COMMENT: If this reads a little disjointed, it might be because I'm running on 3 hours sleep in the last 36. Insomnia....
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Chapter VII: Narasimha I
Part 2: From the Ashes (1452-1457)
Contraction
Vijayanagara at the proverbial turn of the tide: The Imperial government broke thrice in less than two years as it struggled to pay its creditors. Failure only exacerbated the problem, for as the Empire's bureaucracy broke down with a majority of officers and clerks trying their luck elsewhere, few remained to coordinate the local tax men and so little money made it to the coffers.
Vijayanagara's internal failure affected more than just the number of silver and gold coins in the treasury: The price of raw goods vs. Imperial coinage fluctuated wildly depending on the coins' perceived purity. Roads broke down inhibiting trade. Scores of soldiers from the underpaid and underequipped army took to the countryside looking for sustenance. As confidence fell, merchants grew less willing to invest in Vijayanagara itself either in the form of new loans or in purchasing manufactured goods from various cottage industries.
It could have been far worse: A society who'd supplanted rural agriculture with urbanized manufacturing would have faced massive unemployment. One that relied on paper currency vs. hard coins might have suffered hyperinflation. In such a state religious or political extremism could easily take over and the entire country could degenerate into chaos. In some places, such as Raichur, chaos
did reign, but in many cases Vijayanagara 'merely' stagnated and slipped back, sacrificing two centuries of progress in favor of a rural, feudal outlook where the local nobles held supreme power.
Yet Vijayanagara survived, bowed but not unbroken. Narasimha mourned the loss of his child and the death of his Empire, but he still retained enough wit to order
Senapaati Vijaya Jeoomal to crush nationalists in Goa who thought they might do better on their own. Khandeshi money paid their wages and repaired their equipment. They exacted a heavy toll for their help:
No sooner did Jeoomal crush the Marathi with his now customary brutality than he receive word that rebels in Calicut chose to risk the throw. Calicut, one of the major cities of old Travanacore. By March 1453 Jeoomal arrived and crushed the rebellion in a single, savage battle through the streets of the city.
It was during this time that Narasimha chose to concede all of western India. He sought out leading nobles in Travanacore and Mysore and ordered them to select one of their number to rule over them. In May he formally dissolved the Vijayanagaran Empire:
Narasimha I said:
...for we must look ahead to new realities. The Sangama dynasty believed that they alone could determine what was best for all Hindus, and that they alone should rule.
The facts are: The Muslims are here to stay. We must find a place for them in our society or we will destroy each other,
and Hinduism does not belong to one man, or even one dynasty. Each man must select how he worships the gods. Such a thing cannot be dictated from distant Vijayanagara, and so we leave it for the local administrations to decide.
There were valid reasons to release the two states: First, their economy should get a boost from being administered locally and not having to deal with Vijayanagara's problems: Further, he would receive half of their proceeds as tribute. Second, with a smaller coastline to defend perhaps his local craft could finally get one step ahead of the pirates that plagued the Indian coast.
(Plus, I saw it as a logical step in Vijay's "fall." Mysore receives Mysore, Bangalore and Kongu. Travanacore receives Malabar and Calicut.)
The gods seemed to bless Narasimha's efforts: Mere days after this annoucement his wife gave birth to a boy, who he named Immadi in honor of Jeoomal's slain brother. Confidence in this new, gentler monarch - a rajah only in name as well as fact - brought investors back to Vijayanagara.
(We're still losing money at full mint, but I can avoid bankruptcy now.)
What the gods give with one hand however, they take away with the other. In September young Immadi succumbed to the same illness that destroyed his brother. In February 1454 a small army of bandits reputed to be former soldiers seized a caravan of goods from Madras to Vijayanagara. That caravan contained a year's worth of taxes - a pittance compared to a few years ago, but money (and goods) the capital sorely needed. One last time promises of payment were made, broken, and the government wrote off its debts.
(Bankruptcy. This one was intentional to 'clear the slate' of due loans. That may not have been smart. I'll survive through the negative effects of bankruptcy, but I'd just crawled up to Stab -2 when this happened. Now it's back at -3)
Stagnation
For the next several years Vijayanagara stabilized, not really losing further ground but unable to make any substantial gains. Narasimha's attitude during this time drifted from unhelpful to apathetic: If he didn't have the resources to correct a situation he simply ignored it, and it quickly became apparent he wouldn't have said resources for a very long time.
The first body to receive a rude awakening were the Hindu and Sunni merchant houses competing for trading rights in Malacca and Guangzhou. When an ill timed request for aid snuck past Narasimha and went to a sympathetic, though somewhat clueless advisor on the
Pradhana, it almost forced Vijayanagara into debt yet again.
(Auto merchants.) The rajah responded by building a convincing scenario of what would happen to the principality if they continued to rely on Muslim merchants to cover debts. The council allowed him to refer all budgetary matters to his Treasurer, Devaraya Keshaw.
(Have you noticed that Vijay. at least really doesn't have enough names to go around? Hm.) Narasimha then instructed Keshaw to be very conservative of any plan that didn't result in short term recovery.
Keshaw was a monarchist: A member of the faction formerly based in Bangalore that supported a strong, centralized government. Losing their seat of power when Mysore gained its independence crippled his movement, reducing them from a slim minority in the
Pradhana into an also-ran of no consequence. He wasn't inclined to be gentle or liberal with his master's money when it came to political enemies, and very soon all subsidies to the great merchant houses stopped whatsoever.
Keshaw was fiscally conservative in all matters. He intended to play 'turtle' until the regional depression subsided further, and since the government lacked the organization or know how to kick start the economy this was probably the right move. Keshaw's problem, therefore, wasn't his continual refusals but the glee with which he buried almost every proposal that came to him. He made a great deal of enemies in a very short time.
(Conflict Exacerbates Tensions: -5 Prestige)
After one particularly dismal session where the Papel merchant house of Madras failed to get funding for a shipment to Malacca, their master submitted an ultimatum: Release Keshaw, or they would go enrich a more amiable nation.
The
Pradhana did not have the authority to fire Keshaw: It was one of the few responsibilities they coveted that Narasimha hadn't given up upon taking the throne, and (some say with divine help) Narasimha had become expert at obeying the letter of his agreements while repudiating the spirit.
Narasimha I said:
I will decide when Keshaw leaves our service. Not you. Your services are no longer required and your charter is now void. If I were you, I'd return home and prepare to depart as soon as possible, before my collectors in Madras come to collect 'taxes.'
At first the noble majority in the
Pradhana enjoyed the traders' discomfort. As it slowly became obvious Narasimha was willing to stand up to them as well, anger and resentment once more flared.
(Aristocrat faction to disgruntled, then back to furious.)
By December 1454, Narasimha's new found backbone began to pay dividends. He surrounded himself with an inner council, functionally similar to the
Pradhana but made up of personal appointees, who helped him begin shaping his vision for a new, leaner but still powerful Vijayanagara.
(Competent Government.) One of these men pointed out a young graduate of the former Imperial military academy who shared their vision. Narasimha interviewed the young man then quickly put him in charge of one of the principality's armies, second in command only to
Senapaati Jeoomal.
It was during this time, when the nobility dominated
Pradhana began to realize they'd lost control of their rajah, when Mysoran envoys arrived.
Mysore (and Bangalore) were Kannadan in culture and therefore shared a great many ties with the old Sangama line and a number of noble houses within the former Empire. Once conquered by Vijaya I, they'd quickly adapted to the Imperial bureaucracy and quickly turned into some of Vijayanagara's most loyal, most profitable subjects.
Their dependence on the bureaucracy broke them just as it had the rest of the empire. Upon achieving independence, Mysore had no system in place to collect taxes or distribute goods back and forth. This created a series of very isolated markets, where one village might be starving while another half a day away might be leaving food to rot because they couldn't get it to a central market. They requested subsidies as well as workers and advisors to help get back on their feet.
The
Pradhana, sensing Keshaw wouldn't want to help, voted 6-2 to 'advise' their rajah to intervene. Narasimha spent half a day considering then gave his reply.
Narasimha I said:
While we are grateful for Mysore's loyalty, you must understand that when we parted ways, we granted you some of the richest provinces in all the former Empire. I do not doubt that you are suffering and trying to rebuild, but the fact is we are much alike in that the past has failed us and we must strive to rebuild. We cannot help at this time. Such an effort would force us to sell out to creditors again. I wouldn't do that for my own child. I certainly cannot do that for you.
In March 1455, Narasimha announced his
third son, the infant prince Varupaksha. He would die before the year ended of much the same illness that claimed both brothers.
Through Varupaksha's far too short life, his father fought increasingly bitter battles with the
Pradhana. The council accused him of reneging on promises made when he took the throne, which was more or less true but very hard to prove. They also expressed dismay and anger that he relied more on his 'inner' council of friends.
By June, the
Pradhana had resorted itself into two factions after Mysore and Travanacore left: The nobles led, as before, but held only a slim majority over the holy men and priests of Madurai. It was these noblemen who waged a largely unsuccessful political battle with their rajah with each of their challenges met with calm, collected refusal.
A small band of village headmen under the protection of wandering swamis met with Narasimha and described various atrocities in Raichur. There, they claimed, the local lord taxed them to the point of starvation ... a rather surprising development considering the lords there continually asked for leniency due to inability to pay. One of the men broke down and claimed they'd kidnapped his young daughter as 'payment' and sold her to a Bahmanid lord.
Narasimha reasoned that since the nobles didn't care for him anyway, he had little to lose by supporting their cause. Further, it might weaken his enemies. He ordered Commander Padmesh to 'invade' with eight thousand men and remove the lord by force.
(Rebellion)
Padmesh sent a message to
Senapaati Jeoomal asking for assistance. He entered Raichur in early May to find perhaps six thousand footsoldiers and horsemen arrayed against him forewarned by enemies in the
Pradhana. For his part, Padmesh's men were badly underequipped and underfed, with some suffering from the now yearly illnesses that swept through the former Empire.
Padmesh no doubt did his best, but with his badly worn troops his 'best' was a lackluster charge into heavy arrow fire while rebel spears impaled more than one clumsy horseman. For perhaps half an hour it looked like Padmesh might succeed anyway as he forced the rebel center to bend backwards like a bow, but he'd overestimated his mens' willingness to fight. At about three o'clock isolated commands retreated. This rippled towards the Vijayanagaran center with withdrawing units creating fatal lines in the front. By sunset it was over, with Padmesh losing perhaps 1,100 men to 1,900 rebels.
Jeoomal arrived in June. His army suffered similarly to Padmesh's, but the rebels hadn't had time to replenish their own losses. Further, Jeoomal was a far more experienced commander used to small scale operations such as rebellions, and he sent his riders ahead to slash their supply lines. This put the Raichur nobles at a significant disadvantage when the two armies met on the slopes leading to the Deccan plateau on June 9. This time it was the rebels who fought with a lack of cohesion. An entire banner broke early to be overwhelmed by Jeoomal's horsemen. They then shot into the nobles' rear and panic rippled through the ranks. Jeoomal lost perhaps six hundred but killed over four thousand in response. There were no prisoners.
Crescent Moon Rising
Finding out who tipped off the Raichur noblemen would have been impossible, and perhaps detrimental as well as any direct accusation would have led to war. Instead, Narasimha simply pointed out the lack of security with discussing plans so openly. While promising to keep the
Pradhana informed on strategic matters, he said that it would be best to keep specific objectives as private as possible.
(Slider: Centralization +1. Social Outrage: -1 Stability. Whatever.)
Up until now the religious minority within the
Pradhana supported Narasimha. This began to shift however. Early in his reign Narasimha welcomed several different Muslim merchant houses in an attempt to stave off disaster. Now, with Vijayanagara somewhat stable, he invited them again in an effort to revitalize the economy.
(Muslim Merchants in Madras, Goa) These men turned out to be zealots eager to spread the word of Allah, and in catastrophic times such as post-Imperial Vijayanagara, men and women searched anywhere for some secret meaning or source of comfort. Mosques opened in Goa and enjoyed high attendance. A militant faction, calling itself the Crimson Knife, blamed Vijayanagara's fall on its false gods and sought to 'save' the country through forced conversions.
Conversions of a different sort took place in Parlakimidi when Sufi missionaries arrived. These Sufi were, on a whole, gentle men well versed in both faiths who did not claim that Hinduism was wrong, just an incomplete and distorted version of the 'True' Faith. They worked slowly, focusing on introducing people to Islam rather than immediate indoctrination and finding bridges people could use to find Allah in their own teachings.
Narasimha sent for their leader, coincidentally also named Narasimha, for an explanation.
Narasimha Ghemawat was in his early fifties, a man born in Rajputana and converted to Islam when Delhi seized his homeland. Much like his followers, he focused on similarities between the faiths and what insight they could offer each other.
Narasimha Ghemawat said:
There are many who say Islam and Hindu are rival faiths, enemies even. Perhaps there are more Muslims who believe that, but I am not one of them. Our faiths value the same traits and behaviors. Our legends teach many of the same values. Our people have the same wants and needs and ask the same spiritual questions. Yet, we both know that actions speak louder than any words I could say. Let me stay here then, where you and your men may keep an eye on my behaviors and I can show you that I mean what I say.
As Ghemawat settled in, Narasimha had a fourth son. In a fit of despair and a sense that it might not matter what he called the child, he simply named it Narasimha, then did his best to distance himself from the child's probable death. After a few months he met certain advisors who suggested the child might be healthier and more likely to survive if he were away from the sickly city. The rajah quickly agreed, and his heir was last seen headed south carried by a housemistress with only a cow for company.
