Featured Image: An artist's rendering of Vijayanagara Emperor Krishnadeva Raya
In a discovery of significant historical importance, the first-ever epigraphical reference to the date of the demise of Vijayanagara Emperor Krishnadeva Raya was discovered at Honnenahalli in the Tumakuru district of Karnataka.
The inscription states that the day of the monarch’s death was marked by a lunar eclipse.
K Munirathnam, Director, Epigraphy Branch of the Archaeological Survey of India, said that their office received photographs of the inscription from KR Narasimhan, a retired professor who currently resides in Yelahanka, Bengaluru. Prof Narasimhan mentioned that a friend of his, M Dhanpal, who is a BMTC bus driver and an archaeology enthusiast, brought the inscription to his attention.
The 15-line Kannada inscription is engraved on a slab installed on the northern side of the Gopalakrishna Temple at Honnenahalli in Tumakuru district.
It refers to the death of Krishnadeva Raya (vīrakr̥ṣṇarāya mahārāyalu yī tathā tithiyalu astamayarāgalu) as having occurred on Śaka 1451, Virōdhi samvatsara, Kārtika māsa, śukla 15, lunar eclipse. This date of the Shaka calendar, according to historians, corresponds to 17 October, 1529 CE.
The inscription also traces the reign of Harihara Raya (also known as Hakka Raya) and Bukka Raya, the founders of the Vijayanagara Empire, in 1336 CE, to the death of Krishnadeva Raya. Krishnadeva Raya was one of the foremost military generals and diplomats in India’s history. His military campaigns made several inroads into enemy territory. He conquered strategically important fortresses and resource-rich regions from the Bahamani Sultans and the Gajapatis of Odisha.
Written in ancient Kannada script, the inscription also has the boar (varāha) icon and symbols of the sun and the moon ― these being the Vijayanagara insignia ― along with an icon of Hanuman engraved on the top. The inscription also mentions an endowment of the revenue from a village to a Veeraprasanna Hanumanta temple.
According to Dr Munirathnam and Prof Narasimhan, the Kalahasti inscription refers to the coronation of Krishnadeva Raya’s successor Achyuta Raya, as having taken place on October 21, 1529 CE.
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