Krishnadeva Raya

History glossary

Also called: Krishnadevaraya · Topic: Vijayanagara and the Deccan · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"; Class 12, Ch 3 "An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara"

Meaning

Krishnadeva Raya (also spelt Krishnadevaraya) was the most famous ruler of the Vijayanagara empire. He belonged to the Tuluva dynasty and ruled from 1509 to 1529. He won wars against Bijapur and Orissa, built temples, supported poets in three languages, and wrote the Telugu poem Amuktamalyada himself.

His reign is the high point (apogee) of Vijayanagara. Questions often test his wars, his book and his dealings with the Deccan Sultans. His dealings with the Sultans also show that Deccan politics was about power, not religion.

Explanation

Background: the dynasty and the throne

  • Vijayanagara was one empire ruled by four families, one after another: Sangama → Saluva → Tuluva → Aravidu.
  • Each new family took power from the old one. The empire itself did not break up (until 1565).
  • The Tuluvas took over from the Saluvas in 1503. Britannica gives the same date [2][4].
  • Krishnadeva Raya, the best-known Tuluva king, came to the throne in 1509.

His wars: three dates to remember

  • 1512: took the Raichur doab.
  • A doab is the land between two rivers. This one lies between the Tungabhadra and the Krishna [2].

  • It was rich farmland, and both Vijayanagara and Bijapur wanted it.

  • 1514: Orissa subdued.

  • According to Britannica, he did this by capturing the fort of Udayagiri and other towns [2].

  • 1520: severe defeats inflicted on the Sultan of Bijapur [2].

  • The paradox of his reign:
  • He kept his army ready for war all the time.
  • Yet his reign is remembered for "unparalleled peace and prosperity".
  • The lesson: his constant readiness for war is what kept the peace. The two did not cancel each other out.

Buildings, gifts and learning

  • Buildings:
  • He built fine temples and huge gopurams. A gopuram is the tall, carved gateway tower over a temple entrance.

  • He founded a new town, Nagalapuram, and named it after his mother.

  • Religious gifts: he gave endowments (permanent gifts of land or money) to Tirupati and to the Vitthala temple.

  • Writers: he patronised (supported and paid) writers in Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannada. That is three languages, not one.
  • His own book: the Amuktamalyada.
  • He wrote it in Telugu.
  • It is about the poet-saint Andal.
  • It has a section on Rajaniti: statecraft, meaning the rules a king should follow when ruling.
  • So the book is both religious poetry and a book about politics.

Relations with the Sultans, and what came after him

  • Not always enemies:
  • He supported claimants to the thrones inside the Sultanates. When princes there fought over who would rule, he backed the one he preferred.
  • He was proud of the title "establisher of the Yavana kingdom". Yavana is a Sanskrit word for Greeks and other peoples from the north-west. Here it means the Sultans.

  • After 1529, the Sultan of Bijapur acted as a mediator (a go-between who settles a quarrel) in Vijayanagara's own fights over who would be king.

  • His death: he died of illness in 1529, not in battle.

  • Weakening after him (1529–1542):
  • His successors faced rebellious nayakas. Nayakas were military chiefs who held land in return for military service.

  • By 1542 the Aravidus controlled the centre of power.

  • The fall (1565):

  • Rama Raya, Krishnadeva Raya's son-in-law and the chief minister, kept playing one Sultan against another.
  • In the end the Sultans united against him.
  • He was routed at Rakshasi-Tangadi (Talikota) by the combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda.
  • Britannica dates the battle to 23 January 1565 and says Rama Raya was captured and executed [3].

Time, place and evidence

  • Period: early 16th century. He reigned 1509–29, in the middle of the Tuluva period (1503–1542).
  • Region: South India and the Deccan. The capital was the city of Vijayanagara, at present-day Hampi.

  • UNESCO lists it as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, the last capital of the Vijayanagara kingdom [5].

  • Named places:

  • Raichur doab, between the Tungabhadra and the Krishna
  • Udayagiri in Orissa [2]
  • Bijapur
  • Nagalapuram, the town he founded

  • Tirupati and the Vitthala temple, which received his gifts

  • Key people:

  • Krishnadeva Raya himself
  • the Sultan of Bijapur, his main enemy and later a mediator
  • Rama Raya, his son-in-law

  • the poet-saint Andal, the subject of his book

  • How we know:

  • His own text: the Amuktamalyada, in Telugu, with its Rajaniti section.
  • Foreign travellers' accounts: the most detailed accounts of Vijayanagara by foreign visitors come from his reign or just after it.
  • Buildings: the temples, gopurams and endowments of his reign.
  • Modern reference works: Britannica gives the dates of his wars [2].

Don't confuse with

  • Rama Raya: he was Krishnadeva Raya's son-in-law and chief minister, never a crowned king. He lost at Talikota in 1565. Krishnadeva Raya died of illness in 1529.
  • Andal: Andal is the subject of the Amuktamalyada, not its author. The author is Krishnadeva Raya, and the language is Telugu, not Tamil or Sanskrit.
  • Sangama dynasty: the Sangamas were the founders of the empire (1336–1485) and built the Hiriya canal. Krishnadeva Raya was a Tuluva.
  • Raichur doab (1512) vs Talikota (1565): the Raichur doab was his victory over Bijapur. Talikota was the empire's defeat, 36 years after his death, under Rama Raya.

Prelims Hooks

  • Krishnadeva Raya: Tuluva dynasty, reign 1509–29. Order of dynasties: Sangama → Saluva → Tuluva → Aravidu.
  • His wars, in order: Raichur doab (1512) → Orissa subdued (1514), by capturing Udayagiri [2] → Bijapur defeated (1520).
  • Amuktamalyada: written by Krishnadeva Raya, in Telugu, about Andal, with a Rajaniti (statecraft) section.
  • Nagalapuram: founded by Krishnadeva Raya and named after his mother.
  • Trap: his title was "establisher of the Yavana kingdom", not "destroyer". He backed claimants inside the Sultanates.
  • Rama Raya was his son-in-law and chief minister. He was defeated at Rakshasi-Tangadi/Talikota (1565) by Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda.

Mains Points

  • Deccan politics was about power, not religion.
  • Krishnadeva Raya backed claimants inside the Sultanates and was proud to be called "establisher of the Yavana kingdom".
  • After 1529, Bijapur mediated Vijayanagara's own succession fights.
  • The Sultans united only when Rama Raya kept playing them against each other.

  • Use this to argue against the idea of a permanent Hindu-versus-Muslim war in the Deccan.

  • Peace that rested on a strong centre.

  • His "unparalleled peace and prosperity" depended on an army kept ready all the time and a strong king at the centre.
  • After 1529 the centre weakened. The nayakas rebelled, the dynasty changed in 1542, and a chief minister ruled in place of the king.

  • So Talikota broke a state that was already weak. One battle alone does not explain the collapse.

  • Culture outlived the empire.

  • He supported writers in three languages (Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada) and built temples and gopurams.
  • The capital was sacked and abandoned after 1565, but Dravidian temple architecture, spread by Vijayanagara rulers, survived across South India [5].

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"; Class 12, Ch 3 "An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara" (primary)
  2. 2Krishna Deva Rayabritannica.com · tier 3
  3. 3Battle of Talikotabritannica.com · tier 3
  4. 4Tuluva dynastybritannica.com · tier 3
  5. 5Group of Monuments at Hampiwhc.unesco.org · tier 2