Philip Wagoner Kings Among Sultans PDF

"Sultan among Hindu Kings": Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara Author(s): Phillip B.
Wagoner Source: The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 55, No. 4 (Nov., 1996), pp. 851-880 Published by: Association for Asian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2646526 . Accessed: 19/08/2013 08:41
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"Sultan among Hindu Kings": Dress,Titles,and the Islami cization of Hindu Cultureat Vijayanagara
PHILLIP B. WAGONER
In a changeofclothing, people express theirresponse to a changingworld,and they a place withinthatworld.... Manyphasesand manychoicesare claim,evencreate, representedin the laborious passage from 'national' clothing to the sartorial proclamation of involvement in a wider,and different, social milieu. SandraA. Niessen(1993, 1) Eat whatyou like; dressto please others. ArabicProverb (Rugh 1986, 1)
When Robert Sewell inaugurated the modern study of the South Indian state of Vijayanagara with his classic A Forgotten Empire(1900), he characterized the state as "a Hindu bulwark against Muhammadan conquests" (Sewell [19001 1962, 1), thereby formulatingone of the enduring axioms of Vijayanagara historiography.From their capital on the banks of the Tungabhadra river,the kings of Vijayanagara ruled over a territory of more than 140,000 square miles, and their state survived threechanges of dynasty to endure for a period of nearly three hundred years, from the midfourteenththrough the mid-seventeenth centuries (Stein 1989, 1-2). According to Sewell, this achievement was to be understood as "the natural result of the persistent FreemanCenterforEast Asian Studies Phillip B. Wagoner is Curatorat the Mansfield and AdjunctAssociateProfessor ofArt Historyat WesleyanUniversity. Earlierversions ofthisessaywerepresented at theUniversity ofTexas at Austinin 1994; at the 576th Meeting of the OrientalClub of New Haven in 1994; and at the symposium in Pre-modern in 1995. For "ShapingIndo-MuslimIdentity India" held at Duke University theirinvitations to sharemydevelopingideas on thesethree I am grateful toJanice occasions, Leoshko,Lucie Weinstein, JohnRichards,and Bruce Lawrence.Many of the ideas expressed in the essayhave been shapedand refined in the courseofdiscussions withcolleagues, several ofwhomalso providedhelpful on earlier comments drafts and assistedin locatinginaccessible sources.I would like to thankin particular Jonathan Bloom, RichardDavis, RichardEaton, Dale Gluckman,StewartGordon,JamesLaine, Philip Lutgendorf, John Richards,the late BurtonStein,and CynthiaTalbot. I would also like to express myappreciation toJAS editor Anand Yang and to JoanneWaghorne and two anonymous fortheirmany JAS reviewers helpful suggestions. TheJournal ofAsianStudies 55, no. 4 (November1996):85 1-880. forAsian Studies,Inc. C) 1996 by the Association
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to conquerall India" ([19001 1962, 1). Hindu made by the Muhammadans efforts kingdoms had exercisedhegemonyover South India for most of the previous millennium,but were divided among themselveswhen the Muslim forcesof decadesofthefourteenth Muhammadbin Tughluq sweptovertheSouthin theearly theKrishnaRivertheHindus to their reached "Whenthesedreadedinvaders century: in hasteto the new standard and gathered withterror, combined, [of south,stricken The decayedold some hope ofprotection. whichalone seemedto offer Vijayanagaral became and thefighting kingsofVijayanagar awayintonothingness, statescrumbled (Sewell [19001 1962, 1). of the southfortwo and a halfcenturies" the saviours since Sewell's time,his simple formulation has softened Althoughthe rhetoric of SouthIndia even a powerful influence on the historiography continues to exercise that the actual patternof political today.To be sure,it is now widelyrecognized and seventeenth centuries and wars in South India betweenthe fourteenth conflicts In the wordsof in termsof a simple Hindu-Muslimconflict. cannotbe understood fought Asia, forexample,"bothHindu and Muslimstates theHistorical AtlasofSouth 1992, 195; did againstone another" (Schwartzberg as muchas they amongthemselves in Thapar 1976, 324). But despite the increasing see also the similarformulation in the formulation of role of realpolitik the determining to recognize tendency it a remains entrenched notion and deeply military policy, diplomatic Vijayanagara's purposewas to containthespread thatin therealmofcultural policy,Vijayanagara's it is in the southern Hindu institutions peninsula.Moreover, of Islam and preserve in implementing this generallyassumed that Vijayanagarawas largelysuccessful is characterized as "a Hindu Vijayanagara survey, cultural policy.Thus, in one recent and customs ofHindu institutions ofwhich"led to a preservation theexistence state," in the thirteenth A.D." (Kulke and century whichhad come underMuslim influence first, that 1990, 184). Two pointsseem implicitin such a statement: Rothermund of the Vijayanagaraperiod is as an era of cultural the historicalsignificance of Hindu culturewerepreserved with duringwhich "classical"forms conservatism, and second,thatthe culture of down to thepresent; and transmitted littlealteration and purely"Hindu" thanthatofNorth moreauthentically SouthIndia has remained and practices-even withina Hindu context-have been forms India, wherecultural withIslamicforms. a long periodof contactand interaction alteredthrough greatly and argueto thecontrary In thisessayI will questionbothoftheseassumptions, by its interaction was in factdeeplytransformed thatHindu cultureat Vijayanagara and If one movesbeyondtherestricted areaofreligious doctrine withIslamicculture. to the of elite, one begins ruling examine secular culture Vijayanagara's practiceto and altered Indic the extent to which forms practices Islamic-inspired recognize lifein the Vijayanagara period,and, indeed,continueto leave theirimpress courtly ifone on manyaspectsof the "Hindu" cultureof South India even today.Similarly, through accepts as legitimatethose culturalchanges that have been precipitated withtheoutsideworld-instead ofviewing themas anomalous contact and interaction discontinuitiesthreateningthe internal coherence of a tradition's historical periodcan onlybe viewedas an exceptionally development-thenthe Vijayanagara of SouthIndia. era in the history and creative dynamic in recent years, scholars have begun to recognize the Islamic Increasingly cultural manifestations of the antecedentsbehind a number of characteristic and strategy, areasas military political technology periodin suchdiverse Vijayanagara cultureof the court.What has not and the material and administrative institutions, and forms oftheseIslamic-inspired is thatthe appearance however, been recognized,
in . . . Southern India quite in contrast to the areas of Northern and Western India,
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practicesis symptomatic of a far-reaching processof systemic change in the elite cultureof late medievalSouth India. In the area of architecture, forexample,the presence ofIslamic-inspired forms in thecourtly monuments ofVijayanagara has been long recognized, but eventhe important analyses by GeorgeMichell(1985a, 1985b, 1992a, and 1992b) and Catherine Asher(1985) have stoppedshortofviewingthese innovativearchitectural developments as part of a largerprocessof fundamental cultural change-a processwhichI shall refer to in thisessayas Islamicization. at Vijayanagara One of the mostprofound instances of Islamicization appearsin thesystem ofmen'scourtdress, and it is on thispreviously unrecognized phenomenon thatI shall focusin thisessay.I will demonstrate thatthe traditional South Indian mode ofdresswas largely replaced, duringthe fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, by a new system based on the use of garment in the Islamic typesthathad originated world.These were the kabayi,a long tunic,derivedfromthe Arab qabd', and the a high,conicalcap of brocadedfabric, derivedfrom kuldh. kulldyi, the Perso-Turkic I will further far arguethatthistransformation, from beingtheresult ofmerechanges in taste or fashion, was a deliberately calculatedact on the part of Vijayanagara's courtly elite,and thatit was integrally relatedto changesin the politicalcultureof the court.The adoptionofIslamicizing forms ofcourtly dressis in factparalleled by theappropriation ofIslamicate modesofpoliticallanguage, themoststriking instance ofwhichappearsin Vijayanagara rulers' adoptionof thetitle"Hindu-rdya-suratrana," literally "SultanamongHindu Kings." Clearly, the royalimagery projected by these rulers, through Islamicizedstyles ofdressand address, was farmorecomplexthanthe of our own age simplisticimage in which the communally inspiredhistoriography has cast them. Althoughthis studyfocusesprimarily on the transformation of South Indian in the history of dressas such, but forits courtly dress,it is not out of an interest at Vijayanagara-a value in elucidatingthe broaderphenomenon of Islamicization manner. purposeto which the case of dresslends itselfin an unusuallyrewarding or textilefragment is knownto Paradoxically, althoughnot even a singlegarment have survivedfromthe Vijayanagara period,a rich abundanceof both visual and written and material documents does survive, offering detailedevidence oftheformal and theirmannerof use, and, occasionally, even illuminating qualitiesof garments It is thusfar thebasicassumptions theoperation easier underlying ofthedresssystem. in thesphere to understand thecultural ofIslamicization ofdressthanin significance but only thearea ofarchitecture, forexample,wherethematerial record is extensive, rarelyilluminatedthroughthe detailed testimony of written documents(Michell 1992b, 65). Dress, on the otherhand,was a subjectof obviousand abiding interest to manycontemporary and foreign observers writers, insiders alike,and their passing and comments to the evidenceof observations an invaluable provide complement it is this testimony that permitsus to visual representations. Most importantly, the changesin the Vijayanagara understand not as an isolatedinstance dresssystem, but rather, thatforms an integral ofcultural as one specific transformation borrowing, in detail as a broader part of Islamicization processof culturalchange.By focusing I believewe maygain a number on thisone well-documented aspectof theprocess, of usefulinsights into the natureof Islamicization itself.
"Islamicization"as Cultural Change

it with the details of the Vijayanagara Beforeproceeding courtly dresssystem, will be usefulfirst to discussthe theoretical model of Islamicization proposedhere.
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ofcultural change By wayofpreliminary definition, I would suggestthatthisprocess in termsof threecharacteristics. refers to a may be understood First,Islamicization political strategy, by means of which indigenouselites attemptto enhancetheir in the more"universal" culture politicalstatusand authority through participation is effected theadoptionofcertain Islamic ofIslam. Second,thisparticipation through forms and practices, oftheprocess-largely cultural which-given thepoliticalnature as opposedto the narrower domainof pertainto the broadsphereofsecularculture, ofIslamicization hasnothing to do withreligious formal religion.' As such,theprocess in thecase ofVijayanagara, there is littleevidence conversion or syncretism; certainly to Islam or evensyncretic ofconversion movements, despitethefactthatthematerial and politicalculture ofVijayanagara's elitesunderwent Islamicization to a remarkably (originally used to high degree. Finally,to borrowa phraseof McKim Marriott's a closelyanalogousprocessabout whichwe shall have characterize Sanskritization, does not necessarily occur "at the expenseof' more to say below), Islamicization adopted indigenousculturaltraditions. In otherwords,when a given culturalform existing in theindigenous from theIslamicworldhas a functional counterpart already form in all contexts. culture, the importdoes not necessarily replacethe established form a symbolic While a givenIslamicized maybe used in thosesocialdomainswhere appeal to the universalnormsof Islamic civilizationwould be both naturaland expedient-as for example, in courtlyaudiences and receptionswhere political, from and mercantile the largerIslamicworldare presentmilitary, representatives in otherdomains,wheresuchan use of the indigenous analoguewill likelycontinue in thecontext forexample, appeal would be irrelevant or evencounterproductive-as it is conformity ofcertain ofHindu ritualperformance, where withbrahmanical types culturalnormsthatconfers legitimacy. It is striking-although hardly surprising, giventhe ideologyofHindu-Muslim communalism and its profound impacton all historiography of South Asia in this themodelofIslamicization hereproposed appears century-thatnothing approaching to have been developed in the scholarlydiscourseof South Asia, whetherfor or forany otherregionand periodin the history of medievalIndia. In Vijayanagara of the model of whichI am awareoccursin the writings fact,the onlyanticipation ofan Islamicist who worked outsidetheSouthAsianfield, thelateMarshall primarily G. S. Hodgson.Hodgson'sworkis particularly notonlyin thatit anticipates relevant, certainaspectsof the generaltheoretical model proposedhere,but also because in to thestateofVijayanagara. In an article reference originally doingso it makesspecific mostof the East publishedin 1970, Hodgson wrotethat"by the sixteenth century, moreor less Christian, Hindu, and TheravadaBuddhistpeoples foundthemselves
'I recognize the problematic natureof thesecategories, and do not mean to suggestthat thedistinction between"religious" and "secular" categories ofhumanexperience is universally was drawnwithineitherthe medievalIndic or Islamicworldvalid or thatsuch a distinction views. However,I do believe that it is analytically to distinguish productive betweenthose and practices thatare commonly culturalforms designated as "religious" (doctrinal and theological discourse, but also ritualsand practice, and material adjunctsto thatpractice) and the residuum of "secular" cultural forms thatdo not beara primarily "religious" significance. This is not to denythat"secular" cultural forms are sometimes religiously sanctioned, or thatclearcut boundaries between"religious" and "secular" aresometimes to draw. categories impossible I believethereis a vast area of culturalforms and practices in premodern South Nonetheless, Asia thathas been eitherignoredor grossly misunderstood from the perspective of a critical discourse whichgivesprimacy to thecategory of"religion"-witnessKulke'smisinterpretation of the narrative of Hariharaand Bukka's supposed"conversion" to Islam,discussedat theend of thisessay.
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enclavedin an Islamicateworld whereMuslim standards of tastecommonly made their wayevenintoindependent kingdoms, likeHinduVijayanagar orNormanSicily" us to view (Hodgson 1993, 120 [emphasisadded}). Hodgson'sstatement encourages in proper Vijayanagara world-historical perspective, as but one ofmanystateslocated at theperiphery ofan expanding Islamiccivilization, which, as Hodgsoncharacterized it in another context, "camecloserthananyothermedievalsociety to establishing a commonworldorderofsocialand evencultural standards" (Hodgson 1993, 176-77; notethereference to Vijayanagara in thispassageas well). Furthermore, thestatement emphasizes thefactthattheacceptance ofIslamiccultural norms could and did occur evenin stateswhichremained and NormanSicilyindependent-likeVijayanagara and werenever subjectto politicaldomination the or anyofits successor by caliphate states.Finally,it stresses thatthe impactof this culturalhegemony was in the area of secularculturerather thanof religion. What Hodgson speaksof are "standards of taste"or "socialand cultural standards," and he pointedly characterizes thesecultural phenomenanot as Islamic, but as "Islamicate."Hodgson reservesthe adjective "Islamic"to mean" 'oforpertaining the to Islam' in the proper, religious, sense;" he coins the term "Islamicate"to refer more broadlyto "the social and culturalcomplex historically associated withIslam and theMuslims,bothamongMuslimsthemselves and even when found among non-Muslims"(Hodgson [19741 1977, 59). The distinctionis a crucial one, and althoughthereis oftenresistance to Hodgson's idiosyncratic terminology, the conceptitselfpredatesHodgson and has long been takenforgranted For SouthAsianists, amongIslamicists. however, thedistinction is often lostdue to the impactofcommunalideology withits attendant ofthe blurring boundaries betweenreligion is and politics.Becauseofmybeliefthatthedistinction of crucial importance for a successfulinterpretation of medieval Indian cultural I accordingly the remainder of history, employHodgson's terminology throughout thisessay,using the adjective"Islamicate" to emphasizethe factthatthe referent is a social and cultural complex that often extended across religious boundaries. Similarly,I use the term "Islamicization"to referto the process of becoming "Islamicate," in deliberate from theterm"Islamization," used to distinction generally theprocessof becoming"Islamic"(see, forexample,Eaton 1993).2 signify
2Although the term "Islamicization" proposedhere is not an altogether happy one, it nonetheless seemsto be the least problematic among the optionsavailable.Its greatest drawback is that the word is not sufficiently the subdistantfrom"Islamization"to underscore stantialdifferences In an earlier betweenthe two processes to whichtheyrefer. version ofthis paper,I suggestedinsteadthe term"Turkicization," in part to avoid the religiousovertones that would seem to be implicitin any termderivedfromthe word "Islam," and in part in recognition of the factthatindigenousIndic sourcesin the Vijayanagara perioddo not speak in theDeccan in ethnic ofIslam or Muslims,but identify thebearers ofIslamicatecivilization terms, speakinginevitably of"Turks"(Telugu turaka, oftheir actual Sanskrit turuska) regardless ethnicstatusas Turks,Persians, Deccani Muslims,or otherwise (see also Wagoner1994). But this termwould appeartoo limitedin scope,suggesting an appropriation ofTurkicelements in thecase ofelements only-which is inaccurate like theitemsofdressconsidered which here, originally developedin an Arab or Persiancontext. "Persianization" would also be inadequate forlargelysimilarreasons.In any case, the strongest in favor of "Islamicization" argument is a positiveone, and revolves aroundthe close conceptuallink betweenthe processdescribed here and Hodgson's conceptionof "Islamicateculture"as "the social and culturalcomplex historically associatedwith Islam and Muslims" (Hodgson [19741 1977, 59), even if many of elements of thatcomplexhave littleor nothingto do with the formal tenetsand practices Islam as a religion.
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Kabdyiand Kulldyi
ofVijayanagara's Islamicized dress The clearest and mostdetailedvisualevidence Dt., Andhra appearsin a painting from theVirabhadra templeat Lepakshi (Anantapur Pradesh),dating to the 1530s (Sivaramamurti 1937 and 1968; Gopalarao 1969; see Michelland KamesvaraRao 1976, 77-84; Pachner1985; forcolorillustrations, Filliozat1981, 118, and Blurton1993, fig.128). In thepaintedceilingofthetemple's one register or ndya-man,dapa, outerpillared-hall depictsa group of male courtiers Virabhadra and Bhadrakali thedeitiesoftheshrine, (fig.1). Most ofthe worshipping withthe whitetunicthatis in thisgroupare clothedin an identicalfashion, figures in vernacular and the tall conicalcap of brocadedfabric known termed kabdyi texts, the Vijayanagara and sculptures as ku4{dyii3 Otherpaintings periodalso datingfrom and ku?Idyi, but in the majority of thesecases the includedepictionsof the kabdyi descriptivedetail and clarity do not match that of the Lepakshi painting.4 ofthetwogarments arebestdescribed on the Accordingly, theform and construction basis of thisimportant testimony. In construction, the kabdyi is depictedas a tunic,characterized by long, snug in a variable which cases reaches as faras the and lower hem of some sleeves, length, in anklesand in othersstopsat the knees.(At least in this painting,the difference in thewearer's withtheknee-length hem lengthappearsrelatedto differences status, who are probably to be understood as servants ofthe used onlyby the shorter figures At the top, thereis a large,circular men in full-length neckopeningwitha kabdyi.) thatseemsto extenddown the lengthof narrow turn-down collarand a slit in front thechest.Fromdetailsofseveral ofthefigures, thisslitappearsto havebeenfastened with a buttonof some sort.As forcolorand decoration, kabdyi shownin this every white cloth,and the only accentsare paintingis made froma plain, undecorated at thewaist. providedby the colorful sashestied aroundthegarment it is depictedin theLepakshimuralas a highconicalcap with As forthekuildyi, a roundedpeak, up to one and a halftimesthe heightof the head. It appearsto be a small number ofattenuated constructed from side triangular gussetssewntogether
3Forthe tunic,the forms and kabayaoccurin bothTelugu and Kannada;kapdyi kabdyi is in Kannada. For the cap, kulldyi also attested in Telugu appearsto be themostcommonform and kuldyi in Kannada, but manyvariantforms occur in both languages(see Brown[19051 1979, 245, 299-300; and Kittel 1893, 362, 365, 449). In her discussionof the Lepakshi to the tunicinappropriately paintings, Pachnerrefers as a jcma (1985, 334). I have not come acrossanyoccurrence oftheterm used to denotetheVijayanagara style jama (or itsderivatives) garment.Althoughthe word is used in Persianas a genericdesignationforclothing,it is customarily used in the Indian context to designatetheparticular typeofrobewornin North Indian courtsin the sixteenth century and later.With its overlapping front construction and of significantly widelyflaring lowerhem, the northIndianj7nza is a garment condifferent from struction the kabdyi. 4A number ofexamplesofrelief sculpture arediscussedand illustrated in Verghese1991. It shouldbe notedthattwo Deccani manuscripts thethird ofthesixteenth datingfrom quarter also providevaluabledocumentation ofcontemporary century dress:theTdrikh-i Vijayanagar Husain Shdh2, an illustrated of the reignof Husain Shah I of Ahmadnagar history (r. 155465), producedat thatcenter between1565 and 1569 (now in theBharataItihasaSamshodhaka Mandal in Poona; see Zebrowski1983, 17ff.; and for illustrations, ACSAA 17: no. 1794 "Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi," no. 1797 "Defeat of the Hindu Army"),and the Nujiunm al- UIun, a treatise on astronomy, magic,and military animalsand weapons, ascribedto theBijapurcourt c. 1570 (now in the ChesterBeattyLibrary, Dublin; see Leach 1995, 2:819-89, and color plates 113, 117).
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by side, and is depicted as having an even, continuously running lower edge, without side or back flaps and without any fold-up brim. Additionally, in the case of the two prominent men standing at the head of the group, two paired strips of flaringcloth issue fromthe top of the hat and hang down along its side. The decoration of the cap conforms to the outlines of the gussets from which it is made, and on the basis of motifs featured,may be divided into at least two main types. In one, three profile lotus blossoms are connected in a vertical series by a stem with a small rosettein the middle of each segment and are bounded on the sides by meandering stems from which foliage issues. In the other, a more geometric effectis obtained by the vertical linking of two or more ogival lozenges, with undulating, cusped forms contained inside. The testimonyof the Lepakshi mural is an invaluable aid in understanding the but does not permit us to identifythe formand decoration of the kabdyiand ku//dyi, materials fromwhich these items of dress were made or to gain a sense of the extent and social contexts of their use. The testimonyof foreignvisitors to Vijayanagara is, however, quite informativein this regard and provides a much-needed complement to the pictorial evidence. Written accounts of South Indian customs in the Vijayanagara age have survived fromthe hands of Arab, Persian, Chinese, Portuguese, and Italian travelers, which in many cases are models of careful ethnographic observation.5 Most importantly, these texts are marked by an attentiveness to descriptive detail rarely matched in indigenous texts, which, more often than not, pass over in silence the familiar realities of everydaylife. The following analysis is based on passages culled fromnine such "proto-ethnographic"texts. and sixteenth centuries As for the kabdyi, the foreign accounts of the fifteenth consistentlydescribe the king and the members of his court as wearing a sleeved tunic on the upper body, variously characterized in terms of familiar garments from the writer's own dress culture. In the fifteenthcentury, Abdul-Razzaq Samarqandi (writing in 1442-44) describes the contemporaryVijayanagara king Devaraya II (r. 1422-46) as wearing "a tunic," using the Persian word qabd' (Abdul-Razzaq 144244, 310). In the next century,Italian and Portuguese writerscharacterizethe garment variously as "a slender dress, somewhat like a petticoat, not very long" (Verthema 1502-8, 89), "shortwhite shirts ... which are gathered between the thighs but open in front(?)" (Barbosa 1500-16, 205), and "bajuris,which are like shirtswith a skirt" and recordsthe (Nuniz 1535-37, 363). Domingo Paes (1520-22) goes a step further fromthe Kannada kabdya name of the garment as cabaya, most likely transliterating (thus, of the lords and captains who appear beforethe king, he states that "theyplace their hands in the sleeves of their cabayas" [Paes 1520-22, 2421, and on another occasion, he reports that "the king gave Christovao de Figueiredo a cabaya" [Paes 1520-22, 2431. The material from which these garments are made is generally described as being of cotton, silk, or brocade. Thus, Abdul-Razzaq describes the king's tunic as made of "zaytunisilk" (Abdul-Razzaq 1442-44, 310); Duarte Barbosa speaks of "shirtsof cotton, or silk, or coarse brocade" (Barbosa 1500-16, 205), and Paes refers to "a cabaya of brocade" (Paes 1520-22, 243). Cesare Federici (c. 1570, 161) also mentions velvet, satin, damask, and "scarlet cloth" in addition to white cotton, 5Fora brief reviewof thisliterature, see Loschhorn 1985, and the chronological bibliography in Dallapiccola and Zingel-AveLallement (1985, 2:1-2). Althoughit has been fashionable in some quarters to questionthe reliability of such foreign accounts,it should be noted that theirtestimony generally accordscloselywith that of indigenousliterary evidenceand the archaeological record. For further discussion, see Wagoner 1993, 15 and 197 n. 5.
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in descendingorderof value and prestige("accordingto the state and apparently conditionof the wearers, the apparelis of velvet,satin,etc."). Both Paes and Nuniz single out the king's garments as being of white cloth (silk, accordingto Nuniz), embroidered or workedwith gold ("white clothsembroidered with manyrosesin gold," and again, "whiteclothsall covered with[embroidery of) golden roses"[Paes 1520-22, 243, 2591); "silk cloths[ipachoiisl of veryfinematerial workedwithgold" [Nuniz 1535-37, 3631. Finally,the textualevidencesuggeststhattherewereboth social and geographical boundaries withinwhichuse of the garment was restricted. Thus, Verthemais explicitin drawinga contrast betweenthe tunic,wornonly by "the richer people," and the dressof "the commonpeople," who go about "almost entirely naked, coveringonly the parts of shame" (Verthema1502-8, 89). Even thoughthe kabayimaythusbe understood it was not,however, as an elite garment, wornat all SouthIndian courts, but appearsto have been in use onlyat the courtof in muchof the SouthIndian Vijayanagara and its dependencies. By wayof contrast, littoralzone-where a numberof small kingdomsand city-states thrivedon the maritimetrade and preservedtheir autonomyfromVijayanagara-the evidence thattraditional consistently suggests Indicdressremained thenorm evenat thecourts. This was the case at Calicut in the 1440s, whenAbdul-Razzaqnotesthattheruling Zamorinwas "as nakedas theotherHindus [i.e., did not coverhis chestbut onlyhis loinsl" (Abdul-Razzaq 1442-44, 305), and on into the closingyearsof the century, whenVasco da Gama's chronicler remarks of "the most respectable" inhabitants of Calicutthat"they with go nakeddown to thewaist,covering theirlowerextremities veryfinecottonstuffs" (Da Gama 1497-99, 28); and accordingto Ma Huan-the ChineseMuslim who kept the official recordof the voyagesof the Ming explorer Cheng Ho-writing in 1433, it was also the case in Cochin,Quilon, Ceylon,and even in the Maldives,wherethe populationwas predominantly Muslim (Ma Huan 1433, 128, 130, 132-34, 149). These authors ofthesixteenth areequallyconsistent-atleastfrom thebeginning a ofhis courtas wearing century-in describing theVijayanagara kingand members highcap,generally statedto be ofbrocade, whichis clearly as theku//dyi. recognizable Verthema(1502-8, 89 [emendedfollowing Sewell [19001 1962, 244, n.11) states that "the king wearsa cap of gold brocadetwo spans long;" while Paes (1520-22, 243) saysof the rulerKrishnadevaraya (r. 1509-29) that "on his head he had a cap of brocadein fashion we like a Galician helmet."Of the male members of the court, readvariously that"somewearsilk or brocadecaps" (Barbosa1500-16, 205), "on the head theywearcaps of brocade"(Nuniz 1535-37, 363), or "theywearlong hats on theirheads . . . made of similarmaterials [i.e., velvet, satin,damask,scarlet cloth,or whitecotton]"(Federicic. 1570, 161). Paes, Nuniz, and Federici areall morespecific in referring to thesecaps by a transliterated versionof theirKannada name: collaes (Paes 1520-22, 263), culaes (Nuniz 1535-37, 363), or colae(Federicic. 1570, 161). thatthesecaps are wornnot only Paes gives two further details:first, Additionally, womenof the court(the maids of honorwho wait upon by men,but also by certain the queens), and that thesewomen'scollaes are ornamented with "flowers made of largepearls"(Paes 1520-22, 263); and second,thattheking'scollaeis wornnotplain, but "covered witha piece of finestuff all of fine silk" (Paes 1520-22, 243). this testimony with the visual evidenceof the Lepakshi Considering together we maydrawseveral and use ofthekabdyi conclusions aboutthenature mural, general and ku//dyi. As forthe kabdyi, it is clearthatthiswas a long-sleeved, pullovertunic withfront withthelowerhemextending to a point slit;thatit was ofvariable length,
somewhere between mid-thigh and lower calf; that it was usually made of plain white
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be ornamented cottonor silk,but thattheking'skabdyi mightadditionally withgold floral and thatit was in widespread use amongthe designsin brocadeor embroidery; theking,but was notworneither male members oftheVijayanagara court, including or by theeliteat courts by commonmen,who lefttheupperbodyuncovered, beyond As for we haveseenthatthiswas a high,brimless theswayofVijayanagara. theku//dyi, whichmight conicalcap withroundedtop; thatit was usuallymade ofsilk brocade, be wovenwithfloral designsor lozenges;and thatit was the characteristic headgear of the king and male membersof the court,and was in some cases also wornby women. It is noteworthy that both kabdyiand ku//dyi are new to South India in the a radicaldeparture their from Vijayanagara period;in fact, adoptionrepresents earlier of Indic courtlydress. Prior to the introduction of the kabdyiin the traditions men at SouthIndiancourts did notcustomarily or earlyfifteenth fourteenth century, but insteadlefttheirchestsand armsexposed,or at most, wearany uppergarment, loosely draped theirshoulderswith a long, rectangular piece of untailoredcloth ofthekulldyi, hatsor caps of before theintroduction (ambaram). Similarly, preformed fabric were unheardof in South India, whererulerstypically worea jeweledcrown or narrow or karanda-makuta)6 fillet and chiefs (kirfta (patta),and courtiers wrapped thehead in a turban (f(irovesthi). Despite theirnovelty, thekabdyi and ku//dyi however, oftheVijayanagara werenottotally unprecedented inventions period;to thecontrary, the evidenceoverwhelmingly of itemsin suggeststhattheyappearedas adaptations world.This is indicated commonuse throughout theIslamicate bothby their names, fromthe Arabicand Persianqabd' and kuldh, and by theirclose clearlyloan-words formal withthe Islamicategarments correspondence designated by thesetwo terms. The Islamicate is theqabd', a garment sourcefor thekabdyi analogueand ultimate thatis mentioned in Arabicliterary as earlyas the seventh sourcesfrom century. Its has been tracedin detail by historians of Islamicatedress(Dozy subsequenthistory 1845; Mayer 1952; Stillman 1986; Stillmanand Stillman 1986). In its earlyArab the qabd' is wornas an outertunicor robe covering the body-shirt knownas form, It possessesthe same characteristics kamfs. we have notedforthe Vijayanagara style it is long-sleeved, with a front-opening neck slit that may be closed with kabdyi: Arabgarment, thefarrfij, is identicalexceptthatthe neckslit is in buttons(another the back [Stillman1986, 7331). Most importantly, the qabd' is clearly in identified as a luxury sources whichis often made ofexpensive contemporary garment, specialty such as brocade(Arabicdfbdj). fabrics By the eleventh and twelfth centuries, during the periodof Seljuq ascendancy, a variant knownas the "Turkicqabd"(Persian form qabd turks)became widespreadthroughout the central Islamicate lands. It was in which the front front distinguished by its overlapping construction, panels are one overtheotherand tied or buttoned crossed on theside. By thefifteenth century,
to iconographic 6According texts, use ofthekir2ta is indicative ofa supreme deityor ruler, while thekaranda-mak.ut is used by otherdeitiesand subordinate kings.Like thekulldyi, the kirTta is also shapedin the form ofa high,tapering cylinder; but unliketheku4llyi, whichhas a smooth, rounded top,thekirTta endswitha pronounced shoulder, and is typically surmounted witha knob-likefinial. bothvisual representations Moreover, (forexample,a paintingon the innerwall of a courtyard cell in the Kailasanathatempleat Kanchipuram thatdepictsVisnu wearinga gem-studded [Nagaswamy1988, pl. 101) and the wordingof iconographic kirYta textssuggestthatit is generally made notoffabric, but ofmetal,set withprecious gems.See, forexample,the Vasistha-sa?mhit,7 a SouthIndian iconographic textwhichenjoinsthata kirTta should be made of jewels,gems,and coral,to the extenttheyare available(kirTtam ... maniin Smith 1969, 277 no. 761). kdrayet, X,6; textexcerpted ratna-pravdldnd7n yath7l1dbhena
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variants had appearedin theIraniancultural as is evident from yetother sphere, their in Timuridpainting.In contrast frequent representation to both Arab and Turkic versions, these Timurid variants are either short-sleeved-a type apparently thisterm in Thackston designated bytheTurkicterm ddgdld (see theglossary entry for in eithercase revealingthe 1989, 380)-or long-sleeved and worn open in front, contrasting colorofa qabdturkf underneath. Clearly, then,theVijayanagara is kabdyi based on the more conservative, Arab-styleqabd' and not on the differently constructed Turkicor Timuridvariants. The Islamicatesourceforthe ku//dyi is withoutdoubt the Persiankuldh, a high or medium-high cap made of cloth fabric (forthe kuldh, see Stillmanand Stillman 1986, 747 col. 2). Fromat leastthefifteenth it appearswithgreatfrequency century, in Persianpaintings, althoughits origincertainly goes back to a still earlier period. Pictorial evidence shows a great proliferation of different types of kuldh, some relatively low and othersnearly as high as the Vijayanagara ku/(dyi, some trimmed withupturned fur or clothbrims, and others unbrimmed as in theLepakshi examples. In additionto the basic formal correspondence betweenku//dyi and kuldh, thereis also a closesimilarity between someoftheornamental motifs depicted on theLepakshi In particular, and motifs used in thePersiandecorative kul/dyis commonly repertoire. therecan be little doubt that the profile lotus motifseen in one of the Lepakshi at thehead ofthegroupin fig.1) is derived a similar from kul/dyis (thatofthe figure motifoccurring in sixteenth century specimensof brocade and compoundweave a late-sixteenth-century fabrics ofPersianmanufacture in a velvet (for example, weave withmetalstrips, see Pope and Ackerman 1964, 11:1006). Hopefully, thisbrief review has demonstrated two things:first, thattheultimate sourcefortheVijayanagara is some form kabdyi of the moreconservative, Arab type of qabh$,and, second,thatthe formal forthe ku//dyi-and inspiration possiblyeven the specific typesoffabric used to make thisheadgear-deriveultimately from some center of Persianculture.Recognition of thesetwo pointsopensup a hostof related these Islamicate questions,such as when and throughwhat specificmechanisms as these garmenttypeswere transferred to the Vijayanagara court;but as worthy problemsare, theyare beyondthe scope of the present essay.7 Instead,I would like to proceedto theevenmorefundamental theVijayanagara elitechose questionofwhy to adopt theseitems.
"Sultan among Hindu Kings"

In an inscription first dated 1352, thesecondruler ofVijayanagara's dynasty (the describedwith the Sangama,c. 1330-1485)--Bukka I (r. 1344-77)-had himself seriesof titles:"the prosperous of enemykings, following greattributary, punisher Sultanamong Hindu Kings, vanquisher of kingswho breaktheirword,lord of the easternand western oceans,the auspicioushero"(SII 16: no. 4; translation mine).
7Theissueofchronology has been addressed in partbyVerghese, who argues(on thebasis of herreviewof the sculptural evidence)thatthe kulldyi came into use at some pointaround the middleof the fifteenth century, and thatthe use of thekabdyi (whichshe refers to not by name,but as a "close-fitting shirtor jacket")was well-established by the earlysixteenth century-although she cautiouslysuggeststhat one may alreadybe represented in the same the earliest coarsely carvedimage of the rulerMallikarjunathataffords evidenceof sculptural the kulldyi (Verghese1991).
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This inscription represents the first documented use by a Vijayanagara rulerof the titlehimdurdya suratrdna, "Sultanamong/of Hindu Kings." In one form or another, thistitlecontinued in use byBukka'ssuccessors for at leastanother 250 years, through three changes in dynasty, untilas lateas theopeningyears oftheseventeenth century.8 its use without Most historians have glossed lightly overthis title,mentioning much further comment.VasundharaFilliozat, for example, writes: "This word difficulties. norin Kannada does it Neitherin Sanskrit [hindurdyasuratrdnal presents a Sanskritization sense.We mustassumethatsuratrdna yielda satisfactory represents a phonetic transliteration ofanymeaning. In oftheMuslim titleSultan, independent an equivalent in Kannada.One thesameway,suratdlu would represent transliteration thusobtainsthemoresatisfactory meaningof"SultanofHindu kings,"a titlewhich would have been given to Bukka by his Muslim neighbors" (1973, xvi, translation mine). To my knowledge,the only authorwho actuallyattemptsto explain its and therationale forits use is HermannKulke. He writes, "themeaning significance clear.But it is quite likelythattheearly ofthistitleis notvery kingsofVijayanagara laid claim to a statusamongthe Hindu rajasequal to thatof theSultansamongthe in a Muslim rulers"(1985, 125). For Kulke, the title is thus to be understood homological sense,whichhas theeffect ofemptying theterm"sultan"ofanyspecific culturalcontent. Vijayanagara kingsare not claimingactuallyto besultans;theyare thattheyare likesultanswith respect to the statustheyclaim as merely suggesting I believe,however, thatthere rulers. aretwopointswhichmilitate paramount against In the first such an interpretation. place, it puts Bukka I-who first used thetitlein the paradoxical positionof claimingabsoluteparamountcy with thisone title,at a timewhenhis othertitlesstillcasthim in thepositionofa subordinate ruler. With onlytwoknownexceptions (Filliozat1973, nos. 50, 104), theearliest Sangamakings referred to themselves as mahdmandale,(vara and odeya consistently ("greattributary") ("lord"or "chief')and not with the "imperial" titlesof rdjddhiraja ("kingof kings") and rdjaparames'vara lordofkings").These titleswerenotadopteduntilthe ("supreme
8In additionto the 1352 epigraph cited,the titleoccursin at leastfour otherinscriptions from the reigns ofHariharaI and Bukka I (Filliozat 1973, no. 35, himduvardyasuratdlu [13541; Filliozat 1973, no. 36, hirmdurdyasuratrdna [13541; Filliozat 1973, no. 37, himdurdyasuratrdna perusal of just [13541; Filliozat 1973, no. 50 himdurdyasuratrdna [13581). From a cursory severalepigraphicvolumescontaininginscriptions dating fromthe period afterthe end of Bukka's reign,I have culled the following further occurrences of the title:used by Devaraya II (r. 1422-1446), hindurdyasuratrdnah, (Satyamangalam Plates,El 3: 35-41), himdfirdyasuratrd,u(Mapiuruinscription, 1425 CE, 81 16: no. 28); used by Viranarasimharaya (r. 15051509), indurdyasuratrdnah (Kudiyantandal Plates, 1507 CE, El 14: no. 17); used by Krishnadevaraya (r. 1509-1529), himdurdyasuratrdnah (Udayambakam Grant,1528 CE, El 14: no. 12); used bySadasivaraya (r. 1542-1576), hindurdyasuratrdnah (Bevinahalli Grant,1551 CE, El 14: no. 16). CynthiaTalbot has kindlycalled my attention to fivefurther epigraphic occurrences ofthe title(or seemingly related variants) used bothbykingsofVijayanagara's fourth and last dynasty (the Aravidu,c. 1570-1649) and by local chiefsand "littlekings" in the Andhra region.In the form hindi7rdvusuradhdni it is applied to the chiefSariyapati in an Timmareddi inscription issuedbyhis son and namesake in ChedalavadanearOngole (1482 CE, NDI Ongole identical withtheson oftheprevious 30) and is takenby one Timmareddi (apparently record) in an inscription in GunturDt. (1496 CE, SII 10: no. 731). A different, from Santaravuru but probablyrelatedform, dndhrasuratrdnah "Sultan of the Andhracountry," is applied to the famedKapaya Nayaka in an inscription issued by his relative SingayaNayaka (Akkalapundi relatedtitle,urig5lasuratrdnah Grant, 1368 CE, El 13: no. 24), and yet anotherseemingly "Sultanof Warangal [capital of the pre-Vijayanagara is used by the ArKakatiyadynastyl," avidu king TirumalaI (r. 1570-72) (PenuguluruGrant,1572 CE, El 16: no. 18) and by his successor VenkataII (r. 1586-1614) (MangalampadGrant,1602/3CE, NDI copperplate no. to Talbot forsupplying me withcopies of theserecords. 6). I am grateful
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reignof Harihara11(1377-1404), althoughthe titlehimduraya suratrdna is attested in at least five inscriptions priorto the adoptionofimperialtitles(see note8 above). thereare at least two further from this same periodin which Secondly, inscriptions the modifying component "of Hindu kings"(himdurdya) is dropped,and Bukka is describedsimplyas "Sultan" (suratdlu; Filliozat 1973, no. 39 [13551 and no. 44 to see how use ofthissimpleand straightforward [13561). It is difficult title,without anyfurther qualification whatsoever, couldstillfunction in thefigurative, homological a different is needed. senseproposedby Kulke. Clearly, explanation I would like to suggestthat both titles,"Sultan" and "Sultan among Hindu kings,"wereused in a muchmoreliteraland directsenseas a meansofproclaiming that the Vijayanagararulercould actuallybe considered a Sultan,not in termsof relative politicalstanding, but in concrete terms ofsubstance and style.In particular, thetitlehimdurdya itsbearer suratrana wouldhaveserved to differentiate from ordinary in the political Hindu (i.e., Indic) kingsby signalinghis willingness to participate discourse ofIslamicatecivilization. BecauseofthefactthatMuslimpolitieshad risen to a positionofdominance withinmuchofSouthAsia by theVijayanagara period,it was no longersufficient fora SouthIndianrulerto articulate his claimsto legitimacy Indic idiom. By the earlyVijayanagara solelywithina traditional era, not onlywas mostofcentral oftheDelhi Sultanate, but numerous NorthIndia underthehegemony Muslim stateshad established as regional themselves along the Sultanate's periphery well, including Vijayanagara'simmediateneighborsto the north,the Bahmani kingdomof Gulbargaand Bidar (1347-1527) and its successor states,of whichthe at Ahmadnagar most important werecentered (1490-1636), Bijapur (1489-1686), and Golconda(1512-1687). If a Vijayanagara ruler wishedto be acceptednotjustby his own subordinates, but also by rulersof otherstatesin the broaderIndic sphere whoserepresentatives at his court,9 to wereconstantly he had to be equallysensitive the normsand usages of Islamicate modes of legitimation.Moreover,it is also to recognize thatby the Vijayanagara was no important age, the sphereof reference as well intotheinterstate longerconfined justto theIndic worldbut extended system of defined the portof Bhatkal(southwest by the Indian Ocean trade.In particular, nexus the Vijayanagara capital on the Kanara coast) servedas a crucialcommercial thatextended and connected from the Vijayanagara into an extensive tradenetwork southChinacoastin theeast to theportsofthePersian Gulfand Red Sea in thewest. In fact,it was from Aden on the southArabiancoast and Hormuz at the mouthof tradeitem, the PersianGulf thatVijayanagara received its most important overseas overlandto the high quality war-horses, shipped to Bhatkal and then transported
9Contemporary accountsconsistently refer to the presenceof ambassadors or representativesofneighboring statesat theVijayanagara court, and vice versa.Nuniz's detailednarration of the embassiessent fromBijapur to Krishnadevaraya is suggestiveof the importance of diplomaticexchangesin determining the courseof interstate relations (Sewell [19001 1962, 332-340). A letter ofTristamde Paiva, an ambassador sentfrom Goa by Dom Joaode Castro between1545 and 1548, describes his reception at the Vijayanagara courtofSadasivaraya (r. 1542-76), and notesthatin additionto thekingand somesixty ofhis "captains andgrandees," the ambassadors of the Nizam al-Mulk (rulerof Ahmadnagar), the Imad al-Mulk (rulerof Berar,another Bahmanisuccessor state),and the Qutb al-Mulk (rulerof Golconda) werealso at theaudience(cited by GeorgSchurhammer present in his preface to Correia-Afonso [19551 1969, xvi-xvii). For a discussionof literary evidenceon typesof diplomaticrepresentatives in sixteenth-century and the natureof theiroperations South India, see Wagoner(1993, 1315, 22, and 175 n. 26).
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Vijayanagara capital.'0 Given Vijayanagara's military dependence on this longdistance trade, one would expect the courtlyelite to have developed an interestin the affairs of the other states borderingon the Indian Ocean. Indeed, at least by the 1440s, there was clearly an awareness of the most importantcontemporaryimperial house in Iran and Central Asia, the Timurids, as is suggested by the fact that Devaraya II (r. 1422-46) eagerly sought out an emissaryfromShah Rukh, his Timurid contemporary in Herat, who had been sent on a mission to Calicut on the Malabar coast (discussed below). Viewed against this background, then, adoption of the title "Sultan of Hindu to expand the rhetoricof South Indian kingship kings" may be seen as part of an effort by glossing it in terms of the Islamicate political lingua franca that dominated the world of the Indian Ocean. is correct,it becomes possible to identifytwo specificfactors If this interpretation which would have led naturally-perhaps even inevitably-to the adoption of certain elements from the Islamicate system of dress. The firstfactor,which would account forthe adoption of the kabdyi,may be traced to the sharplyopposing attitudes to the body that underlie the Islamicate and traditional Indic systemsof dress. In the Indic system,prior to the impact of Islamicate culture, the body was viewed as an integral aspect of the person and, as such, was held to reflectthe inner state and qualities of the individual." Within such a cultural context, the function of clothing is not to conceal the body, but to reveal, frame,and accentuate its forms.These are precisely the functionsserved by the traditionalIndic upper garment-a sheer,untailored cloth draped loosely over the shoulders.12 To this attitude, the Islamicate stands in direct '0The roleofBhatkalin theVijayanagara horsetradehas recently been clarified bySanjay who highlights boththeunusually character ofthecityand the Subrahmanyam, cosmopolitan ofVijayanagara in the city'sadministration involvement (1990). Despite Portuguese attempts to stop tradethrough Bhatkal,thereis evidencefroma Hadrami chronicle-the TarikhalShihri,translated by Serjeant(1963)-that ships fromBhatkal continuedto call at South Arabianportsthroughout the late 1520s and early 1530s. When Bhatkal's fortunes finally declinedin the 1570s, it appearsto have been moreon accountof the collapseof its primary in 1565), thanto thesuccessof was sackedand largely inlandmarket (Vijayanagara destroyed any Portuguesepolicy emanatingfromGoa (Subrahmanyam 1990, 120-35). A numberof recentworksprovidefurther information on the Indian Ocean tradein generaland its integration withlocal peninsular tradein thesixteenth century and later.See especially thestudies of Raychaudhuri and Habib (1982, chs. 4, 5, 11, and 13), Chaudhuri(1985, 1990), and Das routesand networks Gupta (1994). Deloche's study of transportation (1980) is especially forits clearidentification important ofVijayanagara cityas thecentral nexusupon whichmost A numberof otherworkshave focusedon the Indian routesin the lowerDeccan converged. Ocean tradein the pre-Portuguese era,utilizingArabichistorical sourcesand thecommercial in the Cairo Geniza (Hourani [195111995; Goitein [195811966 and documentspreserved [196331966) as well as archaeological material, includingspecimens of Indian block-printed in Egypt (Barnes 1993; Gittinger1982; Whitcomband Johnson1979 and cloth unearthed 1982). "If classicalIndian poetry and sculpture oftenappearobsessedwiththe humanbody,it information about the character is forthisverypurpose,of communicating significant ofthe of his royalpatronand hero,Harsa, affords embodied.Bana's description numerous instances of this tendency. For example: "He shone,with his broad chest,like Kailasa with a cliff of to be confined withinthelimits crystal,-able to bear the shockofvariousarmies,too sturdy limitsofthesky), in spiteofitshardness ofitsgarment and madesmooth (/the bythethousands ofelephants'tuskswhichhad collidedagainstit" (Cowell and Thomas 1968, 60). The Gupta Buddha image,whichsuggeststhe Buddha's enlightened statethrough the formal harmony a comparable of its idealizedphysiognomy, the realmof sculpture. presents examplefrom ofHarsa is informative: "he appeared, 12Again,Bana's description girtwithhis thinupper like theroundworldwithitssurrounding ether cloudless garment spangledwithworked stars, and fullof stars"(Cowell and Thomas 1968, 59-60).
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opposition. The uncovered bodyis held to be nakedand shameful, and it is said that clothinghas been providedby God to cover man's nakedness'3-a purpose well achievedby the manyvarieties of tunicsand robeswhichcharacterize the Islamicate of dress.Not only is the body to be covered,but clothingshould be loose system fitting, so as not to reveal the formsof the body beneath.'4Given these sharply and vestimentary we maywell deduce thatthe minimal opposingattitudes systems, dressofSouthIndianrulers wouldhaveappeared and barbaric immodest byIslamicate cultural standards, that if the rulersof Vijayanagarawere truly and, moreover, committed to presenting as "Sultans" themselves amongtheHindu kings,they would havefacedthenecessity ofadoptinga styleofdressthatwas morein conformity with
Islamicate norms of modesty and public decorum. It is forthis reason, I would argue, that the kabdyibecame the standard upper garment worn publicly at the Vijayanagara court. Confirmationof this interpretationis provided by an important Persian history of the Timurid period, the Matla 4-isa Jdayn, whose author,Abdul-Razzaq Samarqandi, was a high-ranking functionaryat the court of Shah Rukh (excerpts from this text relating to the voyage to Hindustan have been translatedby Major 1857, 1-49; Elliot and Dowson 1867-77, 4:89-126; and, most recently,Thackston 1989, 299-321). In 1442, Abdul-Razzaq had been sent as an emissary to India, in response to a request fora diplomatic exchange fromthe Zamorin of Calicut. As soon as the Persian emissary landed in Calicut, he was met by a people who struck him as uncomfortably strange. They appeared, in his poetic characterization: A strangenation,neither men nor demons,at meetingwhom the mind would go mad. Had I seen the likes of themin a dream,my heartwould have been upsetfor years. (Thackston1989, 304) Clearly, one of the things that troubled the Timurid emissarywas the scant clothing of these Hindus, whom he went on to describe as "naked blacks, with loin cloths tied fromtheir navels to their knees." Even the king went about bare chested, prompting Abdul-Razzaq to comment that "both king and beggar look like this;" and even on the occasion of a formal audience, Abdul-Razzaq found the king "to be as naked as the other Hindus." And, as if to dispel any doubts as to the standard of comparison, the Persian envoy contrasts the dress of the Muslim traders living there, who "wear fine clothing in the Arab fashion, and indulge in ceremony of all sorts" (Thackston 1989, 305). Even though it was at the Zamorin's request that the Timurid emissaryhad been dispatched to Calicut, Abdul-Razzaq appears not to have been given a very enthusiastic reception upon his arrival. In factthe only other thing he has to say about the "naked" Zamorin is that "he did not pay full respect" when Shah Rukh's letter was read and gifts were presented. Paradoxically, it appears that nothing at all would '3This is suggestedby the Qur'anic text: "Childrenof Adam, We have createdforyou raimentwhich coversyour nakedness.. ." (7.27). The significance of this passage forthe tradition is highlighted by the factthat it opens the sectionon "Clothes,theirMaterialand Colours"in the hadithcollectionRiyadhas-Salihinof an-Nawawi(translated in Khan 1975, 155). 14See,for example, thefollowing dictumin a medievalPersian Mirror for Princes: "Neither men norwomenshould weara tightrobe beneathwhichtheirbody is revealed;it is related in the Traditionsthatwomenwho wearsuch robesare accursed," Bdhral-Favcd id 9.6, translated byJulieMeisamias TheSea ofPreciouis Virtues (1991, 91).
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Islamicate practice. Specifically,items of dress began to receive more prominence as transactional symbols in formal audiences, while jewelry, scents, and pan appear to have been relegated to a secondaryposition; additionally, the identityof the garments used changed, as upper cloths and turbans were replaced by kabdyi and kulldyi. These and intelligibility changes would have contributedan increased measure of familiarity to ritual transactions in the city of Vijayanagara at a time when some of the most important segments of its population were Turkic mercenariesserving in the king's army,Muslim tradersfromsouthernArabia and the Persian Gulf (Abdul-Razzaq refers to the presence of a residentpopulation of Hormuzis at the capital in the 1440s), and resident ambassadors representingthe rulers of neighboring Muslim states (see note 9 above). Let us briefly consider just two texts relating to the ritual use of kabdyi and kulldyi in this fashion, the one indigenous, the other foreign. The Rdyavdcakamu, a latesixteenth-century Telugu historiographic text dealing with the reign of and Krishnadevaraya(1509-29), recordsseveral instances of the presentationofkabayi as gifts of honor. In the first, the king honors his minister Saluva Timmarasu kuglldyi by giving him "the kIlldyi, seven worthygifts: a a kabdya, a necklace, a pair of pearl
had it not been forthefactthattherulerofthelarger and have come ofhis mission, much morepowerful stateof Vijayanagara had learnedof the Timuridambassador's in Calicut,and immediately had him summoned to his own capital.Thus it presence at Vijayanagara and was accorded a gracious was thatAbdul-Razzaqarrived reception at the courtof DevarayaII. The emissary's accountof Devaraya long and approving and unenthusiastic and his city presentsa strikingcontrastto the perfunctory it. Vijayanagara ruleand ofCalicutthatprecedes description enjoys"a kingofperfect "haveno equals in theworld."Moreover, hegemony" and itsinhabitants AbdulRazzaq at courtwas exemplary: that his reception reports Devarayaseated the ambassador and politelystated,"We are pleased thatthe greatPadishahhas sent beside himself thathe was granted audiencetwiceweekly, He also recorded us an emissary." private ofprovisions and cash. And mostsignificantly, and givena generous dailyallotment and so interested to thiskingwho was so well versedin the finer pointsof etiquette learnabout Shah Rukh presented himself as no naked Hindu but properly dressed, a tunicof Zaytuni as Abdul-Razzaq clearlystates,"wearing silk" (Thackston1989, of the body,Devarayaidentified 310). Throughhis propercovering himself as a fit and properking who could legitimately comparewith Shah Rukh or any other the Persianambassador had finally come to the rightplace Islamicateruler.Clearly, a "SultanamongHindu Kings." and had succeededin finding If a concernforrespecting Islamicateattitudesto the body can thus begin to accountforthe adoptionof the kabdyi as theproperdressat the Vijayanagara court, there whichnotonlywould havereinforced its use,but wouldhave is a secondfactor accountedfor the prominenceof the kulldyi as well. This was the well-known ritual Islamicate ofpresenting ofhonor, orkhil 'at. courtly specialitemsofdressas gifts in this ritualare best understood The objectspresented as "transactional" symbols, in the exchange ofwhichservedon the one hand to bind giverand receiver together a relationship and on theother ofservice, to confer on thedonorand honor legitimacy on the recipient(this definition owes much to Gordon 1994). The items given includeda fullset of clothes,of whatever worn generally typewas characteristically at the courtin question,but distinguished by theirluxuriousness and quality.The in the use ofsuchtransactional itemsofdress, is well documented symbols, including traditional the impactof Islam, but in the Vijayanagara Indic spherebefore period in such a way that it came into closerconformity the practicewas modified with
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translationWagoner 1993, 106). In a second passage, Krishnadevarayaconfershonors on his court poets Mukku Timmayya and Alasani Peddanna by presenting them with and kuillyis,necklaces and pearl earrings,bracelets,and ceremonialgarments" "kabdyis (kulldyi kabbdyi tdlicaukatlu cFsari pFrulu yicci; Ramachandra Rao 1982, 80; k6katdkalu translationWagoner 1993, 160). It is interestingto note that in the first passage, the two items are said to belong to the canonical grouping of "seven worthygifts,"ucitasaptdrngamu, employed by kings as gifts of honor. This grouping, however, is defined in more prescriptive texts, which do not include kul/dyi differently and kabdyi but instead specifytraditional unstitched items of dress as turbans (S'irovesthi) and upper In the more descriptive account of the Rdyavdcakamu, cloth (ambaram). not only do the Islamicized garments replace their traditional Indic counterparts, but, significantly, they have also been placed togetheras a pair that heads the list. The second text to be considered is Domingo Paes's account of his experiences at Vijayanagara, which, like the Rdyavdcakamu, also relates to the reign of Krishnadevaraya. Paes narrates a detailed account of a royal audience given to his countryman,Christovao de Figueiredo, in which the latter was presented with the characteristicgifts of honor: ... the king was as muchpleased withhim as ifhe had been one of his own people, so much attention did he evince towardshim; and also towardsthoseamongstus who wentwith him he showedmuch kindness.We wereso close to the king that he touchedus all and could not have enoughof lookingat us.... The king gave to de Figueiredoon dismissinghim a cabayaof brocade,with a cap of the Christovao same fashion as the king wore,and to each one of the Portuguesehe gave a cloth embroidered withmany pretty figures, and thisthekinggivesbecauseit is customary; he gives it in tokenof his friendship and love. (Sewell [19001 1962, 243-44) According to Paes, Christovao de Figueiredo received nothing more than a brocaded
earrings,a yellow shawl, fragrant musk, and pan" (ucita-saptdrngamu kulldyikabdyatdli caukatlu gamdhakasti.7ri pztdmbaram yicci;Ramachandra Rao 1982, 30; tdmbdlddigd
Whether this was all that was given, or Paes simply did not deem it necessary to mention other items such as scents and jewelry, is not known; in either case the account is suggestive of the preeminentstatus of the kabdyi as transactional and kulldyi symbols in Krishnadevaraya's court. The fact that the Portuguese leader received the two Islamicized garments,while each of his countrymenreceived only an embroidered cloth, only further underscoresthe point. To recapitulate, I have argued in this section that the title himdurdya suratrdna an importantclue forunderstandingwhy the kabdyi offers and kulldyi came to be used at the Vijayanagara court. By the fourteenth century,the political landscape of South India had changed drastically,as Turkic states became well entrenched in the upper Deccan, and the peninsula became more thoroughlyintegrated into the commercial world of the Indian Ocean. Recognizing the international relevance of Islamicate political culture,Vijayanagara's earlySangama rulersadopted titles and modes ofdress that permitted them to participate in this political culture as "Sultans among Hindu Kings." By covering the upper body with a kabdyi, men of the Vijayanagara court comported themselves according to Islamicate norms of public decency, and, by restructuringthe indigenous system of transactional symbols around the Islamicate and kulldyi, inspired kabdyi Vijayanagara court ritual was made intelligible in terms of the political linga franca of the wider Islamicate world.
and "a cap of the same fashion as the king wore," or in other words, a kulldyi. kabdyi
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Code Variation in the Vijayanagara Dress System

of the kabdyi Up to this point I have necessarily emphasizedthe pervasiveness at theVijayanagara and kulldyi court, but it mustnow be pointedout thattraditional ones. modes of dresswereby no meanscompletely eclipsedby the newlyimported were Althoughthe testimony of foreign visitorssuggeststhat kabdyiand kulldyi wornby men at theVijayanagara there universally and consistently court, is in facta whichattests to thecontinuing cultural evidence relevance significant bodyofmaterial eliteand suggests thatin certain ofIndic-style for theVijayanagara garments contexts, at least,thesewerepreferred and kulldyi. over the Islamicatekabdyi Two questions are thusposed by thisvisual evidence.In the first place, sinceit suggeststhatIndic with the newlyimportedIslamicateforms, is it dress continuedin use together of the two modesaccording to thedifferent social possibleto "map" thedistribution or domainsin whichtheyoccur?In other contexts words,iftheIslamicateand Indic distinct"languages"of dress,thenwere there stylesare seen as havingconstituted intoan individual's choiceofwhich culturally sharedrulesofcode use whichentered code to use in any given dress situation?'5 Secondly,how is one to reconcilethe testimony of thisindigenous visualevidence-suggestingtheoccurrence ofvariation and Indic codesofdress-with theapparently between Islamicate evidence conflicting whichimpliesinsteada consistent of the foreign and uniform literary accounts, use ofkabdyi and kulldyi? Let us analyzeone keyexampleof thisvisual evidence, whichnot onlyserves to demonstrate thephenomenon ofcode variation but,moreover, is highly suggestive of the underlying factors whichpatterned thisvariation. The evidencein questionis a dyed pictorial textile in the collection of the Association for the Study and Documentation of Asian Textiles(AEDTA) in Paris (fig.2). Althoughit is datable to the secondhalfof the seventeenth and as suchpostdates century theVijayanagara thefactthatitsprovenance has beenpersuasively periodproper, arguedto be Madurai (Gittinger 1982, 121-27)-the centerof one of Vijayanagara'smost important in viewofthelack ofcomparable successor states-investsit witha distinct relevance material from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The twomain registers surviving a narrative intent and depictan unidentified manifest clearly royal personage engaging in a seriesof leisureactivities withina palatial building.In the upperregister, he is a chamber entertained musicians and sits by female (left), proceedsthrough (center), in another roomwherehe enjoysan amorous encounter (right).At theleftend ofthe
"5I borrow theconceptof"domain"from the literature ofsociolinguistics, wheretheterm is used to refer to "a sphereof activity representing a combination of specific times,settings, and role relationships" (Romaine 1995, 30). This concepthas provenespeciallyimportant in analyzing patterns of languageuse in bilingualcommunities, wherea number ofstudieshave establishedthat alternation betweenthe two languagesis not arbitrary, but sociallycoded, foruse in certaindomainsand the second is preferred in such that one language is favored others (see especially Sankoff 1980, 29-46). The termdiglossia is conventionally used to refer to the collective, societalbilingualismfoundin such speechcommunities, and to emphasize the"functional differentiation" between thedifferent languages(Edwards1994, 85). Although theiroriginalsphereof reference is the functional differentiation betweenverballanguages, I believe that the conceptsof domain and diglossia can quite naturally and productively be extended and applied to the functional differentiation obtaining betweendistinct "languages" of dress-and indeed, betweendistinct"languages"of architecture and of othernonverbal the Vijayanagara semioticcodes-such as characterizes after culturalsystem Islamicization.
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lower register, he sits inside with his femalecompaniongazing outwardtowarda procession, which works its way througha broad open courtyard adjoining the structure (right). Here,theparasoland raisedstandards clearly indicate theroyal status a of the equestrian figure leadingthisprocession; he is perhapsintended to represent in victory from a military princeor officer returning campaign.What is ofprimary in the present in dressbetweenthe two significance contextis the cleardistinction in theprocession wearswhatcan readily be recognized royalfigures: whilethe figure the royalfigure insideis consistently shownbarechested, as a kabdyi, wearing onlya dhotiand uppercloth. What does thissceneimplyabout the systemic rulesgoverning code choice?In the first place, we may note thatthe social domainsin whichthe two royalfigures are locatedwithin appearare clearlydifferentiated. Althoughspatiallyboth figures in of actiondiffer the broad ambit of a "palace,"theirrespective spheres decisively ofsettings, terms combinations and activities whichdefine ofthespecific participants, and at theleftend ofthebottom them.Thus, the figure shownin theupperregister is situatedinside,in a sphere ofmale-female he is engaged register interaction, where in ritualized and entertainment, whilethemounted at thelower leisure activity figure right is situated in theopencourtyard outside, where he is thefocus ofa grandmilitary to these two palatial domains procession. If, forthe sake of convenience, we refer as the "residential" respectively and the "performative" (following the terminology used byJohnFritzin his analysisof the spatialstructure of the Royal Centerat the Vijayanagara capital;Fritz, Michell,and NagarajaRao 1984, 150), thenthetestimony of the AEDTA textilewould implythataccordingto the logic of the Vijayanagara dress system, the Indic code was markedas appropriate foruse in the residential in theperformative. domain,and the Islamicateas appropriate between "residential" and "performative" Underlying this differentiation a familiar and morefundamental domains,I believewe may recognize distinction, thatbetween "domestic" and "public"socialsituations, namely, whichhasbeendrawn in SouthIndia sinceat leastthefifth indigenously orsixth century. Theseconceptually are lexically in all the SouthDravidianlanguagesas opposingcategories represented well as in Telugu, but are best knownas expressed the Tamil wordsakam through and puram, domestic"and "exterior, respectively signifying "interior, public." This basis for binarytaxonomyof social situationsnot only provided the traditional classifyingthe genres within classical Tamil poetry (which are differentiated thematicallyby their respectivefocuses on the subjects of "love" and "war" as the late to be of contemporary [Ramanujan 19851) but also continues relevance, A. K. Ramanujanconvincingly demonstrated withhisakam/puram-based classification of performative genreswithinKannada folklore (1986). As Ramanujanemphasized in thiscontext, "thedivision. .. is notbetween private and public,between personal and impersonal, and thepublic-betweenthe innercircleor but betweenthedomestic the immediate kin withinthefour (or more)walls ofa houseand thelarger circlesof the extended the subcaste, family, the caste,and the society at large"(1986, 49-50). In the sceneof theAEDTA textile, the "residential" and "performative" domainscan be viewed as particular transformations of the "domestic" readilyand productively and "public"situations akamandpuram. represented by the concepts Thus, theroyal residential zone of the palace, figurein Indic dress appears within the interior, accompaniedby the female"kin" of the royalhousehold;while the mountedroyal withkabdyi is outside,surrounded ofmalewarriors, from figure byan army returning the quintessentially of warfare. puram activity
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Analysisof the AEDTA textilethus suggeststhat therewere indeed systemic rulesgoverning the choice betweenIndic and Islamicatemodes of dresswithinthe Vijayanagara dresssystem, and thattheseruleswerein largemeasurestructured by theakamlpuram taxonomy ofsocialsituations. It suggests thatalthough theIslamicate in thosesituations code had come to be preferred whichwere,broadly ofa speaking, "public"orpuram nature, thetraditional Indiccode continued to enjoya favored status in thosedomainswhichconformed moreclosely to the"domestic" orakamcategory.'6 Finally,recognition of this principleof code variation permitsus to return to the secondquestionposed aboveand to see in proper perspective theapparent uniformity and homogeneity of courtdressimpliedin the foreigners' accounts.If theseforeign visitors consistently describe menat theVijayanagara courtas wearing theIslamicate is it notfor kabdyi and ku//dyi, thesimplereasonthatinteraction withsuchforeigners would generally have takenplace withindomainsthatwere,by definition, intensely and public in nature?'7 performative
Islamicizationand Sanskritization
In thisfinalsection, I would like to movefrom the detailsof dressper se to the largerprocessof Islamicization, in the interest of further refining the conceptas an analytical modelofbroader applicability. To thisend,I believewe mayusefully start thestructural byrecognizing between similarities Islamicization and themorefamiliar processof Sanskritization. Therehasbeenmuchdebateovertheappropriateness oftheterm "Sanskritization" since M. N. Srinivasfirst it (1952); moreover, introduced the term(or one of its has been applied to a wide rangeof distinctand seemingly substitutes) unrelated processes. as Kulke has pointedout, the relevance Nonetheless, of the basic concept has never been seriouslyquestioned (1976, 399). Srinivas'soriginal formulation
16Joanne Waghornehas called myattention to someintriguing material cultural evidence whichsuggests thatthisparticular pattern ofcode variation stilloccurstodayand extends into the religiouscontextof the dressingof the portable,metal images of deities used in South Indian temple festivals(personal communication). Waghorne has photographically documentedthe dressof the bronzeimagesof Padmanabhaswamy in his new templeat Adyarin in 1995. One image, whichis takenoutsidethe templeforuse in proMadras,consecrated cessions, is dressedin a long-sleeved, tailored tunicofgreenvelvet(wornovera Kanchipuram silk dhoti),which is probablya distantecho of the Islamicatekabdyi popularizedby Vijayanagaracourtpractice(note,in thisconnection, thatKittel gives "a dressforidols" as one of the definitions forthe Kannada kapdyi [1893, 3621); the secondmetal image,whichremains inside the temple,is dressedin purelyIndic fashion, with unstitched white silk dhoti and upper cloth draped over the shoulders, leaving the deity'schest bare. This pattern-which Waghorne explainsto be typical for thegods in Tamil Nadu-would seemto represent another manifestation resulting from the structuring function of theakam/puram taxonomy, as well as attestto the further extension of "Islamicized"culturalforms into the religioussphere-not an unexpected development, given the pervasively royalidiom inflecting the templecult in South India. I am grateful to Waghorneforbringing this evidenceto my attention, and for sharing copiesof herphotographs withme. 17Therewould seem to be numerous historical parallelsto the diglossic,domestic/public articulation of dresssystems, in whichrecently imported outsideforms are given preference in public domains. For one such parallel, see Dalby's discussionof the Westernization of Japanesemen'sdressduringthe Meiji era,as a resultofwhichyofuku (western dress)came to dominatein theworkplace to thehomeand associated and men'skimonocame to be relegated withleisure(1993, 84-86).
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emphasizedtwo aspects of the processthat have remainedcentralin subsequent and thatseemparticularly relevant fora comparison withIslamicization. discussions First, he characterized Sanskritization as a practical strategy for socialchangeadopted castesas a meansof achievinga higherstatus;second,he showed by lower-ranking thatthis strategy revolved aroundthe abandoningof certainlocal culturalforms in withtheSanskritic favor ofpractices and ideas associated culture ofthemorebroadly based "Great Tradition."In this formulation, Srinivassuggestedthat it was the that were the primary culturalforms "customs, rites,and beliefsof the Brahmins" involvedin theprocess(Srinivas1952, 30), but in a laterarticlehe emphasized that Sanskritization need not proceedthrough emulationof the Brahminclass,and that restricted to those associatedwith Sanskritic formswere by no means inevitably Brahmanism (Srinivas1956). Another modification important was made byMarriott, who first does not alwaysoccur"at the expenseof' emphasizedthatSanskritization local traditions, as Srinivas had originally suggested (Marriott 1955). It is nowwidely that local forms are in manycases not actuallydisplaced by Sanskritic recognized but insteadcontinue to persist borrowings, alongsidethenewforms (as whena village Sanskritic deitiestogether withlocal gods and is expandedto accommodate pantheon or recastin terms ofSanskritic forms goddesses), or else are reinterpreted (as whena local mother goddess is "recognized" as a manifestation of the pan-Jndic Goddess). modifiedand refined the concept by elaborating Still otherauthorshave further alternative models of the process,stressing the role of groups claimingRajput or status(Sinha 1962); by drawing Kshatriya parallelswithmodesof linguistic change of theprocessthatproceed betweenthoseforms (Staal 1963); and by distinguishing "from "from above" (Kulke 1976, 401). below"and thosethatare engineered areobviousdifferences in idiomand scale,I believethatthere Althoughthere are in whicha state'srulingeliteattempts otherwise fewdifferences betweena situation the cultureof its court,and one to bolster its international standing by Islamicizing in whichthemembers ofa "littlecommunity" to raisetheir collective attempt status their customs, beliefs,and pantheon. Both situationsinvolve by Sanskritizing in whichcertain"local" culturalforms are replacedby processes of universalization, functional a second,intrusive cultureof broader analoguesfrom extent. geographic in both cases the new forms are adopted as a means of advancingthe Moreover, collectiveself-interest of particularsocial groups, and in both cases an eventual concomitant of the processis the increasing of the members of these participation local groupswithinthevariedsocial arenasof the universal culture. the And, finally, and practices culturalforms results, in both cases, in a more adoptionof imported complex ordering of tradition within the "universalized"culture. Just as Sanskritization does not necessarily occur"at the expenseof' local traditions, so too withIslamicization, as witnessed in our discussion in thesystem of code variation of courtdress. Vijayanagara If thereis muchin commonbetween and Sanskritization, Islamicization there is one area in which the two processesdiffer while Sanskritization is significantly: effected the mediumof religiousculture-throughthe adoption primarily through of Sanskritic normsof belief,ritual,and religiously sanctionedsocial behaviorwithinthe mediumofsecularpoliticalculture.In the Islamicization operates largely case we have considered here, not only were the motivatingfactorsbehind Islamicizationpolitical ratherthan religious,but, moreover, the specific elements affected were those-like dressand titles-that servedimportant functions within the politicalcultureof the court.The factthatIslamicization is a processunfolding through themediumofsecularculture and, as such,has littleto do withreligion per
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se cannotbe overstressed in theSouthAsian context. Indeed,failure to recognize the distinction stressed but by Hodgson betweenthe Islamic religionand an associated, distinctand separable,Islamicatecivilization lies at the root of manyfundamental that continue to hamper interpretation misunderstandings of the historyof Vijayanagara, and, one suspects, of medievalSouthAsia in general. I will close this essay by addressingjust one vivid example of this kind of which happensto be particularly in that it surfaces in misunderstanding, relevant Kulke's aforementioned discussionof the titleHindurdyasuratrdna. After explaining his interpretation oftheterm as a meansof"laying claimto a status amongtheHindu rajasequal to thatof the Sultanamongthe Muslim rulers," Kulke suggeststhatthe historically attested use ofsucha titlebyVijayanagara's founding kings,thebrothers Hariharaand Bukka,constitutes thestrongest thetruth of argument possibleagainst a well-knownVijayanagara period historiographic account which-in Kulke's at least-holds that the brothershad once convertedto Islam. interpretation to thestory According as Kulke summarizes it, Hariharaand Bukka had beguntheir in theservice careers ofPrataparudra, theKakatiyakingofWarangal;whenWarangal fell to the troopsof the Delhi Sultanatein 1323, the brothers fledto Kampili, a in thevicinity of the future stronghold When Kampili also fellto the Vijayanagara. Sultanatejust fouryearslater,the brothers weretakenas prisoners to Delhi, where theyconverted to Islam. In reward, theywere sent back to the Deccan to quell an and ruleoverthenewly territories on behalf oftheSultan.Once uprising incorporated there, however,they quickly moved to apostatize from Islam, proclaim their independence, and establishthe new Hindu kingdomof Vijayanagara (Kulke 1985,
120). 18
forrejecting the story Kulke's reasoning runsas follows:
Ifthis is correct, itis inconceivable, atleast interpretation [ofthetitle] for the present that itadvisable Harihara andBukka have author, would have thought oreven would dared ifthey to acquire thetitlein a Hinducontext hadoncereally beenconverted to Islam.In this in case,they would have preferred topassover this inglorious event itwould silence. Ifthis inference ifnotthestrongest, is correct, beanother, argument thestory oftheir conversion to Islamin Delhi. against (1985, 125) in Kulke's argument, One maydetecttwo flaws bothofwhichclearly arisefrom his
'81tmust be stressed thatKulke's summary is in facta compositepastichebased on the modernhistoriographic constructions of such early-twentieth-century scholars as Sewell,NilakantaSastri, and N. Venkataramanayya. These are based in turnon a wide bodyofdisparate and contradictory sources-ranging fromfourteenth-century Persian and Arabic histories (Barni,Ibn Battuta)to sixteenth-century inscriptions and Sanskrit texts(Rdhistoriographic to even laterKannada historical ballads jakdlanirnaya, Vidydranyasaka) Vidydranyakdlauj)na, (Kumadraramanacarite, with a strong measure of modern Balldlardyanayuddha)-leavened Hindu-Muslimcommunal sentiment. The Sanskrit accounts all mention Harihara thebrothers and Bukka by name,and place theiroriginin WarangalunderKakatiyaPrataparudra, before It shouldbe clearly havingthemcome to serveKampilaraya. thatnoneofthe noted,however, in the accountsof Muslim authors-including Barni,Ibn Battuta,and also Firishta writing seventeenth century-mention the namesofHariharaand Bukka in recounting theepisodeof the Sultan's victory over Kampilaraya, or speak of any connections with the Kakatiyas.Ibn Battutastatesthat eleven "sons" of Kampilaraya(all unnamed)werecapturedand takento Delhi; Barnispeaksof onlyone individual, identified as "one of the relations of Kanya Naik" (whose identity has been the subject of much debate among modernauthors);and Firishta does not mention at all about subordinates of Kampilaraya See note anything being captured. 19 below forreferences.
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ofIslam and Islamicate distinction betweenthereligion failure to drawthe necessary thatthe flawlies in his unfounded assumption The first politicalideas and practices. The by religious connotations. are overshadowed politicalmeanings ofthetitlesultdn indeed,a hallmarkof in religiousassociations; title, however, is decidedlylacking which accords medieval Islamic political thoughtis a theoryof dual authority, of sultanbut leaves religious and politicalauthority to the office suprememilitary in one author'sformulation-asthe exclusive and prayer," leadership-"preaching preserve of the caliph (Lewis 1988, 51-53). The second flaw,which is even more in questionis thatthestory supposition problematic, appearsin Kulke's unexamined But thisis mostdecidedly notthecase. If a narrative ofreligious conversion. ultimately worksthat providethe detailed textual one merelyexaminesthe originalSanskrit basis for the story-as opposed to the communallycharged twentieth-century that Kulke is reallyaddressing-one will be struckby the factthat constructions in the texts'treatment of this episode. Neitherthe religionsimplydoes not figure twomostfrequently citedsources northe Vidydraczyakdlaj)idna-the Rdjakdlanir.zaya their thestory-has anything to sayaboutreligion orconversion; instead, language for textofthe and consistently (fortheSanskrit emphasizes politicalrelationships clearly with 1929, 34-35).19 The sultan,impressed relevant passages,see Venkataramanayya rewards themby givingthem (satyasandha), the brothers' displayof trustworthiness by the sultan,theygo happilyto rule land in Karnataka;thuscommanded (djgdpta) In fact,everything fromits language to its about the story, theirnew territory. conversion thatit mustnotbe readas a record ofreligious suggests narrative structure, in thefoundation oftheIslamicized Vijayanagara state, but as a keycomponent myth to itsfounders' supposedhistory ofthekingdom's rulers tracing thepoliticalauthority of serviceto the Delhi Sultanate.Althoughthis suggestion may appearastonishing as the "last of the established communalview of Vijayanagara fromthe perspective thathasbegun it does accordperfectly withthepicture bastionofHindu orthodoxy," of the state'spoliticaland material culture. Islamicization to emergeof theextensive the storyis by no means controverted by the notwithstanding, Kulke's arguments to the contrary, the narrative becomes Sangamas'use of the titleHinduradyasuratrdna; if only we pause long enough to understand the real all the more comprehensible senseofwhatit meantto be a "SultanamongHindu Kings." the premodern of conceptualizing To conclude,I have arguedforthe necessity in broadertermsthan has been customary, of "Hindu-Muslim"interaction history not simplyin religiousterms, but as ofviewingthephenomenon and, in particular,
only to Islam figures the detailofconversion 19Itis worthnotingthat,to myknowledge, Ibn Battutaand Barni.Ibn Battuta Muslimauthors, in theaccountsoftwo fourteenth-century explicitly, writingthat "the city[of Kampilaraya)was enteredand its mentionsconversion withelevenofthesonsofRay Kanbila,who werebrought together populationtakenprisoner, beforethe Sultan. They all acceptedIslam and the Sultan made them amirsand honoured action"(Gibb [19711 1986, 711). owingto theirnoble lineageand theirfather's themgreatly had takenplace, sincehe clearly Barniis less explicit,but his accountimpliesthatconversion ofKanyaNaik, whomtheSultan "Aboutthesame timeone ofthe relations refers to apostasy: Islam and stirred The land ofKambila also was up a revolt. from sentto Kambila, apostatized thus lost,and fellinto the handsof the Hindus" (Elliot and Dowson 1867-77, 3:245-246). in thesixteenth century (on thebasis NeitherNuniz (Sewell [1900) 1962, 279-286), writing norFirishta (Briggs[1829) 1966, 1:240-241), writchronicle), ofan unidentified indigenous even to say about the matterof religiousconversion, has anything ing in the seventeenth, in detail the episode about the Sultan'scampaignagainstKampila Raya thoughtheyreport as the"King ofBisnaga to anachronistically byname,but refers (whomNuniz does notidentify [ = Vijayanagaral)."
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a morewidelybased and complexform of culturalinteraction. Religiousinteraction was of coursea partof the process, but by no meansthe onlyor mostimportant, as indeed is suggestedby a growingbody of literature stressing the importance of ethnic-as opposedto purelyreligious-identitiesin the medievalera (Ernst1992, 18-37; Wagoner 1994; Talbot 1995; Metcalf1995). Yet, the familiar, communal havea powerof theirown,and will remaindifficult stereotypes to escape untilthey can be replacedby a moredetailedunderstanding of the complexrealities of actual in thepremodern cultural practice age. I believethatone ofthemorepromising routes towardthis understanding lies through the concurrent analysisof material cultural and textualexpressions of this practice,as I hope this study of court dress has demonstrated. The novelty and apparent uniquenessof Vijayanagara courtdresshas been long recognized on the basis ofvisual representations, yetthefactthatits most characteristic garments arederived from Islamicate modelsbecomesclearonly specific when the forms of thesegarments are linked with the names which were used to the designate them in contemporary vernaculartexts. Moreover,to understand to significance of the culturalpracticeof wearingIslamicatedress,it is necessary a wide array consider ofbothtextual and visualevidence whichrelates to thatpractice in one way or another-frominscriptions of the use of novel forms documenting titulature and textsrecording forms ofSouth thereactions ofoutsiders to thevarying in which Indiandress,to bothtextualand visualrecords ofthemanners and contexts theseforms wereused.Takentogether, thattheadaptation thisevidence hassuggested of Islamicatedressat Vijayanagara was a fundamental partof a broader, far-reaching processof Islamicization, and practices through whichselectedIndic culturalforms a moreuniversal, werereplacedin key"public"contexts withanaloguesdrawnfrom Islamicate culture.And, most importantly, the evidence has suggestedthat this ofIslam,"but processunfolded notas someinevitable of "theonslaught consequence calculated actsbycreative quite theopposite, as theresult ofconscious and deliberately in an ever-widening world. individuals seekingto maximizetheiropportunities Abbreviations ACSAA EC El NDI AmericanCouncilfor Southern Asian Art, Color Slide Project, Ann Arbor, Michigan. EpigraphiaCarnatica EpigraphiaIndica. NelloreDistrictInscriptions. SouthIndian Inscriptions
SII
List of References
ABDUL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI. 1442-44. Matl/a-i sa dayn. Excerpts translatedby
W. M. Thackstonin A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art. Cambridge, Mass.: The Agha Khan Program forIslamicArchitecture, 1989. pp. 299-321. ASAD, TALAL. 1993. Genealogies of Religion: and Reasonsof Powerin Discipline Christianity and Islam.Baltimore, Press. Md.: JohnsHopkins University
ASHER,
edited Vijayanagara." In Vijayanagara-City and Empire: NewCurrents ofResearch,
CATHERINE
B.
1985.
"Islamic Influence and the Architecture of
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"Sultan among Hindu Kings": Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara Author(s): Phillip B.

"Islamicization"as Cultural Change

"Sultan among Hindu Kings"

Code Variation in the Vijayanagara Dress System

forrejecting the story Kulke's reasoning runsas follows:

edited Vijayanagara." In Vijayanagara-City and Empire: NewCurrents ofResearch,

"Islamic Influence and the Architecture of

2 vols. Stuttgart: New Currents ofResearch. 1985. Vijayanagara-Cityand Empire:

ANNA LIBERA, and STEPHANIE

Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden

METCALF, BARBARA D. 1995. "Presidential Address:Too Little and Too Much:

Islamic Salt Lake City:University Medieval Mirror of Utah Press. forPrinces.

in RobertSewell,A Forgotten Empire: a Contribution tothe History of Vijayanagara;

Dallapiccola and Stephanie Zingel-Ave Lallement. Vol. 1. Stuttgart: Steiner

New Currents edited by Anna Libera ofResearch, Vijayanagara-Cityand Empire:

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