THE VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE 1336-1646

THE VIJAYANAGARA 

EMPIRE 1336-1646

The Vijayanagara Empire (also called Karnata Empire,[3] and the Kingdom of Bisnegar by the Portuguese) was based in the Deccan Plateau region in South India.

It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of Sangama Dynasty.[4][5][6] The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts by the southern powers to ward off Islamic invasions by the end of the 13th century. It lasted until 1646, although its power declined after a major military defeat in 1565 by the combined armies of the Deccan sultanates. The empire is named after its capital city of Vijayanagara, whose ruins surround present day Hampi, now a World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India.[7] The writings of medieval European travelers such as Domingo Paes, Fernão Nunes, and Niccolò Da Conti, and the literature in local languages provide crucial information about its history. Archaeological excavations at Vijayanagara have revealed the empire's power and wealth.

The empire's legacy includes many monuments spread over South India, the best known of which is the group at Hampi. Different temple building traditions in South and Central India came together in the Vijayanagara Architecture style. This synthesis inspired architectural innovation in Hindu temples' construction. Efficient administration and vigorous overseas trade brought new technologies such as water management systems for irrigation. The empire's patronage enabled fine arts and literature to reach new heights in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved into its current form. The Vijayanagara Empire created an epoch in South Indian history that transcended regionalism by promoting Hinduism as a unifying factor.

 Harihara I and Bukka I, the founders of the empire, were Kannadigas and commanders in the army of the Hoysala Empire stationed in the Tungabhadra region to ward off Muslim invasions from the Northern India. historians agree the founders were supported and inspired by Vidyaranya, a saint at the Sringeri monastery to fight the Muslim invasion of South India.[Before the early 14th-century rise of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Hindu states of the Deccan —

the Yadava Empire of Devagiri, the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal, the Pandyan Empire of Madurai had been repeatedly raided and attacked by Muslims from the north, and by 1336 these upper Deccan region (modern day Maharashtra, Telangana) had all been defeated by armies of Sultan Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad bin Tughluq of the Delhi Sultanate.[1

Singeya Nayaka-III (1280–1300 AD) declared independence after the Muslim forces of the Delhi Sultanate defeated and captured the territories of the Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri in 1294 CE.[21][22] He created the Kampili kingdom, but this was a short lived kingdom during this period of wars.[21][23] Kampili existed near Gulbarga and Tungabhadra river in northeastern parts of the present-day Karnataka state.[23] It ended after a defeat by the armies of Delhi Sultanate. The triumphant army led by Malik Zada sent the news of its victory, over Kampili kingdom, to Muhammad bin Tughluq in Delhi by sending a straw-stuffed severed head of the dead Hindu king.[24] Within Kampili, on the day of certain defeat, the populace committed a jauhar (ritual mass suicide) in 1327/28 CE.[24][25] Eight years later, from the ruins of the Kampili kingdom emerged the Vijayanagara Kingdom in 1336 CE

In the first two decades after the founding of the empire, Harihara I gained control over most of the area south of the Tungabhadra river and earned the title of Purvapaschima Samudradhishavara ("master of the eastern and western seas"). By 1374 Bukka Raya I, successor to Harihara I, had defeated the chiefdom of Arcot, the Reddys of Kondavidu, and the Sultan of Madurai and had gained control over Goa

 Harihara II, the second son of Bukka Raya I, further consolidated the kingdom beyond the Krishna River and brought the whole of South India under the Vijayanagara umbrella.[29] The next ruler, Deva Raya I, emerged successful against the Gajapatis of Odisha and undertook important works of fortification and irrigation.[30] Italian traveler Niccolo de Conti wrote of him as the most powerful ruler of India.[31] Deva Raya II (called Gajabetekara)[32] succeeded to the throne in 1424 and was possibly the most capable of the Sangama dynasty rulers.[33] 

He quelled rebelling feudal lords as well as the Zamorin of Calicut and Quilon in the south.Firuz Bahmani of Bahmani Sultanate entered into a treaty with Deva Raya I of Vijayanagara in 1407 that required the latter to pay Bahmani an annual tribute of "100,000 huns, five maunds of pearls and fifty elephants". The Sultanate invaded Vijayanagara in 1417 when the latter defaulted in paying the tribute. Such wars for tribute payment by Vijayanagara repeated in the 15th century, such as in 1436 when Sultan Ahmad I launched a war to collect the unpaid tribute.[37]

The ensuing Sultanates-Vijayanagara wars expanded the Vijayanagara military, its power and disputes between its military commanders. In 1485, Saluva Narasimha led a coup and ended the dynastic rule, while continuing to defend the Empire from raids by the Sultanates created from the continuing disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate in its north.[38] In 1505, another commander Tuluva Narasa Nayaka took over the Vijayanagara rule from the Sulava descendant in a coup. The empire came under the rule of Krishna Deva Raya in 1509, the son of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka.[39] He strengthened and consolidated the reach of the empire, by hiring both Hindus and Muslims into his army.[40] In the following decades, it covered Southern India and successfully defeated invasions from the five established Deccan Sultanates to its north.[41][42]

The empire reached its peak during the rule of Krishna Deva Raya when Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious.[43Krishna Deva Raya was followed by his younger half-brother Achyuta Deva Raya in 1529. When Achyuta Deva Raya died in 1542, Sadashiva Raya, the teenage nephew of Achyuta Raya was appointed king with the caretaker being Aliya Rama Raya, Krishna Deva Raya's son-in-law and someone who had previously served Sultan Quli Qutb al-Mulk

from 1512 when al-Mulk was assigned to Golkonda sultanate.[47] Aliya Rama Raya left the Golconda Sultanate, married Deva Raya's daughter, and thus rose to power. When Sadashiva Raya – Deva Raya's son – was old enough, Aliya Rama Raya imprisoned him and allowed his uncle Achyuta Raya to publicly appear once a year.[48] Further Aliya Rama Raya hired Muslim generals in his army from his previous Sultanate connections, and called himself "Sultan of the World".[49]

Royal Insignia: boar, sun, moon and dagger
The Sultanates to the north of Vijayanagara united and attacked Aliya Rama Raya's army, in January 1565, in a war known as the Battle of Talikota.[50] The Vijayanagara side was winning the war, state Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, but suddenly two Muslim generals of the Vijayanagara army switched sides and turned their loyalty to the Sultanates. The generals captured Aliya Rama Raya and beheaded him on the spot, with Sultan Hussain

on the Sultanates side joining them for the execution and stuffing of severed head with straw for display.[51][52] The beheading of Aliya Rama Raya created confusion and havoc in the still loyal portions of the Vijayanagara army, which were then completely routed. The Sultanates' army plundered Hampi and reduced it to the ruinous state in which it remains; it was never re-occupied.[53]

After the death of Aliya Rama Raya in the Battle of Talikota, Tirumala Deva Raya started the Aravidu dynasty, moved and founded a new capital of Penukonda to replace the destroyed Hampi, and attempted to reconstitute the remains of Vijayanagara Empire.[54] Tirumala abdicated in 1572, dividing the remains of his kingdom to his three sons, and pursued a religious life until his death in 1578. The Aravidu dynasty successors ruled the region but the empire collapsed in 1614, and the final remains ended in 1646, from continued wars with the Bijapur sultanate and others.[55][56][57] During this period,

more kingdoms in South India became independent and separate from Vijayanagara. These include the Mysore Kingdom, Keladi Nayaka, Nayaks of Madurai, Nayaks of Tanjore, Nayakas of Chitradurga and Nayak Kingdom of Gingee – all of which declared independence and went on to have a significant impact on the history of South India in the coming centuries.[58]

Vijayanagara Empire

Sangama dynasty Harihara I 1336–1356 Bukka Raya I 1356–1377 Harihara Raya II 1377–1404 Virupaksha Raya 1404–1405 Bukka Raya II 1405–1406 Deva Raya I 1406–1422 Ramachandra Raya 1422 Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya 1422–1424 Deva Raya II 1424–1446 Mallikarjuna Raya 1446–1465 Virupaksha Raya II 1465–1485 Praudha Raya 1485 Saluva dynasty Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya 1485–1491 Thimma Bhupala 1491 Narasimha Raya II 1491–1505 Tuluva dynasty Tuluva Narasa Nayaka 1491–1503 Vira Narasimha Raya 1503–1509 Krishna Deva Raya 1509–1529 Achyuta Deva Raya 1529–1542 Venkata I 1542 Sadasiva Raya 1542–1570 Aravidu dynasty Aliya Rama Raya 1542–1565 Tirumala Deva Raya 1565–1572 Sriranga I 1572–1586 Venkata II 1586–1614 Sriranga II 1614 Rama Deva Raya 1617–1632 Venkata III 1632–1642 Sriranga III 1642–1646