Here we have a whole bundle of tales and traditions to account for the origin of the great kingdom, and can take our choice. There are many others also. Perhaps the most reasonable account would be one culled from the general drift of the Hindu legends combined with the certainties of historical fact; and from this point of view we may for the present suppose that two brothers, Hindus of the Kuruba caste, who were men of strong religious feeling, serving in the treasury of the king of Warangal, fled from that place on its sack and destruction in 1323 and took service under the petty Rajah of Anegundi. Both they and their chiefs were filled with horror and disgust at the conduct of the marauding Moslems, and pledged themselves to the cause of their country and their religion. The brothers rose to be minister and treasurer respectively at Anegundi. In 1334 the chief gave shelter to Baha-ud-din, nephew of Muhammad of Delhi, and was attacked by the Sultan. Anegundi fell, as narrated by Batuta, and the Sultan retired, leaving Mallik as his deputy to rule the state. Mallik found the people too strong for him, and eventually the Sultan restored the country to the Hindus, raising to be rajah and minister respectively the two brothers who had formerly been minister and treasurer. These were Harihara I. ("Hukka") and Bukka I. The First Vijayanagar Dynasty [The following shows the pedigree of this dynasty as given in the EPIGRAPHIA INDICA (iii. p. 36). Inscriptions not yet satisfactorily examined will probably add to the information given.] CHAPTER 3 The First Kings (A.D. 1336 to 1379) Rapid acquisition of territory -- Reign of Harihara I. -- Check to Muhammadan aggression -- Reign of Bukka I. -- Kampa and Sangama? -- The Bahmani kingdom established, 1347 -- Death of Nagadeva of Warangal -- Vijayanagar's first great war -- Massacres by Muhammad Bahmani -- Battle at Adoni, 1366 -- Flight of Bukka -- Mujahid's war, 1375 -- He visits the Malabar coast -- Siege of Vijayanagar -- Extension of territory -- Death of Mujahid, 1378. The city of Vijayanagar, thus founded about the year 1335, speedily grew in importance and became the refuge of the outcasts, refugees, and fighting men of the Hindus, beaten and driven out of their old strongholds by the advancing Muhammadans.