Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c9.s3: Section IV. The March and the Fight

Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c9.s3

Language
English

Section IV. The March and the Fight

c9.s3.2

From the literature and epigraphs of the period we get some interesting details about the declaration of wars, the march of the armies and the fight of the forces.

c9.s3.3

Barbosa says that the king decided in his Council as to the necessity for his going to the battle.⁸⁹ Nuniz also mentions the Council of Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya which he consulted before he undertook his campaigns against the Sultan of Bijapur.90

c9.s3.4

⁶⁸ The text has ‘Maddina sēvayum naḍasittuda’. It may also mean ‘who was carrying on the service of medicine’ i.e., who was a physician in his service.

c9.s3.5

⁸⁹ Barbosa, I, p. 224.

c9.s3.6

The kings first declared war against the enemies. The *Sāḷuvābhyudayam* for instance says that Narasimha resolved to set out on an expedition of conquest of Udayagiri and ordered a public announcement of the resolve.⁹¹ Just before the starting of the expedition the feudal vassals were summoned to the court and were given rich presents. They were also entertained at a banquet at the capital.⁹² Then an advance army was sent into the enemy’s territory. Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya is said to have asked a part of his force to proceed to a distance of three *āmaḍas* (thirty miles) into the enemy’s territories and gather from there men, cattle, sheep and goats that they may not be available to the enemy.⁹³ This is in a way confirmed by Nuniz who in describing the advance troops that went to Raicūr says: “Three or four leagues in front of this multitude go some fifty thousand men who are like scouts; they have to spy out the country in front and always keep at a distance”.⁹⁴ The king himself started a little later. Before he started he made his offerings and performed sacrifices.⁹⁵ Barbosa gives a descriptive account of how the king started for his wars. According to him on the appointed day the king went to an open space mounted on an elephant or a palanquin as if for his pleasure, along with his horsemen and footmen and many elephants drawn up in a line all richly dressed. He then mounted a horse and shot an arrow in the direction of the country with which he was about to wage war. He then gave out in how many days he would be starting for the war.⁹⁶

c9.s3.7

⁹¹ S. K. Aiyangar. *Sources*, p. 91.

c9.s3.8

⁹² *Ibid*., p. 111: see also p 130 for Kṛṣṇa Rāya’s reception

c9.s3.9

⁹³ *Ibid*., p. 111.

c9.s3.10

⁹⁴ Sewell, *op. cit*., p. 328.

c9.s3.11

⁹⁵ *Ibid*., p. 326; *Sāhityaratnākaram*, canto XIV, vv. 30-34.

c9.s3.12

⁹⁶ Barbosa, I. p. 224.

c9.s3.13

These preliminaries over, the forces started on the march. There were no forced marches then as in later times. If Barbosa can be believed, they marched only three leagues a day, and soon after the day’s march was over, they built a town of straw on some open space, and erected houses arranged in streets where they halted for three days, after which they again proceed to the next camping ground. They marched at that rate until they reached the appointed place.⁹⁷

c9.s3.14

⁹⁷ *Ibid*., pp. 227-28.

c9.s3.15

The temporary camp of the king and his soldiers presented the appearance more of a festive city than of a military camp. All the camp was divided into many streets; and there were markets in them, where could be had all the necessaries of life and even luxuries like diamonds and precious stones for sale. There were also professional hucksters and craftsmen in the armies. The king himself stayed in the tent specially erected for him surrounded by a great hedge of thorns, with only one entrance. The guards who were outside were on their watch duty all through the night at fixed spots. There were also spies at work who patrolled all night through the camp and watched to see if they could catch any spies.⁹⁸ There were a large number of public women, who, in the army that marched to Raicūr, numbered twenty thousand. In the armies there were also thousands of men with water-skins who sought water for the fighting men lest they should die of thirst. There were also many merchants in the armies with all supplies.⁹⁹ The presence of merchants in the armies is also indicated by the evidence of epigraphy. An incomplete inscription at Tirumalai in the Chittore district mentions a merchant in an army.¹⁰⁰

c9.s3.16

⁹⁸ Sewell, op cit., pp. 332-34.

c9.s3.17

⁹⁹ Ibid., pp. 328-29.

c9.s3.18

¹⁰⁰ T. T. D. I., I, No. 236.

c9.s3.19

We have not got enough details to form any correct idea about the fighting arrangements of the forces. Nuniz tells us that Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya ‘divided his army into seven wings’ at the battle of Raicūr.¹⁰¹ In the battle of Rakṣas Tangḍi the Hindu army was divided into three wings—the right was in the charge of Tirumala, the left in the charge of Veṅkaṭādri while the centre was commanded by Rāma Rāja himself.¹⁰²

c9.s3.20

¹⁰¹ Sewell, op cit., p. 336.

c9.s3.21

¹⁰² Heras, Aravidu Dynasty, I, p. 204.

c9.s3.22

The army was divided into many units. According to the Rāmarājīyamu, when Bukka Rāju Rāma Rāju marched against the fort of Kandanavōlu (Kurnul) which was then in the occupation of Savāi (the Aḍil KHān) and laid siege to it, each unit of his army is said to have consisted of one elephant, twenty horses, sixty archers, sixty swordsmen and sixty spearmen. There were 3,500 such units. But we do not know whether the numbers are accurate.¹⁰³

c9.s3.23

¹⁰³ S. K. Aiyangar, Sources, p. 102.

c9.s3.24

From the inscriptions of the period we learn something about the methods of fight prevalent in those days 104 Hand to hand fight seems to have been in vogue. A record says that Sāḷuva Narasimha snatched a sword (*kathāri*) from a warrior in the course of a hand to hand fight and that on account of this he was called *Kathāri Sāḷuva*.¹⁰⁵ The *Madhurāvijayam* also describes such a hand to hand fight which took place outside the Rājagambhīra fort between Kampaṇa and the Śambuvarāya chief who was the lord of that region.¹⁰⁶

c9.s3.25

¹⁰⁴ According to Rice an inscription of A D. 1403 mentions a particular

c9.s3.26

¹⁰⁵ M.A.R., 1925. No.

c9.s3.27

¹⁰⁶ Canto IV, vv. 77-82.

c9.s3.28

A practice peculiar to the wars of the period was that of setting fire to the temporary cities made for the army on the route of its march. Barbosa mentions the practice, but curiously enough he says that the king issued a proclamation ordering the whole city to be set fire to except the palaces, fortresses, temples and the houses of certain lords that were not thatched, so that all men might attend with their wives, sons, and households.¹⁰⁷ Dames has shown how ridiculous this statement of Barbosa is, and says that it was evidently the interpolation of an intelligent copyist and adds that what Barbosa said was, “not that the king set fire to his capital, but that when he was on the march before starting for the next camping ground, he had the temporary town of grass huts which had been erected for the accommodation of his army burnt.”¹⁰⁸ The inscriptions do not throw any direct light on this interesting question.¹⁰⁹

c9.s3.29

¹⁰⁷ Barbosa, I, p. 225.

c9.s3.30

¹⁰⁸ Ibid., p. 225 *fn*.

c9.s3.31

¹⁰⁹ A record of A.D. 1537-38 found at Kiranūr in the Pudukkōṭṭai State contains an imprecation in the following words : சிதம்பரம் சியாழி புள்ளு யிருக்கு வெளுரிலெ நெரிப்பிட்ட பாவத்திலெபோக கடவன். (I.P.S., 744). But this has no reference to the practice of setting fire to temporary military camps

c9.s3.32

kind of fight called *sāmbrāni*. It states that the *Mahānāyakācārya* having a mind to see a fight with left foot advanced and the right foot in the *sāmbrāni* fashion, one Cennappa fighting against Caṇḍa Bova in front of his master in a battle at Nāgārjunakōṭe died and went to the feet of the Gods in the world of Gods. The exact phrase used in the inscription is *yeḍada kāla śāci balada kāla sāmbrāni rana*. It is not however found in the Kanarese text but is supplied by Rice. The Kanarese text has *svambrāni* rana; and there is nothing to justify the addition of the word ‘fashion’ It seems to refer to a battle fought at a place probably called Svambrāni. (See E.C., XI, Ck. 42).

c9.s3.33

¹¹¹ However the title *Kathāri* was borne by the Sāḷuvas even before the time of Narasimha.

c9.s3.34

Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya suggests that the kings must not go personally into the enemy country, and that "it is meet that he appoints one of his lords and sends him on the business."110 Barbosa says that the king of Vijayanagar seldom went to war himself but sent his captains and armies.¹¹¹ It is likely that the kings did not lead expeditions unless they were driven to that necessity. Acyuta Rāya, for instance, though he takes credit for the subjugation of many of his provinces, yet does not seem to have taken the field himself. When Cellappa’s rebellion was being put down he was spending his time in the company of scholars at Śrīraṅgam.¹¹² But curiously enough Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya was in this respect an exception to his own maxim. Even to quell a small rebellion he took the field in person.

c9.s3.35

¹¹¹ Barbosa, I, p. 224.

c9.s3.36

¹¹² S. K. Aiyangar, Sources, pp. 159-60.

c9.s3.37

From the Rāyavācakamu we learn that with the commission given to a general to lead the forces were also given betel and nut. Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya, having heard from his spies of the atrocities committed by the Muhammadans in his dominions, summoned from among his amaranāyakam generals the chief Pemmasāni Rāma-liṅga, and asked his advice as to how he was to act under the circumstances. Rāma-liṅga assured the king that if he should be entrusted with the commission he could rout the enemy in no time. Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya approved of the idea, and presented him with betel and nut in token of his leadership in the attack.¹¹³

c9.s3.38

¹¹³ Ibid., p. 112.

c9.s3.39

During the course of the fight, if the kings led the armies, they themselves encouraged the soldiers to fight or in their absence appointed men for the purpose. Ferishta says that Bukka I asked the Brahmans to deliver sermons to his troops on the merit of slaughtering the Muhammadans, for they were the destroyers of the Hindu temples and their images and the slaughterers of cows.114 When Kṛṣṇadēva Rāya saw that his forces had been made to take to their heels by the Muhammadans in the initial stages of the battle of Raicūr, he rebuked his soldiers for their cowardice, and encouraged them by saying that since all of them had to die some day, they should meet their death boldly at the battlefield as was their the *Goths*, the *Vandals*, the *Suevi*, the *Burgundians*, the *Alani*, the *Huns*, the *Franks*, the *Saxons*, the *Thuringians*, the *Rugians*, and the *Heruli*. The names of these tribes are familiar to the reader, but their origin, their migrations, and their settlements are involved in the deepest obscurity. The most probable opinion is that they were all of German or Scythian extraction, and that they had been driven from their native seats by the pressure of the Huns, a formidable nation of Tartars, who had crossed the Volga and the Tanais, and were advancing with rapid strides towards the frontiers of the Roman empire.

c9.s3.40

¹¹⁰ Amukta., canto IV, v. 255.

c9.s3.41

The first of these nations that crossed the Danube was the *Goths*. They were divided into two great branches, the *Visigoths* or Western Goths, and the *Ostrogoths* or Eastern Goths. The Visigoths, under the conduct of Fritigern, implored the protection of the emperor Valens, and were permitted to settle in the province of Thrace. But the perfidy of the Roman governors, and the insolence of the Roman soldiers, soon provoked them to rebellion. They defeated the imperial armies, and Valens himself perished in the battle of Hadrianople.

c9.s3.42

The death of Valens was followed by the accession of Theodosius, who, by his wisdom and valour, restored the discipline of the Roman legions, and compelled the Goths to accept a peace, which was rather a truce than a permanent settlement. The Goths, however, remained in the heart of the empire, and their presence was a constant source of danger and alarm. They were no longer the rude barbarians who had first crossed the Danube; they had learned the arts of war and the policy of the Romans, and they were ready to take advantage of any opportunity to assert their independence.

c9.s3.43

The reign of Theodosius was the last period of the glory of the Roman empire. After his death, the empire was divided between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius. Arcadius reigned in the East, and Honorius in the West. The division was fatal to the interests of the state. The two brothers were weak and indolent, and they were governed by their ministers and favourites. The Goths, under the command of Alaric, took advantage of the weakness of the government, and invaded Italy. They besieged and took Rome, and the eternal city, which had for so many centuries been the mistress of the world, was plundered by the barbarians.

c9.s3.44

The fall of Rome was a shock to the whole civilized world. It was the end of an era, and the beginning of a new and darker age. The Goths, after the death of Alaric, retired from Italy, and settled in Gaul and Spain, where they founded kingdoms which were destined to last for several centuries. The Vandals, under the command of Genseric, crossed into Africa, and established a powerful kingdom, which for a time threatened the security of the Mediterranean. The Franks, under the command of Clovis, conquered Gaul, and laid the foundations of the French monarchy. The Saxons, under the command of Hengist and Horsa, invaded Britain, and established the kingdoms of the Heptarchy.

c9.s3.45

Vellore Fort East View

c9.s3.46

custom.¹¹⁵ In the battle of Rakṣas Tangḍi, Tirumala, the brother of Rāma Rāja, lost one of his eyes and fled from the battlefield. When the latter heard this, his anger knew no bounds, and in order to encourage his troops he remounted his horse, and shouting several times "Gorida, Gorida!" charged the allied armies with his men.¹¹⁶

c9.s3.47

¹¹⁵ Sewell, op. cit., pp. 338-39.

c9.s3.48

¹¹⁶ Heras, Aravidu Dynasty, I, p. 208; Caesar Frederick, Purchas, His Pilgrims, X, p. 93.

Cites (4)