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A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c16: Chapter IX. The First Kings of the Second Dynasty (A.D. 1490 to 1509)

A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c16

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English

Contents

Chapter IX. The First Kings of the Second Dynasty (A.D. 1490 to 1509)

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THE FIRST KINGS OF THE SECOND DYNASTY

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Narasimha usurps the throne—Flight of the late king—Sâluva Timma—Vîra Narasimha—Bîjapûr again attacks Vijayanagar—The Portuguese in India—They seize Goa—Varthema’s record—Albuquerque.

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IN my “Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India,” published in 1883 (p. 106), the following passage occurs :—

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“We now come to the second or Narasimha dynasty, whose scions became more powerful than any monarchs who had ever reigned over the south of India. Dr. Burnell fixes A.D. 1490 as the initial date of Narasimha’s reign, and at present no inscription that I can be sure of appears to overthrow that statement. I observe, however, that Bishop Caldwell, in his ‘History of Tinnevelly’ (p. 48), fixes the date of the beginning of Narasimha’s . . . reign as A.D. 1487. . . . We have yet to learn the history of his acquiring the sovereignty of Vijayanagar and ousting the older dynasty.”

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Nothing has since transpired to throw light on this subject, and the whole matter has remained up to the present in its primeval darkness; but this newly-found chronicle of Nuniz gives us the entire story in most interesting form, though I can by no means vouch for its accuracy. It is, nevertheless, a *résumé* of the traditional history of the early sixteenth century, written within fifty or sixty years of the events with which it deals. He tells us that Virûpâksha Râya (“Verupacarao”) was a weak and unworthy sovereign, in whose days large tracts of land were lost to the Muhammadans, including Goa, Chaul, and Dabhôl; and this statement, at least, is historically accurate. Virûpâksha was despotic, cruel, and sensuous, “caring for nothing but women and to fuddle himself with drink,” so that the whole country was roused to indignation and rebellion. Eventually he was murdered by his eldest son, who in his turn was slain by his brother “Padearao,” in whom the nation merely found repeated the crimes and follies of his dead sire. Disgusted with this line of sovereigns, the nobles rose, deposed their king, and placed on the throne one of their own number, Narasimha—“Narsymgua, *who was in some manner akin to him.*”

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Nuniz gives us a graphic account of the last scenes; how Narasimha’s captain arrived at the city gates and found them undefended; how he penetrated the palace and found no one to oppose him; how he even went as far as the harem, “slaying some of the women;” and how at last the craven king fled.

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“After that, Narsymgua was raised to be king. . . . And as he had much power and was beloved by the people, thenceforward this kingdom of Bisnaga was called the kingdom of Narsymga.”

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The problem of Narasimha’s relationship to the old royal line has never yet been satisfactorily solved. He belonged to a family called Sâluva, and we constantly hear, in the inscriptions and literary works of the time, of powerful lords who were relations or descendants of his. Thus our chronicle has much to say about the Sâluva Timma, whom Nuniz calls “Salvatinea,” who was minister to King Krishna Deva Râya. An inscription of the Saka year 1395, which corresponds to A.D. 1472-73, speaks of Narasimha as a great lord, but a great lord *only*,¹ and so does another of A.D. 1482-83.²

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¹ Mahâmandalesvara Medinîsvara Gandan Kattâri Sâluva Dharanivarâha Narasimha Râya Udaiyar. These are not the titles of a sovereign. (Hultzsch, “South Indian Inscriptions,” i. 131, No. 116).

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² Op. cit., p. 132, No. 119.

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In one of A.D. 1495–96, however,¹ he is called “Mahâ-Râya,” or the “king.” But although the exact date of the usurpation and the exact relationship of the usurper to the deposed king may be difficult to ascertain, the fact remains that Narasimha actually became sovereign about this time, that Muhammadan aggression was stayed by his power and the force of his arms, and that the empire of Vijayanagar was under him once more consolidated.

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¹ *Op. cit.*, p. 131.

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The account of this period as given by Firishtah differs altogether from that of Nuniz, and gives rise to much confusion and difficulty. And as to the relationship of the succeeding sovereigns, Narasa, Vira Narasimha, Krishna Deva Râya, Achyuta, and Sadâsiva, the native inscriptions themselves are totally at variance with one another. Some few points, however, in the general scheme of history of the second dynasty are quite certain, and these may be shortly summarised. The last kings of the first dynasty were recognised down to about the year 1490 A.D. Narasimha and Vira Narasimha ruled till the accession of Krishna Deva Râya in 1509; Achyuta succeeded Krishna in 1530, and Sadâsiva succeeded Achyuta in 1542. The latter was virtually a prisoner in the hands of Râma Râya, the eldest of three brothers, at first nominally his minister, but afterwards independent. The names of the other brothers were Tirumala and Venkatâdri. These three men held the government of the kingdom till 1565, when the empire was utterly overthrown by a confederation of the five Muhammadan kings of the Dakhan, already mentioned, at the battle of Talikota—so-called—and the magnificent capital was almost wiped out of existence.

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With these few facts to guide us, we turn to the chronicles of Nuniz and Firishtah, trying in vain to obtain some points of contact between them as to the origin of the second dynasty—some clue which will enable us to reconcile differences and arrive at the real truth. If we are to be guided purely by probabilities, it would seem that the history given by Nuniz is likely to be the more accurate of the two. His chronicle was written about the year 1535, during the reign of Achyuta; he lived at the Hindu capital itself, and he gained his information from Hindu sources not long subsequent to the events related. Firishtah did not write till about A.D. 1607, was not in any sense a contemporary recorder, and did not live amongst the Hindus, but at the court of Nizâm Shâh at Ahmadnagar. The lengths of reigns, however, as given by Nuniz do not tally with the dates which we obtain from sources undoubtedly reliable.

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Nuniz has it that Virûpâksha’s son “Padearao,” the last of the old line, fled from the capital when the usurper Narasimha seized the throne; that the latter reigned forty-four years, and died leaving two sons. These youths being too young to govern, the dying king intrusted the kingdom to his minister, Narasa Naik, and both the princes were murdered. Narasa seized the throne, and held it till his death. The length of his reign is not given. His son, “Busbalrao” (? Basava Râya), succeeded, and reigned six years, being succeeded by his brother, the great Krishna Deva Râya. Now we know that Krishna Deva Râya began to reign in A.D. 1509. This gives 1503 for the date of the accession of his predecessor, “Busbal.” If we allow five years for the reign of Narasa—a pure guess—we have his accession in 1498 A.D., and the forty-four years of Narasimha would begin in A.D. 1454; but this would apparently coincide with the reign of Mallikârjuna, son of Deva Râya II. It is perhaps possible that in after years the usurper Narasimha’s reign was measured by the Hindus from the time when he began to attain power as minister or as a great noble, and not from the date when he actually became king; but this is pure conjecture.

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Firishtah mentions a certain “Sewaroy” as being râja of Vijayanagar in 1482, shortly before the death of Muhammad Shâh Bahmanî. Speaking of the new sovereign of Bîjapûr, the first of the Âdil Shâhs, in 1489, the historian tells us that the Âdil’s rival, Kâsim Barîd, asked the then minister of Vijayanagar for aid against the rising power of his enemy;¹ and that “the Roy being a child, his minister, Heemraaje,² sent an army” and seized the country as far as Mudkal and Raichûr. This occurred in A.H. 895, which embraces the period from November 1489 to November 1490. “Heemraaje,” therefore, is probably for Simha or Narasimha Râja, or perhaps for Narasa, otherwise called Vîra Narasimha.

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¹ Scott’s “Firishtah,” i. pp. 190, 210; Briggs, ii. 537, iii. 10.

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² Briggs calls him “Timraj” (ii. 538) in all cases, whence I conclude that in this passage Scott’s “Ramraaje” is a slip of the pen. It does not occur again. The former translator in the second of the two passages calls “Timraj” the general of the Roy of Beejanuggur.

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Firishtah also gives another account of the same event. According to this, the Âdil Shah, hearing of dissensions in the Hindu capital, marched, apparently in 1493, against Raichûr, when Heemraaje, having settled these dissensions, advanced “with the young Râya” to that city. A battle ensued, in which Heemraaje was defeated; and the young king being mortally wounded, and dying before he reached home, Heemraaje seized the government and the country.

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There are, furthermore, two other passages in Firishtah dealing with the overthrow of the old dynasty and the accession of “Heemraaje.” One³ runs as follows:—

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³ Scott, i. p. 228.

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“Heemraaje was the first usurper. He had poisoned the young Raja of Beejanuggur, son of Sheoroy, and made his infant brother a tool to his designs, by degrees overthrowing the ancient nobility, and at length establishing his own absolute authority over the kingdom.”

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The other¹ states :—

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¹ Scott, i. p. 262.

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“The government of Beejanuggur had remained in one family, in uninterrupted succession, for seven hundred years, when Seoroy dying, was succeeded by his son, a minor, who did not live long after him, and left the throne to a younger brother. He also had not long gathered the flowers of enjoyment from the garden of royalty before the cruel skies, proving their inconstancy, burned up the earth of his existence with the blasting wind of annihilation.² Being succeeded by an infant only three months old, Heemraaje, one of the principal ministers of the family, celebrated for great wisdom and experience, became sole regent, and was cheerfully obeyed by all the nobility and vassals of the kingdom for forty years; though, on the arrival of the young king at manhood, he had poisoned him, and put an infant of the family on the throne, in order to have a pretence for keeping the regency in his own hands.³ Heemraaje at his death was succeeded in office by his son, Ramraaje, who having married a daughter of the son of Seoroy, by that alliance greatly added to his influence and power.”

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² This is very similar to the story told by Nuniz of the two sons of Virûpâksha.

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³ This again is similar to the tale Nuniz gives us of the minister Narasa and the two young princes.

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He then proceeds to describe an event that took place in 1535 or thereabouts, which will be considered in its place.

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Writing of the events of the year 1530,⁴ we find Firishtah stating that the affairs of Vijayanagar were then in confusion owing to the death of Heemraaje, who was newly succeeded by his son Ramraaje. And this passage helps us definitely to the conclusion that his Heemraaje, or Timma Râja, was the Muhammadan name for the ruler of the state during the reigns of Narasimha, Narasa or Vira Narasimha, and Krishna Deva Râya, the latter of whom died in 1530. Firishtah seems to have confused Narasa's and Krishna Deva Râya's powerful minister, Sâluva Timma, with Narasimha and Narasa, and made all three one person. "Ramraaje" is mentioned as king by Firishtah from the accession of Achyuta in 1530 down to the year 1565.

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⁴ Scott, i. p. 252 ; Briggs, iii. 66.

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Though names and details differ, it will be observed that there is evidently a common basis of truth in the accounts given by Firishtah and Nuniz. Both relate the deaths of two young princes, brothers, the subsequent murder of two other heirs to the kingdom, and the usurpation of the throne by a minister.

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With these remarks we turn to the more reliable portion of Firishtah's narrative.

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Yusuf Adil Khân proclaimed himself independent king of Bîjapûr in A.D. 1489. Shortly afterwards his rival, Kâsim Barîd, who ultimately became sovereign of the territories of Ahmadâbâd, in a fit of jealousy called in the aid of Vijayanagar against Bîjapûr, promising for reward the cession of Mudkal and Raichûr, or the country between the two rivers. Narasimha collected the forces of the Hindus, crossed the Tungabhadrâ with a large army, and after laying waste the country seized the two cities Mudkal and Raichûr, which thus once more passed into the possession of Vijayanagar.

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Shortly after this, probably about the year 1493 A.D., Sultan Yusuf Adil again marched to recover the lost territory and advanced to the Krishna, but falling ill he halted for two months; and Firishtah gives us the following account of what occurred. This has been already alluded to, but is now given in full :- “In this interval Heemraaje, having settled his dissensions,¹ advanced with the young roy at the head of a great army to Roijore, which struck terror into the army of Adil Shaw, for whose recovery earnest prayers were offered up by his subjects.” . . . (The prayers were answered and the Sultan recovered.)

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¹ Firishtah has told us in a previous paragraph that “dissensions prevailed in Beejanuggur.”

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“Intelligence arriving that Heemraaje had crossed the Tummedra and was advancing by hasty marches, Eusuff Adil Shaw ordered a general review of his army . . . (and advanced, entrenching his camp a short distance from the Hindus). Several days passed inactively, till on Saturday in Regib 898² both armies drew out, and in the beginning of the action near five hundred of Adil Shaw’s troops being slain, the rest were disordered and fell back, but were rallied again by the sultan. One of the officers, who had been taken prisoner and made his escape, observed that the enemy were busily employed in plunder, and might be attacked with advantage. The sultan relished this advice and proceeded; when Heemraaje, not having time to collect his whole army, drew out with seven thousand horse and a considerable number of foot, also three hundred elephants. Adil Shaw charged his center with such fury, that Heemraaje was unable to stand the shock. Victory waved the royal standard, and the infidels fled, leaving two hundred elephants, a thousand horses, and sixty lacs of oons,³ with many jewels and effects, to the conquerors. Heemraaje and the young roy fled to Beejanuggur, but the latter died on the road of a wound he had received by an arrow in the action. Heemraaje seized the government of the country; but some of the principal nobility opposing his usurpation, dissensions broke out, which gave Adil Shaw relief from war for some time from that quarter.”

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² April A.D. 1493.

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³ Scott’s note to this is “about one million eight hundred thousand pounds sterling.” Briggs (iii. p. 13) says two millions.

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The disputed territory between the two rivers once more passed into the hands of the Muhammadans. Goa also remained in the Bijapûr Sultan’s possession.

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The last historical event in the reign of Yusuf Âdil Shâh of Bîjapûr, as narrated by Firishtah, is as follows:—

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“In the year 915,¹ the Christians surprised the town of Goa, and put to death the governor with many mussulmauns. Upon intelligence of which, Adil Shaw, with three thousand chosen men, Dekkanees and foreigners, marched with such expedition, that he came upon the Europeans unawares, retook the fort, and put many to death; but some made their escape in their ships out to sea.”

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¹ April 1509 to April 1510.

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These Christians were the Portuguese under Albuquerque, and the date of their entry into Goa was March 1, A.D. 1510.

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At this period there was a complete change in the *personnel* of the chief actors on our Indian stage. Ahmad Nizâm Shâh, who had declared himself independent at Ahmadnagar in A.D. 1490, died in 1508, and was succeeded by his son, a boy of seven years of age named Burhân, with whom the traveller Garcia da Orta² afterwards became very friendly. Da Orta calls him “my friend.”³ Yusuf Âdil Shâh died in A.D. 1510, and his successor on the throne of Bîjapûr was his son Ismâil. Krishna Deva Râya became Râya of Vijayanagar in 1509. The two last-mentioned monarchs were frequently in contact with one another, and in the end, according to our chronicles, the Hindu king was completely victorious. Even Firishtah admits that he dealt Ismâil a crushing blow at the great battle of Raichûr, a full description of which is given by Nuniz.

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² Da Orta was at Vijayanagar in 1534, at the same time as our chronicler Nuniz.

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³ Colloq., x.

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But before dealing with the history of the reign of Krishna Deva Râya it is necessary that we should learn how it came about that these Portuguese Christians who seized Goa came to be living in India, and some of them even resident at the Hindu capital.

The Portuguese Arrive in India

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King John of Portugal had acquired some knowledge of India in A.D. 1484, and after causing inquiries to be made as to the possibility of discovering the rich and interesting country in the Far East, had begun to fit out three ships, but he died before they were ready. His successor, Dom Manuel, took up the matter warmly, and sent these ships out under Vasco da Gama and his brother Paulo, with orders to try and double the Cape of Good Hope. The full account of the extraordinary voyage made by them is given in the “Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama,” translated and published in the Hakluyt edition; being a translation of certain portions of Correa’s *Lendas da India*. Da Gama sailed on July 8, A.D. 1497, and arrived close to Calicut on August 26, 1498.¹ The Samuri, or king, of Calicut was at first friendly, but there were misunderstandings on the part of the Portuguese, and they made little or no progress either in trade or in establishing amicable relations with the Hindus. Da Gama returned shortly after to Portugal. Early in 1500 A.D. Cabral took out another and larger fleet, and arrived at Calicut on September 13th. He at once quarrelled with the Samuri, and instead of peaceful commerce we read of attacks and counter-attacks conducted in such sort by the Portuguese as irretrievably to alienate the natives of the country. A few Europeans, however, settled in that tract, and amongst them Duarte Barbosa, the celebrated chronicler of the time.

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¹ May 20th, according to Barros.

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Da Gama returned to India in 1504, proclaiming the king of Portugal lord of the seas, and wantonly destroying with all hands a large vessel having several hundred people on board near the Indian coast. He reached Calicut on October 29th, and immediately bombarded the city, seizing the inoffensive native fishermen in the port, eight hundred of whom he massacred in cold blood under circumstances of brutal atrocity. In 1503 he again left for Europe, after establishing a factory at Cochin. In consequence of his violence a war ensued between Cochin and Calicut. In 1504 Lopo Soares came out with a fleet of fourteen caravels, and proclaimed a blockade of the port of Cochin, in spite of the fact that the Râjah of that place had always shown great kindness and hospitality to the Portuguese.

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The next year, 1505, Almeida was appointed viceroy of the king of Portugal on the Indian coast, and took out with him a large fleet and 1500 soldiers. After some preliminary fighting at Honawar, Almeida began for the first time to perceive that the true interests of the Portuguese lay in peaceful commerce, and not in sanguinary and costly attacks on the natives; and he also learned from an influential native of the existence of the great kingdom of Vijayanagar and the power of its king, Narasimha (or Narasa). At Cannanore the viceroy's son, Lourenço, in 1506, received further information as to the state of the country from the Italian traveller Varthema, and in consequence of this Almeida asked King Narasa to allow him to erect a fortress at Bhatkal, but no answer was returned.

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Varthema has left behind him a valuable account of his experiences¹ at this period. He speaks of Goa as being then under the "Savain," which is this writer's form of expressing the ruler known to the Portuguese as the “Sabayo,”¹ who was the governor of the place under the Âdil Shâh of Bîjapûr. The Sabayo was then at war with Narasimha of Vijayanagar.

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¹ Published by the Hakluyt Society in English.

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¹ The origin of the name “Sabayo” has often been discussed, and never, I think, quite satisfactorily explained. Several of the old writers have exercised their ingenuity on the question. Barros (Dec. II. l. v. cap. 1) writes: “Ao tempo que nos entramos na India, era Senhor desta Cidade Goa hum mouro per nome Soai, capitao d’el Rey do Decan, a que communamente chamamos Sabayo”—“When we arrived in India, the lord of this city of Goa was a Moor, by name Soai, captain of the king of the Dakhan, whom we commonly call Sabayo.” But Barros must not always be depended upon for Indian names. He explains “Sabayo” as derived from Saba or Sava—“Persian,” and says that the Sabayo’s son was Âdil Shâh. Garcia da Orta derives it from Sahib. Burton (Lusiads, iii. p. 290) thinks it was a corruption of Sipahdar or “military governor.”

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He describes Vijayanagar as a great city, “very large and strongly walled. It is situated on the side of a mountain,² and is seven miles in circumference. It has a triple circlet of walls.” It was very wealthy and well supplied, situated on a beautiful site, and enjoying an excellent climate. The king “keeps up constantly 40,000 horsemen” and 400 elephants. The elephants each carry six men, and have long swords fastened to their trunks in battle—a description which agrees with that of Nikitin and Paes. “The common people go quite naked, with the exception of a piece of cloth about their middle. The king wears a cap of gold brocade two spans long. . . . His horse is worth more than some of our cities on account of the ornaments which it wears.”³ Calicut, he says, was ruined in consequence of its wars with the Portuguese.

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² I have not seen the original, and suspect an error of translation here.

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³ Compare the account given by Paes as to this horse, which he saw at the Mahânavamî festival, and at the review which followed (pp. 272, 278 below).

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Varthema saw forty-eight Portuguese traders massacred at Calicut by the “Moors,” and in consequence of the dangerous state of things existing there he left the city and pursued his journey southwards round the coast. Here we may leave him.

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In March 1506 a Portuguese fleet destroyed, with immense loss of life, a large flotilla of small boats belonging to the Râjah of Calicut. In the next year an outrage committed by the Portuguese led to a siege of their factory at Cannanore, but the timely arrival of Tristan da Cunha with a new fleet from home relieved the beleaguered garrison. At the end of 1507 Almeida and Da Cunha joined forces and again attacked Calicut, with some measure of success.

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Afonso d'Albuquerque was now in the Persian seas fighting with all the "Moors" he could meet. At the end of 1509 he became "Governor of India," *i.e.* of Portuguese India, in succession to Almeida; Diogo Lopes de Sequeira receiving the governorship under the king of Portugal of the seas east of Cape Comorin.

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From the accession of Krishna Deva Râya to the throne of Vijayanagar in A.D. 1509 we once more enter a period when the history of the country becomes less confused, and we are able to trace the sequence of events without serious difficulty. This was the period of Vijayanagar's greatest successes, when its armies were everywhere victorious, and the city was most prosperous.

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[Figure: INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE AT VITTHALASVĀMI COMMENCED BY KRISHNA DEVA RĀYA (From a Photograph by Col. W. HOOPER)]

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consider that the new king succeeded to the throne in A.D. 1509.¹

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¹ Henry VIII. of England succeeded to the throne on April 22nd of the same year. It is interesting, when reading the description of the splendours of Krishna Râya’s court in the narrative of Nuniz, to remember that in Western Europe magnificence of display and personal adornment seems to have reached its highest pitch at the same period.

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Krishna Râya seems to have possessed a very striking personality, to judge from the glowing description given us by Paes, who saw him about the year 1520. The account given by him is all the more interesting and valuable because without it the world would have remained justly in doubt as to whether this king really reigned at all, in the usual acceptation of the word—whether he was not a mere puppet, entirely in the hands of his minister, perhaps even an actual prisoner. For Firishtah never mentions him by name, and the inscriptions which relate his conquests prove nothing beyond the fact that they took place during a reign which, for all we know, might have been a reign only in name, the real power being in the hands of the nobles. But with the description of Paes in our hands there can be no longer a shadow of doubt. Krishna Deva was not only monarch *de jure*, but was in very practical fact an absolute sovereign, of extensive power and strong personal influence. He was the real ruler. He was physically strong in his best days, and kept his strength up to the highest pitch by hard bodily exercise. He rose early, and developed all his muscles by the use of Indian clubs and the use of the sword; he was a fine rider, and was blessed with a noble presence which favourably impressed all who came in contact with him. He commanded his immense armies in person, was able, brave, and statesmanlike, and was withal a man of much gentleness and generosity of character. He was beloved by all and respected by all. Paes writes of him that he was "gallant and perfect in all things." The only blot on his scutcheon is, that after his great success over the Muhammadan king he grew to be haughty and insolent in his demands. No monarch such as the Âdil Shâh could brook for a moment such a humiliation as was implied by a peace the condition of which was that he should kiss his triumphant enemy’s foot; and it was beyond all doubt this and similar contemptuous arrogance on the part of successive Hindu rulers that finally led, forty years later, to the downfall of the Hindu empire.

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All Southern India was under Krishna Deva’s sway, and several quasi-independent chiefs were his vassals. These were, according to Nuniz, the chief of Seringapatam, and those of Bankâpur,¹ Garsopa, Calicut, Bhatkal, and Barkûr. The Portuguese treated these lesser chiefs as if they were kings, called them so and sent embassies to them, no doubt much to their satisfaction.

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¹ The chief of Bankâpur seems to have been a Mahratta. Nuniz calls him the “Guym de Bengapor.” Albuquerque styles him “King Vengapor” about A.D. 1512 (Hakluyt edit., iii. 187). Osorio writes :—“*Est autem Vengapor Regio mediterranea, cum Zabaimi regione continens*” (p. 263). Castanheda states that Albuquerque, then Governor-General of Goa, sent two embassies, one to Vijayanagar and one to “Vengapor,” as if the latter were independent; and adds of the chief of Vengapor, “His kingdom is a veritable and safe road to Narsinga, and well supplied with provisions.” Barros speaks of the same event, calling the place “Bengapor” and stating explicitly that its king was “vassal of Narsinga” (or Vijayanagar) (Dec. II. l. v. cap. 3). Subsequently, writing of the chiefs in the same neighbourhood, Barros speaks of two brothers, “Comogij” and “Appagij” (Dec. III. l. iv. cap. 5), and describing Krishna Deva Râya’s march towards Raichûr—recapitulating the story and details given by Nuniz—he speaks of “the Gim of the city of Bengapor.” In l. v. cap. 3 of the same Decade Barros says that “Bengapor” was “on the road” to Vijayanagar. “Gim,” “Guym” and other names appear to be renderings of the Mahratta honorific “Jî.” Bankâpur was one of the most important fortresses in the Karnâtaka country, situated forty miles south of Dhârwâr on the direct road from Honawar to Vijayanagar. The road from Bhatkal, a favourite landing-place, first went northwards to Honawar, then inland to Bankâpur, and thence to Banavâsi, Rânibennûr, and over the plains to Hospett and Vijayanagar. It was known as early as A.D. 848, and remained in possession of Hindu rulers down to 1573, when it was captured by Ali Âdil Shâh and its beautiful temple was destroyed. Firishtah calls the place “Beekapore” and “Binkapor” (Scott’s edit., i. 47, 69, 85, 86, 119, 301, &c.).

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The present head of the Brahmanical establishment at the Hampe temple informed me that Krishna Deva Râya celebrated his accession by erecting the great tower at the entrance of the temple, and the next largest tower shortly afterwards. Nuniz tells us that immediately on attaining power, the king, making Sâluva Timma his minister, sent his nephew, the son of the last sovereign, and his own three brothers, to the fortress of Chandragiri, 250 miles to the south-east, for his greater security, and himself remained for some time at the capital. This accords well with the writings of the other Portuguese, who relate that at least on two occasions, when missions were sent from Calicut and Goa, viz., those of Fr. Luis and Chanoca, the envoys saw the king in person at Vijayanagar.

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At the beginning of Krishna's reign, Almeida, as stated above, was viceroy of the Portuguese settlements on the coast, but at the end of the year 1509 Albuquerque succeeded him under the title of governor. The latter suffered a severe reverse at Calicut, and from thence despatched Fr. Luis, of the Order of St. Francis, as ambassador to Vijayanagar, begging the Râya to come by land and reduce the Samuri of Calicut, promising himself to assault simultaneously by sea.¹ The governor declared that he had orders from his master, the king of Portugal, to war against the Moors, but not against the Hindus; that Calicut had been destroyed by the governor, and its king had fled into the interior; that he (the governor) offered his fleet to assist the king of Vijayanagar in his conquest of the place; that as soon as Calicut was captured the Moors would be driven therefrom, and that afterwards the Portuguese would assist the king of Vijayanagar against his enemies, the "Moors" of the Dakhan. He promised in future to supply Vijayanagar alone with Arab and Persian horses, and not to send any to Bījapûr. No answer was returned.

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¹ “Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque” (Hakluyt edit., ii. p. 73). Fr. Luis left Cochin, travelled to Bhatkal, and thence to Vijayanagar.

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Albuquerque next attacked Goa, then under the Âdil Shâh, and captured the place, making his triumphal entry into it on March 1, A.D. 1510. Immediately afterwards he despatched Gaspar Chanoca on a mission to Vijayanagar, renewing Almeida’s request for a fort at Bhatkal for the protection of Portuguese trade. Barros¹ states that Chanoca reported that, though he was received "solemnly," Krishna Deva Râya only made a general answer in courteous terms, and did not specifically grant the governor’s request; the reason being that the king had then made peace with the Âdil Shâh. Presumably this peace was made in order to enable the Âdil Shâh to retake Goa.²

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¹ Dec. II. l. v. cap. 3.

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² See also Castanheda, who was in India in 1529 (Lib. iii. cap. 12).

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Upon this a message was sent from Vijayanagar to Albuquerque congratulating the Portuguese on their conquest of Goa, and promising to aid them against the Âdil Shâh. This aid, however, does not appear to have been given. The Muhammadan troops attacked Goa in May and after a severe struggle were successful, Albuquerque evacuating the place after decapitating a hundred and fifty of the principal Muhammadans there, and slaughtering their wives and children.³

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³ As before stated, Firishtah mentions this event (Scott, i. 225).

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In November of the same year, Ismâîl Âdil’s attention being called off by internal dissension at Bījapûr, Albuquerque attacked Rasul Khân, Ismâîl’s deputy at Goa, and the eight thousand men under his command, defeated them, retook the place on December 1, and slew six thousand men, women, and children of the Muhammadans. Firishtah states that the young Âdil Shâh’s minister, Kummal Khân, after this made peace with the Europeans, and left them securely established at Goa. This, however, is not quite correct, for Rasul Khân made a desperate attempt in 1512 to retake the place, but failed after severe fighting.¹

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¹ Purchas’s summary of the Portuguese conquest of Goa runs as follows: “*Sabaius* (i.e. the “Sabayo”) when he died, left his sonne *Idalcan* (Âdil Khân) very young; whereupon his Subjects rebelled, and the King of Narsinga warred upon him, to dispossesse him of his Dominion. Albuquerque, taking his opportunitie, besieged and . . . took Goa with the Iland. Which was soon after recovered by Idalcan, comming with a strong Armie thither, the Portugals flying away by night. But when the King of Narsinga again invaded Idalcan, He was forced to resist the more dangerous Enemy, leaving a strong Garrison at Goa, which yet *Albuquerk* overcame, and sacked the Citie.” Purchas’s work was published (folio) in 1626. He merely follows Barros (Dec. I. l. viii. cap. 10).

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As soon as the news reached Vijayanagar of Albuquerque’s success in December 1510, Krishna Deva Râya sent ambassadors to Goa, and by them Fr. Luis sent letters to Albuquerque detailing the result of his mission. He “had been well received by all except the king,” but the king had nevertheless granted permission for the Portuguese to build a fort at Bhatkal. Poor Fr. Luis never returned from his embassy. History is silent as to what happened or what led to the tragedy, but he was one day murdered in the city of Vijayanagar.²

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² “Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque” (Hakluyt edit., iii. 35).

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His despatch is interesting as containing information regarding Vijayanagar and the Sultan of Bîjapûr, part of which is certainly accurate, while part tells us of Krishna Deva Râya’s proceedings at this period, regarding which we know nothing from any other source. Fr. Luis wrote to Albuquerque that the Âdil Shâh had attacked Bîjapûr, and had taken it after a siege of two months, while four lords had risen against him “since the latter had carried off the king of Decan as a prisoner.” This king was the Bâhmanî king, while the Âdil Shâh and the “four lords”

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were the revolting Muhammadan princes. He added that the people of Belgaum had revolted from the Âdil Shâh and submitted to the Hindu sovereign. As to Vijayanagar, he said that the king was getting ready a small expedition of seven thousand men to send against one of his vassals, who had risen up in rebellion and seized the city of Pergunda (? Pennakonda), saying that it belonged to himself by right; and that after he had taken the rebel the king would proceed to certain places on the sea-coast. Fr. Luis professed himself unable to understand the drift of this latter design, but warned Albuquerque to be careful. He advised him to keep up friendly communications with the king, and by no means to place any reliance on the man on whom, of all others, the Portuguese had pinned their faith—one Timoja,¹ a Hindu who had befriended the new-comers. The priest declared that Timoja was a traitor to them, and had, in conjunction with the king of Garsopa, promised Krishna Deva Râya that he would deliver Goa to him before the Portuguese could fortify their possessions therein, if he should send a fully equipped army to seize the place.

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¹ The name may represent "Timma Râja."

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After Albuquerque's second capture of Goa the chief of Bankâpur also sent messages of congratulation to the Portuguese, and asked for permission to import three hundred horses a year. The request was granted, as the place was on the road to Vijayanagar, and it was important that its chief should be on friendly terms with the Europeans. Moreover, Bankâpur contained a number of superior saddlers.²

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² "Commentaries of Dalboquerque," iii. pp. 246-247.

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Krishna Deva's anxiety was to secure horses. He must have thought little of this foreign settlement on the coast as a political power, but what he wanted was horses, and again horses, for his perpetual wars against the Âdil Shâh; and Albuquerque, after toying a little with the Muhammadan, gratified the Hindu by sending him a message in which he declared that he would prefer to send cavalry mounts to him rather than to supply them to the Sultan of Bîjapûr.

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About the year 1512 Krishna Deva Râya, who had taken advantage of the times to invade the Sultan's dominions, attacked the fortress of Raichûr, which at last was given up to him by the garrison; Ismâtl Âdil being too much employed in attending to the internal affairs of his government to afford it timely relief. So says Firishtah.¹ This event is not noticed by Nuniz, who writes as if the Râya's first campaign against the Âdil Shâh took place in 1520, when he advanced to attack Raichûr, it being then in the Shâh's possession; and here we see a difference between the story of Nuniz and the story of Firishtah, for the latter, writing of the same event, viz., the campaign of 1520, states that "Ismail Adil Shaw made preparations for marching to recover Mudkal and Roijore from the Roy of Beejanuggar," he having taken these cities about 1512, as narrated. Which account is correct I cannot say.

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¹ Firishtah (Scott), i. p. 236.

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It appears² that in 1514 A.D. Krishna Deva offered Albuquerque £20,000 for the exclusive right to trade in horses, but the Portuguese governor, with a keen eye to business, refused. A little later the Hindu king renewed his proposal, declaring his intention of making war against the Âdil Shâh; and the Âdil Shâh, hearing of this message, himself sent an embassy to Goa. Albuquerque was now placed in a position of some political importance, and he wrote first to Vijayanagar saying that he would give the Râya the refusal of all his horses if he would pay him 30,000 cruzados per annum for the supply, and send his own servants to Goa to fetch away the animals, and also that he would aid the king in his war if he was paid the expense of the troops; and he wrote afterwards to Bījapûr promising the Sultan the refusal of all horses that came to Goa if he would surrender to the king of Portugal a certain portion of the mainland opposite the island. Before this matter was settled, however, Albuquerque died.

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² "Commentaries of Dalboquerque," iv. 121.

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We learn from this narrative that Krishna Deva Râya was meditating a grand attack on the Muham-madans at least five years before his advance to Raichûr—a year even before his expedition against Udayagiri and the fortresses on the east, the story of which campaign is given in our chronicle.

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We have an account of what Vijayanagar was like in A.D. 1504-14 in the narrative of Duarte Barbosa, a cousin of Magellan, who visited the city during that period.

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Speaking of the “kingdom of Narsinga,” by which name the Vijayanagar territories were always known to the Portuguese, Barbosa writes:¹ “It is very rich, and well supplied with provisions, and is very full of cities and large townships.”

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¹ “East Africa and Malabar” (Hakluyt edit., pp. 78, &c.). Barbosa was son of Diego Barbosa, who sailed in the first fleet sent out under João de Nova in 1501. He gives no dates in his own writings except that he finished his work in 1516 (Preface), after “having navigated for a great part of his youth in the East Indies.” It was probably begun about 1514. He was certainly in the Indian Ocean in 1508-9. The heading of the work is “Description of the East Indies and Countries on the sea-board of the Indian Ocean in 1514.” It was published in Spanish (translated from the Portuguese) in 1524. The copy in the Library at Barcelona is said to be the oldest extant.

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He describes the large trade of the seaport of Bhatkal on its western coast, the exports from which consisted of iron, spices, drugs, myrabolans, and the imports of horses and pearls; but as regards the last two items he says, “They now go to Goa, on account of the Portuguese." The governor of Bhatkal was a nephew of King Krishna Deva. "He lives in great state and calls himself king, but is in obedience to the king, his uncle."

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Leaving the sea-coast and going inland, Barbosa passed upwards through the ghâts.

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"Forty-five leagues from these mountains there is a very large city which is called *Bijanaguer*, very populous, and surrounded on one side by a very good wall, and on another by a river, and on the other by a mountain. This city is on level ground; the king of Narsinga always resides in it. He is a gentile, and is called Raheni.¹ He has in this place very large and handsome palaces, with numerous courts. . . . There are also in this city many other palaces of great lords, who live there. And all the other houses of the place are covered with thatch, and the streets and squares are very wide. They are constantly filled with an innumerable crowd of all nations and creeds. . . . There is an infinite trade in this city. . . . In this city there are many jewels which are brought from Pegu and Celani (Ceylon), and in the country itself many diamonds are found, because there is a mine of them in the kingdom of Narsinga and another in the kingdom of Decani. There are also many pearls and seed-pearls to be found there, which are brought from Ormuz and Cael . . . also silk-brocades, scarlet cloth, and coral. . .

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¹ This name awaits explanation.

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"The king constantly resides in the before-mentioned palaces, and very seldom goes out of them. . .

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"All the attendance on the king is done by women, who wait upon him within doors; and amongst them are all the employments of the king's household; and all these women live and find room within these palaces, which contain apartments for all. . .

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"This king has a house² in which he meets with the governors and his officers in council upon the affairs of the realm. . . . They come in very rich litters on men’s shoulders. . . . Many litters and many horsemen always stand at the door of this palace, and the king keeps at all times nine hundred elephants and more than twenty thousand horses, all which elephants and horses are bought with his own money. . . . This king has more than a hundred thousand men, both horse and foot, to whom he gives pay. . . .

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² This probably refers to the highly decorated building in the interior of what I believe to have been the Government offices, surrounded by a lofty wall with watch-towers, and often called "The Zenana." The elephant stables lie to the east of it. The building in question is "No. 29 Council Room" on the Government plan.

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“When the king dies four or five hundred women burn themselves with him. . . . The king of Narsinga is frequently at war with the king of Dacani, who has taken from him much of his land; and with another gentile king of the country of Otira (apparently Orissa), which is the country in the interior.”

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Barbosa mentions that the lord of Goa, before the Portuguese attack on the place, was “Sabaym Delcani,” meaning the king of the Dakhan, and he alludes to its first capture by Albuquerque on 25th February 1510, and the second on 25th November of the same year.

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We learn from other sources that about this time Krishna Deva Râya was engaged with a refractory vassal in the Maisûr country, the Ganga Râjah of Ummatûr, and was completely successful. He captured the strong fortress of Sivasamudra and the fortress of Srirangapattana, or Seringapatam, reducing the whole country to obedience.

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In 1513 A.D. he marched against Udayigiri, in the present district of Nellore, an exceedingly strong hill-fortress then under the king of Orissa,¹ and after the successful termination of the war he brought with him from a temple on the hill a statue of the god Krishna, which he set up at Vijayanagar and endowed with a grant of lands. This is commemorated by a long inscription still in existence at the capital. It was then that the great temple of Krishnasvâmi was built, which, though now in ruins, is still one of the most interesting objects in the city. This is also attested by a long inscription on stone, still in its place. The king further built the temple of Hazâra Râmasvâmi near, or in, his palace enclosure, at the same time.

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¹ Barbosa in A.D. 1514 mentions this expedition.

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Nuniz relates that at Udayagiri Krishna Râya captured an aunt of the king of Orissa and took her prisoner to Vijayanagar. He next proceeded against Kondavîd, another very strong hill-fortress also in possession of the king of Orissa, where he met and defeated the king in person in a pitched battle, and captured the citadel after a two months' siege. He left Sâluva Timma here as a governor of the conquered provinces, and went in pursuit of his enemy northwards. Nuniz says that Sâluva Timma appointed his own brother captain of Kondavîd, but an inscription at that place gives us the name of this man as Nâdendla Gopamantri, and calls him a nephew of Timma. Kondavîd seems to have been under the kings of Orissa since A.D. 1454; its capture by Krishna Deva took place in 1515.¹ To confirm our chronicler's account of the king's northward journey, I find that there is at the town of Mêdûru, twenty-two miles south-east of Bezvâda on the Krishnâ, an inscription which states that in 1516 a battle took place there between Krishna Deva and some enemy whose name is obliterated, in which the former was victorious.

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¹ An inscription at Kondavîd glorifying Sâluva Timma states that he took the fortress on Saturday, June 23, A.D. 1515 (Âshâdha Sukla Harivâsara Saurau, Saka 1437). This information was kindly supplied to me by Dr. Lüders.

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The king advanced to Kondapalle, took the place after a three months' siege, and captured therein a wife and son of the king of Orissa. The unhappy fate of the latter is told in the chronicle. Thence he marched to Râjahmundry and halted six months. Peace was made shortly after, and Krishna Deva married a daughter of the Orissan king.² After this marriage King Krishna made an expedition against a place in the east which Nuniz calls "Catuir," on the Coromandel side, and took it. I have been unable to locate this place.

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² There is a long inscription in the temple of Varadarâjasvâmi at Conjeeveram exactly confirming this whole story. It relates that the king

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By these conquests the whole of his eastern dominions were brought into entire subjection to the sovereign.

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Nuniz writes as though the attack on Raichûr immediately followed the campaign against Udayagiri, Kondavîd, and "Catuir," but, according to the evidence afforded by inscriptions, these expeditions were at an end in 1515, and the battle of Raichûr did not take place for at least five years later.

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A long account of wars in the south-eastern Dakhan country between Sultan Qulî Qutb Shâh of Golkonda and his neighbours, both Mussulman and Hindu, is given in the third volume of Colonel Briggs' "Firishtah,"¹ translated from a Muhammadan historian—not Firishtah himself; and as this certainly covers the period of at least a portion of Krishna Deva's reign, it is well to give a summary of it. I cannot, however, as yet determine the exact dates referred to, and the story differs from that acquired from Hindu and Portuguese accounts, the dates of which are confirmed by epigraphical records.

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¹ Pp. 354 to 371.

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Sultan Qulî proclaimed himself an independent sovereign in 1512. The historian referred to states that shortly after this Qulî attacked and took Râzukonda and Devarakonda, fortresses respectively south-east and south-south-east of Hyderabad in Telingana. After the second of these places had fallen Krishna Râya of Vijayanagar marched against the Sultan with an immense army and invaded his dominions. This

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first captured Udayagiri, Bellamkonda, Vinukonda, Kondavîd, and other places; then Bezvâda and Kondapalle, and finally Rajahmundry.

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must, I think, refer to about the year 1513. The Hindu army encamped at Pangul, in the angle of the Krishnâ river almost due east of Raichûr, and here a battle took place in which the Qutb Shâh was victorious. The place was then besieged; it capitulated, and the Muhammadans proceeded to Ghânpura, twenty miles to the north. This fort was captured after heavy loss, and the Sultan led his army to Kovilkonda, twenty miles to the north-west, on the borders of the country of Bîdar, the territory of Alâ-ud-dîn Imâd Shâh. This place also fell.

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A war with the Imâd Shâh followed, in which Sultan Qulî was again victorious. Shortly afterwards there were disturbances on the east of the Golkonda territories. Sîtapati, Râjah of Kambampêta, on the Muniyêr river, who possessed extensive territories—including Warangal and Bellamkonda, a fortress south of the Krishnâ—rose against the Muhammadans, and the Sultan marched against Bellamkonda, which, after a long siege, he captured. Sîtapati then fought a pitched battle, was defeated, and fled, Qulî returning to Golkonda. The Râjah then stirred up a number of neighbouring chiefs and assembled large forces at Kambampêta. Hearing of this, the Golkonda forces marched to attack them, and met with complete success, Sîtapati flying to the protection of “Ramchunder Dew, the son of Gujputty, who held his court at Condapilly,” and was king of Orissa. The Sultan advanced and attacked Kambampêta, where, after his capture of the place, he slew every man, woman, and child in the city, seizing the females of Sîtapati’s household for his own seraglio. Meanwhile an immense Hindu host from all the countries about, under command of the king of Orissa, prepared to do battle for their country, and a decisive action took place near the river at Palinchinûr, in which the Hindus were completely defeated. Quli then seized Kondapalle, Ellore, and Rajahmundry, and a treaty was made between him and Orissa fixing the Godâvarî river as the eastern boundary of Golkonda. By this the Sultan added the districts of Ellore and Bezvâda to his own dominions.

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Krishna Râya then advanced to the rescue and the Sultan marched to Kondavîd. He invested the place, but was forced to retreat owing to attacks made on him from Bellamkonda and Vinukonda, the first of which fortresses he succeeded in reducing after heavy loss. After this he retired towards Kondapalle. Krishna Râya now arrived and attacked the Muhammadan garrison in Bellamkonda, upon which the Sultan countermarched, and suddenly appeared in rear of the Hindu army. In the battle which ensued he was victorious and the siege was raised, after which he returned to Kondavîd and took it. On learning of the fall of Kondavîd, Krishna Râya detached "his general and son-in-law Seeva Ray"¹ with 100,000 foot and 8000 horse to march against the Muhammadans. The Sultan retreated and encamped on the banks of the Krishnâ, leaving Kondavîd to the Hindus.² After settling the place the Vijayanagar forces proceeded in pursuit of the Sultan, were attacked by him, defeated, and retired to Kondavîd, which was a second time invested by the army of Golkonda. The Hindus then submitted and agreed to become tributary.

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