________________
No. 19.)
NALLUR GRANT OF HARIHARA II.
115
Hariyappa-Vodeya, and which is dated in Saka-Samvat 1261, the Vikrama samvatsara ( = A.D. 1340).1 Of him the Bițragunta grant of Samgama II. says that he defeated "the Sultan." ! In his Lists of Antiquities, Vol. II. p. 161, Mr. Sewell refers to a Hindú confederation, of which the Råya of Vijayanagara formed a party, and which " with an immense force drove the Muḥammadans out of Orangal" in A.D. 1344. Though we have no inscription of Harihara I. as late as A.D. 1344, it is not impossible that he was the Râya of Vijayanagara who joined the confederation, because the earliest inscription of his younger brother Bukka I. is dated in Saka-Samvat 1276* (- A.D. 1353). Búkka I. is represented in two inscriptions as a Mahamandalesvara ruling in the Hoysaņa country. Perhaps this statement furnishes a clue to the origin of the Vijayanagara kings. It may be that they were originally feudatories of the Hoysala kings. After the utter defeat of the Hoysala king Ballkla III. and the demolition of his capital Dvårasamudra by the Muhammadans in the year 1327 A.D.5 he evidently continued the semblance of a kingdom; for there are inscriptions dated in Saka-Samvat 1262 (= A.D. 1340), which refer themselves to his reign, at Erode in the Coimbatore district and at Tiruvannamalai in the South Arcot district, and one dated as late as Saka-Samvat 1265 (= A.D. 1342) at Whitefield in the Bangalore district. It would therefore appear that Ballkļa III. left Harihara I. in the north as & check to the Muḥammadan invaders, who had ousted him in A.D. 1327. His subordinate evidently took advantage of the opportunity to create a principality for himself and eventually to assert bis independence. The only epigraphical record of Harihara I. makes no reference to Ballå!a III, as overlord, nor does it furnish any clue as to the extent of the dominions owned by Harihara I. It is during the time of Bukka I. that the capital Vijayanagara first makes its appearance. There is reason to believe that the Muhammadans continued to be troublesome during the reign of Bukka I. as well.10 It was during the time of Bukka's son Harihara II. that the kingdom became firmly established. This is shown by the fact that he could turn his energies to extend his dominions in the south, or rather to recover possession of the provinces which were probably once subject to Ballala III.
The exact date of the accession of Harihara II., in whose reign the subjoined inscription is dated, is not known. He must have ascended the throne between Saka-Samvat 1293 and 1301.11 From this as well as from other inscriptions we learn that he was the son of Bukka I. by his queen Gauri. In the Satyamangalam plates of Dêvarîya II. we are told that Harihara's queen was Malåmbika.13 His inscriptions have been found at Hampe or Vijayanagara in the Bellary district ; 14 at Bêlûr, 15 Chitaldroog, 16 Harihar i7 and Hassan 18 in the
1 Ind. Ant. Vol. X. p. 63; see note 52 on the same page. ante, p. 32, verse 5. 9 Jour. Bo. Br. R. 4. 8. Vol. XII. p. 338.
ibid. p. 840. Dr. Fleet's Kanarese Dynasties, p. 70.
• Dr. Hultzacl's Annual Report for 1891-92, p. 8. 7 Madras Christian College Magazine, Vol. IX. p. 667. 8 Dr. Hultzach's Annual Report for 1892-93, p. 2.
ante. P. 36. note 1; Jour. Bo. Br. R. A. 8. Vol. XII. p. 374; Colebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Madras edition, Vol. II. p. 258, where it is said that Bukka (I.) made " Vidyanagari" a permanent metropolis; and Mr. Rice's Mysore Inscription, pp. 55 and 278. 1. 10 According to Mr. Sewell (Lists of Antiquities, Vol. II. p. 163), two attacks were made by the Muhammadans about this time on Vijayanagara, the first in 1365-66 and the second in 1878 A.D. The first attack was successful, but in the second the leader was eventually compelled to retire.
The latest known date of Bukka I. is Saka-Samvat 1293 according to the genealogical table of the first Viisyanagara dynasty published ante, p. 36, and the earliest date hitherto discovered of Harihars II. ie SakaSamvat 1301; see Jour, Bo. Br. R. 4. 8. Vol. XII. p. 340.
ante, p. 37, verse 7; Colebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Madras edition, Vol. II. p. 258; and Mr. Rice's Mysore Inscriptions, p. 278. 13 ante, p. 37, verse 9.
South-Indian Inscription, Vol. I No. 152. 1 Mr. Rice's Mysore Inscriptions, pp. 222, 227, and 268.
1 In Colebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Madras edition, Vol. II. pp. 25-267, an iuscription on three brass plates, found at Chitaldroog, is pablisbed, and another found at the same place is noticed.
17 Mr. Rice's Mysore Inscriptions, p. 55. 18 ibid. p. 278.
02
