Vijayanagara kingdom

There are no inscriptions in this district belonging to the first ruler of the Vijayanagara kingdom, Harihara I (1336-1356) . The earliest Vijayanagara inscription in this district(125) is dated 1354 ; but it refers to his brother Bukka I normally held to have ruled from 1356 to 1376. It records a grant made by him of a hamlet of Hariharadevapura which is stated to be in the Uchangiventhe belonging to the Kottur-chavadi. Two of his inscriptions(126) dated 1355 and 1356 show one Mallinatha Wodeyar ruling at Bemmatta-nakallu (or Chitradurga), where he built an upper storey of stone to the Siddhanatha temple. He is said to have been the son of Aliya Sayi Nayaka, who may have been a son-in-law (Aliya) of the king.

Of the next ruler Harihara II (1376-1404), there are a few inscriptions in this district. One of them(l27) dated 1879 refers to the king's illustrious counsellor Mudda-Dandadhipa. Harihara is stated to have been at ease by committing all the burden of the kingdom to him. The minister established the famous agrahara named Mudda-dandanayakapura, otherwise called Chikka-hadaka, belonging to Uchangi-durga in the Kudlur (Harihara) country. This was a large tract with a fine tank, which was divided into 36 shares, 12 being given to god Harihara and the remaining 24 to the same number of Brahmins. Another record(l28) dated 1382, refers to a grant made by the king himself, of Shankaripura in the Harihara-sime of the Uchangiventhe under the Kottura-chavadi belonging to Vijayanagara, to one Lingarasa for the continual recitation of the Vedas and Shastras in the temple of Harihareshvara . After this, there are no inscriptions for a long period of about 40 years.

Devaraya I

The next Vijayanagara inscription(129) in this district is dated 1410 and takes us to the time of Devaraya I or Pratapa Devaraya (1406 to 1422). The record, which deals with an agreement made in 1410 on behalf of the god Harihara and the Brahmins of the Harihara-kshetra, states that the Brahmins at their expense built a dam to the river Haridra and led a channel through the god's land and it was agreed that of the proceeds of all the lands irrigated by that channel as far as it went, two-thirds were to go to the god and one-third to Brahmins. The minister Jagannatha, obtaining the permission of the king, had entrusted the work of the dam to his son Bullapa who had carried it out to the satisfaction of the Brahmins. A further agreement was made that the expenses for the repairs of the wells and tanks made under this channel should be borne in the same proportions as mentioned above and the same should apply to the distribution of water as well. Besides, there is another msrription,(130) which also pertains to the history of this dam. Some time after its cons­truction the dam was breached and the Brahmins, who depended on it for their means of livelihood, were in great distress. Bullaraja, who had built it, therefore, looked for somebody who could provide for the expenses of restoring it. He fixed upon Chamanrupa, the commander of the whole of the king's army. He explained to him the calamitous results of the breach of the dam in the loss of the provision both for the worship of the god and the living of the Brahmins and pointed out to him the unlimited merit that would be the reward for the repairs of the dam. The general agreed to the proposal and paid over to Bullarasa and the Brahmins the amount required and the dam was restored in 1424. The inscription is filled with praises of Chamanrupa and Bullaraja who were responsible for this. There is another inscription ,l31 dated 1411, which records a grant of a village named Kanchiganahalli to the east of Bemmattanakallu for the purpose of providing for the de­coration and festivals of the god Hidimbanatha near Bemmattana-kallapattana, by the Mahamandaleshvara Mallanna Wodeyar, son of the king Devaraya.

Praudha Devaraya

The next king of whom we have inscriptions in this district is Devaraya or Pratapa Devaraya II or Praudha Devaraya (1422-1446), there being no records of Vijaya or Bukka III who ruled for a few months only in 1422. Three or four inscriptions of Devaraya II have been found, out of which, one(l32) dated 1428, though it is dated in his reign deals with events belonging to the previous reigns. Harihara Raya of Vijayanagara is said to have captured the widow of a chief of Karayapattana which is described to have been situated to the west of the Abhinava (or new) Jambudwipa. The widow, with her son Jakka Deva and three other children, was given protection by Kandikere Bayire Nayaka, and by order of Saurashtra Soma, their family god, Jakka Deva is said to have built a tank in 1417 to the south of the river Meddera Halla to the south of Hiriyur, and set up an image of god Someshvara in order that Bayire Nayaka might acquire merit. Two other inscriptions(l33) dated 1430 and 1434, refer to the grants made by the king to Jetogi Rama or Jatangi Rama (the god on the hill where one of the Ashokan edicts was found). In the latter it is said that when the king came to Machanahalli for hunting he paid a visit to the temple and directed that a village should be granted for it, yielding an income of 20 varahas, the amount formerly paid for the offerings of the god from the Rayadurga Chavadi.

Krishnadeva Raya

The next two reigns, those of Mallikarjuna (1446-1465) and Virupaksha (1465-1485), are very poor so far as their inscriptions in this district are concerned, there being but one inscription belong­ing to each of them. But we have a few inscriptions belonging to the reign of the next king, Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529), the most famous of the Vijayanagara kings. The earliest of his inscriptions in this district is dated 1511(134). This is a copper-plate grant giving the geneology of the third or the Tuluva dynasty of Vijayanagara. The family is traced to one Timma Bhupati, "renowned among the Tuluva kings" in the line of Turvasa. Krishnadeva Raya is described as having again and again bestowed the great gifts described in the Shastras, together with the grants associated with them, in various sacred places like Kanchi, Srishaila, Sonachala, Kanakasabha, Venkatadri, etc. The present record actually deals with the grant made by him of a village named Bobur, together with its hamlets Hatadorai, Ganadahunise and Namanpalle, situated in the Maleyanur-sthala of the Hiriyura Sime in the Kuntala Desha to one Timma Bhatta, a Brahmin "worthy of a grant of land". From another inscription (135) of his, we learn that Krishnadeva Raya had given the Maleya-Bennur territory, for the office of Nayaka ; to the Dravila-Mandaleshvara Gajapati-Pratapa-Rudra-Maharaya's son Virabhadra-Maharaya who in 1516 (the year of the record), on being directed by Krishnadeva Raya and in order that merit might accrue to both Krishna Raya and Pratapa Rudra Maharaya, remitted the marriage dues payable to his palace in the Lingadahalli country. Ten years later, we have another inscription(l36) referring to a grant made by one Ranganatha Rautta, who is said to be an Arseya Kshatriya, of a village named Nibuguru in the Jagalur-sime which the king had favoured to him for the office of Nayaka. In 1528, we hear of another remission of the kanike, melavana and dues on sugar-cane by one Adiyappa Nayaka in the village Maleya Bennur which had been granted to him by the king for the office of Nayaka(l37).

Achyutaraya

Of Achyutaraya (1529-1542), the successor of Krishna Raya, we have a number of records. The earliest(138)dated 1530 records the grant made by Narayanadeva, son of Timmarasa of the Chinnabhandara or the treasury of gold, of a village named Bullapura, which had been renamed as Achyutarayapura, belonging to the Harihara-sime in the Pandyanad of the Uchangiventhe under the Kottur chavadi, which the Swarni (the king) had given to him for the office of Amara Nayaka. The next record(139) dated 1533 also refers to a similar grant of the village Kedagere in the Nirugunda-sime attached to Yakkati in the Hoysala kingdom. An inscription(140) dated 1538 refers to the setting up of god Vinayaka; by one Hadapada Vitalapa Nayaka in Guntanur in the Bematrakal-sime (Chitradurga) granted to him for the office of the Nayaka. Then there are two inscription(141) of considerable interest in that they record the formation by the king in 1539 for the benefit of the Brahmins of a sort of bank or fund called Anandanidhi. It is stated that the scheme soon gained celebrity as a very new thing, "superior to the nine treasures of Kubera". Unfortunately no details are given of the nature of this bank which is praised in two verses. Achyutaraya's last inscription(142) dated 1540, records the remission of marriage tax. By the king's order saying, "I have given up the marriage tax throughout my kingdom", and by the order of his agent, Penugonda Virappannayya, his younger brother Hiriya Mallappannayya remitted the marriage tax throughout the Bagur-sime. There seems to have been much rejoicing at this, as prosperity is wished to every person and officer responsible for it.

Aliya Rama Raya

The last important Vijayanagara ruler of whom we have inscriptions in this district is Sadashivaraya (1542-1570). But actually Sadashiva had little power, the kingdom being administered by his minister Aliya Ramaraya of the Aravidu family and his brother Tirumala. Whatever it may be, of Sadashiva there are a number of records and of a great variety. At least five of the inscriptions relate to the granting of remissions of taxes to barbers. A typical example of such inscriptions states that ".............. Timmoja-Kandoja having made application to Ramarajayya, and the latter having made application to Sadashivadeva Manaraya, the Raya remitted to the barber Timmoja-Kandoja and his family-throughout the four boundaries of the kingdom he ruled- forced labour, birada, fixed rent, land rent, Mahanavnmi torches,. . .... and ordered a Shasana to be set up granting him rent-free land(143). Two inscriptions, (144) both dated 1551, relate to grants of rent-free lands to the salt-makers for the removal of saline earth. One inscription(145) dated 1554 records the rebuilding in that year of the outer pethe of Bagur, which was in ruins, and the naming of it Krishnapura after Ere-Krishnappa Nayaka, the founder of the Belur family. The epigraph states that there were special inducements held out to the settlers in the new pethe, such as freedom from taxation for one year, and confirmation to the exclusion of old claims if they had taken possession. From a Telugu inscription(146) dated 1556 coming from Murudi in the Molakalmuru taluk, it appears that the king had given the Rayadurga-sime to the Mahamandaleshvara Ramaraja-Vithalaraja-Tirumalayya-Deva-Maharaja for the office of Nayaka. Of this, the latter is stated to have granted Muruvudi, otherwise called Bukkarayapura as a rent-free agrahara to some Brahmins. Another inscription of 1557 says that the king sent for a copy of the stone shasana of the Vithala temple, "set up in the righteous administra­tion of Aliya Ramarajayy Maha-arasu" and finding that the grant originally given by Krishna Raya was not sufficient to provide for the offerings, made a further grant(147). Two others- one(l48) dated 1561 coming from Kadajji and the other(149) dated 1562 and coming from Harihara-relate to the granting of the two villages of T<ada:i,ji and Ganganarasi by two local Nayakas to god Harihara. Both records stress the oneness of the gods Hari and Hara and according to one of them, he who creates division in this unity will be thrust into hell by Yama. It was during the reign of this king that in 1565 the kingdom of Vijayanagara fell a prey to the united front of the Muslim States of the Deccan . Ramaraya, the de facto ruler of Vijayanagarn, was defeated and killed in the battle of Rakkasa-Tangadgi. The great city of Vijayanagara was mercilessly sacked by the coalition and the empire broken. Ramaraya's brother Tirumala became the strong man of the kingdom, who ultimately seized the throne about 1570. These incidents find reference in two inscriptions,(150) both dated 1568. found in this district. According to these, "..... .the Maha-mandaleshvara Aliya Ramarajayya-Mahadevaarasu, owing to the action of the kings of the Turukas, having set (i.e., died), and the city, throne and countries of the kingdom being destroyed and in ruins, Tirumala -Rajayya Deva-maha-arasu granted to the Maha-Nayakacharya Kamageti-Madakari-Nayaka as an Amaramagani the Holalkere-sime, which he made over to his brother-in-law Gulliyappa Nayaka as an Umbali." The latter half of the inscriptions deals with the setting up of a temple of Venngopala there and the particulars of the grants made to it.

Lastly, there are one or two inscriptionsl51 referring to the reign of Venkatapati Raya (1586-1614) of the fourth (the Aravidu) dynasty of Vijayanagara. In one of these, dated 1589, he makes an extensive gift of lands in the Hiriyur-sthala to one Virayya who was in his service and whose previous history had been made known to him by one Kenchappa Nayaka. The other, which is very much defaced, records the grant of the gaudike (village-headmanship) to somebody in 1615.

The Aravidu dynasty continued to rule upto about the end of the 17th century. But we have no records of the last few rulers in this district. They were, in a way, replaced by those of the various, large and small, Paleyagars families which were created by the Vijayanagara kingdom itself.

Courtesy : Gazetteer of India, Chitradurga District, 1967.