Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s3.t2.7.1

v2.c18.s3.t2.7.1

There is one more consideration against Barbosa. From his description of the sati performed by the wives and queens of the Vijayanagara king, it appears that he witnessed personally one of those sad events. For he gives us the number of women who died with the king—four or five hundred; he speaks of the great pit and huge fire that was lit in it; and he says that "Some of these women throw themselves in suddenly while the king is burning, others with the ceremonies I have just described, and such is the rush as to who shall be burnt with him that it is a frightful thing". Now, we may be permitted to repeat one or two statements we made while describing the country in general. Duarte Barbosa "was in the service of the Portuguese Government in India from about 1500 till about 1516 or 1517".³ He gives us no date in his own writings,⁴ and it is difficult, if not impossible, to find out when he was in Vijayanagara. We know that his book was completed in A.D. 1517-18.⁵ Between the years when he is said to have visited India, two Vijayanagara monarchs had died—Sāḷuva Nṛisiṁha (A.D. 1496-1506) and Vīra Narasiṁha (A.D. 1504-9). The fact that Barbosa has not a word to say about either of these monarchs suggests that he may not have visited Vijayanagara till after the death of Vīra Narasiṁha in A.D. 1509. This supposition of ours is borne out by the statement of Barbosa about the wars which the ruler of Vijayanagara waged against the neighbouring states.