Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c8.123

c8.123

But such corroboration of the description of Nuniz should not leave on us the general impression that criminal law was then uniformly very severe, and that even a small theft by any person was always punished by mutilation. We must also note that the law of the land allowed differential treatment among the citizens. All men were not equal in the eyes of law. Hence it is we find that according to the account of Nuniz himself the regicides Sāḷuva Timma and his sons, because they were Brahmans, were not executed for their grave crime, but were simply imprisoned and blinded. But in cases where the criminals were ordered to be executed, Kṛṣṇa Rāya wanted to show some consideration. He says: “In the matter of people sentenced to death, give them the chance to appeal thrice (for mercy). But in the case of those people whose escape might bring on a calamity to yourself, immediate execution is advisable.”69 Thus treasonous persons whose existence would do great harm to the state and the king, must alone be executed without chance being given to them for appeal.