Sources for Vijayanagara History (Foreign Travellers’ Accounts – Nicolo Conti, Domingo Paes, Abdur Razzaq)

At a Glance

• Early visitor Nicolo Conti, 1420
• Persian envoy Abdur Razzaq, in the time of Deva Raya II
• Sixteenth-century writers Barbosa, Paes, Nuniz
• Other sources Inscriptions, literature, Ferishta, archaeology
• Caution Travellers’ numbers are often exaggerated
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Medieval History: Vijayanagara Empire

Where Does It Fit?

This is the first topic of the category on the Vijayanagara Empire. The previous category ended with the culture of the eighteenth-century regional courts, and this one goes back to the greatest southern empire of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. The next topic gives the political history of its four dynasties. Previous topic: Purdah, sati, child marriage, dowry Courts…">Social and Cultural Life in the 18th Century Regional Kingdoms.

What Kinds of Sources Do We Have?

In short: Vijayanagara history is known from a mix of inscriptions, monuments, literary works, chronicles of neighbouring sultanates and the reports of foreign travellers.

The foreign accounts describe the capital, court and people from an outsider’s view, and they fill gaps left by inscriptions.

What Did Nicolo Conti and Abdur Razzaq Report?

The Italian traveller Nicolo Conti visited Vijayanagara in 1420. He wrote that the city was sixty miles in circumference, with walls carried up to the mountains and enclosing the valleys at their foot, and that some ninety thousand men were fit to bear arms. He said the king was more powerful than all the other kings in India. Ferishta also wrote that the Bahmani princes held their place by valour only, while the rayas of Vijayanagara exceeded them in power, wealth and territory.

The Persian traveller Abdur Razzaq, who had travelled widely, visited in the reign of Deva Raya II. He wrote that the king had in his dominions three hundred ports, each equal to Calicut, and that on land his territories covered a space of three months’ journey. He reported the troops at eleven lakhs. He called Vijayanagara one of the most splendid cities he had seen or heard of, built as seven citadels and walls enclosing each other, with the seventh fortress at the centre ten times the area of the market place of Herat, four long and broad bazaars from the palace, and canals of polished stone. He recorded that the king’s palace had cell-like basins filled with bullion. These numbers are likely exaggerated.

What Did the Sixteenth-Century Visitors Add?

The Russian traveller Nikitin wrote that the land was overstocked with people, that those in the country were very miserable, and that the nobles were extremely affluent. Duarte Barbosa praised the toleration of Krishna Deva Raya’s empire, writing that every man may come and go and live according to his own creed, whether Christian, Jew, Moor or heathen, and he paid tribute to the king’s justice. Domingo Paes, a Portuguese who spent years at Krishna Deva’s court, praised the king’s personality as great and just but subject to sudden fits of rage. Fernao Nuniz, a Portuguese writer of the sixteenth century, said the kings of Quilon, Sri Lanka, Pulicat, Pegu and Tenasserim paid tribute to Deva Raya II, which is doubtful, since it may only mean that they sent presents and embassies for goodwill.

How Should Students Use These Sources?

As an analytical point, each source has a bias. Travellers saw the capital and court, not village life, so historians do not agree on the condition of the peasantry. Their numbers are often large guesses. Persian chroniclers wrote from the side of the Bahmani sultans, and inscriptions record grants more than daily life. Taken together, they show an empire that was wealthy, populous and tolerant, with luxury beside rural poverty, a picture that fits the later topics on administration, society and economy.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Travellers Names and what each said are common Prelims questions
• Source criticism Mains answers should note bias and exaggeration
• Foundation The accounts support every later topic in the category

What Came Next?

The next topic gives the political history of Vijayanagara under its four dynasties. Next topic: Political History of the Vijayanagara Empire (Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu Dynasties).

Key People and Terms

• Nicolo Conti Italian visitor of 1420
• Abdur Razzaq Persian envoy under Deva Raya II
• Domingo Paes Portuguese at Krishna Deva’s court
• Fernao Nuniz Portuguese chronicler
• Nikitin Russian traveller
• Ferishta Persian historian of the Deccan

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions on sources ask you to weigh travellers’ accounts. These points add depth.

• Value Eyewitness detail on the capital
• Bias Exaggerated numbers and elite views
• Method Cross-check with inscriptions and ruins