South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

Inked Kistna district. From verse 13, where it is said that he captured ‘ the swan-like kings appointed by Gajapati in Koṇḍavîṭi,’ it appears that Koṇḍavîḍu was governed at that time by some chieftains subordinate to the Gajapatis of Orissa. This agrees very well with what we can gather from other records. Until the beginning of the 15th century A.D. Koṇḍavîḍu was ruled by the Reḍḍis,─ the Tottaramûḍi plates of Kâṭa-Vêma, the latest record of the dynasty hitherto published, being dated in Śaka 1333.^[1] Not long afterwards the country must have been occupied by the Gajapatis. In Śaka 1377, the cyclic year Yuvan,^[2] we find as ruler of Koṇḍavîḍu a certain Gâṇadêva Rautarâya, whose family was connected with that of the Gajapatis, and who apparently was a tributary of the Gajapati king Kapila.

The capture of Koṇḍavîḍu formed part of Kṛishṇarâya’s victorious campaign against the Gajapatis of Orissa. A detailed account of it is given in the Chronicle of the Kings of Vijayanagara written about 1525 and 1535 by two Portuguese horse-dealers, Domingos Paes and Fernão Nunes.^[3] There^[4] we are told that after the conquest of Odigair or Digary (Udayagiri)^[5] king Crisnarao (Kṛishṇarâya) laid siege to Combovy (Koṇḍavîḍu) which was one of the principal towns of the kingdom of Orya (Orissa). The king of Orissa approached with a large army in defence of his country. When Kṛishṇarâya had heard of this, he left a portion of his troops Koṇḍavîḍu as a guard against any attack from behind, and advanced himself four miles (legoas). On the banks of ‘ a great river with salt-water,’ which apparently is the Kṛishṇâ, a battle took place which ended in the defeat and flight of the king of Orissa.^[6] After this victory the king told his ‘ regedor ’ Salvatinea (Sâḷva-Timma) that he intended to continue the siege of Koṇḍavîḍu. After two months the fortress surrendered, and Sâḷva-Timma was appointed governor of Koṇḍavîḍu. But as he wished to accompany the king on his further expedition against the king of Orissa, he conferred, on his part, the governorship on one of his brothers. After taking the fortress of Comdepallyr (Koṇḍapalle) and occupying the country as far north as Symamdary,^[7] Kṛishṇarâya made peace with the king of Orissa and married one of his daughters.

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The ‘ river,’ apparently the Kṛishṇâ, marked henceforth the boundary between the two kingdoms. After another expedition against Catuir^[8] on the coast of Charmãodel (Coromandel) the whole country was pacified, and Sâḷva-Timma was sent by the king to Koṇḍavîḍu to organize the administration of the newly acquired territory. On his way to Koṇḍavîḍu, Sâḷva-Timma defeated a general of the king of Daquem (Dekkhan), called Madarmeluquo. A few months Sâḷva-Timma stayed at Koṇḍavîḍu, organizing the civil and judicial administration of the province. Then he returned to Bisnaga (Vijayanagara), where he was received by the king as the principal person of the kingdom. The narrative of the chronicle has the appearance of being, on the whole, perfectly reliable.^[9] If the inscription differs from it in ascribing the capture of Koṇḍavîḍu to Sâḷva-Timma alone, it is apparently only because he was the general in command of the Vijayanagara forces.

As a counterpart it may be quoted here what local tradition has to tell about the capture of the fort. According to Mr. Boswell,^[10] the story goes that about the beginning of the 16th century the last king of the Reḍḍi dynasty of Koṇḍavîḍu died childless, and his seventy-two

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^[1] Above, Vol. IV. p. 318 ff.
^[2] Ind. Ant. Vol. XX. p. 390 ff. The date is irregular.
^[3] Chronica dos Reis de Bisnaga. Manuscripto inedito do seculo XVI publicado por David Lopes. Lisboa,
1897, p. lxxxvi f.
^[4] Ibid. pp. 19-24.
^[5] The conquest of Udayagiri and its dependencies took place in 1513 ; compare Sewell, Lists of Antiquities, Vol. I. p. 107, and Sketch of the Southern Dynasties, p. 109.
^[6] This seems to be the battle referred to in an inscription at Mêdûru ; see Sewell, Lists of Antiquities, Vol. I. p. 51.
^[7] Symamdary is described as ‘ a very large town.’ I therefore consider it to be Râjamahêndri (Râjahmundry), Symamdary being probably an error for Rasmamdary or a similar form.
^[8] I cannot identify this place.
^[9] One very slight mistake will be noticed hereafter.
^[10] Ind. Ant. Vol. I. p. 183.