Why history is silent about Tukka devi by Dr K Prabhakar Rao

               WHY HISTORY IS SILENT ABOUT TUKKA DEVI WIFE OF KRISHNA DEVA RAYA

                                                    Colonel Dr K Prabhakar Rao (Retd)

                  Krishna deva Raya  was the most illustrious emperor among Vijay nagar rulers, He belonged to Tuluva dynasty founded by Tuluva Narasa Nayaka ( 1491-1503)   formerly the General of Saluva  Narasimha Deva  raya, the emperor whom Narasa Nayaka murdered to save the empire from disintegration.. Krishna Deva Raya took up reigns as the emperor in 1509  after the death of  his step brother Veera Narasimha Deva Raya ( 1503-1509) and ruled till 1529.This period is known as the golden age of Vijaynagar empire. Even baber who attacked India in 1527 took note of Krishna deva Raya as a very powerful ruler in south India and he abstained from any adventure against him. Saluva Timmarusu was the Prime minister of the kingdom and he commanded great respect and the emperor addressed him as Appaji.The rise of Krishna deva Raya is attributed to the able Prime minister and as per history, Krishna deva raya never lost a battle. The Hindu empire was always threatened by the Bahmani kingdom and later by the Deccani sultans of Bidar, Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Golconda and Berar.In fcat Berar was far from  vijaynagar border and did not pose any danger. In fcat they did not join Tallikota battle. Krishna Devarayas mother was Nagalamba / Nagala Devi and was one of the wives of  his father. As per legends, once she lost a bet with the  chief queen and as per the agreement,  she had to serve the  chief queen as a maid. Krishna deva Raya was thus called Dasi ( servant) Putra meaning the son of a servant. This was greatly insulting. Although  no one dared to address him so, some surely must have made fun of him particularly by his enemies. Prataparudra Gajapathi the king of Kalinga ( Orissa) was probably one among them.

                             Krishna deva  Raya decided to humble the Gajapathi ruler of Orissa as he posed a threat to his empire and some of the important forts were occupied by Gajapathi the orissa ruler. He proceeded on a conquest in 1512 (1)  and  Saluva Timmarusu played dominant role in these conquests apart from his valiant commanders such as Ramalinga Nayaka. The Surya Vamsi Gajapatis of Odisha ruled a vast land comprising Andhra region, most of Telanganaregion, the whole of Odisha, parts of present West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Krishna Deva Raya's success at Ummatur provided the necessary impetus to carry his campaign into the Telangana region which was in control of Gajapati Prathapa Rudra Dev. The Vijayanagar army laid siege to the Udayagiri fort in 1512. The campaign lasted for a year before the Gajapati army disintegrated due to starvation. Krishna Deva Raya offered prayers at Tirupati thereafter along with his wives Tirumala Devi and Chinnamma Devi. The Gajapati army was then met at Kondavidurgam where the armies of Vijayanagara, after establishing a siege for a few months and heavy with initial defeats began to retreat, until Timmarusu upon discovering a secret entrance to the unguarded eastern gate of the fort launched a night attack culminating with the capture of the fort and the imprisonment of the greatest swordsman of his time, Prince Virabhadra, the son of Gajapati Emperor of Kalinga-Utkal,Gajapati Prataprudra Deva. Saluva Timmarasa took over as governor of Kondavidu thereafter. The Vijayanagar army then accosted the Gajapati army at Kondapalli area and laid another siege. Krishnadevaraya then planned for an invasion of mainland Kalinga-Utkal but the Gajapati Emperor, Prataparudra, privy of this plan had built up a strategy to rout the Vijayanagara army and along with it its king, Krishnadevaraya. The confrontation was to happen at the fort of Kalinganagar. But the wily Timmarasu secured the information by bribing a Telugu deserter, formerly under the service of the mighty Prataprudra deva. Prataprudra was driven to Cuttack, the capital of the Gajapati empire and eventually surrendered to Vijaynagar, giving his daughter Princess Annapurna Devi in marriage to Sri Krishna Deva Raya. As per treaty Krishna river became boundary of Vijaynagar and Odisha Kingdom.

                             King Pataparudra of Kalinga was much upset with his defeat and compulsion of  of coming into terms with his staunch enemy by offering his daughter Anna purna devi  in marriage to him and he forced his daughter to murder Krishna Raya on he first night That she refused. But the king did not relent  and was bent upon his demand.  The frustrated princess  finally  agreed  to the  most  bizarre crime. There are different versions to the legend.  Timmarausu the Prime minister of Raya  was very careful  and anticipated some foul game by the Gajapathi. On the first night he  advised Raya to hide behind a curtain and  kept pillows on the  cot  and they were covered  with a bedsheet. It appeared as if Krishna Ray was sleeping.  At the auspicious  hour, the princess entered the room  and she was highly tense. She waited in the room and approached the bed. In utter disgust, she removed a dagger from her garments and plunged it into the pillows. Thinking that she killed Raya,  she immediately pulled out the knife and tried to stab herself. At that moment, Raya  quickly came out from hiding and held her hand and prevented her  from stabbing herself. She was very much shocked and fell at the feet of Raya. Appaji too was present at the scene and matter ended in happiness.  Soon  Krishna Raya  with his newly wed wife left  for his capital Vijaynagar. His victorious army followed having completed the campaign. In another version it is  believed that the princess did not stab the covered pillows and tried to stab herself. Promptly Raya  rushed from hiding and saved her.

               In the capital, Krishna deva Raya  lived happily with his queens.  There are different  opinions about the number of queens , the Raya had.  The names of Chief queen Tirumala Devi or Tirumalamba,   younger queen Chinna devi and Annapurna devi ( Gajapathis daughter) are quoted by many . Gajapathis daughter was also known as jaganmohini by some. In Tirupathi temple the statues of Raya  along with statues of Tirumala devi and china devi can be seen. Probably they were  installed before he married princess Anna purna devi after defeating Orissa king. Tukka devi is also known to be one of the queens and it is learnt that Gajapathis daughter was also known as Tukka devi (2). The  foreign  travellers Domingo Paes and Durate Barbosa  who visited Vijaynagar during the  rule of Krishna deva Raya  wrote that the king had 12 queens. These figures are much varying and probably he had also  many concubines too that was very common in the bye gone days. The details of Tukka devi are not known. It is also learnt that Tukka devi lived separately from the king away from him. It is not clear  whether  they developed misunderstandings after  the marriage. This has to researched further.

References

1,,Krishna deva Raya , Wikipedia

2, Krishna deva Raya of Vijaynagara,   https://ithihas.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/krishnadevaraya-of-vijayanagara/