Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c10.s2.2

c10.s2.2

1. *Provincial Governors*: The part of the empire directly under the imperial sway was divided into provinces over each of which there was appointed a viceroy. Members of the royal family were generally appointed as the governors of these provinces. During the time of Harihara I, Mārappa was the ruler of the province of Āraga with its capital at Candraguṭṭi.⁵⁷ Kampaṇa I was the ruler of the Udayagiri rājya.⁵⁸ Kampaṇa, the son of Bukka, was ruling over the Muḷuvāgil kingdom (Mulbagal).⁵⁹ Virūpākṣa, the son of Harihara II, is said to have been in charge of the Tuṇḍīra, Cōḷa and Pāṇḍya countries and even conquered Ceylon,⁶⁰ while his brother Dēva Rāya was the governor of Udayagiri before he ascended the throne.⁶¹ He was succeeded by his son Rāmacandra Oḍeya who is said to have subjugated hostile kings and by his skill vanquished the Mussalmans.⁶² Vira Vijaya Rāya, another son of Dēva Rāya, was ruling the Muḷuvāgil kingdom,⁶³ and when he became the emperor he was succeeded by his son Śrigiri in the viceroyalty.⁶⁴ This practice of appointing princes of the royal house as viceroys of the provinces was followed even by the Araviḍu kings. Tirumala appointed his son Śrī Raṅga II as the viceroy of the home province, Penukoṇḍa. Formerly he had served as the viceroy of the Udayagiri rājya wherefrom he conquered Koṇḍavīḍu, Vinikoṇḍapura and other forts.⁶⁵ Rāma, another son of the emperor Tirumala, was the viceroy over the Seringapatam country.⁶⁶ Veṅkaṭa II, the fourth son of Tirumala, was governing the Tamil country with his headquarters at Candragiri with many feudatories under him.⁶⁷ The practice of the Sāḷuvas and the Tuḷuvas appears, however, to have been different. They did not appoint royal princes as governors of provinces for which two explanations are possible. The members of the royal family at a particular time were only a few, for Sāḷuva Narasiṃha had only two sons while Narasā Nāyaka had four. Even among these there was great rivalry and palace intrigue, and hence the ruling emperor did not trust the other members of the royal family with the governorships. The princes of the first Vijayanagar dynasty who were sent out as rulers of provinces assumed the title of Oḍeya or Uḍaiyār (in Tamil).