A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c14.147

c14.147

The position of these seven walls and gates have long been a puzzle to me, but I hazard the following explanation. The traveller approached from the south-west, and the first line of wall that he saw must have been that on the neck between the two hills south-west of Hospett. Paes also describes this outer defence-work as that seen by all travellers on their first arrival from the coast. After being received at this entrance-gate Razzâk must have passed down the slope through "cultivated fields, houses, and gardens" to the entrance of Hospett, where the second line of fortification barred the way; and since that town was not then thickly populated, the same features would meet his eye till he passed a third line of wall on the north side of that town. From this point the houses became thicker, probably forming a long street, with shops on either side of the road, leading thence to the capital. The fourth line of wall, with a strong gateway, is to be seen on the south of the present village of Malpanagudi, where several remains of old buildings exist; and notably a handsome stone well, once probably belonging to the country-house of some noble or chief officer. The fifth line is on the north of Malpanagudi, and here the great gateway still stands, though the wall is much damaged and destroyed. The sixth line is passed just to the south of the Kâmalâpur tank. The seventh or inner line is the great wall still to be seen in fairly good repair north of that village. This last surrounded the palace and the government buildings, the space enclosed measuring roughly a mile from north to south, and two miles and a quarter from east to west. The remains of the upright stones alluded to by Razzâk were seen by Domingo Paes in A.D. 1520.¹ I believe that they have now disappeared.