Vijayanagar Empire

Founded in 1335, Vijayanagar quickly gained prominence and became a haven for Hindu refugees, exiles and warriors. Vijayanagar provided shelter to those expelled from their strongholds following the Islamic occupation. Even the first rulers of Vijayanagar did not call themselves kings. The Brahmins who wrote the inscriptions about them did not call them so. It is for this reason that the author addressed Harihara I and Bukka I as 'chiefs'. The inscriptions of 1340 state that Harihara was called Hariyappa Vodaya. It must be concluded that the first was a less dignified name than Harihara. The second name certainly deserves the position of a chief. Moreover, the title given to him in Sanskrit was 'Mahamandaleshwara'. It means 'great lord', not king. The same is seen in both inscriptions about his successor Bukka. One of them is dated 1353. It is said that Harihara already occupied a large territory in 1340. He also had the recognition of villages in th...

Another legend of the origin of Vijayanagara is that the two brothers fled from Warangal to Anegundi for some other reason. Living under Islamic rule diminished their status as Hindus. They were initially compelled to accept service under the Islamic invaders but in the end it was their patriotism that saw success. What they did was to give up the comforts and reach out to their core Hindu faith. According to the historian Couto, Madhavacharya was supported by food brought by a poor shepherd named Bukka while leading a monastic life in the mountains. One day Madhavacharya said to the shepherd, "You will be the king and emperor of Hindustan." The accompanying shepherds realized this and gave special consideration to their leader. After adopting the name " Raya", he began to attack five of his neighbors. These included the Canara, the Taligas, the Congivirao, the Negapattavu, and Badagas. Eventually he called himself Bokarao and became their leader. The k...

According to Nunis, after the conquest of Anegundi in 1334 by the Sultan, Malik Naib was made his local governor and a few years later the area was recaptured by the Hindus. When Malik Naib returned, former minister Devaraya was given the title of king. Devaraya who took over the kingdom ruled for seven years. Meanwhile, one day while going hunting in the hills on the south side of the river, Devaraya saw a rabbit. He was amazed at the sight of rabbits attacking dogs instead of running away from the hounds. On the banks of the river he found a saint named Madhavacharya. The king accepted the advice of Madhavacharya to establish a city there and established Vijayanagaram and filled it with inmates. Founded around 1366 AD, the city's reputation later spread internationally. The king built a magnificent temple in Vijayanagar in honor of the saint Madhavacharya.There is a small village and inmates around the famous temple of Hampi which still stands on the banks of the rive...

The point that Vijayanagar was founded in 1336 is based on two facts. The first is the inscriptions of Harihara I who was called Harib by Ibn Battuta, who became king in 1340 and Batuta's account of a lightning strike by Muhammad bin Tughlaq on the south side. Nunis' account of the lightning strike of 1334 at the beginning of the historical narrative also agrees the fact. A comparative study raises doubts as to whether there are any similarities between Batuta and Nunis' descriptions of the origin of Vijayanagar. Ibn Battuta concluded that Mohammed bin Tughlaq’s move to the south was against his nephew, Baha ud-din-Gushtasp, who had challenged him under the protection of Rai of Kampila, and his stronghold in the highlands. About eight miles from Anegundi, the stronghold of the ancestors of the Vijayanagara kings. Kampila was a small city protected by the surrounding mountains. When the Sultan's army invaded, Rai abandoned the camp and sought refuge in Aneg...

Tughlaq was a cruel ruler who showed no mercy to his subjects. The punishments he inflicted were not only cruel but also unjust. Nothing was done to stop the bleeding. One might even think that he had a purpose in destroying mankind. It was a situation where not even a week without death would pass. His anger rose against those who pointed fingers at him and subjected them to his innate cruelty. He spent his life in a dream world with irrational plans. From the very beginning, he distributed immense wealth to the nobles. 50000 Pounds a day! Instead of being driven out by an army, he paid a large sum of money to the invading Mughals. He soon mobilized a large army of 370,000 men, including cavalry, to invade Persia. But when they did not get enough, they parted ways after plundering the country. He later decided to invade China and sent one lakh troops to the Himalayas. For the most part, it was a tragic end. The survivors returned in despair, but the king executed them all...

There is a story about how Tughlaq had a special fondness for the eighteen letters (probably the letters in his name). There are many other stories about the stupid deeds of Tughlaq. One of them is about preparing his army. One morning, the sun was shining on Tughlaq’s eyes as he was getting dressed in his room beside a closed window. Tughlaq was very annoyed and his anger gushed out given orders to his generals that if anyone entered his room, they would destroy it. Determined to capture and destroy the enemy i.e.; the Sun, Tughlaq set out with his vast army, only after finding the sun hidden in the high dust due to army movement. The king then returned, satisfied that the enemy had fled. There is another example of Tughlaq’s misadventures. When he was in the country of Charamaodel, he was told that certain league distance the sea there is an island of gold and the houses in the island floored by rubies and diamonds. There is also a temple there in which Angels who came do...

The heads of state mentioned earlier were the landlords of Hoysala Ballalas. According to Firishta (the chief court historian of the Bahmani Sultans), they were the rulers of the family for seven hundred years before 1350 AD. The historical studies of Nunis (Portuguese merchant and historian) give us a clear picture of how the Vijayanagara Empire began to establish its dominance and how it expanded. There may be accuracy in this, as the stone inscription of that time validates it. In his opinion, Muhammad Tughlaq of Delhi in his invasion to south had massacred the head of state and the family. He then crossed the Deccan Hill Trail to the south and captured Anegundi in 1336; the fort and town were captured. When the attempt to hand over the rule of the country to one of his representatives failed, Muhammad appointed Hariharadeva I, whom Nunis called "Deora", as the ruler. The famous 'Vijayanagaram' is a city founded by the new ruler on the south bank of the...

Before going into details, it is necessary to take a look at the political situation in India in the middle of the fourteenth century. Until then, the South Indian peninsula was under the rule of several Hindu kings, such as the famous Pandiyans of Madurai and the Cholas of Thanjavur. Crossing the northwestern border of India in 1000 AD, Mohhamedan army, led by Mahmud of Ghazni, carried out the first lightning strike in India. Mahmud began by invading and conquering the plains of Punjab. The advance continued, later invading Multan and other areas. Mahmud established his rule in the country by conquering Kalinga in 1021 and Kathiawar in 1023. Mahmoud's conquest of the nations was marked by brutal lightning attacks. The Islamic aggressors then dominated Delhi through a series of attacks over a period of two centuries. Subsequently, the whole of northern India was rioted with wars. At the end of the thirteenth century, the direction of their invasion turned south to Decca...

An event that marked the beginning of a radical change in the political landscape of South India took place in India in AD 1336 during the reign of Edward III, of Britain. Since then a new chapter has been written in the pages of history. The trumpet of a new age was blowing, throwing the old into the dustbin of history. That great event was the rise of the Vijayanagara Empire. Prior to 1336 AD, South India was ruled by the ancient Hindu empires of the Pandya kings of Madurai and the Chola kings of Thanjavur. There is no enough evidence of its origin as it is very ancient. But there are some clues in the pre-sixteenth century Buddhist inscriptions. With the rise of the Vijayanagara Empire, the kings of the new kingdoms became the rulers of the region between Ceylon and Deccan. There was nothing surprising in this. This was the result of the constant efforts of Islamic aggressors to invade and conquer South India. When the brutal and cruel invaders reached the banks of the K...