Thread by @cbkwgl

Was going through Burton Stein's Vijayanagara from Cambridge History of India. My rating? 3/10. Any opinions on his writeup?
I saw two major flaws in his writing.
1. His derision of anything Indian, this despite the fact that Krishna Raya's Vijayanagara is

the second largest city in the contemporary world and Vijayanagara "gifted" the mighty Portuguese Goa.
2. The kings of Vijayanagara didn't have any control on the kingdom except for the immediate vicinity of capital city. They survived on token vassalage and share in collections.

A few snippets.
Ekachatradhipatya mocked by saying a part of Karnataka is not the whole world. Care to check the title of the King of Portugal in 1500 or may be, the Treaty of Tordesillas?

Seriously, "various lineages of Chalukyas?" Its three bloody kingdoms - one is a branch of the second and the third claimed descent from first after a gap of 250 years. Plus bygone conclusions like Tuluva came from Tulu while court poets themselves said it came from Turvasu.

Ever read Glubb Pasha?

If I tell you, as early as 1230 AD, cannon battles were fought in India and Vijayanagara is assumed to have blasted a rebel's defences with guns around 1505-1510? This is just guns. What of the "Arabian horses"? They too came with the Europeans?

Then, how did Chalukyas prosper? Their core is even drier than that of Hoysala or Kakatiya. Do you even know the sort of blows they took from the Cholas? One battle against Russia, compared to the mildest blow dealt by Cholas, destroyed Sweden for good for instance.

Ever heard of Mahanavami auditing? Also, can you explain how a country is run - you have one money dump in the capital and everyone comes to the capital for money or do you maintain regional treasuries from which a part is transferred to the centre based on revenue?

Malborough? How will it be, if I call Duke Wellington as British Ranadullah Khan or MacArthur as American Malik Kafur?

May be, it's time for us to read again the legend of Karpura Vasanta Raya and the king whom he is associated with?

A question. Who was the claimant to the throne on the other side?

If so, why did Portuguese enterprise in India collapse when Vijayanagara fell in 1565? There was too much sea trade, right? OTOH, can someone explain how Krishna Raya saying give importance to traders so that your enemy doesn't get stuff from him equates to filthy rich trade?

Ever heard of the concept of heriditary governorships, like, say, Duke of Lancaster or the Margrave of Ostmark? Are they independent, by any angle?

Missing the trees for the woods. What exactly was the purpose Krishna Raya appointed Brahmin Governors and how different is Ramaraya replacing them with his kinsmen different?

One lesson I learnt for sure, wasting my time on this book - never trust a book written by a foreigner over Indian history. And always go for the originals when you have a doubt. I have seen historians of repute, both Indian and European lying on the references.

But, no book is bound to be 100% bad. This one, for example, tells in four paragraphs the struggle Ramaraya had to put to ensure Vijayanagara stays safe. By the way, what was Ramaraya's mother's age at the time of Talikota? She was alive.