Vijayanagar Empire

In 1336, Vijayanagar kingdom was established by Harihara and Bukka, who were two brothers and served in the army of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq. They broke away from the Delhi Sultanate and established an independent state in Karnataka and established the capital city Vijayanagar on the banks of river Tungabhadra in 1336.

Their dynasty was called the Sangama dynasty. There are several theories with regard to the origin of this dynasty. According to some scholars, they had been the feudatories of the Kakatiyas of Warangal and after their fall they served the Kampili state.

Another view says that they were the feudatories of the Hoysalas and belonged to Karnataka. Harihara and Bukka were helped and inspired by contemporary scholar and a saint Vidyaranya for the establishment of their kingdom. It is believed that to commemorate the memory of their guru, the brothers established the city of Vidyanagar or Vijayanagara on the banks of river Tungabhadra.

The empire included people from different cultural regions, the Tamil, Telegu and Karnataka region who all spoke different languages and belonged to different cultures.

Between 1336 and 1565, Vijayanagar was ruled by three different dynasties - Sangama, who remained in power till 1485; the Saluva who remained in power till 1503 and the Tuluvas. The last dynasty was the Aravidu dynasty that ruled till seventeenth century.

Foreign travellers like Nicolo Conti, Fernao Nuniz ,Domingo Paes, Duarto Barbosa and Abdur Razzaq wrote about the magnificence of Vijayanagar.

One of the most important rulers of the Vijayanagar states was Krishnadevaraya, the founder of the Tuluva dynasty. He was a great commander and an efficient administrator. He fought a series of war with the independent kingdoms that came on the ruins of the Bahamani kingdom, maintained law and order and dealt with the Portuguese influence in the Deccan. He completely shattered the Adil Shahi forces of Bijapur first and attacked Gulbarga and set free three Bahamani princes who were imprisoned there. He helped them in recovering the throne of Gulbarga and Krishna Deva himself took the title of Yavanarajya sthapanacharya.

Krishnadevaraya built some fine stone temples and added impressive gopurams or gateways to many important South Indian temples. He also founded a suburban township near Vijayanagara called Nagalapuram after his mother. Some of the most detailed descriptions of Vijayanagar come from his period.

The famous temple of Tirupati developed during his period greatly as the deity there was his titular deity. After Krishna Deva Raya, his brother Achyuta Deva Raya ascended the throne in 1530 AD, who was also an important ruler. During his reign the rival groups began to make his appearance. The struggle for power was mainly between Saluva Vira Narasimha and Aravidu Rama Raya, in which the later emerged victorious.

Although Rama Raya did not assume the throne, yet he placed Sadasiva Raya on the throne and ruled as the defacto ruler. He removed the old nobility and replaced it with those loyal to him. Rama Raya tried to balance the Deccan powers by playing one against the other, such a policy could not continue for a long period.

The Deccan states formed a confederacy and inflicted a crushing blow on the Vijayanagar armies in the battle of Talikota. Rama Raya was killed. The Deccani armies entered Vijayanagar and reduced in into ruins. Now the focus shifted to the east where the Aravidu dynasty ruled from Penukonda and later from Chandragiri (near Tirupati).

Army and Military Organisation of Vijayanagar Empire

In order to wage continuous warfare there was a need to keep a large army. Artillery was important and well bred horses were maintained. The Vijayanagar rulers imported high quality horses from across the Arabian Sea from Arabia and other Gulf countries. The port of Malabar was the centre of this trade and trade in other luxury commodities. The Vijayanagar rulers always attempted to control the port of Malabar.

Like the Bahamanis, the Vijayanagar state also was familiar with the use of firearms and employed Turkish and Portuguese experts to train the soldiers in the latest weaponry of warfare. One of the rayas, Deva Raya II enrolled Muslims in his armed services, allotted them jagirs and erected a mosque for their use in the city. Such new techniques in warfare now revolutionised the warfare.

The walls of the forts to counter the firearms were now made thick and special kinds of door with fortified walls front were constructed. On the walls of the forts, special kinds of big holes were made to rest the guns. Special kinds of parapets were constructed on the forts to put the canons on it. Firearms were used. Some firearms were small and comprised of rifles and pistols. Some like canons were heavy and had to be put on a bullock cart or on an elephant and pushed into the battlefield.

One of the important characteristics of the Vijayanagar administration was the amaranayaka system. In this system, the commander of the Vijayanagar army was called the nayaka. Each nayaka was given an area for administration. The nayaka was responsible for expanding agricultural activities in his area. He collected taxes in his area and with this income maintained his army, horses, elephants and weapons of warfare that he had to supply to the raya or the Vijayanagar ruler.

The nayaka was also the commander of the forts. Some of the revenue was also used for the maintenance of temples and irrigation works. The amaranayakas sent tribute to the king annually and personally appeared in the royal court with gifts to express their loyalty.

In the seventeenth century, several of these nayakas became independent and established separate states. The feudal Nayankaras used to maintain their own soldiers, forces and elephants. They were a powerful section that challenged the Vijayanagar authority, weakened its Internal structures and contributed to the defeat of the Vijayangar in the battle of Talikota.