A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c20.33

c20.33

"After this victory many of the nobles joined themselves to Echama Naique. So much so, that in a short time he had with him fifty thousand fighting men in his camp; while Jaga Râya, with only fifteen thousand, fled to the jungles. Here, however, he was joined by more people, so that the war has continued these two years,¹ fortune favouring now one side now the other. But the party of the young prince has always been gaining strength; the more so because, although the great Naique of Madura²—a page of the betel to the King of Bisnaga, who pays a revenue every year of, some say, 600,000 pagodas, and has under him many kings and nobles as vassals, such as he of Travancor—took the side of Jaga Râya, and sustained him against the Naique of Tanjaor. Yet the latter, though not so powerful, is, with the aid of the young King, gradually getting the upper hand. Indeed there are now assembled in the field in the large open plains of Trinchenepali³ not only the hundred thousand men that each party has, but as many as a million of soldiers.