Dynasties, apogee and fall

Detail

The four ruling families (one empire, four dynasties)

• Sangama (1336–1485) — the founders of the empire. They also built the Hiriya canal, a big water channel that fed the fields and the city.
• Saluva (1485–1503) — these rulers rose from the ranks of military commanders. They took the throne when Sangama power weakened.
• Tuluva (1503–1542) — the dynasty of Krishnadeva Raya. Britannica dates the Tuluva takeover of the Saluvas to 1503 as well [2][4].
• Aravidu (1542 – end of 17th century) — the last line. After the defeat of 1565 they ruled not from the old capital but from Penukonda, and later Chandragiri.
• Point to remember: the dynasty changes were inside the same empire. Each new family took power from the old one without the empire itself breaking up (until 1565).

Krishnadeva Raya (r. 1509–29) — the apogee

His wars — three dates that matter:

• 1512 — took the Raichur doab. A doab is the land between two rivers; here the land between the Tungabhadra and the Krishna [2]. It was rich farmland and both Vijayanagara and Bijapur wanted it.
• 1514 — Orissa subdued. Britannica adds the detail that this was done 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".
• Lesson for answers: constant military readiness is what bought the peace; the two are not opposites.

Buildings and religious gifts:

• Built fine temples and huge gopurams (the tall carved gateway towers over a temple entrance).
• Founded a new town, Nagalapuram, named after his mother.
• Gave endowments (permanent gifts of land or money) to Tirupati and to the Vitthala temple.

Letters and learning:

• Patronised writers in Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannada — three languages, not one.
• He wrote the Amuktamalyada himself, in Telugu. It is about the poet-saint Andal.
• Inside it sits a section on Rajaniti — statecraft, the king's rules for ruling. This makes the book both devotional poetry and a political text.

• The most detailed foreign travellers' accounts of Vijayanagara come from his reign or just after it.

• He died of illness in 1529, not in battle.

Raya–Sultan relations: not always hostile

• Krishnadeva Raya supported claimants to thrones inside the Sultanates — he interfered in their succession fights on the side he preferred.
• He took pride in the title "establisher of the Yavana kingdom". Yavana is the Sanskrit word for Greeks and other peoples from the north-west; here it is used for the Sultans.
• After 1529, the Sultan of Bijapur acted as a mediator in Vijayanagara's own succession disputes — the outsider settling a Hindu dynasty's family quarrel.
• So the picture of a permanent Hindu-versus-Muslim war is wrong. Alliances shifted by interest, not by religion.
• What changed things was Rama Raya's policy of playing one Sultan against another. That tactic finally pushed the Sultans to stop fighting each other and unite against him.

The fall

Weakening from inside (1529–1542):

• Krishnadeva Raya's successors faced rebellious nayakas — the military chiefs who held land in return for service. When the centre grew weak, they stopped obeying.
• By 1542 the Aravidus controlled the centre of power.

The battle (1565):

• Rama Raya was the chief minister, and the son-in-law of Krishnadeva Raya. He was the real power, not a crowned king.
• He was routed at Rakshasi-Tangadi, also called the Battle of Talikota.
• Britannica dates the battle to 23 January 1565, at a site south-east of Bijapur in what is now northern Karnataka, and says the outcome turned on the Sultanates' artillery and on the capture and execution of Rama Raya himself [3].
• The winners were the combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda.

Note: Britannica's entry on the battle names four allied sultans — Bijapur, Bidar, Ahmadnagar and Golconda [3] — while its Rama Raya entry names the same three as NCERT [5]. Keep the NCERT list of three for the exam.

After the battle:

• The city was sacked over months and abandoned within a few years. Britannica says it was destroyed over five months and never reoccupied [3].

Note: UNESCO's World Heritage description says the city was pillaged over six months before being abandoned [6]. NCERT's "over months" covers both; do not quote a single number as settled.

• UNESCO records Hampi as the last capital of the last great Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar, whose rich princes built Dravidian temples and palaces admired by travellers between the 14th and 16th centuries [6].
• UNESCO also notes that Vijayanagara buildings borrowed Indo-Islamic features in non-religious buildings such as the Queen's Bath and the Elephant Stables — proof of a mixed, many-faith society [6].
• Even after the destruction, Dravidian architecture survived across the rest of South India, spread earlier by Vijayanagara patronage [6].

The long ending:

• The Aravidus ruled on from Penukonda, and later Chandragiri (near Tirupati).
• The nayakas broke away and carved out their own kingdoms.
• The empire finally ended in the mid-17th century.

Prelims Hooks

• Order of the four dynasties: Sangama → Saluva → Tuluva → Aravidu.
• The Hiriya canal was built under the Sangama dynasty.
• Krishnadeva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty; reign 1509–29.
• Raichur doab taken in 1512; Orissa subdued 1514 (Britannica: by capturing Udayagiri) [2]; Bijapur heavily defeated 1520.
• Amuktamalyada — written by Krishnadeva Raya, in Telugu, about the poet-saint Andal, containing a Rajaniti section.
• Nagalapuram was founded by Krishnadeva Raya and named after his mother.
• Krishnadeva Raya's title: "establisher of the Yavana kingdom".
• Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi / Talikota, 1565 — Britannica dates it 23 January 1565 [3]; victors were Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda.
• Rama Raya was chief minister and son-in-law of Krishnadeva Raya; he was captured and executed in the battle [3].
• After 1565 the Aravidu capitals were Penukonda, then Chandragiri (near Tirupati).
• Hampi is inscribed by UNESCO as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, the last capital of the Vijayanagara kingdom [6].

Mains Points

• The 1565 defeat was political, not religious. Krishnadeva Raya backed claimants inside the Sultanates and was proud of the title "establisher of the Yavana kingdom"; Bijapur later mediated Vijayanagara succession disputes. The Sultanates united only when Rama Raya kept playing them off against each other. Use this to attack the communal reading of Deccan politics.
• A defeat in one battle does not explain a collapse. The empire was already weakening — rebellious nayakas after 1529, a dynastic change in 1542, and a chief minister ruling in the king's place. Talikota broke a state that was already loose at the joints.
• Centre-versus-nayaka tension is the structural theme. Nayakas held land for military service; that worked while the centre was strong and became fatal when it was not. After 1565 they turned into independent kingdoms — the same men, a different political map.
• Destruction of a capital is not destruction of a culture. The city was sacked and abandoned, but Dravidian temple architecture, spread earlier by Vijayanagara patronage, survived across South India [6]. Krishnadeva Raya's three-language patronage (Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada) shows why the cultural reach outlived the political one.