Vijayanagar Empire

by Devender

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Vijayanagar Empire was an empire in South India that ruled from 1336 to 1672.

Vijayanagar Empire

The empire consisted of four different dynasties namely:

Sangam Dynasty
Saluva Dynasty
Tulva Dynasty
Aravidu Dynasty

The prominent languages of this empire were: Sanskrit, Kannada, Telegu.

1 Sangam Dynasty:

It was founded by Harihara & Bukka whereas its greatest ruler was Devaraya 2. The Srirangam Copper Plate inscription is ascribed to him.

2 Saluva Dynasty:

It was founded by Saluva Narsimha.

3 Tulva Dynasty:

It was founded by Vir Narsimha and its greatest ruler was Krishanadeva Raya. Krishanadeva Raya was very friendly with the Portuguese and he was known as Andhra Bhoja. He patronized 8 eminent scholars in his court which were known as Astadiggaja among which, Peddana (Also known as Andhra Kavita Pitamah) was the greatest.

Literature:

Peddana wrote Manucharitam, Harikatha saram both in Telegu language whereas Krishanadeva Raya wrote Amukhamaldaya in Telegu language and Jambavti kalyanam & Ushaparinayam in the Sanskrit language.

Architecture by Krishanadeva Raya:

He built Vitthalswami & Hazara ramswami temple at Vijayanagar in Hampi and also built the city of Nagalapuram in memory of her queen Nagaladevi.

Points of Prominence of Vijayanagar Empire:

The Sangam was Saivite with Chief Deity Virupaksha where all other dynasties were Vaisnavite and mainly followers of Ramanujam. They all were tolerant of other religions and people were free to choose their religion.

Madurvijayam a book written by Ganagadevi tells us Kumarkampana’s expedition of Madurai and Abdul Razzak (a Persian traveler) gave an account of the Vijayanagar Empire.

Vijayanagar Empire was divided into Mandalams under the control of Mandaleshwara/nayaks
The Mandalams were further divided into Nadus
Nadus were further divided into Sthalas & finally into Gramas
The land revenue was around one-sixth of the total produce
The gold coins were known as Varaha
The major port of the Vijayanagar empire was Connanore on the Malabar Coast

Foreign travelers:

Ibn Batuta was Moroccan, Nicolo-de-Conti was Venetian, Abdul Razzak was Persian, and Domingos Paes was Portuguese.

Temple Building Style:

Vijayanagar Empire used Vesara style of temple architecture where Tall gopurams with large kalyanmandapam along with pillars can be seen. Vradhraja & Ekam Parantha temples at Kanchipuram are fine examples of such. The famous elephant chariot architecture belongs to Hampi Ruins.