SOURCES OF VIJAYNAGAR HISTORY

The history of the Vijayanagar empire was recovered considerably through the efforts of R. Sewell in early nineteenth century. However, his work A Forgotten Empire was mainly based on Portuguese chronicles. Though an excellent work, it neglected the evidences available in various forms of literature. The subsequent works also failed to exploit the indigenous sources and hence were unable to fill up the many gaps which epigraphy had left in reconstructing the history of this glorious empire. The present volume consists of extracts from hitherto untapped sources-various Sanskrit and Telugu works bearing on the history of the Empire. A constructive study of these sources goes a long way in correcting the chronicles in many places and conveys information which would make a fuller history of the empire of Vijayanagar possible. Many of these are unpublished manuscripts, rare publications and works out-of-print. Each of the extract has been provided with an English introduction which, though not a faithful translation, contains a summary of the historical facts. Besides the obvious value of these extracts, they also throw considerable light on the position of various subordinate families of the empire. The publication of this work, it is hoped, would show the Vijayanagar empire in a proper setting, in respect of its character and significance in the history of India.