Deva Raya II ruled the Vijayanagara Empire at its administrative and military peak, expanding the use of paid infantry — including large contingents of Muslim archers — in ways that unsettled the traditional nayaka system. His reign demanded reliable low-denomination copper coinage at a scale his predecessors hadn't required. The kasu was the workhorse of that economy, passing through market stalls, temple offerings, and soldier pay packets across the Deccan.
MSI #529 places this squarely within a cataloguing tradition established by Michael Mitchiner, whose attributions for Vijayanagara copper remain the field's primary reference despite ongoing scholarly debate over reign-specific assignments.
Deva Raya II ruled the Vijayanagara Empire at its administrative and military peak, expanding the use of paid infantry — including large contingents of Muslim archers — in ways that unsettled the traditional nayaka system. His reign demanded reliable low-denomination copper coinage at a scale his predecessors hadn't required. The kasu was the workhorse of that economy, passing through market stalls, temple offerings, and soldier pay packets across the Deccan.
MSI #529 places this squarely within a cataloguing tradition established by Michael Mitchiner, whose attributions for Vijayanagara copper remain the field's primary reference despite ongoing scholarly debate over reign-specific assignments.