Tidings of the King: A Translation and Ethnohistorical Analysis of the Rayavacakamu

If you are interested in the King Krishna Deva Raya or the history of South India or in general about how to research historical works of fiction you should do well reading this book. Rayavacakamu is an update to a king about the goings on in his kingdom (by the author of the original work). Hence it draws heavily from a particular historical context; that which passed by almost a century when the original author wrote it; although he tries to cover it up by make believing it is a contemporary one. The former glory of the King is relived by the original author in his text. This deception wasn't know when the text was discovered a little over a century ago. The times of Krishna Deva Raya were closer to the original author than we are to him. So it holds considerable value to us even in its inauthenticity. The obvious question was why the original author wrote it? Were there compelling reasons for doing so? What was he trying to achieve by writing an inauthentic document? The author of the book does well addressing these issues. our author first proves that the work wasn't of the age of Krishna Deva Raya but was written much later. Then he dissects it piece by piece to reveal the times of the original author and his motivations. The historical context of the King is also provided in the book, and is quite illuminating. The book is a result of thorough research on this work of fiction, which is the original text. The only thing I thought the author missed was the general animosity and bias to the Jangama sect which shows itself in the fable of the formation of the city of Vijayanagara. That was glaringly absent from the analysis. Other than that the author does well with the rest of the analysis.