Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Foreign Visitors to Vijayanagar

                                                UNESCO World Heritage - Hampi

The splendor and affluence of the Vijayanagara city and empire has been described in the accounts of travellers who visited this South Indian Hindu Kingdom at regular intervals. Prominent among them are the Italian Nicolo dei Conti and Abdur Razzaq (15th century AD) and the Portuguese travelers Paes and Nuniz who visited India in the 16th century. 

Nicolo Conti, First European Visitor To Vijayanagar 
Born at the coastal town of Chioggia in Italy, Nicolo Conti was an Italian and the earliest European visitor to the mighty Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. The ruins of the great city of Vijayanagar are found at Hampi in the state of Karnataka. Nicolo Conti reached the city in 1420 -21 in the reign of Devaraya I. His original travel account in Latin is lost. Conti gives a vivid account of the city of Vijayanagar, its court, customs, currency, festivals and other matters. 

Abdur Razzaq 
Abdur Razzaq was a Persian who was sent by Timur's son and successor Shah Rukh as ambassador to the Zamorin of Calicut. In April 1443, Abdur Razzaq also visited Vijayanagar during the reign of Devaraya II. Abdur Razzaq was overawed with the size and grandeur of the city of Vijayanagar. He says, “The city is such that eye has not seen nor ear heard of any place resembling it upon the whole earth. It is so built that it has seven fortified walls, one within the other.” His narrative supplies valuable information on the topography, administration and social life of Vijayanagar at that time. 


Duarte Barbosa
Duarte Barbosa was another Portuguese traveller who came to Vijayanagar during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya. He was proficient in Malayalam. Barbosa returned to Portugal between 1517 and 1518. His work "An Account of Countries Bordering the Indian Ocean and their Inhabitants" was completed in 1518.

Domingo Paes 
He was a Portuguese traveler who visited Vijayanagar during the reign of its greatest ruler Krishnadeva Raya in 1520. Paes saw the glory of Vijayanagar and has written what he saw, without relating legends, fables, stories, etc. The narrative of Domingo Paes provides an eyewitness account to the reign of Krishnadeva Raya. Paes found the city of Vijayanagar “as large as Rome, and very beautiful to sight. This is the best provided city in the world…”

Fernao Nuniz
Fernao Nuniz was a Portuguese horse-dealer and chronicler who spent three years in Vijayanagar during the reign of Achyuta Deva Raya from 1535 to 1537.  

Caesar Frederick 
Caesar Frederick was a Venetian traveler who visited Vijayanagar a couple of years after the famous battle of Rakshasa Tangadi or Talikota in 1565. 

Reference:
Prof K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Preserve the Gandhara Civilization

An astonishingly beautiful place, the Swat valley in Pakistan, the ancient seat of Gandhara civilization, is no longer the popular tourist destination as it used to be before the Taliban seized the valley in 2006 and effective power in 2006. Since then, area has become synonymous with violence.

It all started with the defacing of a 23-foot high statue of the Buddha by Fazlullah’s militants on October 8, 2007 on the pretext that Islam permits no graven images. This 7th century seated Buddha is carved in a rock in the lap of a mountain in Jehandabad village in the region.

During the rule of great Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism became a force to reckon with in the Swat valley. The region is full of Budhist stupas, monasteries, pottery and coins. The world famed Gandhara art flourished under the Buddhist Kushan dynasty. Today Batkara Stupa in the Swat Valley is in a state of disarray due to the neglect of the authorities concerned. Beautifully situated in the serene ambience of Jambil Valley the Batkara Stupa is one of the most famous and oldest seats of Buddhist learning in Swat Valley.

It is high time the people at the helm of affairs in Pakistan should come forward to preseve this great civilization that is an asset not only to Pakistan but also to the world.

Jean Baptiste Tavernier

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier  (1605–1689)  was a French traveller and a merchant in gems who made six voyages to India between 1630 and 1668 duri...