vijayanagara and the fall of an empire

8/10/2019 vijayanagara and the fall of an empire

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When studying the religious encounters between Hindus and Muslims in India, the Vijayanagaran

empire in my view provides the most interesting case study. For in the case of other states/ kingdoms,

such as Delhi Sultanate or the Mughal Empire, both of whom were situated in the north closer to the

Islamic centers of culture and power, the success of Islam in terms of proselytization and exerting direct

control and influence was much more pronounced. Resultantly the resistance to adoption of Islamic

norms and modes of appearance and communication etc. was much less acute and the Islamicization

more visible and complete/comprehensive.

Conversely Vijayanagara is viewed as a Hindu state, the existence of which led to a preservation of

Hindu institutions and customs in Southern India quite in contrast to the areas of Northern and

Western India, which had come under Muslim influence in the thirteenth century A.D. (Kulke&

Rothermund 1990, p.184). And yet, as Philip B. Wagoner seeks to argue in his Sultan Among Hindu

Kings: Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara, even in the distant south,

a closer study reveals that if one moves beyondthe restricted area of religious doctrine and practice to

examine the secular culture of Vijayanagaras ruling elite, one realizes thatVijayanagara was infact

deeply transformed by its interaction with Islamic culture (Wagoner, 1996, p.852). Wagoner points to

the recognition in recent years of the Islamic antecedents behind a number of characteristic cultural

manifestations of the Vijayanagara period in a diverse range of areas such as military strategy or

administrative and political institutions. More significantly he claims that these arejust symptomatic of

a far-reaching process of systematic change in the elite culture of late medieval South India (Wagoner,

1996, p.852). The manifestation of this overarching cultural change can be seen in the architecture,

courtly dress and appropriation of the Islamicate modes of political language.


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Wagoners basic premise is essentially a repudiation of the Orientalists interpretation of Vijayanagaran

history, which is best characterized by Sewells presentation of Vijayanagara as a Hindu bulwark against

Muhammad conquests. According tothis Orientalist narrative, it was onslaught of the Muslim invaders

which would propel Vijayanagara to the status of one of the most prominent Hindu Kingdoms of its age.

In hisA Forgotten Empire (1900) Sewell cites the persistent efforts made by the Muhammadans to

conquer all India (Sewell *1900+ 1962, 1) as the reason behind Vijayanagaras prominence and longevity

as a state. It was inability of the other weaker southern, Hindu states to withstand the Muslim onslaught

would lead the remnants of these crumbling states to rally to the Vijayanagaran standard and make

them the saviors of the south for two and a half centuries (Sewell *1900+ 1962, 1).

For Wagoner, this Orientalists narrative of history is outdated. In Wagoners view Vijayanagara, instead

of being a bastion against the spread of Islam was infact itself deeply transformed by its interaction with

Islamic culture. Infact, the appearance of Islamic-inspired form and practices, in a number of cultural

manifestations of Vijayanagara period, are symptomatic of a far reaching process of systematic change

in the elite culture of the late medieval South India (Wagoner, 1996, p.852-3).

Before delving into the vagaries of the religious encounters in the Vijayanagara empire it is instructive to

first look at the exact terms of reference of Wagoners argument. Wagoner differentiates the terms

Islamization from Islamicization. To define the later he draws on Hodgsons use of the term Islamicate

to refer more broadly to the social and cultural complex historically associated with Islam and the

Muslims, both among Muslims and even found among non- Muslims. The term specifically refers to

standards of taste or social and cultural standards as opposed to the narrow religious sense of the

term Islamic(Hodgson, [1974] 1977, p.59). As Wagoner illustrates, there are three aspects of the

process of Islamicization. The first elucidates its purpose, that of its use as a political strategy, by means

of which indigenous elites attempt to enhance their political status and authority through participation


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in the more universal culture of Islam. The second aspect covers how this objective is achieved

through adoption of certain Islamic cultural forms and practices (pertaining) to the broad sphere of

secular culture, as opposed to the narrower domain of formal religion (Wagoner, 1996,p.854). Lastly,

he emphasizes that the process of Islamicization (as opposed to Islamization) does not necessarily

involve the replacement of indigenous cultural traditions and established forms in all contexts. While

the Islamicized form would be operative in the social domain, where its utility is more self-evident, in

the private, specifically religious ritualistic domain the indigenous analogue would continue to pervade

(Wagoner, 1996, p.854).

The first general manifestation of the Islamicization of Vijayanagaras dress appears in the adoption of

the Kabayi and Kullayi. The kabayi is described by Wagoner, in visual and historical testimony as a long-

sleeved, pullover tunic with front slit of variable length, with lower hem extending to a point

somewhere between mid-thigh and lower calf (Wagoner, 1996, p.859). Similarly the kullayi is a high,

brimless conical cap with rounded top made of silk brocade. The apparel was worn only by the King

or elites under Vijayanagaras sway. Significantly from our perspective it is to be noted that the Kabayi is

an adaptation of the Arab qabawhile the inspiration for the kullayi derive(s) ultimately from some

center of Persian culture.Another important observation about the use of the kabayi is the fact that

though the kabayi may thus be understood as an elite garment, it was not, however, worn at all South

Indian courts, but appears to have been in use only at the court of Vijayanagara and its dependencies.

By way of contrast, in much of the South Indian littoral zonethe traditional Indic dress remained the

norm even at the courts (Wagoner, 1996, p.859). For instance the Zamorin of Calicut in the 1440s, went

as naked as the other Hindus (i.e., did not cover his chest but only his loins) (Abdul Razzaq 1442-44,

305). The same is corroborated by evidence from Vasco Da Gamas chronicler. Furthermore as Wagoner


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notes, both the kabayi and kullayiare new to South India in the Vijayanagara period (and ) their

adoption represents a radical departure from earlier traditions of Indic courtly dress (Wagoner, 1996,

860). What this shows is the conscious attempt by the Vijayanagara establishment to participate in the

international culture of the larger Islamic world. As the sphere or the littoral South Indian states was

much smaller there was no pull for them to Islamicize, while Vijayanagara saw itself as more of a player

at the larger international stage and Islamicization was just an attempt to conform to those standards.

Support for this view can also be deduced from the Vijayanagara kings adoption of the title Sultan

among Hindu kings. In an inscription dated from 352, the second ruler of Vijayanagaras first dynasty

(the Sanagama, c. 13301485)Bukka I (r. 134477)had himself described with the title humduraya

suratrana, translated as Sultan among Hindu Kings. This title continued to be adopted by his

successors for at least another 250 years. As Wagoner says this adoption of the title suratrana , a

Sanskritization of sultanis an attempt to identify with the larger Islamic world as a means of

proclaiming that the Vijayanagara ruler could actually be considered a Sultan, not in terms of relative

political standing, but in concrete terms of substance and style (and) differentiate its bearer from

ordinary Hindu (i.e. Indic) kinds by signaling his willingness to participate in the political discourse of

Islamicate civilization (Wagoner, 1996, p.862-3). During this period the Muslims had established

themselves to a position of prominence in South Asia. On the one hand north and central India were

under the dominance of the Delhi Sultanate. At the same even in South India, numerous Muslims states

like Gulbarga and Bidar and their successor states had established themselves on Vijayanagaras

borders. Thus given this situation it was natural that if a Vijayanagara ruler wished to be accepted not

just by his own subordinates, but also by rulers of other states in the broader Indic sphere whose

representatives were constantly at his court, he has to be equally sensitive to the norms and usages of


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evidence attests to the continuing relevance of Indic-style garments for the Vijayanagara elite and

furthermore it suggests that in certain contexts the traditional Indic style clothing was preferred over

the Islamicate kabayi and kullayi. Here it becomes important to decipher, that if the Indic and Islamicate

styles are seen as having constituteddistinct languages of dress, then were there culturally shared rules

of code use which entered into an individuals choice of which code to use in any given dress situation.

In other words, if the adoption of the Indic or Islamicate style of clothing as seen as analogous to

switching between one or the other language as a medium of communication, then what were the

socio-cultural contexts in which the individuals made the choice of preferring one over the other. In this

regard a dyed pictorial textile in the collection of the Association for the Study and Documentation of

Asian Textiles (AEDTA) in Paris provides an interesting clue. Although it dates from a later period, its

relation to Madurai, one of the most important successor states of Vijayanagara makes it relevant

evidence. What is to be noted from this is that when the royal personage depicted in the pictorial is in a

procession he is seen wearing what can be readily identified as a kabayi. Conversely when seated inside,

the royal figure is shown bare chested, wearing only a dhoti and upper (Wagoner, 1996, p.869-70). Thus

there is a clear differentiation of the social domains in which the two royal figures appear. Although

spatially both figures are located within the broad ambit of a palace their respective spheres of action

differ in terms of the specific combinations of settings, participants, and activities which define them.

(Wagoner, 1996, p.869-70). When the figure is in a ritualized leisure activity he is wearing the Indic

dress while when heading the military public procession he prefers the Islamicate version. Wagoner

differentiates between the two domains, as the residential and the performative domains or more

distinctly the domestic and public social situations. This latter distinction between the domestic

and public social situations, as Wagoner points out, has been drawn in South India since at least the

fifth or sixth century. The distinction as he goes on to explain is not between the private and public,

between personal and impersonal, but between domestic and public |between the inner circle or the


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immediate kin within the fourt walls of a house and the larger circles of the extended family, the sub

caste, the caste and the society at large. It is this distinction which is represented by the AEDTA textile.

Thus there were systematic rules governing the choice between the Indic and Islamicate modes of dress

within the Vijayanagara dress system which were largely structured by this distinction between the

domestic and public domain (Wagoner, 1996, p.871).

Finally, the true import of the nature of Islamicization in Vijayanagara can be gauged from recognizing

the structural similarities between Islamicization and Sanskritization. As Kulke points out, there are two

aspects of the process which are particularly relevant for a comparison with Islamication. These include,

firstly, the use of Sanskritization as a practical strategy for social change adopted by lower-ranking

castes as a means of achieving a higher status and secondly, the abandoning of certain local cultural

forms in favor of practices and ideas associated with the Sanskritic culture of the more broadly based

Great Traditions (Wagoner, 1996, p.872). Again like Islamicization Sanskritization didnt necessarily

replace existing local customs, but co-existed along with them and further Sansikritization did not

necessarily proceed through emulation of the Brahmin class and the Sanskritic forms were not inevitably

restricted to those associated with Brahmanism. There is a clear parallel here between the attempt by a

states ruling elite to bolster its international standing by Islamicizing the culture of its court, and

attempt by the members of a little community to raise their collective status by Sanskritizing their

customs, beliefs, and pantheon. As Wagoner says both situations involve processes of universalization

in which certain ; local cultural forms are replaced by function analogues from a second, intrusive

culture of broader geographical extent. The aim of this is to advance the self interests of a particular

social group and which also inevitably leads to an increase in participation of the members of these

smaller groups in the larger and varied social arenas of the wider universal culture. And lastly, since

the adopted cultural forms do not replace but co-exist and add to the existing ones, the result is a more


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complex ordering of tradition within the universalized culture. In other words, protocols, preferences,

and hierarchies have to be reworked.

However, there remains one significant weakness in the analogy drawn between the process of

Sanskritization and Islamicization. While the former operates primarily in the medium of religious

culture, since the motivating factors behind the later process of Islamicization are political rather than

religious, therefore Islamicization unfolds primarily through the medium of secular culture and is little

concerned with religious culture as such. Thus the adoption of Islamicized tiles and dress has primarily

political rather than religious overtones. And in the religious spheres the Indic styles continue to

dominate.

In conclusion, the strength of the process of Islamicization in Vijayanagara can be gauged from the irony

in the foundation story of the kingdom of Vijayanagara. According to Kulke, the accepted use of the title

Sultan among Hindu kings, by Vijayanagaras founding kings, the brothers Harihara and Bukka, goes to

disprove the claim that they had once converted to Islama well known Vijayanagara period

historiographic account. The reasoning being that if they had actually converted and then apostatized

from Islam as is claimed in the historiographic account they would not have adopted the title of Sultan

among Hindu Kings, it being an uneasy reminder of an ignominious event. According to Wagoner this is

a misinterpretation of the facts based on Kulkes failure to draw the important distinction between the

religion of Islam and Islamicate political ideas and practices. Accordingly, Kulke errs in assuming that

the political meanings of the title sultan are overshadowed by the religious connotations. For wagoner,

the use of title sultan is primarily an assertion of the supreme military and political authority to the

exclusion of religious authority. Further, Kulke misunderstands the theme of the story as that of the

narrative of a religious conversion while Wagoner emphasizes that it is in reality a foundation myth of

the bij state, tracing the political authority of the kingdoms rulers to its founders supposed history of


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vijayanagara and the fall of an empire

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