Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c20.s3.41

v2.c20.s3.41

Kauṭilya's injunctions help us to understand the state of affairs in Vijayanagara. But before we cite the evidence of foreign travellers about this question, we may note that the institution of public women had already become permanent in southern India long before the times of the Vijayanagara kings. Mahādēva, the general of the Western Chāḷukya king Vikramāditya VI, in A.D. 1112, raised a sanctuary to the god Chandaḷēśvara in memory of his mother Chandrikādēvi, to which he added to residence of public women.⁴ Turning to Vijayanagara we find that the capital was a great centre of courtezans. Abdur Razzāq describes their quarters in detail. "Opposite the mint is the Office of the Prefect of the City, to which it is said 12,000 policemen are attached; and their pay, which equals each day 12,000 fanams, is derived from the proceeds of the brothels. The splendour of those houses, the beauty of the heart-ravishers, their blandishments and ogles, are beyond all description. It is best to be brief on the matter.