Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c9.s5.86

v1.c9.s5.86

We shall take the first assertion about the desertion of the Hindu Emperor. Ali 'Adil Shāh took over the command of the right wing to oppose Veṅkaṭādri, the left was entrusted to Ibrāhīm Qutb Shāh and Ali Barid Shāh, in front of Tirumala's wing, while the centre was led by Husain Nizām Shāh.² The Hindu leader, "the so-called Emperor of Vijayanagara was then a very old man : according to Ferishta he was seventy; the *Burhān-i-Ma'āṣir* says he was eighty; but the Portuguese authors who seem more reliable on this point, on account of their frequent intercourse with the court of Vijayanagara, state that he was in the 96th year of his age".³ "Before the battle, Tirumala and Venkatadri tried to persuade their aged brother Rama Raya to leave the superintendence of the army to them. His advanced years made his position precarious in battle. But Rama Raya could not be induced to change his mind; and with the valour of a man of thirty, he despatched them back to their respective wings".⁴ The gallant Hindu leader with his brave body-guard, which was, according to Heras, composed of the Rachevāḍu soldiers,¹ "almost defeated his enemies",² when there "was a movement in the Hindu army that decided the fate of the day".³