again while describing the citadels, he writes, that he saw "a very beautiful street of very beautiful houses".³ And he further says that there were thirty-four streets between the House of Victory and the Palace.⁴ One of the roads mentioned by Śukra is the mārga. An inscription dated A.D. 1399 speaks of a mārga.⁵ The streets were named, and in this respect the Vijayanagara monarchs were guided by ancient usage. Thus in the days of Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāṇḍya, according to an inscription dated in the seventeenth year of his reign, a street was called Buvanamuḷudupperunderuvu in the village of Madurāntaka-caturvēdi-maṅgalam.⁶ An equally formidable name of a street in the times of Ariyaṇṇa Uḍaiyar (i.e., Harihara Rāya II) was that of the street Nāṛpatteṇṇāyiraperunderuvu in agaram Tirumaliśai.⁷

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⁶ Sukraniti, I, ll. 520, 523, 530, 532, pp. 34-5; Sarkar, Pos. Back., P. I., p. 78.

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⁷ Major, ibid., p. 29.

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¹ Barbosa, Stanley, p. 85.

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² Sewell, For. Emp., p. 255.

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³ Ibid., p. 260.

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⁴ Ibid., pp. 264-5.

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⁵ E.C., V. P. II, Cn. 175, test, p. 609.

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⁶ 308 of 1909.

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⁷ 21 of 1911.

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The monotony and weariness of travel in those days must have been in a way compensated by the grace and grandeur of the vehicles, some of which, like the palanquin of the Bōyees and the howdah over the elephant, possessed, it must be admitted, a singular charm to the Indian eye. The conveyances, according to Śukra, are the elephant, the camel, the bull and the horse. These he describes as excellent beasts of burden in descending order. Carriages are the best of all conveyances except in the rainy season.⁸ Except these last, the Vijayanagara people were familiar with all the rest, although we may observe that travellers speak of carts as well. Barbosa in A.D. 1514 noted the following about the beasts of burden: "And they carry their goods by means of buffaloes, oxen, asses, and ponies, and do their field work with them".⁹ While speaking of pepper which was imported into the city from Malabar, he says that it was "brought from Malabar on oxen and asses".¹⁰ Both Paes and Nuniz agree with Barbosa on this point. The former says: ". . . the oxen are beasts of burden and are sumpter-mules; these carry all their goods".¹ And the latter remarks, ". . . for all comes from outside on pack-oxen since in this country they always use beasts for burdens . . ."² These animals were also used for the same purpose in the Hoysala times. While describing the greatness of the Vira Baṇaja Dharma, an inscription dated A.D. 1150 says the following: "The Nānā-dēsis enjoying in great comfort, merit, wealth, pleasure and property (the four objects of human desire)", "were also the carriers with asses and buffaloes, adorned with red trappings" of the country's trade.³ Caesar Frederick tells us that people "ride on bullocks with pannels as wee terme them, girts and bridles, and they have a very good commodious pace".⁴

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⁸ Sukraniti, IV, vii, ll. 352-3, p. 234; Sarkar, Pos. Back., I, p. 263.

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⁹ Barbosa, Stanley, p. 85.

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¹⁰ Ibid., p. 86.

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¹ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 238.

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² Ibid., p. 366.

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³ E.C., VII, Sk. 118, pp. 86-7.

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⁴ Caesar Frederick, Purchas, Pilgrims, X, p. 98.

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As regards carts we may note that in about A.D. 1590 Rāja Nāyaka, son of Dēvappa Gauḍa, chief of the Haḍināḍ country, caused two breaches in a tank to be reconstructed by the hands of the cartmen of the Nandyāla country.⁵ The Vira Baṇajas who, as we have seen, penetrated into the regions of the six continents, could "on the moving cart they place their feet" as well as notice "a cart that has been robbed".⁶ The open space in front of the king's palace, according to Paes, was the road where passed "all the carts and conveyances carrying stores and everything else . . ."⁷

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⁵ E.C., IV, Yl. 27, p. 30.

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⁶ E.C., VII, Sk. 118, op. cit.

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⁷ Sewell, ibid., p. 254.

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Horses might not have been so frequently used as beasts of burden because of the fact of their having been imported from Persia and of their great use in the wars. Nevertheless, they were trained in the art of caracoling and prancing, and were held in such high respect that feudatory kings had to take their oath of allegiance on the king's horse. This we gather from Paes. "When the (triumph-al) cars (belonging to the great nobles) have gone out they are immediately followed by many horses covered with trappings and cloths of very fine stuff of the king's colours, and with many roses and flowers on their heads and necks, and with their bridles all gilded; and in front of these horses goes a horse with two state-umbrellas of the king and with grander decorations than the others, and one of the lesser equerries leads it by the bridle. In front of this horse goes another caracoling and prancing, as do all horses here, being trained in that art. You must know that this horse that is conducted with all this state is a horse that the king keeps, and on which they are sworn and received as kings, and on it must be sworn all those that shall come after them; and in case such a horse dies they put another in its place. If any king does not wish to be sworn on horseback, they swear him on an elephant, which they keep and treat with equal dignity."'

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We have already seen something about the elephants in the Vijayanagara times. These animals have always been associated with rank and wealth in India.² Grandiloquent names were given to the howdahs which carried royal personages. Thus that which belonged to Raghunātha Nāyaka of Tanjore, was called Vijayagaruḍādri.³

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² Sukraniti, V. I. 167, p. 268; Sarkar, Pos. Back., I, p. 263.

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³ Raghunāthābhyudayam, Sources, p. 259.

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In addition to the services of the animals mentioned above, those of man were also in great demand. A large population, the exact estimate of which however cannot be gathered; the consequent cheapness of labour; the four-fold divisions of society; the tradition of having a particular class of people to do a particular trade; the rights and privileges which such people enjoyed; and the existence of slavery—these were perhaps some of the reasons why man in those days performed, as he unfortunately does still in some parts of southern India, the work of a beast of burden. The palanquins, most often beautiful in design and costly in value, with their traditional carriers, the Boyees, used by the captains and the rich classes, were the rule of the day. Barbosa tells us how the nobles, who had incurred the king's displeasure, were ordered to present themselves before him. They "have to come immediately: and they come in very rich litters on men's shoulders, and their horses are led by the bridle before them, and many horses go in front of them".⁴ The common people were not allowed the use of this coveted conveyance. "All the captains of this kingdom", according to Nuniz, "make use of litters and palanqueens. These are like biers and men carry them on their shoulders, but people are not allowed to make use of litters unless they are cavaliers of the highest rank, and the captains and principal persons use palanqueens. There are always at the court where the King is twenty thousand litters and palanqueens".¹

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¹ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 272.

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⁴ Barbosa, Stanley, p. 89.

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¹ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 389.

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Foreign travellers, however, were entitled to go in a palanquin. Caesar Frederick thus narrates how with two of the Portuguese he went from the capital to Goa. "At the end of two moneths, I determined to goe for Goa in the company of two other Portuguall Merchants, which were making ready to depart, with two Palanchines or little Litters, which are very commodious for the way, with eight Falchines which are men hired to carry the Palanchines, eight for a palanchine, foure at a time: they carry them as we use to carry Barrowes. And I bought me two Bullocks, one of them to ride on, and the other to carry my victuals and provision, for in that Country men ride on bullocks with pannels, as wee terme them, girts and bridles, and they have a very good commodious pace. From Bezeneger to Goa in Summer it is eight daies journey, but we went in the midst of winter, in the month of July, and were fifteene dayes comming to Ancola on the Sea coast, so in eight dayes I had lost my two Bullocks; for he that carried my victuals was weake and could not goe; the other, when I came unto a River where there was a little bridge to passe over, I put my Bullock to swimming, and in the middest of the River there was a little Iland, unto the which my bullocke went, and finding pasture, there hee remained still, and in no wise we could come unto him: and so perforce, I was forced to leave him; and at that time there was so much raine, and I was forced to goe seven dayes a foot with great paines: and by great chance I met with Falchines by the way, whom I hired to carry my clothes and victuals".²

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² Caesar Frederick, Purchas, Pilgrims, X, p. 98.

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From the account given by Nuniz we suppose there must have been almost an army of palanquin-bearers under the immediate control of the king. Moreover, from the number of palanquins given it is evident that they must have been designed for different purposes. This is confirmed by the History of the Carnalaca Governors which says that in the palace of Tirumala Nāyaka "Further to the east, the palanquin of ceremony, common palanquins, and other conveyances, are kept'.¹ And our assumption about the great number of palanquin-bearers is likewise attested by Paes, who informs us that litters were used to convey the royal ladies, and that "When they wish to go out they are carried in litters shut up and closed, so that they cannot be seen, and all the eunuchs with them, fully three or four hundred; and all other people keep a long distance from them".² The manner in which the royal ladies travelled is also described by Nuniz. "When he (the king) journeys to any place he takes twenty-five or thirty of his most favourite wives, who go with him, each one in her palanqueen with poles. The palanqueen of the principal wife is all covered with scarlet cloth, tasselled with large and heavy work in seed-pearls and pearls, and the pole itself is ornamented with gold. The palanqueens of the other wives are ornamented only with silver, but another palanqueen, which is for his own person, always goes on the right side, and is in the same way decorated with gold. For a son or a daughter, if such an one goes with him, he takes another bedstead of ivory inlaid with gold . . .".³

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¹ Taylor, O.H.MSS., II, p. 157.

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² Sewell, For. Emp., p. 248.

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³ Ibid., p. 370.

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The Bōyees, or the palanquin-bearers,⁴ were paid their wages before starting on a journey. How these simple folk could compensate for their faint-heartedness by their honesty is very well illustrated in the following adventure which befell poor Caesar Frederick in A.D. 1567: "The Winter in those parts of the Indies beginneth the fifteenth of May, and lasteth unto the end of October: and as we were in Ancola, there came another Merchant of Horses in a Palanchine, and two Portuguall Souldiers, which came from Zeilan (Ceylon), and two carriers of Letters, which were Christians borne in the Indies: all these consorted to goe to Goa together, and I determined to go with them; and caused a pallachine to be made for me very poorly of Canes; and in one of them Canes I hid privily all the Jewels I had, and according to the order, I took eight Falchines to carie me: and one day about eleven of the clocke we set forwards on our journey; and about two of the clocke in the afternoone, as we passed a Mountaine which divideth the territorie of Ancola and Dialcan, I being a little behind my company, was assaulted by eight theeves, foure of them had swords and targets, and the other foure had bowes and arrowes. When the Falchines that carried me understood the noise of the assault, they let the Pallachine and me fall to the ground, and ranne away and left me alone, with my clothes wrapped about me: presently the theeves were on my necke and rifling me, they striped me starke naked, and I fained my selfe sicke, because I would not leave the Pallachine; and I had made me a little bed of my clothes: the theeves sought it very narrowly and subtilly, and found two Purses that I had, well bound up together, wherein I had put my copper money which I had changed for foure Pagodies in Ancola. The theeves thinking that it had been so many Ducats of gold, searched me no further: then they threw all my clothes in a bush, and hied them away, and as God would have it, at their departure there fell from them a hankercher, an when I saw it, I rose from my pallanchine or couch, and tooke it up and wrapped it together within my pallanchine. Then these my Falchines were of so good condition, that they returned to seeke me, whereas I thought I should not have found so much goodnesse in them: because they were payed their money aforehand, as is the case, I had thought to have seene them no more. Before there comming I was determined to pluck the Cane wherein my Jewels were hidden, out of my couch, and to have made me a walking staffe to carry in my hand to Goa, thinking that should I have gone thither on foot, but by the faithfulness of my Falchines, I was rid of that trouble, and so in foure dayes they carried me to Goa, in which time I made hard fare, for the theeves left me neither money, gold, nor silver, and that which I did eate was given of my men for Gods sake: and after at my comming to Goa, I payed them for every thing royally that I had of them".¹

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⁴ Francis, Bellary Gazetteer, p. 60.

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¹ Caesar Frederick, Purchas, Pilgrims, X, p. 100.

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In the mediaeval political manual of Sukra, an important link in the chain between the city and the country districts is the rest-house or inn or serai.² There is no evidence to prove that the rest-houses in southern India in mediaeval times were built according to the principles of Sukra between every two grāmas. But there cannot be a doubt that rest-houses existed in those days. We shall have an occasion of describing these which were called chhatras some of which were founded by the nobles, others by the common people. Although some were meant for the use of the poorer class of Brahmans, yet all the people, and especially pilgrims, were fed in them. The rest-houses for the pilgrims were commonly known as choultries. A powerful chief under Veṅkaṭa II by name Dēvalu Pāpa Rāya, with three hundred Brahmans under him, "gave hospitality to the pilgrims who went on, or came from Tripeti (Tirupati)".¹ The ancient city of Madura could boast of the famous New Choultry of Tirumala Nāyaka.² Since most of the Vijayanagara chhatras were under the control of the temples of the villages and towns, and since the central government guided the management of the temples, we presume that the inns must also have been under the supervision of the officers of the king. In fact, these rest-houses owed their existence to the large public charities of the times; and these latter, as an inscription dated A.D. 1462 tells us, were "placed under the protection of the king".³ This was quite in keeping with the principle laid down in the Sukranīti that rest-houses near the grāmas were to be under the administration of the village authorities.⁴ But evidence is lacking about these Vijayanagara rest-houses as regards an interesting point mentioned in the Sukranīti—the subjection of travellers to strict rules and queries at the hands of the officials in charge of the inns.⁵

Linked texts (3)

Harṣacarita — Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Sanskrit
Epigraphia Indica
Epigraphia Carnatica