Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c8.s4.30

v1.c8.s4.30

There were prosperous cities in Tuḷuva besides Maṅgalūr. The chief among them was Saṅgitapura, also named Hāḍuhaḷḷi. An inscription dated A.D. 1488 sings its praise thus: ". . . the abode of fortune, having splendid chaityālayas, a place of descent in the female line, inhabited by happy, generous, and pleasure-loving people, filled with elephants, horses, and powerful warriors, resplendent with lofty mansions is Saṅgitapura, worthy of all praise. With bands of clever persons, poets, disputers, orators, and declaimers, a place for the production of elegant literature, renowned for all the fine arts, was Saṅgitapura".¹ That this was no "conventional bombast" which the engraver wrote will be evident when we shall see something about the literary activities of the times.