RAYA : Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara by Srinivas ReddyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A very nice historical piece about the Vijayanagara Empire.
The book starts with the possible scenarios under which Krishnadevaraya might have come to the throne of the empire. There doesn’t seem to be enough clarity on this front, only possibilities.
It then goes on to describe the conquests of Krishnadevaraya main ones being the capture of Udayagiri, Kondapalli, Kondavidu and finally Cuttack.
It highlights the fact that although he has been hailed as an Hindu king most of his battles have been against the Hindu kings. His fights with the Sulanates of Bijapur and Golconda have been minimal and these have been towards the end of his reign.
Krishnadevaraya apparently had no royal background. He was not even a Kshatriya and to think that he became a king in an era when caste mattered a lot speaks loudly about his capability. He was not just a brave king who built an empire, but he was also a literate and intelligent king who not only encouraged arts, but also engaged in them. His Amukatamalyada a poem in Telugu about the Tamil saint Andal is considered to be literary masterpiece. He was also a very devoted person who donated generously to the temples as was the wont in that era. He apparently write the Amukatamalya apparently because God, Andhra Vishnu as he is called, came to him in his dream and asked him to compose it.
Krishnadevaraya himself was a Tulu and he seemed to be well versed in Kannada, Telugu, Sanskrit and possible Tamil too.
Throughout his reign he had been ably assisted by this minister Timmarasu whom he almost considered to be his father. Timmarasu seems to have played a big role in the success of Krishnadevaraya. He assisted the king on all fronts including war, arts and justice.
There is only a passing mention of the famous brainy jester Tenali Rama.
He seemed to have maintained a good composure through his reign and has been compassionate towards the kings that he has conquered and had been considerate towards the citizens of the empires he conquered. Towards the end of his reign he seems to have grown arrogant and the destruction of the Vijayanagara empire has been attributed to his arrogance. During this phase he also suspected Timmarasu and blinded him and later towards the end of his life regretted his actions.
A very nice book providing an unbiased perspective of one of the greatest kingdoms of the South India. Worth reading.
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