Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c24.s2.101

v2.c24.s2.101

We have given instances to prove that in the last years of the Hoysalas the people clearly indicated that they could unite for a common purpose by giving endowments in company with the officials of the Government. This was specially noticeable in the year A. D. 1342. That the earliest traditions continued to influence the minds of the people under Vijayanagara is proved by an inscription dated A. D. 1347. This informs us that the inhabitants of Ambaḍakki-dāḍu including Pāppiśiyyar and others (named), and the Mahāsāvantādhipati Mañjeya Nāyaka's son Aṅkaya Nāyaka, granted to Kēttiśiyar, son of Vayiriśiyar, as a kuḍaṅgai, all the dry and wet lands belonging to Dāśayanpaḷḷi of their nāḍu. The concluding lines of the same epigraph prove that there was unanimity of opinion about the grant. "This is the signature of the nāḍu Seṭṭiśvara-dēvar. This is the signature of Nāyakkar-Śrī Allāḷanātha. This is the signature of Āneyappan Ādimūlam. This is the signature of Nilappan, the accountant of the nāḍu."³ Another record dated A. D. 1348 deals with the grant of the Koḍigehaḷḷi to Bairi Seṭṭi's son Kariya Nāyaka by the Mahāsāmantādhipati Mayileya Nāyaka, the great Eḷahaṅka-nāḍ prabhu Bairi Dēva and others (named) together with all the farmers, as a permanent endowment.¹ In A. D. 1351 the Kaluvali-nāḍ prabhu Tāḷavāḍi Bammaṇṇa, Gaṅgavāḍi Mādaṇṇa and many others (named), together with all the subjects and farmers, granted to the Mahāsāmantādhipati (with other titles) Mayileya Nāyaka's younger brother Chennaya Nāyaka, as a koḍage, Vayijūr in their own nāḍu.²