Vijayanagara, earliest example of imperial city: George Michell

The history of the Vijayanagar empire, ruins of which now house Hampi, is dotted with several interesting episodes, some of which were dwelt upon by renowned architect-academic George Michell during a session at the Jaipur Literature festival on Monday.

Dr. Michell, an expert on Central Asian and Indian-especially Deccan-architecture, was introduced by historian-author William Dalrymple for a session titled Vijayanagar: the city of victory.

Dr. Michell received his training in architecture at Melbourne University and then went on to do a Ph.D in Indian Archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

He has undertaken research projects at different archaeological sites across India, including over two decades of intensive field work at Hampi. His recent publications include Vijayanagara: Splendour in Ruins, The Great Temple at Thanjavur and Mughal Architecture and Gardens, among several other books.

Dr. Michell said Vijayanagar was among the earliest and perhaps the most complete examples of magnificent imperial cities and one of the very few Indian cities that were abandoned.

Not unlike Pompeii (the ancient Roman city) which came to a sudden cataclysmic end in 78 AD, Vijayanagar came to a cataclysmic end in 1565...This was a city that was abandonedand there are not many Indian cities like that, said Dr. Michell.

The most amazing thing about the place, he said, was the landscape.

It is one of the most extraordinary landscapes to be found anywhere in Asia, not just in Indiaincredible granitic landscape... one question that most people ask us is what the hell is a big imperial city of one of the greatest Hindu empires in southern India doing here? Why did they build it here?

There are several possible explanations-one, this type of landscape was a very good natural defence against empires that were at war with Vijayanagar; second, a great river, Tungabhadra, runs through this placeand it loses height ideal for taking off water channels and creating a very extensive hydraulic systemwhich permitted the cultivation of many types of crops, said Dr. Michell.

He said the earliest Vijayanagar emperors-the Sangama kings-were sort of local nobodies who seized the moment in a power vacuumwhen the Delhi Sultans abandoned control of this part of India...giving an opportunity to these local people to use the Muslim threat in a sort of ideological political wayto galvanise everyone together.

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Vijayanagara, earliest example of imperial city: George Michell