Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c23.s2.5

v2.c23.s2.5

Foreign travellers were interested also in the garments worn by the monarch. Varthema says: "The king wears a cap of gold brocade two spans long, and when he goes to war he wears a quilted dress of cotton, and over it he puts another garment full of golden piastres, and having all around it jewels of various kinds."² Paes gives many details about the personality of the great ruler Kṛṣṇa Dēva Rāya,³ and also about the dress he wore when he received foreign ambassadors. "The king was clothed in certain white cloths embroidered with many roses in gold, and a pateca of diamonds on his neck of very great value, and on his head he had a cap of brocade in fashion like a Galician helmet, covered with a piece of fine stuff all of fine silk, and he was barefooted..."⁴