Sumadhwa Vijaya – Historical Exploration PART 1

HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS

Regarding the Periods of the first five great Madhva saints
Sri Padmanabha, Narahari, Madhava, Akshobhya and Jaya Tirthas

INTRODUCTION:

The last two decades of Acharya Madhva 1238-1318 AD, followed by the five ascetics in his Peetha (till 1388 AD) were known for some of the epoch making developments in History, specially on the Deccan plateau.

The old order of Hindu kingdoms was replaced by an unstoppable and often violent Islamic sultanate originating form Delhi, which caused general hardship to the people, specially the Vaishnava Hindus and Brahmins in particular and instead of royal patronage or at least neutrality, there was severe persecution. The features of the Kali age developed rapidly with a vengeance.

How these divine Lords of the Philosophical empire of Madhva dealt with the situation on the ground is a topic of abiding interest to all Madhvas. But, for their patience, perseverance, fortitude in adversity and conviction of doctrines preached by them, the nascent Vedanta school could well have died out completely or be confined to the immediate surroundings of Madhva’s area around Udupi

The existing traditional literature built around them in the Mathas has many temporal errors as well as undue ornamentation of the stories – some times even of quasi-historic events like the reign of Sri Narahari Tirtha in Kalinga and the famous disputation between Sri Akshobya and Vidyaranya. Part of the confusion was due to imprecise statements about the periods of their stay in the Peetha and physical locations of the events.

To the extent that these are cleared by detailed study of recorded history and major events like wars, invasions, change of lineages of rulers, specific mention of these saints themselves in prevailing records, one gets a truer picture and a correct appreciation of the odds that they faced when carrying the Torch of Tatvavada forward.

There are some amongst us who would like to revel in their ignorance, preferring the comfortable feeling of suspending all analysis and judgments by the blind acceptance of the selected written word chosen by them without any intellectual effort – usually with glaring errors and physical incongruities.This effort is not meant for such persons.  On the other hand, making such an effort as this will always carry a risk of being wrong in a specific analysis due to possible errors and inconsistencies. New information and contradiction by future analysis is always to be faced – but one would hope that the important and interesting conclusions will be sustained even after future critical reviews.

As a fundamental basis of analysis of the Time factor, the following table is considered, based on the latest accepted figures by the Mathas. The dates of Vrindavana pravesha mentioned are based on Matha records as accepted presently.

The dates and places of Vrindavana pravesha of the most well known ascetics starting from Sri Padmanabha Tirtha (excluding the eight mathas of Udupi and the Acchyutha preksha/Sathyatirtha matha, are as under

The case of the Vrindavana of Sri JayaTirtha also attributed to Sri Raghuvarya by UM needs separate discussion.

12 of the first 24 instances considered here are in Hampi area, which predominated the list of locations till the 16 th century, right from the time of Acharya Madhva.

It is also known that there are some more Vrindavanas “discovered” in the area, claimed by Udupi Mathas.  The likelihood of more Vrindavanas being discovered in the general location of Hampi such as Kampili etc cannot also be ruled out, as a few well known ascetics vrindavanas during the period 1400 – 1450 AD are untraced yet. This feature needs further analysis, from the historical perspective.

The feature of the headquarters of the Matha ascetics following the fortunes of kingdoms like Vijayanagara, such as shifting of their capital etc remarked by Dr. B. N. K. Sharma in HDSV is also clearly visible in the above chart. (Refce: p. 468 of Third revised Edition). This would be applicable in PRINCIPLE for all Mathas, with honourable exceptions like the present day Manthralaya kshethra.

At the first instance, the period of Acharya Madhva in the last two decades (1298 – 1318 AD) will also be studied in the context of the invasions of the Sultanate of Delhi on the Deccan plateau.

During Acharya Madhva’s stay on earth, for 79 years (1238-1318 AD), described in Sumadh Vavijaya, his first Badari visit can be dated with some precision (based on the first of Sri Narahari Tirtha’s Orissa shasanas in 1264 AD) as being a couple of years before (when Madhva would be only 26 years of age).

The date of the second Badari trip can also be inferred based on his completion of some activities like installation of Krishna Ikon in Udupi and composition of major Sarva Moola works excluding those which clearly came after the visit, though no specific clue seems to be available about the year when it took place.

But, there are some indirect references in Sumadhvavijaya such as his asking 15 of his disciples together in Varanashi for a test of strength (Chapter 10, shlokas 37-40) where they are called as Young (Yuvah) as compared to him and their being arrogant about their strength – by which one could deduce that Madhva was at least a generation older than them and possibly in his middle age at that time.

Similar tests of strength and endurance are also mentioned in the last chapter – presumably towards the end of his stay as a visible entity in Udupi surroundings – when to the ignorant on looker, he might have manifested apparent old age. The mention of King Iswara Deva, whom he met, accompanied by a large following of Shishyas is also a pointer. Thus, the second visit to North India must also have been completed in his early middle age in his forties (well before the first Muslim invasion of South India by Allauddin Khalji in 1294 AD).

Subsequently, he seems to have confined his physical presence to Kerala and South Canara, which were free of internecine conflict between rulers and threats of invasions from empire building outsiders. Thus the neighbouring kingdoms where he might have had to move about outside his normal area would be mainly the Hoysala kingdom with the capital at Dvarasamudra (Halebidu), the Kingdom of Kerala and the Pandya Kingdoms in South Tamilnadu – ruled from Madurai and containing important Vaishnava centers of Sri Rangam, Rameswaram etc which he had visited in his very first south Indian tour.

History records enormous upheavals in the adjacent areas with destruction of temples and mass killing of Hindus by invading Muslim hordes. A brief description of the political events in Deccan area as given in two authoritative books “The Hoysalas” by Duncan M Derrett and “The Early Muslim expansion in South India” by K. A. Nilakanta Shastri is compiled here. For purposes of arriving at a global perspective, the series of books “The History and Culture of the Indian people” by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has also been consulted.

It is hoped that while some differences of opinion between events as assessed to have taken place in the historic past may persist and some personalized views may have crept in, by and large, a fair presentation, particularly of the sequence of events and personalities would be maintained with the required degree of accuracy to enable forming true conclusions.

An important observation which could be made in this regard is the relevance of the shloka 3/4 of Chapter 4 of Sumadhvavijaya – summarised below:

Madhva is contemplating taking Sannyasa –

3. Use of force (Danda) and punishment against the haters of my master, Vishnu is the only option available to me, as I have the necessary capacity. But, as goddess Durga, the sister of Krishna is shortly incarnating for destruction of the wicked, I will not take up this work.

Note: There is reference to the forthcoming incarnation of Goddess Durga for the destruction of evil in Mahabharatha Tatparya Nirnaya 32/164.

4.                    Thinking thus, Vasudeva (the future Madhva) who contemplated Hari, with the infinite names always, decided to renounce all worldly objects such as the house etc. He started to prostrate again and again before all such objects towards the immanent Hari to seek permission for becoming an ascetic.

Being aware of the forthcoming triumph of destructive forces which almost annihilated Hindu society, as per pre-ordained will of the Supreme Being known to him, the justification of adopting the role of an ascetic by Madhva can be well understood. A Madhva in other Ashramas like Brahmacharya or Grihastha would well have reversed the course of events with his unmatched powers.

Let us now look at the historical perspective:

Delhi Sultanate and Successors:

The  period 1296 – 1388 (including the last two decades of Madhva till the Vrindavana pravesha of Sri JayaTirtha) was full of political events. Delhi Sultans of Khilji and Tughlaq dynasties led many campaigns of war against South India and destroyed the then existing and flourishing south Indian Hindu Kingdoms as a policy. In fact, it was the period in which the ruling Muslim kings at Delhi and their governors followed a policy of conversion, repression, murder, mayhem, rape, destruction of Hindu temples, holy places, scriptures and persecution of Hindus in India. Particularly in the period of Ghaiyasuddin (1320 – 1325 AD)  the Deccan area was subject to repeated massive invasions from Delhi Muslim forces – 1318, 1322 and 1324 AD. Even Sri Padmanabha Tirtha’s area in Northern Andhra (Rajahmundry etc – there is a suggestion that he was in the court of Warangal) was severely disturbed in the continuous fighting.

The invasion of the Southern part of India by Delhi based Muslim rulers first started in the time of Alauddin Khalji (1296 – 1316 AD). His earliest campaign was against Gujarat’s Hindu kingdom ruled by Karna, in 1298 AD. The famous Somnatha temple in Saurashtra was captured, plundered and its deity destroyed at this time. The well known capitulation of Ranthambor fort with the Jauhar of the ladies and final suicidal battle which killed all the defenders took place in 1301 AD. Allauddin attempted to subjugate the Kakatiya ruled kingdom of Telingana, with its capital at Warangal for the first time in early 1303 AD and failed, Next came the battle for Chitttor in Rajasthan and its destruction. Alauddin had also to fight and repel repeated Mongol invasions during this period – the last being in 1306 AD.

Alauddin next sent his army to Warangal (which he had failed to subdue in 1303 AD), in 1309 AD. He reached Devagiri and got the assistance of is King and even some forces and attacked Telingana. His army reached Warangal in 1310 AD, looting and killing on the way, and besieged it with a smaller force than the defenders. King Prathaparudra however failed to defend his city-fort perhaps due to undue defensive approach and finally sued for peace. The peace deal included huge tributes of Gold, Jewellery as well elephants and horses (possibly even the Kohinoor Diamond). With the gates to the South wide open, in November 1310 AD, Alauddin’s army turned its attention to Ma’bar (called as such by Muslim historians) in the deep south (capital Madurai).

This invasion in 1311 AD took the western route through Rajaputana and reahed Devagiri, where the reigning king Ramachandra gave all help and support to go further south to Dvarasamudra, ruled by Ballala III, the Hoysala king. Unfortunately for the latter, he was himself in Ma”bar area (South Tamilnadu) intervening in a civil war between two Pandya brothers – Sundara and Veera pandya, trying to recover some areas from them. When he heard of the attack on Dvarasamudra, he hurried back with his army also taking the help from the Pandyas. But, he soon lost confidence in his ability to challenge the invading army and accepted submission paying tributes and gave away a great deal of wealth to them. The Muslim army went down further south to Ma”bar. But, here the Pandya princes did not shut themselves up in forts but harassed the invaders in hit and run tactics. In this trip the Muslims sacked and destroyed the Temple towns at Chidambaram, SriRangam, Madurai and went possibly even up to Rameswaram. The invaders captured a large booty of Gold as well as elephants, horses etc. They took a son of Ballala III to Delhi, who was later returned. Though this trip was primararily for loot of wealth rather than territory, it paved the way,due to loss of morale in the rulers of the Hindu kingdoms, for subsequent Muslim invasions from the North followed by establishment of Muslim ruled states such as the Bahamani, Ma’bar sultanate etc. It also exposed a weakness in the political leadership of Hindus who would not unite against an external aggressor and frittered away large resources in wealth, military strength, individual heroism as well popular support by allowing the enemy to adopt a strategy of Offense, surprise and fast action. It is also astonishing that even when ancient temples of the Hindu tradition were being sacked and looted along with destruction of the emblems and Ikons, the Hindu kings who had supported the aggressor did not wake up to the reality that they had let loose a monster of total destruction of their own culture by their own actions.

There was a second expedition of Allauddin’s army in 1313 AD, when Devagiri, Dvarasamudra and Telingana were subjugated. But the entire yadava Devagiri kingdom could not be subjugated as the small Hindu kingdom of Kampili (Bellary, Raichur and Dharwar) asserted its independence. Devagiri re-asserted its independence again in 1315 AD. In 1318 AD, Mubarak Shah invaded Deccan again defeating Warangal and trying to occupy Ma’bar. His son Khusrav was defeated in the battle for Delhi by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq in 1320 AD. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq ruled only for 5 years – 1320 – 1325 AD. In 1322 AD, the Muslim army attacked Devagiri and Warangal again, but the expedition failed to conquer Warangal. Next year, one more expedition was sent and was only partly successful, as Prathaparudra continued in Warangal. But, there are indications that the Delhi army continued south to conquer the Pandya kingdom based on Madurai. Rajahmundry was won by the Sultan in 1324 AD, but Bhanudeva II of Kalinga (Orissa) repelled their further progress there. The son of Ghiayasuddin was the famous/notorious Muhammed Bin Tughlaq, who ruled for 27 years – 1325 – 1351 AD.

The period following Madhva’s disappearance 1318 – 1336 AD (till Vijayanagara kingdom was founded) under Mohammed Bin Thughlaq would have been extremely difficult for Hindus all over south India except the west Canara coast, where Madhva stayed.  Certainly the area above the Krishna river, ruled from Devagiri renamed Daulatabad by him, would be totally hostile. This corresponds to the periods of Padmanabha Tirtha and Narahari Tirtha (1318 – 1333). The last important king of Warangal, Prathaparudra was ruling during the same period.  The calamitous invasion by Tughlaq took place when Narahari Tirtha was in the pontifical seat, when the kingdoms of Warangal and Devagiri were destroyed and virtually taken over by Muslims from the Delhi Sultanate. Sri Narahari Tirtha’s who had held an important political position/ruled Kalinga (Orissa) 1264 – 1293 AD, and perhaps rejoined Madhva after that period, may have confined his activity to Orissa and South Karnataka after his return, till he also attained the Feet of the Lord in 1333 AD.

Devagiri:    

The Kingdom that was an important barrier to the ravages of invasion from the North by Muslims was Devagiri. As appropriately named, Devagiri (Daulatabad of the later period), the capital, 11 kms north-west of Aurangabad, was famous for its formidable hill fort.  The fort is situated on an isolated cone-shaped hill rising abruptly from the plain to the height of about 190 metres.  The fortification constituted of three concentric lines of defensive walls with large number of bastions.  The noteworthy features of the fort are the moat, the scarp and the sub-terranean passage, all hewn of solid rock.  The upper outlet of the passage was filled with an iron grating, on which a large fire could be used to prevent the progress of the enemy.  The Chand Minar, the Chini Mahal and the Baradari are the important structures within the fort. In the days when Guns were not in use, the fort was considered totally impregnable.

The name Iswaradeva mentioned in Sumadhvavijaya as the King who was compelling all travellers to contribute free labour for public works such as digging canals etc has been identified by some as Mahadeva, a King in Devagiri during 1261-1271 AD. There was another Mahadeva Kakatiya in Warangal in 1199 AD also. Madhva would be 23-33 years of age during the Yadava Mahadeva’s period, and not yet born in the Kakathiya Mahadeva’s period. The incident as narrated by Sumadhvavijaya may not also be related to either, as it is not very likely that a king of a large kingdom would be personally supervising the digging of a tank – it may refer to a vassal ruler with the name Iswaradeva also, but the use of the name deva is suggestive of the Devagiri kingdom. The Heyday of the Yadava dynasty represented by their most powerful rulers – Jayatugi and Singhana (1190 – 1230 AD) and which saw illustrious persons like Bhaskaracharya, Sarngadeva, Amalananda etc in the fields of Mathematics, Music and Philosophy was over by the time Madhva was born in 1238 AD. Allauddin’s general, a slave called Mallick Kafur invaded the kingdom during the time of Ramachandra during the period 1294 – 1309 AD and took away huge booty and left the king at the mercy of the Sultan. The son of Ramachandra, Shankara was also killed in battle in 1312 AD and his son in law Harapala, who also tried to resist, was brutally killed in 1318 AD, ending the dynasty and the Kingdom itself. Thus the Yadava kingdom was completely destroyed and Muslim rule enforced by the time Acharya Madhva disappeared from sight. In fact, King Ramachandra by his complete submission to Allauddin and his misplaced priorities of settling old scores with neighboring Hindu kingdoms even with Allauddin breathing down his neck, was also indirectly responsible for the destruction of the famous temples in SriRangam, Madurai, Chidamabaram etc in the Pandya territory in these invasions. The blame of this desecration should also be shared by Hoysala Ballala III in the south with the capital at Dvarasamudra.

Warangal:

The Kakateeya Kingdom flourished in Andhra Pradesh at Warangal (Orugallu – in Telugu and Yekashilapuram in Sanskrit) in 12 th to 14 th centuries, named as such as it was located on a massive rock. The city finds mention by Marcopolo, the framous explorer and had famous rulers like Ganapathi Deva (1197 – 1260 AD), Queen Rudramba (1261 – 1295 AD), and Prathapa Rudra (1295 – 1323 AD). Ganapathi deva had a long rule of 62 years when he successfully fought against the Cholas, Yadavas, Kalinga and Hoysalas and extended his kingdom to cover Kanchi in the south and converted the Andhra and Karnatka rulers as vassals for some time. He named Rudramba, his daughter, as his successor. She was initially not accepted by all, but successfully prevailed against all opponents and also fought with Cholas and Yadavas to defend her kingdom. She nominated her grandson, Prathaprudra as her successor. Noting the date of accession of Rudramba in 1261, and the Kalinga Shasana of 1264 AD of Narahari Tirtha, which helps fixing the probable date of the first visit of Madhva to Godavari river bank indicates that Rudramba must have been ruling the Warangal state during Madhva’s visit to the area on the return trip from his first visit to Badari. The city was finally destroyed in 1323 AD by Mohammed Bin Tughlaq (known as Juna Khan before acceeding to the throne) (1325-1355) after repeated raids and bitter fights in which the valiant Pratapa Rudra lost the war and was captured. Prataparudra committed suicide by jumping into river Narmada (some say Godavari) while being taken away to Delhi to ward off dishonor. There are also another story and some existing ballads indicating that he was rescued by his clever minister Yougandharayana and brought back to his state. However the kingdom could not be revived and soon the State disintegrated. Considering the initiation of Sri Padmanabha Tirtha around 1262 AD on the bank of the Godavari river, and references to a great assembly of scholars held there, where he met Acharya Madhva, there is an indication of migration of scholars from there to South Karnataka under the Hoysala King Ballala III after 1323 AD.

Dvarasamudra (Halebidu):

The Hoysala Kingdom with its capital in Dvarasamudra (Halebidu) was the most significant political entity for the emerging Madhva lineage. Unfortunately, the once vast empire which had dominated almost the whole of south India except Kerala was slowly disintegrating in the period. The raid of Malik Kafur, the deputy of Allauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi commenced in Jan 1311 AD, when he first invaded Devagiri being ruled by Yadava Sevuni king Ramachandra. Though the King died soon after, his successor gave all assistance to the invaders to come stealthily to Dvarasamudra by forced marches in just 22 days. King Ballala III was on his way to Kannanur to support one of the Pandya princes ruling the Tamil country at the time. He rushed back to his capital as fast as possible, but was still caught unprepared to resist the vastly superior invading force. After a futile resistance for just 2 weeks, he had to accept an agreement by which he agreed to give all assistance to the Delhi forces to go to Madurai, where the two Pandya princes Sundara and Veera were fighting. He had also given vast treasures and agreed to pay tribute to the Delhi Sultan. Inspite of complete surprise being achieved by the invading forces, and capture of the Pandyan territory, they were not able to capture the main leaders – the two princes. But Ballala secured his immediate objective – Kannanur. After the return of the Delhi general, Ballala sent his son to meet Allauddin and was well treated by the Sultan. Unfortunately, during this invasion, many major temples at Chidambaram, SriRangam etc were destroyed and looted and a large number of priests and devotees were killed trying to prevent the sacrilege.  A Mosque was also built in Rameswaram. Thus, the internecine quarrels between Devagiri, Warangal and Hoysala kingdoms and the preoccupation of Ballala to capture some Tamil territory had cost a great deal – weakening of all the major kingdoms defending the south, destruction of major temples and capture of vast wealth by the Delhi sultanate.

Anegondi/Hosadurga/Hampi/Navavrindavana
(Anegondi and Kampili Kingdoms)

This kshethra which has been rightly called by Saint Vadiraja in Tirtha Prabandha as the Capital of Madhva Siddhanta, where the eight main pillars of the Tatvavada philosophical empire have chosen to live till eternity in their Vrindavanas has a great history. As Pampa Kshethra (Hampi) on the other side of the river, it is well known from the times of Puranas. The place played an important part in Ramayana, when Rama met Hanuman here and the Monkey rulers Vali and Sugriva had their capital.

Anegondi (Anegondi)(ಆನೆಗೊಂದಿ)is a small town, in the Gangavathi talluk of Koppala district and  is located at a distance of about ten kilometers from Hospet of Hampi fame towards the left bank of Tungabhadra River (North bank). The name Anegondi is attributed to the fact that the kings of Vijayanagar had the elephant contingent of their army at this place. This place was also known as Hastinavati, Kunjarakona and Kishkinda at different points of time in history and mythology. Arabian travelers have referred to Anegondi as ‘nAgunDim’ and Pais, the traveler from Portugal calls it ‘sEnagondim’. This is in a rocky region and acts as a natural fortress providing protection from enemies. Consequently, it was chosen as their capital city by kings belonging to different dynasties. This place has played a crucial role both before and after the formation of the Vijayanagar dynasty. Kampilaraya and Kumara Rama confronted Mallik Kafur, the commander of Allauddin Khilji at this place. Later on it was a part of Vijayanagar Kingdom. It was ruled by the kings of Araveedu dynasty after the fall of Vijayanagara. Srirangaraya of Anegondi is believed to have built the fortress and the temple at Srirangapattana, near Mysore in the 15th century. After the complete collapse of the Vijayanagara empire in 1565 AD, It was ruled successively by the Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, Mughals and Marathas during the 16th and 17th centuries, while the capital city Hampi/Vijayanagara was completely abandoned for some time. It was invaded by Tipu Sultan in 1777 AD. and later came under the British rule. They handed it over to the old lineage of kings of Anegondi who were in charge of it till 1949.

Based on a suggestion by Vidyaranya, his Guru, Harihara I changed the location of the capital at Anegondi to the Southern bank near the temple of Virupaksha and surrounded by Hemakuta, Matanga and Malyavantha hills and called his new capital as Vidyanagara or Vijayanagara. It took 7 years to construct the new capital, which Harihara entrusted to his younger brother Bukkaraya, whom he appointed as Yuvaraja, completing the construction of the city and the capital was shifted from Anagondi to the newly built city in 1343 AD. Anegondi was the mother-city of Vijayanagara. Just nine years earlier, in the year 1327 A.D., the Hindu kingdom of Kampila (with its capitals Kummata about 12kms northwest of Hampi and Hosamaledurga, about 22kms south of Hampi) had fallen to Mohammed Thuglaq.

In recorded history, Hampi was first ruled by Chalukyas  and was taken over by Hoysalas with their capital at Dvarasamudra (Halebidu) in the latter part of 11 th century. Hoysalas were a powerful kingdom ruling an extensive empire stretching across old Mysore, parts of Andhra and Tamilnadu and Kerala. During the time of Acharya Madhva, it was being ruled by Ballala III (1291 – 1343 AD) and had passed its heyday, as it was soon to be eclipsed by the Muslim invaders from the Sultanate in Delhi and by the rise of Vijayanagara kingdom under the Sangama kings Harihara and Bukka (1336 AD).

Though small and short lived, the Kampili Kingdom was crucial in the organization of Hindu resistance against the Islamic hordes and subsequent revival in the South India. The ruler of this Kingdom in the early part of the 14 th Century – Kampila Raya (also called Jambukeswara) was the son of Mummadi Singa (Singeya Nayaka) hailing from Malnad region of Karnataka, who had established his kingdom in 1280 AD with the capital at Kummatadurga, a distance of 12 Kms northwest of Hampi, as a vassal of the Devagiri Kingdom. Sangama Raya, father of Hakka and Bukka, the founders of Vijayanagara kingdom is also reported to be a son in law of Kampila Raya and a treasurer of the State. The legendary Kumara Rama was the son of Kampila Raya.  Kampila Raya was initially a vassal, but declared himself independent, when the Devagiri kingdom was taken over and Hoysala king Ballala III lost effective power to the Muslim invaders led by Mallik Kafur in 1311 AD. The name Kampila used by Muslim historians has been identified as the town of Kampili, which is 12 Kms east of Anegondi,  which still has remnants of fortifications.  Hampi/Anegondi area with its natural hilly terrain was also a good defensive fort.  In the short period of its existence, the new kingdom straddling the borders of the Hoysala and Yadava kingdoms faced constant threats from both, performing a balancing act and successfully repulsed an attack by the Yadava king Ramachandra and had also helped him later to defend himself against the Hoysalas.  There were many encounters between this kingdom, which was trying to establish itself and enlarge its domain and the Hoysalas till 1325 AD, when the borders with Hoysalas were mutually settled.Kampili deva (also called Khandeya Raya) succeeded his father in 1300 AD and Singeya or Mummadi Singa died in 1313 AD.

Allauddun’s general, Mallik Kafur also had a brief encounter with the new Kampila kingdom in 1314 AD when he ravaged the Kummata fort, which was its strongest defence, but had failed to subjugate the kingdom. At this stage, it comprised of the present day districts of Bellary, Dharwar and Raichur along with a small portion of Anantapur in the south and Shimoga and Chitradurg in the west. The river Krishna formed a natural boundary of the kingdom from the area to the North ruled by the Sultans of Delhi in the present Maharashtra.  In 1326/27 AD, Tughlaq had taken over the Sultanate in Delhi and a sister’s son ruling near Gulbarga who had rebelled against him, came and took shelter with the King of Kampili. Tughlaq used the excuse that he was not surrendered and handed over when demanded and attacked the Kampili kingdom.  The Sultan’s army was twice defeated by the Kampili army with heavy losses and loss of morale, but on the third attempt, supervised by Thuglaq himself staying in Devagiri, the heroic Kampili king had to shut himself up in the fort of Hosadurg (Anegondi), after losing Kummata fort. Though he held out for more than a month, he finally decided to die fighting bravely when his supplies ran out and the women folk committed mass Sathee in the fort. The fugitive Muslim was sent to Ballala III, before the final battle, but the Hoysala king Ballala III, unwilling to put his kingdom in risk against Thuglaq just for an individual, handed him over to Tughlaq, who had him brutally killed. After this war, the kingdom of Kampili ceased to exist as it was annexed as a separate province under the Sultan. Kumararama, a son of the reigning king, though well known for his bravery and other great qualities as preserved even now in folk tales, ballads etc.did not succeed to the throne, as he died earlier in battle.

According to Sri B suryanarayana Rao in his book “Yendigoo mareyada Samrajya” in Kannada, the small kingdom of Anegondi existed in the period 1179 – 1334 AD, ruled by a lineage of kings the last two being Prathapadevaraya (1271 – 1297) and Jambukeswararaya (1297 – 1334 AD). The old fort at Anegondi on the northern bank of Tungabhadra fell twice to invaders – in 1327 to Thuglaq and 1332 to Chalukya ruler Somadeva( a brief attempt at reviving Hindu rule before Vijayanagara) and the Kingdom absorbed into the larger neighbor, Vijayanagara. The last king referred to by name Kampiliraya (whose son was Kumararama) would thus be Jambukeswara raya. According to this list, the earlier 7 kings which include names like Nanda, Chalukya etc are shown as ruling from 1040 AD, and are not relevant for the purpose of our study of Madhva lineage. The recorded history of Kampiliraya being the son of Singeya Nayaka is also well substantiated by numerous references as described in his excellent book by Professor Duncan Derrett, who has studied the Hoysala lineage in considerable depth. Another book giving detailed information is “The Early Muslim expansion into South India” by Prof. Nilakanta Shastri. According to the last book, King Somadeva had succeeded in establishing control not only over Anegondi, but also nearby places like Raichur, Mudgal etc by 1334 AD itself and was actually displaced by Harihara I of the Sangama dynasty of Vijayanagara after 1336 AD. Thus Hampi/Anegondi area essentially remained under nominal Muslim rule only for 6/7 years – from 1327 – 1334 AD. And the tragic end of kampili royal lineage fulfilled a far more significant role in giving birth to the revived Hindu Warangal state, and the formidable Vijayanagara kingdom based on Hampi. If one juxtaposes the dates of Vrindavana pravesha of Sri Padmanabha Tirtha 1324 AD and Sri Narahari Tirtha 1333 AD, it is clear that Thuglaq’s destruction of kampili state would have had little effect in this regard. After Vijayanagara came into being in 1336 AD, it became the epicenter of a powerful Hindu kingdom and stayed as such till 1565 AD and even later as a residual power for some time.

To summarise, the period of the last two decades of Madhva (1298 – 1318 AD) followed by the periods of Padmanabha Tirtha (1318 – 1324 AD) and Narahari Tirtha (1324 – 1333 AD)  saw some of the worst destruction of organized Hindu political power, famous temples, and mass killings. The Hindu kings proved inept both politically and militarily in dealing with the menace and the Parashurama Kshethra area and Hampi area were like Oases in the desert – along with the distant Hindu ruled Orissa. 

The dissolution of Hindu power started with Alla uddin Khalji’s raids on Devagiri Kingdom ruled by the Yadava king Ramachandra, first in 1296 AD, even before ascending the throne, for looting and for control followed by those (after occupying it) in 1307/9 AD. This was followed rapidly by the successful raids on Prathaparudra of Warangal in 1310 AD, Ballala III of Dvarasamudra in 1311 AD and culminated in the final raids on Madurai ruled by the Pandya princes and the whole sale destruction and looting of the famed temple of SriRangam, Chidamabaram, and even reaching Rameswaram, where a mosque was built on a temple site.

The very first raid on Devagiri had made Ramachandra totally submissive and even cooperative and Allauddin ensured that by retaining him in the seat, the Devagiri state became an accomplice in his further ventures against other states, like using the wood of a tree cut first as the handle of the axe.

The invasion deluge was successfully resisted only by the small Kampili Kingdom in the immediate vicinity of Hampi for a few years. The invaders returned to Delhi in October 1311. In 1313 AD, he invaded again the submissive kingdom of Devagiri and finished off its existence even as a vassal Hindu Kingdom by killing its last surviving King.

Alla Uddin died in 1316 AD and his governor crushed attempts by the Yadava lineage to emerge out of the ashes by killing Harapal, the son in law of Ramachandra in 1318 AD, thus integrating the Maratha areas north of the Krishna river into his Delhi ruled empire.

The Thuglaq dynasty came into power in Delhi in 1320 AD with Ghiyasuddin who ruled for only 5 years followed by Mohammed Bin Thuglaq in 1325 AD. They not only crushed the Hindu backlash in Devagiri, but even the capital of the Muslim empire was shifted from Delhi to Devagiri which has been renamed  as Daualatabad in 1326-27 AD and increased the Muslim population both by concentration and forced conversions.

This brought increasing pressure on the neighbouring Hindu kingdoms. The other direct buffer state of Kakatiyas of Warangal was first attacked unsuccessfully by All Uddin in 1303 AD, but he was defeated by Prathaparudra. His second invasion to Warangal in 1310 AD was successful and he received great wealth as compensation from the King.  He continued southwards from Warangal, by first returning to Devagri and attacking Hoysala king Ballala III in a surprise attack, and forced him to sue for peace and agree to cooperate in his final goal – capture of Madurai of the Pandyas.

Though the invaders could not capture and ensure surrender of the fighting brothers who ruled the kingdom, they captured vast booty from the temples destroyed and the cities sacked which included Sri Rangam, Chidambaram, Madurai etc as mentioned earlier.  Allauddin’s depredations had all taken place, before 1318 AD, when Madhva was still in Udupi area.

The Thuglaq dynasry headed by Ghiyasuddin was even more destructive, as unlike Allauddin who was mainly after riches, loot etc and was prepared to leave an impoverished and servile king in place, the new rulers were actuated by motives of conversion to Islam and obliterating the Hindu identity completely. The following words of Nilakanta Sastri express this situation:

“To stamp out heathenism and gather all the people in the folds of Islam, they prohibited the public exercise of Hindu religion and subjected its followers to inhuman tyranny.  Hindus could not dress well, live well and appear prosperous. Vexatious taxes were imposed on them. Their seats of learning were destroyed. Their temples were plundered and demolished and the images of the gods whom they adored were defaced and smashed and used for building prayer houses of the faithful”. The imposition of Jeziya tax, on Hindus which kept them impoverished and discriminated against, as well as mass killing of even non-combatants in conquered areas, forced abduction of women and children etc were common features which the more rabid of the sultans were encouraged to practice, when guided by the religious heads.

I will also quote an interesting observation by Dr. Koenraad Elst:

“During the Islamic conquests in India, it was a typical policy to single out the Brahmins for slaughter, after the Hindu warrior class had been bled in the battle field. … . The Muslims could not rule the country except by systematic terror. .. If there were any uprising, it was instantly and savagely repressed. – houses were burned, the countryside was laid waste, men were slaughtered and women were taken as slaves. 

“There is only one among four law schools in Sunni Islam, which allows Pagans to subsist as zimmis – disempowered third class citizens, the other three schools of Jurisprudence ruled that Pagans as opposed to Christians had to be given a choice between Islam and Death.”

Staggering numbers also died as collateral damage of the deliberate impoverishment by Sultans like Allauddin Khalji and Jehangir. As Braudel put it – “The levies it had to pay were so crushing that one catastrophic harvest was enough to unleash famines and epidemics capable of killing a million people at a time. Appalling poverty was the constant counterpart of the conqueror’s opulence”.

Providentially, the success of Islam in this phase of zealous extremism was limited mainly because they could not establish their numbers fast enough and the Hindus, in great majority, though led with poor strategy and militarily weak, rebounded back again and again till they threw off the yoke of the oppressors.

Many brave warriors were slain with their kingdoms short lived but they kept the torch burning and did not allow it to be extinguished. But for religious leaders, this period must have been particularly difficult as they could hardly expose themselves in public and perform their prescribed functions. Even Sumadhvavijaya conveys a picture in shloka 10-15 of Chapter 10, showing a face of the Islamic forces of a King which would kill a harmless party of a few ascetics instantly – and how Madhva warded off the danger by his tact and personality.

The advent of the Thuglaqs on the Delhi throne in 1320 AD was even worse for Hindu kingdoms and Hindus in general. Earlier, the temporary surrender of the Warangal King Prathapa Rudra to Allauddin had been retrieved and he had grown in military strength and enlarged the area ruled by him. But instead of uniting the Hindus against the bigger enemy who had already beaten him once, he was squandering his own strength in campaigns against other Hindu states.

In the second year of Ghaiyasuddin Thuglaq (1322 AD) a Muslim army from Delhi was sent against Warangal which was heroically resisted by it. Though the Muslims failed to capture Warangal even after a long siege, Prathaparudra, weakened after the long siege had to sue for peace, offering to pay tributes again as before. This was rejected by the invasion commander. But luckily for Prathaparudra, thanks to some fortuitous discord in the enemy forces, some of their units left the field and in the confusion, the besieged forces came out and scattered the invading army, which was forced to retreat to Devagiri.

But, a second effort was made next year i.e. in 1323 AD, which was successful and after conquering Warangal, the muslims continued on the east coast up to Rajahmundry (1324 AD) and towards Orissa, where they were stopped by the Kalinga king Bhanudeva II.

Ghaiyasuddin himself was killed by his own nephew Mohammed Bin Thuglaq in 1325 AD, who then took over the empire. Mohammed bin Thuglaq had a long innings – (1325 – 1351 AD) and expanded Muslim rule over almost the whole of Indian subcontinent, excepting Kashmir, Orissa, a strip of Rajasthan and the Malabar coast.

It was in his time that the older political map of India was altered for good and at least for a few years, rule by the Delhi Sultan had to be accepted by all, some of whom continued as vassals under him.

His conquests included the rebel principality of Sagar (near Gulbarga) in 1326/27 AD, the flight of the muslim ruler first to Kampili and then to Hoysala kingdom leading to the annihilation of Kampili state along with the sacking of Anegondi, the last surviving truly independent Hindu kingdom after Allauddin in 1327 AD.

Ballala III at Dvarasamudra (Halebidu) was the next target and had to sue for peace and accommodation agreeing to pay tributes and confine his activities to minor political gains in the Pandya kingdom such as getting Kannanur.

Prathaparudra of Warangal had also lost his life and kingdom in 1323 AD, even when Ghaiyasuddin was rulling. Thuglaq also annexed the fort at Simhaghar (8 miles south of Poona). He had also created new administrative units in Bengal and North Bihar. Gujarat continued under Muslim rule.

The Orissa kingdom under Eastern Ganga dynasty had held up and with some skirmishes with the Muslim Bengal and occasional efforts by Delhi sultans to subvert, it had continued as an independent state till 1361 AD, when it lost to Bukka of Vijayanagara and lost some territory in the south.

The huge empire built up by military conquests however started breaking up even in hisown life time. The Muslim governor at Madurai declared independence in 1334/35 and the Sultan’s attempt to retake it proved a failure. The Hindus in Telengana (Tilingana) rebelled in a confederacy under Prolaya nayak and Kapaya Nayak in 1330/35 AD. The latter succeeded in getting the support of Ballala III of the Hoysalas in Dvarasamudra and freed Warangal and the northern districts of the Madurai Muslim ruled sultanate.

Thuglaq’s attempt to take control over the Kampili area also misfired when the new governors appointed by him Hakka and Bukka themselves turned rebel and established the new kingdom of Vijayanagara in 1336 AD. Thus except the old Devagiri kingdom, called Daulatabad by him, the other conquests could not be held on to and the earlier status-quo was gradually restored. The Anegondi kingdom was however never restored as it took the new identity of the Vijayanagara with the capital at Hampi.

The further developments of a political nature after the Vijayanagara came into being will be discussed separately in another section.

Before we go into specific force majeure events in the periods, brief mention may be made of the catastrophic nature of the two Muslim invasions into the south by Allauddin and Thuglaq, by quoting some historical accounts:

The SriRangam temple was a Vaishnava center which had existed for centuries. Sumadhva Vijaya (5.47) mentions that Acharya Madhva visited it in his first south Indian tour, when he was perhaps only in his teens (1356/57 AD).

5.47. Ananda Tirtha, the great intellect, next came to Sri Ranga. He offered his devoted prostrations to Ranganatha Swamy, immanent in the Icon there, who is like an ocean of loveliness, rests on Shesha, grants auspicious boons to the good people and is served by the cool breeze passing over the Cauvery river.

Considering the comparative nearness of SriRangam to Udupi area, it is likely that when Narayana panditha wrote the composition, the temple was still intact, as any serious disruption would have been noted in some manner, in the writing. Malik Kafur, the slave general of Allauddin invaded Madurai area of Pandyas successfully in 1311 AD (just 7 years before Madhva disappeared). Vedanta Deshika, the great ascetic of Sri Vaishnava faith was living there. The invasion is mentioned in his life history thus – 

His (Vedanta Deshika’s) Exodus to Tirunarayanapuram

In about 1327, (date given here is wrong), during the Muslim invasion of Srirangam by Malik Kafur, the General of Allauddin, Sultan of Delhi, there was a great commotion. The Srivaishnavas who were Satvic by nature were no match to the Muslim plunderers. Fear gripped the minds of everyone as to what might happen to the temple and the Lords Archa murthis. The Acharyas deliberated under the guidance of the Centenarian Master, Sudarsana Bhattar. It was decided that one group under Pillai Lokacharya (who was equally advanced in age) was to take the Utsava Murthi and His consorts covered up in a palanquin to Tirupati. The party under Sudarsana Suri was to stay put at Srirangam, after erecting a stone wall in front of the Sannidhi of Moolavar to cover him from the sight of the marauders. Swami took Sudarsana Bhattars two sons and the manuscripts of Sruta Prakaasika ( the elaborate commentary on Sri Bhashyam chronicled by Sudarsana Bhattar during the Kalakshepams of Nadadur Ammaal) to safety at Tiru narayana puram via Satya mangalam. But, before he could do that, the muslim army attacked them and massacred many of them. Swami hid himself with his wards in the midst of corpses and spent the night. In the morning, they moved towards Satyakalam village in Karnataka en route to Tirunarayana puram.

Malik Kafur is reported to have captured a vast booty of wealth carried on 512 elephants, and 5000 horses, and the jewellery alone was 500 Maunds!. Thousands of priests who tried to protect the temples had been killed and the temple itself was deprived of the Utsava Murthy as well as the main deity, by hiding the latter behind a stoned up recess.  The fate of other temples in Chidamabaram etc was similar. They also destroyed the towns and harried the countryside, completely disrupting normal life.

His basic policy towards Hindus is summed up by the following quote: “The Sultan demanded from learned men rules and regulations, so that the Hindu should be ground down, and property and possessions, which are the causes of disaffection and rebellion, should not remain in his house.”

Mohammed bin Thuglaq was undoubtedly a great military commander as well as good administrator, but extremely cruel and capricious. In keeping with his policy of expanding his rule over the whole of India, he maintained very high levels of taxation, which was collected ruthlessly, by punishing the revenue collectors brutally and causing famine for several years. His policy of total ruthlessness and cruelty towards his opponents irrespective of who they were – mother, brother, defeated kings, even Muslim divines who differed from him surrounded him with death, destruction and fear, in which no one was sure about his position with him.    

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(To be continued….)