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One of the greatest emperors of Vijayanagara, and also one of greatest rulers of India, Sri Krishna Deva Raya, under whose reign Vijayanagara attained greatest heights. His reign was marked by military conquests, patronage of arts and culture and flourishing of literature.
Sri Krishna Deva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire, founded by Tuluva Narasa Nayaka ,son of Tuluva Ishvara Nayaka, a Bunt chieftain, who also served the Vijayanagara Empire, and rose to fame as the commnander of Saluva Narasimha
When Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya, ascended the throne, the entire Southern part of the empire, beyond the Kaveri delta, had either slipped out or was under the rule of the Gajapatis. It was Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, who took on the responsibility of capturing the Southern domains
When Saluv Narasimha Raya passed away, his second son Narasimha Raya II, or Immadi Narasimha became the Emperor. However the real power was with Tuluva Narasa Nayaka as the regent, and being the Senadhipati, he had the entire army under his control.
He literally put Immadi Narasimha under house arrest at Penukonda, on pretext of his safety, while he held all the powers himself. This enabled him to get a complete grip on the Vijayanagara Empire and lead to foundation of Tuluva Dynasty.
One of the features of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka reign, was the constant battles with the Adil Shahis over the Tungabhadra Doab, especially the strategic forts of Raichur, Mudgal, that kept passing back and forth between these two kingdoms.
Tuluva Narasa Nayaka's sons were Vira Narasimha Raya and Sri Krishna Deva Raya. Vira Narasimha did rule the kingdom for 4 years between 1505-09, however not much is known about him, except his conflicts with the rebellious Ummatur chieftains.
There is a back story of how Vira Narasimha Raya, on his deathbed, wanted, his 8 yr old son to be next ruler, and asked the faithful minister Timmarasu, to put his brother Krishna Deva Raya to death.
And then Timmarasu, killed a goat, showed it’s eyes to Narasimha Raya, who was overcome by remorse, and apparently he was relieved when told that Krishna Deva Raya was alive. However this seems more a folk tale kind, with no real historical evidence about it.
Sri Krishna Deva Raya ascended the throne in 1509, as per most historical accounts, it was believed to be on Krishnashtami day as per the Hindu calendar. He was the mightiest ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, with a well built personality, and a fit physique.
A strong muscular body that he developed through use of Indian clubs, an expert swordsman, a fine horse rider, he had a charisma and majesty, that made people be in awe of him, including his staunch opponents.
He was also one of the finest warriors on battlefield leading from the front, plunging straight into enemy ranks with a dare devilry and recklessness that put his life in risk. He was known for his statesman like nature, his gentleness, wisdom, his sense of justice.
It was also to his credit that during his reign he was assisted by some of the finest men around him, be it the wise minister Timmarasu who was his adviser and guide, commanders like Pemmasani Ramalinga Nayaka, Viswanatha Nayaka( founder of Madurai Nayak dynasty)
Sri Krishna Deva Raya, initially subdued most of the rebellious local chieftains like the Ummatur ruler, Ganga Raju who was defeated on the banks of the Kaveri, who had been a constant thorn in the flesh, as well as the Velamas of Bhuvanagiri.
One of the interesting features of Sri Krishna Deva Raya’s reign was the tactical, strategic partnership he had with the Portuguese. Albuquerque was appointed the Governor in 1509, the same year he ascended the throne.
Typically when one looks at the history of Vijayanagara Empire, the focus is more on it's constant rivalry with the Bahmanis. But equally important was the role played by Portuguese, who were establishing themselves then on the West Coast and were rivals of the Bahmanis.
The Portugese had earlier assisted Krishna Deva Raya’s brother Vira Narasimha in his campaign against Yusufl Adil Khan, and they had got the important port of Bhaktal on West Coast in return.
Albuqurque assured Sri Krishna Deva Raya, assistance with Arab and Persian horses, as well as artillery in his battle against their common enemy, the Bahmani Sultans. In March 1510, Albuquerque successfully managed to capture Goa from the Bijapur sultan , Adil Shah,
However Adil Shah struck back after 2 months, and were able to recapture Goa, forcing Albuquerque to flee not before inflicting heavy casualties on the Muslims there though.
However in November with Bijapur facing it’s own civil strife, Albuquerque managed to re take Goa once again, and defeated Rasool Khan, the Governor of Goa. Krishnadeva Raya, congratulated Albuquerque on his success in Goa.
He also gave permission to the Portugese to build a fort at Bhatkal, which was one of the critical trading posts. It was more of a strategic tie up, the Portuguese had those fine Arab, Persian horses, which he needed in his campaign against the Bahmanis, as well as artillery.
Another important fact was that friendly relations with Portuguese gave Vijayanagara access to Bhatkal, which helped in the trade. During this time, Duarte Barbosa, a cousin of Ferdinand Magellan, visited Vijayanagara and gave his own accounts of the capital, Hampi.
Bhatkal became the chief port for Vijayanagara, and while they exported iron, spices, drugs, they in turn imported horses and pearls, Krishna Deva Raya’s own nephew was the Governor there.
Another benefit of his alliance with the Portuguese was their assistance in improving water supply to Vijayanagara through a network of aqueducts and canals.
One of his greatest challenges was the Gajapati kingdom that lay to the east of Vijayanagara, and covered Odisha, parts of Telangana, and the entire Coastal Andhra. And with whom Vijayanagara had constant conflict for control of the fertile Coastal Andhra plains.
The battles between them often resulted in tactical alliances with the Bahmani rulers, playing off one against another. After subduing Ummatur, who had been a constant thorn in the flesh, Raya decided to take on the Gajapatis next.
Udayagiri( now in Nellore district) was the first fort to be attacked, located on a steep hill, was inaccessible from all other sides. The only way it could be reached was through a thick jungle trail on the eastern side, and a pathway on the western side.
Around 1513, Sri Krishna Deva Raya, led a long siege against Udayagiri, that lasted for 18 months, forcing the Gajapati army to surrender after reducing them to starvation and cutting off the food stocks.
In commemoration of his victory at Udayagiri, Sri Krishna Deva Raya offered prayers at Tirumala Balaji temple, along with his wives, Tirumala Devi and Chinamma Devi, there is a statue of the emperor there to date.
After Udayagiri, Sri Krishna Deva Raya, then proceeded to another hill fort of Kondavidu( now in Guntur district), under the Gajapatis, and laid siege to it for two months.
Launching a concerted assault, on the fort, Sri Krishna Deva Raya led from the front, encountering fierce resistance from Virabhadra, the son of the Gajapati ruler Pratapa Rudra Deva.
The Vijayanagara army initially suffered reverses from the stout defense put up by the Gajapatis, however Krishna Deva Raya’s wise minister Timmarasu, managed to find a secret way to the fort’s eastern gate, and a surprise attack was launched during night time.
Kondavidu fell to the Vijayanagar Army around 1515, and Sri Krishna Deva Raya appointed Timmarasu as the Governor there. Another hill fort, Kondapalli( now in Krishna dt) under Gajapati rule, was attacked, and a siege was carried out.
However, with Pratapa Rudra engaged in repulsing an attack by the Bengal Sultan, Allaudin Hussan Shah, it proved to be some what easy, for Krishna Deva Raya, compared to Udayagiri and Kondavidu to capture it in 1515.
Rajamahendravaram too was soon captured back from the Gajapatis, and then in 1519, Pratapa Rudra had to suffer a defeat at hands of Krishna Deva Raya, and surrendered. He in turn gave his daughter Annapurna Devi in marriage to Sri Krishna Deva Raya.
The marriage bought to an end the hostilities between Vijayanagara and Gajapati empires, and also bought about an alliance with them.
Krishna Deva Raya also put an end to the constant raids of the Bahmani sultans, that had not just devastated large parts of the Doab area, but also resulted in wholesale massacres and destruction of temples too.
The raiding Bahmani army of Bijapur was decisively routed at the Battle of Diwani and Krishna Deva Raya, went in hot pursuit of the Bahmani Sultan,Yusuf Adil Shah, who was later killed at Kovilkonda.
After Bijapur fell, Sri Krishna Deva Raya turned his attention to the other Bahmani kingdoms. His next target was Gulbarga, where the Bahmani Sultan, Mahmud Shah, was overthrown and imprisoned by his minister Qasim Barid.
Krishnadeva Raya, defeated Barid, freed Mahmud Shah, restored the throne to him, and proceeded to capture Bidar too. The other main rivalry Krishnadeva Raya had was with the Golkonda sultan, Quli Qutub Shah, the founder of the Qutub Shahi dynasty, and his contemporary.
While Sri Krishnadeva Raya was engaged in his campaigns against the Gajapatis, Quli Qutub Shah, occupied the forts of Warangal, Khammam, Rajahmundry, and conquered most of Coastal Andhra, right up to Machilipatnam.
However Sri Krishna Deva Raya’s able Prime minister, Timmarasu, managed to defeat Quli Qutub Shah, and regain most of the territories. By 1512, Sri Krishna Deva Raya controlled most of the territories to the North of Karnataka.
More important he stopped the annual raid, plunder and loot of the Bahmani Sultans. One of the most important battles was that of Raichur, which actually is a separate thread by itself. You can check it out here for more detail. https://historyunderyourfeet.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/sri-krishna-deva-raya-battle-of-raichur/
Krishna Deva Raya was a great writer himself, one of the few rulers who could wield both the pen and the sword well. He wrote Madalasa Charita, Satyavadu Parinaya, Rasamanjari and Jambavati Kalyana all in Sanskrit. As well as the classic Amukta Malyada in Telugu
His court was famous for the Ashta Diggajas, named after the 8 elephants that were believed to have held up the earth in the Puranas. These men were some of the greatest writers ever, and their works are considered as classics in Telugu to date.
Their court was also called as the Bhuvana Vijayamu (Conquest of the World) and these 8 poets each had their own individual style, totally different from each other.
Krishnadeva Raya's reign was called the Golden Age of Telugu Literature, but it also had equally great Kannada, Tamil, Sanskrit writers during that time. The emperor himself being a writer of note, patronage was given to scholars, writers, artistes in his reign.
Krishna Deva Raya himself was a polyglot, fluent in Telugu, Kannada, Tuluva. He was praised as “Narasimha Krishna Deva Raya” at whose name the Turks quivered and elephants ran away, by one of his poets Mukku Timanna.
The great Madhava scholar Vyasathirtha, Kannada poets Mallanaraya, Bhava Chinta Ratna, Chattu Vitalanatha. The legendary Tenali Ramakrishna, Allasani Pedanna, Mukku Timanna, Krishna Deva Raya's reign, saw some of the greatest scholars, authors,writers ever.
Again Krishna Deva Raya's work as a writer,the patronage he gave to writers, scholars is a separate topic by itself, which you can check out here for more detail. https://historyunderyourfeet.wordpress.com/2014/09/20/krishnadeva-raya-golden-age-of-literature/
And for a more detailed look on Krishna Deva Raya, you can check out my blog here. And thanks for sitting through this rather long thread on a Sunday morning. https://historyunderyourfeet.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/ascent-of-sri-krishna-deva-raya/
