must therefore have taken place at the beginning of the cold season
of A.D. 1398, probably not earlier than December in that year, when
the great cotton plains across which the troops had to march were
passable. It can hardly be supposed that King Harihara II., then
quite old and always a lover of peace, would without motive have
waged this sudden war and himself led his armies into the field,
and it seems more likely that the invasion was a bold dash made by
his son with the king's permission. The Muhammadan historians admit
an unbroken peace of twenty years previous to this date.

It seems, therefore, that the chronicles of Nuniz, the writings of
Firishtah, and the extant inscriptions all agree together, and that
we must place the death of Harihara II. at the close of the year
A.D. 1399. Little more can be said about the events of his reign.

The new king, his eldest son, Bukka II., must have been a man of
middle age, as he had a son old enough to take the field with him
before he himself came to the throne.

"This king ('Pureoyre')," says Nuniz, "had a son, who by his
death inherited the kingdom, who was called Ajarao; and he reigned
forty-three years, in which time he was always at war with the Moors."

I can give no explanation as to why Nuniz calls the successor of
Harihara II "Ajarao," nor as to his estimate of forty-three years
for his reign. The names and lengths of reigns given to "Ajarao's"
successors by our chronicler prove that by "Ajarao" he means two kings,
Bukka II. and his successor, Deva Raya I.; and the period covered by
their combined reigns was only fourteen years, not forty-three.