Fernão Nunes

Fernão Nunes, also known as ''Fernao Nuniz'', was a Portuguese-Jewish traveler, chronicler and horse trader who spent three years in

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.Vijayanagara

, the capital 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 ...
in the time period 1535-1537. His writings have brought to light many interesting details about Vijayanagara at that time, including construction of massive fortification works, watch towers and security walls. From his notes it is known that the expansion of the imperial capital limits happened during the reign of emperors Bukka Raya II and Deva Raya I. Once Nunes fled the
inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...
to
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, where he openly practiced his
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
. Nunes' brother was one Jacob Curiel of Coimbra, alias ''Duarte Nunes'', founder of the Curiel family that would come to greatly influence European trade and diplomacy. Jacob and Fernão frequently wrote letters to each other.

Notes

References
*K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002) *Robert Sewell, Fernão Nunes, Domingos Paes, "A forgotten empire: Vijayanagar; a contribution to the history of India" (Includes a translation of "Chronica dos reis de Bisnaga," from Domingos Paes and Fernao Nuniz from 1520 and 1535 respectively), Adamant Media Corporation, 1982, *Radhakamal Mukerjee, "A history of Indian civilization", Hind Kitabs, 1958 (refere Paes) *H. V. Sreenivasa Murthy, R. Ramakrishnan, "A history of Karnataka, from the earliest times to the present day", S. Chand, 1977

External links
* * 16th-century Portuguese explorers Explorers of Asia Portuguese Renaissance writers Portuguese travel writers Vijayanagara Empire Curiel family People of Sephardic-Jewish descent History of Karnataka Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{Portugal-bio-stub 16th-century Portuguese Jews Explorers of South Asia Portuguese expatriates in Portuguese India