Inscriptions of The Vijayanagara Rulers: Inscriptions of the Rulers of The Sangama Dynasty (1336-1485) is the first of three volumes of Kannada Inscriptionis in five parts, prepared under the Inscriptions Programme planned by the ICHR. Under this Programme, a Committee for the compilation of the Vijayanagara Inscriptions was formed with Dr. Shrinivas compiling the Kannada Inscriptions was assigned jointly to Dr. Ritti and Dr. B.R. Gopal. They completed the task with great devotion and submitted their scholarly work to the ICHR. The present volume contains as many as 832 inscriptions covering a period from 1339 A.D. to 1494 A.D. Most of the inscriptions are in Kannada language and script, while some of them, particularly, copper plates, are in Sanskrit language and Nagari script. There are a few which are bilingual and bi-scriptal as well. Region-wise, they come from the whole of the Kannada area covered by the erstwhile Vijayanagara empire viz., between the Krishna and the Kaveri. It is well known that Indian historiography, particularly for the early part of it, rests almost entirely on epigraphy, augmented, only to a small extent, by literature. The history of Vijayanagara is no exception. Many of the inscriptions here, have been utilized by earlier scholars working on different aspects of Vijayanagara history. Nevertheless, their value is not diminished. It is the experience of every epigraphist that with every fresh reading of an inscriptioin, new ideas and new interpretations are suggested. These inscriptioins provide a variety of rich material and open up new avenues of study. It is hoped that scholars and researchers engaged in Indological studies exploit this material to the fullest extent.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR B.R. Gopal
Dr. B.R. Gopal (1930-97) joined the Govt. Epigraphist’s Office in 1955. He then joined the Karnatak University, Dharwad (19644) along with Dr. Ritti. Here, both worked on two projects of writing of a comprehensive History of Karnataka and A History of Ancient India. Dr. Gopal also published 3 volumes of Karnatak Inscriptioins. He then joined the Mysore University in 1972 to head the project of revising volumes of Epigraphia Carnatica and brought out 9 massive volumes in quick succession. In 1986 he joined the Shri Krishnadevaraya University at Anantpur as Professor and Head of the Dept. of History, where he brought out a volume of History of Andhra. His book The Chalukyas of Kalyana and The Kalachuris was published by the Karnatak University, Dharwad. Dr. Gopal presided over the 15th Annual Congress of the Epigraphical Society of India held at Anantpur. He was also honoured with theSociety’s Copper Plate Charter in recognitioin off his services to the field of Indian Epigraphy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shrinivas Ritti
Dr. Shrinivas Ritti (b. 1929) started his career in the Govt. Epigraphist’s Office at Ootacamund (1955-64) and then worked in the Karnatak University, Dharwad, as Lecturer and later as Professor and Head of the Dept. ofAncient Indian History and Epigaraphy (1964-89). He also served as a member of the ICHR. His major works include The Seunas (Yadavas of Devagiri) and Volumes of Inscriptions from Nanded, Solapur and Kolhapur Districts. He has also edited A Descriptive Glossary of Administrative Terms in Ancient Karnataka. Dr. Ritti is presently the Chairman of the Epigraphical Society of India. He presided over of the 18th Annual Congress of the Society. He was also honoured with a Copper Plate Charter by the Society in recognition of his services to the field of Indian Epigraphy.
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