Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c7.s3.4

c7.s3.4

A few items of expenditure, specially the military which swallowed a large portion of the revenue, deserve consideration. In the Āmuktamālyada we read: "The expenditure of money which is utilised in buying elephants and horses, in feeding them, in maintaining soldiers, in the worship of Gods and Brahmans and in one's own enjoyment can never be called an expenditure."³³⁹ What with the constant menace of the wars with the Bahmani Sultans, what with the insubordination and rebellions of refractory feudal chiefs within the dominions, and what with the expansion of the empire on all sides, the Vijayanagar government had a large military expenditure. Nuniz notes that "of these sixty lakhs that the king has of revenue every year, he does not enjoy a larger sum than twenty-five lakhs. for the rest is spent on his horses and elephants and foot soldiers and cavalry whose cost he defrays."³⁴⁰ Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya for instance purchased horses from the Arabs at competitive prices to strengthen his army. The Vijayanagar kings had a standing army at the capital ever ready for wars. It is not difficult to imagine what a large amount of recurring expenditure this item alone would have demanded. But it is interesting to note here in passing that this standing army of the kings was only a fraction of the huge armies that were collected at times of war, for the latter were composed not only of this regular standing army but also of the feudal levies.