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THE KINGDOM OF VIJAYANAGARA
By N. VENKATARAMANAYYA, A.A., Ph.D.
Assistant Editor, District Gazetteer, Andhra.
5. DEVARAYA I (A.D. 1406-1422)
Devaraya I, who emerged victorious from the war of succession, ascended the Diamond Throne, and celebrated his coronation on November 7, 1406. His reign was a period of incessant military activity, and during the sixteen years of his reign he was, more or less, continuously engaged in waging war with the Bahmani Sultāns, the Velamas of Rachakonda and the Reddis of Kondavidu. In spite of the powerful forces arrayed against him, he not only held his own but succeeded in increasing the extent of his kingdom by the annexation of fresh territories.
Immediately after Devaraya's accession his kingdom was in- vaded
by Firuz. Besides the Velamas, the traditional allies of his family, the Sultan
secured also the friendship of Peda Komați Vema, the Reddi king of Kondavidu.
Apart from the frequent encroach- ment by Vijayanagara on the Reddi territory,
Peda Komați Vema resented the family and political alliance into which Harihara
II entered with his rival Kataya Vema who had usurped the govern- ment of
Rajahmundry. The Sultan invaded the doab with the main body of his army, while
his Velama and Redḍi allies, supported by a strong contingent of his troops,
attacked the Raya in the eastern provinces of his kingdom. Devaraya massed most
of his forces in the doab to check the advance of the Sultan, and left the
eastern provinces comparatively weakly defended.
According to Firishta, Firüz Shah marched unopposed to Vijaya-
nagara, and made an unsuccessful attempt to take the city by storm. Though
wounded and repulsed, the Sultan lay encamped in the en- virons of the city and
harried the country-side. Devaraya sued for peace, but the Sultan demanded, in
addition to other treasures, the hand of the Raya's daughter in marriage, and
the cession of the fort of Bankapür as the price of peace. Devaraya agreed to
the Sultan's conditions; a treaty was concluded, and marriage performed; and
the Sultan returned triumphantly to his capital. The account of Nizam-ud-din is
in close agreement with that of Firishta, but he does not refer to Firüz Shah's
demand for the hand of, and his marriage with, Devaraya's daughter. Tabātabā,
however, gives an entirely different account of the expedition from which it
would appear that the Sultan's campaign was confined to Bhānūr and Musalkal,
places situated in the Deodrug taluk in the north-west of the Raichur district,
from which he returned to his capital, having, of course, reduced them to
subjection. In view of the conflicting evidence of the Muslim historians it is
difficult to form a correct estimate of the events of the campaign.
Nevertheless it is hard to believe that Firüz could reach the city of
Vijayanagara without any opposition. Nor is it at all likely that Devaraya
would have agreed to a humiliating treaty, especially when he succeeded in re-
pulsing the Sultan's attack on his capital and compelled him to retreat to a
respectable distance from it. In the absence of corro- borative evidence of a
more trustworthy character, one would also hesitate to believe that Devaraya
offered the hand of his daughter in marriage to Firüz Shāh as the price of
peace, a fact stated only by Firishta.
More reliable information is available about the war in the The
Sultan's army, accompanied by his Velama and Reddi allies, appears to have
descended on Udayagiri and obtained several notable victories. But what
happened after these victories is not definitely known. One important result of
the expedition was the Reddi occupation of Pottapi-nāḍu and Pulugula-nādu in
the south- east of the Cuddapah district, which continued for seven years until
their final expulsion by Devaraya I in A.D. 1413-14. The victory of the allies
was, however, not complete; for they failed to dislodge Devaraya from Pangal
which in his hands became a standing menace to the safety of the Velama
kingdom.
Reference has been made elsewhere 7a to the dissensions in the
kingdom of Kondaviḍu. On the death of Kumāragiri Reddi in A.D. 1402, Peda
Komați Vema, his cousin, succeeded him at Kondavīdu; while Kāṭaya Vema, the
brother-in-law and minister of the late king, made himself master of the
northern districts of the Reddi kingdom with the city of Rajahmundry on the
Godāvarī as his capital. Peda Komați Vema, however, allied himself with the
Velamas, and Kāṭaya Vema was driven out of his capital. It is true that
Devaraya I, who was related to him by marriage alliance, was his friend; but so
long as he was engaged in the war with Firuz Shah and his allies, he could not
be expected to render any help. Kataya Vema was, therefore, obliged to bide his
time and look forward to the termination of the war. When at last Devaraya successfully
re- pulsed his enemies and consolidated his power, Kaṭaya Vema paid a visit to
Vijayanagara in A.D. 1410 and solicited his help. Deva- raya, who fully
realized the value of an independent Roddi State on the Godavarî as a
counterpoise against the Bahmani Sultān and his allies, promised help, and
promptly despatched troops to enable him to recover his power soon.
The Vijayanagara army arrived at their destination none too The
situation was indeed grave. Peda Komați Vema had already invaded the
Rajahmundry kingdom and crossed the God- vari. Encouraged by the arrival of
help from Vijayanagara, Kāṭaya Vema took the field and inflicted a crushing
defeat on Peda Komați Vema at Rameśvaram and put him to flight. But the arrival
of Firuz Shah and the Bahmani army changed the situation. He won a number of
victories, and Kataya Vema was killed in one of these battles. On hearing of
these disasters, Devaraya sent reinforce- ments. Doddaya Alla, the
Commander-in-Chief of Kätaya Vema, rallied his late master's forces, and within
a short time scored some success against the enemy.8
The war, however, did not come to an end. It moved west- wards
from the delta of the Godavari to the Velama dominions on the north bank of the
Krishna; and the Bahmani Sultan and the Raya of Vijayanagara, who had hitherto
played a subsidiary role, became the chief combatants. As noted above, the fort
of Pangal or Nalgonda-Pangal, as it was known to Firishta, was in possession of
the Rayas of Vijayanagara since the time of its conquest in A.D. 1398 by Bukka
II. It was considered the strongest and most
celebrated fort in that region and commanded the route from Vijaya-
nagara to the Godavari delta. Firuz Shah, who realized the strate- gic importance
of the fort, resolved to wrest it from Devaraya and sent his forces in A.D.
1417 to capture it. According to one autho- rity, Devaraya attempted to
intercept the expedition but was de- feated and driven away. The siege lasted
for two years, but it defied all attempts to take it. The besiegers were
reduced to great straits on account of famine and pestilence which devastated
their camp. Devaraya gathered together fresh forces, and having secured the
help of a number of Hindu chiefs including the Velamas, sur- rounded the
besieging force. The garrison, which had bravely held out for two years,
encouraged by the distressed condition of the Muslim army and the arrival of
the succour from Vijayanagara, sallied out of the fort and fell upon the camp
of the enemy. Caught between the two Hindu armies, the Bahmani forces were cut
to pieces and the Sultan fled precipitately from the field. Devaraya I took
full advantage of his victory and re-established his authority over the entire
Krishna Tungabhadra-doab.9
Devaraya's intervention in the affairs of the kingdom of Rājah-
mundry brought in its train war with the king of Orissa. The Gajapati Bhānudeva
IV, for some reasons unknown at present, invaded the kingdom of Rajahmundry. To
drive away the Gajapati and protect his ally, Devaraya had to despatch a military
expedition to the Godavari delta. Before fighting could actually begin bet-
ween the Gajapati and the Raya, Doddaya Alla, or Allaḍa as he was more commonly
known to his contemporaries, brought about, by means of his skilful diplomacy,
a friendly understanding bet- ween the two rulers and persuaded them to return
peacefully to their respective kingdoms. Though war was thus averted, its
signi- ficance cannot be underrated. For it opens a new chapter in the history
of the foreign relations of Vijayanagara, and marks the begin- ning of that
rivalry between the Gajapatis and the Rayas which was to involve the whole of
the east coast into a war lasting for nearly a century and quarter.
The remaining years of Devaraya's reign were peaceful. The kingdom
was undisturbed by wars. Devaraya probably spent his last years in retirement,
seeking diversion in the company of the learned whom he greatly cherished. He
was a great organizer of armies. For a period of 50 years (A.D. 1372-1422)
during which he participated in the administration of the kingdom, he
endeavour- ed to increase the efficiency of his army. He was the first king of
his family to realize the value of cavalry which contributed greatly to the
success of medieval armies. By purchasing on a large scale horses from Arabia and Persia and
recruiting suitable troopers to man them, he enhanced the strength and the
fighting capacity of his forces. Devaraya was also the first ruler of
Vijayanagara to employ in his service Turkish bowmen whom he attracted to his
court by liberal grants of land and money.
Under the fostering care of Devaraya I, the Vijayanagara army
became an efficient instrument for victory, and enabled him to emerge
successfully from the long-drawn contest with the Bahmani Sultan Firuz Shāh.
Devaraya I was an ardent Saivite, and was specially devoted to the
worship of the Goddess Pampa of the Hampi-tirtha. He built several temples at
Vijayanagara some of which still remain in dilapidated condition. Devaraya was
fond of learning, and extend- ed his patronage to men of letters, philosophers,
and artists. He invited them to his court and discoursed with them on the arts
and sciences in which they were proficient. The 'Pearl Hall' of the palace
where he honoured distinguished poets, philosophers and artists by bathing them
in showers of gold coins and gems is im- mortalized in literature and is still
remembered in the Telugu country. Under Devaraya I, Vijayanagara became the
chief centro of learning in the whole of South India to which gravitated all
seeking public recognition and fame. Vijayanagara had indeed be- come
Vidyanagara, the city of learning and the abode of the Goddess Sarasvati.
6. RAMACHANDRA AND VIJAYA I.
The order of succession of the kings who immediately followed
Devaraya I on the Diamond Throne is not definitely known. The evidence of
inscriptions is perplexing, as two of his sons, Rama- chandra and Vijaya I, as
well as his grandson Devaraya II are found to have been ruling simultaneously
at Vijayanagara in A.D. 1422, the year in which he breathed his last. According
to a mnemonic verse preserved in the Vidyäraṇya-Kālajñāna, Deva- raya I was
followed by kings bearing names beginning with Ră (Ramachandra) and Vi (Vijaya
I) respectively. This order of suc- cession is probably correct and may be
adopted, at least tentatively.
Ramachandra, who had been associated with his father in the
government of Udayagiri since A.D. 1390-91, appears to have ascended the throne
on the death of his father and ruled for a period of six months.
Ramachandra was succeeded by Vijaya I, who was also known as
Vijayabhüpati, Vijaya Bukka or Vira Bukka. There is consider- able difference
of opinion about the duration of his reign. Tradition embodied in the chronicle
of Nuniz assigns to Vijaya's reign a
period of six years, but this has been reduced by modern scholars to a
much shorter period varying from six months to two years. An analysis of
Vijayanagara inscriptions of this time clearly shows that Vijaya's reign lasted
from A.D. 1422 to A.D. 1430.10 Vijaya appears to have been a weak monarch; for,
during the eight years. of his rule, he seems to have taken little or no active
part in the government of the kingdom, and left the administration in the abler
hands of his son and co-regent, Devaraya II. The reign of Vijaya I was not,
however, uneventful. It witnessed the outbreak of two important foreign wars,
one with Bahmani Sultan and the other with the Gajapati of Orissa; but as
Devaraya II was the actual hero of these wars, the facts connected with them may
be more conveniently dealt with while describing the events of his reign.
7. DEVARAYA II (A.D. 1422-1446).
Though Devaraya II was associated with his father in the
administration of the kingdom since A.D. 1422, the exact date of his coronation
is not known. It is true that in an epigraph at Manigarakeri in the South
Kanara district, it is said that Devaraya II began to rule from the summer of
Saka 1343 (March, 1421); but he could not possibly have been crowned at that
time, as not only his father and paternal uncle but also his grandfather were
still alive, governing the kingdom. The record probably refers to the initial
date on which Devaraya II was placed in charge of the affairs of Tulu, and his
coronation as the co-regent of his father must have taken place some time
later.
Like all his predecessors, Devaraya II was involved in a series of
wars with the Bahmani Sultāns. The first of these broke out immediately after
Vijaya I assumed the reins of his government. Sultān Ahmad Shah invaded the
Vijayanagara kingdom on the first Nauroz after his accession (December 15,
1422).11 In the initial stages of the war, the Vijayanagara troops penetrated
as far as Etgir in the Gulbarga district; but the Vijayanagara army suffered
defeat, owing to the desertion of the king of Warangal on the battle- field.
Moreover, Bhānudeva IV, the king of Orissa, invaded the coastal Andhra country
and wrested from Vijayanagara the former territories of the Reddis of
Kondavidu. Though Ahmad Shah must have taken advantage of these unexpected
happenings, and marched towards Vijayanagara, it is doubtful whether he was
able to pene- trate to the capital and force Devaraya II to sue for peace, as
stated by Firisnta. An important fact, missed by all the historians of
Vijayanagara, must be noted in this context, Ahmad Shah changed his capital
from Gulbarga to Bidar, while he was still engaged in war with Vijayanagara.12
The transfer of his capital from Gul-
barga, near Vijayanagara frontier, to Bidar, situated in the hilly tract
farther north in the interior of his dominions, is not without significance.
Ahmad Shah's war on Vijayanagara did not perhaps end as favourably to the
Sultan as the Muslim historians would have us believe. Some unrecorded
Vijayanagara attack on Gulbarga probably compelled the Sultan to remove the
seat of his govern- ment to a safer distance. That the var did not end in an
absolute victory for the Sultan is made clear by an epigraph from South Kanara
district, dated A.D. 1429-30, which refers to the defeat of the large and
powerful Turushka cavalry by Devaraya II.13 As there was but one war between
Vijayanagara and the Bahmanī kingdoms in the time of Ahmad Shah (A.D.
1422-1436), Devaraya II's victory over the Turushkas mentioned in the record
must have been won during the Bahmanī invasion of A.D. 1423.
Two other victories against the rulers of Andhra and Orissa are
attributed to Devaraya II in the epigraph cited above. There is reason to
believe that these two kings were allies and that Devā- rāya II's victories
over them were not independent but interconnect- ed events. Although Devaraya
II might have been prompted by a desire to chastise the Velama ruler for his
treachery in the recent Bahmani war, he had weightier reasons to launch an
attack upon the Velamas. For they had joined the Gajapati Bhānudeva IV, invad-
ed the coastal Andhra country, and established themselves there hav- ing
dispossessed the nobles and officers of Vijayanagara whom they found in that
region. For a period of about five years the country remained under their sway,
and it was not until A.D. 1428 that Devaraya II succeeded in dislodging them.
Very little is known about the events of this war. Bhānu- deva IV
led an expedition to the south, and from the side of the Velamas, Linga, the
Chief of Devarakonda, joined him. They attacked at first the Reddi kingdom of
Rajahmundry. Alläḍa, who with the help of Devaraya I had revived the power of
Kataya Vema's family in A.D. 1417, died in A.D. 1422 or a little later; and his
second son Virabhadra, who married Anitalli, Kataya Vema's daughter and heir,
was crowned king of Rajahmundry. He was assisted by his elder brother, Vema,
who became, on account of his great skill both as a general and an
administrator, the real ruler of the kingdom. Vema inherited none of the
moderation of his father, Allada, but followed vigorously the policy of
expansion into Orissa favoured by Kataya Vema and the early Reddi kings of
Kondavidu. Bhanudeva probably undertook the expedition to the south only to
check the growing aggression of the Reddis of Rājah- mundry but, with the
successful prosecution of the war, he seems to have not only extended the field
of his operations but also con- templated the annexation of the coastal Andhra
country to his king- dom. Though Vema and Virabhadra might have held their own
against Bhānudeva, they were helpless against the combined forces of the
Gajapati and the Velamas. They were therefore obliged to submit to Bhänudeva
IV, acknowledging him as their sovereign and overlord. After the subjugation of
the Rajahmundry kingdom, Bhānudeva IV cast his eyes upon the territories of the
erstwhile kingdom of Kondavidu. Racha Vema was assassinated in A.D. 1424, and
the kingdom was left without a ruler. Though some of the Vijayanagara officers
and nobles seized large parts of the country, the Raya was not yet able to
enforce his authority effectively, owing to the invasion of the Bahmani Sultan.
Bhänudeva, therefore, crossed the Krishna, and having, with the help of Linga,
over- powered the Vijayanagara nobles and officers, made himself the master of
the country.
As soon as Devaraya II freed his kingdom from the Muslim invaders,
he launched an attack on the Gajapati and the Velamas. Though the incidents of
this war are lost more or less in obscurity, the results are definitely known.
The territories of the old Reddi kingdom of Kondaviḍu were reconquered and
incorporated with the empire of Vijayanagara, and the power of the Reddis of
Rajah- mundry, which was in abeyance between A.D. 1424 and A.D. 1427, was
completely restored,
For six or seven years after the conclusion of the war with the
Gajapati, the kingdom of Vijayanagara enjoyed peace undisturbed by any foreign
wars and internal disorders. With the death of the Bahmani Sultan Ahmad Shah
and the accession to the throne of his son ‘Alā-ud-din II, however, the tranquillity
of the kingdom was broken, and Devaraya II became once again involved in wars
with the Bahmani Sultan. Two wars are recorded by the Muslim histo- rians, one
in A.H. 839 (A.D. 1435-36), and another in A.H. 847 (A.D. 1443-44). Both wars
were confined to the Krishna-Tunga- bhadra-doāb and centred round the forts of
Mudgal and Raichur. In the first war 'Ala-ud-din was certainly the aggressor,
but the conflicting accounts of the Muslim historians are hard to reconcile.
The discrepancies, which throw doubt on their veracity, seem to be the result
of an attempt to cover the failure of the Sultan's invasion and convert defeat
into victory. Taking all facts into consideration, it is impossible to avoid
the conclusion that Sultan 'Alä-ud-din II's invasion of Vijayanagara was a
failure.
The second war broke out, as stated already, in A.D. 1443. The causes of this war are thus described by Firishta: Devaraya II, having instituted in A.D. 1437 an inquiry about the causes of his frequent defeat in the wars with the Bahmani Sultāns, was told that it was due in the first place to the inferior quality of the horses in his army, and secondly to the excellent body of the archers in the service of the Bahmani Sultāns. To improve the fighting quality of his forces, he enlisted in his service Muslim archers to give in- struction to his Hindu soldiers; and having soon mustered two thousand Muslim and sixty thousand Hindu archers, eighty thousand cavalry and two hundred thousand infantry, he invaded the Bah- manī kingdom with the intention of conquering it. This is very far from the truth. There was no need for Devaraya II to institute a special enquiry about this time; for Muslims were entertained in the service of Vijayanagara monarchs at least from the time of Devaraya I;14 and there were as many as ten thousand Turkish troopers in the employ of Devaraya II as early as A.D. 1430, six years before the accession of ‘Alã-ud-din II. The real cause of the war was not Devaraya's determination to conquer the Bahmani kingdom, but the desire of Sultān 'Alā-ud-din II to take advantage of a misfortune that befell Devaraya II, and exact from him a large sum of money. Fortunately, the evidence of a contemporary Muslim writer, who was present at the time of the outbreak of this war in Vijayanagara, enables us to find out the truth, and get one more evidence of the totally unreliable character of Firishta's account of the Bahmani-Vijayanagara struggle.
In A.D. 1443, while Abdur Razzāk, the Persian ambassador, was
sojourning in Calicut, one of the brothers of Devaraya II, having invited the
king, the prince, and nobles of the kingdom to a feast in a palace which he
built, massacred all who attended the function. Though Devaraya II did not
accept the invitation on account of indis- position, the treacherous brother
paid him a visit in the royal palace, obviously to persuade him to go to the
feast, and finding him alone, stabbed him with a poignard in several places.
Believing that the king was dead he then appeared on the portico of the palace
and proclaimed himself king. Meanwhile, Devaraya II recovering con- sciousness
dragged himself on to the portico, and commanded the people not to recognize
the traitor but to seize him and put him to death. A crowd of people, who had
assembled in the palace, fell upon the prince and slew him on the spot. This
unfortunate inci- dent, which involved the slaughter of all those who had any
name or rank in the State, naturally created chaos and confusion. But it also
roused the cupidity of the Bahmanī Sultān who demanded the payment of seven
lakhs of varähas and threatened to invade Vijayanagara in case his demand was
not met. Devaraya II refused to comply with the Sultan's demand; and as a
consequence war broke out between the two kingdoms.
Firishta gives an elaborate account of this war and furnishes
details not known from other sources. According to him Devaraya II invaded the
doab, captured Mudgal, and plundered the Sultan's territory as far as Sagar and
Bijapur. The Sultan came against him with an army of 50,000 horse and 60,000
foot. Three severe engagements took place between the main forces of the Sultan
and the Raya. In the first battle, which was obviously fought under the walls
of Mudgal, Devaraya II was victorious, and the Sultan sustained heavy losses.
In the third battle, which was also fought under the walls of Mudgal, the
eldest son of Devaraya II was killed; and the forces of Vijayanagara fled
panic-stricken into the fort. A treaty was concluded according to which
Devaraya agreed not to molest the Sultan's territories in future, and to pay
annually a stipulated tribute.
Though Firishta's account of the war is generally accepted as
genuine, its authenticity is not above doubt. The Muslim historians, who
describe at some length the terms of the treaty, are silent about Mudgal, which
was one of the most important strongholds in the Krishna-Tungabhadra-doab and
was wrested, according to Firishta, from the Sultan by Devaraya at the
beginning of the war. If the Sultan left the fort in the possession of the Raya
even after the conclusion of the treaty, it is certain that notwithstanding his
boasted victories he could not retake it. At the very time when Devaraya II is
said to have sued for peace with the Sultan, his forces were engaged in a
victorious campaign in the east coast against the powerful king of Orissa.
Having a powerful army flushed with victory in the east coast in reserve, it is
absurd to suppose that Devaraya II would have sued for peace and concluded a
treaty with the Sultan, who was not even strong enough to retake the fort of
Mudgal which belonged to him. There is also reason to believe that the
authority of the Sultan did not extend as far south as the
Krishna-Tungabhadra-doub; for, according to a Persian epigraph of the Sultan,
the boundary (obviously southern) of his kingdom passed through the village of
Halsangi in the Indi taluk of the present Bijapur district.15 Having regard for
these facts, it is not unreason- able to suppose that Firishta's account of the
war is, as usual, gross- ly exaggerated and one-sided, and must be utilized
with great caution in the reconstruction of Vijayanagara history.
Two other expeditions which Devaraya II had undertaken about this
time deserve mention. At the time when Abdur Razzāk arrived in India in November
1442, Lakkana Dannaik, the Diwan and Commander-in-Chief of Devaraya II, is said
to have gone on a naval expedition to the frontier of Ceylon. The expedition
which must have started some years earlier, as it is referred to in
inscriptions as early as A.D. 1438, was completely successful. The Ceylonese
were defeated and compelled to pay tribute; and Lakkana re-estab- lished the
power of the Raya over the southern occan.
Devaraya II was also called upon to intervene once again in the
affairs of the kingdom of Rajahmundry. The Reddi rulers, Allaya Vema and
Virabhadra, embarked on a policy of aggression and conquest, and by constant
encroachments on the territories of the Gajapati pushed forward the frontier of
the kingdom to the shores of the Chilka lake. Bhānudeva IV was succeeded by the
Gajapati Kapilendra, one of the most powerful and ambitious monarchs that ever
sat upon the throne of Orissa. Kapilendra, who was determin- ed to put an end
to the Reddi aggression, formed very early in his reign an alliance with the
Velamas, the inveterate foes of the Reddis, and seems to have launched an
attack upon the kingdom of Rajahmundry in A.D. 1443, taking advantage of the
preoccupation of Vijayanagara with the invasion of the Bahmani Sultan. Deva-
raya II did not, however, leave his allies in the lurch; he sent a strong army
under Mallappa Udaiyar to drive away the Gajapati and re-establish the power of
the Redḍis firmly in the Godāvarī delta. Here, as in the case of the expedition
against Ceylon, no information about the incidents of the campaign has come
down to us, though there is no doubt about its ultimate result. Kapilendra was
defeated and was compelled to return to his kingdom. Mallappa Udaiyar remained
for some time at Rajahmundry to restore, in accordance with the instructions of
his master, the power of the Reddis. 16
Though Devaraya II ruled for nearly two years more after the
eastern campaign, no more wars seem to have disturbed the peace of the kingdom.
According to an epigraph at Sravana Belgola, he died on Tuesday, May 24, 1446,
after a rule of 25 years. Devaraya II was a great monarch. He was the master of
an extensive empire which extended from the river Krishnä to Ceylon and from
the Arabian sea to the Bay of Bengal. Besides the taxes collected from his
dominions, he gathered much revenue from the numerous ports of his empire. His
fleet scoured the seas, and levied tribute from Quilon, Ceylon, Pegu and many
other countries. He had under him. one thousand war elephants and an army of
eleven lakhs of men. Although Devaraya II was frequently at war with enemies,
he found time to patronize men of letters in Sanskrit and vernaculars and re-
warded them by liberal grants of land and money. He loved to organize literary
and philosophical debates in his court and presided over them personally.
Devaraya promoted fine arts and adorned his capital with new temples.
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