History Optional (Vijaynagar Empire) by Shivlal Gupta

Model Answer

Question #1. ‘Accounts of Foreign travelers are an important source but not the only source of Vijayanagar history. Elaborate with examples.  10 marks (150 words)

Hints

European and Persian visitors provided a vivid description of 200 years of Vijayanagar history but the role of indigenous literature in Sanskrit, Telugu, and Kannada and art and architecture in re-writing of the Vijayanagar history should not be neglected.

Accounts of Foreign travellers:

1. Nicolo Conti:An Italian, who visited Vijayanagar in about 1420 CE gives a detailedpicture of the city structure and strong army.
2. AbdurRazzak:A Persian who visited around 1443 CE talks about economic lifeand town structure along with the royal ceremonies and processions of the Mahanavmifestival.
3. Domingo Paes: A Portuguese soldier who visited during the reign of Krishnadevaraya.gives valuable information on city structure, market place, and temples of the city, like Virupaksha temple at Hampi along with a detailed analysis of the Mahanavami festival procession.
4. FernaoNuniz:A Portuguese horse trader who travelled during 1536–37 CE gives an account of the important battles fought between Vijayanagar, Deccani States, and Orissa along with the history of Vijayanagarempire and its foundation.
5. Ferista:A Muslim traveller who gives an account of the Vijayanagar city and militaryadministration.

Although these chronicles helped in re-writing the Vijayanagar history for the first time, analysis of indigenous literature and art and architecture of this period gives a more detailed and diversified information about the Vijayanagar kingdom.

1. Indigenous Literature:The literature written by court poets, scholars, religiousfigures, and sometimes the king himself provided valuable information about the economic, social, religious, and political life of the people in Vijayanagar along with the history of the Vijayanagarempire. For example, KamparayaCharitam and MadiVijayan by Gangadevi give information about the origin of the empire and its early expansion and Amuktamalyada by Krishnadeveraya himself is a great piece of political literature. Even the Tuzuk-e-Babri, the autobiography of Babur mentions Vijayanagar as a Hindu kingdom in South India.
2. Art and Architecture: On one hand the presence of a large number of templesLepakshiTemple,Virupaksha Temple, etc. suggest that Vijayanagar was a Hindu State and on the other, the presence of arches, domes, and vaults show the cosmopolitan character of the architecture.

Question #2. “Art, literature and culture reached a high level of development in the Vijayanagar Empire”. Critically examine. 15 marks (250 words)

Approach

• The question focuses on 3 pillars of 1) Art 2) literature and 3) culture development in the Vijayanagar Empire.
• The perspective of the question demand that discuss the features of the Art, literature and culture of Vijayanagar Empire.
• Introduction (briefly explain about vijaynagara empire)
• Body  (their style of patronage for art, literature and culture with the examples of writers, artists, and poets patron aged by the rulers of vijaynagara)
• Conclusion by summing up the gist of the answer.

HINTS:

The Vijayanagar Empire was a Hindu empire based in the Deccan plateau region of South India. Established in 1336 by Harihara I (who ruled from 1336–1356 CE), it enjoyed its greatest political and cultural prominence under Emperor Krishna Deva Raya (who ruled from 1509–1529 CE) and lasted until 1646, when it was conquered by the Muslim Sultans of Bijapur and Golconda.

There were great innovations in art, literature and culture during this period, and many diverse temple building traditions and styles in South India came together in the Vijayanagar style of architecture, the finest examples of which are to be found in the capital Hampi.

• Art:Architecture and Sculpture:

• Vijayanagar architecture is a vibrant combination of the Chalukya, Hoysala, Pandya, and Chola styles, which evolved from prior empires in earlier centuries. It is also influenced by later Deccan and Dravidian styles.
• Preferred for its durability, local hard granite was the building material of choice, as it had been for the BadamiChalukyas.
• Vijayanagar temples are characterized by ornate pillared halls and rayagopurams, or monumental towers adorned with life-sized figures of gods and goddesses that stand at the entrance of the temple.
• The courtly architecture of Vijayanagar is generally made of mortar mixed with stone rubble and often shows secular styles with Islamic-influenced arches, domes, and vaults.

• Paintings:

• The Vijayanagarschool of painting is renowned for its frescoes of Hindu gods and goddesses and scenes from Hindu mythology on temple walls and ceilings.
• Absorbing the local artistic traditions and customs, the Vijayanagar School of painting gradually evolved into many styles of painting in South India, including the Mysore and Tanjore schools of painting.
• Mysore paintings are known for their elegance, muted colors, and attention to detail; they are characterized by delicate lines, intricate brush strokes, graceful delineation of figures, and the discreet use of bright vegetable colors and lustrous gold leaf.
• Vijayanagar painting is most commonly represented in elaborate manuscripts and wall paintings in Hindu temples.
• Vijayanagar art includes wall paintings such as the Dashavatara (the Ten Avatars of Vishnu) and the Girijakalyana (the marriage of Parvati, Shiva’s consort) in the Virupaksha Temple at Hampi; the Shiva Purana murals (the Tales of Shiva) at the Virabhadra temple at Lepakshi; and those at the Kamakshi and Varadaraja temples at Kanchi.                                                   

• Literature:
  •  The Vijayanagara Empire was a place for poets, intellectuals and philosophers. Here, with freedom to write in Sanskrit or in any local language (Kannada, Telugu and Tamil), covered topics such as religion, biographies, Prabandha (fiction novels), music, poetry, grammar and medicine. The Telugu language became literary excellence and reached its zenith under the reign of Krishna Deva Raya. The works in Sanskrit were mostly commentaries on the Vedas, or essays on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, written by famous intellectuals such as Sayana and Vidyaranya, which extolled the superiority of the doctrine of advaita over rivals.
  • Writers were also followers of the faith dvaita, monks from Udupi, as Jayatirthatika earned the nickname for his polemical writings Acharya Vyasatirtha, author of rebuttals to the Advaita philosophy and classical thinkers as various Gaudapada, and Tirtha and Vadi Raja Sripada Raya, critics also with the beliefs of AdiShankara, the first great advaita. In addition to these monks, many other writers in Sanskrit settled in the royal court and the palaces of the nobles. Many kings were also writers, like King Krishna Deva Raya, author of the great classic JambavatiKalyana, a poetic drama.
  • Writers and poets in Kannada of the time also wrote extensive works on the movement bhakti and Haridas, literature Brahmanical and work on lingayatíes. Haridasa also composed religious songs (devaranama) with metric RAGALA. And inspiring teachers of the literary movement were Madhvacharya and Vyasatirtha.
  • In this moment for Telugu literature came Charitamu Manu, the prabandha (commentary) more important. Krishna Deva Raya, an expert who knows the language, wrote the famous Amuktamalyada. Likewise, in his court met eight astadiggajas, the most important writers who have given this language. Worth mentioning among them AllasaniPeddana (Andhra KavitaPitamaha called 'father of Telugu language'), the author's most prestigious, and Tenali Ramakrishna, court jester and author of PandurangaMahatyam, the masterpiece of Telugu literature also belongs to this period Srinatha, author of Marutratcharitamu and SalivahanaSaptaShati, protected from King Deva Raya II, and possessed of a status as important as any minister.
  • Although most of the literature written in Tamil during this period was established in areas under control of the vassal kings Pandya, Vijayanagara kings also paid attention to its poets. SwarupanandaDesikar wrote a 2824 anthology of poems, Sivaprakasap-perundirattu on advaita philosophy. His pupil, the ascetic Tattuvarayar, authored another anthology shorter Kurundirattu, with about half of verse. Krishna Deva Raya protected and subsidized by Haridas Tamil poet, whose ruler usamayaVilakkam is an exhibition of the two great currents Hindu Vaishnavism and Shaivism, with a predilection for the former.
  • The literature also was field of political intrigue and religious, as the kings acted as patron of writersshivaístas Vaishnava or depending on your affiliation and social sectors that need at all times.
  • Other prominent authors and works of musical knowledge and medicinal were Vidyaranya (author of Rati RatnaPradipika), Sayana (author of Ayurveda Sudhanidhi) and Lakshmana Pandita (author of Vaidyarajavallabham).
• Culture:
  • The Vijayanagar Empire had a strict caste system, or a strict cultural hierarchy, with each caste, from lowest to highest, having community representatives. Muslims were also allowed to be represented. Brahmins were at the top of the caste system and were often religious scholars and writers of literature. They also served in judicial roles. Interestingly, low caste writers also existed and produced popular literature. The caste system did allow for upward mobility in the military, so those born into lower castes did have the opportunity to distinguish themselves in the service of the empire.
  • Women and men of wealth both wore jewellery, including bracelets, necklaces, anklets, and earrings. They also scented themselves in rosewater and musk perfumes. Men would wear silk turbans as well, sometimes ornamented with gold. Nobles lived in luxury and wore rich, lavish clothing and were attended to by many servants.
  • The culture during this period also emphasized physical health and males and females participated in sports. Males would wrestle with males and females with females, and there were gymnasiums built for the military to use to keep in shape. For entertainment, cockfighting was a common activity.
  • Indian women during this period had some areas of autonomy in which they were able to work in the administration of the government and in businesses such as trade. Women could also express themselves through art and literature.

Conclusion:

The Vijayanagara Empire’s patronage enabled its fine arts and literature to rise to new heights, and its legacy of sculpture, painting, and architecture influenced the development of the arts in South India long after the empire came to an end.