A Comprehensive Note on the Decline of the Vijayanagar Empire

Everything has durability, including strong empires like the Medieval period’s Vijayanagar kingdom, which ended in 1678 CE. The Vijayanagar Empire had been situated on a vast plateau inside the southern Deccan. Harihara I and Bukka, two siblings who were among the progenitors of the Sangama Kingdom, established it. Three other aristocracies would rule the monarchy: the Tuluva Dynasty, the Saluva Dynasty, and the Aravidu Kingdom.

The Decline of The Vijayanagar Empire

During the reign of Krishna Deva Raya, the kingdom reached its pinnacle, with troops being consistently successful. In 1529, Achyuta Deva Raya, his younger half-brother of Krishna Deva Raya, ascended the throne. Following his demise in  1542, Sadashiva Raya, Achyuta Raya’s young nephew, was named the king. Aliya Rama Raya, the son-in-law of Krishna Deva Raya, became the caretaker.  

Sadashiva Raya maintained the empire’s central figure, while Aliya Rama Raya would be the actual power behind the scenes. He became noted for his savage violence to the people of the lands he invaded, particularly Muslims, and his equal betrayal of friends, Hindu and Muslim.

Raya, on the other hand, went too far. He manipulated the sultanates against each other, using their divides to acquire territory. In an attack against the Ahmednagar Republic, headed by Sultan Hussain, he aided Ali Adil Shah of the Bijapur Sultanate. After the compelling foray into his domain, Sultan Hussain’s people were mistreated.

While Sultan Hussain, alongside his associate, the Emperor of Golconda, attempted to retaliate against Ali Adil Shah, Rama Raya shifted sides and aided Sultan Hussain. The sultanates realised he manipulated them and decided to band together against a formidable enemy.

Talikota’s Battle

The army of Hindu King Aliya Rama Raya and the four Deccan Princely states of Golconda, Bidar, Ahmadnagar, and Bijapur fought an epic battle in 1565. The Muslim rulers were hell-bent on exacting retribution on the Vijayanagar kingdom and destroying it as a threat. The Wars of Talikota might be a catastrophic setback for Vijayanagar, with far-reaching consequences that threatened the city’s future survival.

The fight happened at a place 80 kilometres to the southeast of Bijapur. This place is now a part of Northern Karnataka.. Raja Aliya Rama’s armies comprised one hundred combat elephants combined with cavalry and footmen. There were fewer foot soldiers in the Decan Dynasty but more horse riders and weapons and artillery.

The monarchy of the Vijayanagar kingdom was not destroyed at the Battle of Talikota, but the provincial capital ultimately recovered entirely from the damages it had experienced. Tirumala, Rama Raya’s brother, built a brand new command at Penukonda and managed to improve the army. Nevertheless, the Thanjavur (Tanjore), Nayakas in Madura, and Jinji effectively proclaimed their autonomy, and most of the southeast was abandoned.

In several locations, riots and robbery erupted. Tirumala requested help from Ahmadnagar’s Nim Shah against certain Bijapuri assaults approaching Penukonda. He subsequently launched a war against Bijapur alongside Ahmadnagar as well as Golconda. Tirumala acknowledged the sovereign territories of the Nayakas in the southeast, kept Mysore and Keladi’s loyalty, and named his 3 children as administrators of his kingdom’s three distinct regions: Telugu, Kannada, as well as Tamil. In 1570, he was crowned and formally established the Aravidu dynasty, the fourth and final Vijayanagar dynasty.

Trade with the Portuguese Collapsed following the decline of the Vijayanagar empire.

Western nations were welcomed to trade by King Krishnadeva Raya. However, he had a close connection only with the Portuguese, who at the time had established commercial centres on India’s western shore. Disputes over the throne, the Deccan Sultanates’ unity, and Rama Raya’s fundamental mistakes paved the way for the decline of the Vijaynagar empire. Additionally, the Vijayanagar kingdom’s defeat at the War of Talikota, the rebellious regional governors, and the destruction of Hampi contributed to the downfall of the Vijayanagar empire.

Portuguese commerce plummeted with the collapse of the Vijayanagar kingdom. One of the numerous reasons for the collapse of Portuguese authority in India was that Portugal was too tiny a country to support the significant load of a trade colony in a remote location. Their image as terrible maritime pirates fostered hatred in the hearts of the regional rulers.

Conclusion

The emperors of Golconda and Ahmadnagar, who’d already suffered the most at the feet of king Rama Raya, were much more likely the driving force behind the forging of an agreement that lead to Vijayanagara empire’s decline. By 1564, at least three of the six sultans had begun their advance on Vijayanagar, which culminated in the terrible loss of Vijayanagar troops at the War of Talikota in early 1565, as well as the sacking and devastation of so much of the Vijayanagar kingdom.