Of the things done by King Crisnarao after he was raised to the throne.
As soon as Crisnarao was raised to be King and was obeyed throughout
all his kingdom, -- Salvatine being his minister, who had been the same
for his brother Busbalrao,[514] -- he without delay sent his nephew,
son of Busbalrao his brother, together with his own three brothers,
to a fortress called Chaodegary; the nephew remained there till he
died. And after the King had done this for his own safety he stayed in
the city of Bisnaga for a year and a half without going outside of it,
learning the affairs of the kingdom and looking at the testaments of
past kings. Amongst these he found one of king Narsymga, whose minister
his father Narsenayque had been, in which that King desired that his
sons, or whoever should inherit this kingdom of Narsymga which he had
gained by force of arms, should capture three fortresses that at his
death remained in revolt against him, the which he had not himself
taken because time failed him; one of them was called Rracholl,[515]
and another Medegulla.[516]
Crisnarao, seeing this testament and seeing how badly the kings his
predecessors had acted in what had been enjoined on them, determined
at once to prepare armies and to go against these places; and one
of these fortresses was called Odigair, and it belonged to the King
of Orya. And, determining to go first against this, he collected
(an army of) thirty-four thousand foot and eight hundred elephants,
and arrived with this force at the city of Digary,[517] in which
there were ten thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horse; for the
fortress had no necessity for more by reason of its great strength,
because it could not be taken except by being starved out.
And the King laid siege to it for a year and a half, in which time he
made many paths across rocky hills, breaking up many great boulders
in order to make a road for his soldiers to approach the towers of
the fortress. The place at this time was so strong that they could not
approach it except by one way which was so narrow that men could only
pass along it one at a time; and in this place he made a broad road,
and many others also, so that he could come close to the fortress.
And he took it by force of arms, and in it captured an aunt[518]
of the King of Orya, who was taken captive and carried off with all
the courtesy that he could show her, having her liberty; and he took
her along with himself.
And after this was done he called Salvatinya and bade him see how well
he had performed that which king Narsymga had by his testament enjoined
on him, and yet he said he was not content with such a trivial victory,
for[519] he desired to go forward a hundred leagues into the kingdom
of Orya; and he ordered him to make ready provisions and pay fully
the salaries of the forces.
And after this fortress was taken he departed and went against
Comdovy,[520] which was one of the principal cities of the kingdom
of Orya, and besieged it; and, learning this, the King of Orya
came against him to defend his territories, and brought with him one
thousand three hundred elephants, and twenty thousand horsemen, and he
brought five hundred thousand foot-soldiers. Crisnarao, being aware of
the approach of the king of Orya, left the city without assaulting it,
saying that he preferred to fight the King in person and his army
rather than to attack the city, and that there would be plenty of
time afterwards to take it; and he went forward four leagues from it,
leaving a force to prevent the escape of the people from the city
if they should seek to flee to the coast. And he arrived at a large
river of salt water crossed by a ford,[521] and on the other side of
the river was the King of Orya with his army. King Crisnarao halted
his army on this side of the river, and sent the King a message that
if he desired to fight with him he would retire from the river two
leagues, so that he (the king of Orya) might pass the river unmolested,
and as soon as he had passed he would join battle; to which message
the King of Orya gave no reply, but on the contrary made ready to
give battle. And King Crisnarao, seeing his determination, crossed
the river with all his forces and elephants, and in the crossing of
the river there were heavy encounters on both sides, and many were
slain. Notwithstanding this, King Crisnarao crossed the river, and
on the bank fought so bravely that he defeated the King of Oria and
put him to flight, in which defeat he took many horses and elephants.
And after the King had done this he told Salvatinea his minister
that he purposed to turn back to the fortress, which had not yet
experienced his strength, and he went against it, and stopped there
two months besieging it; and he took it.
And he gave the command of it to Salvatinea, who left in it, from his
army, for captain one of his brothers, in order that he himself might
go forward with the King through the kingdom of Orya. And the King,
passing the river once more in pursuit of the King of Orya, and taking
and ravaging all the country which had no reason for expecting him,
arrived at a city called Comdepallyr,[522] where were all the chiefs
of the kingdom, it being the chief city in that kingdom. And he laid
siege to it, and remained there three months without being able to
capture it, and in the end he took it more by reason of his numbers
than by force of arms; in which fortress he found many people of
high rank whom he made captive, amongst whom was a wife of the King,
and one of his sons who was a prince, and seven principal captains
of the kingdom, all of whom he sent by road to Bysnaga.
And he went forward a hundred leagues into the kingdom, finding no
one to bar his progress till he got to Symamdary,[523] which was a
very large city, in which he halted for six months, waiting for the
King of Orya. He sent many messages to say that he was waiting for him
in the field, but he never came. And in this city he did many works,
and gave alms to the temples, and erected therein a very grand temple
to which he gave much revenue. And he commanded to engrave on it an
inscription which says: -- "Perhaps when these letters are decayed,
the king of Orya will give battle to the King of Bisnaga. If the King
of Orya erases them, his wife shall be given to the smiths who shoe
the horses of the King of Bisnaga."
And after this was done he returned, leaving the greater part of
those lands to the temples, and came to Bisnaga where he rested some
days. And he sent to call the son of the king of Orya who was taken
captive in the first fortress, and told him that as people said that
he was a very active man and was very dexterous with both sword and
dagger, he would be pleased to see him fence.
The young man said that since His Highness summoned him he would do
what he could, and asked that this might be put off till next day. And
when the next day came the King sent to call him, and also sent for one
of his own men who at that time was very expert in the art,[524] that
he should fence with him. And when the son of the King of Orya saw him,
being offended with the King for sending a man to fight with him who
was not the son of a King but only a man of humble birth, he cried out
to the King: -- "God forbid that I should soil my hands by touching a
man not of the blood royal," and saying this he slew himself. And his
father, hearing how his son was dead, wrote to Salvatinea (asking) by
what means he could ransom his wife who remained in the power of the
King, since his son was dead; to which he made answer that he should
arrange the marriage of his daughter with the King, and that afterwards
the King would restore him his wife and lands (or, would take only
his lands).[525] This counsel he accepted, and he sent ambassadors
to Bisnaga to arrange a marriage with his daughter, with which King
Crisnarao was well content; and when the King of Orya knew his will
(in the matter) he sent him his daughter; and with the coming of her
they were friends. And Crisnarao restored the lands on the other side
of the river, and kept those on the hither side for himself.