VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE
1. Context
Just six months after being grievously injured by a young religious fanatic, Salman Rushdie is back with his latest novel, Victory City. The book is a fictionalized telling of the story of the Vijayanagara Kingdom, narrated by a sorceress and poet named Pampa Kampana, who, over more than two centuries, witnessed Vijayanagara’s many victories and defeats.
2. Vijayanagara Empire
- The Vijayanagara Empire was a significant medieval South Indian empire that flourished between the 14th and 17th centuries.
- Established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I, the empire's capital was Vijayanagara, located in present-day Hampi, Karnataka, India.
- The empire's rise was a response to the decline of the preceding Hoysala and Kakatiya empires, and it marked a period of cultural, political, and economic renaissance in South India.
3. Caste system
In his famous work Manucharitam, Allasani Peddana mentions the four different castes that lived in the society of Vijayanagar.
- Brahmins or Viprulu followed the traditional profession related to teachers and priests. Sometimes, they also performed the duties of administrators. and soldiers. This is confirmed with the help of the narration of Domingo Paes.
- Rajulu or Rachavaru was generally linked with the ruling dynasty. The rulers and generals were actually Sudras but known as rachavaru due to their position. As in the case of other regions of South India, the Kshatriya Varna appears to be absent here.
- Matikaratalu or Vaishyas were merchants who were busy in trade and commerce activities.
- Nalavajativaru or Sudras were largely agriculturists, but some of them carried on several other professions. They were not segregated, although considered inferior.
4. Religion and Philosophy
- Early Vijayanagar rulers were followers of Shaivism and Virupaksha was their family God. After some time they came under the influence of Vaishnavism. But Siva continued to be worshipped by the people.
- Vaishnavism was professed in various forms. Srivaishnavism of Ramanuja was highly popular.
- The Dvaita system associated with Madhava was also practiced by the people.
- Epics and Puranas were famous amongst the masses, especially since they acted as a means of education among women.
5. Women
- The tradition of dancing girls associated with temples was also in vogue. Many historians interpreted from the account of Paes, that Devadasis held a highly respectable place in society, and were given land grants and maid-servants, etc.
- The condition of the widows was pitiable, but they could remarry.
- The state-supported widow remarriage by not levying any tax on It.
- The prevalence of Sati Pratha in the Vijayanagar Empire is proved from both inscriptions and foreign accounts during the period.
6. Economic Conditions under Vijayanagara Empire
- The Vijayanagar kingdom was one of the richest states then known to the world. Different foreign travellers, who visited the empire in the 15th and 16th Centuries have left glowing accounts of its splendour and wealth.
- Agriculture: It was in a flourishing situation. It was the strategy of rulers to promote agriculture in the different areas of the empire and to boost agricultural production by a clever irrigation policy. Nuniz (Portuguese traveller), speaks of the excavation of canals and the construction of a dam.
- Industries: The agricultural wealth was augmented by various industries, the most important of which were mining and metallurgy, textile sectors, and perfumery. Industries and crafts were regulated by guilds.
- It was common practice for people of the same trade to reside in one and the same quarter of the city.
- Malabar was the most valuable commercial region on the West coast, with its important port region of Cannanore. It had good commercial bonding with Burma, the Malay Archipelago, and China in the East, the islands of the Indian Ocean, and Persia, South Africa, Arabia, Abyssinia and Portugal in the West.
- Important items such as cloth, spices, rice, iron, saltpeter, sugar, etc. were exported. The main imports comprised pearls, copper, coral, mercury, horses, elephants, China silks and velvets.
- Ships were utilized for coastal and overseas trade purposes. Vijayanagara had its own ships; the art of shipbuilding was known, but we do not know if ocean-going ships were built.
7. Standard of Living
- Various accounts of different foreign travellers speak of the high standards of living of the upper and middle classes.
- The splendour of the capital city of Vijayanagara bears testimony to the wealth, which was, however, the domination of only a section of the population of the kingdom.
- The prices of several articles were low and the minimum necessities were probably not beyond the means of the common people of the kingdom.
- But the producers particularly agricultural producers, apparently got inadequate prices for their produce.
- Another main fault of the economic system was that the common people had to bear the brunt of taxation, which was quite heavy and the local authority’s sometimes adopted oppressive methods of collection.
8. Foreign Visitors of the Vijayanagara Kingdom
- Ibn Battuta (1333-1347 A.D.)-He was a Moroccan traveller, who came to India during the reign of Muhammad- bin-Tughlaq and visited Vijayanagar during the reign of Harihar I.
- Nicolo Conti (1420-1421 A.D.)-He was a Venetian traveller, who provided a comprehensive account of the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar.
- Abdur Razzaq (1443-1444 A. D.) -He was a Persian traveller, who visited the court of the Zamorin at Calicut. He has provided a stunning account of Vijayanagar City while depicting the wealth and luxurious life of the king and the nobles of the Vijayanagara kingdom.
- Duarte Barbosa (1500-1516 A.D.) -He was a Portuguese traveller, who had presented a useful narrative about the government and people of the Vijayanagar kingdom.
- Domingos Paes (1520-1522 A.D) -He was a Portuguese traveller, who came to the court of Krishnadevaraya.
- Fernao Nuniz (1534-1537 A.D) -He was a Portuguese merchant, who described the history of the Vijayanagara empire from its earliest days to the closing years of Achyuta Deva Raya’s reign.
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For Prelims: Vijayanagara Empire, Harihara I, Bukka Raya I, Hoysala and Kakatiya empire, Manucharitam.
For Mains: 1. Analyse the economic foundations of the Vijayanagara Kingdom and discuss how trade and a monetized economy contributed to the rise and prosperity. (250 words).
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Previous year Questions
1. According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, the women in Vijayanagara Empire were experts in which of the following areas? (UPSC 2021)
1. Wrestling
2. Astrology
3. Accounting
4. Soothsaying
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
A. 1, 2, and 3 only
B. 1, 3, and 4 only
C. 2 and 4 only
D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: 4
2. With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements: (UPSC 2022)
1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by the Gajapati rulers.
2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate.
3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara Empire.
Which of the statements given above is correct?
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
Answer: B
3. Regarding Indian history, which of the following is/are correct? (UPSC 2021)
1. Arcot Nizamat emerged from Hyderabad state.
2. The Kingdom of Mysore emerged from the Vijayanagara Empire.
3. The kingdom of Rohilkhand was formed from the territories conquered by Ahmad Shah Durrani
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
A. Papers 1 and 2
B. 2 only
C. 2 and 3
D. 3 only
Answer: B
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Source: The Indian Express
