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DECEMBER, 1898.)
THE TELUGU LITERATURE.
329
ease. Bafiled in these attempts, they told her to go to Benares and bring the sacred Ganges' water, and in the interim changed their residence and went to a place afar off. Peki came home, bringing the sacred water of the Ganges, and not finding any of the family there, went in search of them, taking with her a huge stone not easily carried by even half a dozen of the strongest men and gave it over to her master. On his enquiring of her kindly, as to the best way of getting rid of her, she replied that she would go on his giving over to her the bead he had obtained in the forest. This was done, and she immediately left the house.
Though his ancestors belonged to the Kistna district, Sûrana seems to have travelled southward, and to have taken up his residence at the courts of Akavid and Nandyal in the district of Kurnul, formed after the dissolution of the kingdom of Vijayanagara. It is said that he was one of the Ashtadiggajas of the court of Kộishnaraya, but we have no records to shew that he flourished at the time or at the court of the said monarch. The mistake that he was one of the eight poets of the court of Krishnarâys must have arisen, I think, from the confusion of the name of that monarch with one who bore the same appellation and ruled long after at Nandyal, and who seems to have maintained Telugu literature to a certain extent, just as did his more celebrated name sake of Vijayanagara. We are led to believe that the poet flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century. His Kalápiirnodaya is dedicated to Krishnaraya of Nandyal, who is there the sixth in descent from Arvîți Bukkaraya. The latter monarch had, as his eldest son, Singararaya, wbo had Narasingaraya, whose son was Nåra parêya, whose son was Narașingarêya, whose son was Krishnaraya. Bukkaraya, as we have seen already, ruled from 1473 to 1481 A. D. If we should fix twenty years as the reigning period of each of the four kings who succeeded Bukka, Krishnaraya must have flourished about 1560 A. D. It appears, therefore, that he was a contemporary of Sadasivaraya of Vijayanagara, which fact is rendered manifest by the inscription in the Ankalamma temple at Karimaddala village.20 Achyutaraya, who sueceeded Krishwaraya in 1530 A. D., reigned till 1542 A. D.
We have already seen how Salika Timma assumed the reigns of government during the minority of Sadasiva, how he tried to confine Râmaraja (the son-in-law of Krishnadêvarêya) and his brother Tirumalarêya in prison, how they both fled to Penukonda and mustered forces, and with the help of the sovereign of Kurnul invaded Vijayanagara, defeated and killed Salika Timma, and proclaimed young Eadasiva king in 1542 A. D. Sadasiva was king only in name, and Râmara ja assumed the actual reins of government and ruled as the real monarch till 1565 A. D., when he was overthrown and killed by the Muhammadan armies at the battle of Talikota. The Muhammadan kings entered Vijayanagara and by many atrocious acts ruined the kingdom, but, on account of internal dissensions, did not completely occupy the place. For the next five years anarchy prevailed in the land, and about 1567 A. D. Sadasiva died. In the same year Tiramaladeva left Vijayanagara for Penukonda, proclaimed himself king in 1569 A. D., and reigned there for the brief space of three years, when he died His son, Srirangarîyn, reigned from 1572 to 1585 A. D. His brother, Venkatapatiraya, then became king, and removed the seat of his government from Penukonda to Chandragiri, 21 where he died in 1614 A. D., leaving no issue. Now as Krishnaraya of Nandyal was a contemporary of Sadasiva, he must have flourished about 1564 A. D. And Pingali Sûrana, who dedicated his Kald pirnôdaya to Krishộarkya of Nandyal, must have done so at about the same period. This king is also the same Krishnaraya of Nandyal that flourished towards the beginning of the reign of Venkatapatiraya. He must, therefore, have reigned for a very short period after 1585 A. D. Moreover, mention is made in the Kaldprirņôdaya that Nároparaya, the grandfather of Krishnaraya, utterly routed Kutubu'l-Mulk, the progenitor of the Kutab-Shâhi family of Golconda, at Kondavido. This Kutubu'l-Mulk, we know, reigned at Gölconda from 1512 to 1543 A. D. As this battle came off in 1515 A, D., at the time of
2. Local Records, Vol. XVI. of Oriental M3. Library, Madras.
(See above p. 826, note 12.-H, K, S.)
