|
Another captain, who is called Gapanayque, is lord of these lands, namely of Rosyl,[629] and of Tipar, and of Ticalo, and of Bigolom.[630] These lands march with the territory of the Ydallcao, and in all these there is much wheat and grains and cattle and goats and gingely and cotton; and very fine cloth made of the last, for all the cloth that is manufactured is made of it. He has a revenue from these territories of six hundred thousand PARDAOS, and is obliged to furnish two thousand five hundred horse, and twenty thousand foot, and twenty elephants, and he pays every year to the King a hundred and fifty thousand PARDAOS.
Another captain called Lepapayque, who is lord of Vimgapor,[631] a land very rich in seed-plots and cattle-breeding farms, has a revenue of three hundred thousand PARDAOS; and is obliged to furnish twelve hundred horse and twenty thousand foot and twenty-eight elephants, and he pays to the King every year eighty thousand PARDAOS.
The treasurer of the jewels, who is called Narvara is captain of the new city which is called Ondegema,[632] and is lord of the city of Diguoty and of Darguem and of Entarem,[633] and of the other lands bordering on the lands of Bisnaga; they are all fields. They yield him every year four hundred thousand PARDAOS, of which he gives the King two hundred thousand, and the rest he spends on twelve thousand foot and six hundred horse and twenty elephants.
Another captain called Chinapanayque, the King's marshal, is lord of the land of Calaly[634] in the direction of Cochim in the interior, and of many other lands that yield him three hundred thousand PARDAOS; and he is obliged to pay the King every year one hundred thousand PARDAOS, and serves with eight hundred horse and ten thousand foot (PRACOS).
Crisnapanayque is lord of Aosel,[635] which is a large city, and of other villages that I do not here mention as they have very difficult names. These lands yield him every year twenty thousand PARDAOS of gold, and he pays an annual revenue to the King of seven thousand PARDAOS, and serves with five hundred horse and seven hundred foot (PRACOS).
Also Bajapanarque, who is captain of the country of Bodial,[636] which borders on Mamgalor[637] by the sea-coast. He is lord too of Guiana.[638] In this country there is much pepper and sugar-cane and cloth (of flax)[639] and much rice; but there is no wheat, nor other cloth, and it is a land of wax. It yields him three hundred thousand PARDAOS a year, and he serves with eight hundred horsemen and ten thousand foot and fifteen elephants. He pays the King ten thousand PARDAOS.
Mallpanarque, who was chief master of the horse to King Crisnarao, is lord of the country of Avaly,[640] which is in the interior of Calecu.[641] This land has much iron and much cotton, rice, goats, sheep, cows and buffaloes. He has a revenue of fifteen thousand PARDAOS, and is obliged to serve with four hundred horse and six thousand foot, and pays the King every year five thousand PARDAOS.
Another captain, called Adapanayque, who is the chief counsellor of the King, is lord of the country of Gate,[642] whence come the diamonds, and of many other territories which yield him three hundred thousand gold PARDAOS, excluding the precious stones which form a revenue by themselves. He pays to the King every year forty thousand PARDAOS, with the condition that all diamonds which exceed twenty MANGELINS[643] in weight shall be given to the King for his Treasury. He serves with eight thousand foot and eight hundred horse and thirty elephants, and pays the King every year one hundred thousand PARDAOS.
Another Bajapanayque is captain of Mumdoguel,[644] which was a fortress of the Ydalcao, and was taken from him by Crisnarao when he took Rachol,[645] which was a boundary of it. This fortress of Mumdoguel with other territories yields him four hundred thousand PARDAOS, and he serves with a thousand cavalry and ten thousand foot and fifty elephants, and pays the King every year one hundred and fifty thousand PARDAOS.
In this way the kingdom of Bisnaga is divided between more than two hundred captains who are all heathen,[646] and according to the lands and revenues that they have so the King settles for them the forces that they are compelled to keep up, and how much revenue they have to pay him every month during the first nine days of the month of September. He never gives any receipts to them, only, if they do not pay they are well punished, and are ruined and their property taken away. All the captains of this kingdom make use of litters and palanqueens. These are like biers and men carry them on their shoulders, but people are not allowed to make use of litters unless they are cavaliers of the highest rank, and the captains and principal persons use palanqueens. There are always at the court where the King is twenty thousand litters and palanqueens.
These matters concerning (I.E. the power and greatness of) the kingdom of Bisnaga, though it may seem to you that I have exaggerated, yet the people of this country assert them to have been even more notable[647] in times past, and greater than they now are.
And in this kingdom of Bisnaga there is a class of men, natives of the country, namely Brahmans, who the most part of them never kill or eat any live thing, and these are the best that there are amongst them. They are honest men, given to merchandise, very acute and of much talent, very good at accounts, lean men and well-formed, but little fit for hard work. By these and by the duties they undertake the kingdom is carried on. They believe that there are Three Persons and only One God, and they call the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity "TRICEBEMCA." There is another class who are Canarese who have pagodas in which are (images of?) monkeys, and cows, and buffaloes, and devils, to whom they pay much honour, and these idols and monkeys which they adore they say that in former times this land belonged all to the monkeys, and that in those days they could speak. They have books full of fine stories of chivalry, and many foolish tales about their idols, such as it is out of reason for men to believe. But because of this, neither in the kingdom of Bisnaga nor in all the land of the heathen are any monkeys killed, and there are so many in this country that they cover the mountains. There is another class of men called Telumgalle;[648] when these die their wives are buried alive with them.
The King of Bisnaga is a Brahman;[649] every day he hears the preaching of a learned Brahman, who never married nor ever touched a woman. He urges in his preaching (obedience to) the commandments of God, that is to say, that one must not kill any living thing, nor take anything belonging to another, and as with these so with the rest of the commandments. These people have such devotion to cows that they kiss them every day, some they say even on the rump — a thing I do not assert for their honour — and with the droppings of these cows they absolve themselves from their sins as if with holy water. They have for a commandment to confess their sins to the Brahman priests, but they do not do it, except only those who are very religious (AMIGUOS DE DIOS). They give in excuse that they feel a shame to confess themselves to another man, and say that it is sufficient to confess themselves alone after approaching God, for he who does not do so does not acquire grace; thus they fulfil the command in one way or another. But they do it so seldom (in reality) that they (may be said to) neglect this command to confess.
This kingdom of Bisnaga is all heathen. The women have the custom of burning themselves when their husbands die, and hold it an honour to do so. When therefore their husbands die they mourn with their relations and those of their husbands, but they hold that the wife who weeps beyond measure has no desire to go in search of her husband; and the mourning finished their relations speak to them, advising them to burn themselves and not to dishonour their generation. After that, it is said, they place the dead man on a bed with a canopy of branches and covered with flowers, and they put the woman on the back of a worthless horse, and she goes after them with many jewels on her, and covered with roses; she carries a mirror in her hand and in the other a branch of flowers, and (she goes accompanied by) many kinds of music, and his relations (go with her) with much pleasure. A man goes also playing on a small drum, and he sings songs to her telling her that she is going to join her husband, and she answers also in singing that so she will do. As soon as she arrives at the place where they are always burned she waits with the musicians till her husband is burned, whose body they place in a very large pit that has been made ready for it, covered with much firewood. Before they light the fire his mother or his nearest relative takes a vessel of water on the head and a firebrand in the hand, and goes three times round the pit, and at each round makes a hole in the pot; and when these three rounds are done breaks the pot, which is small, and throws the torch into the pit. Then they apply the fire, and when the body is burned comes the wife with all the feasters and washes her feet, and then a Brahman performs over her certain ceremonies according to their law; and when he has finished doing this, she draws off with her own hand all the jewels that she wears, and divides them among her female relatives, and if she has sons she commends them to her most honoured relatives. When they have taken off all she has on, even her good clothes, they put on her some common yellow cloths, and her relatives take her hand and she takes a branch in the other, and goes singing and running to the pit where the fire is, and then mounts on some steps which are made high up by the pit. Before they do this they go three times round the fire, and then she mounts the steps and holds in front of her a mat that prevents her from seeing the fire. They throw into the fire a cloth containing rice, and another in which they carry betel leaves, and her comb and mirror with which she adorned herself, saying that all these are needed to adorn herself by her husband's side. Finally she takes leave of all, and puts a pot of oil on her head, and casts herself into the fire with such courage that it is a thing of wonder; and as soon as she throws herself in, the relatives are ready with firewood and quickly cover her with it, and after this is done they all raise loud lamentations. When a captain dies, however many wives he has they all burn themselves, and when the King dies they do the same. This is the custom throughout all the country of the heathen, except with that caste of people called Telugas, amongst whom the wives are buried alive with their husbands when they die. These go with much pleasure to the pit, inside of which are made two seats of earth, one for him and one for her, and they place each one on his own seat and cover them in little by little till they are covered up; and so the wife dies with the husband.
CHAPTER 23
Of the ceremonies practised at the death of Brahmans.
When a Brahman is sick, before he dies, they send to call the learned Brahmans who are his priests, so that they should come to pray, and console the sick man; and they talk to him of the affairs of his soul, and what he must do to save it, bidding him spend money in alms. After this ceremony is over they make the Brahman priests shave the sick man's head, and after the shaving they bid them wash it, and after the washing it is their custom to bring into their houses a cow with a calf, — there are very few Brahmans, however poor they be, who do not have one to live in their house, — which cow, when they have finished washing the man's head, they take a turban and tie it to its neck and put the end of the turban into the hand of the sick man, and he gives it and the calf in alms for his soul to those priests who perform these ceremonies. On that day he gives alms according to his position, and gives to eat to some Brahmans who are invited and who come there for the purpose. They believe that when these ceremonies are made for the sick man, if he is to live he is soon cured of his infirmity, and if not that he soon dies.
After the death of the sick man they have the ground washed upon which he lay, and after the washing they take cow-dung and spread it over the ground, and place the body on the top of this dung. They hold that a sick man who dies on a cot, or on anything so-ever except only on the ground, commits a mortal sin. As soon as the body is laid on the ground they make for it a bier covered with boughs of the fig-tree, and before they place the body on the bier they wash it well with pure water, and anoint it with sandal-wood (oil); and they place by the body branches of sweet basil and cover it with a new cloth, and so place it in the bier. Then one of his relatives takes the bier on one side, and they call three other Brahmans whosoever they may be to aid them to lift it; and so they carry it to the place where they are to burn it, accompanied by many Brahmans who go singing in front of the corpse. In front of all goes his son, if he has one, or next younger brother or nearest relative, with fire in the hand for the burning. As soon as they arrive at the place where they have to burn the body, they scatter money according to their ability, and then put the fire to it; and they wait there till the whole body is consumed, and then all go and wash their bodies in a tank and afterwards return each one to his house. The son or brother or relation who put the fire is obliged to sleep on the ground where the man died for nine nights, and after the lapse of nine days from the death come the priests and learned men and they command to shave the head of this man. During these nine days, they feed the poor and they give them the dead man's clothes, and they give the cot with its bed in alms to the priests, with some money in addition; if he is a rich man they give gardens and other things in alms to many Brahmans. When ten days are finished, and the son has been shaved, he goes to the place where they burned his father or his brother, and they perform many ceremonies over the ashes and bones that remain unburned; then they put them in a small vessel and make a pit in the ground and bury them in it, and keep them thus guarded and buried in order (afterwards) to send the bones to be thrown into a sacred river, which is distant from Goa over one thousand leagues.[650] There is a very large temple there, the object of many pilgrimages, and they hold that every pilgrim who dies there is saved, and goes to Paradise, and also every dead man whose bones are thrown into that river. In spite of this they in reality take very few people there. The heir or the father or son of the dead man is obliged, from the day of the death, for eleven days to give food to twenty-seven Brahmans, and until twenty-one days to three others; until twelve days again he feeds seven Brahmans, and until twenty-seven days gives to eat to the three; on the last day of the month he gives food to three others, and thenceforward, until one year is finished, he gives meals once a month to three Brahmans. They do this in honour of the Trinity for the soul of the deceased. When this year is over he gives no more alms, except that each year, on the day on which the death happened, he feeds six Brahmans, — namely, three in honour of the Trinity, and three for the persons of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather; who thus seemingly eat together. Thus he obtains favour with God, and for these expenses they beg alms of the Brahmans if they are poor. These give him all help for it. Before they dine they wash the feet of all six, and during the meal some ceremonies are performed by Brahman priests who come there for that purpose.
CHAPTER A
Diamonds
However much it may at first sight appear that our chroniclers have exaggerated in their description of the wealth of the Hindu sovereign and his nobles, and of the wonderful display of jewels made on days of high festival by the ladies of their households, an account of which is given us by Paes, I for one see little reason for doubt. Nuniz distinctly states (p. 389) that the diamond mines, in their day the richest in the world, were farmed out on condition that all stones above twenty mangellins in weight — about twenty-five carats — were sent to the Raya for his personal use, and there must have been many of these. Barradas (p. 226 above) states that, according to rumour, even after the downfall of the empire the king at Chandragiri in 1614 A.D. had no less than three large chests full of diamonds in his possession; and every traveller and chronicler has something to say on the subject.
The principal mines were on the north bank of the Krishna river, and in the Kurnool and Anantapur countries, notably at Vajra Karur. Generically these are known as "the mines of Golkonda," and the phrase has passed into a proverb.
Linschoten (ii. 136) writes: "They (diamonds) grow in the countrie of Decam behinde Ballagate, by the towne of Bisnagar, wherein are two or three hilles, from whence they are digged, whereof the King of Bisnagar doth reape great profitte; for he causeth them to be straightly watched, and hath farmed them out with this condition, that all diamonds that are above twenty-five Mangellyns in weight are for the King himselfe (every Mangellyn is foure graines in weight).
"There is yet another hill in the Countrie of Decam, which is called Velha, that is the old Rocke, from whence come the best diamonds and are sold for the greatest price.... Sometimes they find Diamonds of one hundred and two hundred Mangelyns and more, but very few."
As regards the diamond "as large as a hen's egg," said to have been found at the sack of Vijayanagar and presented to the Adil Shah (above, p. 208), Couto (Decade VIII. c. xv.) says that it was a jewel which the Raya had affixed to the base of the plume on his horse's head-dress. Garcia da Orta, who was in India in 1534, says that at Vijayanagar a diamond had been seen as large as a small hen's egg, and he even declares the weights of three others to have been respectively 120, 148, and 250 MANGELIS, equivalent to 150, 175, and 312 1/2 carats (Tavernier, V. Ball, ii. 433).
Dr. Ball has gone carefully into the question of the diamonds known as "Babar's," "the Mogul's," "Pitt's," "the KOH-I-NUR," and others, and to his Appendix I. I beg to refer those interested in the subject.
It is clear that this hen's egg diamond could not be the fame as Sultan Babar's, because the former was taken at Vijayanagar in A.D. 1565, whereas Sultan Babar's was received by his son Humayun at Agra in 1526, and could not have been, forty years later, in the possession of the Hindu king of the south.[651]
Dr. Ball has shown that probably the KOH-I-NUR is identical with the "Mogul's diamond." Was, then, this "hen's egg" diamond the same? Probably not. If we had been told that the "hen's egg," when found in the sack of Vijayanagar, had been cut, the proof CONTRA would be conclusive, since the KOH-I-NUR was certainly uncut in A.D. 1656 or 1657. But there is no information available on this point.
The "hen's egg" was apparently taken by the Adil Shah to Bijapur in 1565, and it is not likely to have found its way, still in an uncut state, into the possession of Mir Jumla in 1656.
The KOH-I-NUR was found at Kollur on the river Krishna, probably in A.D. 1656. Mir Jumla farmed the mines at that time, and presented it uncut to the emperor, Shah Jahan. It is said to have weighed 756 English carats (Ball, ii. 444). It was entrusted to a Venetian named Hortensio Borgio, and was so damaged and wasted in his hands that, when seen by Tavernier in Aurangzib's treasury in 1665, it weighed not more than 268 1/2 English carats. In 1739 Nadir Shah sacked Delhi and carried the stone away with him to Persia, conferring on it its present immortal name the "Mountain of Light." On his murder in 1747 it passed into the hands of his grandson, Shah Rukh. Four years later Shah Rukh gave it to Ahmad Shah Durani of Kabul, and by him it was bequeathed to his son Taimur. In 1793 it passed by descent to his son Shah Zaman, who was blinded and deposed by his brother Muhammad; but he retained possession of the stone in his prison, and in 1795 it became the property of his brother Sultan Shuja. In 1809, after Shuja became king of Kabul, Elphinstone saw the diamond in his bracelet at Peshawur. In 1812, Shuja, being dethroned by Muhammad, fled to Lahore, where he was detained as a quasi-prisoner by Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Panjab. In 1813 an agreement was arrived at, and Shuja surrendered the diamond to Ranjit Singh. Ranjit often wore the stone, and it was constantly seen by European visitors to Lahore. Dying in 1839, the KOH-I-NUR was placed in the jewel-chamber till the infant Dhulip Singh was acknowledged as Ranjit's successor. In 1849 it was handed over to Sir John Lawrence on the annexation of the Panjab, and by him was sent to England to Her Majesty the Queen. In 1851 it was exhibited at the first great Exhibition, and in 1852 it was re-cut by an Amsterdam cutter, Voorsanger, in the employ of Messrs. Garrards. The weight is now 106 1/16 carats.
It would be interesting to trace the story of the "hen's egg" diamond after its acquisition by the Bijapur sultan, Ali Adil.
H. de Montfart, who travelled in India in 1608, saw a very large diamond in the possession of the Mogul emperor Jahangir at Delhi,[652] but this had been pierced. "I have seene one with the great MOGOR as bigge as a Hen's egge, and of that very forme, which he caused expressly to bee pierced like a pearle to weare it on his arme.... It weighteth 198 Mangelins."
CHAPTER B
The Wealth of the Dakhan in the Fourteenth Century A.D.
When Malik Kafur, in the year 1310 A.D., during the reign of Ala-ud-Din Khilji of Delhi, carried out his successful raids into the Dakhan and to the Malabar coast, sacking all the Hindu temples, ravaging the territory of Maisur, and despoiling the country, he is said to have returned to Delhi with an amount of treasure that seems almost fabulous. Firishtah writes: "They found in the temples prodigious spoils, such as idols of gold adorned with precious stones, and other rich effects consecrated to Hindu worship;" and Malik presented his sovereign with "312 elephants, 20,000 horses, 96,000 MANS of gold, several boxes of jewels and pearls, and other precious effects."
When we come to estimate the amount of gold we are met with a difficulty, as there are many varieties of MANS in India, the variation being as much as from 19 lbs. in Travancore to 163 1/4 lbs. in Ahmadnagar. The Madras MAN weighs 25 lbs., the Bombay MAN 28 lbs. Hawkins, writing in 1610, gives 55 lbs. to the MAN,[653] Middleton, in 1611, 33 lbs.[654] Now Firishtah had more to do with Ahmadnagar than any other part of India, and if his estimate was based on the MAN of that tract. Malik Kafur's 96,000 MANS of gold would have amounted to the enormous sum of 15,672,000 lbs. weight. It is hardly likely that Firishtah would have had in his mind the Travancore MAN. Even if he was thinking of the Madras MAN, which is not likely, his estimate of the weight of the gold carried off amounted to 2,400,000 lbs.
Whether we accept these amounts or not, there can be no manner of doubt that the richness of the temples was very great, and the reason is easy to see. The country had always been subject to Hindu kings, and treasures had year by year accumulated. The Brahmans exacted gifts and payments from the people on all occasions. Kings and chiefs, merchants and landowners, vied with one another in presenting rich offerings to their favourite places of worship; and when it is remembered that this practice had been going on from time immemorial, it need be no matter for wonder that the man who first violently despoiled the sacred buildings departed from the country laden with an almost incredible amount of booty. Colonel Dow, in his translation of the works of Firishtah (i. 307), computes the value of the gold carried off by Malik Kafur at a hundred millions sterling of our money.
CHAPTER C
Portuguese Viceroys and Governors of Goa
(A.D. 1505 TO 1568.)
A.D. Dom Francisco de Almeida (VICEROY) 1505 — 1509 Afonso de Albuquerque (GOVERNOR) 1509 — 1515 Lopo Soares de Albergaria (GOVERNOR) 1515 — 1518 Diogo Lopes de Sequeira (GOVERNOR) 1518 — 1521 Dom Duarte de Menezes (GOVERNOR) 1521 — 1524 Dom Vasco da Gama, Conde de Vidigueria (VICEROY) 1524 Dom Henrique de Menezes (GOVERNOR) 1525 — 1526 Lopo Vaz de Sampaio (GOVERNOR) 1526 — 1529 Nuno da Cunha (GOVERNOR) 1529 — 1538 Dom Garcia de Noronha (VICEROY) 1538 — 1540 Dom Estevao da Gama (GOVERNOR) 1540 — 1542 Martim Affonso de Sousa (GOVERNOR) 1542 — 1545 Dom Joao de Castro (GOVERNOR AND CAPTAIN-IN-CHIEF) 1545 — 1547 ,, ,, (VICEROY) 1547 — 1548 Garcia de Sa (GOVERNOR) 1548 — 1549 Jorge Cabral (GOVERNOR) 1549 — 1550 Dom Affonso de Noronha (VICEROY) 1550 — 1554 Dom Pedro Mascarenhas (VICEROY) 1554 — 1555 Francisco Barreto (GOVERNOR) 1555 — 1558 Dom Constantino de Braganza (VICEROY) 1558 — 1561 Dom Francisco Coutinho, Conde de Redondo (VICEROY) 1561 — 1564 Joao de Medonca (GOVERNOR) 1564 Dom Antonio de Noronha (VICEROY) 1564 — 1568
[The above List is extracted from Mr. Danvers's work, "The Portuguese in India" (vol. ii. p. 487). The author continues the List to the present day.]
NOTES
[1] — Translation of the "Chronica dos reis de Bisnaga", written by Domingos Paes and Fernao Nunes about 1520 and 1535, respectively, with historical introduction. Includes bibliographical references.
[2] — The letters from China were copied by a different hand.
[3] — Barros was apparently never himself in India, but held an official position in the India Office in Lisbon. His work was completed in four Decadas. Couto repeats the fourth DECADA of Barros, and continues the history in eight more DECADAS. The first three DECADAS of Barros were published in A.D. 1552, 1553, and 1563, bringing the history down to 1527, under the title of DOS FEITOS QUE OS PORTUGUESES FIZERAM NO DESCUBRIMENTO E CONQUISTA DOS MARES E TERRAS DO ORIENTE. His fourth DECADA, published by Couto, dealt with the period A.D. 1527 to 1539, and contained an account of the events that occurred during the governorships of Lopo Vaz de Sampaio and Nuno da Cunha. Couto's own eight DECADAS covered the subsequent period down to 1600. The combined work is generally called the DA ASIA. Couto completed his publication in 1614. The fourth DECADA was published in 1602, the fifth in 1612, the sixth in 1614, the seventh in 1616, the year of his death. Couto spent almost all his life in India, for which country he embarked in 1556.
[4] — CHRONICA DOS REIS DE BISNAGA, by David Lopes, S.S.G.L. Lisbon, 1897: at the National Press. The extract given is taken from his Introduction, p. lxxxvi.
[5] — Firishtah was a Persian of good family, and was born about 1570 A.D. Early in his life he was taken by his father to India, and resided all his life at the Court of the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar, rejoicing in royal patronage. He appears to have begun to compile his historical works at an early age, since his account of the Bijapur kings was finished in 1596. He appears to have died not long after the year 1611, which is the latest date referred to in any of his writings.
[6] — According to tradition the wealth carried off was something fabulous. See Appendix B.
[7] — It is highly probable that amongst the hills and crags about the upper fortress of Anegundi there may be found remains of a date long prior to the fourteenth century; and it is much to be regretted that up to now no scientific examination of that tract, which lies in the present territories of Haidarabad, has been carried out. Want of leisure always prevented my undertaking any exploration north of the river; but from the heights of Vijayanagar on the south side I often looked wistfully at the long lines of fortification visible on the hills opposite. It is to be hoped that ere long the Government of Madras may place us in possession of a complete map of Vijayanagar and its environs, showing the whole area enclosed by the outermost line of fortifications, and including the outworks and suburbs. Hospett and Anegundi were both part of the great city in its palmy days, and Kampli appears to have been a sort of outpost.
[8] — Nuniz erroneously gives the date as 1230. The error will be commented on hereafter.
[9] — Scott, i. 45, 46.
[10] — Delhi.
[11] — The Portuguese historians often mistook "Cambay" for the name of the country, and "Gujarat" for one of its dependencies.
[12] — SIC. The meaning is doubtful.
[13] — There is evidently a confusion here between tales of the doings of Muhammad Taghlaq and much older legends of Rama's Bridge and his army of monkeys.
[14] — Mallik Naib. (See the chronicle below, pp. 296, 297.)
[15] — "Your honour" was probably the historian Barros (see preface).
[16] — Sheik Ismail's power in Persia dates from early in the sixteenth century. Duarte Barbosa, who was in India in 1514 and wrote in 1516, mentions him as contemporary. He had subjugated Eastern Persia by that time and founded the Shiah religion. Barbosa writes: "He is a Moor and a young man," and states that he was not of royal lineage (Hakluyt edit. p. 38). Nuniz was thus guilty of an anachronism, but he describes Persia as he knew it.
[17] — "Chronicle of the Pathan Kings of Delhi," by Edward Thomas, p. 200.
[18] — Firishtah (Briggs, i. 413).
[19] — Elphinstone, "History of India," ii. 62.
[20] — Lee's translation, p. 144.
[21] — Sir H. Elliot's "History of India," iii. 215.
[22] — If we add together the number of years of the reigns of kings of Vijayanagar given by Nuniz prior to that of Krishna Deva Raya ("Crisnarao"), we find that the total is 180 (Senhor Lopes, Introduction, p. lxx.). The date of the beginning of the reign of Krishna Deva Raya is known to be 1509 — 10 A.D.; whence we obtain 1379 — 80 A.D. as the foundation of the empire in the person of "Dehorao" according to the chronicle. This is not quite accurate, but it helps to prove that "1230" is a century too early.
[23] — Batuta was a native of Tangiers, his name being Sheik Abu' Abdullah Muhammad. He arrived at the Indus on the 1 Muharram A.H. 734 (September 12, 1333 A.D.), and he seems to have resided in India till 1342.
[24] — The narrative is given in the French translation of Ibn Batuta's travels, by Defremery and Sanguinetti (vol. iii. pp. 318 — 320). See also Sir Henry Elliot's "History of India" (vol. iii. pp. 615 — 616).
[25] — Firishtah's account is somewhat different, and he gives the date A.H. 739, or July 20, 1338, to July 9, 1339. But I consider the narrative of Ibn Batuta to be far the most reliable, since he wrote from personal experience, while Firishtah compiled his story two and a half centuries later.
[26] — This was Ghiyas-ud-din Bahadur Bura of Bengal, mentioned above.
[27] — This tale is told of the rise of almost every kingdom, principality, or large zamindari in Southern India, the usual variant being the discovery of a hidden treasure.
[28] — I think that there can be little doubt that this derivation, though often given, is erroneous, and that the name was "City of Victory," not "City of Learning," — VIJAYA, not VIDYA. VYDIAJUNA evidently represents VIDYARJUNA.
[29] — Buchanan ("Mysore," &c., iii. 110), while on a visit to Beidur in Mysore in 1801, was shown by one Ramappa Varmika a Sanskrit book in his possession called the VIDYARAYANA SIKKA, which relates that the founders of Vijayanagar were Hukka and Bukka, guards of the treasury of Pratapa Rudra of Warangal. These young men came to the Guru, or spiritual teacher, Vidyaranya, who was head of the monastery of Sringeri, and the latter founded for them the city of Vijayanagar. This was in 1336, and Hukka was made first king. But this story entirely leaves out of account the most important point. How could two brothers, flying from a captured capital and a conquered kingdom, suddenly establish in a new country a great city and a sovereignty?
[30] — DECADA VI. l. v. c. 4.
[31] — "India in the Fifteenth Century," Hakluyt edit., p. 29.
[32] — JOURNAL BOMBAY BR. R.A.S., xii. 338, 340.
[33] — There is an undated inscription, published in Dr. Hultzsch's "South Indian Inscriptions" (vol. i. p. 167), on a rock not far from the summit of the lofty hill on which stands the virgin fortress of Gutti or Gooty in the Anantapur District, according to which that stronghold belonged to King Bukka. The place is seventy-eight miles east of Vijayanagar.
[34] — EPIG. IND., iii. 36.
[35] — An inscription of 1368 — 69 (Saka 1290, year Kilaka) mentions Madhavacharya Vidyaranya, apparently as still living. IND. ANT., iv. 206.
[36] — See my "Antiquities of Madras," ii. 8, No. 58; Hultzsch's EPIG. INDICA, iii. 21.
[37] — Briggs, i. 427.
[38] — This is in itself absurd, and carries with it its own refutation. It would be manifestly impossible for the city to be "built" in so short a time, and, moreover, it would have been sheer waste of time for the Prince to have employed himself in such a way. The sentence was probably introduced merely to account for that city having been built ABOUT this period.
[39] — Firishtah says on 1st Rabi-ul-awwal A.H. 759; A.H. 761 (A.D. 1359 — 60) according to the BURHAN-I-MAASIR. But the author of the latter work says that Ala-ud-din reigned thirteen years ten months and twenty-seven days, which would make the date of his death the 22nd of Rabi-ul-awwal A.H. 762, or January 31, A.D. 1361. He does not, therefore, appear to be very accurate. Firishtah gives in words the length of his reign as "eleven years two months and seven days."
[40] — Certain inscriptions published by Mr. Rice state that the general who commanded Bukka's armies about this time was Nadegonta Mallinatha, son of Nadegonta Sayyana. These bear date A.D. 1355 — 1356 and 1356 — 57.
[41] — Called "Nagdeo" in Scott's translation (i. 19).
[42] — Briggs, ii. 307.
[43] — There is a confusion of dates here in Firishtah; but he definitely fixes the month and year when Muhammad set out, and we may accept it for the present. The BURHAN-I-MAASIR implies that the war against Vijayanagar took place prior to the campaign against Warangal. Firishtah places it certainly after the "Vellunputtun" affair.
[44] — Firishtah (Scott, i. 23).
[45] — Adoni as now called; Adhvani as properly spelt. This is a fine hill-fortress with extensive lines of walls, a few miles south of the River Tungabhadra and on the line of railway between Madras and Bombay.
[46] — We must never forget that the narrative of Firishtah is necessarily tinged with bias in favour of the Musalmans, and that it was not compiled till the end of the sixteenth or beginning of the seventeenth century A.D. The "infidels" are, of course, the Hindus, the "faithful" the followers of Muhammad the Prophet.
[47] — The country in question is a plain composed of a deep alluvial deposit, generally overlying gravel, and known as "black cotton soil." After heavy rain it is practically impassable for traffic for some days.
[48] — The expression of Firishtah last quoted is deserving of note, as it implies that, according to tradition in his time, the Raya of Vijayanagar had by the year 1366 A.D. become a great and important sovereign.
[49] — Briggs (ii. 312, n.) considers it unlikely that the armies could have possessed artillery at so early a date.
[50] — Scott's edit., i. 27.
[51] — Briggs gives the name as Bhoj-Mul. He MAY be the Mallayya or Mallinatha mentioned above (p. 31, note).
[52] — Sacred animals to the Hindus.
[53] — About forty-two miles.
[54] — The Tiger-Hunter.
[55] — 19th Zilkada A.H. 776 (Firishtah). The BURHAN-I MAASIR says in A.H. 775.
[56] — The BURHAN-I MAASIR calls the Raya "Kapazah." Major King says that even the vowel marks are given, and there can be no doubt about the name. I venture to hazard a conjecture that if the word had been written "Pakazah," transposing the first two consonants — a mistake occasionally made by writers dealing with, to them, outlandish names — the sound of the word would suggest Bukka Shah. There is no name that I have met with amongst those borne by the kings of Vijayanagar in the remotest degree resembling "Kapazah."
[57] — Firishtah relates a story which is hardly sufficient to account for Bukka's faint-heartedness. He says that Mujahid went one day while on the march after a man-eating tiger of great ferocity, and shot it with a single arrow through the heart. "The idolaters, upon hearing of this exploit, were struck with dread." At the present day, at least, there are no tigers in the country between Adoni and Vijayanagar, though panthers are plentiful enough.
[58] — Firishtah, ii. 332 n.
[59] — A French map of A.D. 1652, published by Mr. Danvers ("Portuguese in India," end of vol. i), shows at this spot "C. de Rames," but the modern Ordnance Map has no place of that name in the vicinity.
[60] — It should be noted that Firishtah has previously described Mujahid, though he was then only about twenty years old, an a remarkably powerful man. He states that at the age of fourteen he had broken the neck of an opponent in a wrestling match.
[61] — Probably Marappa or Muddappa.
[62] — It will be seen hereafter that the kingdom was divided into provinces, held by nobles an condition of maintaining large armies ready for service at any moment.
[63] — Some authorities say that Daud was Mujahid's cousin.
[64] — "Dhunna Sodra" is, I think, a lake or tank in the plain on the eastern edge of the Vijayanagar hills, close under a lofty hill called, in the Trigonometrical Survey Taluq map, "Dannsundram," for (probably) Dharma Samudram. On the summit of this hill is a great Trigonometrical Survey pillar. The hill is 500 feet high, and lies within the limits of the village of Kanvi Timmapuram. Commanding, as it does, the route by which a force issuing from the capital would attempt, by rounding the hills, to cut off the only line of retreat open to the invaders towards the north east, the importance of the post to the Muhammadan army could not be over estimated.
[65] — Senhor Lopes tells me that he recently found in the archives of the Torre do Tombo in Lisbon (CORPO CHRONOLOGICO, Part iii. packet 11, No. 107) a copy of a copper-plate grant which was executed by the chief of Goa in A.D. 1391 in the name of "Virahariar," king of Vijayanagar, the suzerain. This was "Vira" Harihara II. It was copied in A.D. 1532, and translated into Portuguese.
[66] — Probably Belgaum.
[67] — The Tulu-ghat, or the Tulu country on the Malabar coast.
[68] — Compare the passage in the Chronicle of Nuniz, p. 302 below, where, writing of a period a few years later, he says, "The king of Coullao (Quilon) and Ceylon, and Paleacate (Pulicat), and Pegu and Tanacary (Tenasserim), and many other lands, pay tribute to him" — the Raya.
[69] — 17th Zil-hijja, A.H. 779.
[70] — Meadows Taylor, in his "History of India," relates (p. 163) that on one occasion Mujahid, during his attack on Vijayanagar, penetrated into the second line of works, where there was a celebrated image of the monkey-god, Hanuman. The Sultan dispersed the Brahmans who tried to protect it, and struck the image in the face, mutilating its features. "A dying Brahman lying at the foot of the image cursed the king. 'For this act,' he said, 'thou wilt die ere thou reachest thy kingdom.' A prophecy which was literally fulfilled. The image, hewn out of a large boulder of granite, still remains, and shows the marks of the king's mutilation." I do not know to which image the historian alludes. There are several statues of Hanuman in the second line of works, two of them lying south of the temple of Malaanta Raghunathasvami.
[71] — 21st Muharram A.H. 780.
[72] — The name is generally given as Mahmud, and so Firishtah names him but Dr. Codrington (NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE, 3rd Series, vol. xviii p. 261) points out that the name on all the coins of this Sultan is "Muhammad," and not "Mahmud;" and this is confirmed by the BURHAN-I MAASIR and two other authorities (Major King in IND. ANT., July 1899, p. 183, note 39). I think it best, however, to adhere to Firishtah's nomenclature to prevent confusion.
[73] — 21st Rajab A.H. 799. The 26th according to the BURHAN-I MAAZIR.
[74] — See Rice's "Mysore Inscriptions," p. 55 (A.D. 1379); JOURNAL BOMBAY BRANCH ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, xii. 340 (A.D. 1399).
[75] — See above, p. 28. Professor Aufrecht believes that Sayana died A.D. 1387.
[76] — "Mysore Inscriptions," p. 226.
[77] — JOURNAL BOMBAY BRANCH ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, ix. 227.
[78] — In this the king is called "MAHAMANDALESVARA, son of Vira Bukka Udaiyar, Lord of the four seas."
[79] — EPIG. IND., iii. pp. 115 — 116.
[80] — OP. CIT., p. 119.
[81] — 17th Ramazan A.H. 799 (Firishtah).
[82] — 23rd Safar A.H. 800 (Firishtah).
[83] — EPIGRAPHIA INDICA, iii. 36, N. 3.
[84] — Firishtah (Scott, p. 76).
[85] — Rather, I think, basket-boats. These are described in the text of Paes (below, p. 259) as being in use on these rivers in the sixteenth century, just as they are to-day. They are circular in shape, and are made of wickerwork of split bamboo covered all over outside with leather. Colonel Briggs, writing of these boats (Firishtah, ii. 371), in a footnote says, "A detachment of the British army crossed its heavy guns without even dismounting them over the Toongbudra in 1812 in these basket-boats."
[86] — These women always accompanied the Raya's armies. Nuniz says that large numbers of them were at the Hindu camp at Raichur in 1520.
[87] — A stringed instrument.
[88] — Youths trained to sing and dance in public.
[89] — Assessed at "near [pound sterling]400,000" (Scott, Firishtah, p. 79, note).
[90] — "Mysore Inscriptions," Rice, p. 279, No. 150. Professor Kielhorn in IND. ANT., xxiv. p. 204, No. 304, and note.
[91] — "South Indian Inscriptions," i. 82 (Dr. Hultzsch).
[92] — We must remember that the narrator is a loyal Muhammadan. Mudkal was in the tract always in dispute between the two kingdoms.
[93] — About forty miles north.
[94] — Briggs gives her name as "Nehal."
[95] — Briggs says, "In the beginning of the year 809." This would be the month of June, and the months following would have been unfavourable for the march of armies. I prefer Scott's rendering.
[96] — Firishtah generally calls this place "Beekapore" (Scott, i. 47, 69, 85, 86 &c.), but on p. 301 he spells the name "Binkapore." Bankapur was one of the principal fortresses in the Carnatic. It is the "Bengapor" or "Vengapor" of our chronicles. (See below, p. 122.)
[97] — This again points to the Muhammadan camp having been in the neighbourhood of Hospett, south of Vijayanagar.
[98] — "Plates of gold filled with incense and silver flowers." — Briggs (ii. 386).
[99] — This square is the open space mentioned by both Nuniz and Paes. On the left of it, as the cortege advanced, was the palace.
[100] — Scott has it "Mankul" (i. 90), but Briggs (ii. 389) corrects this into "Pangul," which is undoubtedly correct.
[101] — His grandfather, Deva Raya I., was young enough at the beginning of his reign (A.D. 1406) to plunge into amorous intrigues and adventures, and he reigned only seven years at most. His son and successor, Vijaya, reigned only six years. Vijaya's son, Deva Raya II., therefore, was probably a mere boy when he came to the throne in A.D. 1419.
[102] — PINA = CHINNA (Telugu) or CHIKKA (Kanarese), and means "little" or "young." (See the tale told by Barradas below, p. 222 ff., of the events of 1614 A.D.) The name is very common in Southern India, and was generally applied to the Crown Prince.
[103] — 7th Shawwal A.H. 825. Firishtah, (Scott) p. 95, gives the length of the reign, and his figures yield this result.
[104] — The spot-was therefore probably close to one of the old irrigation channels, supplied by dams constructed across this river under the Rayas.
[105] — It is difficult to reconcile this story with the fact of the Raya's tender age at this date, for I think it is certain that he was then quite a boy. Is it possible that the Muhammadan chroniclers, from whom Firishtah obtained the narrative, mistook for the king an adult member of the family who commanded the army? Such mistakes were certainly made in later years. The chroniclers seem to have taken little pains to ascertain the actual names of the Hindu kings. It must, however, be noted that a little later on Firishtah speaks of Deva Raya's son.
[106] — There is no clue as to where this event took place, except that it was not very close to Vijayanagar. The Sultan must have been near some hills with a plain below, because he met with open ground difficult for a horse to cross, in his eagerness to reach a mud enclosure in a plain. The description is applicable to numberless places in the vicinity, and it is useless to speculate. As he was on horseback, it is possible that he was riding down antelope.
[107] — Before Ahmad's accession, his brother, the late Sultan Firuz, had designed, in order to secure the throne for his own son Hasan, that Ahmad, should be blinded. Ahmad was warned of this and left Kulbarga in time to secure his safety.
[108] — This is the Muhammadan version. Nothing is said regarding this tribute by Firishtah in describing the terms of the peace of 1399 A.D. It is possible, however, that tribute was really paid. It had apparently been exacted by Muhammad Shaw Bahmani, and agreed to by Bukka Raya I. who confirmed the arrangement on the accession of Daud Shah's brother Muhammad (See above, p. 47.)
[109] — This looks as if he was really paraded with ignominy as a vanquished inferior, and so displayed to the Muhammadan troops. If he had desired to do him honour, the Sultan himself would have met the prince and personally escorted him, as representing his father. Moreover, the prince was only permitted to sit at the foot of the throne, and was taken, almost as a prisoner, for many days with the army till it reached the Krishna river.
[110] — 8th Rajab A.H. 838 (Firishtah). The BURHAN-I MAASIR says 22nd Rajab.
[111] — Firishtah (Scott), i. 118.
[112] — Estates.
[113] — Below, p. 303.
[114] — DANAIK, a word which the traveller apparently took for a proper name, is simply "the commander" — DHANNAYAKA.
[115] — As to Deva Raya's age see above, p. 63. He had now been on the throne for twenty-four years.
[116] — These words appear to confirm Abdur Razzak's statement.
[117] — Saka 1348 current, year Visvavasu ("Asiatic Researches," xx. p. 22; Hultzsch's "South Indian Inscriptions," i. 82).
[118] — OP. CIT., p. 160 Saka 1349 current, cyclic year Parabhava, on the full moon day of the month Karttika.
[119] — Hultzsch's "South Indian Inscriptions," i. p. 79. Fifth Karkataka Sukla, Saka 1353 current, year Sadharana. The donor's name is given as Vira Pratapa Deva Raya Maharaya and he is styled MAHAMANDALESVARA, "Lord of the four oceans."
[120] — OP. CIT. p. 109. They both give the king full royal titles.
[121] — IND. ANT., xxv. 346.
[122] — I.E. the second or dark half (KRISHNA PAKSHA) of the month.
[123] — Hultzsch's "South Indian Inscriptions," ii. 339. The date is Saka 1863 expired, year Kshaya, Wednesday the fifth day of the bright half of the month, on the day of the Nakshatra Purva Phalguni.
[124] — Hultzsch's "South Indian Inscriptions," i. 110. Saka 1371 expired, year Sukla, Saturday 13th Sukla of the month of Simha, on the day of the Nakshatra Uttarashadha.
[125] — The termination IA is appended to many Indian names by Bracciolini; thus "Pacamuria" for Bacanor, the Portuguese way of spelling Barkur, "Cenderghiria" for Chandragiri, "Odeschiria" for Udayagiri, and so on.
[126] — JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, vol. xiv. Part ii. p. 518.
[127] — Text of Paes, below, p. 281. I have discussed in full the dates given by the chronicler in considering the question as to the year of the battle of Raichur (see pp. 140 — 147).
[128] — The stone balls, generally made of quartzose granite, which are so often found in the country about Vijayanagar on the sites of old forts, were probably intended to be projected from these weapons. They are often called "cannon-balls," but could hardly have been fired from guns, as they would have broken up under the discharge and have seriously injured the piece.
[129] — About the same time, viz., 1436, Barbaro (Hakluyt Society, "Travels of Barbaro," p. 58), speaking of his sojourn in Tartary, wrote: "At which time, talking of Cataio, he tolde me howe the chief of that princes corte knewe well enough what the Franchi were ... We Cataini have twoo eyes, and yow Franchi one, whereas yow (torneing him towards the Tartares that were wth him) have never a one." The coincidence is curious.
[130] — The Samuri of Calicut.
[131] — Sir H. Elliot ("History," iv. 103, note) has "BIDRUR" as Abdur Razzak's spelling. The place alluded to was probably Bednur.
[132] — This was in A.H. 846, and corresponds to the end of April A.D. 1443.
[133] — Below, p. 253.
[134] — I.E. about seven miles. It is actually about eight miles if measured from the extreme south point of the first line of defence northwards to the river. Razzak evidently did not include the walls of Anegundi, the northern lines of which lie two miles farther still to the north.
[135] — The descriptions are rather vague, but, if I am right in supposing that there was a long bazaar called the Pansupari bazaar, along the road leading from the palace gate to the Anegundi gate on the river, it must certainly have been crossed by another road, and probably therefore a road lined with shops, leading from the Kamalapura gate of the inner enclosure northwards to the great Hampi temple. Close to the gate of the palace proper these roads would intersect at right angles, and would form four separate bazaars or streets. The galleries and porticoes are now not in existence, but the remains in the street running east from the Hampi temple will show what the galleries were like in those days. This last street alone is half a mile long.
[136] — Remains of these are still to be seen not far from the "Ladies' Bath." There was a long trough that conveyed the water, and on each side were depressions which may have been hollowed for the reception of round vessels of different sizes, intended to hold water for household use.
[137] — "The DEWAN KHANAH resembles a forty-pillared hall" (Sir H. Elliot's translation, "History," iv. 108). I am doubtful as to what building is referred to. The Hakluyt translator's rendering seems to point to the great enclosure west of the elephant stables, which has been called the "Zenana." I know of no hall exactly answering to Sir Henry Elliot's description. The lofty walls with watch-towers at the angles WHICH surround the enclosure referred to would be just such as might be supposed to have been erected for the protection of the royal archives and offices of the kingdom — the "Dewan Khana." If so, the "hall" in front would be the structure to which has been fancifully given the name of "the concert-hall." This hall, or DAFTAR-KHANA, would be the usual working office of the Minister and his colleagues — the office of daily work or courthouse, the necessary documents and records being brought to and from the central offices in the enclosure.
[138] — Roughly, twenty yards by seven. It is difficult to understand the height mentioned.
[139] — I give this word as in the India Office copy. The Hakluyt edition has DAIANG, which seems incorrect.
[140] — Officers with staves, generally covered with silver.
[141] — Abdur Razzak writes as if he was standing at the gate of the palace looking eastwards. Taken so, his description seems exact. Mr. A. Rea takes this view generally in a paper published in the MADRAS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE MAGAZINE (December 1886).
[142] — About two hundred yards by fifteen.
[143] — All this seems to have disappeared, but the buildings may have stood on each side of what is now the main road from Kamalapura to Hampi — "behind the Mint," as the author stood.
[144] — The India Office copy adds here: "He was exceedingly young." If so, the personage whom the ambassador interviewed could hardly have been Deva Raya II., who at this period (1443) had been on the throne for twenty-four years.
[145] — MAHANADI (Hakluyt), MAHANAWI (Elliot). There can be little doubt as to the meaning.
[146] — The actual moment of the new moon corresponding to the beginning of the month of Karttika in Hindu reckoning was 7.40 A.M. on the morning of October 23, and the first Hindu day (TITHI) of Karttika began at 5 A.M. on October 24. The Muhammadan month begins with the heliacal rising of the moon, and this may have taken place on the 24th or 25th evening. At any rate, Razzak could hardly have called a festival that took place a whole month earlier a festival which took place "during three days in the month Rajab." Hence I think that he must have been present at the New Year festivities in Karttika, not at the Mahanavami in Asvina, a month previous. Note Paes' description of the festivals at which he was present. He states that the nine days' MAHANAVAMI took place on September 12, when he was at Vijayanagar, and the details correspond to the year A.D. 1520. September 12, 1520, was the first day of the month Asvina. The New Year's festival that year took place on October 12, which corresponded to the first day of Karttika, each of these being the day following the NEW moon, not the full moon.
[147] — About seven yards or twenty-one feet.
[148] — Genealogical table in EPIGRAPHIA INDICA, iii. 36.
[149] — Dr. Hultzsch (EPIG. IND., iii. 36, and note; IND. ANT., xxi. 321). The last is on a temple at Little Conjeeveram and is dated in Saka 1387 expired, year Parthiva.
[150] — Saka 1392 expired, year Vikriti, on the same temple (IND. ANT., xxi. 321 — 322).
[151] — Firishtah says that he reigned twenty-three years nine months and twenty days, which gives this date. The BURHAN-I MAASIR fixes his decease at the end of Junmada'l Awwal A.H. 862, which answers to April A.D. 1458. Major King states that another authority gives the date as four years later (IND. ANT., Sept. 1899, p. 242, note).
[152] — 28th Zil-kada A.H. 865.
[153] — 13th Zil-kada A.H. 867.
[154] — Dec. I. viii. c. 10.
[155] — Below, p. 305.
[156] — IND. ANT., November 1899, p. 286, note.
[157] — Vijayanagar.
[158] — Masulipatam.
[159] — Scott's translation has "Ghondpore" (i. 166); Briggs (ii. 500) says "Condapilly."
[160] — This evidently means Kanchi or Conjeeveram; but the story is exceedingly improbable. The distance was 250 miles, and the way lay through the heart of a hostile country.
[161] — Ramazan A.H. 885.
[162] — 11th Muharram, A.H. 886.
[163] — Scott's translation, i. 167.
[164] — It is possible that one of these towns was Goa, which was taken in 1469.
[165] — Meaning evidently palanquins.
[166] — "Chenudar" and "Binedar" appear to be variations of the name Vijayanagar, called "Bichenegher" farther on.
[167] — This may, perhaps, refer to Belgaum (A.D. 1471).
[168] — Mahamandalesvara Medinisvara Gandan Kattari Saluva Dharanivaraha Narasimha Raya Udaiyar. These are not the titles of a sovereign. (Hultzsch, "South Indian Inscriptions," i. 131, No. 116).
[169] — OP. CIT., p. 132, No. 119.
[170] — OP. CIT., p. 131.
[171] — Scott's "Firishtah," i. pp. 190, 210; Briggs, ii. 537, iii. 10.
[172] — Briggs calls him "Timraj" (ii. 538) in all cases whence I conclude that in this passage Scott's "Ramraaje" is a slip of the pen. It does not occur again. The former translator in the second of the two passages calls "Timraj" the general of the Roy of Beejanuggur.
[173] — Scott, i. p 228.
[174] — Scott, i. p. 262.
[175] — This is very similar to the story told by Nuniz of the two sons of Virupaksha.
[176] — This again is similar to the tale Nuniz gives us of the minister Narasa and the two young princes.
[177] — Scott, i. p. 252; Briggs, iii. 66.
[178] — Firishtah has told us in a previous paragraph that "dissensions prevailed in Beejanuggur."
[179] — April A.D. 1493.
[180] — Scott's note to this is "about one million eight hundred thousand pounds sterling." Briggs (iii. p. 13) says two millions.
[181] — April 1509 to April 1510.
[182] — Da Orta was at Vijayanagar in 1534, at the same time as our chronicler Nuniz.
[183] — Colloq., x.
[184] — May 20th, according to Barros.
[185] — Published by the Hakluyt Society in English.
[186] — The origin of the name "Sabayo" has often been discussed, and never, I think, quite satisfactorily explained. Several of the old writers have exercised their ingenuity on the question. Barros (Dec. II. l. v. cap. 1) writes: "AO TEMPO CUE NOS ENTRAMOS NA INDIA, ERA SENHOR DESTA CIDADE GOA HUM MOURO PER NOME SOAI, CAPITAO D'EL REY DO DECAN, A QUE COMMUNAMENTE CHAMAMOS SABAYO" — "When we arrived in India, the lord of this city of Goa was a Moor, by name Soai, captain of the king of the Dakhan, whom we commonly call Sabayo." But Barros must not always be depended upon for Indian names. He explains "Sabayo" as derived from SABA or SAVA — "Persian," and says that the Sabayo's son was Adil Shah. Garcia da Orta derives it from SAHIB, Burton (LUSIADS, iii. p. 290) thinks it was a corruption of SIPANDAR or "military governor."
[187] — I have not seen the original, and suspect an error of translation here.
[188] — Compare the account given by Paes as to his horse, which he saw at the Mahanavami festival, and at the review which followed (pp. 272, 278 below).
[189] — EPIG. IND., i. 366; IND. ANT., xxiv. 205.
[190] — Henry VIII. of England succeeded to the throne on April 22nd of the same year. It is interesting, when reading the description of the splendours of Krishna Raya's court in the narrative of Nuniz, to remember that in Western Europe magnificence of display and personal adornment seems to have reached its highest pitch at the same period.
[191] — The chief of Bankapur seems to have been a Mahratta. Nuniz calls him the "Guym de Bengapor." Albuquerque styles him "King Vengapor" about A.D. 1512 (Hakluyt edit., iii. 187).
Osorio writes: — "EST AUTEM VENGAPOR REGIO MEDITERRANEA, CUM ZABAIMI REGIONE CONTINENS" (p. 263).
Castanheda states that Albuquerque, then Governor-General of Goa, sent two embassies, one to Vijayanagar and one to "Vengapor," as if the latter were independent; and adds of the chief of Vengapor, "His kingdom is a veritable and safe road to Narsinga, and well supplied with provisions."
Barros speaks of the same event, calling the place "Bengapor" and stating explicitly that its king was "vassal of Narsinga" (or Vijayanagar) (Dec. II. l. v. cap. 3). Subsequently, writing of the chiefs in the same neighbourhood, Barros speaks of two brothers, "Comogij" and "Appagij" (Dec. III. l. iv. cap. 5), and describing Krishna Deva Raya's march towards Raichur — recapitulating the story and details given by Nuniz — he speaks of "the Gim of the city of Bengapor." In l. v. cap. 3 of the same Decade Barros says that "Bengapor" was "on the road" to Vijayanagar. "Gim," "Guym" and other names appear to be renderings of the Mahratta honorific "Ji."
Bankapur was one of the most important fortresses in the Karnataka country, situated forty miles south of Dharwar on the direct road from Honawar to Vijayanagar. The road from Bhatkal, a favourite landing-place, first went northwards to Honawar, then inland to Bankapur, and thence to Banavasi, Ranibennur, and over the plains to Hospett and Vijayanagar. It was known as early as A.D. 848, and remained in possession of Hindu rulers down to 1573, when it was captured by Ali Adil Shah and its beautiful temple destroyed. Firishtah calls the place "Beekapore" and "Binkapor" (Scott's edit., i. 47, 69, 85, 86, 119, 301, &c).
[192] — "Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque" (Hakluyt edit., ii. p. 73). Fr. Luis left Cochin, travelled to Bhatkal, and thence to Vijayanagar.
[193] — Dec II. l. v. cap. 3.
[194] — See also Castanheda, who was in India in 1529 (Lib. iii. cap. 12).
[195] — As before stated, Firishtah mentions this event (Scott, i. 225).
[196] — Purchas's summary of the Portuguese conquest of Goa runs as follows: "SABAIUS (I.E. the "Sabayo") when he died, left his sonne IDALCAN (Adil Khan) very young; whereupon his Subjects rebelled, and the King of Narsinga warred upon him, to dispossesse him of his Dominion. Albuquerque, taking his opportunitie, besieged and ... took Goa with the Iland. Which was soon after recovered by Idalcan, comming with a strong Armie thither, the Portugal flying away by night. But when the King of Narsinga again invaded Idalcan, He was forced to resist the more dangerous Enemy, leaving a strong Garrison at Goa, which yet ALBUQUERK overcame, and sacked the Citie." Purchas's work was published (folio) in 1626. He merely follows Barros (Dec. I. l. viii cap. 10).
[197] — "Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque" (Hakluyt edit, iii. 35).
[198] — The name may represent "Timma Raja."
[199] — "Commentaries of Dalboquerque," iii. pp. 246 — 247.
[200] — Firishtah (Scott), i. p. 236.
[201] — "Commentaries of Dalboquerque," iv. 121.
[202] — "East Africa and Malabar" (Hakluyt edit., pp. 73, &c.). Barbosa was son of Diego Barbosa, who sailed in the first fleet sent out under Joao de Nova in 1501. He gives no dates in his own writings except that he finished his work in 1516 (Preface), after "having navigated for a great part of his youth in the East Indies." It was probably begun about 1514. He was certainly in the Indian Ocean in 1508 — 9. The heading of the work is "Description of the East Indies and Countries on the sea-board of the Indian Ocean in 1514." It was published in Spanish (translated from the Portuguese) in 1524. The copy in the Library at Barcelona is said to be the oldest extant.
[203] — This name awaits explanation.
[204] — This probably refers to the highly decorated building in the interior of what I believe to have been the Government offices, surrounded by a lofty wall with watch-towers, and often called "The Zenana" The elephant stables lie to the east of it. The building in question is "No. 29 Council Room" on the Government plan.
[205] — Barbosa in A.D. 1514 mentions this expedition.
[206] — An inscription at Kondavid glorifying Saluva Timma states that he took the fortress on Saturday, June 23, A.D. 1515 (Ashadha Sukla Harivasara Saurau, Saka 1437). This information was kindly supplied to me by Dr. Luders.
[207] — There is a long inscription in the temple of Varadarajasvami at Conjeeveram exactly confirming this whole story, It relates that the king first captured Udayagiri, Bellamkonda, Vinukonda, Kondavid, and other places; then Bezvada and Kondapalle, and finally Rajahmundry.
[208] — Pp 354 to 371.
[209] — Krishna Raya in 1515 was only about twenty-nine years old; but we must not forget the Hindu custom of the marriages of girls while infants.
[210] — If this refers to Krishna Raya's capture of that place in 1515, it is to be noted here that Nuniz asserts that it was taken, not from the Muhammadans, but from the king of Orissa.
[211] — Firishtah's account of this is that Ismail Adil joined with Amir Barid in an attack on Telingana and laid siege to Kovilkonda. Vijayanagar had no part in the causes of the campaign.
[212] — Firishtah tells this story of Jamshid Qutb Shah, Quli's successor (1543 — 50).
[213] — So says Nuniz, but, as before stated, Firishtah differs. In my opinion we must accept the former as correct, for his account is so graphic and detailed that it is impossible to believe that he could have been mistaken. Firishtah did not write for many years later and was much more liable to en on Several Portuguese were present at the siege, and, if I am not mistaken, either Nuniz was there himself, or obtained his information from those who were so. The story bears all the marks of a personal narrative.
[214] — Pp. 323 to 347 below.
[215] — On the Ordnance Map I observe on the river-bank, thirteen miles N.N.E. of Raichur, a plan of what appears to be a large fortified camp, with its base on the river, the average of its west, south, and east faces being about a mile each It lies just below the junction of the Bhima and Krishna rivers, and two miles west of the present railway station on the latter river. What this may be I know not, but it looks like the remains of an entrenched camp erected in some former year. Perhaps some one will examine the place.
[216] — Below, p. 263. "These feasts begin on the twelfth of September, and they last nine days."
[217] — Below, p. 281. "At the beginning of the month of October when eleven of its days had passed.... On this day begins their year; it is their New Year's Day.... They begin the year in this month with the new moon, and they count the months always from moon to moon."
[218] — Below, p. 243.
[219] — "On the upper platform, close to the king, was Christovao de Figueiredo, with all of us who came with him, for the king commanded that he should be in such a place, so as best to see the feasts and magnificence." (Paes, p. 264 below.)
[220] — Lib. v. c 57.
[221] — TANADARIS are small local divisions of the kingdom, each under its own petty official. A THANAH is a police-station in modern parlance. I can think of no English word exactly suitable, but, as far as area is concerned, perhaps the term "parish" would best express the meaning.
[222] — LENDAS DA INDIA, ii. 581.
[223] — Menezes assumed charge of the Viceroyalty on January 22, 1522. A short summary of Sequeira's career is given in the interesting MS. volume called the LIVRO DAS FORTALEZAS DA INDIA, of which the text was written by Antonio Bocarro, and the numerous portraits and plans were drawn and coloured by Pero Barretto de Rezenda. The British Museum copy is in the Sloane Collection and bears the number "197."
[224] — Dec. III. 1. in cap. 4.
[225] — IDEM, cap. 5.
[226] — IDEM, cap. 8.
[227] — IDEM, cap. 9.
[228] — IDEM, cap. 10.
[229] — "Asia Portugueza" of Faria y Souza, I. Pt. iii. cap. 4 (Stevens' translation).
[230] — Compare Nuniz (text, p. 329).
[231] — These numbers are probably taken from Barros, who copied Nuniz.
[232] — "Asia Portugueza," I. Pt. iii. cap. 4, sec. 5. "Ruy de Mello, que estava a Goa, viendo al Hidalchan divertido con sus ruinas o esperancas, o todo junto, y a muchos en perciales remolinos robando la tierra firme de aquel contorno, ganola facilmente con dozientos y sincuenta cavallos, y ochocientos peones Canaries"
[233] — "Histoire des Descouvertes et Conquestes des Portugais" (Paris, 1733).
[234] — Danvers, "The Portuguese in India," i. 347, gives us the same dates for Sequeira's absence, and mentions De Figueiredo's presence at the battle of Raichur.
[235] — The corresponding actual new moon day in May 1521 was Monday, May 6, and the new moon was first visible on Wednesday. In 1522 the actual new moon day was Sunday, May 25, and it was first visible on Tuesday.
[236] — Paes says that on an emergency he could raise even two millions.
[237] — "Handbook of Indian Arms," pp. 15 — 16.
[238] — Above, p. 12.
[239] — OP. CIT., p. 18.
[240] — Below, p. 292.
[241] — Below, pp. 384 to 389.
[242] — Liv. ii. c 16.
[243] — Commander-in-chief.
[244] — Below, p. 333.
[245] — "OMDE ACHAVEIS ... HO QUE AVIEIS MISTER."
[246] — "VERIEIS."
[247] — "ACHAREIS."
[248] — Below, pp, 346, 347.
[249] — Below, p. 351.
[250] — Vol. i. p. 347.
[251] — Vol. i. p. 533.
[252] — We hear nothing of this from Firishtah. But we know that the Bahmani Sultan Mahmud II., who died in 1518, had three sons, Ahmad Ala-ud-Din, and Wali-Ullah, the first of whom became Sultan in December 1517, the second in 1521, the third in the same year; in all cases only nominally.
[253] — Dec. III. l. iv. c. 10.
[254] — Correa, Stanley's translation (Hakluyt edition, p. 387, note; Danvers, "Portuguese in India," i. 363. The "Suffilarim" is Asada Khan.
Mr. Baden-Powell has published, in the JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY for April 1900, an interesting paper on the king of Portugal's regulations for, and record of customs in, the newly acquired tracts, dated at Goa in A.D. 1526, and called FORAL DOS USOS E COSTUMES.
[255] — Dec. IV. 1. vii. c. 1.
[256] — Mallik Barid. The Hidalchan is the Adil Khan or the Adil Shah; Madre Maluco is the Imad Shah, and Cota Maluco the Qutb Shah.
[257] — Perhaps this matter ought to find place under the reign of Achyuta Raya, but I mention it here as it may have occurred before the death of Krishna Deva.
[258] — Article "Vijayanagar" in the MADRAS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE MAGAZINE for December 1886.
[259] — "Bellary District Manual" (Kelsall), p. 231.
[260] — "South Indian Inscriptions" (Hultzsch), p. 132; and EPIGRAPHIA INDICA, BY the same author, iv. 266.
[261] — JOURNAL, BOMBAY BRANCH, ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, xii. 336, &c.
[262] — EPIG. IND., i. 398; iv. p. 3, note 4.
[263] — I have broadly declared this relationship, but, as a matter of fact, almost every inscription and literary work in the country differs as to the genealogy of the sovereigns who reigned from this time forward. Nuniz, however, as a contemporary writer residing at the capital, is an excellent authority.
[264] — EPIG. IND., iv. 3, note 4 (Professor Kielhorn).
[265] — Scott's edition, i. 252.
[266] — These names are discussed below.
[267] — This is apparently an error. The period was only ten years.
[268] — 16th Safar, A.H. 941 (Firishtah).
[269] — Firishtah, Briggs, iii. 374 — 375.
[270] — "Lists of Antiquities, Madras," vol. i. p. 181 (No. 86), and p. 182 (No. 115).
[271] — Scott's translation, i. p. 262.
[272] — Below, p. 367.
[273] — IDEM, p. 354.
[274] — Scott, i. pp. 262 ff.; Briggs, iii. p. 80.
[275] — Briggs has it "a daughter of Shew Ray." Rama married a daughter of Krishna Deva, who was son of the first Narasimha.
[276] — Inscriptions do not give us the name of any prince of the female line at this period. Briggs calls the uncle "Bhoj" Tirumala. Couto (Dec. VI. l. v. cap. 5) renders the name as "Uche Timma," and states that UCHE means "mad."
[277] — Here we probably find an allusion to the reign of Achyuta. Rama was the elder of three brothers afterwards to become very famous. He and his brother Tirumala both married daughters of Krishna Deva Raya. Achyuta being, in Nuniz's belief, brother of the latter monarch, that chronicler calls these two brothers "brothers-in-law" of King Achyuta. (Below, p. 367.) Nuniz says that King Achyuta "destroyed the principal people in the kingdom and killed their sons" (p. 369).
[278] — Achyuta had then been for about six years on the throne.
[279] — If the Sultan's march towards Vijayanagar began in 1535 — 36, we shall perhaps not be far wrong in assigning Nuniz's chronicle to the year 1536 — 37, seeing that the author alludes to the dissatisfaction and disgust felt by the nobles and others for their rulers, which presupposes a certain interval to have passed since the departure of the Mussalman army.
[280] — Scott's edit., i. 265.
[281] — Scott spells the name "Negtaderee," but I have substituted the rendering given by Briggs, "Venkatadry," as less confusing.
[282] — Firishtah writes glowingly (Scott, i. 277) of the grandeur of Asada Khan. He "was famed for his judgment and wisdom.... For nearly forty years he was the patron and protector of the nobles and distinguished of the Dekhan. He lived in the highest respect and esteem, with a magnificence and grandeur surpassing all his contemporary nobility. The sovereigns of Beejanuggur and every country observing a respect to his great abilities, frequently honoured him with letters and valuable presents. His household servants ... amounted to 250. He had sixty of the largest elephants and 150 of a smaller size. In his stables he had 400 horses of Arabia and Persia, exclusive of those-of mixed breed foaled in India. His treasures and riches were beyond amount," &c.
[283] — Firishtah's story of Asada Khan's life is contained in Scott's edition. i. pp. 236 — 278; Briggs, iii. pp. 45 — 102.
[284] — Dec. III. l. iv. cap. 5.
[285] — Dec. IV. l. vii. cap. 6.
[286] — Turugel is probably Tirakhol, north of Goa.
[287] — Couto tells us (Dec. VII. l. vii. c. 1) that Rama Raya in 1555 made an expedition against the Christian inhabitants of San Thome, near Madras, but retired without doing great harm; and it is quite possible that the king acknowledged no connection between San Thome and Goa.
[288] — EPIGRAPHIA INDICA, iii 147.
[289] — EPIGRAPHIA CARNATICA (Rice), Part i. p. 176, No. 120.
[290] — I have published a rough list of eighty-eight of these, eighty-four of which are dated, in my "Lists of Antiquities, Madras" (vol. ii. p. 134 ff.).
[291] — South Indian Inscriptions," vol. i. p. 70.
[292] — Dec. VI. l. v. cap. 5.
[293] — "Tetarao," "Ramygupa," and "Ouamysyuaya" (text, below, p. 314).
[294] — Page 108.
[295] — Dec. VI. l. v. cap. 5.
[296] — EPIG. IND., iii. 236.
[297] — Firishtah (Scott, i. 252) states that Rama Raya "married a daughter of the son of Seoroy, by that alliance greatly adding to his influence and power." If so, "Seoroy" must be the first Narasa The historian says that "Seoroy dying was succeeded by his son, a minor, who did not live long after him, and left the throne to a younger brother." These brothers, then, were the second Narasa, called also Vira Narasimha, and Krishna Deva. The rest of Firishtah's account does not tally with our other sources of information. As being son-in-law of Krishna Deva, Rama was called "Aliya," which means "son-in-law," and by this name he is constantly known.
[298] — IND. ANT., xiii. 154.
[299] — Vol. iv. pp. 247 — 249, 276 — 282.
[300] — See the pedigree above. The young son would be Venkata, and the uncle, Ranga.
[301] — Who all these were we do not know. The boy Venkata's uncles would be either brothers of Ranga or brothers of the queen-mother, widow of Achyuta. Achyuta's nephew referred to could not be Sadasiva, because he survived. He may have been nephew of the Rani. The assassination of the boy-king recalls to our minds the story of Firishtah of the murder of the infant prince by "Hoje" Tirumala.
[302] — Sister, that is, of Krishna Deva. As above stated, Rama Raya, for undoubtedly he is here referred to, married Krishna Deva's daughter, not sister, so far as we can gather.
[303] — Caesar Frederick states that Rama and his two brothers, of whom Tirumala was minister and Venkatadri commander-in-chief, kept the rightful kings prisoners for thirty years prior to their downfall in 1565. If so, this would include the reign of Achyuta, and the story would differ from that of Nuniz, who represents King Achyuta as free but subject to the malign influence of his "two brothers-in-law." These two may, perhaps, represent Rama and Tirumala, who are said to have married two daughters of Krishna Deva. They would, however, not have been really brothers-in-law of Achyuta.
[304] — Senhor Lopes, DOS REIS DE BISNAGA, Introduction, p. lxix.
[305] — Firishtah (Scott, i. 271).
[306] — So Firishtah. The Muhammadan historian of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkonda, translated by Briggs, tells this story of Quli Qutb Shah, Jamshid's predecessor (Firishtah, Briggs, iii. 371).
[307] — The terms of this treaty are interesting, as they throw much light on the political and commercial relations of the Portuguese at this period with the two great states their neighbours.
The contracting parties are stated to be the king of Portugal by his deputy, the captain-general and governor of Goa, Dom Joao de Castro, and the great and powerful King Sadasiva, king of Bisnaga.
(A) Each party to be friends of the friends, and enemy of the enemies, of the other; and, when called on, to help the other with all their forces against all kings and lords in India, the Nizam Shah always excepted.
(B) The governor of Goa will allow all Arab and Persian horses landed at Goa to be purchased by the king of Vijayanagar on due notice and proper payment, none being permitted to be sent to Bijapur.
(C) The king of Vijayanagar will compel all merchants in his kingdom trading with the coast to send their goods through ports where the Portuguese have factors, permitting none to proceed to Bijapur ports.
(D) The king of Vijayanagar will forbid the importation of saltpetre and iron into his kingdom from any Bijapur port; and will compel its purchase from Portuguese factors.
(E) The same with cloths, copper, tin, China silk, &c.
(F) The king of Vijayanagar will allow no Moorish ship or fleet to stop in his ports, and if any should come he will capture them and send them to Goa. Both parties agree, to wage war on the Adil Shah, and all territory taken from the latter shall belong to Vijayanagar, except lands on the west of the Ghats from Banda on the north to Cintacora on the south, which lands shall belong to the king of Portugal.
[308] — Muharram, A.H. 956. But the Portuguese records state that Asada Khan died in 1545 (Danvers, i. 465).
[309] — Danvers' "Portuguese in India," i. 465, 466.
[310] — Briggs, iii. 328.
[311] — Below, p. 383.
[312] — Briggs' "Firishtah," iii. 397, &c.
[313] — Senhor Lopes has recently found amongst the archives in the Torre do Tombo in Lisbon a paper, dated 1555 A.D., which states that the king of Vijayanagar had consented to aid Ibrahim Adil Shah against Ain-ul-Mulkh and "the Meale" (I.E. Prince Abdullah, called "Meale Khan" by the Portuguese), in return for a present of 700,000 pardaos (CORPO CHRONOLOGICO, Part i., packet 97, No. 40).
[314] — Scott's edit., i. 284.
[315] — The Muhammadans seem to have always treated Rama Rajah as king. Sadasiva was perhaps too young at that period to have had a son, and the allusion is probably to a son of Rama.
[316] — King Sadasiva was apparently not strewn.
[317] — That Ali Adil actually made this visit is confirmed by the narrative of a Golkonda historian, whose work has been translated and published by Briggs (Firishtah, iii. 402). The story may be compared with that told above of the visit of Firuz Shah Bahmani to King Deva Raya in A.D. 1406, which had a similar ending.
[318] — Dec. VII. l. vii. c 1.
[319] — See also Briggs' "Firistah," iii. 403 — 405.
[320] — Firishtah relates an interesting anecdote about this in his history of the Ahmadnagar Sultans. Hussain Nizam Shah desired to make peace with Vijayanagar, and Rama Raja offered to grant it on certain conditions, one of which was that Kallian should he restored to Bijapur, and another that the Nizam Shah should submit to pay him a visit and receive betel from him. Hussain was in such straits that he accepted these severe terms and went to Rama Raja's camp, "who rose on his entering his tent (he did not go out to meet him) and kissed his hand. The Sultan, from foolish pride, called for a basin and ewer, and washed his hands, as if they had been polluted by the touch of Ramraaje, who, enraged at the affront, said in his own language, 'If he were not my guest he should repent this insult;' then calling for water, he also washed." Hussain then gave up the keys of Kallian.
[321] — Scott's "Firishtah." i. 291; Briggs, iii. 406.
[322] — 20th Jamada 'l awwal, Hijra 972. Firishtah (Scott), i. 295; Briggs, iii. 413.
[323] — Though, in fact, the battle did not take place there, but many miles to the south of the river. Talikota is twenty-five miles north of the Krishna. The battle took place ten miles from Rama Raya's camp south of the river, wherever that may have been. There is no available information on this point, but it was probably at Mudkal, the celebrated fortress. The ford crossed by the allies would appear to be that at the bend of the river at Ingaligi, and the decisive battle seems to have been fought in the plains about the little village of Bayapur or Bhogapur, on the road leading directly from Ingaligi to Mudkal.
[324] — Couto (Dec. VIII. c. 15) tells an incredible story that Rama Raya was utterly ignorant of any impending attack, and never even heard that the enemy had entered his territories till the news was brought one day while he was at dinner.
[325] — Below, pp. 275 to 279.
[326] — I have seen on several occasions bodies of men collected together at Vijayanagar and the neighbourhood, dressed and armed in a manner which they assured me was traditional. They wore rough tunics and short drawers of cotton, stained to a rather dark red-brown colour, admirably adapted for forest work, but of a deeper hue than our English khaki. They grimly assured me that the colour concealed to a great extent the stains of blood from wounds. Their weapons were for the most part spears. Some had old country swords and daggers.
[327] — Firishtah gives the date as "Friday the 20th of Jumad-oos-Sany," A.H. 972 (Briggs, iii. 414), but the day of the month given corresponds to Tuesday, not Friday.
[328] — What follows is taken entirely from Firishtah (Scott, i. 296 ff.; Briggs, iii 128, 247).
[329] — Dec. VIII. c. 15.
[330] — An interesting note by Colonel Briggs is appended to his translation of these passages of Firishtah (iii. 130). "It affords a striking example at once of the malignity of the Mahomedans towards this Hindoo prince, and of the depraved taste of the times, when we see a sculptured representation of Ramraj's head, at the present day, serving as the opening of one of the sewers of the citadel of Beejapoor, and we know that the real head, annually covered with oil and red pigment, has been exhibited to the pious Mahomedans of Ahmudnuggur, on the anniversary of the battle, for the last two hundred and fifty years, by the descendants of the executioner, in whose hands it has remained till the present period." This was written in 1829.
[331] — Couto calls them "Bedues," probably for "Beduinos," "Bedouins" or wandering tribes.
[332] — In this I follow Couto; but the Golkonda historian quoted by Briggs (Firishtah, iii. 414) states that the "allied armies halted for ten days on the field of action, and then proceeded to the capital of Beejanuggur." It is, however, quite possible that both accounts are correct. The advanced Muhammadan troops are almost certain to have been pushed on to the capital. The main body, after the sovereigns had received information that no opposition was offered, may have struck their camp on the tenth day.
[333] — Purchas, edit. of 1625, ii. p. 1703.
[334] — Couto states that this diamond was one which the king had affixed to the base of the plume on his horse's headdress (Dec. VIII. c. 15). (See Appendix A.)
[335] — Portuguese ARMEZIM, "a sort of Bengal taffeta" (Michaelis' Dict.).
[336] — Gold coins of Vijayanagar.
[337] — KULLAYI. See below, p. 252, 273, 383, and notes.
[338] — Dec. VIII. c. 15. I have taken this and the next paragraph from Lopes's CHRONICA DOS REYS DE BISNAGA, Introd., p. lxviii.
[339] — Writing in 1675, the travelled Fryer relates what he saw of the Inquisition at Goa. I take the following from his Letter iv., chapter ii. "Going the next Morning to the Palace-Stairs, we saw their Sessions-House, the bloody Prison of the Inquisition; and in a principal Market-place was raised an Engine a great height, at top like a Gibbet, with a Pulley, with steppings to go upon, as on a Flagstaff, for the STRAPADO, which unhinges a Man's joints; a cruel Torture. Over against these Stairs is an Island where they burn ... all those condemned by the Inquisitor, which are brought from the SANCTO OFFICIO dress'd up in most horrid Shapes of Imps and Devils, and so delivered to the executioner.... St. JAGO, or St. James's Day, is the Day for the AUCTO DE FIE." And in chapter v. of the same Letter he states that, when he was at Goa, "all Butcher's Meat was forbidden, except Pork" — a regulation irksome enough even to the European residents, but worse for those Hindus allowed by their caste rules to eat meat, but to whom pork is always especially distasteful. Linschoten, who was in India from 1583 to 1589, mentions the imprisonments and tortures inflicted on the Hindus by the Inquisition (vol. ii. pp. 158 — 227).
[340] — Caesar Frederick.
[341] — I.E., they advanced by way of Mudkal, Tavurugiri, and Kanakagiri, a distance of about fifty-five miles, to Anegundi on the north bask of the river at Vijayanagar.
[342] — Other accounts say that Venkatadri was killed in the battle, and that Tirumala alone of the three brothers survived. Firishtah only wrote from hearsay, and was perhaps misinformed. Probably for "Venkatadri" should be read "Tirumala."
[343] — Firishtah wrote this towards the close of the century.
[344] — "South Indian Inscriptions," Hultzsch, i. 69; IND. ANT., xxii. 136.
[345] — The pedigree is taken from the EPIGRAPHIA INDICA, iii. 238. I am not responsible for the numbers attached so the names. Thus I should prefer to call Rama Raya II. "Rama I.," since his ancestors do not appear to have reigned even in name. But I take the table as Dr. Hultzsch has given it. See the Kondyata grant of 1636 (IND. ANT., xiii. 125), the Vilapaka grant of 1601 (ID. ii. 371), and the Kallakursi grant of 1644 (ID. xiii. 153), also my "Lists of Antiquities, Madras," i. 35 — an inscription of 1623 (No. 30) at Ellore.
[346] — Scott, i, 303.
[347] — Briggs, iii pp. 435 — 438.
[348] — According to the Kuniyur plates (EPIG. IND, iii. 236), Rama III., Tirumala's third son, was not king.
[349] — EPIG. IND., iv. 269 — The Vilapaka Grant.
[350] — Traditionary history at Adoni relates that the governor of the fortress appointed by Sultan Ali Adil about A.D. 1566 was Malik Rahiman Khan, who resided there for nearly thirty-nine years. His tomb is still kept up by a grant annually made by the Government in continuation of the old custom, and is in good preservation, having an establishment with a priest and servants. Navab Siddi Masud Khan was governor when the great mosque, called the Jumma Musjid, was completed (A.D. 1662). The Bijapur Sultan, the last of his line, sent to him a marble slab with an inscription and a grant of a thousand bold pieces. The slab is still to be seen on one of the arches in the interior, and the money was spent in gilding and decorating the building. Aurangzib of Delhi annexed Bijapur in 1686, and appointed Navab Ghazi-ud-Din Khan governor of Adoni, who had to take the place from the Bijapur governor, Siddi Masud Khan. This was done after a fight, in consequence of the Delhi troops firing (blank) on the great mosque from their guns; which so terrified the governor, who held the Jumma Musjid dearer than his life, that he surrendered. The new governor's family ruled till 1752, when the country was given to Bassalat Jung of Haidarabad. He died and was buried here in 1777, and his tomb is still maintained. The place was ceded to the English by the Nizam in 1802 with the "Ceded Districts."
[351] — Briggs, iii. 416, ff.
[352] — "Lists of Antiquities, Madras" (Sewell), ii. 6, 7, Nos. 45, 46.
[353] — OP. CIT., ii 139 — 140.
[354] — The Italian traveller Pietro della Valle was at Ikkeri at the close of the year 1623, and gives an interesting account of all that he saw, and what befell him there. He went with an embassy from Goa to that place. "This Prince VENKTAPA NAIEKA was sometime Vassal and one of the ministers of the great King of VIDIA NAGAR ... but after the downfall of the king ... Venktapa Naieka ... remain'd absolute Prince of the State of which he was Governour, which also, being a good souldier, he hath much enlarged."
[355] — CARTARIO DOS JESUITOS (Bundle 36, packet 95, No. 22, in the National Archives at Lisbon, ARCHIVO DA TORRE DO TOMBO). Compare Antonio Bocarro, DECADA xiii. p. 296. Mr. Lopes also refers me to an as yet inedited MS., DOCUMENTOS REMETTIDOS DA INDIA, or LIVROS DAS MONCOES, t. i. 359, and t. ii. 370 — 371, as relating to the same tragic events.
[356] — See the genealogical table on p. 214. Venkata I. was son of Tirumala, the first real king of the fourth dynasty. The nephew, "Chikka Raya," may have been Ranga III., "Chikka" (young) being, as Barradas tells us, a name usually given to the heir to the throne. In that case Ranga's son, Rama IV., "one of several brothers," would be the boy who survived the wholesale massacre related in the letter.
[357] — The name "Chikka Raya" in Kanarese means "little" or "young" Raya.
[358] — Chandragiri.
[359] — It is not known to whom this refers. The name is perhaps "Obala."
[360] — This youth was only a great-nephew of Jaga Raya's by a double marriage. His wife was niece of King Venkata, and therefore by marriage niece of Queen Bayama, who was Jaga Raya's daughter.
[361] — BREDOS. See note, p. 245.
[362] — Perhaps Ite Obalesvara.
[363] — Chinna Obala Raya.
[364] — Written in 1616.
[365] — This was Muttu Virappa, Nayakka (or Naik) of Madura from 1609 to 1623. Mr. Nelson ("The Madura Country") mentions that in his reign there was a war with Tanjore. Nuniz, writing in 1535, does not mention Madura as amongst the great divisions of the Vijayanagar kingdom; and this coincides with the history as derived from other sources. But by 1614 the Naik of Madura had become very powerful, though the people still occasionally recognised their old sovereigns, the Pandiyans, one of whom is mentioned as late as 1623 ("Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India," 85).
[366] — Trichinopoly.
[367] — Close to Madras, often called "Melliapor" by the Portuguese, its native name being Mailapur. Linschoten, writing at the end of the sixteenth century, a few years earlier than the date of the events described, says, "This towne ... is now the chiefe cittie of Narsinga and of the coast of Choromandel."
[368] — See above, p. 214.
[369] — "Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India," p. 112.
[370] — "He" here is Domingo Paes.
[371] — The "kingdom of Narsinga" is the name often given by the Portuguese and others to Vijayanagar. |
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