What were the main features of the water resources that the Vijayanagara Empire had.
· Vijayanagara was located in the natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra
which flows in the north-easterly direction and the landscape that surrounded the city
with granite hills.
· Many embankments were built along these streams to create reservoirs of
different sizes. Since Vijayanagara was one of the most arid zones of the peninsula,
perfect arrangements were made to store rainwater to be used in the city.
· Kamalapuram tank is the best example for such a tank built in the early years of
the fifteenth century. Water from this tank was used not only for irrigating fields but
was also conducted through a channel to the “royal centre”.
· According to the historians, the Hiriya canal was one of the most prominent
irrigated the cultivated fields that separated the “sacred centre “from the “urban core”.
This canal was built by kings of the Sangama dynasty.
Write a note on the features of the fortification in the Vijayanagara Empire.
· The important feature of the Vijayanagara fortification was its incorporation of the
agricultural tracts, because the rulers were well prepared to face the sieges and its
consequences.
· A second line of fortification went around the inner core of the urban complex,
and a third line surrounded the royal centre, within which each set of major
building was surrounded by its own high walls.
· The fort was entered through well-guarded gates leading to the major roads.
Gateways were with defined architectural features.
· The arch on the gateway leading into the fortified settlement as well as the dome
over the gate is regarded as typical features of the architecture introduced by the
Turkish Sultans.
Paes gives a vivid description of the bazaar:
Going forward, you have a broad and beautiful street … In this street live many
merchants, and there you will find all sorts of rubies, and diamonds, and
emeralds and pearls, and seed-pearls, and cloths, and every other sort of thing
there is on earth and that you may wish to buy. Then you have there every
evening a fair where they sell many common horses and nags, and also many
citrons, and limes, and oranges, and grapes, and every other kind of garden
stuff, and wood; you have all in this street.
More generally, he described the city as being “the best provided city in the
Who was Domingo Paes? During whose rule he came to India?
Domingo Paes was a Portuguese traveller who came during the reign of Krishna Deva
Raya.
What was the importance of these bazaars?
The Vijayanagara Empire possessed an urban quality, which is not witnessed in any
other South Indian state of the time. The capital city integrated within its precincts
markets, palaces, temples, mosques etc. It was in the bazaars where business was
carried on by the merchants. They dealt in spices, textiles and precious stones. They
paid rents to the towns, which contributed significantly to the prosperity of the state.
There were separate markets for particular commodities. Markets for agricultural and
non-agricultural products were separate. Local communities of merchants were
known as kudirai chettis or horse merchants.
Discuss the details of the market as given by Paes.
Paes described that, one can find all kind of precious gems in the markets of
Vijayanagara. Markets of Vijayanagara are well equipped with all kind of items of the
world.
What does Nuniz describe about the Vijayanagara markets?
Nuniz mentioned that markets were flooded with all kind of fruits. Meat was also sold
in the markets.
Why was the city of Vijayanagara described as being “the best provided city in
the world” by Paes?
Domingo Paes described the city of Vijayanagara as being “the best provided city in
the world” due to the following reasons:
· The markets of Vijayanagara were stocked with all kinds of cereals, pulses, spices
horse gram and fruits. All these provisions were available in abundance.
· Meat of all kind was abundantly available and was sold in the markets of
Vijayanagara.
· The empire’s capital city thrived as a business centre that included a burgeoning
market in large quantities of precious gems and gold.
· Prolific temple-building provided employment to thousands of masons, sculptors
and other skilled artisans.
About a tank constructed by Krishnadeva Raya, Paes wrote:
The king made a tank … at the mouth of two hills so that all the water which
comes from either one side or the other collects there; and, besides this, water
comes to it from more than three leagues (approximately 15 kilometers) by
pipes... The tank has three large pillars handsomely carved with figures; these
connect above with certain pipes by which they get water when they have to
irrigate their gardens and rice-fields. In the tank I saw so many people at work
that there must have been fifteen or twenty thousand men, looking like ants …
What was the most striking feature of the location of the Vijayanagara empire?
The most striking feature about the location of Vijayanagara was the natural basin
formed by the river Tungabhadra, which flowed in a north-easterly direction. The
surrounding landscape was characterised by stunning granite hills that seemed to form
a girdle around the city. A number of streams flowed down to the river from these
rocky outcrops.
Why were embankments built along the streams in Vijayanagara empire?
Embankments were built across big rivers and streams to create reservoirs of varying
sizes. Since Vijayanagara was one of the most arid zones of the peninsula, elaborate
arrangements had to be made to store rainwater and conduct it to the city. Water
stored in these tanks was utilised not only for the irrigation of fields but was also
supplied to capital city for fruit gardens and Kings Palace. The most important of such
tank was built in the early years of the fifteenth century and is now called
Kamalapuram tank.
Mention the most prominent waterworks built by the kings of the Sangama
dynasty.
From the earliest times, the Vijayanagara kings were concerned to construct and
operate effective and reliable water supply systems to satisfy the urban area of
Vijayanagara. The kings of the Sangama dynasty exploited the hydrological
environment to its maximum advantage, irrigating agricultural land inside the city,
directing water into urban areas for domestic use and building an impressive system
of baths and channels to service the Royal Centre. One of the most prominent
waterworks built by them is to be seen among the ruins of Vijayanagara is the Hiriya
canal. This canal drew water from a dam across the Tungabhadra and irrigated the
cultivated valley that separated the “sacred centre” from the “urban core”.
Krishnadeva Raya (ruled 1509-29), the most famous ruler of Vijayanagara,
composed a work on statecraft in Telugu known as the Amuktamalyada. About
the traders he wrote:
A king should improve the harbours of his country and so encourage its
commerce that horses, elephants, precious gems, sandalwood, pearls and other
articles are freely imported … He should arrange that the foreign sailors who
land in his country on account of storms, illness and exhaustion are looked after
in a suitable manner … Make the merchants of distant foreign countries…be
attached to yourself by providing them with daily audience… Then those articles
will never go to your enemies.
List two foreign travellers who gave information regarding the foreign trade in
Vijayanagara Empire.
Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz, who visited Vijayanagara Empire in the first half
and then later half of the sixteenth century respectively, describe in glowing terms the
foreign trade in India. Both were Portuguese travellers.
How was horse trade carried out in the Vijayanagara Empire? Why was it
important?
Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz gave a vivid account of horse trade. This trade was
initially controlled by Arabs. Local communities of merchants known as kudirai
chettis or horse merchants also participated in these exchanges. From
1498, Portuguese appeared on the scene and maintained complete control over it.
Horses were brought from Arabia, Syria and Turkey to the West coast post. Warfare
during these times depended upon effective cavalry. Thus, importation of horses was
of great military importance for the southern states as good horses were not bred in
India. Besides, Vijayanagar’s conflict with the northern Deccan Muslim states
restricted the supply of horses from north India that were imported from Central Asia
Krishnadeva Raya belonged to which dynasty?
Krishnadeva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty. Portuguese traveller Domingo
Paes visited Vijayanagara during his rule.
Write the name of the source? Who was the author of the text?
The source of this text is Amuktamalyada a treatise on statecraft written by Kirshna
Deva Raya.
What suggestions were given in this paragraphs to the king and why?
Make the merchants of distant foreign countries who import elephants and good
horses be attached to yourself by providing them with daily audience, presents and
allowing decent profits. Then those articles will never go to your enemies.
In which language this text was written?
The text was written in Telugu language.
How and by whom were the ruins of Hampi brought to light?
The ruins at Hampi were brought to light in 1800 by an engineer and antiquarian
named Colonel Colin Mackenzie. Born in 1754, Colin Mackenzie became famous as
an engineer, surveyor and cartographer. In 1815, he was appointed the first Surveyor
General of India. He held this post till his death in 1821. He regarded local histories
and surveys of historic sites to be important because East India Company could gain
much of the information on many of the institutions, laws and customs whose
influence still prevailed among the various “tribes of Natives”. Travelling through the
Deccan, noting monuments, copying inscriptions and collecting manuscripts,
Mackenzie visited Vijayanagara in 1800.
As an employee of the English East India Company, he prepared the first survey map
of the site. Much of the initial information he received was based on the memories of
priests of the Virupaksha temple and the shrine of Pampadevi. Subsequently from
1856, photographers began to record the monuments, which enabled scholars to study
them. As early as 1836, epigraphists began collecting several dozen inscriptions found
at this and other temples at Hampi. In an effort to reconstruct the history of the city
and the empire, historians collated information from these sources with accounts of
foreign travellers and other literature written in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Sanskrit.
Large part of Mackenzie’s collection of documents, manuscripts, artifacts and
artworks is now in the British Museum and the Oriental and India Office Collections
of the British Library; though some part of it remains in the Government Oriental
Manuscripts Library in Chennai.
What was the role and function of nayakas in the Vijayanagara Empire?
The amara-nayaka system was the major innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire.
Most probably many features of this system were derived from the iqta system of
Delhi Sultanate. Nayakas of Vijayanagara were warriors holding an office bestowed
on them by the central government on the condition of rendering military service. The
nayakas had political aspirations which at times conflicted with the aims of the rulers.
They were the agents of the rayas. They were given territories called amaram to
govern by the rayas. These nayakas possessed revenue and administrative rights over
these territories. They collected taxes and other dues from peasants, craftsmen and
traders in the area. They used part of the revenue for personal use. Some of the
revenue was also used for the maintenance of temples and irrigation works. They
deposited the rest with the state treasury.
Amara-nayaka was a designation conferred on a military officer or chief who had
under his control a specified number of troops. They were required to maintain
elephants, horses and soldiers in certain numbers, which were included in the royal
army during wars. Part of the revenue collected by them was used in maintaining a
stipulated contingent of horses and elephants. They sent tribute to the king annually
and personally appeared in the royal court with gifts to express their loyalty. Kings
occasionally asserted their control over them by transferring them from one place to
another.
In course of time, nayakas began to assert their military, administrative and economic
powers, which later became a major cause of the decline of the Vijayanagara empire.
Explain the temple architecture of Vijayanagara empire with special reference to
Virupaksha temple.
During this period, certain new features were evident in the temple architecture.These
included structures of enormous size that must have been built to mark the imperial
authority. One of the best examples is raya gopurams or royal gateways that often
dwarfed the towers on the central shrines. These gopurams signalled the presence of
the temple from a great distance. These towering gateways also reminded about the
power of the king who could command the resources, techniques and skills that was
required to construct them.
Another distinctive feature of the temple architecture was mandapas or pavilions and
long, pillared corridors that often ran around the shrines within the temple complex.
One of the best examples is the Virupaksha temple.
The Virupaksha temple was built over centuries. Inscriptions reveal that this shrine
dated to the 9-10th centuries. On the occasion of his coronation, Krishnadeva Raya
built the elaborate hall in front of the main shrine. The hall was adorned with
delicately carved pillars. Eastern gopuram was also built by him. The idol of
Virupaksha is seen in the form of Linga inside the sanctum.
The halls in the temple were used for varied purposes.
· In some spaces, images of gods were placed to witness special programmes of
music, dance, drama etc.
· In some spaces, marriages of the deities were conducted.
· While some spaces were meant for the deities to swing in. On such occasions,
small images other than those kept in the central shrine were used.
Write an elaborate note on the amara-nayaka system of the Vijayanagara
Empire.
The amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation of the Vijayanagara
Empire. According to historians, many features of the system were derived from
the iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate.
The amara-nayakas were military commanders in the empire. They were given
territories to govern by the raya. Their duty was to collect taxes and other dues from
peasants, craftspersons and traders in the territory. They kept a part of the collected
revenue fro personal use and for maintaining a stipulated contingent of horses and
elephants. These contingents provided the Vijayanagara kings with an effective
fighting force with which they were able to bring the entire southern peninsula under
their control. Some of the revenue was also used for the maintenance of the temples
and irrigation works.
The amara-nayakas sent tribute annually to the king and personally appeared in the
royal court with gifts in order to show their loyalty. They were transferred
occasionally by the kings from one place to another. But in course of time they
established independent kingdoms. This was also one reason for the decline of the
Vijayanagara kingdom.
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