The
Vijayanagara Empire ( , ), referred as the
Kingdom of Bisnaga by the
PortugueseThe Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
, was an empire based in
South IndiaSouth India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
n in the
Deccan PlateauThe Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in India, making up the majority of the southern part of the country. It rises a hundred meters high in the north, rising further to more than a kilometers high in the south, forming a raised triangle nested within the familiar downward-pointing triangle of...
region. It was established in 1336 by
Harihara IHarihara I , also called Hakka ಹಕ್ಕ and Vira Harihara I, was the founder of the Vijayanagara empire. He was Bhavana Sangama’s eldest son, belonged to the Kuruba clan and was founder of the Sangama dynasty, the first among the four dynasties that ruled Vijayanagara...
and his brother Bukka Raya I of the
YadavaThe Yadavas were an ancient Indian people who believed themselves to be descended from Yadu, a mythical king. The community was probably formed of four clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Satvatas, who all worshipped Lord Krishna. They are listed in ancient Indian literature as the...
lineage. The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts by the southern powers against Islamic invasions by the end of the 13th century. It lasted until 1646 although its power declined after a major military defeat in 1565 by the
Deccan sultanatesThe Deccan sultanates were five Muslim-ruled late medieval kingdoms—Bijapur, Golkonda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Berar—of south-central India. The Deccan sultanates were located on the Deccan Plateau, between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range. These kingdoms became independent during the breakup...
. The empire is named after its capital city of
VijayanagaraVijayanagara is in Bellary District, northern Karnataka. It is the name of the now-ruined capital city "which was regarded as the second Rome" that surrounds modern-day Hampi, of the historic Vijayanagara empire which extended over the southern part of India....
, whose impressive ruins surround modern
HampiHampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other...
, now a
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in modern
KarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
,
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The writings of medieval European travelers such as
Domingo PaesDomingos Paes was a Portuguese traveller who visited the Vijayanagara Empire around the year 1520 .His account of Hampi, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire is of the most detailed of all historic narrations on this ancient city...
, Fernão Nunes and
Niccolò Da ContiNiccolò de' Conti was an Italian merchant and explorer of the Republic of Venice, born in Chioggia, who traveled to India and Southeast Asia, and possibly to Southern China, during the early 15th century...
and the literature in local vernaculars provide crucial information about its history. Archaeological excavations at Vijayanagara have revealed the empire's power and wealth.
The empire's legacy includes many monuments spread over South India, the best known being the group at
HampiHampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other...
. The previous temple building traditions in South India came together in the Vijayanagara Architecture style. The mingling of all faiths and vernaculars inspired architectural innovation of
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temple construction, first in the Deccan and later in the Dravidian idioms using the local
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. Secular royal structures show the influence of the Northern Deccan Sultanate architecture. Efficient administration and vigorous overseas trade brought new technologies like water management systems for irrigation. The empire's patronage enabled fine arts and literature to reach new heights in the languages of
KannadaKannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
,
TeluguTelugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
,
TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, while
Carnatic musicCarnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
evolved into its current form. The Vijayanagara Empire created an epoch in South Indian history that transcended regionalism by promoting
HinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
as a unifying factor.
History
Differing theories have been proposed regarding the Vijayanagara empire's origins. Some claim that
Harihara IHarihara I , also called Hakka ಹಕ್ಕ and Vira Harihara I, was the founder of the Vijayanagara empire. He was Bhavana Sangama’s eldest son, belonged to the Kuruba clan and was founder of the Sangama dynasty, the first among the four dynasties that ruled Vijayanagara...
and Bukka Raya I, the founders of the empire, or
NayakaKeladi Nayaka Kingdom were an important ruling dynasty of post-medieval Karnataka, India. They initially started to rule as a feudatory of the Vijayanagar Empire...
people first associated with the Kakatiya kingdom who took control of the northern parts of the
Hoysala EmpireThe Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu....
during its decline. Other historians propose they were Kannadigas and commanders in the army of the
Hoysala EmpireThe Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu....
stationed in the Tungabhadra region to ward off Muslim invasions from the Northern India. Irrespective of their origin, historians agree the founders were supported and inspired by
Vidyaranya' is variously known as being a kingmaker, patron saint and high priest to Harihara Raya I and Bukka Raya I, the founders of the Vijayanagar Empire. He was the 12th Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham from 1380 to 1386 A.D. He was born to and in in 1268 CE. Another account has it that he...
, a saint at the Sringeri monastery to fight the Muslim invasion of South India. Writings by foreign travelers during the late medieval era combined with recent excavations in the Vijayanagara principality have uncovered much-needed information about the empire's history, fortifications, scientific developments and architectural innovations.
Before the early 14th century rise of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Hindu states of the Deccan, the Yadava Empire of Devagiri, the Kakatiya Kingdom of
WarangalWarangal is a city and a municipal corporation in Warangal district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Warangal is located northeast of the state capital of Hyderabad and is the administrative headquarters of Warangal District. This district is a combination of three cities: Warangal,...
, the Pandyan Empire of
MaduraiMadurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
, and the tiny kingdom of
KampiliKampili was a tiny kingdom on the banks of the Tungabhadra river in present day Karnataka state during the 13th century.The founder of the kingdom was a Hoysala commander, Singeya Nayaka-III who declared himself independent and created a small chiefdom...
had been repeatedly invaded by
MuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s from the north, and by 1336 they had all been defeated by Alla-ud-din Khilji and
Muhammad bin TughluqMuhammad bin Tughluq was the Turkic Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq.He was born in Kotla Tolay Khan in Multan. His wife was daughter of the raja of Dipalpur...
, the Sultans of Delhi. The
Hoysala EmpireThe Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu....
was the sole remaining Hindu state in the path of the Muslim invasion. After the death of Hoysala
Veera Ballala IIIVeera Ballala III was the last great king of the Hoysala Empire that ruled over what is now the South Indian state of Karnataka. Veera Ballala's commanders, Harihara and Bukkaraya are perhaps better known in Kannada folklore as the founders of the Vijayanagar Empire...
during a battle against the Sultan of Madurai in 1343, the Hoysala Empire merged with the growing Vijayanagara empire.
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
Purvapaschima Samudradhishavara ("master of the eastern and western seas"). By 1374 Bukka Raya I, successor to Harihara I, had defeated the chiefdom of
Arcot, the
Reddy dynastyThe Reddy kingdom was established in southern India by Prolaya Vema Reddy. The region that was ruled by the Reddy dynasty is now part of modern day coastal and central Andhra Pradesh...
of Kondavidu, the
Sultan of MaduraiThe Madurai Sultanate or the Ma'bar Sultanate was a short lived independent Muslim kingdom based in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India during the 14th century CE. It lasted from 1335 until 1378...
and gained control over
GoaGoa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
in the west and the Tungabhadra-
Krishna RiverThe Krishna River , is one of the longest rivers in central-southern India, about . It is also referred to as Krishnaveni in its original nomenclature...
doabA Doab is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers...
in the north. The original capital was in the
principalityA principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
of
AnegondiAnegondi , which literally means elephant pit in Kannada, is a small village in Koppal district of Karnataka state, located on the north banks of the Tungabhadra River on the opposite bank of the Vittala Temple....
on the northern banks of the Tungabhadra River in today's
KarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
. It was later moved to nearby Vijayanagara on the river's southern banks during the reign of Bukka Raya I.
With the Vijayanagara Kingdom now imperial in stature,
Harihara IIHarihara II was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty. He patronised Kannada poet Madhura, a Jaina. An important work on Vedas was completed during his time...
, the second son of Bukka Raya I, further consolidated the kingdom beyond the
Krishna RiverThe Krishna River , is one of the longest rivers in central-southern India, about . It is also referred to as Krishnaveni in its original nomenclature...
and brought the whole of South India under the Vijayanagara umbrella. The next ruler, Deva Raya I, emerged successful against the Gajapatis of
OrissaOrissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
and undertook important works of fortification and irrigation.
Deva Raya IIDeva Raya II was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty. Perhaps the greatest of the Sangama dynasty rulers, he patronised some of the famous Kannada and Telugu poets of the time...
(called
Gajabetekara) succeeded to the throne in 1424 and was possibly the most capable of the
Sangama dynastyThe Sangama Dynasty was the first dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire. Founded by the brothers, Harihara I and Bukka Raya I, they were sons of Bhavana Sangama...
rulers. He quelled rebelling feudal lords as well as the Zamorin of
CalicutKozhikode , also known as Calicut, is a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the third largest city in Kerala and the headquarters of Kozhikode district....
and
QuilonQuilon may refer to,* Venad, a former state on Malabar Coast, India* Kollam , Kerala state, India* Kollam district, Kerala state...
in the south. He invaded the island of
LankaSri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
and became overlord of the kings of Burma at Pegu and
TanasserimTanintharyi Region , is an administrative region of Myanmar, covering the long narrow southern part of the country on the Kra Isthmus. It borders with the Andaman Sea to the west and with the Tenasserim Hills, beyond which lies Thailand, to the east. To the north is the Mon State. The capital of...
. The empire declined in the late 15th century until the serious attempts by commander
Saluva Narasimha Deva RayaSaluva Narasimha Deva Raya was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Saluva Dynasty. A patron of the Madhwa saint Sripadaraya, he authored the Sanskrit work Ramabhyudayam. He also patronised Kannada poet Kavi Linga....
in 1485 and by general
Tuluva Narasa NayakaAfter the death of king Saluva Narasimha, crown prince Thimma Bhupala was murdered by an army commander. The faithful Narasa Nayaka then crowned the other prince, Narasimha Raya II but retained all administrative powers in order to bring stability to the kingdom. He was called the rakshakarta and...
in 1491 to reconsolidate the empire. After nearly two decades of conflict with rebellious chieftains, the empire eventually came under the rule of Krishnadevaraya, the son of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka.
In the following decades the Vijayanagara empire dominated all of Southern India and fought off invasions from the five established
Deccan SultanatesThe Deccan sultanates were five Muslim-ruled late medieval kingdoms—Bijapur, Golkonda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Berar—of south-central India. The Deccan sultanates were located on the Deccan Plateau, between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range. These kingdoms became independent during the breakup...
. The empire reached its peak during the rule of
KrishnadevarayaŚrī Kriṣhṇa Devarāya , , , and also known as Krishna Devarayulu in some inscriptions was the famed Emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire who reigned from 1509–1529 CE.He is the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty. Presiding over the empire at its zenith, he is regarded as an icon by many Indians...
when Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious. The empire annexed areas formerly under the Sultanates in the northern Deccan and the territories in the eastern Deccan, including
KalingaKalinga was an early state in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Orissa/Utkal , as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to...
, while simultaneously maintaining control over all its subordinates in the south. Many important monuments were either completed or commissioned during the time of Krishnadevaraya.
Krishnadevaraya was followed by Achyuta Raya in 1530 and in 1542 by Sadashiva Raya while the real power lay with
Aliya Rama RayaRama Raya , popularly known as "Aliya" Rama Raya, was the progenitor of the "Aravidu" dynasty of Vijayanagar Empire. This dynasty, the fourth and last to hold sway over the Vijayanagara Empire, is often not counted as a ruling dynasty of that empire, for reasons delineated below. Rama Raya...
, the son-in-law of Krishnadevaraya, whose relationship with the Deccan Sultans who allied against him has been debated.
The sudden capture and killing of Aliya Rama Raya in 1565 at the
Battle of TalikotaThe Battle of Talikota , a watershed battle fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, resulted in a rout of Vijayanagara, and ended the last great Hindu kingdom in South India...
, against an alliance of the Deccan sultanates, after a seemingly easy victory for the Vijayanagara armies, created havoc and confusion in the Vijayanagara ranks, which were then completely routed. The Sultanates' army later plundered Hampi and reduced it to the ruinous state in which it remains; it was never re-occupied. Tirumala Raya, the sole surviving commander, left Vijayanagara for Penukonda with vast amounts of treasure on the back of 550 elephants.
The empire went into a slow decline regionally, although trade with the Portuguese continued, and the British were given a land grant for the establishment of Madras.
Tirumala Deva RayaTirumala Deva Raya was the first Crowned King of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Aravidu Dynasty. He was the brother of the Aliya Rama Raya and son-in-law of Krishna Deva Raya....
was succeeded by his son Sriranga I later followed by Venkata II who made
ChandragiriChandragiri , is a suburb of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. Recently it is included under Municipal Corporation limits of Tirupati...
his capital, repulsed the invasion of the
Bahmani SultanateThe Bahmani Sultanate was a Muslim state of the Deccan in southern India and one of the great medieval Indian kingdoms...
and saved
PenukondaPenukonda or Penu Konda is a small town in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is 70 km away from Anantapur town.-Geography:Penukonda is located at...
from being captured. His successor, Ramadeva, took power and ruled till 1632 after whose death, Venkata III became king and ruled for about ten years after which
VelloreVellore It is considered one of the oldest cities in South India and lies on the banks of the Palar river on the site of Vellore Fort. The city lies between Chennai and Bangalore and the Temple towns of Thiruvannamalai and Tirupati...
was made the capital. The empire was finally conquered by the Sultanates of Bijapur and
GolkondaGolkonda or Golla konda a ruined city of south-central India and capital of ancient Kingdom of Golkonda , is situated 11 km west of Hyderabad.The most important builder of Golkonda was a Hindu Kakatiya King...
. The largest feudatories of the Vijayanagar empire — the
Mysore KingdomThe Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
,
Keladi NayakaKeladi Nayaka Kingdom were an important ruling dynasty of post-medieval Karnataka, India. They initially started to rule as a feudatory of the Vijayanagar Empire...
,
Nayaks of MaduraiThe Madurai Nayaks or Nayak Dynasty of Madurai were rulers of a region comprising most of modern-day Tamil Nadu, India, with Madurai as their capital...
,
Nayaks of TanjoreThanjavur Nayaks were the rulers of Thanjavur principality of Tamil Nadu between the 16th to the 17th century C.E. The Nayaks were subordinates of the imperial Vijayanagara emperors, and were appointed as provincial governors by the Vijayanagar Emperor who divided the Tamil country into three...
,
Nayakas of ChitradurgaNayakas of Chitradurga ruled parts of eastern Karnataka. During the rule of Hoysala Empire and Vijayanagara Empire, they served as a feudatory. Later after the fall of the Vijayanagara empire, they ruled at times as an independent kingdom and at other times as feudatory of the Mysore Kingdom,...
and
Nayak KingdomNayak dynasties emerged after the downfall of Vijayanagara Empire. The Nayaks were originally military governors under the supervision of the Vijayanagara Empire. After the battle of Talikota, several of them declared independence...
of
GingeeGingee is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The nearest town with a railway station is Tindivanam, 28 km away....
palegars of gummanayakanapalya — declared independence and went on to have a significant impact on the history of South India in the coming centuries. These Nayaka kingdoms lasted into the 18th century while the Mysore Kingdom remained a princely state until Indian Independence in 1947 although they came under the
British RajBritish Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
in 1799 after the death of
Tipu SultanTipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
.
Governance
The rulers of the Vijayanagara empire maintained the well-functioning administrative methods developed by their predecessors, the Hoysala, Kakatiya and Pandya kingdoms, to govern their territories and made changes only where necessary. The King was the ultimate authority, assisted by a cabinet of ministers (
Pradhana) headed by the prime minister (
Mahapradhana). Other important titles recorded in inscriptions were the chief secretary (
Karyakartha or
Rayaswami) and the imperial officers (
Adhikari). All high ranking ministers and officers were required to have military training. A secretariat near the king's palace employed
scribesScribes is a minimalist and extensible text editor for GNOME that combines simplicity with power. Scribes focuses on ways workflow and productivity can be intelligently automated and radically improved...
and officers to maintain records made official by using a wax seal imprinted with the ring of the king. At the lower administrative levels, wealthy feudal landlords (
Goudas) supervised accountants (
Karanikas or
Karnam) and guards (
Kavalu). The palace administration was divided into 72 departments (
Niyogas), each having several female attendants chosen for their youth and beauty (some imported or captured in victorious battles) who were trained to handle minor administrative matters and to serve men of nobility as courtesans or concubines.
The empire was divided into five main provinces (
Rajya), each under a commander (
Dandanayaka or
Dandanatha) and headed by a governor, often from the royal family, who used the native language for administrative purposes. A
Rajya was divided into regions (
Vishaya Vente or
Kottam), and further divided into counties (
Sime or
Nadu) themselves subdivided into municipalities (
Kampana or
Sthala). Hereditary families ruled their respective territories and paid tribute to the empire while some areas, such as Keladi and
MaduraiMadurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
, came under the direct supervision of a commander.
On the battlefields, the king's commanders led the troops. The empire's war strategy rarely involved massive invasions; more often it employed small scale methods such as attacking and destroying individual forts. The empire was among the first in India to use long range
artilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
commonly manned by foreign gunners. (Gunners from present day
TurkmenistanTurkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
were considered the best). Army troops were of two types: The king's personal army directly recruited by the empire and the feudal army under each feudatory. King Krishnadevaraya's personal army consisted of 100,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalrymen and over 900 elephants. This number was only a part of the army numbering over 1.1 million soldiers, a figure that varied as an army of two million has also been recorded along with the existence of a navy as evidenced by the use of the term
Navigadaprabhu (commander of the navy). The army recruited from all classes of society (supported by the collection of additional feudal tributes from feudatory rulers), and consisted of
archersArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
and
musketA musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
eers wearing quilted
tunicA tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...
s, shieldmen with swords and
poignardPoignard, or poniard, , refers to a long, lightweight thrusting knife with a continuously tapering, acutely pointed blade and crossguard, historically worn by the upper class, noblemen, or the knighthood...
s in their girdles, and soldiers carrying shields so larges that no armour was necessary. The horses and elephants were fully armoured and the elephants had knives fastened to their tusks to do maximum damage in battle.
The capital city was completely dependent on the water supply systems constructed to channel and store water, and ensure a consistent supply throughout the year. The remains of these hydraulic systems have given historians a picture of the prevailing
surface waterSurface-water hydrology is a field that encompasses all surface waters of the globe...
distribution methods in use at that time in South India's semiarid regions. Contemporary inscriptions and notes of foreign travelers describe how huge tanks were constructed by labourers. Excavations have uncovered the remains of a well-connected water distribution system existing solely within the royal enclosure and the large temple complexes (suggesting it was for the exclusive use of royalty, and for special ceremonies) with sophisticated channels using gravity and
siphonThe word siphon is sometimes used to refer to a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. But in the English language today, the word siphon usually refers to a tube in an inverted U shape which causes a liquid to flow uphill, above the surface of the reservoir,...
s to
transport waterWater transportation is the intentional movement of water over large distances. Methods of transportation fall into three categories:* Aqueducts, which include pipelines, canals, and tunnels,...
through
pipelinesPipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
. The only structures resembling public waterworks are the remains of large water tanks that collected the seasonal monsoon water and then dried up in summer except for the few fed by springs. In the fertile agricultural areas near the
Tungabhadra RiverThe Tungabhadra River is a sacred river in southern India that flows through the state of Karnataka to Andhra Pradesh, where it serves as the chief tributary of the Krishna River...
, canals were dug to guide the river water into
irrigation tankFor etymology, see Storage tank#Etymology.In India, an irrigation tank or tank is an artificial reservoir of any size. . It can also have a natural or man-made spring included as part of a structure...
s. These canals had
sluiceA sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill...
s that were opened and closed to control the water flow. In other areas the administration encouraged the digging of wells monitored by administrative authorities. Large tanks in the capital city were constructed with royal patronage while smaller tanks were funded by wealthy individuals to gain social and religious merit.
Economy
The empire's economy was largely dependent on agriculture. Sorghum (
jowar), cotton and
pulse legumesA pulse is an annual leguminous crop yielding from one to twelve seeds of variable size, shape, and color within a pod. Pulses are used for food and animal feed. The term "pulse", as used by the Food and Agricultural Organization , is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry seed...
grew in semi arid regions, while sugarcane, rice and wheat thrived in rainy areas.
Betel leavesThe Betel is the leaf of a vine belonging to the Piperaceae family, which includes pepper and Kava. It is valued both as a mild stimulant and for its medicinal properties...
,
arecaAreca is a genus of about 50 species of single-stemmed palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from Malaysia to the Solomon Islands. The generic name Areca is derived from a name used locally on the Malabar Coast of India....
(for chewing), and coconut were the principal cash crops, and large scale cotton production supplied the weaving centers of the empire's vibrant textile industry. Spices such as
turmericTurmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...
, pepper,
cardamomCardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...
and ginger grew in the remote
MalnadMalenadu is a region of Karnataka state in South India. Malenadu covers the western and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, roughly 100 kilometers in width. Malenadu covers portions of the Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu and Hassan districts....
hill region and were transported to the city for trade. The empire's capital city was a thriving business centre that included a burgeoning market in large quantities of precious gems and gold. Prolific temple-building provided employment to thousands of masons,
sculptorsSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, and other skilled artisans.
Land ownership was important. Most of the growers were
tenant farmerA tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management; while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying...
s and were given the right of part ownership of the land over time. Tax policies encouraging needed produce made distinctions between land use to determine tax levies. For example, the daily market availability of rose petals was important for perfumers, so cultivation of roses received a lower tax assessment. Salt production and the manufacture of salt pans were controlled by similar means. The making of
gheeGhee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
(clarified butter), which was sold as an oil for human consumption and as a fuel for lighting lamps, was profitable. Exports to China intensified and included cotton, spices, jewels, semi-precious stones, ivory, rhino horn, ebony, amber, coral, and aromatic products such as perfumes. Large vessels from China made frequent visits, some captained by the Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho, and brought Chinese products to the empire's 300 ports, large and small, on the
Arabian SeaThe Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
and the
Bay of BengalThe Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
. The ports of
MangaloreMangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
,
HonavarHonavar or Honnavar , is a port town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India. The town is the headquarters of Honnavar taluk.- History :...
,
BhatkalBhatkal is also known as Batecala in some historical text especially in Portuguese history.Once ruled by Jain King Bhattakalanka and thus the name. Bhatkal is a port town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India 126 km from Karwar. The town lies on NH-17 running between Mumbai and Mangalore...
,
BarkurBarkur is a cluster of 3 villages [Hosala, Hanehalli, Kachoor] in Udupi district of the Karnataka state in South India. The place is located on the bank of river Seeta.-History:...
, Cochin,
CannanoreKannur , also known as Cannanore, is a city in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the District of Kannur and 518km north of state capital Trivandrum. During British rule in India, Kannur was known by its old name Cannanore, which is still in...
,
MachilipatnamMachilipatnam is a city and a special grade municipality in the Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located south east of state capital, Hyderabad.-History:...
and Dharmadam were the most important.
When merchant ships docked, the merchandise was taken into official custody and taxes levied on all items sold. The security of the merchandise was guaranteed by the administration officials. Traders of many nationalities (Arabs,
PersiansThe Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
,
GuzeratesGujar Khan is a city in Rawalpindi District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the headquarters of Gujar Khan Tehsil, the largest tehsil of Punjab. It is approximately 55 kilometres southeast of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan and 220 km to the north west of Lahore, capital of Punjab...
,
KhorassanianGreater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
s) settled in Calicut, drawn by the thriving trade business. Ship building prospered and
keelIn boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
ed ships of 1000–1200
bahares (burden) were built without decks by sewing the entire
hullA hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
with ropes rather than fastening them with nails. Ships sailed to the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
ports of
AdenAden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
and
MeccaMecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
with Vijayanagara goods sold as far away as
VeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. The empire's principal exports were pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom,
myrobalanPrunus cerasifera is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum. It is native to Europe and Asia....
,
tamarind timberTamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...
,
anafistulaCassia fistula, known as the golden shower tree and other names, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to southern Asia, from southern Pakistan east through India to Myanmar and south to Sri Lanka. It is the national tree of Thailand, and its flower is Thailand's national flower...
, precious and semi-precious stones, pearls, musk, ambergris, rhubarb, aloe, cotton cloth and porcelain. Cotton yarn was shipped to Burma and indigo to Persia. Chief imports from
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
were copper, quicksilver (mercury), vermilion, coral, saffron, coloured velvets, rose water, knives, coloured
camletCamlet, also commonly known as camelot or camblet, is a woven fabric that might have originally been made of camel or goat's hair, now chiefly of goat's hair and silk, or of wool and cotton...
s, gold and silver. Persian horses were imported to Cannanore before a two week land trip to the capital. Silk arrived from China and sugar from
BengalBengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
.
East coast trade hummed, with goods arriving from
GolkondaGolkonda or Golla konda a ruined city of south-central India and capital of ancient Kingdom of Golkonda , is situated 11 km west of Hyderabad.The most important builder of Golkonda was a Hindu Kakatiya King...
where rice, millet, pulse and tobacco were grown on a large scale. Dye crops of indigo and chay root were produced for the weaving industry. A mineral rich region,
MachilipatnamMachilipatnam is a city and a special grade municipality in the Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located south east of state capital, Hyderabad.-History:...
was the gateway for high quality iron and steel exports. Diamond mining was active in the Kollur region. The cotton weaving industry produced two types of cottons, plain
calicoCalico is a plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may contain unseparated husk parts, for example. The fabric is less coarse and thick than canvas or denim, but owing to its unfinished and undyed appearance, it is still very cheap. Originally from the...
and muslin (brown, bleached or dyed). Cloth printed with coloured patterns crafted by native techniques were exported to
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
and the
Far EastThe Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
. Golkonda specialised in plain cotton and
PulicatPulicat is a historic seashore town in Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu state, South India. It is about 60 km north of Chennai and 3 km from Elavur, on the barrier island of Sriharikota, which separates Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal. Pulicat lake is a shallow salt water lagoon...
in printed. The main imports on the east coast were non-ferrous metals, camphor, porcelain, silk and luxury goods.
Social life
Most information on the social life in Vijayanagara empire comes from the writings of foreign visitors and evidence that research teams in the Vijayanagara area have uncovered. The Hindu caste system was prevalent and rigidly followed, with each caste represented by a local body of elders who represented the community. These elders set the rules and regulations that were implemented with the help of royal decrees.
UntouchabilityUntouchability is the social practice of ostracizing a minority group by segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate. The excluded group could be one that did not accept the norms of the excluding group and historically included foreigners, nomadic tribes, law-breakers...
was part of the caste system and these communities were represented by leaders (
Kaivadadavaru). The Muslim communities were represented by their own group in coastal Karnataka. The caste system did not, however, prevent distinguished persons from all castes from being promoted to high ranking cadre in the army and administration. In civil life, by virtue of the caste system,
BrahminBrahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s enjoyed a high level of respect. With the exception of a few who took to military careers, most Brahmins concentrated on religious and literary matters. Their separation from material wealth and power made them ideal arbiters in local judicial matters, and their presence in every town and village was a calculated investment made by the nobility and aristocracy to maintain order. However, the popularity of low-caste scholars (such as
MollaAtukuri Molla was a famous Telugu poetess who authored the Telugu-language Ramayana. She was popularly known as Molla or Mollamamba.-Biography:...
and Kanakadasa) and their works (including those of
VemanaKumaragiri Vema Reddy popularly known as Vemana was a 14th century Telugu poet. His poems were written in the popular vernacular of Telugu, and are known for their use of simple language and native idioms. His poems discuss the subjects of Yoga, wisdom and morality...
and
SarvajnaSarvajña was a poet in the Kannada language. He is famous for his pithy three-lined poems which are called tripadis, "with three padas, three-liners", a form of Vachanas. He is also referred as Sarvagna in modern translation.The period of Sarvajña's life has not been determined accurately, and...
) is an indication of the degree of social fluidity in the society.
The practice of
SatiFor other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
was common, though voluntary, and mostly practiced among the upper classes. Over fifty inscriptions attesting to this have been discovered in the Vijayanagara principality alone. These inscriptions are called
Satikal (Sati stone) or
Sati-virakal (Sati
hero stoneHero stone is a memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero in battle of Tamil People. A hero stone can display a variety of adornments, including bas relief panels, statues, and figures of carved stone...
).
Satikals commemorated the death of a woman by entering into fire after the death of her husband while
Sati-virakals were made for a woman who performed
Sati after her husband's heroic death. Either way, the woman was raised to the level of a demi-goddess and proclaimed by the sculpture of a Sun and crescent moon on the stone.
The socio-religious movements of the previous centuries, such as
LingayatismLingayatism, also known as Veerashaivism, is a distinct Shaivite denomination in India. It makes several departures from mainstream Hinduism and propounds monotheism through worship centered on Lord Shiva. It also rejects the authority of the Vedas and the caste system. The adherents of this faith...
, provided momentum for flexible social norms to which women were expected to abide. By this time
South IndiaSouth India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
n women had crossed most barriers and were actively involved in matters hitherto considered the monopoly of men, such as administration, business and trade, and involvement in the fine arts.
Tirumalamba DeviTirumalamba, a poet of the Vijayanagara Empire , wrote "Varadambica Parinayam", the story of marriage of King Achyuta Deva Raya, in Sanskrit....
who wrote
Varadambika Parinayam and
GangadeviGangadevi, also known as Gangambika, was a poet in the Vijayanagara Empire during the 14th century and chronicled the story of the victory of her husband, Kumara Kampana, son of Bukka Raya I over the Muslims in Madhura in the form of a poem. The title of the eight chapter poem was Madhura...
who wrote
Madhuravijayam were among the notable women poets of the era. Early Telugu women poets like
Tallapaka TimmakkaTallapaka Tirumalamma or Thimmakka was a famous Telugu poet who wrote Subhadra Kalyanam in Telugu. She was wife of famous singer-poet Annamacharya and was popularly known as Timmakka.-Early life:...
and Atukuri Molla became popular during this period. The court of the Nayaks of Tanjore is known to have patronised several women poets. The Devadasi system existed, as well as legalised prostitution relegated to a few streets in each city. The popularity of harems amongst men of the royalty is well known from records.
Well-to-do men wore the
Pethaor
Kulavi, a tall
turbanIn English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...
made of silk and decorated with gold. As in most Indian societies, jewellery was used by men and women and records describe the use of anklets, bracelets, finger-rings, necklaces and ear rings of various types. During celebrations, men and women adorned themselves with flower garlands and used perfumes made of rose water,
civetThe family Viverridae is made up of around 30 species of medium-sized mammal, including all of the genets, the binturong, most of the civets, and the two African linsangs....
,
muskMusk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. Musk was a name originally given to a substance with a...
or
sandalwoodSandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...
. In stark contrast to the commoners whose lives were modest, the lives of the empire's kings and queens were full of ceremonial pomp in the court. Queens and princesses had numerous attendants who were lavishly dressed and adorned with fine jewellery, their daily duties being light.
Physical exercises were popular with men and wrestling was an important male preoccupation for sport and entertainment. Even women wrestlers are mentioned in records. Gymnasiums have been discovered inside royal quarters and records speak of regular physical training for commanders and their armies during peace time. Royal palaces and market places had special arenas where royalty and common people alike amused themselves by watching matches such as cock fights, ram fights and wrestling between women. Excavations within the Vijayanagara city limits have revealed the existence of various types of community-based activities in the form of engravings on boulders, rock platforms and temple floors, implying these were places of casual social interaction. Some of these games are in use today and others are yet to be identified.
Religion
The Vijayanagara kings were tolerant of all religions and sects as writings by foreign visitors show. The kings used titles such as
Gobrahamana Pratipalanacharya ("protector of cows") and
Hindurayasuratrana ("upholder of Hindu faith") that testified to their intention of protecting Hinduism and yet were at the same time staunchly Islamicate in their court ceremonials and dress as Philip Wagoner points out in his 1996 article 'Sultan Among Hindu Kings' published in the Journal of Asian Studies. The Empire's founders Harihara I and Bukka Raya I were devout Shaivas (worshippers of
ShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
), but made grants to the Vaishnava order of Sringeri with
Vidyaranya' is variously known as being a kingmaker, patron saint and high priest to Harihara Raya I and Bukka Raya I, the founders of the Vijayanagar Empire. He was the 12th Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham from 1380 to 1386 A.D. He was born to and in in 1268 CE. Another account has it that he...
as their patron saint, and designated
VarahaVaraha is the third Avatar of the Hindu Godhead Vishnu, in the form of a Boar. He appeared in order to defeat Hiranyaksha, a demon who had taken the Earth and carried it to the bottom of what is described as the cosmic ocean in the story. The battle between Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to...
(the boar, an
AvatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
of
VishnuVishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
) as their
emblemAn emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
. It is also important to note here that over one-fourth of the archaeological dig found a "Islamic Quarter" not far from the "Royal Quarter." Nobles from Central Asia's Timurid kingdoms also came down to Vijayanagara. The later Saluva and
TuluvaThe Tuluva -Geographic Distribution :Though most of the Tuluva population is found in the Tulu Nadu region, migrant poplulations are found the world over. In recent times, the first period of migration started at the beginning of the 20th century to places such as Mumbai and Chennai and other...
kings were Vaishnava by faith, but worshipped at the feet of Lord Virupaksha (Shiva) at Hampi as well as Lord
VenkateshwaraVenkateswara also known as Srinivasa, Balaji, Venkata and Venkatachalapati , is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara means the Lord who destroys the sins of the people...
(Vishnu) at
TirupatiTirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....
. A Sanskrit work,
Jambavati Kalyanam by King Krishnadevaraya, called Lord Virupaksha
Karnata Rajya Raksha Mani ("protective jewel of
Karnata EmpireThe Karnata Empire or Karnataka Empire is an alternate name for the Vijayanagara Empire. This name has been used in some important Vijayanagara inscriptions and literary works of the Vijayanagara times including the Sanskrit work Jambavati Kalyanam by King Krishnadevaraya and Telugu work Vasu...
"). The kings patronised the saints of the
dvaitaDvaita is a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya....
order (philosophy of dualism) of
MadhvacharyaMadhvācārya was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda "Philosophy of Reality", popularly known as the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedānta philosophies. Madhvācārya was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in...
at
Udupi.
The
BhaktiIn Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
(devotional) movement was active during this time, and involved well known
HaridasaThe Haridasa devotional movement is considered as one of the turning points in the cultural history of India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual...
s (devotee saints) of that time. Like the Virashaiva movement of the 12th century, this movement presented another strong current of devotion, pervading the lives of millions. The haridasas represented two groups, the
VyasakutaVyasakuta was one of two divisions of Haridasas, a group within the Bhakti movement, one of the monotheistic Hindu religious devotional movements focusing on the spiritual practice of loving devotion to a God, called bhakti. This generally means the worship of Shiva or Vishnu or...
and
DasakutaDasakuta was one of two divisions of Haridasas, a group within the Bhakti movement, one of the monotheistic Hindu religious devotional movements focusing on the spiritual practice of loving devotion to a God, called bhakti...
, the former being required to be proficient in the
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, Upanishads and other Darshanas, while the
Dasakuta merely conveyed the message of Madhvacharya through the Kannada language to the people in the form of devotional songs (
Devaranamas and
Kirthanas). The philosophy of Madhvacharya was spread by eminent disciples such as
NaraharitirthaSri Naraharitirtha CE. was a disciple of 13th Century Indian saint Madhvacharya and is considered by some as the founder of the Haridasa movement in India. He was not only a great saint but also a royal pontiff as evidenced by some inscriptions...
,
JayatirthaSeer Jayateertharu was the sixth pontiff of Sri Madhvacharya Peetha. He is one of the most important seers in the Dvaita philosophy on account of his elucidations of Sri Ananda Teertha's masterpieces...
,
VyasatirthaVyasatirtha , also called Vyasaraja or Vyasaraya or Vyasraja swamin, was acclaimed as one of the three spiritual lights or munitrayam of dvaita Vedanta, i.e., Sri Madhvacharya, Sri Jayatirtha and Sri Vyasatirtha. He was a scholar of very high order with a judicious defence of the Dvaita Vedanta...
,
SripadarayaSripadaraya, a haridasa, is also known as Sripadaraja or Lakshminarayana Tirtha .Sripadaraya was born in Abburu in Chennapattana taluk of Karnataka state. It is believed that he was the incarnation of dhruva...
,
VadirajatirthaSri Vadirajatirtha , traditionally 1480 - 1600, a Haridasa, is said to have been a Shivalli Tulu Brahmin and native of the village of Hoovinakere, near Kumbhashi in Kundapura taluk, Udupi District in Karnataka state...
and others. Vyasatirtha, the
guru (teacher) of Vadirajatirtha, Purandaradasa (Father of Carnatic music) and Kanakadasa earned the devotion of King Krishnadevaraya. The king considered the saint his
Kuladevata (family deity) and honoured him in his writings. During this time, another great composer of early carnatic music,
AnnamacharyaSri Tallapaka Annamacharya was the official songmaster of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, and a Telugu composer who composed around 36000 keertana songs, many of which were in praise of Venkateswara, the presiding deity of the temple...
composed hundreds of
Kirthanas in
TeluguTelugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
at
TirupatiTirupati is a major pilgrimage city located in the Chittoor district and seventh biggest city of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located at the foothills of the Eastern Ghats at a distance of south of Hyderabad, the capital of the state, east of Bangalore, and north of Chennai.Tirupati is famous...
in present day
Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
.
The defeat of the Jain Western Ganga Dynasty by the Cholas in early 11th century and the rising numbers of followers of Vaishnava Hinduism and Virashaivism in the 12th century was mirrored by a decreased interest in Jainism. Two notable locations of Jain worship in the Vijayanagara territory were
ShravanabelagolaShravana Belgola is a city located in the Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is 158 km from Bangalore. The statue of Gommateshvara Bahubali at Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Jainism, one that reached a peak in architectural and sculptural...
and
KambadahalliKambadahalli is a village in Mandya district of Karnataka state, in southwestern India. Previously known as Kambapuri, it is one of the oldest and most important Jain religious centers in Karnataka. The monuments here were built by the Western Ganga Dynasty in the 9th - 10th century...
.
Islamic contact with South India began as early as the 7th century, a result of trade between the Southern kingdoms and
ArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
lands. Jumma Masjids existed in the Rashtrakuta empire by the 10th century and many mosques flourished on the
Malabar coastThe Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...
by the early 14th century. Muslim settlers married local women; their children were known as Mappillas (
Moplahs) and were actively involved in
horse tradingIn the original sense, Horse trading is the buying and selling of horses, also called "Horse Dealing". Due to the difficulties in evaluating the merits of a horse offered for sale, the selling of horses offered great opportunities for dishonesty...
and manning shipping fleets. The interactions between the Vijayanagara empire and the Bahamani Sultanates to the north increased the presence of Muslims in the south. The introduction of
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
began as early as the 8th century as shown by the finding of
copper platesIndian copper plate inscriptions play an important role in the reconstruction of the history of India. Prior to their discovery, historians were forced to rely on ambiguous archaeological findings such as religious text of uncertain origin and interpretations of bits of surviving traditions,...
inscribed with land grants to Malabar Christians. Christian travelers wrote of the scarcity of Christians in South India in the Middle Ages, promoting its attractiveness to missionaries. The arrival of the
PortugueseThe Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
in the 15th century and their connections through trade with the empire, the propagation of the faith by
Saint XavierFrancis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...
(1545) and later the presence of Dutch settlements fostered the growth of Christianity in the south.
Literature
During the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire, poets, scholars and philosophers wrote in Kannada, Sanskrit and other regional languages like Telugu and Tamil and covered such subjects as religion, biography,
Prabhanda (fiction), music, grammar, poetry and medicine. The Court language of the Vijayanagara Empire was Kannada. Later, Telugu language became a popular literary medium, reaching its peak under the patronage of
KrishnadevarayaŚrī Kriṣhṇa Devarāya , , , and also known as Krishna Devarayulu in some inscriptions was the famed Emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire who reigned from 1509–1529 CE.He is the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty. Presiding over the empire at its zenith, he is regarded as an icon by many Indians...
.
Most Sanskrit works were commentaries either on the
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
or on the
RamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
and
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
epics, written by well known figures such as
Sayana' was an important commentator on the Vedas. He flourished under King Bukka I and his successor Harihara II, in the Vijayanagar Empire of South India...
and Vidyaranya that extolled the superiority of the Advaita philosophy over other rival Hindu philosophies. Other writers were famous
DvaitaDvaita is a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya....
saints of the
Udupi order such as Jayatirtha (earning the title
Tikacharya for his polemicial writings), Vyasatirtha who wrote rebuttals to the Advaita philosophy and of the conclusions of earlier logicians, and Vadirajatirtha and Sripadaraya both of whom criticised the beliefs of Adi Sankara. Apart from these saints, noted Sanskrit scholars adorned the courts of the Vijayanagara kings and their feudatory chiefdoms. Many kings of the dynasty were themselves litterateurs and authored classics such as King Krishnadevaraya's
Jambavati Kalyana, a poetic and dramatically skillful work.
The Kannada poets and scholars of the empire produced important writings supporting the Vaishnava
BhaktiIn Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
movement heralded by the
HaridasaThe Haridasa devotional movement is considered as one of the turning points in the cultural history of India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual...
s (devotees of Vishnu),
BrahminBrahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
ical and Virashaiva (
LingayatismLingayatism, also known as Veerashaivism, is a distinct Shaivite denomination in India. It makes several departures from mainstream Hinduism and propounds monotheism through worship centered on Lord Shiva. It also rejects the authority of the Vedas and the caste system. The adherents of this faith...
) literature. The
HaridasaThe Haridasa devotional movement is considered as one of the turning points in the cultural history of India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual...
poets celebrated their devotion through songs called
Devaranama (lyrical poems) in the
ragale metre. Their inspirations were the teachings of Madhvacharya and Vyasatirtha. Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa are considered the foremost among many
Dasas (devotees) by virtue of their immense contribution.
Kumara VyasaKumara Vyasa is the pen name of Gadhugina Veera Naranappa , a classical poet of Kannada. His pen name is a tribute to his magnum opus, a rendering of the Mahabharatha in Kannada. Kumara Vyasa literally means Little Vyasa or Son of Vyasa....
, the most notable of Brahmin scholars wrote
Gadugina Bharata, a translation of the epic
Mahabharata. This work marks a transition of Kannada literature from old Kannada to modern Kannada.
ChamarasaChamarasa was an eminent Virashaiva poet unsurpassed in the Kannada literature, during the Vijayanagar Empire, a powerful empire in Southern India of the 13th and 14th centuries...
was a famous Virashaiva scholar and poet who had many debates with Vaishnava scholars in the court of Devaraya II. His
Prabhulinga Lile, later translated into Telugu and Tamil, was a eulogy of Saint
Allama PrabhuAllama Prabhu is a mystic-saint and Vachana poet of the Kannada language in the 12th century. Prabhu is the patron saint , the undisputed spiritual authority, and an integral part of the Lingayata movement that decisively shaped society in medieval Karnataka and...
(the saint was considered an incarnation of Lord Ganapathi while
ParvatiParvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
took the form of a princess of Banavasi).
At this peak of
TeluguThe Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
literature, the most famous writing in the
Prabhanda style was
Manucharitamu. King Krishnadevaraya was an accomplished Telugu scholar and wrote the celebrated
Amuktamalyada. In his court were the eight famous scholars regarded as the pillars (Ashtadiggajas) of the literary assembly, the most famous being
Allasani PeddanaAllasani Peddana was a famous Telugu poet and was ranked as the foremost of the Astadiggajalu the title for the group of eight poets in the court of King Krishnadevaraya, a ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire.-Biography:...
honoured with the title
Andhrakavitapitamaha (father of Telugu poetry) and
Tenali RamakrishnaGarlapati Tenali Ramakrishna , popularly known as Tenali Rama and Vikata Kavi, was a court-poet of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. He was one of the Ashtadiggajas who belonged to the court of Krishnadevaraya in Vijayanagar....
, Krishnadevaraya's court jester who authored several acclaimed works. This was the age of
SrinathaSrinatha was a well-known 15th-century Telugu poet who popularised the Prabandha style of composition.-Biography:Srinatha was born to Bhimamba and Marayya in 1370....
, the greatest of all Telugu poets in legend, who wrote books like
Marutratcharitamu and
Salivahana-sapta-sati. He was patronised by King Devaraya II and his stature was equal to the most important ministers in the court.
Though much of the
TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
literature from this period came from Tamil speaking regions ruled by the feudatory Pandya who gave particular attention on the cultivation of Tamil literature, some poets were patronised by the Vijayanagara kings.
Svarupananda DesikarSvarupananda Desikar was a noted Tamil scholar during the late 14th century – early 15th century. Among other writings, he is known for his anthology containing 2824 verses on the Advaita philosophy. This work is known as Sivaprakasap-perundirattu....
wrote an anthology of 2824 verses,
Sivaprakasap-perundirattu, on the Advaita philosophy. His pupil the ascetic,
TattuvarayarTattuvarayar was an ascetic scholar and disciple of Svarupananda Desikar in the late 14th century - early 15th century time. He composed an anthology of verses on the Advaita philosophy called Kurundirattu containing about 1400 verses around the same time his guru wrote an anthology...
, wrote a shorter anthology,
Kurundirattu, that contained about half the number of verses. Krishnadevaraya patronised the Tamil Vaishnava poet Haridasa whose
Irusamaya Vilakkam was an exposition of the two Hindu systems, Vaishnava and Shaiva, with a preference for the former.
Notable among secular writings on music and medicine were
Vidyaranya' is variously known as being a kingmaker, patron saint and high priest to Harihara Raya I and Bukka Raya I, the founders of the Vijayanagar Empire. He was the 12th Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham from 1380 to 1386 A.D. He was born to and in in 1268 CE. Another account has it that he...
's
Sangitsara,
Praudha RayaPraudha Raya was an unpopular king of Vijayanagara Empire who ruled for a very short period of time being driven out of the capital by his able commander Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya in 1485....
's
Ratiratnapradipika,
Sayana' was an important commentator on the Vedas. He flourished under King Bukka I and his successor Harihara II, in the Vijayanagar Empire of South India...
's
Ayurveda Sudhanidhi and
Lakshmana PanditaLakshmana Pandita was the author of Vaidyarajavallabha , a Sanskrit book on Indian medicine written during the Vijayanagara Empire in the 15th Century. He was a Paramacharya of King Bukka II....
's
Vaidyarajavallabham.
Architecture
Vijayanagara architecture is a vibrant combination of the
ChalukyanThe Chalukya dynasty was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi from the...
,
HoysalanThe Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu....
, Pandyan and
CholanThe Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...
styles, idioms that prospered in previous centuries. Its legacy of sculpture, architecture and painting influenced the development of the arts long after the empire came to an end. Its stylistic hallmark is the ornate
pillarA column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
ed
Kalyanamantapa (marriage hall),
Vasanthamantapa (open pillared halls) and the
Rayagopura (tower). Artisans used the locally available hard granite because of its durability since the kingdom was under constant threat of invasion. While the empire's monuments are spread over the whole of Southern India, nothing surpasses the vast open air theatre of monuments at its capital at
VijayanagaraVijayanagara is in Bellary District, northern Karnataka. It is the name of the now-ruined capital city "which was regarded as the second Rome" that surrounds modern-day Hampi, of the historic Vijayanagara empire which extended over the southern part of India....
, a
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
In the 14th century the kings continued to build
vesaraVesara is a type of Indian architecture primarily used in temples. The two other prominent styles are Dravida and Nagara. Vesara is a combination of these two temple styles.-Description:...
or Deccan-style monuments but later incorporated Dravida-style
gopuramA Gopuram or Gopura, is a monumental tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of any temple, especially in Southern India. This forms a prominent feature of Koils, Hindu temples of the Dravidian style. They are topped by the kalasam, a bulbous stone finial...
s to meet their ritualistic needs. The Prasanna Virupaksha temple (underground temple) of
BukkaBukka was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty. Bukka patronised Telugu poet Nachana Soma....
and the Hazare Rama temple of
Deva RayaDeva Raya I was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty.Like his grandfather Harihara II, he patronised the Jain Kannada poet Madhura...
are examples of Deccan architecture. The varied and intricate ornamentation of the pillars is a mark of their work. At Hampi, though the
Vitthala temple is the best example of their pillared
Kalyanamantapa style, the
Hazara Ramaswamy temple is a modest but perfectly finished example. A visible aspect of their style is their return to the simplistic and serene art developed by the Chalukya dynasty. A grand specimen of Vijayanagara art, the
Vitthala temple, took several decades to complete during the reign of the
TuluvaThe Tuluva -Geographic Distribution :Though most of the Tuluva population is found in the Tulu Nadu region, migrant poplulations are found the world over. In recent times, the first period of migration started at the beginning of the 20th century to places such as Mumbai and Chennai and other...
kings.
Another element of the Vijayanagara style is the carving of large
monolithA monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
s such as the
Sasivekalu (
mustardMustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about 1 or 2 mm in diameter. Mustard seeds may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are important spices in many regional foods. The seeds can come from three different plants: black mustard , brown...
)
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
and
Kadalekalu (
ground nutThe peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
) Ganesha at Hampi, the Gommateshvara
BahubaliAccording to Jainism, Bahubali, called Gomateshwara , was the second of the hundred sons of the first Tirthankara, Rishabha, and king of Podanpur. The Adipurana, a 10th century Kannada text by Jain poet Adikavi Pampa According to Jainism, Bahubali, called Gomateshwara , was the second of the...
statues in
KarkalaKarkala is a town and the headquarters of Karkala taluk in the Udupi district of Karnataka, India. Located about 380 km from Bangalore, it lies near the Western Ghats....
and
VenurVenur or Venoor is a small village on the banks of the Phalguni river in the South Kanara of Karnataka, India. It was once the seat of Jainism and the capital....
, and the Nandi bull in
LepakshiLepakshi is a small village and Mandal headquarters located in the Anantapur District, in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is east of Hindupur and about north of Bangalore. From Bangalore, it can be reached by going west at Kodikonda checkpost on Hyderabad highway NH 7...
. The Vijayanagara temples of
BhatkalBhatkal is also known as Batecala in some historical text especially in Portuguese history.Once ruled by Jain King Bhattakalanka and thus the name. Bhatkal is a port town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India 126 km from Karwar. The town lies on NH-17 running between Mumbai and Mangalore...
,
KanakagiriKanakagiri is an historical place in India, situated in Karnataka State, 20 km North West to Gangavati town. The old name of this town was Suvarnagiri. It was the capital of the southern area of the Mauryan Empire. During the Vijayanagar period, this was the chief town of the Bedar Rajas...
,
ShringeriSringeri , also written as Sringeri, Śŗngeri and Śŗngagiri is a hill town and taluk headquarters located in Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka, is the site of the first maţha established by Adi Shankaracharya, Hindu theologian and exponent of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, in...
and other towns of coastal Karnataka, as well as
TadpatriTadipatri or Tadpatri is a city and a municipality in Anantapur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.-Geography:Tadipatri is located at . Its average elevation is 223 metres or 731 feet.MLA of Tadipatri is Mr J.C.Divakar Reddy-Demographics:...
,
LepakshiLepakshi is a small village and Mandal headquarters located in the Anantapur District, in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is east of Hindupur and about north of Bangalore. From Bangalore, it can be reached by going west at Kodikonda checkpost on Hyderabad highway NH 7...
,
AhobilamAhobhilam also known as Ahobalam is located in the Allagadda mandal of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located at a distance of 40 km from Nandyal and about 150 km from Kurnool, the district headquarters...
,
Tirumala Venkateswara TempleTirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....
and
SrikalahastiSrikalahasti , is a holy town and a municipality near Tirupati in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the river Swarnamukhi. It is also informally and wrongly referred to as Kalahasti...
in
Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, and
VelloreVellore It is considered one of the oldest cities in South India and lies on the banks of the Palar river on the site of Vellore Fort. The city lies between Chennai and Bangalore and the Temple towns of Thiruvannamalai and Tirupati...
,
KumbakonamKumbakonam , also spelt as Coombaconum in the records of British India , is a town and a special grade municipality in the Thanjavur district in the southeast Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located 40 kilometres from Thanjavur and 272 kilometres from Chennai, it is the headquarters of the Kumbakonam...
, Kanchi and
SrirangamSrirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
in
Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
are examples of this style. Vijayanagara art includes wall-paintings of the Dashavatara and
Girijakalyana (marriage of
ParvatiParvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
) in the
Virupaksha TempleVirupaksha Temple is located in Hampi 350 km from Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka in southern India. It is part of the Group of Monuments at Hampi, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site...
at
HampiHampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other...
, the
Shivapurana paintings (tales of Shiva) at the
VirabhadraAccording to Hindu mythology, Virabhadra or Veerabhadra was a super being created by the wrath of Rudra , when he stepped in to destroy the Yagna of Daksha, after his daughter Dakshayani - consort of Shiva, self-immolated in yagna fire...
temple at
LepakshiLepakshi is a small village and Mandal headquarters located in the Anantapur District, in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is east of Hindupur and about north of Bangalore. From Bangalore, it can be reached by going west at Kodikonda checkpost on Hyderabad highway NH 7...
, and those at the
Jain basadi (temple)A derasar is a temple for followers of Jainism, except for non-murtipujak Svetambaras. Derasar is a word used in Gujarat, Kutch and parts of Rajasthan, in other parts of India, the term Jain Mandir is used for all the Jain temples. Jain idols of Tirthankaras are worshipped there...
and the Kamaskshi and Varadaraja temple at Kanchi. This mingling of the South Indian styles resulted in a richness not seen in earlier centuries, a focus on
reliefRelief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
s in addition to sculpture that surpasses that previously in India.
An aspect of Vijayanagara architecture that shows the cosmopolitanism of the great city is the presence of many secular structures bearing Islamic features. While political history concentrates on the ongoing conflict between the Vijayanagara empire and the Deccan Sultanates, the architectural record reflects a more creative interaction. There are many
archAn arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
es,
domeA dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
s and
vaultA Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
s that show these influences. The concentration of structures like
pavilionChhatris are elevated, dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indian architecture. Chhatris are commonly used to depict the elements of of pride and honor in the Rajput architecture of Rajasthan. They are widely used, in palaces, in forts, or to demarcate funerary sites...
s,
stableA stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
s and
towerA tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....
s suggests they were for use by royalty. The decorative details of these structures may have been absorbed into Vijayanagara architecture during the early 15th century, coinciding with the rule of Deva Raya I and Deva Raya II. These kings are known to have employed many Muslims in their army and court, some of whom may have been
Muslim architectsMughal architecture, an amalgam of Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture, is the distinctive style developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is symmetrical and decorative in style.The Mughal dynasty was...
. This harmonious exchange of architectural ideas must have happened during rare periods of peace between the Hindu and Muslim kingdoms. The "Great Platform" (
Mahanavami dibba) has relief carvings in which the figures seem to have the facial features of central Asian Turks who were known to have been employed as royal attendants.
Language
Kannada, Telugu and Tamil were used in their respective regions of the empire. Over 7000 inscriptions (
Shasana) including 300 copper plate inscriptions (
Tamarashasana) have been recovered, almost half of which are in Kannada, the remaining in Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit. Bilingual inscriptions had lost favour by the 14th century. The empire minted coins at Hampi, Penugonda and Tirupati with
NagariDevanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
, Kannada and Telugu legends usually carrying the name of the ruler. Gold, silver and copper were used to issue coins called
Gadyana,
Varaha,
Pon,
Pagoda,
Pratapa,
Pana,
Kasu and
Jital. The coins contained the images of various Gods including Balakrishna (infant Krishna),
VenkateshwaraVenkateswara also known as Srinivasa, Balaji, Venkata and Venkatachalapati , is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara means the Lord who destroys the sins of the people...
(the presiding deity of the temple at Tirupati), Goddesses such as Bhudevi and Sridevi, divine couples, animals such as bulls and elephants and birds. The earliest coins feature
HanumanHanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
and
GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
(divine eagle), the vehicle of Lord Vishnu.
Kannada and Telugu inscriptions have been deciphered and recorded by historians of the
Archaeological Survey of IndiaThe Archaeological Survey of India is a department of the Government of India, attached to the Ministry of Culture . The ASI is responsible for archaeological studies and the preservation of archaeological heritage of the country in accordance with the various acts of the Indian Parliament...
.
See also
- History of India
The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...
- History of South India
The history of South India covers a span of over four thousand years during which the region saw the rise and fall of a number of dynasties and empires. The period of known history of the region begins with the Iron age period during which Chera, Chola, Pandya ruled the South Indian country until...
- Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
- Hampi
Hampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other...
- Political history of medieval Karnataka
The political history of medieval Karnataka spans the 4th to the 16th centuries, when the empires that evolved in the Karnataka region of India made a lasting impact on the subcontinent. Before this, alien empires held sway over the region, and the nucleus of power was outside modern Karnataka...
External links