Domingo Paes-Nuniz-Amuktamalyada

Domingo Paes-Nuniz-Amuktamalyada

Who was Domingo Paes? During whose rule he came to India?

Domingo Paes was a Portuguese traveller who came during the reign of Krishna Deva Raya.

What was the importance of these bazaars?

The Vijayanagara Empire possessed an urban quality, which is not witnessed in any other South Indian state of the time.

The capital city integrated within its precincts

markets, palaces, temples, mosques etc. It was in the bazaars where business was carried on by the merchants.

They dealt in spices, textiles and precious stones. They paid rents to the towns, which contributed significantly to the prosperity of the state. There were separate markets for particular commodities.

Markets for agricultural and non-agricultural products were separate. Local communities of merchants were

known as kudirai chettis or horse merchants.

Discuss the details of the market as given by Paes.

Paes described that, one can find all kind of precious gems in the markets of Vijayanagara. Markets of Vijayanagara are well equipped with all kind of items of the world.

What does Nuniz describe about the Vijayanagara markets?

Nuniz mentioned that markets were flooded with all kind of fruits. Meat was also sold in the markets.

Why was the city of Vijayanagara described as being “the best provided city in the world” by Paes?

Domingo Paes described the city of Vijayanagara as being “the best provided city in the world” due to the following reasons:

· The markets of Vijayanagara were stocked with all kinds of cereals, pulses, spices horse gram and fruits. All these provisions were available in abundance.

· Meat of all kind was abundantly available and was sold in the markets of Vijayanagara.

· The empire’s capital city thrived as a business centre that included a burgeoning market in large quantities of precious gems and gold.

· Prolific temple-building provided employment to thousands of masons, sculptors and other skilled artisans.

About a tank constructed by Krishnadeva Raya, Paes wrote:

The king made a tank … 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 (approximately 15 kilometers) by pipes... 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 the tank I saw so many people at work that there must have been fifteen or twenty thousand men, looking like ants …

What was the most striking feature of the location of the Vijayanagara empire?

The most striking feature about the location of Vijayanagara was the natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra, which flowed in a north-easterly direction. The surrounding landscape was characterised by stunning granite hills that seemed to form rocky outcrops.

Why were embankments built along the streams in Vijayanagara empire?

Embankments were built across big rivers and streams to create reservoirs of varying sizes. Since Vijayanagara was one of the most arid zones of the peninsula, elaborate arrangements had to be made to store rainwater and conduct it to the city.

Water stored in these tanks was utilised not only for the irrigation of fields but was also supplied to capital city for fruit gardens and Kings Palace. The most important of such tank was built in the early years of the fifteenth century and is now called Kamalapuram tank.

Mention the most prominent waterworks built by the kings of the Sangama dynasty.

From the earliest times, the Vijayanagara kings were concerned to construct and operate effective and reliable water supply systems to satisfy the urban area of Vijayanagara.

The kings of the Sangama dynasty exploited the hydrological environment to its maximum advantage, irrigating agricultural land inside the city, directing water into urban areas for domestic use and building an impressive system of baths and channels to service the Royal Centre.

One of the most prominent waterworks built by them is to be seen among the ruins of Vijayanagara is the Hiriya

canal. This canal drew water from a dam across the Tungabhadra and irrigated the cultivated valley that separated the “sacred centre” from the “urban core”.

Krishnadeva Raya (ruled 1509-29), the most famous ruler of Vijayanagara, composed a work on statecraft in Telugu known as the Amuktamalyada. About the traders he wrote:

A king should improve the harbours of his country and so encourage its commerce that horses, elephants, precious gems, sandalwood, pearls and other articles are freely imported … He should arrange that the foreign sailors who land in his country on account of storms, illness and exhaustion are looked after in a suitable manner … Make the merchants of distant foreign countries…be

attached to yourself by providing them with daily audience… Then those articles will never go to your enemies.

List two foreign travellers who gave information regarding the foreign trade in Vijayanagara Empire.

Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz, who visited

Vijayanagara Empire in the first half

and then later half of the sixteenth century respectively, describe in glowing terms the foreign trade in India. Both were Portuguese travellers.

How was horse trade carried out in the Vijayanagara Empire? Why was it important?

Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz gave a vivid account of horse trade. This trade was initially controlled by Arabs. Local communities of merchants known as kudirai chettis or horse merchants also participated in these exchanges.

From 1498, Portuguese appeared on the scene and maintained complete control over it. Horses were brought from Arabia, Syria and Turkey to the West coast post. Warfare during these times depended upon effective cavalry.

Thus, importation of horses was of great military importance for the southern states as good horses were not bred in India. Besides, Vijayanagar’s conflict with the northern Deccan Muslim states restricted the supply of horses from north India that were imported from Central

Asia.

Krishnadeva Raya belonged to which dynasty?

Krishnadeva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty. Portuguese traveller Domingo Paes visited Vijayanagara during his rule.

Write the name of the source? Who was the author of the text?

The source of this text is Amuktamalyada a treatise on statecraft written by Kirshna Deva Raya.

In which language this text was written?

The text was written in Telugu language.