The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnāta Empire, was a late medieval Hindu empire that ruled much of Southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty.
The empire rose to prominence following the disruption caused by the Delhi Sultanate incursions into the Deccan during the early 14th century. At its territorial peak under Krishnadevaraya (r. 1509–1529), it held primacy across the peninsula, pushing the Deccan sultanates north of the Tungabhadra–Krishna doab and annexing coastal Gajapati territories up to the Krishna River. At its greatest extent, its domain encompassed moddern Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa, southern Kerala and some parts of Telangana and southern Maharashtra.
The empire survived until 1646, though its central authority diminished sharply following its defeat by allied Deccan Sultanates at the Battle of Talikota in 1565. The empire took its name from the capital city of Vijayanagara (near modern Hampi), whose extensive ruins are designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Chronicles by foreign visitors—including Domingo Paes, Fernão Nunes, Niccolò de' Conti, and Abdur Razzak—along with indigenous epigraphy and archeological excavations, form the primary documentary record of the empire.
Its architectural legacy is visible across India, characterized by a synthesis of earlier Chalukya, Hoysala, Pandya, and Chola forms in monumental temple complexes. They feature tall gateway towers (rajagopurams), and pillared halls (mandapas). State-sponsored irrigation canals and reservoirs supported intense agriculture and urban growth. Court patronage also stimulated literary production in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit with topics such as astronomy, mathematics, medicine, fiction, musicology, historiography and theater gaining popularity. Carnatic music developed into its classical structural framework during this era.
Name
'Vijayanagara' translates as 'City of Victory'. Contemporary inscriptions and literature frequently referred to the kingdom as 'Karnata Rajya' ('Karnata Kingdom'), as seen in Krishnadevaraya's Sanskrit drama Jambavati Kalyanam and Ramarajabhushana's Telugu work Vasu Charitamu. Early Portuguese and European chroniclers commonly designated the realm the "The Kingdom of Narsinga", an epithet derived from the Saluva ruler Narasimha Deva Raya or Narasimha Raya II.
History
Background and origin theories
Prior to the raise of Vijayanagara, the major Hindu kingdoms of the Deccan and peninsular India—the Seunas (Yadava Empire) of Devagiri, the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal, the Pandyan Empire of Madurai, and the Hoysalas of Belur—were subjected to repeated raids and territorial annexations by the Delhi Sultanate during the reigns of Alauddin Khalji (his general Malik Kafur) and Muhammad bin Tughluq. In the Tungabhadra basin, local commanders established the short-lived Kampili kingdom in the 1320s, which fell to Tughluq forces around 1327–1328 after its defenders performed jauhar (ritual self-immolation). The administrative and military vacuum created by the collapse of these regional polities provided the context for the establishment of Vijayanagara Kingdom in 1336.
Historians debate the regional and linguistic origins of the founders, Harihara I and Bukka I. One view posits that they were Kannada-speaking officers in the service of the Hoysala Empire stationed on its northern frontier—to defend against Muslim invasions—along the Tungabhadra. Alternative thesis holds that they were Telugu commanders initially serving the Kakatiyas of Warangal, who were captured during the Tughluq conquest. Later literary tradition credits the Advaita sage Vidyaranya of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham with inspiring their return to Hinduism and guiding the founding of the capital. Contemporary inscriptional evidence for Vidyaranya's direct involvement in 1336 remains limited.
Early years
In the first two decades after the founding of the empire, Harihara I gained control over most of the area south of the Tungabhadra River and earned the title of "master of the eastern and western seas" (Purvapaschima Samudradhishavara). By 1374 Bukka Raya I, successor to Harihara I, defeated the chiefdom of Arcot, the Reddys of Kondavidu, and the Sultan of Madurai, and had gained control over Goa in the west and the Tungabhadra-Krishna River doab in the north. The original capital of the empire was in the principality of Anegondi on the northern banks of the Tungabhadra River in today's Karnataka. It was moved to Vijayanagara during Bukka Raya I's reign because it was easier to defend against the Muslim armies, who were persistently attacking from the northern lands.
With the Vijayanagara Empire now imperial in stature, Harihara II, the second son of Bukka Raya I, further consolidated the empire beyond the Krishna River and South India was controlled by the Vijayanagara Empire. The next ruler, Deva Raya I, was successful against the Gajapatis of Odisha and undertook works of fortification and irrigation. Firuz Bahmani of Bahmani Sultanate entered into a treaty with Deva Raya I in 1407 that required the latter to pay Bahmani an annual tribute of "100,000 huns, five maunds of pearls and fifty elephants". The Sultanate invaded Vijayanagara in 1417 when the latter defaulted in paying the tribute. Such wars for tribute payment by Vijayanagara were repeated in the 15th century.
Deva Raya II (eulogized in contemporary literature as Gajabetekara) succeeded to the throne in 1424. He was possibly the most successful of the Sangama Dynasty rulers. He quelled rebelling feudal lords and the Zamorin of Calicut and Quilon in the south. He invaded Sri Lanka and became overlord of the kings of Burma at Pegu and Tanasserim. By 1436 the rebellious chiefs of Kondavidu and the Velama rulers were successfully dealt with and had to accept Vijayanagara overlordship. After a few years of tranquility, wars broke out with the Bahmani Sultanate in 1443 with some successes and some reversals. The Persian visitor Firishta attributes Deva Raya II's war preparations, which included augmenting his armies with Muslim archers and cavalry, to be the cause of the conflict. Contemporary Persian ambassador Abdur Razzak attributes the war to the Bahmani Sultan capitalizing on the confusion caused by an internal revolt within the Vijayanagara Empire, including an attempt to assassinate the Raya by his brother.
Deva Raya II was succeeded by his elder son Mallikarjuna Raya in 1446. The Gajapati emperor removed the Vijayanagara control over the Tamil country by occupying the Reddi kingdoms of Rajahmundry, Kondaveedu, Kanchipuram, and Tiruchirapalli. These defeats reduced the Vijayanagara Empire's prestige, described by an inscription which described the Gajapati king as "a yawning lion to the sheep of the Karnatak King". Mallikarjuna's successor Virupaksha Raya II led a life of pleasure pursuing wine and women leading to the loss of Goa and much of Karnataka to the Bahmani Sultanate. His governor Saluva Narasimha reduced the loss of territory by holding almost all of coastal Andhra Pradesh south of the Krishna river, Chittoor, the two Arcots and Kolar. Saluva Narashimha defeated the Gajapatis and held Udayagiri, drove out the Pandyas from Tanjore, and took procession of Machilipatnam and Kondaveedu. He later defeated Bahmani forces and recovered most of the empire's earlier losses.
After the death of Virupaksha Raya II in 1485, Saluva Narasimha led a coup that ended the dynastic rule while continuing to defend the empire from raids by the Sultanates created from the continuing disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate in its north. Saluva Narasimha left his two adolescent sons under the care of general Tuluva Narasa Nayaka who ably defended the empire from their traditional enemies, the Gajapati king and the Bahmani Sultan. He also subdued rebelling chiefs of the Chera, the Chola and the Pandya territories. Despite many attempts by nobles and members of the royal family to overthrow him, Narasa Nayaka retained control as regent till 1503.
In 1503, Narasa Nayaka's son Vira Narasimha had prince Immadi Narasimha of the Saluva dynasty assassinated and took over the rule in a coup thus becoming the first of the Tuluva dynasty rulers. This did not go well with the nobles who revolted. Seeing internal troubles grow, the Gajapati king and the Bahmani Sultan began to encroach on the empire even as the governors of Ummattur, Adoni, and Talakad colluded to capture the Tungabhadra-Krishna river doab region from the empire. The empire came under the rule of Krishna Deva Raya in 1509, another son of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka. Initially Krishnadevaraya faced many obstacles including dissatisfied nobles, the rebellious chief of Ummattur in the south, a resurgent Gajapati kingdom under King Prataparudra, a growing threat from the newly formed Adil Shahi Sultanate of Bijapur under Yusuf Adil Khan and Portuguese interest in controlling the west coast. Not one to be unnerved by these pressures he strengthened and consolidated the empire, one victory at a time. He was an astute ruler who hired both Hindus and Muslims into his army. In the following decades, the empire covered Southern India and successfully defeated invasions from the five established Deccan sultanates to its north.
Empire's peak
The empire reached its peak during the rule of Krishna Deva Raya (1509–1529) when Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious. The empire gained territory from the Deccan sultanates, including Raichur in 1520 and Gulbarga in the central Deccan, and from wars with Sultan Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda in the eastern Deccan; the Kalinga region as well was gained from the Gajapatis of Odisha. This was in addition to the already established presence in the southern Deccan. Many important monuments were either completed or commissioned during the time of Emperor Krishna Deva Raya.
Krishna Deva Raya was succeeded by his younger half-brother Achyuta Deva Raya in 1529. When Achyuta Deva Raya died in 1542, Sadashiva Raya, the teenage nephew of Achyuta Raya, was appointed emperor, with Rama Raya, Krishna Deva Raya's son-in-law, becoming the caretaker. When Sadashiva Raya was old enough to assert his independent claim over the throne, Rama Raya made him a virtual prisoner and became the de facto ruler. He hired Muslim generals in his army from his previous diplomatic connections with the Deccan sultanates and called himself "Sultan of the World". This included both Deccani Muslims recruited from anywhere in the Deccan or Westerners from beyond the Persian Gulf. He was keenly interfering in the internal affairs of the various sultanates in the Deccan and on playing off the Muslim powers against one another, while making himself the ruler of the most powerful and influential regional power. This worked for a while but eventually made him very unpopular among his people and the Muslim rulers. He made a commercial treaty with the Portuguese to stop the supply of horses to Bijapur, then defeated the Bijapur sultan and inflicted humiliating defeats on Golconda and Ahmadnagar.
Civil War
Vijayanagara Civil War (1542–1543) was a chaotic succession conflict right after the death of Emperor Achyuta Deva Raya (r. 1529–1542), the younger brother of the former Emperor Krishnadevaraya. Achyuta Deva Raya succeeded his elder brother Krishnadevaraya in 1529. He was a capable ruler who defended the empire against external threats from the Bijapur Sultanate and conducted successful southern campaigns during the Battle of Tamraparni in 1532, with his trusted general Salakaraju Tirumala, who was his brother-in-law.
Achyuta died in June 1542. His young son, Venkata I (a minor), became the nominal successor. Salakaraju Tirumala acted as regent for young Venkata I but quickly turned ambitious. Salakaraju Tirumala usurped real power, imprisoned and sidelined rivals. He had Venkata I (his own nephew) assassinated. He murdered other members of the royal family to eliminate competition. Salakaraju Tirumala briefly crowned himself, ruled as a tyrant from 1542–1543. In desperation, he invited the Bijapur Sultan for military help, allowed him to sit on the throne symbolically, an extremely unpopular move that outraged the Vijayanagara nobility, sparking the civil war.
Rama Raya, former Emperor Krishnadevaraya's son-in-law and a powerful noble opposed Salakaraju. He supported Sadasiva Raya, a young nephew of Achyuta for the throne. Rama Raya gathered support from nobles disgusted by Salakaraju's tyranny and foreign alliances. Salakaraju was defeated and killed, along with some of his close supporters like his brother Pedda Tirumala by Rama Raya's forces at the Battle of the Tungabadhra in 1543.
Sadasiva Raya was placed on the throne (r. ~1543–1570s) though mostly nominal. Rama Raya became the de facto ruler/regent and dominated Vijayanagara politics for the next two decades until the catastrophic Battle of Talikota in 1565. The civil war weakened the empire internally through factionalism, assassinations, and inviting Deccan Sultans into internal affairs, setting the stage for its later decline.