A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar

by eBook creation Robert Sewell; Ken Mattern

  In 1555 an attempt was made by the Portuguese under their new Viceroy, Pedro de Mascarenhas, to place Prince Abdullah on the throne of Bijapur, the foreigners being dazzled by the magnificent offers made to them, should the joint efforts of the conspirators be crowned with success. Abdullah was established at Ponda, and proclamation made of his accession to the throne. On the death of De Mascarenhas in 1555, Francisco Barreto succeeded him with the title of governor, and having installed the prince at Ponda he proceeded to collect the revenues of the country. He was, however, opposed by an officer of Ibrahim Adil who was backed by seven thousand troops, and several fights took place.

  Meanwhile Ibrahim himself had not been idle, and aided by fifteen thousand of Sadasiva's troops from Vijayanagar he dethroned and captured the ambitious prince, following this up by several attacks on the Portuguese forces. The war lasted during the whole winter of 1556, but with no very decisive results. Next year a fresh relay of troops from Bijapur attacked Salsette and Bardes, but were beaten by a small force of Portuguese near Ponda, and hostilities were suspended for a time.

  Shortly after this, viz., in 1557, Sultan Ibrahim died. "During his illness he put to death several physicians who had failed in cure, beheading some, and causing others to be trodden to death by elephants, so that all the surviving medical practitioners, alarmed, fled from his dominions." He was succeeded by his eldest son, Ali Adil.

  The new Sultan, immediately on his accession, cemented his father's alliance with Sadasiva and Rama Rajah by the execution of a new treaty, and sent ambassadors on a similar errand to Husain Nizam Shah, the successor of Burhan at Ahmadnagar. These, however, were badly received, and Sultan Ali, whose envoys at the Hindu capital had been warmly welcomed and hospitably treated, determined to establish, if possible, a real and lasting friendship with Vijayanagar. To this end he adopted a most unusual course, the account of which will be best given in Firishtah's own words.

  "Ali Adil Shaw, who was intent on extricating his dominions from the losses of his father by alliance with Ramraaje, on the death of a son of that monarch,[315] with uncommon prudence and resolution went, attended by one hundred horse, to Beejanuggur, to offer his condolence on the melancholy occasion. Ramraaje received him with the greatest respect,[316] and the sultan with the kindest persuasions prevailed upon him to lay aside his mourning. The wife of Ramraaje adopted the sultan as her son, and at the end of three days, which were spent in interchanges of friendly professions, he took his leave; but as Ramraaje did not attend him out of the city, he was disgusted, and treasured up the affront in his mind, though too prudent to show any signs of displeasure for the present."[317]

  The incident thus entirely failed in its intended effect. It produced a lasting irritation in the mind of the Sultan, and a haughty arrogance on the part of Rama Raya, who conceived that the fortunes of his hereditary enemy must be at a very low ebb when he could condescend so far to humble himself.

  In the next year, 1558, according to Couto,[318] Rama Raya made an expedition to "Meliapor," or Mailapur, near Madras, where was an important establishment of Roman Catholic monks and the Church of St. Thomas. I quote the passage from the summary given by Senhor Lopes in his introduction to the Chronica Dos Reis De Bisnaga (p. lxvi.). "The poor fathers of the glorious Order of St. Francis having seized all the coast from Negapatam to San Thome, they being the first who had begun to preach there the light of the Holy Gospel, and having throughout that tract thrown down many temples and destroyed many pagodas, a thing which grieved excessively all the Brahmans, these latter reported the facts to Rama Raya, king of Bisnaga, whose vassals they were, and begged him that he would hasten to their assistance for the honour of their gods."

  They succeeded in persuading him that the newcomers were possessed of enormous riches, and he proceeded against the place, but afterwards finding that this was not true, and that the inhabitants were loyal to him, he spared them and left them in peace.

  On his return to Bijapur, Ali Adil peremptorily demanded from Hussain Nizam Shah the restoration of the fortresses of Kallian and Sholapur; and on the latter's contemptuous refusal (he "sent back a reply so indecent in expression as to be unfit to relate." says Firishtah) another war broke out.

  "In the year 966 (October 14, A.D. 1558 to October 3, 1559), Ali Adil Shaw having called Ramraaje to his assistance, they in concert divided the dominions of Houssein Nizam Shaw, and laid them waste in such a manner that from Porundeh to Khiber, and from Ahmednuggur to Dowlutabad, not a mark of population was to be seen. The infidels of Beejanuggur, who for many years had been wishing for such an event, left no cruelty unpractised. They insulted the honour of the mussulmaun women, destroyed the mosques, and did not even respect the sacred koraun."[319]

  This behaviour on the part of the Hindus so incensed the followers of Islam, not only the hostile subjects of Golkonda but even the allied troops and inhabitants of the Bijapur territories, that it laid the foundation for the final downfall and destruction of Vijayanagar.

  In 1558 Dom Constantine de Braganza became Viceroy of Goa, and his period of government was signalised by every kind of violence and aggression. In 1559 Luiz de Mello carried fire and sword into the towns along the Malabar coast. He attacked Mangalore, set fire to the town, and put all the inhabitants to death. Later in the year he destroyed in similar manner a number of towns and villages on the same coast, and desolated the whole seaboard.

  In 1560 the See of Goa was elevated into an arch-bishopric, and the Inquisition, the horrors of which even excelled that of Spain, was established. The inhabitants of Goa and its dependencies were now forced to embrace Christianity, and on refusal or contumacy were imprisoned and tortured. In this year also, and those following, the predatory excursions of the Portuguese were continued. In 1564 the Viceroy sent Mesquita with three ships to destroy a number of ships belonging to the Malabarese. Mesquita captured twenty-four of these, by twos and threes at a time, sunk them, beheaded a large number of the sailors, and in the case of hundreds of others, sewed them up in sails and threw them overboard. In these ways he massacred 2000 men.

  This resulted in a serious war in Malabar, as the wretched inhabitants of the country; driven to desperation, determined at all hazards to destroy the ruthless invaders of their land. The Portuguese were attacked at Cannanore, and a series of desperate struggles took place, in the course of which Noronha, the commandant, desolated the country and ruined many people by cutting down forty thousand palm trees. At last, however, peace was made.

  Chapter 15. Destruction of Vijayanagar (A.D. 1565)

  Chapter 15. Destruction of Vijayanagar (A.D. 1565)

  Arrogance of Rama Raya -- Ahmadnagar attacked -- Muhammadans combine against Vijayanagar -- The league of the five kings -- Their advance to Talikota -- Decisive battle, 1565, and total defeat of the Hindus -- Death of Rama Raya -- Panic at Vijayanagar -- Flight of the royal family -- Sack of the great city -- Its total destruction -- Evidence of Federici, 1567 -- Downfall of Portuguese trade, and decay of prosperity at Goa.

  Meanwhile affairs were advancing rapidly in the interior. After the Nizam Shah's dominions had been wasted, as already described, by the Adil Shah and Rama Raya, peace was made by the restoration of Kallian to Bijapur;[320] but as soon as the allies had retired, Hussain entered into an alliance with Ibrahim Qutb Shah and again marched to attack Ali Adil. Again Ali called in the aid of Vijayanagar, and again Rama Raya marched to his aid, this time with 50,000 horse and an immense force of infantry. The opposing forces met at Kallian, when the Qutb Shah deserted to Ali Adil, and Hussain was compelled to withdraw to Ahmadnagar. Attacked in his own capital, he retreated.

  "The three sovereigns laid siege to Ahmednuggur, and despatched detachments various ways to lay waste the country round. The Hindoos of Beejanuggur committed the most outrageous devastations, burning and razing the buildings, putting up their horses in the mosques, and performing their idolatrous worship in the holy places; but, notwithstanding, the siege was pushed with the greate
st vigour, the garrison held out with resolution, hoping that at the approach of the rainy season, the enemy would be necessitated to raise the siege.

  "when the rains had set in, from the floods, damp, and want of provisions, distress began to prevail in the camp of the allies, and Kootub Shaw also secretly corresponded with the besieged, to whom he privately sent in grain."[321]

  The siege was raised, therefore, and before long the allies separated, and the Hindu army returned home.

  "In the first expedition on which Ali Adil Shaw, pressed by the behaviour of Houssein Nizam Shaw, had called Ramraaje to his assistance, the Hindoos at Ahmednuggur committed great outrages, and omitted no mark of disrespect to the holy religion of the faithful, singing and performing their superstitious worship in the mosques. The sultan was much hurt at this insult to the faith, but, as he had not the ability to prevent it, he did not seem to observe it. Ramraaje also, at the conclusion of this expedition, looking on the Islaam sultans as of little consequence, refused proper honours to their ambassadors. When he admitted them to his presence, he did not suffer them to sit, and treated them with the most contemptuous reserve and haughtiness. He made them attend when in publick in his train on foot, not allowing them to mount till he gave orders. On the return from the last expedition to Nuldirruk, the officers and soldiers of his army in general, treated the mussulmauns with insolence, scoffing, and contemptuous language; and Ramraaje, after taking leave, casting an eye of avidity on the countries of Koottub Shaw and Adil Shaw, dispatched armies to the frontiers of each."

  Both the great Shahs, therefore, abandoned certain territories to the Hindus, and from Golkonda Rama obtained Ghanpura and Pangul. It was the last Hindu success.

  "Ramraaje daily continuing to encroach on the dominions of the mussulmauns, Adil Shaw at length resolved, if possible, to punish his insolence and curtail his power by a general league of the faithful against him; for which purpose he convened an assembly of his friends and confidential advisers."

  Some of these urged that the Raya was too wealthy and powerful, by reason of his immense revenues, which were collected from no less than sixty seaports in addition to very large territories and dependencies, and the number of his forces was too vast, for any single Muhammadan monarch to cope with him. They therefore pressed the Sultan to form a federation of all the kings of the Dakhan and wage a joint war. Ali Adil heartily concurred in their opinion, and began by despatching a secret embassy to Ibrahim Qutb Shah.

  Ibrahim eagerly accepted, and offered his services as mediator between Ali Adil and his great rival at Ahmadnagar. An envoy was sent to the latter capital, and the sovereign, Hussain Shah, warned beforehand of the important proposals to be made, received him in private audience. The ambassador then laid before the king all the arguments in favour of the Bijapur plan.

  "He represented to him that during the times of the Bhamenee princes, when the whole strength of the mussulmaun power was in one hand, the balance between it and the force of the roles of Beejanuggur was nearly equal; that now the mussulmaun authority was divided, policy demanded that all the faithful princes should unite as one, and observe the strictest friendship, that they might continue secure from the attacks of their powerful common enemy, and the authority of the roles of Beejanuggur, who had reduced all the rajas of Carnatic to their yoke, be diminished, and removed far from the countries of Islaam; that the people of their several dominions, who ought to be considered the charge of the Almighty committed to their care, might repose free from the oppressions of the unbelievers, and their mosques and holy places be made no longer the dwellings of infidels."

  These arguments had their full weight, and it was arranged that Hussain Nizam Shah should give his daughter Chand Bibi in marriage to Ali Adil with the fortress of Sholapur as her dot, and that his eldest son, Murtiza, should espouse Ali's sister -- the two kingdoms coalescing for the conquest and destruction of Vijayanagar. The marriages were celebrated in due course, and the Sultans began their preparations for the holy war.

  "Ali Adil Shaw, preparatory to the war, and to afford himself a pretence for breaking with his ally, dispatched an ambassador to Ramraaje, demanding restitution of some districts that had been wrested from him. As he expected, Ramraaje expelled the ambassador in a very disgraceful manner from his court; and the united sultans now hastened the preparations to crush the common enemy of the Islaam faith."

  Ibrahim Qutb Shah had also joined the coalition, and the four princes met on the plains of Bijapur, with their respective armies. Their march towards the south began on Monday, December 25, A.D. 1564.[322] Traversing the now dry plains of the Dakhan country, where the cavalry, numbering many thousands, could graze their horses on the young crops, the allied armies reached the neighbourhood of the Krishna near the small fortress and town of Talikota, a name destined to be for ever celebrated in the annals of South India.[323]

  It is situated on the river Don, about sixteen miles above its junction with the Krishna, and sixty-five miles west of the point where the present railway between Bombay and Madras crosses the great river. The country at that time of the year was admirably adapted for the passage of large bodies of troops, and the season was one of bright sunny days coupled with cool refreshing breezes.

  Here Ali Adil, as lord of that country, entertained his allies in royal fashion, and they halted for several days, attending to the transport and commissariat arrangements of the armies, and sending out scouts to report on the best locality for forcing the passage of the river.

  At Vijayanagar there was the utmost confidence. Remembering how often the Moslems had vainly attempted to injure the great capital, and how for over two centuries they had never succeeded in penetrating to the south, the inhabitants pursued their daily avocations with no shadow of dread or sense of danger; the strings of pack-bullocks laden with all kinds of merchandise wended their dusty way to and from the several seaports as if no sword of Damocles was hanging over the doomed city; Sadasiva, the king, lived his profitless life in inglorious seclusion, and Rama Raya, king de facto, never for a moment relaxed his attitude of haughty indifference to the movements of his enemies. "He treated their ambassadors," says Firishtah, "with scornful language, and regarded their enmity as of little moment."[324]

  Nevertheless he did not neglect common precautions. His first action was to send his youngest brother, Tirumala, the "Yeltumraj" or "Eeltumraaje" of Firishtah, to the front with 20,000 horse, 100,000 foot, and 500 elephants, to block the passage of the Krishna at all points. Next he despatched his second brother, Venkatadri, with another large army; and finally marched in person towards the point of attack with the whole power of the Vijayanagar empire. The forces were made up of large drafts from all the provinces -- Canarese and Telugus of the frontier, Mysoreans and Malabarese from the west and centre, mixed with the Tamils from the remoter districts to the south; each detachment under its own local leaders, and forming part of the levies of the temporary provincial chieftain appointed by the crown. According to Couto, they numbered 600,000 foot and 100,000 horse. His adversaries had about half that number. As to their appearance and armament, we may turn for information to the description given us by Paes of the great review of which he was an eye-witness forty-five years earlier at Vijayanagar,[325] remembering always that the splendid troops between whose lines he then passed in the king's procession were probably the elite of the army, and that the common soldiers were clad in the lightest of working clothes, many perhaps with hardly any clothes at all, and armed only with spear or dagger.[326]

  The allies had perhaps halted too long. At any rate, their scouts returned to their sovereigns with the news that all the passages of the river were defended, and that their only course was to force the ford immediately in their front. This was in possession of the Hindus, who had fortified the banks on the south side, had thrown up earthworks, and had stationed a number of cannon to dispute the crossing.

  The defenders of the ford anxiously awaited intelligence of their enemy's movemen
ts, and learning that he had struck his camp and marched along the course of the river, they quitted their post and followed, keeping always to the south bank in readiness to repel any attempt to cross directly in their front. This manoeuvre, a ruse on the part of the Mussulmans, was repeated on three successive days. On the third night the Sultans hastily left their camp, returned to the ford, and, finding it deserted, crossed with a large force. This movement covered the transit of the whole of their army, and enabled them to march southwards to the attack of Rama Raya's main body.

  Rama Raya, though surprised, was not alarmed, and took all possible measures for defence. In the morning the enemy was within ten miles of his camp, and Venkatadri and Tirumala succeeded in effecting a junction with their brother.

  On the following day, Tuesday, January 23; 1565,[327] both sides having made their dispositions, a pitched battle took place[328] in which all the available forces of both sides were engaged. In one of his descriptions Firishtah estimates the Vijayanagar army alone as amounting to 900,000 infantry, 45,000 cavalry, and 2000 elephants, besides 15,000 auxiliaries; but he himself varies so greatly in the numbers he gives in different parts of his narrative that there is no necessity to accept these figures as accurate. There can be little doubt, however, that the numbers were very large. The Hindu left, on the west, was entrusted to the command of Tirumala; Rama Raya in person was in the centre, and the right was composed of the troops of Venkatadri. Opposed to Tirumala were the forces of Bijapur under their Sultan Ali Adil; the Mussalman centre was under the command of Hussain Nizam Shah; and the left of the allied army, in Venkatadri's front, consisted of the forces brought from Ahmadabad and Golkonda by the two Sultans, Ali Barid and Ibrahim Qutb. The allied forces drew up in a long line with their artillery in the centre, and awaited the enemy's attack, each division with the standards of the twelve Imams waving in the van. The Nizam Shah's front was covered by six hundred pieces of ordnance disposed in three lines, in the first of which were heavy guns, then the smaller ones, with light swivel guns in the rear. In order to mask this disposition two thousand foreign archers were thrown out in front, who kept up a heavy discharge as the enemy's line came on. The archers fell back as the Hindus of Rama's division approached, and the batteries opened with such murderous effect that the assailants retreated in confusion and with great loss.