Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c9.s5.44

v1.c9.s5.44

In the matter of creating these seven lines of defence, the Vijayanagara monarchs followed the classical model. It is well known that the number seven has attracted universal attention in the east. "For an explanation or 'philosophy' of this doctrine we may hazard a hypothesis. Perhaps it is to be sought in the Theory of Mystic Numbers like three, seven, nine, etc., which had its day in both eastern and western thought. So far as seven is concerned, in India we have the seven Rishis, the seven mouths or tongues of Fire, the seven Kulaparvatas or mountains, the seven Rivers, the seven Planets or grahas, the seven Heavens, the seven Seas (salt, curd, milk, etc.), the constellation of seven Stars called saptarsimandala. . .".¹ From the political standpoint the number seven has received a classical sanction since the days of the Mahābhārata. The seven prakṛitis known to the people of the epics are explained by Nilakaṇṭha as referring to "the Commandant of the citadel (Durga-adhyaksha), Controller-general of the army (Bala-adhyaksha), Chief Justice (Dharma-adhyaksha), Commander of the army in the field (Chamū-pati), Chaplain, Physician and Astrologer".² Reverting to the topic of the gates of the capital, we may note the following in the Arthaśāstra. "The fort shall contain twelve gates, provided with both a land and water way kept and a secret passage".³ Although we are unable to determine the exact number of gates which the capital had,⁴ and its secret land and water ways, yet we may observe that in limiting their lines of defence to seven, they were not ignorant of the significance which that number had in Hindu classical thought.