Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c9.s2.91

v1.c9.s2.91

Our suspicions are heightened when we make a further examination of "Gd. 46" in the light of the evidence supplied by two more records in which the name of Nāga Dēva figures. Before we cite the evidence from these, we may note in passing that the date of "Gd. 46" has been questioned. Mr. Rice says: "This (i.e., the date) is given as the Saka year rasa bhū-nayana indu (=1216), the year Tāraṇa. But this does not fall within Bukka's reign, during which there was no Tāraṇa. Hence Sādhāraṇa, Saka 1292, expired, has been conjecturally taken".¹ In addition to this chronological difficulty, we have that of reconciling the evidence given both in "Mb. 158" and repeated in "Gd. 46" with that mentioned in "Tp. 9"² and "Tl. 202"³, about the important details in connection with the king and the composer. In the genealogy as given in "Mb. 158" and "Gd. 46" we have the name of Bukka, the progenitor of Saṅgama, who was the father of the five brothers. The name of Bukka is not corroborated by any of the authentic inscriptions of the founders of Vijayanagara who were always content to trace their lineage to Saṅgama. Admitting that these two inscriptions, "Mb. 158" and "Gd. 46", are unique in this respect, it is strange that Nāga Dēva, who engraved all the four copper-plate grants, "Mb. 158", "Gd. 46", "Tp. 9" and "Tl. 202", and who,—if it is true that he lived from A.D. 1344 till A.D. 1397, -must have been thoroughly acquainted with the pedigree of the monarchs, does not mention the name of Bukka, the progenitor of Saṅgama. Moreover, the details given about the composer, Mallaṇārādhya, in "Mb. 158" and "Gd. 46" on the one hand, and in "Tp. 9" on the other, do not agree. In the two former he is called Koṭidēvārādhya's son, Mallaṇārādhya. But in "Tp. 9" he is called Kōṭidēvārādhya's elder brother, Mallaṇārādhya.