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A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar; A Contribution to the History of India
by Robert Sewell
Preface
The two Portuguese chronicles, a translation of which into English
is now for the first time offered to the public, are contained in
a vellum-bound folio volume in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris,
amongst the manuscripts of which institution it bears the designation
"PORT. NO. 65." The volume in question consists of copies of four
original documents; the first two, written by Fernao Nuniz and Domingo
Paes, being those translated below, the last two (at the end of the
MS.) letters written from China about the year 1520 A.D. These will
probably be published in translation by Mr. Donald Ferguson in the
pages of the INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
The first pair of original papers was sent with a covering letter
by some one at Goa to some one in Europe. The names are not given,
but there is every reason for believing that the recipient was the
historian Barros in Lisbon.
Both these papers are in the same handwriting, which fact - since
they were written by separate Portuguese merchants or travellers at
Vijayanagar in different years, one, I believe, shortly subsequent
to 1520 A.D., the latter not later than about 1536 or 1537 -
conclusively proves them to be copies of the originals, and not the
originals themselves.[2] I have inserted a facsimile of two pages of
the text, so that no doubt may remain on this point. The first portion
consists of the conclusion of the text of Fernao Nuniz; the second
of the covering letter written by the person who sent the originals
to Europe; the third of the beginning of the text of Domingo Paes.
Paes being the earlier in date (about 1520) I have given his account
of personal experiences first, and afterwards the historical summary
composed by Nuniz about the year 1536 or 1537.
I have stated that the person to whom the documents were sent from
Goa was probably the celebrated historian Barros. He is alluded to
in the covering letter in the words: "It seemed necessary to do what
your Honour desired of me," "I send both the summaries ... because
your Honour can gather what is useful to you from both;" and at the
end of the long note on "Togao Mamede," king of Delhi, quoted in my
introduction, "I kiss your Honour's hand."
Since the first DECADA of Barros was published in 1552,[3]
this argument is not unreasonable; while a comparison between the
accounts given by Nuniz and Barros of the siege and battle of Raichur
sufficiently proves that one was taken from the other. But we have
fortunately more direct evidence, for the discovery of which we have
to thank Mr. Ferguson. I have mentioned above that at the end of the
MS. volume are copies of two letters concerning China. These were
written subsequent to the year 1520 by Vasco Calvo and Christovao
Vieyra. Mr. Ferguson has pointed out to me that, in the third DECADA
(liv. IV, caps. 4, 5), after quoting some passages almost verbatim
from this chronicle of Nuniz regarding Vijayanagar, Barros writes:
"According to two letters which our people had two or three years
afterwards from these two men, Vasco Calvo, brother of Diogo Calvo,
and Christovao Vieyra, who were prisoners in Canton, etc...." He
also mentions these letters in two subsequent passages, and quotes
from them. This renders it certain that Barros saw those letters;
and since they are copied into the same volume which contains the
chronicles of Nuniz and Paes, we may be sure that Barros had the
whole before him. It is of little importance to settle the question
whether the chronicles of Nuniz and Paes were sent direct to Barros
- whether, that is, Barros himself is the addressee of the covering
letter - or to some other official (the "our people" of the passage
from Barros last quoted); but that Barros saw them seems certain,
and it is therefore most probable that the Paris MS. was a volume of
copies prepared for him from the originals.
* * *
These documents possess peculiar and unique value; that of Paes because
it gives us a vivid and graphic account of his personal experiences
at the great Hindu capital at the period of its highest grandeur and
magnificence - "things which I saw and came to know" he tells us -
and that of Nuniz because it contains the traditional history of the
country gathered first-hand on the spot, and a narrative of local
and current events of the highest importance, known to him either
because he himself was present or because he received the information
from those who were so. The summaries of the well-known historians
already alluded to, though founded, as I believe, partly on these
very chronicles, have taken all the life out of them by eliminating
the personal factor, the presence of which in the originals gives
them their greatest charm. Senhor Lopes, who has published these
documents in the original Portuguese in a recent work,[4] writes in his
introduction: "Nothing that we know of in any language can compare with
them, whether for their historical importance or for the description
given of the country, and especially of the capital, its products,
customs, and the like. The Italian travellers who visited and wrote
about this country - Nicolo di Conti, Varthema, and Federici -
are much less minute in the matter of the geography and customs of
the land, and not one of them has left us a chronicle." They are
indeed invaluable, and throw an extraordinary light on the condition
of Vijayanagar as well as on several doubtful points of history.
Thus, for instance, we have in Nuniz for the first time a definite
account of the events that led to the fall of the First Dynasty and the
establishment of the second by the usurpation of Narasimha. Previous
to the publication of these chronicles by Senhor Lopes we had nothing
to guide us in this matter, save a few vague and unsatisfactory lines
in the chronicle of the historian Firishtah.[5] Now all is made clear,
and though as yet the truth cannot be definitely determined, at least
we have an explicit and exceedingly interesting story. Paes too,
as well as Nuniz, conclusively proves to us that Krishna Deva Raya
was really the greatest of all the kings of Vijayanagar, and not the
mere puppet that Firishtah appears to consider him (Firishtah does not
mention him by name); for Paes saw him on several occasions and speaks
of him in warm and glowing terms, while Nuniz, whose narrative was
evidently firsthand, never so much as hints that his armies were led
to victory by any other general but the king himself. Nuniz also gives
us a graphic description from personal knowledge of the character of
Krishna's degenerate successor Achyuta, whose feebleness, selfishness,
cowardice, and cruelty paved the way for the final destruction of
the great empire.
By the side of these two chronicles the writings of the great European
historians seem cold and lifeless.
* * *
I have mentioned the publication of Senhor Lopes. It is to that
distinguished Arabic scholar that we owe the knowledge of the existence
of these precious documents. He it was who brought them to light
in the first instance, and to him personally I owe the fact of my
being able to translate and publish them. His introduction to the DOS
REIS DE BISNAGA is full of valuable matter. India owes him a debt of
gratitude for his services; and for myself I desire to record here
my sincere thanks for the disinterested and generous help he has so
constantly accorded to me during the last two years.
My thanks are also due to Mr. Donald Ferguson for his careful revision
of the whole of my translations.
I desire further to express my appreciation of a particular kindness
done to me by Colonel R. C. Temple, C.I.E., and lastly to acknowledge
gratefully the liberality of H.E. the Governor of Madras and the
Members of his Council, who by subsidising this work have rendered
its publication possible.
I trust that my remarks regarding the causes of the downfall of
Portuguese trade in the sixteenth century will not be misunderstood. It
is not in any spirit of criticism or comparison that I have written
those passages. History, however, is history; and it is a fact that
while the main cause of the small success which attended the efforts
of the Portuguese to establish a great and lasting commerce with India
was no doubt the loss of trade after the destruction of Vijayanagar,
there must be added to this by the impartial recorder the dislike of
the inhabitants to the violence and despotism of the Viceroys and to
the uncompromising intolerance of the Jesuit Fathers, as well as the
horror engendered in their minds by the severities of the terrible
Inquisition at Goa.
* * *
A word as to my spelling of names. I have adopted a medium course
in many cases between the crudities of former generations and the
scientific requirements of the age in which we live; the result of
which will probably be my condemnation by both parties. But to the
highly educated I would point out that this work is intended for
general reading, and that I have therefore thought it best to avoid
the use of a special font of type containing the proper diacritical
points; while to the rest I venture to present the plea that the
time has passed when Vijayanagar needs to be spelt "Beejanuggur,"
or Kondavidu "Condbeer."
Thus I have been bold enough to drop the final and essential "a"
of the name of the great city, and spell the word "Vijayanagar,"
as it is usually pronounced by the English. The name is composed
of two words, VIJAYA, "victory," and NAGARA, "city," all the "a's"
to be pronounced short, like the "u" in "sun," or the "a" in "organ."
"Narasimha" ought, no doubt, to be spelt "Nrisimha," but that in such
case the "ri" ought to have a dot under the "r" as the syllable is
really a vowel, and I have preferred the common spelling of modern
days. (Here again all three "a's" are short.)
As with the final "a" in "Vijayanagara," so with the final "u" in
such names as "Kondavidu" - it has been dropped in order to avoid
an appearance of pedantry; and I have preferred the more common
"Rajahmundry" to the more correct "Rajamahendri," "Trichinopoly" to
"Tiruchhinapalle," and so on.
This system may not be very scientific, but I trust it will prove
not unacceptable.
* * *
The name of the capital is spelt in many different ways by the
chroniclers and travellers. The usual Portuguese spelling was
"Bisnaga;" but we have also the forms "Bicheneger" (NIKITIN),
"Bidjanagar" (ABDUR RAZZAK), "Bizenegalia" (CONTI), "Bisnagar,"
"Beejanuggur," &c.
A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Introductory remarks - Sources of information - Sketch of history of
Southern India down to A.D. 1336 - A Hindu bulwark against Muhammadan
conquest - The opening date, as given by Nuniz, wrong - "Togao
Mamede" or Muhammad Taghlaq of Delhi - His career and character.
In the year 1336 A.D., during the reign of Edward III. of England,
there occurred in India an event which almost instantaneously changed
the political condition of the entire south. With that date the volume
of ancient history in that tract closes and the modern begins. It is
the epoch of transition from the Old to the New.
This event was the foundation of the city and kingdom of
Vijayanagar. Prior to A.D. 1336 all Southern India had lain under
the domination of the ancient Hindu kingdoms, - kingdoms so old
that their origin has never been traced, but which are mentioned in
Buddhist edicts rock-cut sixteen centuries earlier; the Pandiyans at
Madura, the Cholas at Tanjore, and others. When Vijayanagar sprang
into existence the past was done with for ever, and the monarchs
of the new state became lords or overlords of the territories lying
between the Dakhan and Ceylon.
There was no miracle in this. It was the natural result of the
persistent efforts made by the Muhammadans to conquer all India. When
these dreaded invaders reached the Krishna River the Hindus to their
south, stricken with terror, combined, and gathered in haste to the
new standard which alone seemed to offer some hope of protection. The
decayed old states crumbled away into nothingness, and the fighting
kings of Vijayanagar became the saviours of the south for two and a
half centuries.
And yet in the present day the very existence of this kingdom is
hardly remembered in India; while its once magnificent capital,
planted on the extreme northern border of its dominions and bearing
the proud title of the "City of Victory," has entirely disappeared
save for a few scattered ruins of buildings that were once temples
or palaces, and for the long lines of massive walls that constituted
its defences. Even the name has died out of men's minds and memories,
and the remains that mark its site are known only as the ruins lying
near the little village of Hampe.
Its rulers, however, in their day swayed the destinies of an empire
far larger than Austria, and the city is declared by a succession of
European visitors in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to have
been marvellous for size and prosperity - a city with which for
richness and magnificence no known western capital could compare. Its
importance is shown by the fact that almost all the struggles of the
Portuguese on the western coast were carried on for the purpose of
securing its maritime trade; and that when the empire fell in 1565,
the prosperity of Portuguese Goa fell with it never to rise again.
Our very scanty knowledge of the events that succeeded one another in
the large area dominated by the kings of Vijayanagar has been hitherto
derived partly from the scattered remarks of European travellers
and the desultory references in their writings to the politics of
the inhabitants of India; partly from the summaries compiled by
careful mediaeval historians such as Barros, Couto, and Correa, who,
though to a certain degree interested in the general condition of
the country, yet confined themselves mostly to recording the deeds
of the European colonisers for the enlightenment of their European
readers; partly from the chronicles of a few Muhammadan writers
of the period, who often wrote in fear of the displeasure of their
own lords; and partly from Hindu inscriptions recording grants of
lands to temples and religious institutions, which documents, when
viewed as state papers, seldom yield us more than a few names and
dates. The two chronicles, however, translated and printed at the
end of this volume, will be seen to throw a flood of light upon the
condition of the city of Vijayanagar early in the sixteenth century,
and upon the history of its successive dynasties; and for the rest
I have attempted, as an introduction to these chronicles, to collect
all available materials from the different authorities alluded to and
to weld them into a consecutive whole, so as to form a foundation
upon which may hereafter be constructed a regular history of the
Vijayanagar empire. The result will perhaps seem disjointed, crude,
and uninteresting; but let it be remembered that it is only a first
attempt. I have little doubt that before very long the whole history of
Southern India will be compiled by some writer gifted with the power
of "making the dry bones live;" but meanwhile the bones themselves
must be collected and pieced together, and my duty has been to try
and construct at least the main portions of the skeleton.
Before proceeding to details we must shortly glance at the political
condition of India in the first half of the fourteenth century,
remembering that up to that time the Peninsula had been held by a
number of distinct Hindu kingdoms, those of the Pandiyans at Madura
and of the Cholas at Tanjore being the most important.
The year 1001 A.D. saw the first inroad into India of the Muhammadans
from over the north-west border, under their great leader Mahmud of
Ghazni. He invaded first the plains of the Panjab, then Multan, and
afterwards other places. Year after year he pressed forward and again
retired. In 1021 he was at Kalinga; in 1023 in Kathiawar; but in no
case did he make good his foothold on the country. His expeditions
were raids and nothing more. Other invasions, however, followed in
quick succession, and after the lapse of two centuries the Muhammadans
were firmly and permanently established at Delhi. War followed war,
and from that period Northern India knew no rest. At the end of the
thirteenth century the Muhammadans began to press southwards into
the Dakhan. In 1293 Ala-ud-din Khilji, nephew of the king of Delhi,
captured Devagiri. Four years later Gujarat was attacked. In 1303
the reduction of Warangal was attempted. In 1306 there was a fresh
expedition to Devagiri. In 1309 Malik Kafur, the celebrated general,
with an immense force swept into the Dakhan and captured Warangal. The
old capital of the Hoysala Ballalas at Dvarasamudra was taken in
1310, and Malik Kafur went to the Malabar coast where he erected a
mosque, and afterwards returned to his master with enormous booty.[6]
Fresh fighting took place in 1312. Six years later Mubarak of Delhi
marched to Devagiri and inhumanly flayed alive its unfortunate prince,
Haripala Deva, setting up his head at the gate of his own city. In
1323 Warangal fell.
Thus the period at which our history opens, about the year 1330, found
the whole of Northern India down to the Vindhya mountains firmly
under Moslem rule, while the followers of that faith had overrun
the Dakhan and were threatening the south with the same fate. South
of the Krishna the whole country was still under Hindu domination,
but the supremacy of the old dynasties was shaken to its base by the
rapidly advancing terror from the north. With the accession in 1325 of
Muhammad Taghlaq of Delhi things became worse still. Marvellous stories
of his extraordinary proceedings circulated amongst the inhabitants
of the Peninsula, and there seemed to be no bound to his intolerance,
ambition, and ferocity.
Everything, therefore, seemed to be leading up to but one
inevitable end - the ruin and devastation of the Hindu provinces;
the annihilation of their old royal houses, the destruction of their
religion, their temples, their cities. All that the dwellers in the
south held most dear seemed tottering to its fall.
Suddenly, about the year 1344 A.D., there was a check to this wave
of foreign invasion - a stop - a halt - then a solid wall of
opposition; and for 250 years Southern India was saved.
The check was caused by a combination of small Hindu states - two
of them already defeated, Warangal and Dvarasamudra - defeated,
and therefore in all probability not over-confident; the third, the
tiny principality of Anegundi. The solid wall consisted of Anegundi
grown into the great empire of the Vijayanagar. To the kings of this
house all the nations of the south submitted.
If a straight line be drawn on the map of India from Bombay to Madras,
about half-way across will be found the River Tungabhadra, which,
itself a combination of two streams running northwards from Maisur,
flows in a wide circuit north and east to join the Krishna not far from
Kurnool. In the middle of its course the Tungabhadra cuts through a
wild rocky country lying about forty miles north-west of Bellary, and
north of the railway line which runs from that place to Dharwar. At
this point, on the north bank of the river, there existed about the
year 1330 a fortified town called Anegundi, the "Nagundym" of our
chronicles, which was the residence of a family of chiefs owning a
small state in the neighbourhood. They had, in former years, taken
advantage of the lofty hills of granite which cover that tract to
construct a strong citadel having its base on the stream. Fordable at
no point within many miles the river was full of running water at all
seasons of the year, and in flood times formed in its confined bed a
turbulent rushing torrent with dangerous falls in several places. Of
the Anegundi chiefs we know little, but they were probably feudatories
of the Hoysala Ballalas. Firishtah declares that they had existed as
a ruling family for seven hundred years prior to the year 1350 A.D.[7]
The chronicle of Nuniz gives a definite account of how the sovereigns
of Vijayanagar first began to acquire the power which afterwards became
so extensive. This account may or may not be accurate in all details,
but it at least tallies fairly with the epigraphical and other records
of the time. According to him, Muhammad Taghlaq of Delhi, having
reduced Gujarat, marched southwards through the Dakhan Balaghat, or
high lands above the western ghats, and a little previous to the year
1336[8] seized the town and fortress of Anegundi. Its chief was slain,
with all the members of his family. After a futile attempt to govern
this territory by means of a deputy, Muhammad raised to the dignity of
chief of the state its late minister, a man whom Nuniz calls "Deorao,"
for "Deva Raya." or Harihara Deva I. The new chief founded the city
of Vijayanagar on the south bank of the river opposite Anegundi and
made his residence there, with the aid of the great religious teacher
Madhava, wisely holding that to place the river between him and the
ever-marauding Moslems was to establish himself and his people in
a condition of greater security than before. He was succeeded by
"one called Bucarao" (Bukka), who reigned thirty-seven years, and
the next king was the latter's son, "Pureoyre Deo" (Harihara Deva II.).
We know from other sources that part at least of this story is
correct. Harihara I. and Bukka were the first two kings and were
brothers, while the third king, Harihara II., was certainly the son
of Bukka.
The success of the early kings was phenomenal. Ibn Batuta, who was
in India from 1333 to 1342, states that even in his day a Muhammadan
chief on the western coast was subject to Harihara I., whom he calls
"Haraib" or "Harib," from "Hariyappa" another form of the king's
name; while a hundred years later Abdur Razzak, envoy from Persia,
tells us that the king of Vijayanagar was then lord of all Southern
India, from sea to sea and from the Dakhan to Cape Comorin -
"from the frontier of Serendib (Ceylon) to the extremities of the
country of Kalbergah ... His troops amount in number to eleven lak,"
I.E. 1,100,000. Even so early as 1378 A.D., according to Firishtah,[9]
the Raya of Vijayanagar was "in power, wealth, and extent of country"
greatly the superior of the Bahmani king of the Dakhan.
The old southern states appear (we have little history to guide
us) to have in general submitted peaceably to the rule of the new
monarchy. They were perhaps glad to submit if only the dreaded
foreigners could be kept out of the country. And thus by leaps
and bounds the petty state grew to be a kingdom, and the kingdom
expanded till it became an empire. Civil war and rebellion amongst
the Muhammadans helped Harihara and Bukka in their enterprise. Sick
of the tyranny and excesses of Muhammad Taghlaq, the Dakhan revolted
in 1347, and the independent kingdom of the Bahmanis was for a time
firmly established.
The chronicle of Nuniz opens with the following sentence: -
"In the year twelve hundred and thirty these parts of India were
ruled by a greater monarch than had ever reigned. This was the king
of Dili,[10] who by force of arms and soldiers made war on Cambaya for
many years, taking and destroying in that period the land of Guzarate
which belongs to Cambaya,[11] and in the end he became its lord."
After this the king of Delhi advanced against Vijayanagar by way of
the Balaghat.
This date is a century too early, as already pointed out. The sovereign
referred to is stated in the following note (entered by Nuniz at
the end of Chapter xx., which closes the historical portion of his
narrative) to have been called "Togao Mamede."
"This king of Delhi they say was a Moor, who was called Togao
Mamede. He is held among the Hindus as a saint. They relate that once
while he was offering prayer to God, there came to him four arms with
four hands; and that every time he prayed roses fell to him from out
of heaven. He was a great conqueror, he held a large part of this
earth under his dominion, he subdued ... (blank in original) kings,
and slew them, and flayed them, and brought their skins with him; so
that besides his own name, he received the nickname ... which means
'lord of ... skins of kings;' he was chief of many people.
"There is a story telling how he fell into a passion on account of
(BEING GIVEN?) eighteen letters (OF THE ALPHABET TO HIS NAME?), when
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