Medieval Indian History

Vijayanagara ('city of victory') was founded in 1336 on the Tungabhadra bank at Hampi by the Sangama brothers Harihara and Bukka, blessed by the guru Vidyaranya. Four dynasties ruled it in turn: Sangama → Saluva → Tuluva → Aravidu. Its economy rested on the fertile Raichur doab (the doab of the Krishna-Tungabhra rivers, long contested with the Bahmanis), diamond and spice trade, and a powerful cavalry fed by Portuguese horse imports.

Of the Tuluva dynasty, he defeated the Bahmanis and the Odisha (Gajapati) king, and won the Battle of Raichur (1520, with Portuguese muskets). Titles: Andhra Bhoja, 'establisher of Yavana rule' and more. His court had the Ashtadiggajas (eight elephants of learning), the greatest being Allasani Peddana (Manucharitam, honoured as 'Andhra Kavita Pitamaha'); Krishnadevaraya himself wrote the Telugu classic Amuktamalyada. Portuguese visitors Domingo Paes and Duarte Barbosa describe his glittering capital — the Virupaksha and Vittala temples (the famous stone chariot), the Hazara Rama temple, and bazaars of pearls.

The Bahmani kingdom was founded in 1347 by Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah (Hasan Gangu) with its capital at Gulbarga (later Bidar). Its able wazir Mahmud Gawan was executed by court factions (1481) — after which the kingdom split into five sultanates: Bijapur (Adil Shahi), Ahmadnagar (Nizam Shahi), Golconda (Qutb Shahi), Berar (Imad Shahi) and Bidar (Barid Shahi).

Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis fought almost continuously over the Raichur doab, the Krishna-Godavara delta and horse trade. In 1565, at the Battle of Talikota (Rakshasa-Tangadi), a coalition of the Deccan sultanates crushed Vijayanagara; the de facto ruler Rama Raya (Aravidu) was captured and executed, and Hampi was sacked and abandoned. The dynasty lingered from Penukonda-Chandragiri; Nayak kingdoms took over the south. The ruins are the Hampi UNESCO World Heritage site — 'a city of victory in stone'.