Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c13.s1.50

c13.s1.50

In the Vijayanagara Empire. the ancient age of Indian History comes to a close only with the battle of Tâlikoṭa which, in 1565, finally destroyed the Vijayanagara Empire. For more than two centuries that empire had held its own against the Deccan Muslim powers—Bahmanī Kingdom and its off-shoots, the Sultanates. Under its aegis the old Hindu life continued in full vigour. Here some of the most remarkable of ‘medieval’ Hindu philosophic, literary and legal treatises or commentaries were composed. Here some thought was bestowed on government and ancient ideas were re-interpreted and modified in the light of contemporary conditions. The best illustration of the process is furnished by the emperor-poet Kṛṣṇadeva Râya who was not only a patron of scholars living in his own dominions or attracted by his fame and generosity from distant places like Benares but who was himself a writer of no mean repute.