The role of historical memory is providing the basis for political action has not been adequately been explored by historians. Recently, Trautman in an article published in the latest issue of Comaprative Studies in History and Society has even suggested that Western historical consciousness was predicated upon the idea of the state as the context for political and historiographical understanding of the past. In India, particularly in the post-Indepeendence era, history has become the handmaiden of various kinds of identity based issues of language, region and caste. Vijayanagara history is burdened with the responsiblity of providing the muscle for 3 robust historiographical trends: first, it must "prove" that it is a "hindu" empire relentlessly espousing the cause of hindu "resistance" against the Islamic states of the Deccan. Second, the language based appropriation of Vijayangara entails the eternal conflict between the Telugu and Kannada scholars who cannot decide whet er the legacy of Vijayanagara, particularly of Krishnadevaraya, belongs to their respective linguistic zones. Finally, the caste equations come into play as the Vijayangara rulers came form a pastoral or hunting society of the Deccan. The patronage extended to the Vittala cult which was patronised by then Danghars suggests that the rulers of the Third Dynasty had some connection with the pastoral societies of the Western Deccan.
Unfortunately instead of analysing the Inscriptions carefully and diligently historians working on the history of Peninsular India,s last experiment in empire have allowed parochial identity issues to clutter the debate. Fortunately, Herman Kulke has shown that sage Vidyaranya and the legend of Vidyaranya was created in the post Talikota period in order to provide a sliver of grandeur to the memory of an empire which was devastated on the battlefield. Other problems also persist in the field of Vijayanagara history. I am particularly interested in one perennial proble. How is the historian to account for Krishnadeva Raya's magnificent obsession with the Gajapati rumers of Orissa. Recently I presented a paper in the International Seminar on Krishadevaraya and his Times: Cultural Perspectives which was hosted by the K R Cama Oriental Research Institute, Mumbai. I showed in thsat paper that Krishadevaraya was concerend with the Gajapatis primarilty due to the fact that under Kapilendrda, the Gajapati usurper, the territories around Devikapurma in Tamil Nadu were devastated during the Oddiya kalabai as the period of Kapilenda's invasion is termed in the inscription of the time. Krishadevaraya prodly proclaimed the "defeat' of the Gajapatis in his very first coronation inscription found in the Virupaksha Temple at Hampi. We know from other historical sources that the emperor was inviolved with the affairs of the the Western coast during 1509-10 and he was nowhere near Orissa during then initial years of his reign. Only in 1513 do we find references to the campaign against the Gajapati and more frequently we find the tern "elephant hunt" in his inscription whci could mean rivalry with the Orissan rulers.
The caputre of Udayagiri and the transfer oof the image of Balakrihna from Udayagiri to the Krishna Temple constructed at Hampi suggets that Krishadevaraya was interested in creating a memorial for the campaign and ensured that the memory of the Camapign survived. Out of the 7 visits to Tirupathi Temple performed by the Vijayanagara emperor 4 were after the camapign agasinst thew Gajapti. It appears that even Vyasaraja mentions the removal of Balakrisna from Udayagiri and his arrival in Hampi.
Given the facts it is likely that all the 3 or 4 campaigns against the Gajapatis were motivated by the ambition to expunge the memory of the existential threat posed by the Gajapatis to the Vijayanagara state. Moreover, the Saluvas who faced the brunt of the Gajapati force had Narasa Nayaka the father of Krishnadevaraya as their general and it was around Devikapurma that much of the damge was donwe.
Unfortunately instead of analysing the Inscriptions carefully and diligently historians working on the history of Peninsular India,s last experiment in empire have allowed parochial identity issues to clutter the debate. Fortunately, Herman Kulke has shown that sage Vidyaranya and the legend of Vidyaranya was created in the post Talikota period in order to provide a sliver of grandeur to the memory of an empire which was devastated on the battlefield. Other problems also persist in the field of Vijayanagara history. I am particularly interested in one perennial proble. How is the historian to account for Krishnadeva Raya's magnificent obsession with the Gajapati rumers of Orissa. Recently I presented a paper in the International Seminar on Krishadevaraya and his Times: Cultural Perspectives which was hosted by the K R Cama Oriental Research Institute, Mumbai. I showed in thsat paper that Krishadevaraya was concerend with the Gajapatis primarilty due to the fact that under Kapilendrda, the Gajapati usurper, the territories around Devikapurma in Tamil Nadu were devastated during the Oddiya kalabai as the period of Kapilenda's invasion is termed in the inscription of the time. Krishadevaraya prodly proclaimed the "defeat' of the Gajapatis in his very first coronation inscription found in the Virupaksha Temple at Hampi. We know from other historical sources that the emperor was inviolved with the affairs of the the Western coast during 1509-10 and he was nowhere near Orissa during then initial years of his reign. Only in 1513 do we find references to the campaign against the Gajapati and more frequently we find the tern "elephant hunt" in his inscription whci could mean rivalry with the Orissan rulers.
Given the facts it is likely that all the 3 or 4 campaigns against the Gajapatis were motivated by the ambition to expunge the memory of the existential threat posed by the Gajapatis to the Vijayanagara state. Moreover, the Saluvas who faced the brunt of the Gajapati force had Narasa Nayaka the father of Krishnadevaraya as their general and it was around Devikapurma that much of the damge was donwe.
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