Vijayanagara Empire
The last great Hindu empire of the south — Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva & Aravidu dynasties. Krishnadevaraya's golden age, the Ashtadiggajas, and the fall at Talikota (1565).
Chapter Snapshot
APPSC's single highest-yield medieval topic. Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalyada, the Ashtadiggajas of the Bhuvana-Vijaya, the Amaranayaka system, and Talikota (1565) form the exam core — study them cold.
Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalyada (Telugu) & Jambavati-Kalyana (Sanskrit); Gangadevi's Madhura-vijayam; Nandi Timmana's Parijatapaharana
Bhitragunta plates; Srirangam copper-plates; Hampi & Tirumala inscriptions
Nicolo Conti (1420, Italian); Abdur Razzak (1443, Persian); Domingo Paes & Fernao Nuniz (Portuguese, Krishnadevaraya era); Duarte Barbosa
Hampi ruins (UNESCO 1986); Vittala, Virupaksha, Hazara Rama temples; Lotus Mahal; Elephant stables
Gold Varaha, Pratapa, Pagoda — Vishnu, Garuda, Balakrishna motifs
1336 – 1646 CE (~310 years)
Harihara I & Bukka Raya I (Sangama)
Krishnadevaraya (1509–29)
Hampi (Vijayanagara) → Penukonda → Chandragiri → Vellore
Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil
Sri Vaishnavism (Krishnadevaraya) with Shaiva & Jain tolerance
Highest (3–5 Qs)
1336 CE
Harihara I & Bukka Raya I
Krishnadevaraya (1509–29)
Amuktamalyada
Jambavati-Kalyana; Ushaparinaya
Ashtadiggajas — 8 in the Bhuvana-Vijaya
1565 (also called Rakshasa-Tangadi)
Penukonda → Chandragiri → Vellore
Hampi (1986)
Krishnadevaraya was Sangama → WRONG (he was Tuluva)
1336
Empire founded
Harihara I & Bukka; Vidyaranya's blessings.
1347
Bahmani Sultanate founded
Northern Deccan rival established.
1443
Abdur Razzak visits
Persian envoy describes fabulous city.
1485
Saluva usurpation
Saluva Narasimha ends Sangama rule.
1509
Krishnadevaraya crowned
Beginning of golden age.
1520
Battle of Raichur
Krishnadevaraya defeats Adil Shah of Bijapur.
1529
Death of Krishnadevaraya
Empire at greatest extent — Krishna to Tungabhadra to Cape Comorin.
1565
Battle of Talikota / Rakshasa-Tangadi
United Deccan Sultans crush Aliya Ramaraya; Hampi sacked.
1570
Aravidu dynasty founded
Tirumala at Penukonda.
1646
Empire ends
Fall of Chandragiri under Sriranga III.
Harihara I & Bukka Raya I
Founders
Sangama dynasty; Vidyaranya's disciples.
Vidyaranya
Sage-adviser
Advaita philosopher; spiritual founder of empire.
Deva Raya II
Sangama peak
'Gajabetekara' — 'Elephant Hunter'.
Krishnadevaraya
Greatest king
'Andhra Bhoja'; poet, warrior, patron.
Aliya Ramaraya
Regent (Aravidu founder)
Died at Talikota, 1565.
Tenali Ramakrishna
Ashtadiggaja
Wit & poet; Panduranga Mahatmyam.
Allasani Peddana
Ashtadiggaja
'Andhra-kavita-pitamaha'; Manu-charitra.
Gangadevi
Poetess
Wife of Kumara Kampana; Madhura-vijayam.
Domingo Paes & Fernao Nuniz
Portuguese chroniclers
Vivid accounts of Krishnadevaraya's court.
Abdur Razzak
Persian envoy (1443)
Praised city's wealth.
- Deeply hierarchical — Brahmins on top, followed by Kshatriya-like Nayaka nobility, then farming & artisan castes.
- Left-hand (Idangai) vs Right-hand (Valangai) caste disputes recorded in Tamil provinces.
- Women's position paradoxical — sati common, Devadasi system extensive, yet royal women (Gangadevi, Tirumalamba, Chinnadevi) were educated & endowed temples.
- Nagara-vadhus (courtesans) held property and paid taxes — Paes describes their lavish life.
- Feasts on Mahanavami — most elaborate court festival, described in detail by Paes.
- Slavery existed but limited; foreign travellers note humane treatment.
- Sri Vaishnavism was the state religion under Krishnadevaraya — Tirumala Balaji his family deity; he gifted a life-size gold statue of himself at Tirumala.
- Shaivism, Shakta, Jainism & Islam all tolerated — Muslim quarter in Hampi, Jain temples at Mudabidri.
- Madhva sect strong in Karnataka; Sri Vaishnavism dominant in Tamil-Andhra.
- Great teachers: Vyasaraja (Madhva), Vedanta Desika's continuing tradition, Vallabhacharya (visited).
- Rebuilt & extended temples across South India — Tirumala, Kalahasti, Ahobilam, Simhachalam, Srirangam.
- Empire built on prosperous agriculture — irrigation via tanks & the Tungabhadra dam-and-aqueduct (Deva Raya I).
- Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalyada devotes a chapter to statecraft — 'Rajaneeti' — including agrarian & fiscal advice.
- Textiles (Kalamkari of Machilipatnam; muslins of Uraiyur & Kondavidu) were exported worldwide.
- Iron, diamonds (Kollur, Golconda), rice, pepper, sandalwood were major exports.
- Portuguese trade at Goa; Vijayanagara imported horses (Persian & Arabian), silks, gold, spices.
- Guilds continued (Nanadesi, Ainurruvar, Manigramam) with mints & warehouses at major towns.
- Coinage: gold Varaha & Pratapa; silver Tara; copper Jital. Motifs: Vishnu, Garuda, Balakrishna, boar.
- State-controlled prices at Hampi bazaars; Persian envoy Abdur Razzak marvelled at abundance.
- Sangama origin: Harihara and Bukka, originally treasury officers under Kakatiya Prataparudra II, were captured to Delhi, converted to Islam, sent back as governors — and re-converted under sage Vidyaranya to found the empire.
- Bukka Raya I destroyed the Madurai Sultanate (1370, Kumara Kampana's expedition — chronicled in Gangadevi's Madhura-vijayam).
- Deva Raya II ('Gajabetekara') strengthened cavalry by recruiting Muslim horsemen and archers.
- Krishnadevaraya defeated the Bahmani, Bijapur & Golconda sultanates; conquered Raichur doab; sacked Prataparudra Gajapati of Kalinga; married Gajapati's daughter Tukka.
- Aliya Ramaraya (regent for Sadasiva) played the Deccan sultanates against each other but overreached; his death at Rakshasa-Tangadi (1565) shattered Vijayanagara.
- The city of Vijayanagara was sacked for six months after Talikota — one of the greatest urban destructions of medieval India.
- Aravidu remnant survived till 1646 from Penukonda, Chandragiri and finally Vellore.
- Divine kingship — king styled 'Raya', 'Chakravartin'; ruled with a council of ministers (Pradhana Mantri, Dandanayaka, Rayasam / secretary).
- Empire divided into six Rajyas (provinces) under Pradhanas; each Rajya into Nadus and Sthalas.
- Amaranayaka system (mature Nayankara): 200 Amaranayakas held lands (amaras) in return for troops (cavalry, infantry, elephants) and annual tribute; ~75% of revenue with them, ~25% with the crown.
- Provincial capitals: Kondavidu (Coastal Andhra), Udayagiri (Rayalaseema), Trichy (Tamil), Barakur (Karnataka coast).
- Village autonomy: Ayagar (12 village servants) system institutionalised; land granted in return for hereditary service.
- Revenue: Land tax = 1/6 of produce; also professional taxes (Kanike), tolls, marriage tax; a special 'Sistu' (assessed rent) system.
- Judiciary: king was final court; Village panchayats & guild-courts handled routine disputes.
- Standing army — cavalry (largely Muslim mercenaries), infantry, elephant corps, artillery (Portuguese-trained under Krishnadevaraya).
- Espionage well developed — 'Guptacharas' as noted by Nuniz.
- Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalyada — greatest Telugu Prabandha; on the marriage of Andal to Sri Ranganatha; contains classical Rajaneeti chapter.
- His Sanskrit Jambavati-Kalyana, Ushaparinaya — proof of multilingual scholarship.
- The Ashtadiggajas — the 'eight elephants' of the Bhuvana-Vijaya court.
- Allasani Peddana ('Andhra-kavita-pitamaha') — Manu-charitra.
- Nandi Timmana ('Mukku Timmana') — Parijatapaharana.
- Madayagari Mallana — Rajasekhara-charitra.
- Dhurjati — Kalahasti-mahatmyam.
- Ayyalaraju Ramabhadra — Ramabhyudayam.
- Pingali Surana — Raghava-Pandaviyam (a shlesha kavya).
- Ramarajabhushana (Bhattumurti) — Vasucharitra.
- Tenali Ramakrishna — Panduranga-mahatmyam; celebrated for wit.
- Sanskrit: Vidyaranya's Panchadasi; Sayana's Rig-Veda-Bhashya; Gangadevi's Madhura-vijayam.
- Kannada: Kumara Vyasa (Bharata); Chamarasa (Prabhulinga-lila).
- Tamil: Villiputturar's Bharatam (in Tamil).
- Vijayanagara / Provida style — synthesis of Chola vimana, Chalukya-Hoysala mandapa, and Pandya gopura; monolithic pillar-halls a signature.
- Hampi (UNESCO 1986) — capital ruins: Virupaksha temple (still active), Vittala temple (stone chariot, 56 musical pillars), Hazara Rama, Achyutaraya, Krishna temples.
- Secular monuments: Lotus Mahal, Queen's Bath, Elephant Stables, Mahanavami Dibba, Zenana enclosure.
- Provincial masterpieces: Tirumala Balaji additions, Kalahasti gopura, Lepakshi (Anantapur) — Vijayanagara paintings, hanging pillar; Tadipatri Bugga Ramalingeswara; Ahobilam.
- Sculpture: Ugra-Narasimha of Hampi (monolithic); Balakrishna of Udayagiri.
- Painting: Lepakshi frescoes — largest surviving Vijayanagara mural cycle; ceiling of Veerabhadra temple.
- Foreign influence: Portuguese cannon, Deccan Islamic decorative motifs on Lotus Mahal.
- Ports: Bhatkal & Barakur (west coast); Machilipatnam, Motupalli, Pulicat (east coast).
- Horse trade with Persia & Arabia was a strategic monopoly — Krishnadevaraya's cavalry depended on it.
- Portuguese established at Goa (1510); supplied horses & artillery; welcomed by Krishnadevaraya.
- Persian: Abdur Razzak (1443) — described 300 ports & bazaars 'wider than the Julfa in Isfahan'.
- Italian: Nicolo Conti (1420) — earliest European account.
- Portuguese: Domingo Paes & Fernao Nuniz (Krishnadevaraya era) — detailed Mahanavami festival; Duarte Barbosa.
- Muslim: Nikitin, Firishta.
- Chinese: Ma Huan.
- Vijayanagara was largely a Telugu-Kannada polity — Krishnadevaraya himself was a Tuluva raised in Andhra; his court language was Telugu.
- Set the classical Prabandha tradition in Telugu literature.
- Extended Andhra reach into Tamil country — Kumara Kampana's campaign & Nayaka rule at Madurai, Tanjore, Gingee.
- Amaranayaka system left a lasting mark on the Nayakas of Tamil Nadu.
- Provided political stability that let Kalamkari, Kondapalli toys, Etikoppaka lacquer crafts flourish.
| Poet | Title | Signature Work |
|---|---|---|
| Allasani Peddana | Andhra-kavita-pitamaha | Manu-charitra |
| Nandi Timmana | Mukku Timmana | Parijatapaharana |
| Madayagari Mallana | — | Rajasekhara-charitra |
| Dhurjati | — | Kalahasti-mahatmyam |
| Ayyalaraju Ramabhadra | — | Ramabhyudayam |
| Pingali Surana | — | Raghava-Pandaviyam (shlesha) |
| Ramarajabhushana (Bhattumurti) | — | Vasucharitra |
| Tenali Ramakrishna | Vikatakavi | Panduranga-mahatmyam |
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Same battle — two names for the 1565 encounter that broke Vijayanagara.
Krishnadevaraya = Tuluva golden-age emperor. Aliya Ramaraya = regent of Sadasiva; died at Talikota; founded Aravidu line.
Amaranayaka = evolved Vijayanagara military-fief. Nayankara = the earlier Kakatiya prototype.
Sangama = founding dynasty (1336–1485). Saluva = usurping dynasty (1485–1505).
Vittala = 16th-c Krishnadevaraya-era; stone chariot & musical pillars. Virupaksha = older Shaiva temple, still active.
SSTA — Four Dynasties · '85-'05-'70
Sangama (1336) → Saluva ('85) → Tuluva ('1505) → Aravidu ('1570). 1485-1505-1570 = the three transitions.
- 1336 — Harihara I & Bukka found empire; Vidyaranya's blessings.
- Four dynasties: Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, Aravidu.
- Krishnadevaraya (1509–29) = golden age; Amuktamalyada; Ashtadiggajas.
- Amaranayaka system — 200 chiefs; 75% revenue.
- 1565 — Talikota / Rakshasa-Tangadi; Aliya Ramaraya killed; city sacked.
- Aravidu remnant at Penukonda-Chandragiri till 1646.
All 4 dynasties + founding dates
Krishnadevaraya's works, campaigns, family deity
All 8 Ashtadiggajas + their signature works
Amaranayaka system explanation
Foreign travellers (Conti, Razzak, Paes, Nuniz, Barbosa)
Talikota — allies, outcome, aftermath
Hampi monuments — 6 key structures
Authentic APPSC & Competitive Exam PYQs will be added in a future update.