Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c9.s2.145

v1.c9.s2.145

Here we may incidentally note the connection between the founders of the Hindu Empire and the great pontificate of Śringēri. This brings us to the question whether one can accept the conclusions of Rice as valid. He writes on this point thus: "Though the establishment of the capital is attributed to Harihara, and his naming it Vidyānagarī after Vidyāraṇya Śrīpāda (Cd. 46), the building of the city and the transformation of its name to Vijayanagari, or city of victory, are said to have been the work of Bukka-Rāya (Cn. 256)".¹ It must be evident to the reader that the fact of Bukka I having *built* the city cannot be disputed, and that that monarch did not *transform* the name of the city from Vidyānagarī to Vijayanagarī. The idea of the transformation of the name presupposes the existence of the same capital under a different name. About this point one may emphatically deny that Vijayanagara existed under a more ancient name, especially when one realizes the fact that Anegundi, which must have been the last capital which the founders exchanged for the new city, has always been distinctly mentioned in inscriptions, as we shall see presently, to be near but not the same as Vijayanagara proper. The misconception about the existence of Vijayanagara under a different designation is due to the credence that is given to the legend of Harihara and Vidyāraṇya. The assertion of Rice that the city of Vijayanagara was built in A.D. 1336 by Harihara with the aid of Vidyāraṇya Śrīpāda is based on the later inscription of A.D. 1652.² Apart from this, the question of the royal preceptors of the founders demolishes the theory of Vidyāraṇya ever having helped Harihara in building the capital,³ although it cannot be maintained that they were not indebted to the munificence and guidance of the Śringēri gurus. Krivāśakti Āchārya,, as remarked in an earlier connection, was the first royal priest of the sons of Saṅgama. This is proved by epigraphical records and by the poetess Gaṅgādēvī. 'An inscription dated A.D. 1378 says: "Virūpāksa himself as the supreme deity of his family, Kriyāsakty-āchārya as his family guru, and the minister able in protecting and punishing, did he (Harihara II) inherit, along with the same city".¹ Gaṅgādēvī substantiates this in the following words: