Tidings of the King: A Translation and Ethnohistorical Analysis of the Rayavacakamu

272 Pages·1993·7.739 MB·English

by  Phillip B. Wagoner

it
Tidings of the
K I N G
A Translation and Ethnohistorical
Analysis of the Rdyavdcakamu
Ph illip B. Wago ner
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII PRESS
HONOLULU
© 1993 University of Hawaii Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
93 94 9S 96 97 9* 5 4 3 ^1
Library of Congress CataJoging-in-Publication Data
Rayavacakamu. English.
Tidings of the king: a translation and ethnohistorical analysis
of the Rayavacakamu 1 Phillip B. Wagoner,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-82+8-1+95-9
1. Krishnadeva Raya, King of Vijayanagar, d. 1529 or 30.
2, Vijayanagar (Empire)—Kings and rulers—Biography, I. Wagoner.
Phillip B., 1955- ■ II. Title.
DS+60.K71+R391; 1993
954-O2:j2-dc20 93-1*879
CIP
Dtsiypud by Paula Neuvomb
University of Hawaii Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guide­
lines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources

C O N T E N T S
ILLUSTRATIONS vii
PREFACE ■ viii
Part One
AN ETHNOHISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE • i
The Rayavacakamu: A Source ofVijayanagara History? * Text and
Context • The Bayavacakamu and the Use of the Past ■ The “City
of Victory” as Talisman of Authority • “Demons of the Kali Age”
A Note on the Translation * 71
Part Two
TIDINGS OF THE KING - 75
Introduction • 75
1: The Founding of Vijayanagara ■ 77
s: The Coronation and Education of Krishnaraya • 87
y Krishnaraya and Timmarasu • 98
4: Reports ofthe Turks • 109
5: Account ofthe Gajapati Kingdom • 125
6: The Battle with the Turks • 136
7: The Gajapati Campaign • 142
ABBREVIATIONS ■ 161
v
vi • Contents
APPENDIXES . 163
A. Rdyamtakamu Fragments Translated or Paraphrased in
Sources of Vijayanagam History (SVH) and Further Sources of
Vijayanagara History (FSVH) ■ 163
B. The Vidyaranya-krti on the Founding ofVijayanagara • 165
NOTES TO PART ONE • 171
NOTES TO PART TWO ■ 181
WORKS CITED ■ 221
INDEX ■ 231
I L L U S T R A T I O N S
MAPS
i. Sixteenth-century India according to the Bdyamcakamu • x
2. Krishnadevaraya’s pilgrimage to the Madurai country as
narrated in the Jtdyavdcakamu • 21
3. Route of Vidyaranya’s journey - 36
FIGURES
1. Life-size portrait sculptures of Krishnadevaraya and his queens
Tirumaladevi and Chinnadevi • 4
2. The battle of Rakshasa-Tangadi showing the slaying of
Aliya Rama Raya * 29
3. Vidyaranya in his palanquin • 34
4. Mount Matanga, Vijayanagara • 39
j. Schematic representation of the Raytmkakamu\
political geography * 62
6. The slaying ofthe Demons ofthe Three Cities • 65
All maps and illustrations by the author unless otherwise noted.
• vii •
P R E F A C E
The inception of the present book can be traced back to a warm
moonlit night in February io?u. when I was a guest of John M. Fritz
and George Michell, co-directors of the V ljayamg^ 'fiS'e^cfl^rui5—■
ect, at their archaeological camp in the midst of th‘eTSins“5f'Vipya-
riagara, They were "then inthelfflfftf^Sgirgf fieldwork devotecUn
documenting and interpretingLtM.feim of this jruinctUiiY that was
Ofi£eTKe Hjpital of South India’s greatest empire, and inthe course
of the evening our discussion tttftiedlcTthe question of TeluguTTter-
ary sources1 lderaiTttgnff^slHrdy oTtKe^Tty ’ 1 mentioned the BafltVii-
cakamu, a work with which I had only a slight acquaintance at the
Trme;imtf‘TOld th^TtejtJT^eye^ account of-she •
founding of the city as well as many tje^ils of the reign of Krishna-
rfevarayy- ruler Their curiosjtv led to a com­
mission for a translation of several passages that promised to shed
light on the nature of the city; subsequendy, my own curiosity to
come to a better understanding of this unusual text eventually led to
the complete translation and interpretation offered here. In recogni­
tion of their original commission, and in token of their continuing
encouragement and friendship, this work is dedicated to John Fritz
and George Michell.
My initial work on the text was supported by the Vijayanagara
Research Project (VRP) with funds provided by a grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities. Subsequently, my con­
tinued work was assisted by a grant from the Joint Committee on
South Asia of the Social Science Research Council and the American
Council of Learned Societies with funds provided by the Ford Foun­
dation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Support
from the Smithsonian excess foreign currency program made possi­
ble my participation in the VRP’s 1987 field season at Vijayanagara,
Pttfiue ■ tx
part of which was devoted to working out some of the ideas pre­
sented in the fourth section of the introduction, “The ‘City of Vic­
tory’ as Talisman of Authority.” My work at the site was gready faci­
litated by the hospitality of the Directorate of Archaeology and
Museums (Government of Karnataka), who graciously permitted me
to enjoy the amenities of their archaeological camp. I am also grate­
ful to the director of the manuscripts library of the Oriental Research
Institute at the University of Mysore for enabling me to otStanT a
rmcrotilm copy ol tJESanskrit T^Iww^^^^naniBcript in tfi^T
collection (translated in Appendix B) and to the Archaeological Sur­
vey of India and the American Committee for South Asian Art
Color Slide Project for granting permission to reproduce photo­
graphs from their archives.
I have benefited gready from criticism and suggestions kindly
offered by a number of colleagues. Richard Davis, Richard M.
Eaton, Allan Shapiro, David Shulman, James H. Stone, and Cyn­
thia Talbot all generously gave of their time to read and comment on
an earlier draft of the work; their criticism and suggestions have been
invaluable and deeply appreciated. It also pleases me to acknowledge
my debt and gratitude to R. Sarat Babu, who first introduced me to
Old Telugu and Telugu historiographic literature, and to Malathi
Rao, who offered guidance in several passages of the Bdyamcakamu.
Special thanks are due to Burton Stein, but for whose trenchant crit­
icism some of the central ethnohistorical questions would have
remained unaddressed, and to my guru Velcberu Narayana Rao, for
a series of enlightening conversations on the Bdyavdcakamu, for his
invaluable assistance with a number of difficult readings and textual
problems, and, most important, for his generous friendship over
many years. I would also like to thank Sharon F. Yamamoto of the
University of Hawaii Press for her kindness and wisdom in seeing the
book through all stages of editing and production and Joseph H.
Brown for his meticulous copyediting. Finally, to my wife Rieko and
son Gene, whose help and understanding have been inexhaustible
throughout the course of my obsession with the Bdyamcakamu, I
hope this book may stand as a small token of my gratitude.