Big picture
Vijayanagara ("city of victory") was both a city and an empire. Founded in the fourteenth century in present-day Karnataka, it grew into one of the largest and richest cities in the world, admired by foreign visitors. In 1565 it was sacked and abandoned; its ruins, known as Hampi, are now a World Heritage Site.
Historians reconstruct Vijayanagara by combining archaeological remains, inscriptions, literature and travellers' accounts. This chapter covers its history, its rulers, its remarkable planning, and its magnificent royal and sacred buildings.
Learning goals
Explain how the ruins of Hampi were rediscovered and documented.
Describe the founding of Vijayanagara and its dynasties, especially Krishnadeva Raya.
Explain the amara-nayaka system, the horse trade and relations with neighbours.
Explain the battle of 1565 and its consequences.
Describe the city's water resources, fortifications and roads.
Describe the royal centre and its buildings.
Describe the sacred centre and temple architecture.
Explain how historians combine different sources.
Core ideas
1. Rediscovering Hampi
The name Hampi comes from Pampadevi, the local mother goddess.
In 1800, Colonel Colin Mackenzie, an engineer and antiquarian of the East India Company, prepared the first survey map of the site, collecting information from local traditions and the Virupaksha temple's priests. He later became the first Surveyor General of India.
From 1856, photographers such as Alexander Greenlaw recorded its monuments, and epigraphists collected dozens of inscriptions.
Historians combined these with travellers' accounts and Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Sanskrit literature to reconstruct the city's history.
2. Founding and dynasties
According to tradition and inscriptions, Vijayanagara was founded in 1336 by two brothers, Harihara and Bukka.
Its rulers called themselves rayas. Contemporaries referred to them as the Karnataka samrajya.
Dynasties: the Sangama dynasty (until 1485), the Saluvas (military commanders who seized power, until 1503), the Tuluvas and finally the Aravidus.
Krishnadeva Raya (Tuluva dynasty, ruled 1509–1529) was the most famous ruler. He expanded and consolidated the empire, gaining control of the land between the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers (the Raichur doab, conquered in 1512), subdued the rulers of Odisha (1514), and defeated the Sultan of Bijapur (1520). His reign was marked by peace and prosperity; he built fine temples and gopurams, and founded a suburban township called Nagalapuram after his mother. He wrote a work on statecraft in Telugu, the *Amuktamalyada*.
3. Rulers, neighbours and the horse trade
Vijayanagara competed with the Deccan Sultanates (which emerged after the Bahmani kingdom broke up) and the Gajapati rulers of Odisha, particularly for control of the fertile Raichur doab.
Warfare depended on cavalry. Horses couldn't be bred well locally, so they were imported from Arabia and Central Asia. This trade was initially controlled by Arab traders; later the Portuguese also traded horses. Local merchants who dealt in horses were called kudirai chettis.
The Portuguese arrived on the west coast in the early sixteenth century and set up trading and military stations. Their superior military technology made them important players in the region.
4. The amara-nayaka system
Nayakas were military chiefs who controlled forts and armed supporters, and often moved from place to place.
The amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation of Vijayanagara, probably adapted from the iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate.
Amara-nayakas were military commanders who received territories from the raya to govern. They collected taxes and other dues from peasants, craftspersons and traders, kept part for personal use and for maintaining a fixed contingent of horses and elephants, and paid tribute to the king annually. They also used revenue to maintain temples and irrigation works.
These troops gave the rayas an effective fighting force, but many nayakas later became powerful and established independent kingdoms, contributing to the empire's decline.
5. The battle of 1565
In 1565, the Vijayanagara army, led by the chief minister Rama Raya, was decisively defeated by the combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda at the battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (also called Talikota).
The victorious armies sacked the city, which was abandoned within a few years. The Aravidu dynasty continued to rule from Penukonda and later Chandragiri.
6. The city: water, fortifications and roads
The city lay in a natural basin formed by the Tungabhadra river, surrounded by granite hills. Streams flowing from the hills were embanked to create reservoirs.
Because the region is one of the most arid in the peninsula, elaborate arrangements were needed to store water. The Kamalapuram tank (fifteenth century) irrigated fields and supplied water to the royal centre through a channel. The Hiriya canal, drawing water from a dam across the Tungabhadra, irrigated the "irrigated heartland".
Fortifications: the Persian ambassador Abdur Razzaq (fifteenth century) described seven lines of fortifications, enclosing not just the city but also its agricultural hinterland and forests. The walls were built of dressed stone, wedge-shaped, without mortar. Gateways had arches and domes, features of architecture introduced by the Sultans, regarded as indo-Islamic.
Agricultural tracts were enclosed within walls, so that the city could withstand sieges that aimed to starve defenders.
Roads generally followed the valleys and linked temples, markets and residential areas.
7. The royal centre
The royal centre, in the south-western part of the settlement, had over 60 temples and about 30 palace-like structures.
Structure | Features |
|---|---|
King's palace | The largest enclosure, with two impressive platforms: the "audience hall" and the Mahanavami Dibba |
Mahanavami Dibba | A massive platform rising in stages, with carved reliefs, associated with the Mahanavami festival (Dussehra in the north, Durga Puja in Bengal, Navaratri in the south). During the festival, the king displayed his power: worship of the deity and the state horse, sacrifices of animals, dances, wrestling matches, processions, and the king inspecting his army and receiving tribute from nayakas |
Lotus Mahal | One of the most beautiful buildings, named by British travellers in the nineteenth century. Historians are unsure of its use; Mackenzie suggested it might have been a council chamber where the king met advisers |
Hazara Rama temple | Probably used only by the king and his family; its walls have sculpted panels depicting scenes from the Ramayana, along with royal processions |
Elephant stables | A large structure near the Lotus Mahal |
8. The sacred centre
The northern part of the city, on the banks of the Tungabhadra, was the sacred centre, with hills believed to shelter Vali and Sugriva of the Ramayana. The local goddess Pampadevi was said to have married Virupaksha, a form of Shiva, who became the guardian deity of the kingdom; the rulers issued orders in the name of Virupaksha.
Rulers' links with temples: temples were centres of learning and economic activity, and rulers built and supported them to gain legitimacy. The choice of the site for the capital may have been inspired by the Virupaksha and Pampadevi shrines.
Temple architecture:
Gopurams: huge royal gateways that often dwarfed the towers of the central shrines, signalling the presence of the temple from far away and proclaiming the power of the king who built them.
Mandapas: pavilions with carved pillars, used for music, dance and festivals, and for celebrating the marriage of deities.
Chariot streets: long, pillared colonnades extending from temple gopurams, along which temple chariots were taken in procession during festivals.
Virupaksha temple: built over centuries; Krishnadeva Raya built the hall in front of the main shrine and the eastern gopuram to mark his accession.
Vitthala temple: dedicated to Vitthala, a form of Vishnu worshipped in Maharashtra, showing how rulers brought diverse traditions into the capital. It has a famous stone chariot and several halls.
9. Sources and how they are combined
Source | What it provides |
|---|---|
Archaeology and architecture | Layout of the city, buildings, walls, water systems |
Inscriptions | Grants to temples, names of rulers and officials |
Literature in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit | Court life, values and ideas |
Travellers' accounts: Abdur Razzaq (Persian), Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz (Portuguese), Duarte Barbosa, Nicolo de Conti (Italian) | Descriptions of the city, markets, festivals and the king |
Historians must reconcile these sources; for example, the use of the Lotus Mahal is uncertain because no text clearly describes it. Paes and Nuniz described the city's markets as full of gems, grain and goods, and the city as as large as Rome.
A reliable approach to questions
For rediscovery, mention Mackenzie (1800) and Greenlaw (1856).
For political history, mention 1336, the four dynasties, Krishnadeva Raya's achievements and 1565.
For administration, explain the amara-nayaka system and its link with the iqta.
For the city, describe water management, seven fortifications and roads.
For buildings, explain the Mahanavami Dibba, Lotus Mahal, Hazara Rama temple, gopurams and mandapas.
Connections that matter
Through the eyes of travellers explains how to read foreign accounts critically.
Bhakti-Sufi traditions describes the devotional movements linked with temples.
Peasants, zamindars and the state discusses agrarian systems in the same period.
Common mistakes
Giving 1565 as the founding date. Vijayanagara was founded in 1336 and sacked in 1565.
Saying the Lotus Mahal's use is certain. Its function is still debated.
Saying horses were bred locally. They were imported from Arabia and Central Asia.
Placing the Hazara Rama temple in the sacred centre. It is in the royal centre.
Revision checklist
I can explain the rediscovery of Hampi.
I can describe the dynasties and Krishnadeva Raya.
I can explain the amara-nayaka system and the horse trade.
I can explain the 1565 battle.
I can describe water supply, fortifications and roads.
I can describe the royal and sacred centres and temple architecture.