Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c9.s5.73

v1.c9.s5.73

There was one other source which was also responsible for the immense wealth of the citizens and kings of Vijayanagara. The mines in the Empire gave them a plentiful supply of gold and precious stones. It is true that our knowledge at present of the exact location, number and yield of the gold mines in the Vijayanagara Empire is extremely meagre. But there is no denying the fact that the people of Vijayanagara were aware of mines of gold and precious stones and that they worked them. The fact that the capital was built amidst hills is to be noted in this connection. According to the Hindu writers, the mountains and hills are the repositories of gems; and the capital, as we have seen, as laid down in the *Sukraniti*, was to be near a mountain. But it is not the observance of this mediaeval principle which explains the wealth of the capital so much as the profit which the monarchs made by working the mines inside the limits of the Empire.¹ Even the wilful destruction of diamonds as narrated in the following sad story of Tirumala Rāya could not empty the city of its rich contents: