An Imperial Capital : Vijayanagar

(C. fourteenth to sixteenth century )

Introduction

Vijayanagara or city of victory was the name of both a city and an empire
The empire was founded in the fourteenth century
In 1565 the city was sacked and subsequently deserted
it lived on in the memories of people living in the Krishna - Tungabhadra doab .
They remembered it as hampi , a name derived from that of the local mother goddess,pampadevi

The discovery of hampi

Hampi were brought to light in 1800 by an engineer and antiquarian named colonel colin Mackenzie
The initial information he received was based on the memories of priests of the virupaksha temple and the shrine of pampadevi
As early as 1836 , epigraphists began collecting several dozen inscription found at this and other temples at Hampi
The history of the city and the empire historians collated foreign travellers and other literature written in Telugu , Kannada ,Tamil and Sanskrit

Colin Mackenzie

Born in 1754
Colin Mackenzie became famous as as engineer surveyor and cartographer
In 1815 he was appointed the first surveyor general of India , a post he held till his death in 1821.

Rayas ,Nayakas and Sultans

Harihara and Bukka, founded the Vijayanagar empire in 1336
This empire included within its fluctuating frontiers peoples who spoke different language and followed different religious traditions .
The empire had witness the development of powerful states such as those of the cholas in Tamil Nadu and hoysalas in Karnataka .
The rulers of Vijayanagar , who called themselves rayas,built on these traditions and carried them

Kings and traders

Cavalry were very important part of warfare during this period .
Local communities of merchants known as kudiriai chettis or horse merchants
The important of horses from Arabia and central Asia was very important for rival kingdoms .
The trade was initially controlled by Arab traders
Vijayanagara was also noted for its markets dealing in spices , textiles and precious stones .
Trade was a status symbol for such cities , which boasted of a wealthy populations that demanded high- value exotic goods , especially precious stones and jewellary
The revenue that came from the trade was used for the development of the state .

Vijay Nagar Empire

The Sangama Dynasty (1336-1485 AD )
The Saluva Dynasty (1486 - 1505 AD )
The Tuluva Dynasty (1505 - 1570 AD )
The Aravidu Dynasty (1570 - 1650 AD)

The apoge and decline of the empire

They were supplanted by the saluvas military commanders , who remained in power till 1530
krisnadeva raya 's rule was characterized by expansion and consolidation
He defeated pratap rudra of gajapati dynasty , the ruler of orissa in 1514 .
Krishnadeva raya is credited with building some fine temples and adding impressive grpurams to many south Indian temples
He also founded a suburban township near Vijayanagar called nagalapuram after his mother .
Krishnadeva raya's death in 1529 , his successors were troubled by rebellious nayakas or military chiefs .
By 1542 control of the empire came under another ruling lineage, the Aravida ,which continued till the end of the 17th century .

Aravidu dynasty comes in power

The aravidu dynasty was the fourth and last hindu dynasty ruled Vijayanagara empire in south India.
Its founder was tirumala deva raya , whose brother Rama raya had been the masterful regent of the last ruler of the previous dynasty

The battle of lalikota

In 1565 , the battle of talikota started and the army was led by rama , the chief minister of vijayanagara
The army of Vijayanagar defeated by the combined armies sacked the city of Vijayanagar
After the defeat the Aravidu dynasty ruled from penukonda and later from chandragiri

Relationship between the sultans and raya

The sultans were responsible for destruction of the city of vijayanagara in the battle of talikota in 1565.
Relationship between the sultans and the rayas was not always hostile in spite of religious differences

The rayas and the nayakas

The nayakas were military chiefs who usually controlled forts and had armed supporters

The amara - system

The amara - nayaka system was a major political innovation of the vijayanagara empire
Many features of this system of the Delhi sultanate

The amara -Nayaka 's duty

The amara - nayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern by the raya
They collected taxes and other dues from peasants , crafts persons and trader in the area .

Water Resources

The most striking feature about the location of vijayanagara is the natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra which flows in a north - easterly direction.
A number of streams flow down to the river from these rocky outcrops
Elaborate arrangements had to be made to store rain water and conduct it to the city
The most important such tank was kamala Puram tank

Fortifications and roads

Abdur Razzaq , an ambassador sent by the ruler of Persia to calicut in the 15th century , was greatly impressed by the fortifications , and mentioned seven lines of forts .
The outermost wall linked the hills surrounding the city .
The massive masonry construction was slightly tapered

Agriculture tracts

The objective of medieval sieges was to starve the defenders into submissions
These sieges could last for several months and sometimes ever years
A second line of fortification wend round the inner core of the urban complex
A third line surrounded the royal center within which each set of major building was surrounded by its own high walls
Gate ways were with defined architectural features
The arch on the gateway leading into the fortified settlement as well as the dome over the gate is regarded as typical features of the architecture introduced by the Turkish sultans .

The Urban core

Archaeologists have found fine Chinese porcelain in some areas of the urban core and suggest that areas many have been occupied by rich traders
Tombs and mosques located here have distinctive functions
The ordinary people of the vijayanagara empire lived in ordinary houses.
Field surveys indicate that wells , rain water tanks and temple tanks of the various small shrines scattered throughout the urban core.

The Royal Center

The Royal center was located in the south-western part of the settlement
It included 60 temples .
About thirty building have been identified as palaces .

The mahanavami dibba

The mahanavami dibba is massive plat form rising from a base of about 11,000 sq.ft.
there is evidence that it supportes a wooden structure.
It is a ten day Hindu festival
The ceremonies performed on the occasion included worship of the image ,worship of the state horse,and the sacrifice of buffaloes and other animals.

Other building in the royal center

one of the most beautiful buildings in the royal center is the lotus mahal.
it may have been a council chamber, a place where the king met his advisers.
one of the spectacular of these is one known as the Hazara Rama temple.
This was probably meant to be used only the king and his family.
sculpted panels on the walls survive.
These include scenes from the ramayana sculpted on the inner walls of the shrine.

The sacred center

choosing a capital

The rocky northern end of the city on the banks of the Tungabhadra
These hills are found jaina temples of the pre- Vijayanagara period as well
Temple building in the region had a long history ,going back to dynasties such as the pallevas chalukyas , hoysalas and cholas .
Temple also functioned as centers of learning
The site of Vijayanagara was inspired by the existence of the shrines of virupaksha and pampadevi

Gopurams and mandapas

These included structures of immense scale that must have been a mark have been a mark of imperial authority , best exemplified by the Raya gopurams or royal gateways
Other districtive feature of the temple architecture was mandapas or pavilions and long, pillared corridors that often ran around the shrines with the temple complex .

Virupaksha temple .

Inscriptions suggest that the earliest shrine date to the nineteenth centuries .
On the occasions of this coronation hall in front of the main shrine
This was decorated with delicately carved pillars.

Importance of halls in the temple .

The halls in the temples were used for a variety of purposes
In some special programmers of music ,dance, drama etc.
A characteristic feature of a temple complexes is the chariot streets that extended from the temple gopuram in a straight line

Plotting palace ,temples and Bazaars

This site was preserved by the Archaeological survey of India and the Karnataka department of Archaeology and museums .
In 1976 , Hampi was recognized as a site of national importance .
The first step was to divide the entire are into a set of 25 squares , each designated by a letter of the alphabet
Each of the small squares was subdivided into a set of even smaller squares .
They have also led to the recovery of traces of roads, paths bazaars, etc.
The letter have been located through finds of pillar bases and plat forms all that remain of markets

B.R.Foundation

Class 12 NCERT History chapter 7