Kingdom of Vijayanâgara

Vijayanâgara - of Vijay , victory and nâgar , city - or Bijanâgara is the name of a Hindu kingdom and its capital, today in ruins, in the southernmost India. It was the last large kingdom Hindu which India knew.

The kingdom lasted of 1336 with 1565, forming for all this period a rampart against the Moslem invasion of the north of the Indian Sous-continent. Most of its history is still known little about, but its power and its richness are certified as well by the accounts of many European travellers as by the importance of the buildings as it bequeathed us.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the plunderers mulsumans caused the fall of all the Hindu kingdoms of southernmost India, the Yâdava, the Kâkâtiya, the Pândya, but did not try to occupy the zone in a permanent way. In this state of desolation that they leave behind them, a Hindu nationalism re-appears via two brothers called Harihara and Bukka - that certain sources present as officers of the court of Pratâparudra of Kâkâtiya de Warangal - associated with a Saddhu named Vidyâranya - which would have made them give up the Moslem faith to return to the hindouism. The two Sangama brothers had been captured by the sultanate of Delhi in 1327 then converted with Islam. Certain researchers think that they had been installed there by king Vîra Ballala III of the Hoysala Mysore like viceroys to resist the plunderers.

Harihara I becomes king then, melting the first dynasty will vijayanâgara Sangama (1336 - 1486) and the army of Bukka seizes Hoysala in 1343 after the king Ballala III was assassinated treacherously with Trichy by the forces of the sultan of Madurai. Ten years later, the Hindus demolish the sultan of Madurai and reinstall Sambuvaraya, the legitimate heir, on the throne, although Bukka I (1356 - 1377) ends up becoming the true Master of the country tamoul. The long series of frontier war with the Bahmani begin in 1358. A confrontation between Vishnou ites vaisnava and jaïns will give the opportunity to Bukka to proclaim an equal protection of the kingdom of Vijayanâgara towards all the religions including the Judaïsme, the Christianisme and the Islam. It replaces also the regional leaders by its sons and its generals in order to reinforce the central capacity.

Harihara II (1377 - 1404) succeeds his/her Bukka father and makes the conquest of the Western ports Goa, Chaul and Dabhol on the Malabar Coast, very important as regards trade. This made, it extends its kingdom towards the Bay of Bengal. However, a major conflict with the Moslem kingdom of the Bahmani force the army of Vijayanâgara to make retirement since banks of the river Krishna to the capital and involves an important massacre within the troops Hindus. An unfavorable peace is signed in 1399 while the famine devastates the Dekkan.

The king Vijayanagâra Devarâya I carries it in the fight for the succession against his two brothers and passes the essence of his reign (1406 - 1422) to fight against the Bahmani sultans, the Velama of Rachakonda and the Reddi of Kondavidu. He reorganizes the army, imports horses of Arabia and Persia to develop his cavalry. He is the Hindu first râja to use archers Turkish.

Devarâya II (1422 - 1446) reconquers the territory gained by the Reddi , demolishes the Velama and the Gajapati . It carries out also a series of wars against the Bahmani and receives tribute of Sri Lanka. It is under its reign that the Vijayanâgara empire knows its greater extension. But the requirements of its armies towards the farmers, the tradesmen and the craftsmen tamouls lead this country to link and revolt against the Vijayanagâra leaders in 1429. To reinforce its army against the attacks of the Bahmani , Devarâya II authorizes the integration of Moslem soldiers and tolerates the practice of Islam. It reinforces the central capacity by controlling the local leaders.

The royal capacity Vijayanâgara decrease however under the reigns of his/her son Mallikarjuna (1446 - 1465) and of his cousin Virupaksha (1465 - 1485) who lose territories for the benefit of the Bahmani while the local governors show independence. Although both Hindus, the kingdoms of the Orissa, directed by Kapilendra Gajapati (1435 - 1467) and Purushottama Gajapati (1467 - 1497) and of Vijayanâgara will clash and this last will be in difficulty, part of its conquered territory.

Narasimha of Chandragiri seizes the throne of Vijayanâgara then, creating the new dynasty of the Sâluva , consolidates its capacity and draws aside the threat orissaise. When he dies in 1490, Narasimha names Narasa Nayaka , its Prime Minister, regent to take care on his two young people wire. Narasa Nayaka invades the declining sultanate of Bahmani, subdue several risings, seizes Madurai, assassinates the oldest son of Saluma Narasimha and makes crown in 1492 his/her brother under the name of Immadi Narasimha . But this last is only one puppet in its capacity, almost its prisoner, while he manages to reconsolidate the kingdom in spite of the sling of certain governors of province. With his death, his/her son Viranarasimha (1503 - 1509) orders the execution of Immadi Narasimha in 1505 and seizes the throne, installing the dynasty of Tuluva .

Krishnadevarâya Tuluva - sometimes called Krishnarâo - the brother of Viranarasimha, goes up then on the throne (1509 - 1529). One regards it as largest king Vijayanâgara. In 1512, it seizes the fortress of Raichûr in Bijâpur. The râja of Orissa Prataparudra (1497 - 1540) enters in conflict with Vijayanâgara by attacking Kânchî. Following a five year old war, Krishnadevarâya regains the grounds taken by Orissa, but returns all the territories which it had conquered in the north of the Krishna river at the time of the peace of 1518 and of its marriage with a princess orissaise. During this conflict, Bijâpur recovers its fortress of Raichûr, but Krishnadevarâya takes it again in 1520. Krishnadevarâya is known for the care which it requires towards the casualties after the battles, for its reductions of taxes and the clearings that it makes carry out to increase the surface of the cultivable grounds. It authorizes the Portuguese to be traded with his kingdom, thus obtaining approvisonnment in horses. It protects the scholars and creates the conditions of a blooming of the literature Télougou E.

Krishnadevarâya chooses his/her half-brother Achyutadevarâya as successor but it must compose with Ramarâya , the son-in-law of Krishnadevarâya and take it with the businesses. A rebellion bursts in the south and Achyutadevarâya subdues it, invades Bijâpur and seizes Raichûr again. Ramarâya makes sure of the fidelity of his/her friends and parents, engages 3 000 Moslem soldiers with his service and, in 1535, sends Achyutadevarâya in prison, proclaiming king. The noble Southerners rebel against him and while they fights them, the officer charged to keep Achyutadevarâya releases it, reinstalls it on the throne and becomes its Prime Minister. Ibrahim Adil Shah of Bijâpur invades Vijayanâgara then and forces Achyutadevarâya and Ramarâya to recognize the independence of her kingdom. Died of Achyutadevarâya, in 1542, his/her son Venkata I succeeds to him, but he is strangled by his brother Tirumala I which massacres all the royal family to seize the throne.

Ramarâya seizes then the capacity under the name of Sadashiva . It tries to restore the glory of Vijayanâgara while intervening in the quarrels between the sultanates of Dekkan. It is crowned in 1552. While being vishnouite, it is tolerant towards all the religions. It engages of the Moslem mercenaries whom it employs as spies. Ramarâya signs a commercial treaty with the Portuguese in 1547, but the attack in 1558 with San Thomé and Goa.

In 1565, the alliance of Dekkan including/understanding Bijâpur, Bîdâr, Berâr, Golkonda and Ahmadnâgar inflicts a severe defeat in Vijayanâgara with the Bataille of Talikota, the Moslem artillery making the difference as earlier with the battles of Pânipat. The army of the kingdom is devastated, Ramarâya is assassinated and the city of Vijayanâgara and the other big cities of the kingdom are put at bag. The armed struggle between the houses télougoue prevent the restoration of a central capacity extremely. However, Tirumala, the brother of Ramarâya, divides Vijayanâgara into three parts the grounds télougoues, the Karnataka and the country tamoul, controlled by its three sons. Tirumala itself is crowned in 1570, but abdicates almost at once in favor of his/her son Sri Ranga (1572 - 1585) and is withdrawn to carry out a religious life. Invasions carried out by Bijâpur and Golkonda reduce the territory of Vijayanâgara, but Venkata II (1586 - 1614) takes again the conquered grounds and passes most of its reign to subduing the rebellions, like that of Nayaka of Madurai in 1601. In 1614, begin a war of succession which lasts several years and the kingdom of Vijayanâgara approaches its end. Sriranga , its last king dies in 1672.

Agriculture is flourishing in Vijayanâgara. The empire exports fabric, rice, steel, salpetre, sugar and spices in exchange of horses, elephants, of coral copper, pearls, of porcelain of silk and velvet. Important taxation is taken of fabrics and oils been essential to protect the local products. The temples employ their richness to offer loans with an interest from 12 to 30%. The guilds of craftsmen are not as powerful as those of the traders, but the landowners and the civils servant of the court exceed them all.

To its most important extension, the kingdom extended in the Dekkan from the Mer from Oman to the Bay of Bengal, of Masulipatam to Goa all the Hindu princes of the south recognized its vassal. The site of the capital was selected carefully and in accordance with strategic requirements, the city is located on Right Bank of the river Tungabhadrâ, which runs here through a rock throat.

Râjas

Sangama dynasty

1336 -1353 : Harihara
1353 -1379 : Bukka
1379 -1404 : Harihara II
1406 -1410: Devarâya
1410 -1419 : Vijayarâya
1419 -1446 : Devarâya II
1446 -1447: Vijayarâya II
1447 -1465: Mallikârjuna
1465 -1486 : Virûpâksha. Dynasty Sâluva
1486 -? : Sâluva Narasimha
?- 1505: Immadi Narasimha Dynasty Tuluva
1505 -1509: Narasa Nâyaka
1509 -1530 : Krishnadevarâya
1530 -1542 : Achyûtadeva
1542 -1543 : Shadâshivarâya
1543 -1565 : Râmarâya
1565 -1570 : Shadâshivarâya (second reign)

Aravidu dynasty

1570 -? : Tirumala
about 1573: Ranga
1586 -? : Ventaka

See too

Hampi

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