South India Under the Vijayanagar Empire

The History of the Aravido Dynasty of Vijayanagar Empire is the history of the most important period of South India which illucidate the domination of the Tamil and Kanarese by Telugu. No doubt, the whole of Southern India was under the sway of Vijayanagar prior to the 15th century but the former rulers of the Tamilians had been either retained, as in the case of the Cholas of Tanjor or restored, as in the case of the Pandeyas of Madura, as feudatory kings under the powerful Telugu Empire. It is needless to insist on the importance of the history of Vijayanagar Empire without which no serious study of South Indian History can be undertaken. In these volumes the learned author deals with the history of South India from the second half of the 16th century until the middle of 18th century, when the last representatives of the old feudatory chiefs of Vijayanagar disappeared with the usurpation of the kingdom by Haider Ali. Besides the historical aspects, other important factors which shaped the course of history were the flourishing Portuguese commerce in South India and its decline with the appearance of Danish, Dutch, French and English traders. Muhammadans, Marathas and the Mughal’s invaded South and shook to its very foundation the empire of Vijayanagar. It was also during this period that Vaishnavism was formerly established in the South as a result of the onslaughts on Jainism and Saivism. The period, thus discussed in these volumes is extremely important in the history of South India.