Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c6.2

c6.2

The working of a monarchical form of government depends largely on the personality of the sovereign. Mighty empires in India have risen under strong kings and fallen under weak ones. Candragupta and Aśōka built the Mauryan empire, but with the succession of weak kings like Bṛhadratha, its era of decadence began. The Gupta empire was reared into existence by kings like Samudragupta and Candragupta II, but crumbled under a succession of weak rulers. The Vijayanagar empire was no exception to this. It was founded and strengthened by the enthusiastic brothers Harihara and Bukka, and its administration was stabilised successively by Dēva Rāya II, Sāḷuva Narasimha and Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya. In the Vijayanagar empire, as in others governed under a monarchical constitution, the king was the head of the administration and occupied a supreme position in the State. In fact, the king was the pivot of the machinery of administration.