Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c20.s3.67

v2.c20.s3.67

vation the statement of Dr. Vincent Smith that the presence of the public women was essential in the court ceremonials of Vijayanagara. This does not invalidate the assertion we have made that the existence of a large number of prostitutes in the capital reflects sadly on the morality of the people, and, to a slight extent, on the nature of the Government itself. The fact that the State maintained a large police force on the earnings of the public-women suggests that the Vijayanagara rulers may have had the injunctions of Kauṭilya before them. But we cannot maintain that they consciously followed the regulations of the *Arthaśāstra* as regards patronizing public women only for the sake of political purposes.