Gangadevi, also known as Gangambika, was a 14th-century princess and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

-language

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

of the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...

of present-day India.

Life and work

Gangadevi was the wife of Veerakamparaya, son of the Vijayanagara monarch

Bukka Raya I Bukka Raya I (reigned 1356–24 February 1377) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty.Phrof A V Narasimha MurthyRare Royal Brothers: Hakka and Bukka He was a son of Bhavana Sangama, claimed by Harihara II to be of ...

(c. 1360s-1370s). Gangadevi chronicled the story of her husband's victory over the Turko-Persian

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

of the

Madurai Sultanate Ma'bar Sultanate, also known as the Madurai Sultanate, was a short lived kingdom based in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. It was dominated by Hindustani speaking Muslims. The sultanate was proclaimed in 1335 CE in Madurai led by Jala ...

in the form of this poem, which contains nine chapters and was named '' Madhura Vijayam'', also known as ''Veerakamparaya Charitram''.Suryanath U. Kamath, A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present, Jupiter books, MCC, Bangalore, 2001 (Reprinted 2002) OCLC: 7796041 p162 After the discovery of the documents, a Tamil version was published by Sri Krishnamacharya of Srirangam. Annamalai University published an English translation in 1950. In addition to writing, she also fought in battle with her husband and inspired other women.

Influence

Gangadevi is a key inspiration for Pampa Kampana, the protagonist of

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

's novel '' Victory City''.

References

Sanskrit women poets Sanskrit poets Poets from Karnataka Indian women poets 14th-century Indian women writers Indian princesses 14th-century Indian poets People from the Vijayanagara Empire Women from the Vijayanagara Empire Vijayanagara poets Kannada poets Vijayanagara royalty {{India-poet-stub