
Vijayanagara was one of
the most dazzling of the capitals of mediaeval India. The ruins of the city
have awed travellers and scholars alike. But a historian, a woman who lives in
Paris, says an empire by the name Vijayanagara never existed. She has created
an uproar but insists the correct name is Karnataka empire.
Vasundhara Filliozat
has been working on the history of Karnataka since the early 1960s. She was
born in Haveri in Dharwad district as the fifth child of Sanskrit and Kannada
scholar Pandit Chennabasavappa Kavali. She studied history, Indian epigraphy
and French at Karnataka University, Dharwad before she got a scholarship to
study theatre in France. After two years of studying theatre, she returned to
history and did her PhD from Sorbonne University in Paris. There, she studied
the first two kings of Vijayanagara under Prof. Jean Filliozat, the celebrated
Indologist of that era.
Her approach to
history is simple: Read what is written at the site. She studies inscriptions
and icons to dig out stories from the past. While studying Hampi, she
translated more than 150 Kannada inscriptions into French.
She has worked on
several temple sites in Karnataka including Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal and
Muktesvara (at Caudadanapura) and Kalamukha temples. Her books on the temples
in Karnataka are co-authored with her husband Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat, son of
her mentor. While Vasundhara writes on history, epigraphy and iconography,
chapters on architecture are authored by Pierre-Sylvain. Her books include: Vijayanagar,
Alidulida Hampe, Hampi-Vijayanagar: The Temple of Vithala. She is
currently working on two books—a book on Vijayanagara for the National Book
Trust and another on legends of Hampi for the Indira Gandhi National Centre for
the Arts.
Now, she divides her
time between Paris and Mysuru. At her house in Mysuru, sitting amid paintings
by her husband, she talks to us about the “Hinduness” of the kings who unified
the south to fight Islamic invasion, the role of the temple in everyday life,
the current phenomenon of politics over history, and more.
Edited excerpts from
an interview.
What was your childhood in Dharwad in
1940s like?
Though I come from a poor family, my background was very rich. We belong to the Nekara (weaver) community. My father, Pandit Chennabasavappa Kavali studied old Kannada and Sanskrit in the 1920s. Father would bring up various topics during regular conversations and stories or his own experiences. He would discuss novels and dramas with us.
During my BA final
examinations, AIR was airing a Mallikarjun Mansur concert on a Saturday. I had
my paper on Monday. He said:‘Oh! The examination can come next year as well but
not Mansur’s programme.’ My mother didn’t object to it either whereas
neighbours did. This is the kind of upbringing I had.
I did my high school
in Dharwad and my higher studies at Karnataka University. I was a Gandhi class
student. The distinction students stop at getting a good job. But for
mediocrities like me, our brains continue to work since it has not exhausted
itself in those initial years (laughs). Being mediocre is what pushed me to do
better later in life.
How did you get interested in studying
history?
I considered history
and philosophy. But, history is like a story. I found it more interesting than
philosophy, which is more abstract.
In Paris, I met Prof
Jean Filliozat. He was just back after visiting temples of Aihole (Hindu, Jain
and Buddhist monuments built between the 4th century and the 12th century in
Badami Chalukya, Rashtrakuta and Kalyani Chalukya periods) and Pattadakal
(Badami Chalukya era, 7th and 8th century) and happy to have a student from
Karnataka. He asked me questions about Karnataka: have you seen these sites; do
you speak Kanara or Canari? I said boldly, no, sir, I speak Kannada. He
corrected himself calling it Kannada. At that time, I had no idea how great a
scholar he was and what a great institution Collège de France was. Under his
guidance, I started my PhD on the first two kings of Vijayanagara.
How did you discover your love for
Vijayanagara?
That was my first
love! It started as early as in 1962-63 when I was an MA student and taken on a
study tour to Hampi. When I saw Hampi, I said to myself that I must take photos
of every inch and every nook and corner of this place and I must study this site.
That was the day! At that time, Hampi was so beautiful. All the ruins were
there—all the broken structures and pillars, and mutilated images. And there
was not so much of vegetation on the monuments. We spent three days there and I
immediately decided to study Hampi for my PhD.
What initiated you into epigraphy?
I was working on the
beginning of the dynasties—whether they were Kannadigas or Telugus, whether
Desapattana was Vijayanagara, etc. I was studying a lot of published material.
My guide Dr Filliozat—by then I had become his daughter-in-law—said: ‘Stop this
nonsense! Go to the inscriptions; translate them and write about that. That is
going to be your original contribution to the history of Vijayanagara.’ I
wasn’t happy.
Today, I am thankful
to him. This is the path I have taken not just for that PhD work, but in all my
works, be it Hampi, Pattadakal or Kalamukha temples (Lakulashaiva temples in
North Karnataka built in 11th-13th century, Kalyani Chalukya period). I go only
through the inscriptions and give my own impressions about them. And that’s
what makes my work original.
Which language were these inscriptions in?
The art of writing
inscriptions starts from Ashoka in the 3rd century BC and his inscriptions are
many in that area— Muski, Sanganakallu, Koppal in Bellary district. They are in
Brahmi script and the language is Prakrit; it is neither Sanskrit nor Kannada.
It’s like that all over India. Later, each region developed its own script,
taking Brahmi as the base. Karnataka wasn’t an exception; they developed
Kannada from Brahmi. We have Hale (old) Kannada, Nadu (medieval)
Kannada, and Hosa (new) Kannada.
However, in the inscriptions of this so-called Vijayanagara period, there is no Prakrit. Most are in Kannada except the first few words in Sanskrit. So the Hampi inscriptions were not very difficult for me to translate.
Badami Chalukya and
Hoysala inscriptions are in Hale Kannada. To read and understand these, you
should have a good knowledge of Kannada literature, Sanskrit literature and
Prakrit, which most people don’t have. I can’t read Prakrit. I can understand
Kannada and manage Sanskrit.
However, in the
inscriptions of this so-called Vijayanagara period, there is no Prakrit. Most
are in Kannada except the first few words in Sanskrit. So the Hampi
inscriptions were not very difficult for me to translate.
How important is it for a historian to
understand the local language and culture?
When the Europeans
came to India, they said Indians didn’t have a historical sense. This is
stupid. They did not know that in each and every temple, at every historical
place, there are inscriptions and they are our authentic documents which tell
our history. In most of the inscriptions, the first portion is eulogy of the
king or the donor or the patron. Next, they mention the date— on such and such
a date, the temple was built or such a donation was made. They go on to detail
which rituals were performed in the temple, who were employed for which service
and how much salary they were getting. If you study an inscription, every word
tells you a good history.
The British did a very
nasty thing. They thought Indians were fond of legends and mythology so they
put legendary history in history textbooks.
Europeans have done
some epigraphy work but most of it is superficial. A professor from Paris
collected several inscriptions of Vithala (built in 1406, Sangama era) and
Virupaksha temples (Badami Chalukya era, 7th century). The copies were in
Kannada but some European historians called them Telugu inscriptions. Many
inscriptions have been translated wrongly by Europeans. They read it correctly
but interpreted it wrongly because they did not have a good knowledge of the
language or culture. They took some assistance from good pandits but couldn’t
find reference material. Not many books were published as now and material was
not as abundantly available as today. Some translated inscriptions just give a
resume of the inscription, not the details. For instance, they mention that the
inscription has details of a grant but don’t translate the details of the
grant. In fact, details of the grants are very important to understand life in
that period.
A lot of your works have been published
in French. While in Paris, you also hold public lectures. Who are your
audiences?
Many, many people are
interested in Vijayanagara the capital, the history of the empire, and history
of Karnataka. Not much has been published. In France, I think, I am the only
one working on Karnataka.
In Europe there is an
epidemic; they all go to Tamil Nadu (laughs). When the British became rulers of
India, Madras was one of the important places so many people went there. Then,
Pondicherry became independent and the French Institute of Pondicherry was
established in 1955. It was established by my father-in-law and unfortunately
that is also in Tamil Nadu (laughs). Also scholars are well received by
institutions like Madras University. In Karnataka, there is no infrastructure
for receiving these scholars and help them with material. There was one
American who wanted to study the Lakulisha Pashupata shaivism in Karnataka. He
abandoned it for lack of support.
Making works available
in various languages encourages future works.

What discoveries from Hampi inscriptions
surprise or interest you the most?
The most interesting
bit for me was that the kings were Kannadigas. I can’t say if Telugu was their
mother tongue but the official language was Kannada. They called it deshabhasha,
roughly translated as national language. All inscriptions are in Kannada. Even
the inscriptions in Tamil Nadu and Andhra start in Tamil or Telugu but switch
to Kannada in the details of the grant.
The most interesting bit for me was that the kings were Kannadigas. I can’t say if Telugu was their mother tongue but the official language was Kannada. They called it deshabhasha, roughly translated as national language. All inscriptions are in Kannada.
There are many Sanskrit copper plates—grants
were given on copper plates— where the first portion of the text is in Sanskrit
and when they come to the date and the details of the grant, they say
‘deshabhashya kathyate’ (to be said in deshabhasha). And this is
followed by text in Kannada. So, Kannada is the deshabhasha.
Did reading inscriptions help you find
original material on Vijayanagara?
Yes. Most importantly,
the foundational legend turned out to be untrue. The legend is—Harihara goes
hunting and sees hounds being chased by a hare. Vidyaranya, a saint of Sringeri
matha, considers it a blessed and protected place and advises him to build a
city on that spot. Harihara builds an empire, with his capital on the
hare-hounds spot. Goddess Bhuvaneshwari showers gold upon Vidyaranya.
The empire was founded
in 1336. The inscriptions reveal that Vidyaranya didn’t exist at that time. A
renowned scholar in 1336 was Vidyatirtha, the guru of Vidyaranya. This was also
the time of Ballala III, the last great Hoysala ruler (1292-1342), the only
surviving Hindu king in the south and fighting to eliminate Muslim rule in the
south. Can you imagine saints like Vidyaranya or Vidyatirtha saying ‘let
Ballala fight but instead of supporting him, let us build a new empire’? This
is really stupid.
Also, Bhuvaneshwari
wasn’t worshipped in Hampi. In fact, until the 18th century, there is no
mention of Bhuvaneshwari but now she has become the goddess of Karnataka, the
Mysore Dasara festival, etc. and people proudly shout Jai Bhuvaneshwari! Jai
Karnataka Mate!
The legend was
concocted in the 17th-18th century but people have taken it as historical fact.
And our people are happy to repeat it.
For all your love for Vijayanagara, you
state that an empire called Vijayanagara never existed.
What they refer to as
Vijayanagara empire was actually called Karnataka Samrajya (empire).
Vijayanagara was only the capital.
Robert Sewell
(1845-1925, Keeper of the Madras Record Office) was the first to study Hampi
and write a book on it, A Forgotten Empire Vijayanagar. Though he
mentioned in the body of the text that the empire was called Karnataka, he
chose Vijayanagar in the title because he knew Kannada and Telugu groups would
fight if he called it Karnataka.
Most Indian
historians, like B. A. Saletore, P. B. Desai and Ram Sharma, also knew it was
called Karnataka. Still, Saletore titled his thesis ‘Social and political life
in the Vijayanagara empire’. Desai titled his novel Vijayanagara Samrajya
Sthapane. Suryanarain Rao titled his book Vijayanagar, The Never To Be
Forgotten Empire.
In 1936, they
celebrated the 6th centenary of the foundation of the empire. There were great
scholars like Saletore, P. B. Desai and Aluru Venkata Rao but they did not have
the courage to say it was Karnataka Empire.
The Indian Council for
Historical Research requested Dr Shrinivas Ritti, who also called the empire
Vijayanagara in his works, to bring out a compilation of all published
inscriptions. In the introduction to the second volume, he says the empire was
never called Vijayanagara; it was called Karnataka and that Mrs Filliozat was
the first to point out, and that Sewell knew about it. He said historians chose
the name Vijayanagara since it was better known but forthcoming scholars should
think of using the correct nomenclature.
Could you independently verify the name
of the empire?
Yes, I’m basing this
on epigraphical evidence. It shouldn’t be called by a certain name because I’m
saying so or because Sewell said so. In all official mentions, it was
Karnataka. Dr Ritti has also quoted more than 30 inscriptions that show it was
Karnataka empire, right from the beginning.

Karnataka or Kannada
Nadu embraced some parts of Andhra and Maharashtra. In Amoghavarsha
Nrupathunga’s time (ruler of the Rasthrakuta dynasty, 800-878 CE), the region
between the Godavari river in the north and Kaveri river in the south was
Kannada country. Pampa and Janna, two of the greatest Kannada poets come from
today’s Andhra.
Kings didn’t call
themselves Badami Chalukya or Kalyani Chalukya but rulers of Karnataka. The
Maharaja of Mysore, in his inscriptions, used to say he was king of Karnataka.
Even later, Thanjavur, Vellore, and Madurai were ruled by Nayaks who were
vassals of Karnataka kings and called themselves Nayaks of Karnataka. The
British called the two styles of music in India Hindustani and Carnatic because
the northern Mughal Empire was Hindustan and the southern Karnataka. The
wars between the British and the Nawab
of Arcot were called Carnatic wars.
Today, when I say the
empire should be referred to as Karnataka, the response is ‘no madam, if we say
Karnataka, we’ll be limiting ourselves to Karnataka state’. They exhibit their
idiocies because there is a difference between the empire and the state that
exists today. It makes me feel very sorry.
How willing are historians to take a
fresh look at ideas that are widely accepted?
It’s very difficult to
change these ideas. A lot of history in India has been reduced to supporting or
refuting what’s already been said. That’s what modern students do; whatever the
former scholars have said, I should speak for or against it. And if he is a
foreigner who has said something, they repeat it and they take it as gospel
truth. I am not sure if it is a lack of original study or plain jealousy.
How important is it to call the empire
Karnataka and not Vijayanagara? Do you expect it to provide a new context in
the study of history?
It definitely will. If
you are a good historian, you should say what is in the text and not conform to
general perceptions. When you study the Hoysala empire, do you call it
Dwarasamudra empire or Belur empire? Do you call the Chalukyas the Badami
empire? You don’t do that. Why should you call Karnataka empire by a different
name? You should call a thing by its original, correct name.
In this particular
case, the correct name solves several problems. When you say Karanataka empire,
the big question about the date of and story behind the foundation of the
empire vanishes. The untrue legends of Vidyaranya and Bhuvaneshwari showering
gold vanish too.
So, when and how did the Karnataka Empire come into existence?
In 1346. There was no foundation as such. It was decided that to face the northern invaders, there must be only one kingdom and one king for the whole of the south. The Hoysala ruler Ballala III started bringing the entire south together and it was fully realised in the time of Harihara I.
Probably it was
Vidyatirtha’s (the guru of Vidyaranya) idea. Since Ballala III was the last
surviving Hindu king, he started this. It was decided that the Hoysala Empire
would continue but the king didn’t call it Hoysala to spare the feelings of
other rulers who came together. Since Ballala III was from Karnataka he called
the new empire Karnataka.
According to me, it
starts in 1336-37 when Ballala III goes on a tour to supervise the northern
frontiers— Badami, Koppal, Gadag, etc.— of his kingdom. He realises a
stronghold in this area can stop invasions from the north. Hampi answers his
problems because of its geographical situation—it is on the banks of the
Tungabhadra, not far from his northern frontiers, and surrounded by rocky
mountains that serve the purpose of fort walls. Hampi was in the hands of
Kampila, a minor chieftain whose capital was at Kammatadurga, not far from
Hampi. Ballala III got him killed and took control of Hampi.
Ballala III was
treacherously killed by the Madurai Sultan in 1342, after he was invited to go
unarmed to sign a treaty. Ballala IV comes to the throne in 1342 but there are
no inscriptions about him after that. He was in his 60s and must have died.
From 1346 onwards, we
don’t get any Hoysala inscriptions but we do get inscriptions of Sangamas,
Harihara I and Bukka I. To publicise his victory, the king makes a grant to the
Sringeri Sharada Peetham in 1346. That marks the beginning. So there was no
foundation as such. The study of inscriptions gives you this picture.
How was the south unified?
It was done over a
long period. Madurai, the Yadavas of Devagiri were originally Hindu kingdoms
but occupied by Muslims at that point. Most temples in these areas were closed
and no rituals were performed. When Malik Kafur invaded (generalissimo of the
Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji, he invaded the Yadava, Kakatiya, Hoysala and
Pandya kingdoms between1308 and 1311), the whole of the south was a patchwork
ruled by the Hoysalas, the Yadavas of Devagiri, the Kakatiyas of Warangal, the
Cholas and Pandyas. They were fighting among themselves for further
aggrandisement of territory. The Hoysalas had a lot of vassals holding small
areas.
So Vidyatirtha must
have advised that the south must be united. He sent his students, Madhavacharya
and Sayanacharya, to campaign in this direction. It was executed so well that
by the time of Harihara I, all the Hoysala vassals had come to their support.
When Bukka I came to the throne, he sent his son Kampana II to various places
to study them and establish peace and order. Kampana went to Madurai and
succeeded in re-establishing the rituals in all the temples and order in the
south.
So, at that time whole
of south India was united under one banner and it was called Karnataka.
Is this the only time in history when
the whole of south India is united as one kingdom?
Yes, yes! The entire
area south of the Krishna was under the Karnataka Empire while the two oceans
formed the boundaries in the east and the west. It existed for more than 200
years—from 1346 to 1565. It fell only in 1565 after the battle of Talikota
(where its army was defeated by the Deccan Sultanates).
Was Vijayanagara a significant place for other empires?
It was known beyond
the seas, both the eastern and the western. Many western chroniclers, including
Portuguese and Italian travellers, have written about Vijayanagara, visited it.
Many horse merchants visited it; they had a trade with Portugal. Before the Portuguese,
they had contacts with Arabs. And on the eastern side, it had contacts— both
trade and diplomatic—with China. An inscription mentions that Bukka sent his
ambassador to the Ming ruler in China. It is recorded in the Ming annals. But
Vijayanagara’s contacts on the eastern side have been neglected in studies.
Do you find inscriptions at Vijayanagara
site on the empire’s relations with other kingdoms?
Unfortunately, there
are none. We have to study foreign documents. The Chinese mention they had
their traders in the western oceans. It is published in a journal called T’oung
Pao. I feel I should study it in detail. There is Hikayat Hang Tuah
from Malaysia, which mentions links with the kings of Karnataka and the writer
gives a description of the capital Vijayanagara— there were heads of terrifying
lions on the top of every gate so that miscreants who wanted to enter the
capital would get scared.
Did the travellers call the empire
Karnataka?
No, it was hard for
them to pronounce Karnataka. The chroniclers and the horse merchants called the
capital Bisnaga and the kingdom Narasanga, by the name of the king Saluva
Narasimha, who was on the throne when they came. Abd-ur Razzaq (a Persian
scholar) doesn’t speak about the empire but gives a beautiful description of
the capital in the mid-15th century. He calls it Biznagalia;it was very
difficult for them to say Vijayanagar. Diogo do Couto came in the 16th century
after the downfall of the empire. He was an archivist and had documents. It is
he who writes that we call the empire Narasanga and the capital Bisnaga but
local people call it Biznagalia; it was difficult for him to pronounce
Vijayanagara. He called the empire Canarine; he couldn’t pronounce Karnataka.
Does studying the Karnataka empire and
Vijayanagara capital offer significant insights into Indian history?
It is after the
downfall of Vijayanagara that the Keladis and the Maharaja of Mysore and other
chieftains came. That is the continuation of the culture. The rulers of Mysore
used to say they were Karnataka Simhasanadhishawara (lord of the throne of
Karnataka). It was the British who compelled them to call themselves Mysore
Samsthanikaru (Ruler of Mysore). It’s in their documents.
The greatest
contribution of Karnataka kings to Indian architecture is the musical pillars
of the Vithala temple. You have musical pillars in Madurai, Shuchindram and
some other temples. To understand what it is, where it came from, you must go
to Hampi. Musicians suggest that the quality of musicality in Hampi pillars is
missing in other temples.
Do inscriptions talk about musical
pillars at Hampi?
Unfortunately, no.
These pillars were built in 1554 and the downfall of the empire occurred in
1565. The empire hardly survived 10-11 years after the pillars so we do not
have any reference to this.
How was the musicality of pillars found
out?
It was believed that
those pillars were musical. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) gave
pieces of wood to monument attendants to beat the pillars with wood and show the
tourists the pillars were musical. But it didn’t work well. In 1975, Vasant
Kavali, my elder brother, discovered the way. He was a producer in AIR,
Bangalore and a musician. He tried various ways and figured that you get
musical notes only on tapping with fingers.
The capital was Vijayanagara. So, what
was Hampi?
Hampi is the nucleus
of Vijayanagara. Initially, it was called Virupaksha tirtha. After the marriage
of Pampa and Virupaksha, she demanded that the place be called after her name.
So, it became Pampa tirtha. And Pampa became Hampi in Kannada.
Which is your favourite Hampi legend?
And, how do you know it is not a true story?
My favourite is the
Radha legend. It talks about why all Vithala idols are naked. It is the most
beautiful story, a very funny story.
Shachi, the wife of
Indra, goes to see Vishnu and praises him. A happy Vishnu grants her a wish and
she asks him to seat her on his lap. Vishnu declines but promises he will do it
when he is born as Krishna and Shachi as Radha. So, when Radha meets Krishna,
now the king of Dwaraka, he makes Radha sit on his lap, which infuriates his
wife Rukmini. She leaves him and goes to the jungle. Krishna goes to get her
back home.
He tells her in
Marathi: ‘Aga vedhe chal (Hey, you mad girl, come on)’. This gets her
angrier. Krishna stands in front of her and undresses. The poet doesn’t explain
why. It is believed that all the Vithala temples since then have idols of a
naked Krishna.
This story became
popular in Karnataka but we do not have literary evidence for this. But in
Marathi it is written. G. H. Khare has written a book on Pandharpur Vitthal. He
says we do not know why he removed all his clothes but he stands naked in front
of her and since then the Vithala temples are built with idols of naked
Krishna.
In Hampi, there is no
Vithala idol now. But we discovered a temple near Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu
where the image is naked. Khare speaks about the image of Vitthal in
Pandharpur; it is not the original image, which was replaced by the current
one. He says he has examined it closely and the image is dressed but Krishna’s
private parts are visible.
The cult of Vithala
starts in Karnataka from the 7th or 8th century, before the Hoysalas. At that
time the images of Vithala were fully clad. In the time of Krishnadevaraya,
somebody concocted this legend about Vithala being naked.
Also, the Radha cult
was not popular in Karnataka. Nobody accepted Radha as a goddess or the beloved
of Krishna. She is not present even in Tamil Nadu. This story came up later and
became popular in Maharashtra. In fact, it was concocted after the downfall of
the kingdom since there is no mention of Radha in any of these inscriptions.
There is no Radha mentioned in the compositions of Purandar Dasa, Kanaka Dasa,
Vijayadasa or other saints. She is worshipped in the whole of north India
(north of Krishna river); there are Meera
bhajans about Radha and stories of her in Gita Govinda; but not in
Karnataka.
Another favourite is
the story that the Vithala temple was never completed and there never was an
idol. You know this is not true if you study the inscriptions. Many donations
were made to the temple. The dholotsava mantapa was built and the
festival celebrated in the centre of the mantapa. If the temple had not
been completed or the idol not installed, why did they celebrate so many days
of festival and describe it in great detail in the inscriptions?
As late as in 1563,
Nammalavaralu, a devotee of Vithala and a Telugu man with a Tamil name, makes
donations to the temple, specifying that the prasada of the morning rituals
should be brought to his house with a procession of musicians and dancers. That
kind of pomp implies the temple was open.
So do we know why doesn’t the Vithala
temple in Hampi have an idol today?
The Muslims who
attacked the empire were not against temples or Hindus. But they wanted to
efface the memory of Rama Raya, the defeated king, from history. They thought
if they demolished the temples so dear to Rama Raya, he would be forgotten. So,
first, they attacked the Vithala temple and wanted to raze it to the ground but
it is built so solidly that they could not succeed. So they covered it with wooden
logs and set fire to the sanctum. It burnt. That is why only the central part
is open to the sky.
The temples in Hampi exhibit
Aihole-Pattadakal style as well as influences of Indo-Islamic architecture.
Didn’t this era witness a Hindu-Muslim divide as some historians have
suggested?
Yes, there are
monuments that have Indo-Islamic architecture because Islam was already there.
There were many Muslims living in the capital. If you go towards Kadirampura,
you will find Muslim tombs. And next to them, you will find an inscription of a
temple. Towards the north from the core of the capital towards the Vithala
temple in the ruins, you can’t see it from the road but if you have the courage
to walk inside like we did in those days, you will find Muslim tombs with
inscriptions and Hindu temples, next to each other.
Domingo Paes, a
Portuguese horse merchant, who came in the time of Krishnadevaraya, says Hindus
and Muslims had their houses next to each other. He says that to the north of
the capital there are Muslim quarters where Hindus also live.
A Muslim bodyguard of
Deva Raya II, Katige (one who holds a stick) Ahmad Khan, built a chhatra
(umbrella) in Hampi for the good of the king. After Khan’s death, the king
built his tomb next to that chhatra. The tomb and the chhatra with an
inscription on the door still exist.
Hindus and Muslims
lived in harmony there. These British historians have made a mess, concocting
stories of Hindu-Muslim divide and our people want to repeat it.
How important were temples in this
empire? Were they just for worship or did they serve a larger purpose?
Temples were, first of
all, banks. People would deposit an amount in the temple and on the interest
rituals were celebrated. Some revenues from villages were given to the temple.
Right from the beginning, they became cultural as well as educational and
financial centres.
In Hampi, there are
several inscriptions detailing donations to temples, specifying which rituals
they were meant for and how much was to be spent for which purpose. Donations
were made for renovation and construction as well.
The temple was a
religious centre but it served many other purposes. All the life in that area
developed around the temple so it was the pivot of the agglomeration.
The temple is an open
book—you get mythology, history, social, cultural and religious lives. A
student gets abundant material here. This is what makes me interested in
studying them.
But I study the entire
place, not just the temple site. Whichever site I choose, I want to study the
history of that place. While studying Vijayanagara, I wanted to understand the
whole empire.
Why have some historians complained that Basaveswara hampered temple building in Karnataka?
In Badami Chalukya and
Kalyani Chalukya period (6th to 8th centuries and 10th to 12th centuries,
respectively), Lakulashaivas(followers of Lakulisha, the founder of the
Pashupata Shaivite school) in Karnataka advised people to build temples and
make donations to them. People who made donations were not required to pay
taxes to the king, making him weak. When Bijjala comes to power, he employs
Basaveswara to find a via media. Basaveswara teaches that your body is god; if
you perform your duty, god will be happy and you get moksha; going to temples
isn’t necessary.
Some historians accuse
Basaveswara of impeding temple-building. Yes, building a temple anywhere and
everywhere stopped, but existing temples got enlarged. Because of his movement,
Karnataka has some large and beautiful temples, instead of several small and
insignificant ones.
There is a huge discussion about lingayatism being a separate religion but Basaveswara never said it was a religion. He said ‘do your duty and don’t think of anything else’. He talked about it as a way of life. In his days, lingayatism did not get recognition. It became prominent only in the 15th century.
There are demands to recognise
Lingayatism as a separate religion. Can we find early references if we look
through the inscriptions?
You will be wasting
your time. There is a huge discussion about lingayatism being a separate
religion but Basaveswara never said it was a religion. He said ‘do your duty
and don’t think of anything else’. He talked about it as a way of life. In his
days, lingayatism did not get recognition. It became prominent only in the 15th
century.
In Basaveswara’s time,
Lakulashaivas were prominent in Karnataka. They were treated as equal to
Brahmins and held important posts as royal preceptors and advisors to
ministers. They did not accept Basaveswara’s ideas. That led to revolution in
the capital Kalyani. King Bijjala was assassinated and Basaveswara had to leave
the place. His period was over by 1168 and the Chalukya empire ends in 1189.
Seunas of Devagiri continued to rule and we have a number of Lakulashaiva
inscriptions that suggest they were heads of the temples and continued to
perform pooja, unlike what Basaveswara taught. He was not forgotten but we get
his references only in some inscriptions, including one at Chaudadanapur near
Ranebennur, where a saint says ‘I want to be like Sangana Basava’.
Basaveswara’s
principles and lingayatism came to prominence only in the time of Deva Raya II,
when all the vachanas were codified. This is in the first half of the
15th century.
The Karnataka Empire was founded to
protect Hindu kingdoms from Muslim invasion. So, how Hindu was this empire?
The kings were not
against Muslims. They were against Muslim rule over Hindu kingdoms. I must make
this point very clear. There was no hatred. In fact, they just wanted to
protect their kingdom from invaders, who happened to be Muslim. They saw it as
alien invasion. In fact, they used a title Suratrana, derived from the title
Sultan that Muslim rulers used. They called themselves Hindu Raya Suratrana
meaning Hindu Sultan.
Did they not want to build a fierce
Hindu identity or promote Hindu nationalism?
No. They were just
stopping alien invasion. Temples were built and rituals conducted but there
wasn’t a state religion. When the Bhakti movement started, Purandara Dasa,
Kanakadasa and other saints sang the praises of their gods. In a way, itwas
maintaining Hinduism but the kings never asked people to do anything about
religion. They accepted all religions. Buddhism had disappeared from this area
by then; Jainism was there; and Madhava, Sri Vaishnava and Shaivism were there.
Lingayatism started after the 15th century. The kings accommodated all of them.
Some Jesuits in their documents have said the king—I think it was about a king
of the Aravidu dynasty—was ready to become Christian. They must have
exaggerated but it shows how accommodating the king was.
You mentioned in one of your lectures that Karnataka is celebrating Hampi Utsav (festival) without giving Tipu Sultan due credit. What’s Tipu’s Hampi connection?
When the British were
organising the states, the Hyderabad Nizam had an eye on Hampi since Anegundi
was already in his dominion. At the same time, the Marathas, who had
Bombay-Karnataka (Dharwad, Bijapur, etc.) thought Hampi should come under their
territory. But Tipu said Hampi was the capital of the Karnataka Empire and must
remain in Karnataka. He fought for it. Also, he had a soft corner for the last
descendant of the maharaja of Anegundi, who called himself the descendant of
Aravidu Rama Raya, surviving on a meagre revenue and some help from Tipu who
thought if Hampi stayed in Karnataka, he would have better means of survival.
In any case, it is
because of Tipu that Hampi is in Karnataka today. If Karnataka is celebrating
Hampi Utsav, they must give Tipu his due.They must remember him for what he
did.
There has been a lot of political drama
around celebrating Tipu’s birth anniversary with some political groups calling
him anti-Hindu. Do you think he was anti-Hindu?
These are all stupid
people. The BJP is backed by the VHP, who are fanatics. They don’t acknowledge
Tipu’s contribution but this is a fact and written by the British in a
published paper.
You celebrate
Krishnadevaraya and all other rulers. Why not Tipu? He is part of our history.
Whether you like Tipu or not is not the question. By celebrating his jayanti,
you are remembering a historical figure and you’re reminding the people of our
history. Doing this is not anti-Hindu. In fact, he was not anti-Hindu. He is
being portrayed as one but he wasn’t. In fact, Tipu used to say he was a
devotee of Ranganatha of Srirangapatna. He gave lots of donations to temples in
Srirangapatna, Melkote, etc.
It was the British who
started anti-Tipu propaganda to turn people against him. In the beginning, Tipu
was a kind and gentle ruler. When the British attacked him continuously and he
had a lot of difficulties, probably he became cruel. But, I don’t believe it
when they say he massacred hundreds of Iyengars because he wanted to kill
Hindus. His acts were more of suppression to save his state than anti-Hindu.
You seem to take your role as a
historian as somebody who separates myth from facts very seriously.
That should be the
primary objective.
Our current political dispensation is blurring the line between myth and history. There are attempts at rewriting history from one point of view and to erase parts that are not to one’s liking. How do you see that as a historian?
It makes me very sad.
We have an expression in Kannada ‘Boregall mele neer suridhanthe’. On a
rock, you pour water, it doesn’t sprout. Talking to politicians about these
things is like that.
I’m not saying that
myth is worthless and you should discard it. Some legends are based on certain
facts. But, you need to verify. It is important to separate historical facts
and myth.
In the original
Ramayana, Hanuman is not a monkey but a great scholar and musician. The legend
about him being a monkey appears much later. Recently, I attended a seminar
where a professor from Hyderabad spoke about Aurangzeb’s atrocities as well as
his good qualities. When he spoke about the good qualities, nobody wanted to
accept it.
Our people are happy repeating legends.