Vijayanagara: Authority and Meaning of a South Indian Imperial Capital

Abstract

The meaning of the imperial capital can be understood as a necessary component of the system that constitutes the authority of its rulers. Urban form relates rulers' behavior to principles of order and to the forces that create this order. Architectural and urban morphology at Vijayanagara, the capital o f the most important Hindu empire of medieval south India, embodied several meaningfir1 aspects of royal behavior. Here are considered material elements that expressed the kings' activities as warrior and hunter, as promoter of prosperity and redistributor of wealth, and as maintainer of cosmic order. Three aspects ofthe c i t p t h e structure ofthe urban plan, the organization of movement, and the mythological associations of the site-asserted that the king embodied the power of Ramachandra, the divine hero-king. HAT THE MATERIAL FORM OF THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL IS INTIMATELY BOUND UpT with the power of its rulers is virtually axiomatic. However, the relationship between power and urban form is open to debate: Is the capital only a "stage" or "setting" for the interplay of economic, social and political forces; is it merely an "extrusion" or "precipitate" of state institutions; may it simply be a folly (often ruinous to the general good) of a powerful and wealthy elite? Or, rather, is the imperial capital a necessary component of a system that constitutes the authority of the rulers? It is the latter position that I take in my investigation of the south Indian city of Vijayanagara. I understand this imperial capital to be a monumental exposition of the principles and relationships that make meaningful and empower the actions of the ruling elite (Wheatley 1971).This perspective has permitted me to develop a number of propositions that relate architectural and urban morphology at Vijayanagara to certain meaningful aspects of royal behavior. Following the work of a number of historians and ethnographers of south India (Appadurai 1978; Breckenridge 1978; Dirks 1976; Stein 1980), I suggest that kings were empowered by the symbolic context in which royal behavior was embedded; this context motivated the actors in the Vijayanagara state. I believe that the form of the capital contributed to the perception of the king as a forceful, skillful, and wealthy leader, one whose actions created harmony and well-being throughout the empire, and who possessed special power due to his close relation to the divine. Vija yanagaraAs the largest and most completely preserved Hindu capital, Vijayanagara offers a unique opportunity for a study that contributes to a body of theory for imperial cities and, in a wider context, for complex societies in general. Founded in the early 14th century, and sacked by Muslims in the middle of the 16th century (1565), Vijayanagara was the capital of the wealthiest and most powerful Hindu empire of south India (Saletore 1934). Its rulers resisted Islamic expansion for more than two centuries, while maintaining Hindu religion and cultural practices and developing uniquely effective social and political s...

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