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No. 30]
VILASA GRANT OF PROLAYA NAYAKA stated in the inscription, the public exercise of Hindu religion, and subjected its followers to inhuman tyranny. The Hindus could not dress well, live well, and appear to be prosperous. Vexatious taxes were imposed on them; their seats of learning were destroyed; their temples were plundered and demolished ; and the images of their gods were defaced and broken and used ag building material for erecting prayer houses for the faithful. That this is not an exaggeration but genuine truth is proved by independent accounts of the condition of the Hindus in other parts of South India subjugated by the Mussalmang. Gangadēvi, the queen of Kumāra Kampaņa (1340-74 A.D.), presents in her Madhurāvijayam, a harrowing picture of devastation caused by the Muhammadans in the Tamil country. The temples in the land ', says she have fallen into neglect as worship in them has been stopped. Within their walls the frightful howls of jaokals have taken the place of the sweet reverberations of the mridanga. Like the Turashkas who know Do limits, the Kāvēri has forgotten her ancient boundaries and brings frequent destruction with her floods. The sweet odour of the sacrificial smoke and the chant of the Vēdas have deserted the villages (agrahāras), which are now filled with the foul smell of the roasted flesh and the fierce noises of the ruffianly Turushkas. The suburban gardens of Madura present a most painful sight; many of their beautiful cocoanut palms have been cut down ; and on every side are seen rows of stakes from which swing strings of human skulle strung together. The Tämrapari is flowing red with the blood of the slaughtered cows. The Voda is forgotten and justice has gone into hiding; there is not left any trace of virtue or nobility in the land, and despair is writ large on the faces of the unfortunate Drávidas.'
Unable to bear the grinding tyranny of the Musalmans, which was set on foot to wipe ont their race, religion and culture, the Andhras as & people joined together and rose up in revolt. Nobles and common folk, if we can trust the evidence of the inscription under consideration, voluntarily flocked to the standard of Prölaya-nayaka to rid the country of the barbarous hordes of Islām, which by the decree of an evil fate descended on their native land. The Brāhmaṇas and the farmers of the soil paid, of their own free will, taxes to enable the leaders to carry on the struggle for freedom successfully. It was the first national movement in Indian history ; and the Andhras showed to the rest of India how a people could, by their united effort, expel the enemy and regain their lost freedom.
This was no easy task. Muhammad bin Tughluq was a powerful monarch, who was cruel and merciless in crushing his enemies. No Hindu ruler of the South, however strong and warlike, was able to resist the irresistible advance of his armies. It is noteworthy that in that deplorable state of utter helplessness, the Andhras were able to organise themselves into a confederacy, strike a blow to gain independence, and successfally accomplish their purpose.
The information furnished by the grant under review about the Musunuri family is very meagre. It simply states that king Prola of the Musunuri family was born in the fourth caste ; he headed the movement to free the country from the Muslim yoke, and having successfully driven them out, he made Rekapalli on the Godavari at the foot of the Mālyavanta mountain his capital and entrusted the administration of the country to his younger brothers, such as Kāpaya-näyake, devoting himself entirely to the performance of charitable and meritorious deeds. Nothing is known from this grant about Prölaya-nayaka's history and career, except that he had many younger brothers, of whom Kapaya-nayaka was one. This dearth of information about his family is made up by the Prolavaram grant of Kāpaya-nayaka, dated in the Saka year 1267, expressed by the chronogram giri-tarka-bhānu, in the cyclio year Pārthiva. As he is also stated in the grant to have belonged to the Musunuri family and as the date of the grant is very near to
1 K.A.N Sastri, The Pawlyan Kingdom, pp. 242-43. .A.R. Ep., 1934-36, C. P. No. 3. Cf. J BORS, Vol. xx, pp. 260 ff.
