A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of IndiaSewell, Robert
History
A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India
Sewell, Robert
Vijayanagar (Empire) -- History
"The King having left, Jaga Raya called his nephew and crowned him,
causing all the nobles present to do him homage; and he, finding
himself now crowned King, entered the palace and took possession of
it and of all the riches and precious stones that he found there. If
report says truly, he found in diamonds alone three large chests full
of fine stones. After this (Jaga Raya) placed the deposed King under
the strictest guard, and he was deserted by all save by one captain
alone whose name was Echama Naique, who stopped outside the fortress
with eight thousand men and refused to join Jaga Raya. Indeed,
hearing of the treason, he struck his camp and shut himself up in
his own fortress and began to collect more troops.
"Jaga Raya sent a message to this man bidding him come and do homage to
his nephew, and saying that if he refused he would destroy him. Echama
Naique made answer that he was not the man to do reverence to a boy
who was the son of no one knew whom, nor even what his caste was;
and, so far as destroying him went, would Jaga Raya come out and meet
him? If so, he would wait for him with such troops as he possessed!
"When this reply was received Jaga Raya made use of a thousand gentle
expressions, and promised honours and revenues, but nothing could turn
him. Nay, Echama took the field with his forces and offered battle to
Jaga Raya; saying that, since the latter had all the captains on his
side, let him come and fight and beat him if he could, and then the
nephew would become King unopposed. In the end Jaga Raya despaired
of securing Echama Naique's allegiance, but he won over many other
nobles by gifts and promises.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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