Overview
Major South Indian empire; cultural and economic revival.
Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire (1336–1646 CE) was the last great Hindu empire of South India, founded by Harihara I and Bukka I on the Tungabhadra River. Four successive dynasties — Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, and Aravidu — ruled from the capital Hampi (Vijayanagara, UNESCO World Heritage Site). Under Krishnadevaraya (Tuluva, 1509–1529) the empire reached its maximum extent, controlling most of peninsular India and patronising Telugu and Kannada literary culture. The Battle of Talikota (1565) destroyed the capital and broke the empire's power, though the Aravidu dynasty survived until 1646.
Territory Phases
Vijayanagara (Sangama)1336 CE – 1485 CE
Harihara I and Bukka I found the empire at Vijayanagara on the Tungabhadra (1336); the Sangama dynasty consolidates South India against the Bahmani Sultanate; Devaraya II (1424–1446) reaches the Sangama zenith.
Vijayanagara (Saluva)1485 CE – 1505 CE
Saluva Narasimha usurps the throne from the last Sangama ruler (1485), stabilising the empire briefly before his own successors are displaced by the Tuluva general Narasa Nayaka.
Vijayanagara (Tuluva)1505 CE – 1570 CE
Peak of the empire under Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529): Battle of Raichur (1520) annexes the Raichur Doab to 16.5°N; patronage of the Ashtadiggajas (eight Telugu poets); Rama Raya rules as regent until the catastrophic Battle of Talikota (1565) in which the confederacy of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Golconda destroys the Vijayanagara army and sacks Hampi.
Vijayanagara (Aravidu)1570 CE – 1646 CE
Tirumala Raya moves the capital from the ruined Hampi to Penukonda (1565) and then Chandragiri; the Aravidu dynasty rules a contracted empire confined largely to Andhra and Tamil Nadu until the dynasty ends c. 1646, with territories absorbed by Bijapur and Golconda.
Key Rulers
Harihara I
Maharajadhiraja, Purvapaschima Samudradhishvara
Also known as: Hariyappa, Vira Harihara I
1336 CE – 1356 CE
★★★★
Co-founder of the Vijayanagara Empire with his brother Bukka I; former Hoysala commander who established the capital at Vijayanagara on the Tungabhadra in 1336, under the spiritual guidance of the sage Vidyaranya.
Bukka I
Maharajadhiraja, Vira Bukka
Also known as: Bukka Raya I, Vira Bukka I
1356 CE – 1377 CE
★★★★
Co-founder of the empire; consolidates Vijayanagara control over South India; repels Bahmani Sultanate incursions; sends embassies to China (1374). Patron of the Madhvacharya tradition and Sringeri Sharada Peetham.
Harihara II
Maharajadhiraja
1377 CE – 1404 CE
★★★
Son of Bukka I; major expansion of Vijayanagara into Tamil Nadu and Andhra; campaigns against Bahmani and Reddi kingdoms; consolidated the empire's peninsular reach.
Devaraya II
Maharajadhiraja, Gajabetekara
Also known as: Immadi Devaraya, Gajabetekara
1424 CE – 1446 CE
★★★★
Greatest ruler of the Sangama dynasty; defeated the Bahmani Sultanate and extracted tribute from multiple kingdoms; patronised the Persian poet Abdur Razzaq who visited Vijayanagara (1443); organised an integrated infantry with Muslim archers and cavalry.
Saluva Narasimha
Maharajadhiraja
Also known as: Narasimha Deva Raya I
1485 CE – 1491 CE
★★★
General of the last Sangama kings who usurped the throne in 1485, founding the Saluva dynasty; briefly stabilised the empire; succeeded by his sons under the regency of the Tuluva general Narasa Nayaka.
Krishnadevaraya
Maharajadhiraja, Andhra Bhoja, Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana
Also known as: Krishna Deva Raya, Andhra Bhoja, Abhinava Bhoja
1509 CE – 1529 CE
★★★★★
Greatest ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire; captured the Raichur Doab from Bijapur at the Battle of Raichur (1520); patron of the Ashtadiggajas (eight Telugu court poets); composed the Telugu classic Amuktamalyada; maintained diplomatic relations with the Portuguese.
Achyuta Raya
Maharajadhiraja
Also known as: Achyutadevaraya
1529 CE – 1542 CE
★★★
Younger brother of Krishnadevaraya; maintained the empire after the great reign; internal succession disputes; Fernão Nunes visited Vijayanagara during his reign and left important Portuguese accounts.
Rama Raya
Regent, Mahapradhana
Also known as: Aliya Rama Raya, Ramaraja
1542 CE – 1565 CE
★★★★
Son-in-law of Krishnadevaraya; effective ruler as regent from 1542; played the Deccan Sultanates against each other until the confederacy of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Golconda united and defeated Vijayanagara at the Battle of Talikota (1565); killed on the battlefield.
Tirumala Raya
Maharajadhiraja
Also known as: Tirumala Deva Raya
1565 CE – 1572 CE
★★★
Brother of Rama Raya; escaped the Battle of Talikota with the treasury; moved the capital to Penukonda; founded the Aravidu dynasty; abdicated in favour of his son Sriranga I in 1572.
Key Events
Founding of Vijayanagara1336 CE
Vijayanagara (Hampi, Tungabhadra River)
Harihara I establishes the city and kingdom of Vijayanagara ("City of Victory") on the south bank of the Tungabhadra River in 1336 CE, under the spiritual guidance of the Advaita sage Vidyaranya. The founding marks the start of over three centuries of Hindu imperial rule in South India, in direct resistance to the northward advance of the Delhi Sultanate and the Bahmani Sultanate.
Battle of Mudgal (Vijayanagara–Bahmani Conflict)1367 CE
Mudgal (Raichur Doab)
One of the early major conflicts between Vijayanagara and the Bahmani Sultanate over the strategically vital Raichur Doab, the fertile tract between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers. The contest for this territory defined Vijayanagara-Bahmani relations across the 14th and 15th centuries.
Construction of the Vittala Temple Complex, Hampi1513 CE
Vittala Temple, Hampi
The Vittala Temple at Hampi, dedicated to Vishnu in his form as Vittala, was substantially built and expanded under Krishnadevaraya (~1513). The complex is renowned for its musical pillars (striking them produces musical tones), its stone chariot (ratha) in the courtyard, and its elaborately sculpted mandapas. It represents the zenith of Vijayanagara Dravidian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site component.
Battle of Raichur1520 CE
Raichur (Raichur Doab)
Krishnadevaraya decisively defeats the Adil Shahi sultan of Bijapur, Ismail Adil Shah, at the Battle of Raichur and captures the Raichur Doab — the fertile tract between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers that had been contested for over a century. Vijayanagara reaches its maximum territorial extent northward to ~16.5°N. The Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa witnessed the campaign and described the Vijayanagara army.
Battle of Talikota (Rakshasi-Tangadi)1565 CE
Rakshasi-Tangadi (near Talikota)
A confederacy of four Deccan Sultanates — Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Golconda — united and decisively defeated the Vijayanagara army at the Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (commonly called Talikota) on 23 January 1565. Rama Raya was captured and beheaded on the battlefield. The victorious armies then marched to Hampi and sacked the capital for months, reducing the magnificent city to ruins. The battle marked the effective end of Vijayanagara as a major power, though the Aravidu dynasty survived in the Andhra/Tamil Nadu core.
Related Civilisations
Sources
- Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955) A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar(Standard textbook on South Indian history. Extensive Chola coverage integrated into the broader peninsular narrative.)
- Eaton, Richard M. (2005) A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761: Eight Indian Lives(Modern academic study of the Deccan in the Sultanate and Vijayanagara periods; Musunuri Nayak context and Bahmani successor state.)
- Yazdani, G. (ed.) (1960) The Early History of the Deccan, 2 volumes(Two-volume reference on the early history of the Deccan including detailed treatment of the Rashtrakutas and their predecessors. Standard reference for Deccan regional history.)
- Sewell, Robert (1900) A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India(Classic study of Vijayanagara; Portuguese traveller accounts; Hampi descriptions; Battle of Talikota. Public domain.)
- Verghese, Anila (1995) Religious Traditions at Vijayanagara as Revealed through its Monuments(Hampi temple complex; Vittala Temple; Virupaksha Temple; royal ritual landscape.)
- Sinopoli, Carla M. and Morrison, Kathleen D. (1995) Dimensions of Imperial Control: The Vijayanagara Capital(Archaeological study of Hampi; urban plan; imperial provisioning; Vijayanagara capital organisation.)