Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c10.2

c10.2

Vijayanagar, the last of the great Hindu empires in South India, was larger than any other that had flourished before except the empire of the Cōḷas from the time of Rāja Rāja I to that of Kulōttuṅga. In the days of Dēva Rāya II the empire had reached almost its zenith. It held sway over the whole of South India except certain portions on the west coast and the extreme north-eastern parts of the present Madras presidency. Discussing the extent of the empire under Dēva Rāya II, Abdur Razāk observes that "extended from the borders of Sarandip to those of Kulburga and from Bengal to Malibār, a space of more than 1,000 parasangs."¹