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AY, 1911.]
KOYILOLUGU
143
the Kâvert, crossed it, defeated his enemy, and captured Srirangam." The statement that ViraNarasimha defeated Praudbadêvarîya is not new to history. Mr. J. Ramayya Pantula in his article on the Devulapalli plates of Immadi Nộisimha sums up the events of this period as narrated by the Portuguese chronicler Nuniz, "According to Nuniz, the following are brietly the circumstances that led to the downfall of the first and the accession of the second dynasty. The last great king of the first dynasty was Dêvarêya II who ruled till about A.D. 1449. The next 40 or 50 years saw no less than five sovereigns. All of them were weak and imbecile. The last of them, whom Nuniz calls. Padea Rao,' seems to have been the worst of the lot. And in his time the empire declined even more than in the time of his four immediate predecesso18. It occurred to Narasimharaya, who was the principal minister and general of the state, that a change of sovereign was necessary to prevent the kingdom from falling a prey to its hereditary enemy, the Bahmâni kings. And with the consent and support of the other generals and ministers, he seized the throne and kingdom, allowing the king to make his escape." As regards the date of the usurpation by Narasymgua, the same writer remarks there are no means of fixing the exact year of the usar pation ; but this event must be placed between the Saka year 1408 (= A. D. 1486-7) which is the latest known date of the first dynasty and Saka 1418, Rakshasa (= A.D. 1495-6) which is the earliest known reliable date of Immadi Narasimha." Narasymgua of Nuniz has been identified with the Saluva king Vira-Narasim baraya. "The statement in the Köylolugu that Vira-Narasimharaya defeated Praudhadevarâys places beyond all possible doubts the identity of Nuniz's Padea Rao' with Praudhadêvarêya. It is also worthy of note that the date of the first usurpation by Vira-Narasimhariya took place some time before Saka 1411, if not in that year. An inscription of Vira-Narasimhariya has been found at Varichc hiyâr in the Madura district. That VtraNarasimharaya prior to his obtaining the Vijayanagara throne was in the service of the last kings of that dynasty may be gathered from several stone records. He figures in an inscription of Saka 1390 when Rajasekhara-Mabírája son of Mallikarjuna was king. His general Narasa-Nayakka whu put down the power of Köneriraju, usurped the Vijayanagara kingdom on the death of Vira-Narasimharâya. And his records are found in the Madura and Trichinopoly districts, and establish in a way his conquest and the extent of his dominions. Sennappa Nayak ka is perhaps identical with Sennayadeva who figures in No. 4 of the Madras Epigraphical collection for 1896. It may be noted here that after Immadi Narasimha, Kțisbgaráya and Achynta had sway over the Trichinopoly district. It was during the time of these kings that the Napakas of Madura got more or less independent power; but it may be said that they acknowlelged the central authority of the Vijayanagara kings.
The Nayakas of M urs In Saka 1420, Trichinopoly and Madura were under the role of Visvanatha-Nayakka. A certain Narasimha-Desika, son of VAthûladesika, with the help of the Nayakka presented several gold vessels and gave tbree lakhs of gold (pieces) in addition. In Saka 1447 during the rule of KșishņappaNayakka, he presented many jewels to the god and built steps on the southern bank of the Kávérí. As agent to Kamara Křishnappa, the same individual made for the god a coat of jewels and a crown at a cost of 1,50,000 gold pieces, In Saka 1500, Muttu-Virappa Nayakka was ruling. Now Uttamanambi and Bhattar Tirumalâchâri quarrelled and the Vijayanagare king (rdyar) sent an army against Trichinopoly, which was encamped at Tôgûr, perbaps identical with the village of the same name near the Grand Anicut. Raghunatha-Nayakka was the Râyar's agent. The treachery of Uttamanambi led to the captivity of Bhattar Tirumalâchâri, who was removed to the Durgam and kept there for six months until redeemed by a Reddi on payment of a ransom of 20,000 gold pieces. The famous Gattivál-Nayakkan flourisbed during this period. After MuttuVirappa, Tirumalai Saari, perhaps Tirunalai-Nayakka, visited Srirangam.
