A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c21.s3.t4.13

c21.s3.t4.13

And after this fortress was taken he departed and went against Comdovy,³ which was one of the principal cities of the kingdom of Orya, and besieged it; and, learning this, the King of Orya came against him to defend his territories, and brought with him one thousand three hundred elephants, and twenty thousand horsemen, and he brought five hundred thousand foot-soldiers. Crisnarao, being aware of the approach of the king of Orya, left the city without assaulting it, saying that he preferred to fight the King in person and his army rather than to attack the city, and that there would be plenty of time afterwards to take it; and he went forward four leagues from it, leaving a force to prevent the escape of the people from the city if they should seek to flee to the coast. And he arrived at a large river of salt water crossed by a ford,⁴ and on the other side of the river was the King of Orya with his army. King Crisnarao halted his army on this side of the river, and sent the King a message that if he desired to fight with him he would retire from the river two leagues, so that he (the king of Orya) might pass the river unmolested, and as soon as he had passed he would join battle; to which message the King of Orya gave no reply, but on the contrary made ready to give battle. And King Crisnarao, seeing his determination, crossed the river with all his forces and elephants, and in the crossing of the river there were heavy encounters on both sides, and many were slain. Notwithstanding this, King Crisnarao crossed the river, and on the bank fought so bravely that he defeated the King of Oria and put him to flight, in which defeat he took many horses and elephants.