A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar | Page 8

of Vijayanagar first began to acquire the power which afterwards became so extensive. This account may or may not be accurate in all details, but it at least tallies fairly with the epigraphical and other records of the time. According to him, Muhammad Taghlaq of Delhi, having reduced Gujarat, marched southwards through the Dakhan Balaghat, or high lands above the western ghats, and a little previous to the year 1336[8] seized the town and fortress of Anegundi. Its chief was slain, with all the members of his family. After a futile attempt to govern this territory by means of a deputy, Muhammad raised to the dignity of chief of the state its late minister, a man whom Nuniz calls "Deorao," for "Deva Raya." or Harihara Deva I. The new chief founded the city of Vijayanagar on the south bank of the river opposite Anegundi and made his residence there, with the aid of the great religious teacher Madhava, wisely holding that to place the river between him and the ever-marauding Moslems was to establish himself and his people in a condition of greater security than before. He was succeeded by "one called Bucarao" (Bukka), who reigned thirty-seven years, and the next king was the latter's son, "Pureoyre Deo" (Harihara Deva II.).
We know from other sources that part at least of this story is correct. Harihara I. and Bukka were the first two kings and were brothers, while the third king, Harihara II., was certainly the son of Bukka.
The success of the early kings was phenomenal. Ibn Batuta, who was in India from 1333 to 1342, states that even in his day a Muhammadan chief on the western coast was subject to Harihara I., whom he calls "Haraib" or "Harib," from "Hariyappa" another form of the king's name; while a hundred years later Abdur Razzak, envoy from Persia, tells us that the king of Vijayanagar was then lord of all Southern India, from sea to sea and from the Dakhan to Cape Comorin -- "from the frontier of Serendib (Ceylon) to the extremities of the country of Kalbergah ... His troops amount in number to eleven lak," I.E. 1,100,000. Even so early as 1378 A.D., according to Firishtah,[9] the Raya of Vijayanagar was "in power, wealth, and extent of country" greatly the superior of the Bahmani king of the Dakhan.
The old southern states appear (we have little history to guide us) to have in general submitted peaceably to the rule of the new monarchy. They were perhaps glad to submit if only the dreaded foreigners could be kept out of the country. And thus by leaps and bounds the petty state grew to be a kingdom, and the kingdom expanded till it became an empire. Civil war and rebellion amongst the Muhammadans helped Harihara and Bukka in their enterprise. Sick of the tyranny and excesses of Muhammad Taghlaq, the Dakhan revolted in 1347, and the independent kingdom of the Bahmanis was for a time firmly established.
The chronicle of Nuniz opens with the following sentence: --
"In the year twelve hundred and thirty these parts of India were ruled by a greater monarch than had ever reigned. This was the king of Dili,[10] who by force of arms and soldiers made war on Cambaya for many years, taking and destroying in that period the land of Guzarate which belongs to Cambaya,[11] and in the end he became its lord."
After this the king of Delhi advanced against Vijayanagar by way of the Balaghat.
This date is a century too early, as already pointed out. The sovereign referred to is stated in the following note (entered by Nuniz at the end of

Chapter xx
., which closes the historical portion of his narrative) to have been called "Togao Mamede."
"This king of Delhi they say was a Moor, who was called Togao Mamede. He is held among the Hindus as a saint. They relate that once while he was offering prayer to God, there came to him four arms with four hands; and that every time he prayed roses fell to him from out of heaven. He was a great conqueror, he held a large part of this earth under his dominion, he subdued ... (blank in original) kings, and slew them, and flayed them, and brought their skins with him; so that besides his own name, he received the nickname ... which means 'lord of ... skins of kings;' he was chief of many people.
"There is a story telling how he fell into a passion on account of (BEING GIVEN?) eighteen letters (OF THE ALPHABET TO HIS NAME?), when according to his own reckoning he was entitled to twenty-four.[12] There are tales of him which do indeed seem most marvellous of the things that he did; as, for instance, how he made ready an army because one day