A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar
Page 13
Sultan Quli proclaimed himself an independent sovereign in 1512. The historian referred to states that shortly after this Quli attacked and took Razukonda and Devarakonda, fortresses respectively south-east and south-south-east of Hyderabad in Telingana. After the second of these places had fallen Krishna Raya of Vijayanagar marched against the Sultan with an immense army and invaded his dominions. This must, I think, refer to about the year 1513. The Hindu army encamped at Pangul, in the angle of the Krishna river almost due east of Raichur, and here a battle took place in which the Qutb Shah was victorious The place was then besieged; it capitulated, and the Muhammadans proceeded to Ghanpura, twenty miles to the north. This fort was captured after heavy loss, and the Sultan led his army to Kovilkonda, twenty miles to the north-west, on the borders of the country of Bidar, the territory of Ala-ud-din Imad Shah. This place also fell.
A war with the Imad Shah followed, in which Sultan Quli was again victorious. Shortly afterwards there were disturbances on the east of the Golkonda territories. Sitapati, Rajah of Kambampeta, on the Muniyer river, who possessed extensive territories -- including Warangal and Bellamkonda, a fortress south of the Krishna -- rose against the Muhammadans, and the Sultan marched against Bellamkonda, which, after a long siege, he captured. Sitapati then fought a pitched battle, was defeated, and fled, Quli returning to Golkonda. The Rajah then stirred up a number of neighbouring chiefs and assembled large forces at Kambampeta. Hearing of this, the Golkonda forces marched to attack them, and met with complete success, Sitapati flying to the protection of "Ramchunder Dew, the son of Gujputty, who held his court at Condapilly," and was king of Orissa. The Sultan advanced and attacked Kambampeta, where, after his capture of the place, he slew every man, woman, and child in the city, seizing the females of Sitapati's household for his own seraglio. Meanwhile an immense Hindu host from all the countries about, under command of the king of Orissa, prepared to do battle for their country, and a decisive action took place near the river at Palinchinur, in which the Hindus were completely defeated. Quli then seized Kondapalle, Ellore, and Rajahmundry, and a treaty was made between him and Orissa fixing the Godavari river as the eastern boundary of Golkonda. By this the Sultan added the districts of Ellore and Bezvada to his own dominions.
Krishna Raya then advanced to the rescue and the Sultan marched to Kondavid. He invested the place, but was forced to retreat owing to attacks made on him from Bellamkonda and Vinukonda, the first of which fortresses he succeeded in reducing after heavy loss. After this he retired towards Kondapalle. Krishna Raya now arrived and attacked the Muhammadan garrison in Bellamkonda, upon which the Sultan counter-marched, and suddenly appeared in rear of the Hindu army. In the battle which ensued he was victorious and the siege was raised, after which he returned to Kondavid and took it. On learning of the fall of Kondavid, Krishna Raya detached "his general and son-in-law Seeva Ray"[209] with 100,000 foot and 8000 horse to march against the Muhammadans. The Sultan retreated and encamped on the banks of the Krishna, leaving Kondavid to the Hindus.[210] After settling the place the Vijayanagar forces proceeded in pursuit of the Sultan, were attacked by him, defeated, and retired to Kondavid, which was a second time invested by the army of Golkonda. The Hindus then submitted and agreed to become tributary.
On his return towards his capital the Sultan learned that Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur was besieging Kovilkonda, "at the instance of the Raja of Beejanuggur."[211] He marched against him, and a series of actions ensued, the campaign lasting eleven months, at the end of which Ismail died of a fever, and was succeeded by his son Malu. In one of the fights Sultan Quli was wounded severely by a sabre in the face, and disfigured for life.[212]
I have given the whole of this story in this place because it runs as a consecutive series of events in the original Muhammadan account. But it really covers a period of at least twenty-one years; for the narrative begins shortly after the beginning of Quli's reign (1512), and ends with Ismail's death (1534). We are left, therefore, entirely in the dark as to the exact years referred to. But there are some points of agreement between our authorities. It is certain that Krishna Deva took Kondavid in A.D. 1515, and fought battles in the neighbourhood in the following year; and though Nuniz asserts that he took Kondavid from the king of Orissa, he also alludes to the presence of armed bodies of Muhammadans in that tract opposed to the Hindus.
With these remarks we return to Vijayanagar history.
From 1516 to 1520 we have no records from Hindu sources to guide us as to events at the capital.
The Portuguese traded on the coast, and there were some fights with the neighbouring Hindu chiefs, but they seem to have affected the capital but little; the foreigners were generally on friendly terms with the suzerain at Vijayanagar, and so far as he was concerned were welcome to consolidate their commerce, since he benefited largely by the import of horses and other requisites. The rest of his dominions were tranquil and the inhabitants obedient to his rule.
The whole country was divided out -- so Nuniz tells us, and his account is confirmed by other evidence -- into governorships. Each chief was allowed entire independence in the territory allotted to him so long as he maintained the quota of horse, foot, and elephants, the maintenance of which was the price of his possession, in perfect readiness for immediate action, and paid his annual tribute to the sovereign. Failing these he was liable to instant ejection, as the king was lord of all and the nobles held only by his goodwill.
But during this period of peace the king made extensive preparations for a grand attack on the territory between the rivers, the ever-debatable land which for nearly two centuries had been the subject of dispute between his predecessors and their northern neighbours. His objective was the city of Raichur, then under the Muhammadans,[213] and when all was ready he marched to the attack with an immense force.
This event requires a chapter to itself.
Chapter 11. The Siege and Battle of Raichur, and Close of Krishna's Reign
Chapter 11. The Siege and Battle of Raichur, and Close of Krishna's Reign
(A.D. 1520 to 1530)
The date of the siege -- Evidence of Castanheda, Correa, Barros, Faria y Souza, Osorio, Lafitau, Firishtah -- Ruy de Mello and the mainlands of Goa -- Immense numbers engaged -- Firishtah's story of the fight -- Portuguese present -- Christovao de Figueiredo -- Political effects of the Hindu victory, and the events that followed it -- The mainlands of Goa.
I shall ask my readers to turn for an account of the great battle and siege of Raichur to the narrative of Nuniz,[214] whose description is so full and so vivid that it may well be allowed to stand by itself. It is only necessary for me to add a few notes.
The following is a short summary of the story: --
Krishna Deva Raya, having determine to attack the Adil Shah and once for all to capture the disputed fortress of Raichur, collected all his forces, and marched with an immense host from Vijayanagar in a north-easterly direction. It was the dry season, and he probably set out in February or March. The weather must have been intensely hot during his advance, and still more so during the campaign; but the cotton plains that lay on his route out and home were then in the best condition for the passage of his troops, guns, and baggage. His enormous army consisted of about a million of men, if the camp-followers be included; for the fighting men alone, according to Nuniz, numbered about 736,000, with 550 elephants. The troops advanced in eleven great divisions or army corps, and other troops joined him before Raichur.
He pitched his camp on the eastern side of that citadel, invested the place, and began a regular siege. After an interval he received intelligence of the arrival of the Adil Shah from Bijapur, on the north side of the Krishna, with an army of 140,000 horse and foot to oppose him.
Having for a few days rested his troops, the Sultan crossed the river, advanced (according to Nuniz) to within nine miles of Raichur, and there entrenched himself, leaving the river about five miles in his rear.[215] Firishtah, however, differs, and says that the Muhammada
n forces crossed directly in face of the Hindu army encamped on the opposite bank.
On Saturday morning, May 19, in the year A.D. 1520, according to my deductions, the forces became engaged, and a decisive pitched battle was fought. Krishna Deva, making no attempt to outflank his adversary, ordered an advance to his immediate front of his two forward divisions. Their attack was so far successful that they drove the Muhammadans back to their trenches. The Sultan had apparently deployed his force over too wide an area, expecting that the Raya would do the same; but finding himself weak in the centre he opened fire from the guns that he had previously held in reserve, and by this means caused great loss in the close ranks of the Hindus. The Raya's troops fell back in face of this formidable bombardment, and at once their enemies charged them. The retreat was changed to a rout, and for a mile and a half to their direct front the Mussulman cavalry chased the flying forces belonging to Krishna Deva's first line. The king himself, who commanded the second line, began to despair of victory, but rallied his troops, collected about him a number of his nobles, and determined to face death with the bravery that had always characterised him. Mounting his horse, he ordered a forward movement of the whole of his remaining divisions, and charged the now disordered ranks of the Mussulmans. This resulted in complete success, for the enemy, scattered and unable to form, fled before his impetuous onslaught. He drove them the whole way back to, and into, the river, where terrific slaughter took place, and their entire army was put to flight.
The Raya then crossed the river and seized the Shah's camp, while the Shah himself, by the counsel and help of Asada Khan, a man who afterwards became very famous, escaped only with his life, and fled from the field on an elephant.
While being driven back towards the river, Salabat Khan, the Shah's general, made a valiant attempt to retrieve the fortunes of the day. He had for his bodyguard 500 Portuguese "renegades," and with him these men threw themselves into the advancing ranks of the Hindus, where they "did such wonderful deeds" that ever after they were remembered. They penetrated the king's host, and cut their way forwards till they almost reached his person. Here Salabat Khan lost his horse, but at once mounted another and pressed on. The little force was, however, surrounded and annihilated, and the general, being a second time overthrown, horse and all, was made prisoner.
The spoil was great and the result decisive. For years afterwards the "Moors" cherished a wholesome dread of Krishna Raya and his valiant troops, and the Sultan, panic-stricken, never again during his enemy's lifetime ventured to attack the dominions of Vijayanagar. Krishna Deva, flushed with victory, returned at once to the attack of Raichur, and the fortress was after a short time captured.
Its fall was due in great measure to the assistance rendered by some Portuguese, headed by Christovao de Figueiredo, who with their arquebusses picked off the defenders from the walls, and thus enabled the besiegers to approach close to the lines of fortification and pull down the stones of which they were formed. Driven to desperation, and their governor being slain, the garrison surrendered.
Date of the Battle.
Now as to the date of this battle.
I am bold enough to believe, and defend my belief, that when Nuniz fixed the day of the great fight as the new moon day of the month of May, A.D. 1522, he made a mistake in the year, and should have written "1520."
The chronicler states that Krishna Deva was prepared to give battle on a Friday, but was persuaded by his councillors to postpone his attack till the following day, Friday being unlucky. The battle accordingly took place on the Saturday, which was the new moon day.
Before proceeding to examine the month and day, let us consider the year A.D. of the battle.
Paes describes two grand festivals at the capital of which he was an eye-witness, and at which Christovao de Figueiredo was present. He fixes definitely the days on which these occurred. The first was the nine-days Mahanavamifestival, and the second was the festival of the New Year's Day. Paes states that on the occasion when he was present the Mahanavamibegan on September 12 ("Estas festas se comecao a dose dõas de setebro e durao nove dias"[216]), and the latter began on October 12 ("Entramdo o mes d outubro a omze dias amdados d ele ... Neste diu comecao o anno, e dia d anno bom ... Comecao o anno Neste mes com a lua nova, e elles nao contao o mes se nao de lua a lua").[217] Previously to this, when writing about Raichur, Paes has described that place[218] as a city "that formerly belonged to the king of Narsymga (i.e. Vijayanagar); there has been much war over it, and this king took it from the Ydallcao" (Adil Shah). The chronicler, therefore, was present at these feasts on an occasion subsequent to the date of Krishna Deva's conquest of Raichur.
Now the Mahanavamifestival begins in these tracts on the 1st of the month of Asvina, and the New Year's Day in the time of Paes was evidently celebrated on the 1st of the month Karttika, as was often the case in former years both days being the days following the moment of new moon. In what year, then, during the reign of Krishna Deva Raya, did the 1st of Asvina and the 1st of Karttika fall respectively on September 12 and on October 12? I have worked these dates out for all the years of the reign, and I find that in no year except A.D. 1520 did this occur. In 1521 the Mahanavamifell on September 2, and the New Year's Day on October 1; in 1522 the former fell on September 20, and the latter on October 20. This shows that Paes assisted at the festivals of A.D. 1520, and that therefore the battle and capture of Raichur must have taken place before the month of September in that year.
This again throws fresh light on the magnificent reception accorded to Christovao de Figueiredo by the king, and the latter's exceptional kindness to the Portuguese at the time of these feasts.[219] Krishna Raya cherished an especial fondness for Christovao on account of his invaluable aid at the siege of the city, and for the fact that but for him the war might have lasted much longer.
Let us now turn to the other Portuguese writers, and see whether they confirm our date, 1520, for the fall of Raichur.
The decision of this question turns mainly on the date when the Portuguese obtained the mainlands opposite the island of Goa, consisting of the tracts called Salsette, Ponda, and Bardes. It seems certain that this capture of the mainlands took place by Krishna Deva's connivance shortly after the fall of Raichur, at a time when Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, the governor-general, was away at the Red Sea, and when Ruy de Mello was governor of Goa. Now Sequeira left Goa for the Red Sea on February 13, A.D. 1520, and arrived again before Diu in India on February 9, 1521.
Castanheda tells us (and he is a good authority, since he was in India in 1529) that while Sequeira was absent at the Red Sea war broke out between the king of Vijayanagar and the Adil Shah,[220] at the close of which the latter was defeated and put to flight, while the Hindus took Raichur and other places
"so that many of the Tanadaris[221] near Goa on the mainland were left undefended. And since the king of Narsinga was very rich, and had no need of these lands, and wanted that all the horses that came to Goa should come to him and none to the Hidalcao, he sent to say to Ruy de Mello, captain of Goa, that he had taken Belgaum by force of arms from the Hidalcao, with all the land appertaining to it as far as the sea, in which were tanadaris yielding more than 500,000 gold pardaos, of which he desired to make a present to the king of Portugal ... and that he wanted all the horses that came to Goa. He therefore said that the captain of Goa could enter and take possession of the Tanadaris."
This was immediately done, and Ruy de Mello took possession of the mainland of Goa, including Salsette, in ten days.
Correa, who was in India at the time, having gone thither in 1512 or 1514, mentions[222] that de Sequeira left Goa for the Red the captain of Goa could enter and take possession of the Tanadaris." expression is unfortunately vague) war broke out between Vijayanagar and Bijapur. After its close the Hindu king sent a message to "Ruy de Mello, captain of Goa," in the absence of the governor-general, regarding the mainlands of Goa. Correa does not mention distinctly the year in which this occurred, but the editi
on of 1860 at the head of the page has the date "1521." This, however, must be an error on the part of the editor, for in May 1521 Sequeira was not absent, and therefore the year referred to cannot be 1521; while in May 1522 Dom Duarte de Menezes, and not Sequeira, was governor-general.[223] Sequeira sailed for Portugal January 22, A.D. 1522.
Barros relates the departure of de Sequeira from India for the Red Sea on February 13, 1520, and states that in his absence Ruy de Mello was governor of Goa, under Sequeira's lieutenant, Aleixo de Menezes. Ruy de Mello seized the mainland of Goa after the battle of Raichur,[224] and at that time de Sequeira was absent at the Red Sea. His description of the siege of Raichur and the great battle in the vicinity clearly seems to have been taken from the chronicle of Nuniz. It follows the latter blindly, even in the misspelling of names, and therefore is really of no greater value. When, however, Barros comes to deal with the acquisition of the mainlands of Goa,[225] he is dependent on other information, and gives a much more detailed account. The time is clearly fixed. After the battle and flight of the Adil Shah the feeling between the two adversaries was naturally highly strained, and this "enabled Ruy de Mello, captain of Goa, to take the mainlands of Goa." Sequeira was at the Red Sea and Menezes at Cochin. A very important passage for my present purpose occurs a little later on in Barros's work:[226] --
"Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, AS soon as he arrived at Goa (from the Red Sea), all necessary arrangements having been made for the government of the city, and principally of the mainlands, which he found that Ruy De Mello had taken ... went to Cochin;"