A LITTLE-EXPLORED AREA in the annals of the Vijayanagara Empire is the outstanding part played by its ministers and generals. These largely-unknown men had a decisive hand in both establishing and sustaining this vast Hindu Empire for nearly 300 years. The chief traits that distinguished them included prowess, valour, loyalty, foresight and an intrinsic sense of justice. Almost every Vijayanagara monarch recognised their worth and endowed them with sweeping powers. From one perspective, the history of Vijayanagara is also the history of these warriors. Inscriptions narrating their exploits and eminence invariably describe their heroism, their “eagerness” to serve the Raja and the Desha, their anxiety to preserve Dharma, their generosity and the glory of their martyrdom in case they died in battle.
Perhaps the most celebrated warrior-cum-minister was Saluva Thimmarasu fondly known as Appaji, the Prime Minister of Sri Krishnadevaraya. Others in no particular chronology, include Baichappa Nayaka, Vittana Odeyar, Viranna Odeyar, Anantarasa Odeyar, Chennappa Odeyar, Gopanna Dandanayaka (or Gopanarya, the renowned liberator of the Srirangam Temple), Naganna Dannayaka, Mallappa Dannayaka, Muddappa Dannayaka, Soveya Dannayaka, Irugappa Dannayaka and Lakshmidhara Amatya. To this rarefied list belongs another heroic name: Gunda Daṇḍanātha.
The surnames attached to these men — Odeyar (in general, Master), Nayaka (Leader), Mantri (Minister), Amatya (Minister), Dannayaka (Commander) — are indicators of their official position in the ruling hierarchy. Synonymns for Daṇṇāyaka include Dandanayaka, Daṇḍanātha, Daṇḍādhīśa, Daṇḍēśa and Daṇḍādhipati.
Some among these Daṇṇāyakas were living legends whose valiant legacies outlasted their mortal lives and provided generational inspiration to the warrior class just as how Field Marshal Cariappa, General Thimmayya and Sam Bahadur Manekshaw are decorated names in contemporary memory.
GUNDA DAṆḌANĀTHA is one such name in Vijayanagara history. The inscriptions which tell us about him don’t tell us anything about his birth, family and other personal details; they only extol his valour and virtues through real-life incidents.
A lengthy Kannada inscription dated 1397 CE unearthed in Belur describes his daring mettle in bombastic poetry.
Gunda Daṇḍanātha was to Harihara II just as how Minister Sumantra was to Dasharatha. The enemies of the land — the Yavanas and the Turushkas — were completely incinerated like moths flying into a blazing ring of fire, consumed by the overwhelming power of his long, pillar-like valorous arms. He dragged these haughty Turushkas by their hair and flung them into cages meant for mad monkeys. Who on earth is a competitor to this Gunda Daṇḍanātha?
The same inscription also uses the simile of Rama and Maruti (Hanuman) to describe the relationship of Harihara II and Gunda Daṇḍanātha — the relationship between a virtuous king and his devoted servant. The delightful verisification and the liberal use of bombastic adjectival phrases is a separate pleasure to savour. A mind trained in Western methods of historiography will doubtless reject some of these descriptions as exaggerated and flowery but such minds clearly lack a finely-honed sense of poetic refinement and Sahrudayatva. At any rate, this inscription clearly establishes a historical truth: that Gunda Daṇḍanātha had earned his high position by literally spilling his blood on the battlefield.
And once he had attained a high position as Harihara II’s trusted lieutenant, he maintained it by showing magnanimity to those who served under him. An earlier inscription dated 1395 CE found in Channapattana is a representative example. This is what it says:
When the Maharajadhiraja Raja-paramesvara, Master of the Four Oceans, Vira-Harihara-Maharaya [Harihara II], and the great minister Gundappa Daṇṇāyaka Odeyar were ruling the kingdom… in peace and wisdom — a was made in Malaur-sthala… to the chief senior merchant of the Horapattanagiri… Kaliyappa-Setti, by the hand of the Eighteen country [i.e., an administrative unit comprising 18 districts].
The aforementioned Belur Inscription is historically significant. Its specific mention of how Gunda Daṇḍanātha “dragged the haughty Turushkas by their hair and flung them into cages meant for mad monkeys” is a precursor to an epochal battle that he won. That victory was in turn a harbinger of a grand restoration. The same inscription also narrates this story.
In 1397, Taj-ud-din Firoz Shah ascended the Bahmani throne in Gulbarga and triggered a year-long war with Vijayanagara. The world-renowned, magnificent Chennakeshava Swami Temple in Belur was one of the casualties of this war. The inscription narrates how “that Turuka named Ganga-Shalar [Salar Gangu] from Kallubarage [Gulbarga] burnt its main door and felled its tower to the ground.”
The enormity of Gunda Daṇḍanātha’s triumph is precisely what is signified by the wording, “[he] dragged the haughty Turushkas from the battlefield by their hair and flung them into cages meant for mad monkeys.” The inscription also tells us that Gunda Daṇḍanātha extended the power of his arms to other countries as well and erected Jaya-Stambhas (pillars of victory) there.
But he was not content yet.
After expelling the Turushkas, Gunda Daṇḍanātha took a vow of sacred restoration on a grand scale. This was the rejuvenation of the selfsame Belur Chennakeshava Temple which the Bahmani bigot had heartlessly razed.
Accordingly, Gunda Daṇḍanātha made a plea to his master and king, Harihara II who gladly sanctioned it. The full story of the restoration of the Belur Chennakeshava Temple will be narrated in the next episode.
To be continued
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