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His wrong date points to his having partly depended upon the original chronicle of Nuniz, or the summary of it published by Barros; while the rest of the tale savours more of Hindu romance than of historical accuracy. He retains, however, the tradition of an attack by the king of Delhi and the latter's subsequent retirement.
Firishtah did not write till about A.D. 1607, was not in any sense a contemporary recorder, and did not live amongst the Hindus, but at the court of Nizam Shah at Ahmadnagar. The lengths of reigns, however, as given by Nuniz do not tally with the dates which we obtain from sources undoubtedly reliable.
Nothing has since transpired to throw light on this subject, and the whole matter has remained up to the present in its primeval darkness; but this newly-found chronicle of Nuniz gives us the entire story in most interesting form though I can by no means vouch for its accuracy.
Moreover, there are some inherent improbabilities in Firishtah's narrative. It is worthy of notice, too, that throughout the story of Nuniz at this part of his chronicle there is much that impels the belief that either himself or his informant was present at the Hindu camp while these events were taking place.
Firishtah declares that they had existed as a ruling family for seven hundred years prior to the year 1350 A.D. The chronicle of Nuniz gives a definite account of how the sovereigns of Vijayanagar first began to acquire the power which afterwards became so extensive.
Nuniz tells us that immediately on attaining power, the king, making Saluva Timma his minister, sent his nephew, the son of the last sovereign, and his own three brothers, to the fortress of Chandragiri, 250 miles to the south-east, for his greater security, and himself remained for some time at the capital.
It seems, therefore, that the chronicles of Nuniz, the writings of Firishtah, and the extant inscriptions all agree together, and that we must place the death of Harihara II. at the close of the year A.D. 1399. Little more can be said about the events of his reign.
I am inclined to think that Deva Raya II. began to reign in 1419, for the following reason. The informants of Nuniz stated that during Vijaya's reign he "did nothing worth relating," and the chronicle records that during the reign which followed, namely that of Deva Raya II., there was "constant warfare."
On the east side is another city called Ardegema, which is the name of the principal wife of this king, and it is new, and he built it for love of her. Chronicle of Fernao Nuniz In the year twelve hundred and thirty these parts of India were ruled by a greater monarch than had ever reigned.
Barros related the events in historical fashion, taking his facts from this very chronicle; but he was never in India, and his brief summary is altogether wanting in the power and force contained in the graphic story of Nuniz. The other Portuguese writers pass over the war very lightly.
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