A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c17.64

c17.64

Nuniz, who spent some time in Achyuta Rāya's court, affirms that the new king gave himself over to vice and tyranny, that he lacked honesty and courage, and that the people and captains of the kingdom were much discontented with his evil life and inclinations. Achyuta does not, in fact, appear to have been such a bad monarch. He was specially chosen by Krishnadeva for the succession in preference to his infant son who was only eighteen months old. Yet it cannot be denied that his position was difficult at the time of his accession (1529). The infant son of Krishna Rāya was proclaimed king by Rāma Rāya; but Rāma's attempt to seize power in the name of the infant was foiled by Sāluva Vira Narasimha who kept the throne vacant for Achyuta till he could come up from Chandragiri where he had been confined by Krishnadeva Rāya, along with other princes of the family, in order to secure the peace of the realm. On his way to Vijayanagar, Achyuta Rāya held two coronations, one at Tirupati and the other at Kalahasti, in an attempt to forestall Rāma Rāya's efforts to enthrone another king.