"In pursuance of orders issued by the king of Bidjanagar, the generals and principal personages from all parts of his empire … presented themselves at the palace. They brought with them a thousand elephants … which were covered with brilliant armour and with castles magnificently adorned…. During three consecutive days in the month of Redjeb the vast space of land magnificently decorated, in which the enormous elephants were congregated together, presented the appearance of the waves of the sea, or of that compact mass which will be assembled together at the day of the resurrection. Over this magnificent space were erected numerous pavilions, to the height of three, four, or even five storeys, covered from top to bottom with figures in relief…. Some of these pavilions were arranged in such a manner that they could turn rapidly round and present a new face: at each moment a new chamber or a new hall presented itself to the view.
"In the front of this place rose a palace with nine pavilions magnificently ornamented. In the ninth the king's throne was set up. In the seventh was allotted a place to the humble author of this narrative…. Between the palace and the pavilions … were musicians and storytellers."
Girls were there in magnificent dresses, dancing "behind a pretty curtain opposite the king." There were numberless performances given by jugglers, who displayed elephants marvellously trained.
During three consecutive days, from sunrise to sunset, the royal festival was prolonged in a style of the greatest magnificence. Fireworks, games, and amusements went on. On the third day the writer was presented to the king.
"The throne, which was of extraordinary size, was made of gold, and enriched with precious stones of extreme value…. Before the throne was a square cushion, on the edges of which were sown three rows of pearls. During the three days the king remained seated on this cushion. When the fete of Mahanawi was ended, at the hour of evening prayer, I was introduced into the middle of four ESTRADES, which were about ten ghez both in length and breadth.[147] The roof and the walls were entirely formed of plates of gold enriched with precious stones. Each of these plates was as thick as the blade of a sword, and was fastened with golden nails. Upon the ESTRADE, in the front, is placed the throne of the king, and the throne itself is of very great size."
The descriptions given by these travellers give us a good idea of the splendours of this great Hindu capital in the first half of the fifteenth century; and with this in our minds we return to the history of the period.
CHAPTER 8
Close of the First Dynasty (A.D. 1449 to 1490)
Mallikarjuna and Virupaksha I. — Rajasekhara and Virupaksha II. — The Dakhan splits up into five independent kingdoms — The Bijapur king captures Goa and Belgaum — Fighting at Rajahmundry, Kondapalle, and other parts of Telingana — Death of Mahmud Gawan — The Russian traveller Nikitin — Chaos at Vijayanagar — Narasimha seizes the throne.
I have already stated that the period following the reign of Deva Raya II. is one very difficult to fill up satisfactorily from any source. It was a period of confusion in Vijayanagar — a fact that is clearly brought out by Nuniz in his chronicle.