A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar by Robert Sewell (short story to read TXT) 📕

to Rajahmundry he found there Narasimha Raya “with 700,000 cursed infantry, and 500 elephants like mountains of iron,” who, in spite of all his pomp and power, fled like a craven on the approach of the army of Islam. The Sultan then reduced Rajahmundry, which had been held by a HINDU force — not Muhammadan, as Firishtah declares. In November 1480161 he marched from Rajahmundry to Kondavid, going “towards the kingdom of Vijayanagar.” After reducing that fortress, he proceeded after a while to Malur, which belonged to Narasimha, “who, owing to his numerous army and the extent of his dominions, was the greatest and most powerful of all the rulers of Telingana and Vijayanagar,” and who “had established himself in the midst of the countries of Kanara and Telingana, and taken possession of most of the districts of the coast and interior of Vijayanagar.”

While at Malur the Sultan was informed that “at a distance of fifty farsakhas from his camp was a city called Ganji,” containing temples, &c., to which he promptly marched, arriving before the place on 13th March A.D. 1481.[162] He sacked the city and returned.

After this the Sultan went to Masulipatam, which he reduced, and thence returned to Kondapalle. This was his last success. His cold-blooded murder of the celebrated Mahmud Gawan, his loyal and faithful servant, in 1481, so disgusted the nobles that in a short time the kingdom was dismembered, the chiefs revolted, the dynasty was overthrown, and five independent kingdoms were raised on its ruins.

Muhammad Shah died on 21st March. A.D. 1482. Shortly before his death he planned an expedition to relieve Goa from a Vijayanagar army which “Sewaroy, Prince of Beejanuggur,” had sent there (Firishtah); but the Sultan’s death put a stop to this (BURHAN-I MAASIR).

We have some further information on the affairs of Kulbarga during the reign of Muhammad Shah in the writings of the Russian traveller Athanasius Nikitin, but it is very difficult to fix the exact date of his sojourn there. Nikitin was a native of Twer, and set out on his wanderings by permission of the Grand Duke Michael Borissovitch, and his own bishop, Gennadius. This fixes the time of his start so far that it must have taken place subsequent to 1462, and the author of the “Bombay Gazetteer,” RE Poonah, assigns the period 1468 to 1474 as that of Nikitin’s stay in India.

Nikitin first went to Chaul, and thence travelled by land to Junir.

“Here resides Asat, Khan of Indian Jooneer, a tributary of Meliktuchar…. He has been fighting the Kofars for twenty years, being sometimes beaten but mostly beating them.”

By “Meliktuchar” is probably meant the celebrated minister Mahmud Gawan, who in 1457 A.D. received the title “Mallik-al-Tijar,” a title which was borne by the chief amongst the nobility at the Bahmani court. It meant literally “chief of the merchants.” The “Kofars” are, of course, the Kaffirs or Hindus. Firishtah tells us of fighting having taken place in 1469 between the Mallik-al-Tijar and “the roles of Songeer, Khalneh, and rebels in Kokun,” when the troops of Junir were under the Mallik’s command. During the war he captured Goa, as already stated. There were campaigns also against the Hindus of Rajahmundry, Vinukonda, and other places, and in 1472 one against Belgaum, which has been already described. Firishtah tells us that the Daulatabad and Junir troops were sent against the powerful Hindu Raja Narasimha on the east coast.[163] As to Kulbarga and his experiences there, Nikitin writes as follows: —

“The Hindus … are all naked and bare-footed. They carry a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. Some of the servants are armed with straight bows and arrows. Elephants are greatly used in battle…. Large scythes are attached to the trunks and tusks of the elephants, and the animals are clad in ornamental plates of steel. They carry a citadel, and in the citadel twelve men in armour with guns and arrows…. The land is overstocked with people; but those in the country are very miserable, whilst the nobles are extremely opulent and delight in luxury. They are wont to be carried on their silver beds, preceded by some twenty chargers caparisoned in gold, and followed by three hundred men on horseback and five hundred on foot, and by horn-men, ten torch-bearers, and ten musicians.

“There may be seen in the train of the Sultan about a thousand ordinary horses in gold trappings, one hundred carrels with torch-bearers, three hundred trumpeters, three hundred dancers…. The Sultan, riding on a golden saddle, wears a habit embroidered with sapphires, and on his pointed headdress a large diamond; he also carries a suit of gold armour inlaid with sapphires, and three swords mounted in gold…. The brother of the Sultan rides on a golden bed, the canopy of which is covered with velvet and ornamented with precious stones…. Mahmud sits on a golden bed, with a silken canopy to it and a golden top, drawn by four horses in gilt harness. Around him are crowds of people, and before him many singers and dancers….

“Melikh Tuchar took two Indian Towns whose ships pirated on the Indian Sea, captured seven princes with their treasures…. The town had been besieged for two years by an army of two hundred thousand men, a hundred elephants, and three hundred camels.[164] ...

“Myza Mylk, Mek-Khan, and Farat Khan took three large cities, and captured an immense quantity of precious stones, the whole of which was brought to Melik Tuchar…. They came to Beder on the day of the Ascension.”

The Sultan’s brother “when in a campaign is followed by his mother and sister, and 2000 women on horseback or on golden beds;[165] at the head of his train are 300 ordinary horses in gold equipment.”

“Melik Tuchar moved from Beder with his army, 50,000 strong, against the Indians…. The Sultan sent 50,000 of his own army…. With this force Melik Tuchar went to fight against the great Indian dominion of CHENUDAR. But the king of BINEDAR166 possessed 300 elephants, 100,000 men of his own troops, and 50,000 horse.”

The writer then gives details as to the rest of the Sultan’s forces, and the total comes to the enormous amount of over 900,000 foot, 190,000 horse, and 575 elephants.

“The Sultan moved out with his army … to join Melich Tuchar at Kalbarga. But their campaign was not successful, for they took only one Indian town, and that at the loss of many people and treasures.[167]

“The Hindu Sultan Kadam is a very powerful prince. He possesses a numerous army and resides on a mountain at BICHENEGHER. This vast city is surrounded by three forts and intersected by a river, bordering on one side on a dreadful jungle, and on the other on a dale; a wonderful place and to any purpose convenient. On one side it is quite inaccessible; a road gives right through the town, and as the mountain rises high with a ravine below, the town is impregnable.

“The enemy besieged it for a month and lost many people, owing to the walls of water and food. Plenty of water was in sight but could not be got at.

“This Indian stronghold was ultimately taken by Melikh Khan Khoda, who stormed it, and fought day and night to reduce it. The army that made the siege with heavy guns had neither eaten nor drunk for twenty days. He lost 5000 of his best soldiers. On the capture of the town 20,000 inhabitants men and women, had their heads cut off, 20,000 young and old were made prisoners and sold…. The treasury, however, having been found empty, the town was abandoned.”

It is impossible to decide to what this refers, as we have no other information of any capture of Vijayanagar by the Sultan’s forces at this period. But the traveller may have confused the place with Rajahmundry or one of the eastern cities of Telingana.

In 1482 A.D., as before stated, Mahmud Shah II. succeeded to the throne of Kulbarga, being then a boy of twelve, but his sovereignty was only nominal. Constant disturbances took place; the nobles in many tracts rose against the sovereign, and amongst others the governor of Goa attempted to assert his independence, seizing many important places on the coast; civil war raged at the capital; and before long the great chiefs threw off all semblance of obedience to the authority of the Bahmanis, and at length divided the kingdom amongst themselves.

At Vijayanagar, too, there seems to have been chaos, and about the time when the Dakhani nobles finally revolted, Narasimha Raya had placed himself on the throne and established a new and powerful dynasty.

The five separate kingdoms which arose in the Dakhan were those of the Adil Shahs of Bijapur, with whom we have most to do; the Barid Shahs of Bidr or Ahmadabad; the Imad Shahs of Birar; the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar; and the Qutb Shahs of Golkonda.

Adil Shah was the first of his line at Bijapur, and he proclaimed his independence in A.D. 1489. The unhappy king Mahmud II. lived in inglorious seclusion till December 18, A.D. 1517, and was nominally succeeded by his eldest son, Ahmad. Ahmad died after two years’ reign, and was followed in rapid succession by his two brothers, Ala-ud-din III. (deposed) and Wali (murdered), after whom Kalim Ullah, son of Ahmad II., was nominally placed on the throne but was kept a close prisoner, and with his death the Bahmani dynasty fell for ever.

CHAPTER 9

The First Kings of the Second Dynasty (A.D. 1490 to 1509)

Narasimha usurps the throne — Flight of the late king — Saluva Timma — Vira Narasimha — Bijapur again attacks Vijayanagar — The Portuguese in India — They seize Goa — Varthema’s record — Albuquerque.

In my “Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India,” published in 1883 (p. 106), the following passage occurs: —

“We now come to the second or Narasimha dynasty, whose scions became more powerful than any monarchs who had ever reigned over the south of India. Dr. Burnell fixes A.D. 1490 as the initial date of Narasimha’s reign, and at present no inscription that I can be sure of appears to overthrow that statement. I observe, however, that Bishop Caldwell, in his ‘History of Tinnevelly’ (p. 48), fixes the date of the beginning of Narasimha’s … reign as A.D. 1487…. WE HAVE YET TO LEARN THE HISTORY OF HIS ACQUIRING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF VIJAYANAGAR AND OUSTING THE OLDER DYNASTY.”

Nothing has since transpired to throw light on this subject, and the whole matter has remained up to the present in its primeval darkness; but this newly-found chronicle of Nuniz gives us the entire story in most interesting form though I can by no means vouch for its accuracy. It is, nevertheless, a RESUME of the traditional history of the early sixteenth century, written within fifty or sixty years of the events with which it deals. He tells us that Virupaksha Raya (“Verupacarao”) was a weak and unworthy sovereign, in whose days large tracts of land were lost to the Muhammadans, including Goa, Chaul, and Dabhol; and this statement, at least, is historically accurate. Virupaksha was despotic, cruel, and sensuous, “caring for nothing but women and to fuddle himself with drink,” so that the whole country was roused to indignation and rebellion. Eventually he was murdered by his eldest son, who in his turn was slain by his brother “Padearao,” in whom the nation merely found repeated the crimes and follies of his dead sire. Disgusted with this line of sovereigns, the nobles rose, deposed their king, and placed on the throne one of their own number, Narasimha — “Narsymgua, WHO WAS IN SOME MANNER AKIN TO HIM.”

Nuniz gives us a graphic account of the last scenes; how Narasimha’s captain arrived at the city gates and