Amuktamalyada dwells much upon the relationship of (fort, Brahmanas) and dispersed tribal groups. Comment.

Answer:

The Amuktamalyada, a Telugu poem attributed to Krishnadeva Raya, is also a remarkable manual of statecraft. Its shrewd counsel on forts, on Brahmanas and on the forest and tribal peoples throws valuable light on the pragmatic political thinking that sustained the Vijayanagara empire at the very height of its power.

On forts and defence

• The work stresses the strategic value of well-provisioned forts as the backbone of the kingdom's security.
• It advises the king to keep forts stocked with grain, water and arms, and to garrison them adequately.
• Forts were to be entrusted to reliable, tested commanders to prevent treachery.
• A ring of strong forts was seen as the surest defence of the frontier.

On Brahmanas

• It urges the ruler to honour, protect and reward Brahmanas as a source of legitimacy and counsel.
• Brahmanas were to receive land grants and office, binding the learned elite firmly to the crown.
• Their support sanctified kingship and strengthened the moral authority of the state.

On tribal and forest groups

• It recognises the political importance of the forest chiefs and dispersed tribal groups on the margins.
• The king is advised to conciliate, win over or firmly control these groups to secure frontiers and manpower.
• This reflects an awareness that royal power rested on integrating, not merely subduing, the peripheries.
• Such groups could supply soldiers, forest produce and revenue if managed with tact.

Wider political wisdom

• It advises the promotion of irrigation, agriculture and trade as the basis of royal revenue.
• The king is urged to win the affection of subjects, for their goodwill is his true strength.
• Frontier chiefs (poligars) and nayakas were to be bound to the crown by service and reward.
• Composed as advice within a devotional poem on Andal, it fuses Bhakti and statecraft.
• Its counsel reflects the realities of the nayankara system on which the empire rested.

The Amuktamalyada thus reveals a shrewd and pragmatic theory of kingship, in which strong forts, a loyal Brahmana elite and the careful management of tribal groups formed the three pillars of the state. As Nilakanta Sastri noted, it offers a precious contemporary insight into the statecraft of Vijayanagara.