The significance of the Vijaynagar empire in the history of India is that for three centuries it stood for the older religion and culture of the country and saved these from being engulfed by the rush of new ideas and forces…. It was Vijaynagar which held the key to the political situation of the time; it was characterised by the decline of the Turko-Afghan Sultanate and the rise of important indigenous empires.

R.C.Majumdar

An important empire which rose, grew and developed in South India was the Hindu Kingdom of Vijaynagar. The kingdom would have still more risen to prominence had it not to fight many wars with the neighbouring Muslim Bhamani kingdom.

In around 1350, brave Hindu youths named Harihara and Bukka, two of the five sons of Sangama, set up the last major Hindu Kingdom of the south - Vijaynagar. It is believed that these two youths had been captured in their early teens by Malik Kafur when he invaded South India. They had been brought up as Muslims at Delhi and had been sent to the south to govern the rebellious provinces. But these two enterprising youths had different ideas. They had not forgotten who they originally were. They repudiated Islam and returned to their original faith. With the help of a sage named Madhavacharya, they established a powerful Hindu Kingdom at Hampi on the banks of river Tungabhadra.

Harihara and Bukka and their three brothers made earnest efforts to organise resistance against the Muslim invaders from the North. They conquered parts of Konkan and Malabar and in 1344 A.D. they joined the confederacy under the leadership of Krishna Nayak which aimed at throwing the Muslims out of South India.

A million-strong army ensured that the empire continued to grow in size and importance and numerous military successes resulted in Hampi itself being renamed Vijaynagar - the City of Victory. Vijaynagar was a beautiful city and all historians who visited it bestowed lavish praise for its beauty. Fortifications, outlying fields and a fifteen mile long aqueduct were the defense against a siege. This city was the subject of many an impassioned travelogue by foreigners - Portuguese and Persians. Persian ambassador Abdu'r-Razzaq wrote:

"The city of Bidjanagar (Vijaynagar) is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it and the ear of intelligence has never been informed that there existed anything to equal it in the world. It is built in such a manner that seven citadels and the same number of walls enclose each other… The outer citadel has a fortress, of round shape, built on the summit of a mountain and constructed of stone and lime."

The people of Vijaynagar were happy and prosperous and there were no hardships for common man. The common man was rich and almost everyone could afford some ornaments. The use of pearls, diamonds and costly stones was quite common. The empire had trade relations with Burma, China, Egypt, Iran, Arabia, etc. The trade was carried both by land and sea and the empire had small navy of its own. There were guilds to look after the interests of the traders and industrialists. The rulers encouraged all types of literary activities. Both Sanskrit and Tamil as well as Telugu scholars received patronage and good literature in these languages was produced. Several beautiful temples were built which tell us volumes about the height to which Hindu architecture had touched.

The state on the whole was military state with a theocratic base. It aimed at preserving and protection of the Hindus from Muslim attacks. It also aimed at challenging the Muslims from penetration into Hindu strongholds.

The greatest of the Vijaynagar rulers was Krishnadeva Raya, who is known as one of the most famous kings in the history of India. It was in 1505 that Krishnadeva Raya ascended the throne and from then onward he took an active part in expanding the empire. During Krishnadev Raya's time the Vijaynagar empire expanded in the east up to Orissa, in the west up to Bhatkal and Honavar and the western coast, in the north upto Raichur and in the south upto the sea. All Southern India was under Krishnadev Raya's sway and several semi-independent chiefs were his vassals.

Krishnadeva Raya died in 1529 and was succeeded by his half-brother Achyuta Raya who ruled upto 1542. After his death his nephew Sadasiva came to the throne. He was only the nominal head of the state whereas real power was in the hands of his minister Rama Raya. He gained some say in the affairs of the Muslim states and concluded treaties with Golkunda and Ahmed Nagar. He declared war against Bijapur and subsequently turned against Ahmed Nagar.

This angered the Muslims. The Muslim kingdoms forgot their differences and their allied forces decided to invade Vijaynagar. The two armies faced each other in 1565 at the battlefield of Talkatora in which Rama Raya was arrested and slain and about one lakh Hindus were put to death. About the loot Ferishta has said, "The plunder was so great that every private man in the allied army became rich in gold, jewelry, tents, arms, horses and slaves." Hampi, the capital of Vijaynagar was ruthlessly pillaged for six months and was nearly reduced to rubble. About the battle Sewell has said that:

"Never perhaps in the history of world has such havoc been wrought and wrought so suddenly, on so splendid a city; teeming with a wealthy and industrious population in the full plenitude of prosperity one day and on the next day seized, pillaged and reduced to ruins amid scenes of savage massacre and horrors beggaring description." According to Percy Brown, "..the proud capital was (soon) a forlorn ruin inhabited only by tigers and other wild beasts".

Thus ended the Hindu supremacy in the South.

The remains of Vijaynagar paint for us a picture of the glory of an ancient spectacular city, a city carved out of low lying hills and massive boulders, the treacherous terrain providing ample defense and the river Tungabhadra meandering gently through it. The ruins of Hampi speak of battles fought, dying elephants and men, charging horses, and finally the eventual sack of the city as it fought vainly to stem the swelling tide of invasion. Nobel Laureate V.S.Naipaul has advised every Indian to make a "pilgrimage" to Vijaynagar "just to see what the (Muslim) invasion of India led to. They will see a totally destroyed town."