Foundation and the Deccan political setting

Detail

The name and the two meanings

• Vijayanagara means "city of victory" (vijaya = victory, nagara = city).
• The word names two things at once: the capital city and the empire ruled from it.
• The city stood on the south bank of the river Tungabhadra, at the place now called Hampi [2][3].
• The ruins of the city spread over nearly 26 sq km and carry seven lines of fortifications (seven rings of defence walls) [2].
• The monuments were built between AD 1336 and 1570, that is from the time of Harihara I down to Sadasiva Raya [2].
• Hampi was put on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1986 as the "Group of Monuments at Hampi" [2].

Founders: Harihara and Bukka, 1336

• Founded by the brothers Harihara and Bukka in 1336, as told by tradition and by epigraphic evidence (writing carved on stone or copper plates).

• The NCERT timeline itself marks this date as uncertain — so treat 1336 as the accepted date, not a proved one.

• Class 8 line: the brothers were governors under Muhammad bin Tughlaq of Delhi who threw off Delhi's authority and set up their own state.

• The brothers carried the surname Sangama; they were five sons of Sangama, and Harihara and Bukka became the city's first kings. The line they started is called the Sangama dynasty [4][5].
• Before 1336 the brothers had served in the administrations of the Kakatiya and Kampili kingdoms, both of which the Delhi Sultanate armies had conquered [4].
• By 1336 Harihara held loose control over land stretching from Nellore on the south-east coast to Badami in the west [4].
• The Sangama dynasty ruled till about 1485, when Narasimha of the Saluva family seized power [4].

Note: Britannica says the city and dynasty were founded by "five sons of Sangama, of whom Harihara and Bukka became the first kings" [4]. This extends, and does not contradict, the NCERT line that the brothers Harihara and Bukka founded it.

The hare-and-hounds story (folklore)

• Popular folklore says the brothers saw a hare chasing hounds at the Hampi site instead of running away.
• Their guru Vidyaranya read this as a sign: land so brave that even a hare turns on dogs is the right place for a capital.
• Flag this as folklore, not proof. NCERT itself marks it as popular tradition. In an answer, name it as a legend that gave the new dynasty religious backing.

What contemporaries called the state

• People of that time called the state karnataka samrajyamu (the Karnataka empire) — not "Vijayanagara empire", which is the modern name.
• At its largest, it ran from the river Krishna in the north to the extreme south of the peninsula.

Absorbing the Hoysalas

• The Hoysalas ruled in Karnataka before Vijayanagara.
• They grew weak from two causes:
• Attacks by the Delhi Sultanate from the north.

• Fights inside the kingdom itself.

• Result: the Hoysala lands were absorbed into Vijayanagara in the mid-14th century. So Vijayanagara did not start from empty ground — it took over a ready-made Hoysala base of land, temples and craftsmen.

Rivals in the north — the Bahmani Sultanate

• The Bahmani Sultanate was set up in 1347, eleven years after Vijayanagara.
• Founded by Alauddin Bahman Shah, backed by other army commanders who rebelled against the Sultan of Delhi [6] — the same kind of revolt that produced Vijayanagara.
• Capitals: Ahsanabad (now Gulbarga) from 1347 to 1425, then Muhammadabad (now Bidar) [6].
• The Bahmani state broke up into five Deccan Sultanates: Bijapur, Golconda, Berar, Ahmednagar, Bidar.
• The men who broke away were tarafdars — provincial governors of the Bahmani state who turned their provinces into their own kingdoms.
• Britannica dates the break-up to between 1490 and 1518 [6].

The other rival — the Gajapatis of Orissa

• The Gajapatis of Orissa were set up in 1435, on the eastern side.
• So Vijayanagara faced pressure from two sides: Bahmanis (and later five Sultanates) in the north-west, Gajapatis in the north-east.

Why they fought — two prizes

• Fertile river valleys — the land between the Krishna and Tungabhadra (the Raichur doab) gave grain, tax and manpower.
• Overseas-trade revenue — ports and the trade passing through them, above all the horse trade, brought cash and war-horses.
• Point to remember: these wars were about money and land, not only religion. All three states wanted the same valleys and the same trade income.

Titulature — the three "lords" (popular tradition)

Title	Meaning	Who used it
Gajapati	lord of elephants	rulers of Orissa
Ashvapati	lord of horses	Deccan Sultans
Narapati	lord of men	the rayas of Vijayanagara

• Each title points to that state's main military strength — elephants, cavalry, infantry.
• NCERT flags this as popular tradition, so write it as such.

Shared culture across enemy lines

• The three states fought often, yet shared architectural ideas. War did not stop borrowing of building styles.
• The Vijayanagara kings called themselves rayas (kings).
• The rayas built on two older temple traditions and "carried them to new heights":
• Chola — the Brihadishvara temple, Thanjavur.

• Hoysala — the Chennakeshava temple, Belur.

• The period saw a large-scale revival of Hindu religion, art and architecture at the capital [2].

• The city's fame reached far: visitors from Arabia, Italy, Portugal and Russia wrote about it [2].
• Later in the empire, Krishnadeva Raya (AD 1509–30) is described by the ASI as the greatest ruler of the dynasty [2].

Prelims Hooks

• Vijayanagara means "city of victory"; the site is today called Hampi, on the south bank of the Tungabhadra [2].
• Founded by Harihara and Bukka, 1336; their family name was Sangama, so the first dynasty is the Sangama dynasty [4].
• Harihara and Bukka had earlier served the Kakatiya and Kampili administrations before the Delhi Sultanate conquered them [4].
• Contemporaries called the state karnataka samrajyamu; it ran from the river Krishna to the southern tip of the peninsula.
• The guru linked to the hare-and-hounds legend is Vidyaranya (folklore).
• Bahmani Sultanate — 1347, founded by Alauddin Bahman Shah; capitals Gulbarga (1347–1425) then Bidar [6].
• The five Deccan Sultanates: Bijapur, Golconda, Berar, Ahmednagar, Bidar; breakaway governors were called tarafdars.
• Gajapatis of Orissa — 1435. Titles: Gajapati (elephants), ashvapati (horses, Deccan Sultans), narapati (men, the rayas).
• The Hoysalas were absorbed in the mid-14th century after Sultanate attacks plus internal conflict.
• Hampi monuments date AD 1336–1570, cover about 26 sq km with seven lines of fortification; World Heritage since 1986 [2].
• Model temples the rayas drew on: Brihadishvara, Thanjavur (Chola) and Chennakeshava, Belur (Hoysala).

Mains Points

• Vijayanagara and the Bahmani state were twin products of the same crisis. Both were founded by men who had served Delhi — Harihara and Bukka as governors under Muhammad bin Tughlaq, Alauddin Bahman Shah backed by rebel commanders [6]. The collapse of Tughlaq control over the Deccan after the Kakatiya and Kampili conquests created a power vacuum that both filled within eleven years (1336, 1347).
• The Deccan wars were about resources, not faith. All parties wanted the fertile river valleys and the revenue from overseas trade. Use this to argue against a purely Hindu-versus-Muslim reading — and support it with the NCERT point that the rival states shared architectural ideas even while at war.
• Vijayanagara's legitimacy was built, not inherited. The hare-and-hounds legend and the guru Vidyaranya supplied religious sanction; the narapati title placed the rayas inside a shared Deccan language of kingship alongside gajapati and ashvapati; and the temple style consciously continued Chola and Hoysala models. A new dynasty dressed itself in old authority.
• Continuity through absorption. The Hoysala collapse (weakened by Sultanate attacks and internal conflict) handed Vijayanagara a working base of territory and craft traditions — which is why the empire could produce large temple architecture so early, and why the capital's monuments already span 1336–1570 [2].