[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sewell-1900) › c19.194 # A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c19.194 A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c19.194 - **Language:** English ### [c19.194](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sewell-1900.c19.194) The story of this terrible disaster travelled apace to the city of Vijayanagar. The inhabitants, unconscious of danger, were living in utter ignorance that any serious reverse had taken place; for their leaders had marched out with countless numbers in their train, and had been full of confidence as to the result. Suddenly, however, came the bad news. The army was defeated; the chiefs slain; the troops in retreat. But still they did not grasp the magnitude of the reverse; on all previous occasions the enemy had been either driven back, or bought off with presents from the overstocked treasury of the kings. There was little fear, therefore, for the city itself. That surely was safe! But now came the dejected soldiers hurrying back from the fight, and amongst the foremost the panic-stricken princes of the royal house. Within a few hours these craven chiefs hastily left the palace, carrying with them all the treasures on which they could lay their hands. Five hundred and fifty elephants, laden with treasure in gold, diamonds, and precious stones valued at more than a hundred millions sterling, and carrying the state insignia and the celebrated jewelled throne of the kings, left the city under convoy of bodies of soldiers who remained true to the crown. King Sadâsiva was carried off by his jailor, Tirumala, now sole regent since the death of his brothers, and in long line the royal family and their followers fled southward towards the fortress of Penukonda. - [Previous: c19.193](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sewell-1900.c19.193) - [Next: c19.195](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sewell-1900.c19.195) - [Up: c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sewell-1900.c19) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sewell-1900.c19.194](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sewell-1900.c19.194) · Pramāṇa