Vijayanagar & Bahmani Kingdoms

Deccan and Southern India: Vijayanagar and Bahmani Kingdoms

• The Iqtadari system of the Delhi Sultanate influenced the administrative systems of the Vijayanagar and Bahmani kingdoms.
• There was regular migration of artisans from one region to another.
• Silk weavers known as Pattanulkars migrated from the Gujarat region to the Vijayanagar state in the 15th century.

Vijayanagar Kingdom (c.1336–1672 CE)

• The Vijayanagar kingdom consisted of four dynasties:
  • Sangama (c.1336–1485 CE)
  • Saluva (c.1485–1503 CE)
  • Tuluva (c.1503–1570 CE)
  • Aravidu (till the end of the 17th century)
• Literary and archaeological sources, along with numismatics offer varied options for the study of the Vijayanagar kingdom.
• Indigenous literature of this period includes:
  • Krishnadevaraya’s Amukthamalyada
  • Gangadevi’s Maduravijayam
  • Allasani Peddanna’s Manucharitam
• Accounts on the socio-economic conditions of the Vijayanagar kingdom are available from foreign travelers.
• These include:
  • Moroccan Ibn Batuta
  • Venetian Nicolo de Conti
  • Persian Abdur Razzak
  • Portuguese Domingo Paes
• Achievements and genealogy of Vijayanagar rulers are provided in copper-plate inscriptions such as the Srirangam copper-plates of Devaraya II.
• Information on the cultural contributions of the Vijayanagar rulers can be found in the Hampi ruins and other monuments.
• Figures and legends explaining the titles and achievements of the Vijayanagar rulers are depicted on the numerous coins.
• The empire included people from different cultural regions like the Tamil, Telugu, and Karnataka regions, all with different languages.
• Vijayanagara's main rivals in the south were the Sultans of Madurai, and their conflict lasted for almost four decades.
• The Sultanate of Madurai was eliminated by c.1377 CE.
• The Vijaynagara kingdom controlled the whole of south India up to Rameshwaram, including the Tamil country and that of the Cheras (Kerala).
• In the north, there was continuous hostility with the Bahmani Sultanate.

Sangama Dynasty

Harihara and Bukka (c.1336-1377 CE)

• Founders of the Sangama dynasty of Vijayanagar kingdom.
• According to legend, they were originally feudatories of the Kakatiyas of Warangal.
• After the fall of Kakatiyas of Warangal, they served as ministers in the Kampili state (modern Karnataka).
• When Kampala was overrun by Muhammad bin Tughlaq for giving refuge to a Muslim rebel, the two brothers were imprisoned and converted to Islam.
• They returned to the Hindu fold at the initiative of the saint Vidyaranya, proclaimed their independence, and founded a new city of Vidyanagar or Vijayanagara on the south bank of river Tungabhadra. "Vidyanagar" or Vijayanagara means "city of victory".
• The decline of the Hoysala kingdom enabled Harihara and Bukka to expand their newly founded kingdom.
• By c. 1346 CE, they brought the whole of the Hoysala kingdom under their control, aided by their brothers who took up the administration of the conquered areas.
• The Vijayanagara kingdom was initially a kind of cooperative commonwealth.
• Bukka succeeded his brother in c.1356 and ruled till 1377 CE.
• The Sultanate of Madurai was eliminated during his reign.

Harihara II (c.1377–1406 CE)

• The Vijayanagara empire expanded towards the eastern sea coast during his reign.
• He continued to extend the kingdom’s territory through a series of conflicts against the Reddis of Kondavidu for control of Andhra between Nellore and Kalinga.
• Harihara II conquered the Addanki and Srisailam areas and most of the territory between the peninsula to the south of the river Krishna.
• This eventually brought him into confrontation with the Velamas of Rachakonda (Telangana).
• Harihara II maintained his position while facing the Bahmani-Warangal alliance.
• His greatest success was wresting Belgaum and Goa from the Bahmani Sultanate in the west.
• The ruler of Warangal helped Hasan Gangu, the founder of the Bahmani Sultanate, but his successor invaded Warangal and seized the stronghold of the Kaulas and the hill fort.
• The alliance of Warangal and the Bahmani Sultanate lasted for over 50 years.
• It was a major factor in Vijaynagara being able to overrun the Tungabhadra doab.

Deva Raya I (c.1406–1422 CE)

• He was noted for his military exploits. He supported irrigation works in his kingdom.
• He constructed a dam across the river Tungabhadra to bring canals into the city to relieve water shortage.
• He also built a dam on the river Haridra for irrigation purposes.
• Deva Raya was continually at war with the Velamas of Telangana, the Bahmani Sultan of Gulbarga, the Reddis of Kondavidu, and the Gajapatis of Kalinga.
• Early in his career, he was defeated by the Bahmani ruler Firoz Shah and had to pay a large indemnity and marry his daughter to the Sultan.
• This marriage only bought peace for a short time.
• Firoz Shah invaded Pangal, which had been taken by Vijayanagar.
• Deva Raya inflicted a shattering defeat on Firoz Shah.
• The two-year siege at Pangal ended in disaster for Firoz Shah's armies.
• Firoz Shah had to hand over the southern and eastern districts of his kingdom to Deva Raya I.
• By c. 1422, Deva Raya I controlled the territory up to the Krishna–Tungabhadra doab, including Pangal.
• He improved his cavalry by modernising the Vijayanagar army.
• Turkic archers were employed and horses were procured from Arabia and Persia.
• He maintained a secular attitude in administrative matters, with 10,000 Muslims in his army, being the first Vijaynagar king to do so.
• A mosque and a slaughterhouse were constructed for the convenience of the Muslim soldiers in his army.
• Italian traveller Nicolo Conti (c.1420) and Russian merchant Nikitin visited during his reign.
• Nicolo Conti commented that Vijayanagara had 90,000 men fit to bear arms and that their king was more powerful than all the kings of India.
• Deva Raya I was a patron of Kannada literature and architecture.
• He honoured men of eminence at the pearl hall.
• Madhura, a Jain poet, was in his court and wrote the Dharmanathapurana and a eulogy of Gommateshvara of Shravanabelagola.
• The Hazare Rama temple was constructed during his rule.
• He gets the credit for making the Vijayanagar capital one of the biggest cities in the 15th century.

Deva Raya II (c.1425–46 CE)

• He was the greatest of the Sangama dynasty rulers, an able administrator, an ambitious warrior, and a man of letters.
• He authored works in Kannada (Sobagina Sone and Amaruka) and Sanskrit (Mahanataka Sudhanidhi).
• He also wrote a commentary on the Brahmasutra.
• Chamarasa and Kumara Vyasa, some of the most noted Kannada poets were patronized.
• The Sanskrit poet Gunda Dimdima, and Telugu poet Kavisarvabhauma Srinatha, author of Haravilasam, were present at his court.
• The South Indian mathematician, Parameshvara, lived in his kingdom.
• Deva Raya II acquired the title of Gajabetegara, meaning "Hunter of Elephants".
• It was an honorific title explaining his victories against enemies and his addiction to hunting elephants.
• Despite some reversals, Deva Raya II extended and controlled territories up to the Krishna river.
• Abdur Razzak stated that Deva Raya II's empire extended from Ceylon to Gulbarga and Orissa to the Malabar.
• Nicolo Conti noted that the king levied tribute on Ceylon, Quilon, Pegu, Pulicat.

Saluva Dynasty

• The next dynasty, Saluva was founded by Saluva Narasimha.
• Reigned for a brief period(c.1486–1509 CE).

Tuluvas Dynasty

Vira Narasimha Raya (c.1505–1509 CE)

Krishna Deva Raya (c.1509–29 CE)

• The greatest of the Vijayanagar rulers, also known as ‘Abhinava Bhoja’, ‘Andhra Pitamah’, ‘Andhra Bhoja’ for his great support to literature and art.
• He fought a series of wars with the independent kingdoms (Deccan Sultanates) that came up after the disintegration of the Bahmani kingdom.
• Muslim armies were decisively defeated in the battle of Diwani.
• He invaded the Raichur Doab and completely shattered the Adil Shahi forces of Bijapur first, attacked Gulbarga and captured the city of Raichur in c.1520 CE.
• Krishna Deva Raya freed the three Bahmani princes who were imprisoned there and restored the Bahmani Sultanate to Muhammad Shah.
• He took the title of Yavanarajya sthapanacharya.
• Krishna Deva Raya’s Orissa campaign was successful
• He defeated the Gajapathi ruler Prataparudra and conquered the whole of Telangana.
• He made the ruler of Orissa restore to Vijaynagar all the territories up to the river Krishna and dealt with the Portuguese influence in the Deccan.
• Friendly relations were maintained with the Portuguese; King Albuquerque sent ambassadors to his court.
• The Portuguese travellers Domingo Paes and Barbosa visited India during his reign.
• Though a Vaishnavaite, he respected all religions and his court was adorned by the ‘Ashta diggajas’, eight eminent scholars of Telugu.
• Allasani Peddanna was called Andhrakavita Pitamaga and wrote Manucharitam and Harikathasaram. Tenali Ramakrishna wrote Panduranga Mahamatyam.
• Pingali Suranna wrote Garuda Puranam, Prabhavatee Pradyumnamu, Raghava Pandaveeyam and Kalapurnodayamu.
• Krishna Deva Raya authored Amukthamalyadha (Telugu).
• He built fine stone temples such as the Vittalaswamy and Hazara Ramaswamy temples at Vijayanagar.
• He added impressive gopurams or gateways to many important South Indian temples.
• The Tirupati temple greatly developed during his period.
• Nagalapuram was founded as a suburban township after his mother was named.
• Some of the most detailed descriptions of Vijayanagar come from his period.

Achyuta Deva Raya (c.1529 –1542 CE)

• The younger brother of Krishna Deva Raya.

• He was handpicked to be his successor.

• Fernoa Nuniz, a Portuguese traveller, arrived in India during his reign.

• He patronised the Kannada poet Chatu Vittalanatha, the great singer and composer Purandaradasa, and the Sanskrit scholar Rajanatha Dindima II.

• During his rule, the Tiruvengalanatha temple, also known as the Achyutaraya temple, was built in Vijayanagar.

• On his death, the succession was disputed and his son Venkata I ruled for six months before being killed.

• Krishna Deva Raya’s son Sada Siva Raya became king under the regency of Aravidu Aliya Rama Raya.

• Aliya Rama Raya was the son-in-law of Krishna.

• Aravidu brothers rose to prominence during Krishna Deva Raya’s rule.

• Rama Raya was successful army general, administrator, and diplomat.

Sada Siva Raya (c.1542–1570 CE)

• Last ruler of the Tuluva dynasty.
• Aliya Rama Raya was his minister. Rama Raya was the de facto king who removed the old nobility.
• Rama Raya tried to balance the Deccan to gain assistance from against the other.
• Rama Raya secured the Raichur doab when the Nizam of Ahmadnagar and Qutabshahi of Golconda desired assistance against Bijapur.
• Rama Raya fought on behalf of the Ahmadnagar ruler and secured the fort of Kalyana when the Adilshahi of Bijapur and Baridshahi of Bidar declared war.
• Rama Raya allied with Ali Adilshahi of Bijapur and Baridshahi of Bidar when the Sultan of Bijapur invaded Ahmednagar.
• Sultanates formed an alliance when his sides changed constantly with the purpose of gaining a better position.
• The Deccan states formed an alliance and crushed the Vijayanagar armies at Bannihatti in the battle of Talaikotta in c.1565 CE.
• Rama Raya was executed and the city of Vijayanagar was destroyed.
• The Battle of Bannihatti is considered the end of the Vijayanagar Empire.
• Caesar Fredrick visited Vijaynagar after the battle of Talaikotta.
• The Vijayanagar kingdom continued to exist under the Aravidu dynasty.
• Tirumala, Sri Ranga, and Venkata II were the important rulers of this dynasty.
• The last ruler of the Vijayanagar kingdom was Sri Ranga III (c.1642–1646 CE).

Administration of Vijaynagar Kingdom

• It had well-organised administration.
• The Rayas exercised absolute authority in executive, judicial, and legislative matters and was the highest court of appeal.
• Harsh punishments were given, such as mutilation and throwing to elephants.
• Succession to the throne was mostly based on the principle of hereditary.
• The king was assisted in his day-to-day administration by a council of ministers.
• The kingdom was divided into administrative units called Mandalams, Nadus, sthalas, and gramas.
• The governor of the Mandalam was called Mandaleswara or Nayak.
• Vijayanagar rulers gave local authorities full power in the administration.
• Village self-government traditions of the Chola were weakened.
• Hereditary nayakships curtailed independence and initiative.
• Provincial governors were royal princes at first, and were given positions along to belonging to vassals.
• Provincial governors had a large measure of autonomy.
• The governors had their own courts, controlled their own armies, and could deploy coinage.
• The term for the provincial governor depended on their ability and could vary in strength
• Each governor had a fixed contribution to provide to the central government.
• The administration was structured more as as a confederacy.
• Sources of income comprised land revenue, tributes, and gifts from vassals.
• Land revenue was generally fixed at one sixth of the produce.

Army and Military Organisation

• The Vijayanagar Empire and the Bahmani kingdom were in conflict for many years over the Raichur Doab region between the rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra and the fertile delta regions of Krishna-Godavari.
• A large, well-organized, and efficient army contained cavalry, infantry, artillery, and elephants were needed for waging continuous wars.
• High-breed horses were imported from Arabia and the Gulf countries.
• Port of Malabar was the centre of this trade.
• A key element of the empire was the amara-nayaka system.
• The top-grade officers of the army were known as Nayaks or Palaiyagars or Poligars who were granted land (called amaram) for their services.
• Soldiers were usually paid in cash.
• The nayaka was responsible for expanding agricultural activities in his amaram.
• They collected taxes and maintained the army, horses, elephants, and weapons of warfare that they were expected to supply to the raya or Vijayanagar ruler.
• The nayaka was also the commander of the forts.
• Some revenue was also used for the upkeep of temples and implementing irrigation works.
• The amara-nayakas sent tribute to the king annually.
• Some nayakas became independent and established separate states to weaken structures the empire.
• The Vijayanagar state also was known with firearms.
• Turkish and Portuguese experts trained soldiers in the latest warfare weaponry.
• Forts were constructed with protected walls and parapets were also installed.
• Small firearms, rifles, as well as heavy arms such as cannons were put on a bullock cart or an elephant for deployment.

Social Life

• Society was composed of brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and sudras as noted in Manucharitam.
• Foreign travellers left vivid accounts on the splendor of buildings and luxurious social life.
• Paes made note of the beautiful houses and of members of household who served them
• Slavery was common.
• Silk and cotton clothes were worn generally.
• Dancing, music, wrestling, gambling, and cock-fighting were forms of amusement.
• The family deity for the Sangama rulers were Shaivaites while other dynasties were Vaishnavites.
• All kings were tolerant towards other religions.
• Barbosa said that everyone was tolerant towards religious freedom.
• He noted regarding Krishna Deva Raya's tolerant attitude that "The king allows such freedom that every man may come and go and live according to his own creed, without suffering any annoyance, and without enquiry whether he is a Christian, Jew, Moor or heathen”.
• Muslims were employed in the administration and were allowed to build mosques and worship.
• Deva Raya II enlisted Muslims in his armed services and erected a mosque.
• Many temples were constructed and festivals were celebrated.
• Gangadevi, the wife of Kumarakampana and author of Maduravijayam, and poets Hannamma and Thirumalamma were learned women.
• A large number of women were employed in the royal palaces as dancers, domestic servants, and palanquin bearers.
• Sahagaman/Sati was honoured and polygamy was common.
• Devadasi systems were in place.
• Temples had a significant part in internal and overseas trade.

Economy

• Vijayanagar was one of the wealthiest kingdoms in the world.
• Agriculture was the main activity.
• New tanks and dams were constructed.
• There was a huge number of industries.
• Diamond mines were located in Kurnool and Anantapur district.
• Varaha was the primary source of currency.
• Trades were conducted with Arabia, Persia, South Africa, China, Portugal, and Burma.
• The primary items of export were cotton and silk clothes, spices, rice, iron, saltpetre, and sugar and imports were China silk, velvet, and animals.

Cultural Contributions

• The temple building improved.
• Typical structure: tall raya gopurams or gateways.
• The Kalyanamandapam came with engraved pillars within the temple.
• Horse was a recurrent engraving across the pillars.
• Large mandapams that had a large number of pillars served as resting spots during celebrations.
• Amman shrines were built in temples.
• Style temples were mostly found in Humpi in Vijayanagar.
• Metal casts for the king and queens' images were created during the epoch.
• Music and dancing were patronised by the rulers.
• Languages such as Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil flourished in the regions.
• There was an advancement in Sanskrit and Telugu literature. Krishna Deva Raya was a scholar of Sanskrit and Telugu languages. Allasani Peddana was a notable poet in Telugu literature.

Key terms

• Pradhani: Prime minister
• Raysani: Recorded oral order of king
• Karnikam: Accountant
• Kadamal, Irai, Vrai: Kinds of taxes
• Athavane: Land revenue department