but this point cannot as yet be settled.

Mr. Rice has shown that one of the ministers of Deva Raya II. was named
Naganna; he had the title "Dhannayaka," implying command of the army.



CHAPTER 7

The City of Vijayanagar in the Reign of Deva Raya II. (A.D. 1420
(?), 1443)

Description given by Nicolo to Bracciolini -- The capital -- Festivals
-- Immense population -- Abdur Razzak's description -- His journey --
The walls -- Palaces -- The Mint -- Bazaars -- The great Mahahnavami
festival.

It will be well to suspend our historical narrative for a time in
order to acquire some idea of the appearance and condition of the
great city of Vijayanagar in these days. We have already noticed that
as early as 1375 A.D. Sultan Mujahid of Kulbarga had heard so much of
the beauty of this capital that he desired to see it, and it had grown
in importance and grandeur during the succeeding half-century. About
the year 1420 or 1421 A.D. there visited Vijayanagar one Nicolo, an
Italian, commonly called Nicolo Conti or Nicolo dei Conti, and if he
was not the earliest European visitor, he was at least the earliest
that we know of whose description of the place has survived to this
day. His visit must have taken place shortly after the accession of
Deva Raya II. Nicolo never apparently wrote anything himself. His
stories were recorded in Latin by Poggio Bracciolini, the Pope's