పుట:2015.370872.Raamaraajyamu.pdf/10

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PREFACE.

The poem entitled Ramarajiyamu, and known also as Narapativijayam, in honor of the brave Ramaraja, contains a genealogy of the Narapati princes who ultimately swayed the destinies of the Kiingdom of Vijayànagar. The Ramarajiyamu was composed at the beginning of the second half tot the 10th century by Surayya’s son Venkayya, the court-poet of Kodandaramaraja. This prince, better known as Ramaraja, and son-in-law of the famous king Krishnaraja, was like his father-in-law, a great patron of Telugu literature. I have elsewhere shown that there existed two Krishnarajas who had as their sons-in-law princes of the name of Ramaraja. [1]

The Ramarajiyamu was written previously to the battle of Talikóta, in which Kodandaramaraja was defeated and killed by the united armies of the Muhammedan Chiefs of Bijapur, Golkonda, Ahmadabad and Bedar. [2]

The narrative is continued nearly up to the period of this catastrophe, and leaves Ramaraja in the plenitude of his power occupying his throne with his sons round him.

As is usual with work of this kind, the book traces the descent of the Naraptis from Narayana through Chandra, the Moon, to the Bharatas, hennce to Nanda and from him to the Chalukyas and through Vijala of Kalyana to Kódandaramaraja, the hero of the poem.

The descent is triced as follows: -From Narayana, Brahman, Atri, Chandra, Budha, Pururavas, Ayu, Nahusa

  1. see my contributions to the History of Southern India, Part 1, p. 43.
  2. see Wilson's Descriptive Catalogue of the Mackensic Collections, Second Edition, Madras, 1882, 208,