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Sriranga III (Vijayanagara)

Sriranga III, nephew of Pedda Venkata, became king of Vijayanagara in October 1642 and was its last ruler of note. He tried to bring the Nayakas of Madurai and the south back to obedience, but they called in Bijapur and Golconda. In 1645 he confirmed and enlarged the English grant at Madras. By 1646 Golconda had taken Chandragiri and he fled. He spent his last years as a wanderer, helped for a time by Sivappa Nayaka of Ikkeri, and he is not heard of after about 1670.

Sriranga III was the last king of Vijayanagara who still tried to rule as an emperor. He came to the throne in October 1642 and was not heard of after about 1670.12 He fought to make the great Nayakas of the south obey him, but they called in the sultans of Bijapur and Golconda.34 By 1646 he had lost Chandragiri and his other forts, and he spent his last years as a fugitive.52 See Vijayanagara and Pedda Venkata.

Family

The Telugu Ramarajiyamu, as S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar summarised it, says that Chinna Venkata, a younger brother of King Pedda Venkata, married Tiruvengalamba.6 They had three sons: Tirumala, Venkatapati and Sriranga.6 Sriranga was adopted by Gopala, a grandson of Venkatadri, the brother of Aliya Rama Raya, who named him his heir.6 Sewell’s later work also says that Gopala adopted him, though one record of 1663 calls him “son of Gopala”.78 The poem says that he married three wives and ruled from Vellore.6

In 1640, while his uncle was still king, Prince Sriranga was sent to bring the Nayakas of Madurai and Thanjavur (then Tanjore) back to obedience.9 Tirumala Nayaka of Madurai called in help from Golconda and drove off the royal troops.9

King

Pedda Venkata died in October 1642, and his nephew Sriranga succeeded him.1 Some local chiefs would not accept the new king.1 One of them, Damarla Venkatappa, the Naik of the coast round Madras, was imprisoned.1 The king then gave his authority to a merchant named Mallai, or Chenana Chetti, who worked for the Dutch.10

Meanwhile the north was slipping away. In 1642, Sewell’s list says, the Golconda general Ghazi Ali took the great hill fort of Udayagiri in the Nellore district.11 See Udayagiri.

The grant of 1645

Late in 1645 an English officer, Henry Greenhill, visited the king at Vellore or Chandragiri, and obtained a cowle (grant) from him.12 It was dated between 26 October and 9 November 1645.12 In it the king calls the new settlement “Zera Renga Rayapatam my towne”, a town “which bears our name”.12 He freed the English from customs duties on their own goods, and gave them half of all the customs collected at the port.1213 He also handed them “the government and justice of the towne”, and added a further piece of land.13 Love thought these were the new privileges, beyond the Naik’s first grant of 1639.13

The war with the Nayakas

Krishnaswami Aiyangar wrote that when Sriranga came to the throne, the empire was fighting for its life.3 The trouble, in his view, was that the southern Nayakas, above all Tirumala Nayaka of Madurai, would not help it.3 So the king made an organised effort to bring them back to obedience.3 Tirumala Nayaka answered by inviting Bijapur to stop the king’s march against him.4

Golconda attacked from the north at the same time, and besieged Vellore.14 With help from Sivappa Nayaka of Ikkeri, the king drove the Golconda army back and raised the siege.14 But Golconda came again and drove him out about 1646.14 Krishnaswami Aiyangar adds that Mysore openly threw off its loyalty in 1646.4

Sewell’s list tells the same story for 1646.5 The Golconda army took Chandragiri, the king’s fort and palace, and the town of Chingleput, and the king fled to Bednur.5 In February that year the English at Madras wrote that the king and three of his Naiks were at odds, while the armies of Bijapur and Golconda entered the country from both sides.5 A terrible famine followed.5

A king without a kingdom

Failing to find help near at hand, Krishnaswami Aiyangar says, Sriranga appealed in 1653 to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.14 He even offered to become a Muslim if that was the condition for help.14

The Chikkadevaraya Vamsavali, a history of the Mysore kings, as Krishnaswami Aiyangar summarised it, tells what followed.1516 Having lost Chandragiri and Vellore, Sriranga went to the Nayakas of Gingee, Thanjavur and Madurai.15 When they failed him, he wandered the country.15 Then Sivappa Nayaka of Ikkeri took up his cause, gave him the districts of Hassan and Belur, and made war on Mysore in his name.1516

The poem Ushaparinayam says that Ayyappa of the Damarla family founded Chennapatnam, that is, Madras.17 Krishnaswami Aiyangar wrote that this Ayyappa fought for Sriranga against Mysore at Erode, and fell in the battle.1817 He thought the battle of Erode, about 1672 or a little before, was probably Sriranga’s last appearance.19 Sivappa Nayaka’s army was later beaten by Mysore at Hassan and Sakkarepatna.1819

Death

Sewell’s later work says that Sriranga III was reigning in central Mysore in 1670.2 After that he is not much heard of. He was a fugitive, and is believed to have died some time between 1670 and 1677.2 Krishnaswami Aiyangar dated the end of the empire, with Sriranga’s death, to between 1675 and 1677.1920

His nephew Kodandarama, the last member of the imperial family so far known, is said to have defeated a Mysore army at Hassan.21 The Telugu Ramarajiyamu was dedicated to him.21

Where the sources disagree

  • Udayagiri. Sewell’s list says that Golconda took Udayagiri in 1642.11 The Ramarajiyamu says that Sriranga marched against Udayagiri, held by the Qutb Shah, and utterly defeated him.6
  • His last years. Sewell’s later work notes that he lived till 1670, and that he died between 1670 and 1677.222 Krishnaswami Aiyangar found his last record in 1667, in the Coimbatore district, and dated his death between 1675 and 1677.1920
  • His number. Krishnaswami Aiyangar noted that he had until then been called Sriranga VI.6 Sewell (1900) listed him as Ranga VI.23 Sewell’s later work calls him Sriranga III.7

Footnotes

  1. Henry Davison Love, Vestiges of Old Madras, 1640–1800, Vol. I (1913), p. 53 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 285 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, introduction to R. Sathyanatha Aiyar, History of the Nayaks of Madura (1924), p. 14 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, introduction to History of the Nayaks of Madura (1924), p. 15 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 279 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), p. 311, the Ramarajiyamu of Venkayya (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 402, pedigree of the Aravidu dynasty (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  8. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 283 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Robert Sewell, ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 277 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  10. Love, Vestiges of Old Madras, Vol. I (1913), p. 59 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 278 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  12. Love, Vestiges of Old Madras, Vol. I (1913), p. 67 and note (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. Love, Vestiges of Old Madras, Vol. I (1913), p. 68 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, introduction to History of the Nayaks of Madura (1924), p. 16 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  15. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), p. 309, the Chikkadevaraya Vamsavali of Tirumalarya (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  16. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), p. 310, the Chikkadevaraya Vamsavali (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  17. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), p. 308, the Ushaparinayam of Damarla Ankabhupala, and note (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  18. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar (ed.), Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), introduction, p. 21 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  19. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, introduction to History of the Nayaks of Madura (1924), p. 18 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  20. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, introduction to History of the Nayaks of Madura (1924), p. 19 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  21. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (1919), introduction, p. 22 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  22. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 404, notes to the pedigrees (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  23. Robert Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar) (1900), p. 214, genealogy of the third dynasty (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Vijayanagara Empire

c. 1336–1646 CE

Harihara and Bukka founded this South Indian empire about 1336 on the Tungabhadra. The Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu dynasties ruled it in turn. It held Rayalaseema and the Nellore country from the fourteenth century. It fought the Reddis, the Velamas, the Bahmanis and the Gajapatis of Orissa for the Telugu coast. Under Krishnadeva Raya it took Udayagiri, Kondavidu and Kondapalli and marched to Simhachalam. Its court made Telugu a language of high poetry. After the defeat of 1565 its kings ruled from Penukonda and Chandragiri, until Golconda took the last of the Telugu districts in the 1640s.

References

Sources (5)
  1. Robert Sewell (ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar), The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (Collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1932, pp. 277–279, 283, 285, 402, 404. Public domain in India; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  2. Henry Davison Love, Vestiges of Old Madras, 1640-1800, Vol. I (Indian Records Series) (opens in a new tab), John Murray, London, for the Government of India, 1913, pp. 53, 59, 67–69. [Public domain]
  3. R. Sathyanatha Aiyar; ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, History of the Nayaks of Madura (Madras University Historical Series, No. 2) (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1924, pp. 14–18. [Public domain]
  4. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources of Vijayanagar History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1919, pp. 21–22, 308–311. [Public domain]
  5. Robert Sewell, A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India (opens in a new tab), Swan Sonnenschein & Co., London, 1900, pp. 214. [Public domain]

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