Topic 05: Vijayanagar Empire & Bahmani Sultanate

1. Foundation of the Vijayanagar Empire

The Vijayanagar Empire (Vijayanagara = "City of Victory") was founded 1336 AD on the southern bank of the river Tungabhadra in the Deccan. Its founding is one of the most debated events in medieval Indian history.

Context — Why Vijayanagara was born

• Muhammad bin Tughlaq's southern campaigns (1327–34) had installed Sultanate governors as far as Madurai.
• The Sultanate's hold was already crumbling — the Madurai Sultanate went independent 1335.
• Local Kannada-Telugu chiefs and warriors needed a political nucleus to resist Sultanate pressure.

Founding Traditions

Three traditions explain the foundation — each important for the exam:

Role of Vidyaranya (Madhava)

• Vidyaranya — Advaita Vedanta scholar, later Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Math — is credited with inspiring and consecrating the new kingdom as a defender of dharma against Sultanate expansion.
• He is the ideological founder; Harihara I is the political founder. The city was named after Vijayanagara in his honour.
• Modern historians (Suryanath Kamath, Nilakanta Sastri) caution that Vidyaranya's role may be retrospectively exaggerated in later temple tradition.

2. Sangama Dynasty (1336–1485 AD)

Harihara I (1336–1356)

• First ruler of Vijayanagara; consolidated control over Kannada country; extended to Mysore and eastern Karnataka.
• Shaivite by faith; title Purvapaschima Samudradhishvara ("Lord of the seas east and west").

Bukka I (1356–1377)

• Expanded empire into Tamil Nadu; defeated the Madurai Sultanate — his general Kumara Kampana destroyed it (c. 1378); this campaign is commemorated in his wife Gangadevi's Sanskrit poem Madhuravijayam — a primary source.
• Extended Vijayanagara to Cape Comorin.
• Sent envoy to the Ming Emperor of China (1374) — earliest Vijayanagara-China contact.

Harihara II (1377–1404)

• Consolidated hold over all of South India; controlled Goa, Belgaum, Tulu country (Karnataka coast), and parts of Andhra.
• First to use the title Maharajadhiraja.

Deva Raya I (1406–1422)

• Fought the Bahmani Sultanate over the Raichur Doab (fertile land between Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers) — this became the perennial bone of contention.
• Defeated by Firuz Shah Bahmani; compelled to give his daughter in marriage and pay indemnity.
• First Vijayanagara ruler to recruit Muslim soldiers and archers into his army; began importing Arab horses.
• Built the dam across the Tungabhadra — earliest recorded irrigation project in Vijayanagara.

Deva Raya II / Gajabetekara (1424–1446)

• The greatest ruler of the Sangama dynasty — titled "Gajabetekara" (elephant hunter) and Immadi Deva Raya.
• Heavily recruited Muslim cavalry and archers; built mosques inside the city for them; gave Muslim soldiers equal status — pragmatic secularism.
• Defeated the Bahmani Sultan Ahmad Shah I; controlled Lanka, Orissa, Kerala.
• Abdur Razzaq (Persian ambassador from Timur's court, 1443) visited — left the most famous foreign description of Vijayanagara: "The city of Vijayanagara is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it, and the ear of intelligence has never been informed that there existed anything to equal it in the world."
• Patronised Kannada poet Chamarasa (Prabhulinga Lile) and Telugu scholar Srinatha.

Decline of the Sangama Dynasty

• Deva Raya II's successors — Mallikarjuna (1446–65) and Virupaksha II (1465–85) — were weak; Bahmani raids intensified.
• General Saluva Narasimha effectively replaced the Sangamas — the dynasty ended 1485 in a palace coup.

3. Saluva Dynasty (1485–1505 AD)

• Saluva Narasimha (1485–91) — usurped power from Sangamas; a military general who stabilised the state against growing Bahmani and Orissa pressure; died after 6 years.
• His general Narasa Nayaka (of the Tuluva clan) dominated the regency, sidelining Saluva's sons.
• Immadi Narasimha (1491–1505) — last Saluva ruler; nominal; Narasa Nayaka and then his son Vira Narasimha held real power.
• Saluva Dynasty: a brief interregnum between Sangama glory and Tuluva peak. Important in the exam only as a transition.

4. Tuluva Dynasty (1505–1570 AD)

The Tuluva dynasty produced the zenith of Vijayanagara — in territory, architecture, literature, and administration. Everything before it was prologue; everything after, epilogue.

Vira Narasimha (1505–1509)

• Technically the founder — killed the last Saluva king and seized the throne.
• Repelled Bijapur's encroachments; stabilised the kingdom for his brother.

Krishna Deva Raya (1509–1529) — The Greatest

"The most powerful king of India" — Domingo Paes, Portuguese visitor, 1520.

Military Campaigns

Cultural Patronage — the Ashtadiggajas

Krishna Deva Raya maintained a court of eight Telugu poets called the Ashtadiggajas (Eight Elephants of the Directions):

Krishna Deva Raya himself wrote the Telugu classic Amuktamalyada (also called Vishnuchittiyam) — a devotional poem on Andal; and the Sanskrit works Jambavati Kalyanam (play) and Madalasa Charita.

Buildings

• Vittala Temple complex at Hampi — the stone chariot, musical pillars, and the Vittala shrine; never consecrated in his lifetime.
• Krishna Swami Temple at Hampi — built to commemorate Udayagiri victory (1516); installed image of Balakrishna brought from Udayagiri.
• Built a new royal enclosure — Hazara Rama Temple (with bas-relief Ramayana panels).
• Expanded Tirumala-Tirupati temples; gold-plating of the vimana attributed to him.

Achyuta Raya (1529–1542)

• Krishna Deva Raya's brother; maintained peace with the Deccan sultanates.
• Built Achyutaraya Temple at Hampi; patronised Kannada scholars.
• Orissa and Bijapur made small encroachments; empire still stable at this point.

Sadashiva Raya (1542–1570) & Aliya Rama Raya

• Sadashiva Raya was the nominal king; real power held by the regent Aliya Rama Raya (son-in-law of Krishna Deva Raya).
• Rama Raya was a consummate power-player — he intervened in wars between the Deccan sultans, extracting territory from each.
• He played Bijapur against Ahmadnagar and Golconda against Bijapur — temporarily effective, but bred fatal resentment.
• The four Deccan Sultanates (Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda, Bidar) united against him — "Vijayanagara must be destroyed".

Battle of Talikota / Rakshasa-Tangadi (23 January 1565)

• Location: Rakshasa-Tangadi near Talikota (in modern Karnataka) — armies met on the banks of the Krishna.
• Vijayanagara had an estimated 900,000-strong army; the confederacy was smaller but better equipped with artillery and cavalry.
• Decisive moment: Two Muslim commanders in Rama Raya's own army — Gilani brothers (from Bijapur) — defected mid-battle and turned artillery on Vijayanagara's flank.
• Rama Raya, aged ~90, was captured and beheaded by Hussain Nizam Shah I; his head paraded on a spear.
• The confederacy sacked Hampi continuously for ~6 months — stone was overturned, temples smashed, the city abandoned. Nuniz had already left; later Portuguese accounts record the desolation.
• Why did Vijayanagara lose?
  • Rama Raya's over-confident, divisive politics alienated all potential allies.
  • Dependence on foreign Muslim commanders in key positions.
  • Superior Deccan artillery — partly Portuguese-supplied.
  • Defection of Gilani brothers was the immediate trigger.

5. Aravidu Dynasty (1570–1650 AD)

• Tirumala (1565–72) — brother of Rama Raya; escaped Talikota with the royal treasury; established new capital at Penukonda (later Chandragiri).
• Sriranga I (1572–85) — nominal control; Telugu chiefs (Nayakas of Thanjavur, Madurai, Ikkeri, Keladi) became increasingly independent.
• Venkata II / Venkatapati Raya (1586–1614) — the last effective ruler; repelled Golconda and Bijapur invasions; patronised Telugu and Sanskrit literature; received the English East India Company's first embassy (1611) — gave permission to trade.
• After Venkata II: rapid succession, palace intrigues; the Nayaka chiefs of Thanjavur, Madurai, Gingee became fully independent.
• Sriranga III (1642–46) — defeated by Bijapur; fled to Vellore; the empire formally ended c. 1646–50.
• The empire's cultural legacy survived through the Nayaka kingdoms — particularly Thanjavur Nayakas who became great temple-builders and literature patrons.

6. Administration of the Vijayanagar Kingdom

Central Government

• King was the supreme authority — combined military commander, chief judge, and religious patron; but not a theocrat — used pragmatic, syncretic approach.
• Pradhani / Mahamantri (prime minister) headed the council of ministers.
• Ashtapradhana — council of eight ministers (different from Maratha Ashtapradhana): included mahamantri, sachiva (secretary), amatya (revenue), sumanta (ceremonies), senadhipati (military), dandanayaka (justice) etc.
• Court language: Telugu and Sanskrit (for official inscriptions); Kannada widely used.

Provincial Administration — Nayankara System

• Empire divided into Rajyas (provinces) → Venthes/Kotas (districts) → Sthala (sub-district) → Grama (village).
• Nayankara system was the bedrock: the king granted military chiefs (nayakas) an amaram (revenue assignment, similar to iqta) to maintain troops — typically cavalry, infantry, and elephants.
  • Nayakas paid fixed revenue (annual tribute) to the centre and supplied soldiers in war.
  • Not hereditary in theory — but became so in practice after Talikota.
  • Key nayaka centres: Thanjavur, Madurai, Ikkeri/Keladi, Gingee, Senji — all became independent post-1565.
• Ayagars — the village service community (12 hereditary village functionaries including accountant, watchman, carpenter, blacksmith, potter, astrologer) — a South Indian administrative institution that Vijayanagara formalised.

Military

• Army organised into four divisions: hastikula (elephants), ashvakula (cavalry), rathasena (chariots), padatikula (infantry).
• Heavy reliance on imported horses — from Arabia, Persia, Central Asia — via Gujarat and Malabar ports. This dependence was a chronic strategic vulnerability.
• Recruited Muslim soldiers from early Deva Raya I onwards — especially archers and cavalry; reached peak under Krishna Deva Raya.

7. Economy of the Vijayanagar Empire

Agriculture

• Land revenue was the primary income — assessed on the basis of soil quality and crop type.
• Elaborate tank irrigation system — hundreds of eries (tanks) built and maintained; Deva Raya I's dam on the Tungabhadra is the earliest record.
• Main crops: rice, millets, cotton, sugar, betel, coconut; spices in the Malabar/coastal areas.

Trade and Commerce

• Vijayanagara was one of the great trading empires — Hampi was a commercial metropolis; Abdullah (Portuguese) and Paes describe streets of market stalls selling jewels, textiles, and horses.
• Ports: Calicut (Kozhikode), Cannanore, Cochin on the Malabar Coast; Bhatkal and Honavar on the Karnataka coast — all under Vijayanagara influence.
• Exports: cotton textiles, spices (pepper, cardamom, turmeric), iron and steel, rice, indigo.
• Imports: horses (vital — from Arabia and Persia via Gujarat ports or Portuguese), copper, mercury, coral, elephants from Ceylon.
• Currency: gold hun (pagoda / varaha); silver tara; copper jital. The gold pagoda was so reliable it continued to circulate after the empire's fall.
• Guilds: merchant guilds like Ayyavole-500 (Five Hundred of Ayyavole) continued from Chola period; Manigramam trade guild active.

Horse Trade — Strategic Significance

• Vijayanagara consumed tens of thousands of horses annually — horses could not be bred effectively in South India's climate.
• Supply chain: Arabian/Persian horses → Gujarat/Malabar ports → sold to the highest bidder (Vijayanagara and Deccan Sultans competed).
• The Portuguese understood this lever immediately — Albuquerque's capture of Goa (1510) was partly about controlling this trade.
• Paes: the king (Krishna Deva Raya) spent more on horses than on anything else in the treasury.

8. Art & Culture of the Vijayanagar Empire

Architecture

Vijayanagara architecture is a distinct style — a fusion of Chalukya, Hoysala, Pallava, and Chola traditions, identifiable by its massive gopurams (gateway towers), long pillared halls (kalyana mandapas), and intricate sculptural programmes.

Defining Features

• Gopuram (gateway towers) — tall, tapering, covered with stucco sculpture; grew taller in the Nayaka period.
• Kalyana Mandapa / Mahamandapa — large pillared marriage halls attached to temples; pillars have rearing horses (yali) carvings — signature Vijayanagara motif.
• Amman shrine — separate shrine for the goddess, distinct from the main deity.
• Enclosure walls — vast fortified enclosures (prakaras) around temple complexes.
• Material: granite, chloritic schite, and brick — hard stone of the Deccan gave Vijayanagara sculpture a bold, uncluttered quality.

Key Monuments at Hampi (UNESCO, 1986)

Literature

Telugu Literature — Golden Age

• The Vijayanagara period is the golden age of Telugu literature — the Ashtadiggajas under Krishna Deva Raya are the peak.
• Prabandha style dominated: elaborate, ornate Sanskrit-influenced verse in Telugu — Dvipada, Shatpada, Champu metres.
• Srinatha (pre-KDR) — prolific; Marutratcharitra, Sringara Naishadha, Haravilasam; famous for witty extemporaneous verse.
• KDR himself: Amuktamalyada (Telugu) and Jambavati Kalyanam (Sanskrit play).

Kannada Literature

• Kumara Vyasa (Gadugina Naranappa) — Karnata Bharata Kathamanjari (Kannada Mahabharata); dedicated to Virupaksha deity at Hampi.
• Chamarasa — Prabhulinga Lile (Veerashaiva/Lingayat devotional); patronised by Deva Raya II.

Sanskrit and Tamil

• Vidyaranya — Panchadashi, Sarvadarshana Sangraha (compendium of all philosophical schools) — pre-empire foundation.
• Sayana (Vidyaranya's brother) — compiled the definitive commentaries on the four Vedas (Rig-Veda Bhashya etc.) under Bukka I's patronage — monumental contribution to Sanskrit scholarship.
• Tamil: the Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions were patronised; Arunagirinathar (composer of Tiruppugazh) flourished in this period.

9. Bahmani Sultanate — Political History (1347–1527 AD)

The Bahmani Sultanate was the first independent Deccan Muslim state — founded in 1347 when nobles of Muhammad bin Tughlaq's Deccan province revolted. Its capital was Gulbarga (1347–1425), then Bidar (1425 onwards). Chief source: Ferishta's Tarikh-i-Ferishta (c. 1610) — most comprehensive account.

A chronic tension ran through the Bahmani court: Dakhanis (locally-born Muslims of Indian origin) vs. Afaqis (foreign Muslims from Persia, Arabia, Khorasan). This ethnic rivalry ultimately broke the kingdom.

Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah (1347–1358)

• Founded the kingdom; real name Hasan Gangu — a Dakhani noble; assumed the name "Bahman" (claiming descent from the Persian hero Bahman, son of Isfandiyar) to legitimise himself.
• Capital: Gulbarga (Ahsanabad); built the Gulbarga Fort and the distinctive Jama Masjid of Gulbarga (unique — a single enclosed space without an open courtyard, influenced by the mosque at Córdoba, Spain).
• Divided the kingdom into four provinces (tarafs): Gulbarga, Daulatabad, Berar, Bidar — each under a tarafdar.
• Title: Sultan Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah.

Mohammad Shah I (1358–1377)

• Conquered Golconda from the Musunuri Nayakas; fought Vijayanagara over the Raichur Doab — first of many such wars.
• Fought the Battle of Adoni (1365) — major Bahmani-Vijayanagara clash; recorded as extreme in its violence.
• Established the pattern of Deccan warfare: the Raichur Doab was the perennial flashpoint.

Taj-ud-din Firuz Shah (1397–1422)

• The most cultured and learned Bahmani Sultan — multilingual (spoke 14 languages according to Ferishta); astronomer, poet, scholar.
• Moved the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar (1425 — formally under his son Ahmad Shah).
• Invited scholars, poets, Sufis from Persia, Iraq, Arabia — made the Bahmani court a centre of Islamic learning; introduced Persian administrative culture systematically.
• Defeated Deva Raya I of Vijayanagara; received his daughter in marriage + tribute.
• Built Firuzabad on the Krishna river.

Ahmad Shah Wali (1422–1435)

• Known as "Wali" (saint) — devoted follower of Sufi saint Gesudaraz (Bandanawaz) of Gulbarga; Gesudaraz's dargah at Gulbarga is one of the most important Sufi shrines in the Deccan.
• Formally shifted capital to Bidar — built the magnificent Bidar Fort and the Madrasa of Mahmud Gawan (though he preceded Mahmud Gawan; Mahmud Gawan built the madrasa later under a different sultan).
• Cruel in warfare — massacred Brahmins and Hindus at Vijayanagara territory; Ferishta records extreme violence.

Humayun Shah "the Cruel" (1458–1461)

• Earned the epithet for extraordinary cruelty — executed nobles on whims; his vizier attempted a palace coup backed by Vijayanagara.
• Short reign; killed in a conspiracy; succeeded by the child king Nizam Shah and then Mohammad Shah III — during whose reign Mahmud Gawan became dominant.

Mahmud Gawan — Wazir (1461–1482)

Mahmud Gawan was not a sultan but the greatest statesman the Bahmani Sultanate produced. Born in Gilan (Persia), a horse-merchant who entered the Bahmani court under Humayun Shah; rose to become wazir under three successive sultans.

Achievements

• Administrative reform: Divided the original four tarafs into eight smaller provinces — reducing each tarafdar's power and bringing more territory under direct crown control.
• Revenue reform: Began direct revenue assessment on some crown lands; curbed the tarafdars' freedom to extract.
• Afaqi promotion: Staffed key positions with Persian and foreign Muslims — which enraged the Dakhani faction.
• Military campaigns: Led campaigns against Vijayanagara (captured Goa and Kanara 1471); against Orissa (1478); maintained Bahmani at peak power.
• Madrasa-i-Mahmud Gawan (c. 1472) at Bidar — three-storeyed, with a library, mosque, and rooms for 3,000 students; tile-work mosaic of turquoise, white and black in Persian style; still partially standing.

Execution (1482) — The Fatal Blow

• Dakhani nobles forged a letter in Mahmud Gawan's name — apparently offering to betray the Sultan to Vijayanagara.
• Sultan Mohammad Shah III — drunk and credulous — executed Mahmud Gawan without proper inquiry, 9 April 1482.
• Mahmud Gawan reportedly said at his execution: "The pen that wrote this letter is not mine, but the blood that flows is mine."
• Consequence: The last check on Dakhani-Afaqi centrifugal forces was removed; within a decade tarafdars began declaring independence.

10. Decline of the Bahmani Kingdom

• Structural cause: The chronic Dakhani–Afaqi rivalry — never resolved; the state could not build a unified bureaucracy or army.
• Size: The kingdom was too large for its administrative apparatus — four (later eight) tarafdars were effectively warlords, not governors.
• Removal of Mahmud Gawan (1482): The one man holding the centre together was gone; tarafdars moved quickly.
• Weak successors: Mohammad Shah III (1463–82), Mahmud Shah (1482–1518) — nominal rule; no central authority to coerce tarafdars.
• Succession of independence declarations (1490–1527):
  • 1490: Malik Ahmad → Ahmadnagar (Nizam Shahi)
  • 1490: Yusuf Adil Shah → Bijapur (Adil Shahi)
  • 1490: Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk → Berar (Imad Shahi)
  • 1512: Sultan Quli Qutb Shah → Golconda (Qutb Shahi)
  • 1527: Amir Barid Shah → Bidar (Barid Shahi)
• The last nominal Bahmani Sultan Kalimullah (1526–27) fled to Bijapur; the dynasty ended 1527.

11. The Five Deccan Sultanates

Also called the "Deccan Sultanates" or "Panj Hazari" — five states carved from the Bahmani's corpse. Their history culminates in the Battle of Talikota (1565) against Vijayanagara and later in the Mughal annexation (Ahmadnagar 1636, Bijapur 1686, Golconda 1687).

12. Advent of the Portuguese & their Impact

Background

• Vasco da Gama reached Calicut (Kozhikode) May 1498 — opened the direct sea route from Europe to India; disrupted the Arab-Venetian monopoly on spice trade.
• Pedro Álvares Cabral (1500) — second voyage; conflict with Calicut's Zamorin; established first Portuguese factory at Cochin.
• Francisco de Almeida (1505–09) — first Viceroy; "Blue Water Policy" (Cartaz system): all ships in the Indian Ocean must carry a Portuguese pass or be sunk; defeated the combined Mamluk-Calicut fleet at Battle of Diu 1509 — established Portuguese naval supremacy.
• Afonso de Albuquerque (1509–15) — the architect of the Portuguese empire in Asia; captured Goa from Bijapur's Yusuf Adil Shah (25 November 1510); made Goa the capital of Estado da India (Portuguese State of India).

Impact on Trade

• Horse trade disrupted and controlled: Portuguese monopolised the Persian Gulf and Red Sea trade routes — all horse imports to the Deccan now required Portuguese mediation or passed through Goa. They sold to Vijayanagara and Bijapur at their own price; playing both sides.
• Spice trade redirected: Portuguese carried pepper and spices directly to Lisbon; Arab-Egyptian-Venetian middlemen bypassed; prices in Europe dropped; Indian spice merchant networks disrupted.
• Cartaz system (sea-pass): All vessels had to purchase a cartaz (licence) from the Portuguese or be seized. This was the first systematic maritime toll-gate in the Indian Ocean — prototype of later European colonial trade control.
• New commodities: Portuguese introduced chillies, tobacco, maize, potatoes, tomatoes, cashew, pineapple, papaya (Columbian Exchange) to India — transforming Indian cuisine and agriculture permanently.
• Cotton textiles trade: Gujarat cotton goods — particularly indigo-dyed calico — became the Portuguese's most lucrative Indian export to Africa and Brazil.

Impact on Politics

• Goa (1510): Albuquerque captured Goa from the Adil Shahi — Bijapur never forgave this; it coloured Bijapur-Portuguese relations for a century.
• Alliance with Vijayanagara: Portuguese supplied horses to Vijayanagara; Krishna Deva Raya used them to defeat Bijapur at Raichur (1520). In return, KDR gave the Portuguese land for a fort at Bhatkal.
• Firearms technology: Portuguese supplied and sometimes operated artillery and matchlocks for Vijayanagara — the first large-scale introduction of gunpowder weaponry to South India. The Deccan Sultans also acquired this technology — contributing to Talikota's firepower balance.
• Hormuz (1515) and Malacca (1511): Albuquerque's capture of these strategic ports sealed Portuguese control of all Western trade routes — both the spice and horse trades were now mediated by Lisbon.

Impact on Society

• Christian missions: Franciscan, Dominican, and later Jesuit missions (St. Francis Xavier reached Goa 1542); mass conversions in Goa under Inquisition pressure (Goa Inquisition — 1560–1812); destruction of temples in Portuguese-controlled territories.
• Goa Inquisition (1560): Targeted both Hindu converts suspected of relapse and Jews; one of the harshest Inquisition regimes; formally suppressed only in 1812.
• Intermarriage policy: Albuquerque actively encouraged Portuguese soldiers to marry local women — created the Luso-Indian (Mestiços) community; unique social hybrid that shaped Goan society.
• Printing press: First printing press in India set up at Goa 1556 — Doctrina Christam was the first printed book in India; Portuguese brought European typography and book culture.
• Medicine and science: Garcia de Orta's Colóquios dos Simples (1563) — first scientific study of Indian plants and medicines, published in Goa; foundation of tropical botany.

13. Current Affairs Link

• Hampi (UNESCO, 1986) — perennially in news for illegal construction, tourism pressure, and the ongoing effort to protect the 4,187-hectare site; ASI and Karnataka government disputes over buffer zone development.
• Gol Gumbaz and Bidar Fort — ASI conservation and Bidar's push for UNESCO listing; Bidriware craft is on the GI (Geographical Indication) registry.
• Hyderabad's Charminar and Golconda Fort — urban heritage management; Telangana government's Qutb Shahi tombs UNESCO inscription efforts (Qutb Shahi Heritage Park).
• Goa Inquisition memorialisation — periodic political debate around acknowledging the Goa Inquisition in school curricula; relevant to freedom of religion discussions.
• Columbian Exchange's legacy — climate-change discussions about food security often trace India's dependence on chilli, potato, and maize to Portuguese introduction — a Mains link to GS-III agriculture topics.

14. Previous Year Questions (UPSC)