Historian and research scholar Vasundhara Kavali Filliozat said here on Sunday that the usage of the phrase Vijayanagar empire was a misnomer and instead it should be called Karnataka Samrajya or empire.
Ms. Filliozat who has conducted decades of research on the subject and published many books, contended that her claims were based on epigraphic inscriptions which are contemporary records of the age.
She was speaking after being felicitated by Sri Vanamali Charitable Trust for her contribution to the field of culture. Her husband Dr. Pierre Sylvain Filliozat, a Sanskrit scholar, was also felicitated and they were accorded the Vanamali Samskruti Seva Prashasti. In addition, T. Ramanjaneya and his wife K.P. Jaya founders of Sneha Foundation, Kudligi, received the Padmashri Dr. Mathoor Krishnamurthy Social Service Award for their work in rehabilitation of children of Devadasis.
She said it was time to replace the usage of the Vijayanagar Empire in currency in present times with Karnataka Samrajya or empire and if people of Karnataka do not make efforts to reclaim it no one else will. “When I ever make such statements there are many Kannadigas themselves who oppose it on the grounds that it will not be received well by the people of Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh”, she added.
Ms. Filliozat said there were any number of inscriptions that were contemporary records of the age and they lend credence to her views. One of the inscriptions refers to Vijayanagar as the capital of Karnataka Samrajya while one of the titles of Krishnadevaraya, the legendary ruler of the kingdom, had Karnataka in it, she added. There are as many as 30 to 40 inscriptions that provide evidence that the region was called Karnataka and the capital was Vijayanagar, said Ms. Filliot.
Commenting on the distortion she attributed it to Portuguese travellers in the 15th century who found it difficult to pronounce either Karnataka or Vijayanagar and described the capital as Bisnaga. Ms. Fiilozat said what was eclipsed after the battle of Talikota was not the Vijayanagar empire but Karnataka Samrajya.
But what is ironic is that the areas - which were governed by the Nayakas of Tamil Nadu who were the governors of Karnataka Samrajya with Vijayanagar as its capital – came to be termed as Carnatic by the Europeans, Ms. Filliot added. She also referred to many distortions that have occurred and are in currency in popular usage and history texts, and said future generations of scholars should strive to correct them. ‘’There are over 5000 inscriptions pertaining to the subject that has been studied and published and efforts should be made to reclaim the nomenclature of Karnataka Samrajya for Vijayanagar Empire, said Ms.Filliot.
Nadoja Dr. T.V. Venkatachala Shastry, research scholar and others were present.
