Vijayanagara Empire and Hampi

Why This Topic Matters for CDS

Medieval South India is a section many candidates skip, yet the CDS/OTA GS paper regularly asks one or two questions on Vijayanagara — its founders, its greatest king, its capital, or the battle that broke it. Because the facts are crisp and dateable, this is among the easiest places to score full marks if you revise it once properly.

The empire is also conceptually important: it represents the last major Hindu power before the Mughal age and a high point of temple architecture, regional literature and Indo-Ocean trade. While the north was being reshaped by the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughals, Vijayanagara preserved and developed a distinct southern political and cultural tradition for three hundred years. Understanding it gives you a complete picture of medieval India rather than a north-only view.

For the exam, focus your energy on four things: the founders and dates, the order of the dynasties, the reign of Krishnadevaraya, and the Battle of Talikota. Almost every question that has ever appeared revolves around one of these four anchors.

Foundation: Harihara and Bukka

The empire was founded in 1336 by two brothers, Harihara I and Bukka I, sons of Sangama. According to tradition they were officials of the Kakatiya/Hoysala administration who were captured by the Delhi Sultanate, taken to Delhi, and converted to Islam — then returned south as governors. Under the influence of the sage Vidyaranya of the Sringeri matha they reconverted to Hinduism and declared an independent kingdom. This story of reconversion symbolised the empire’s self-image as a defender of southern Hindu society and temples.

They built their capital on the south bank of the Tungabhadra river, a naturally defended site protected by rocky hills and the river itself. The choice of site was strategic: the river formed a natural moat on one side, and the granite hills could be fortified cheaply, allowing a relatively small garrison to hold the city. The state quickly became the rallying point for resistance against the Bahmani and other Deccan Sultanates, and its early rulers spent much of their energy securing the fertile doabs between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers.

The Four Ruling Dynasties

Over three centuries, four successive dynasties ruled Vijayanagara. Knowing their order and one fact about each is enough for the exam.

• Sangama (1336–1485): the founding house; consolidated the kingdom and fought the Bahmanis over the Raichur Doab and Krishna–Tungabhadra Doab.
• Saluva (1485–1505): a short dynasty begun by Saluva Narasimha, who seized power during weakness — called the “first usurpation.”
• Tuluva (1505–1570): the greatest line, which gave the empire its most famous king, Krishnadevaraya.
• Aravidu (1570–1646): the last dynasty, ruling after the disastrous defeat at Talikota; it shifted the capital and slowly declined.

Krishnadevaraya: The Golden Age

Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529) of the Tuluva dynasty is the empire's defining ruler and the answer to the most common Vijayanagara question. Under him the empire reached its greatest extent, stretching from the Krishna river in the north to the southern tip of the peninsula.

His major achievements

• Defeated the Bahmani successor states and the Gajapati ruler of Odisha, recovering the Raichur Doab after the Battle of Raichur (1520).
• Maintained friendly trade relations with the Portuguese, who had arrived on the west coast.
• A great patron of art and literature — his court hosted the Ashtadiggajas (“eight elephants,” eight celebrated Telugu poets).
• Himself a scholar; he wrote the Telugu work Amuktamalyada on statecraft and devotion.
• Built the famous Hazara Rama and Vittala temples and the town of Nagalapuram.

Administration and the Nayankara System

The king (Raya) was the supreme authority, advised by a council of ministers. The empire was divided into provinces called mandalams or rajyas, then into smaller nadus and villages.

Nayankara system

The most distinctive feature was the Nayankara system. Military commanders called Nayakas were granted territory (an amaram) in return for maintaining a fixed body of troops and paying tribute to the king. This was somewhat like a military-feudal arrangement and over time the Nayakas grew powerful enough to set up their own kingdoms after the empire weakened.

Ayagar system

At the village level the Ayagar system operated: a body of twelve hereditary functionaries (accountant, headman, watchman, blacksmith, etc.) who ran village administration and were paid through tax-free land grants. Because their posts were hereditary, these officials gave village life great continuity and stability even when dynasties changed at the centre.

Revenue and the army

The chief source of state income was land revenue, supplemented by taxes on trade, professions and ports. A large standing army of infantry, cavalry and war-elephants was maintained, partly by the king directly and partly by the Nayakas. The constant need for good cavalry horses, which had to be imported, shaped both the economy and foreign policy of the empire.

Economy, Trade and Society

Vijayanagara was extraordinarily wealthy. Foreign visitors marvelled at its markets piled with diamonds, pearls, spices, horses and textiles. The state earned huge revenue from agriculture — supported by an advanced network of tanks, canals and dams on the Tungabhadra for irrigation.

Trade

• Major exports: cotton and silk textiles, spices, rice, iron and sugar.
• Major imports: horses (crucial for cavalry), elephants, pearls, copper and luxury goods.
• Ports such as those on the western and eastern coasts linked the empire to the Arabs, Persians and Portuguese.

Society

Society was hierarchical and caste-based, but trade made merchant guilds influential. Religious life was vibrant — the rulers were devout but tolerant, patronising Shaiva, Vaishnava and Jain institutions alike. Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Sanskrit literature all flourished, and the period saw a flowering of devotional (Bhakti) poetry. Women of the royal household were educated, and accounts mention women employed as accountants, guards and even soldiers — a detail examiners sometimes use to test careful reading.

Hampi: Capital and Architecture

Hampi, the imperial capital, was one of the largest and richest cities of the medieval world. Its ruins spread across a striking landscape of granite boulders beside the Tungabhadra. The architecture is the climax of the Dravidian style, with bold features now grouped as the Vijayanagara (or Provida) style.

Distinctive features

• Tall, ornate gopurams (gateway towers).
• Large pillared halls called mandapas and the kalyana mandapa (marriage hall).
• Richly carved monolithic pillars, including the famous musical pillars of the Vittala temple.

Famous monuments at Hampi

• Virupaksha Temple — dedicated to Shiva, still in worship today.
• Vittala Temple — with the iconic stone chariot and musical pillars.
• Hazara Rama Temple — the royal chapel with Ramayana reliefs.
• Lotus Mahal and the Elephant Stables — showing Indo-Islamic influence in the royal enclosure.

The Battle of Talikota (1565)

The turning point in the empire's fortunes came under Rama Raya of the Aravidu line, who effectively controlled the throne in the mid-16th century. By playing the Deccan Sultanates against each other he made many enemies. In 1565 four of them — Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda and Bidar — united and crushed the Vijayanagara army at the Battle of Talikota (also called the Battle of Rakshasi–Tangadi or Bannihatti).

Rama Raya was captured and killed. The victorious armies then sacked and looted the capital city for months, leaving Hampi in ruins. The empire survived in a reduced form under the Aravidu dynasty, which shifted the capital first to Penukonda and then to Chandragiri, but it never recovered its former power and faded out by the mid-17th century.

Worked Example: Sequencing the Dynasties

Exam questions often test whether you can place events in order. Let’s work through a typical chronology problem.

By anchoring just four dates — 1336, 1485, 1509, 1565 — you can solve almost any Vijayanagara sequencing question.

Foreign Travellers and Sources

Much of what we know about Vijayanagara comes from foreign visitors, inscriptions, and the chronicles of the time. CDS frequently links a traveller to the ruler he visited.

• Niccolò de’ Conti (Italian) — visited in the early 15th century during Deva Raya I’s time.
• Abdur Razzaq (Persian, envoy of Shah Rukh) — visited the court of Deva Raya II; praised the city’s wealth and the seven concentric walls.
• Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz (Portuguese) — described Krishnadevaraya’s reign vividly.
• Duarte Barbosa (Portuguese) — wrote on trade and society.

Inscriptions in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit, along with the rich numismatic record of gold coins called pagodas (varahas), supplement these accounts.

Previous-Year Style Question

Quick Revision

Revise these six bullets the night before your exam and you will comfortably handle any Vijayanagara question that appears.