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
Now turning to the gates of the first range, I say that at the entrance
of the gate where those pass who come from Goa, which is the principal
entrance on the western side; this king has made within it a very
strong city[391] fortified with walls and towers, and the gates at the
entrances very strong, with towers at the gates; these walls are not
like those of other cities, but are made of very strong masonry such as
would be found in few other parts, and inside very beautiful rows of
buildings made after their manner with flat roofs. There live in this
many merchants, and it is filled with a large population because the
king induces many honourable merchants to go there from his cities,
and there is much water in it. Besides this the king made a tank[392]
there, which, as it seems to me, has the width of a falcon-shot,[393]
and it is at the mouth of two hills, so that all the water which comes
from either one side or the other collects there; and, besides this,
water comes to it from more than three leagues by pipes which run
along the lower parts of the range outside. This water is brought
from a lake which itself overflows into a little river. The tank has
three large pillars handsomely carved with figures; these connect above
with certain pipes by which they get water when they have to irrigate
their gardens and rice-fields. In order to make this tank the said
king broke down a hill which enclosed the ground occupied by the said
tank. In the tank I saw so many people at work that there must have
been fifteen or twenty thousand men, looking like ants, so that you
could not see the ground on which they walked, so many there were;
this tank the king portioned out amongst his captains, each of whom
had the duty of seeing that the people placed under him did their work,
and that the tank was finished and brought to completion.
The tank burst two or three times, and the king asked his Brahmans
to consult their idol as to the reason why it burst so often,
and the Brahmans said that the idol was displeased, and desired
that they should make a sacrifice, and should give him the blood
of men and horses and buffaloes; and as soon as the king heard this
he forthwith commanded that at the gate of the pagoda the heads of
sixty men should be cut off, and of certain horses and buffaloes,
which was at once done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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