DYAL SNGH COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

HISTORY OF INDIA

NAME: VISHAL ANAND

ROLL: 22/25072

SEC : B

SUBMITTED TO:

MISS NIDHI GAUR

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

DYAL SINGH COLLEGE

Introduction> ===

The Vijaynagar Empire was the biggest Hindu empire that ruled the
large portion of south India. The foundation of empire astasts after
the conquere of Kakatiya and Kampili by the army of Delhi
Sultanate. The interesting fact about the foundation of large Hindu
empire that it established with the help of Muslim mercenaries and
the founder Harihara fisst a Hindu than Muslim and than again
converted a Hindu means the Hindu kingdom established by a
Converted Muslim. After the death of Ballala, Bukka Conquered the
Ballala's kingdom and annexed to Vijayuagar. Now the Vijaynagar
directly connected to Malabar, in the reign of Krishna Deva Raya the
Malabar and Coromandel coasts were controlled by Vijay nagar
empire. The empire's prominence made it many international
travelers of the from Portugal and Persia, antt a stopping point for
day, particularly accounts of of these travellers provide a rich
primary descriptions of the kingdom, it customs, its history and its
social fabric The Poltical system of Vijaynagar seems hyper-
treacherous, the justice system inconsistent, the architecture
massive and the ceremonies completely over the top. According to
the anthropologist Apadurai "there was no single, Centralized,
permanent bureaucratic organization, but temporary affilation of
local groups, authoritatively Constituted by or inthe name the f.
king, andenskouered to make public decision on specific matters."
The powerful navy enabled the vijaynag as ruless to invade Sri
Lanker repeddly.

The Poltical system of Vijaynagar seems hyper-treacherous, the

justice system inconsistent, the architecture massive and the
ceremonies completely over the top. According to the
anthropologist Apadurai "there was no single, Centralized,
permanent bureaucratic organization, but The King's enjoyed a
tremendous amount of power in Vijaynagas. They were the owners
of all lands in the Kingdom and the embodiment of God on earth.
Kings were at the center of trade, considered the "Lord to the two
seas" given their control of the coasts. Kings were also the head of
the military, leading the armies in to battle. Thus King occupied a
place firmly in the center of the empiri's poltical, architectural. and
the ceremonial planes, with all the attention focused on them.
According to Inden" the divine Hindu King acted as a Ceremonialist
exercising ritual sovereignty, while in his immanent form the ruler
functioned as an administrator and warrior exercising his poltical
sovereignty".
In Vijaynagas, however, an interesting dynamic developed between
the king and the coustiers were legitimized only in the context of
king that he should change their position in court. The king
ultimately bore the blame of civil society broke down and faced the
potential of bosing poveex. Because of the fundamental challenge
present in the Vijay nagar politics - a lack of a clear principle of the
succession - Vijaynagas's poltical context was characterized by
instability, shifting alliances, intrigue and treachery. It was crucial
for the king to ensure that the justice system, tax system, wars and
armies, social services ran smoothly. Courtiers helped and served
as experts who could help the king to administer the kingdom. Since
coustiers and the king both needed one another, they

co-existed in a mutually dependent relationship. As Daud Ali

describes in his study of courtly practices that Loyalty was the "oil"
that kept the symbiotic relationship between king and coustier
functioning. Since, the goal of coustiers was achieving power and
influence, loyalty was the by tool that the king could use to measure
the worth of his courtiers. Thase who were loyal wise rewarded,
these who were treacherous suffered catastrophic and often
gruesome fates. Greater loyalty to the king enhanced the monarch's
power, boosting the courtiers own powes and influence, in a
virtuous cycle. Thus loyalty - whether through demonstration by the
courtiers or recognition by the monarch - formed a fundamental
Component of the strategy of poltical game being played in Vijay
nagas. The images that the Abdul Razzaq, sees of "stolpped skin"
are equally shocking to him as they would be for any other courtier
contemplating backing a Coup. Ministers, captains, and othes
courtiers who pushed too hard on king risk being exccuted. Kings
who pushed too hard on their ministers risked loosing their support.
The concept of mutual dependence and the interplay between
power and loyalty helps explains an outcome. A wrak king could
become a target of an internal coup which would remove the king.
The king drew his power from two very distinct sources: he was both
the embodiment of bred on earth and chief poltical figure in
Vijaynagar. This bifocality of powes is essential to understanding
Vijay nagas as it has an impact on the role of architecture and
ceremony in the kingdom. Nuniz outlines fous important roles for
the king: the collector of rents, the center of trade, the center of
finance, and the centes of justice. The king grants territories to
captains in exchange for their service, loyalty and yearly taxes.

The king is clearly involved in most important transactions of

kingdoms, particularly thall dealing with hosses. Nuniz describy the
king's role as a chief financies in kingdom. He cutlines how the king
buys Arabian horses from the Portuguese and Effectively manages
his working capital by buying the horses on credit just before the
month of septembo. During the September the king receives his
annuel taxes from his captains and he provides them with a portion
of horses purchased. At the end of month, the king pays off his debt
to the Portugese and as Nuniz says he was able to pay "the cost of
whole without anything going out of the Treasury". Joanne
Waghorne, in her work The Raja's Magic Clothes provides a useful
framework to help understand the interplay beturen kingship and
divinity:. First, by reinforcing himself at the ceremonial centes of the
empire, the king Communicated to his coustiers that he was lu
control. • firmly lu second, displays of powes to people of
Vijaynggas that their king and God was strong. Thus, understanding
the bifocality of power and extension to the king's divine role helfs
one understand the rationality of Vijoynagar's architecture and
ceremonies