Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c13.6

c13.6

The supporter of the four castes and orders,¹ protector of the Varṇāśramadharma,² upholder of the duties of all castes,³ etc. Since the four castes had become divided into a large number of sub-castes and communities, and since all of them were protected by the State, some of the Vijayanagar kings took the title of ‘the protector of all the castes in the empire.’⁴ The interest of the kings in maintaining the social solidarity of the four castes is seen in the concluding verses of the Jāmbavatī-kalyāṇam of Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya where the royal poet says: