A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c19.60

c19.60

Throughout the whole of their dealings with the Portuguese I find not a single instance where the Hindu kings broke faith with the intruders,¹ but as much cannot, I fear, be said on the other side. The Europeans seemed to think that they had a divine right to the pillage, robbery, and massacre of the natives of India. Not to mince matters, their whole record is one of a series of atrocities. It is sad to turn from the description given us by Paes of the friendship felt for the Portuguese, and especially for Christovão de Figueiredo, by the "gallant and perfect" King Krishna Deva, and then to read of the treachery of the Viceroy towards the great Hindu Government; with which the Portuguese had made alliances and treaties, and for which they openly professed friendship. Thus, to take one instance only, in 1545 the governor of Goa made ready a large fleet and a force of 3000 men, but kept all his preparations secret, for very good reason. His object was to sail round the coast to San Thomé, near Madras, land his troops, march inland, and sack the great temple of Tirumala or Tirupati, purely for lust of gain. Luckily a severe storm prevented him from setting sail, but he plundered and destroyed some rich temples on the western coast, and enriched himself with the spoil. This was a mere wanton attack on property belonging to feudatories of the Vijayanagar empire, for there has never been any pretence that the peace-loving Brahmans attached to these temples had in any way offended or interfered with the Portuguese.