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TRANSLATION OF INSCRIPTIONS 



were mostly celebrated as Telugu authors, but one of them As$yaya 

 Dikshita, is a name of some note in Sanscrit composition. 



From the general tenor of the inscriptions and from his coins, this 

 prince was also a zealous patron of that form of the Vaishnava faith, which 

 consists in the worship of Krishna and Rama. One of the inscriptions 

 before the Society records his bringing an image of Krishna from Udayagiri, 

 after the capture of that fortress, and erecting a temple for it at Krishna- 

 puran, endowed with seven villages, and with other sources of revenue, 

 the transit duties and profits of an adjoining reservoir. 



After Krishnaraya the pedigree observes, that Rama Raja his brother- 

 in-law, or agreeably to other statements his son-in-law, contended for the 

 masnad; but it is evident from the inscriptions that some interval must have 

 elapsed before he gained his object, as AchyutarXya's grants date from 

 1530 to 1545, and those of Rama do not commence until 1547. It is also 

 evident that he attained to supreme authority only as the minister of the 

 second son of VIranarasinha, SadasivarAya, as the grants of the king 

 and his minister run nearly parallel, those of the former extending from 

 1542 to 1570, whilst those of the latter are dated between 1547 and 1562. 

 The prince was, in fact, a mere pageant, and in the important events of 

 this period involving the dissolution of the State, the name of Rama appears 

 in the writings of both Muhammedans and Hindus as the sovereign of 

 Vijayanagar. 



The contests for the supreme sway, so briefly alluded to in the pedigree, 

 are very obscurely narrated by native writers, especially with regard to the 

 persons of Achyuta and Sadasiva. So far, therefore, the genealogy is of 

 value as it determines their characters. According to the Hindu annalists, 

 Krishnaraya having no children of his own, and the nearest heir Achyuta 

 being absent, he appointed Sadasiva Raja under the protection of Rama 



