A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar | Page 5

indeed invaluable, and throw an
extraordinary light on the condition of Vijayanagar as well as on
several doubtful points of history.
Thus, for instance, we have in Nuniz for the first time a definite
account of the events that led to the fall of the First Dynasty and the
establishment of the second by the usurpation of Narasimha. Previous
to the publication of these chronicles by Senhor Lopes we had nothing
to guide us in this matter, save a few vague and unsatisfactory lines in
the chronicle of the historian Firishtah.[5] Now all is made clear, and
though as yet the truth cannot be definitely determined, at least we have
an explicit and exceedingly interesting story. Paes too, as well as Nuniz,
conclusively proves to us that Krishna Deva Raya was really the
greatest of all the kings of Vijayanagar, and not the mere puppet that
Firishtah appears to consider him (Firishtah does not mention him by
name); for Paes saw him on several occasions and speaks of him in
warm and glowing terms, while Nuniz, whose narrative was evidently
firsthand, never so much as hints that his armies were led to victory by
any other general but the king himself. Nuniz also gives us a graphic
description from personal knowledge of the character of Krishna's
degenerate successor Achyuta, whose feebleness, selfishness,
cowardice, and cruelty paved the way for the final destruction of the
great empire.
By the side of these two chronicles the writings of the great European
historians seem cold and lifeless.
* * *
I have mentioned the publication of Senhor Lopes. It is to that
distinguished Arabic scholar that we owe the knowledge of the
existence of these precious documents. He it was who brought them to
light in the first instance, and to him personally I owe the fact of my
being able to translate and publish them. His introduction to the DOS

REIS DE BISNAGA is full of valuable matter. India owes him a debt
of gratitude for his services; and for myself I desire to record here my
sincere thanks for the disinterested and generous help he has so
constantly accorded to me during the last two years.
My thanks are also due to Mr. Donald Ferguson for his careful revision
of the whole of my translations.
I desire further to express my appreciation of a particular kindness done
to me by Colonel R. C. Temple, C.I.E., and lastly to acknowledge
gratefully the liberality of H.E. the Governor of Madras and the
Members of his Council, who by subsidising this work have rendered
its publication possible.
I trust that my remarks regarding the causes of the downfall of
Portuguese trade in the sixteenth century will not be misunderstood. It
is not in any spirit of criticism or comparison that I have written those
passages. History, however, is history; and it is a fact that while the
main cause of the small success which attended the efforts of the
Portuguese to establish a great and lasting commerce with India was no
doubt the loss of trade after the destruction of Vijayanagar, there must
be added to this by the impartial recorder the dislike of the inhabitants
to the violence and despotism of the Viceroys and to the
uncompromising intolerance of the Jesuit Fathers, as well as the horror
engendered in their minds by the severities of the terrible Inquisition at
Goa.
* * *
A word as to my spelling of names. I have adopted a medium course in
many cases between the crudities of former generations and the
scientific requirements of the age in which we live; the result of which
will probably be my condemnation by both parties. But to the highly
educated I would point out that this work is intended for general
reading, and that I have therefore thought it best to avoid the use of a
special font of type containing the proper diacritical points; while to the
rest I venture to present the plea that the time has passed when
Vijayanagar needs to be spelt "Beejanuggur," or Kondavidu
"Condbeer."
Thus I have been bold enough to drop the final and essential "a" of the
name of the great city, and spell the word "Vijayanagar," as it is usually
pronounced by the English. The name is composed of two words,

VIJAYA, "victory," and NAGARA, "city," all the "a's" to be
pronounced short, like the "u" in "sun," or the "a" in "organ."
"Narasimha" ought, no doubt, to be spelt "Nrisimha," but that in such
case the "ri" ought to have a dot under the "r" as the syllable is really a
vowel, and I have preferred the common spelling of modern days.
(Here again all three "a's" are short.)
As with the final "a" in "Vijayanagara," so with the final "u"