An Imperial Capital: Vijaynagar

Q1: Discuss various sources to know the history of Vijaynagar.

 In 1800 Colonel Colin Mackenzie for the first time brought to the light, the city of Hampi.
 Subsequently, the historians generate interest to reconstruct the history of Vijaynagar.
 Oral testimony like the statements of the priests of Virupaksha & Pampadevi gives us a glimpse
of the city of Vijaynagar.
 Historians are also collecting information from the foreign travelers like Domingo Paes, Abdur
Razzak, Barbarosa & many others.
 Likewise, Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit literature are also helping a lot in reconstructing the history
of Vijaynagar. For e.g. Amuktamalayada of Krishnadeva Raya in Telegu.
 Above all the historical remains of Hampi like Mahanabamidibba, lotus Mahal, Hazaar Ram
Temple etc. are standing as dumb & mute witness of Vijaynagar’s glorious past..

Q2: Who was Colonel Colin Mackenzie? Discus his contributions to the discovery of Vijaynagar.
 Colonel Colin Mackenzie, born in 1754 was a famous engineer, surveyor, cartographer & an
antiquarian.
 In 1815 he was appointed as the 1st surveyor General of India which he continued till 1821.
 In 1800, he brought to the light, the remains of Hampi by preparing first survey map of the site.
 During the tenure of surveyor General, he collected a lot of materials & tried to fix with the
depictions given by the priests of Pampa Devi & Virupaksha temple.

Q3: When was the city of Vijaynagar founded & by whom?

 Vijaynagar or the city of victory was founded in 1336 by two brothers of sangama Dynasty Hariar
Raya & Bukka Raya.
 The empire was founded on the bank of river Tungabhadra over seven granite hills.

Q4: From whom did the Vijaynagar rulers got inspired in constructing temples?
 The royal support of Cholas in constructing Brihadeshwar temple at Tanjavur greatly motivated
the Vijaynagar rulers.
 Similarly, the chenna keshava temple at Belur also was the source of inspiration.
 Above all the Hoysalas of Dwarsamudra (Karnataka) also motivated the Vijaynagar rulers to
build temples.

Q5: Who were Amar -nayakas? Discuss their contribution in strengthening Vijaynagar Empire.
 Amar-nayak system was a major political innovation of the Vijaynagar rulers.
 Amara is belived to be derived from Sanskrit word samara meaning battle or Persian term Amir,
meaning high nobles.
 Many of the features of Amar Nayak system probably derived from Iqta system of Delhi sultan.
 The amar -nayaks were military commanders who were given territories by the Raya.
 They collected taxes & other duties from the people in their area & retained a part of the
revenue for their salary & maintenance of horses & elephants.
 The surplus amount was sent to Raya regularly.
  The contingents whom they were maintaining were asked to serve the king at the time of need.
 An Amar-nayak was bound to send tribute to the king annually and personally appeared in the
Royal court with gifts to express his loyalty.
 The Amar -nayaks were transferred from one place to another by the Raja.
 Besides maintenance of Army the Amar -nayaks were also using the revenue for maintenance of
temples, constructing Gopurams & irrigation works.

Q6: Mention two most important water works which provided water to the Vijaynagar.
 As Vijaynagar was located on the hilly regions, so Rayas had taken keen interest in building
various tanks & canals.
 The Hiriya canal which drew water from a dam across Tungabhadra & kamalapuram tank which
was providing water to the Royal centre were two most prominent water works of Vijaynagar
Empire.
 Similarly, a tank constructed by Krishna Dev Raya at the mouth of two hills & water reservoirs
created through embankments also providing water to Vijaynagar .

Q7: Why was Vijaynagar chosen as a capital?

Vijaynagar was chosen as the capital on the banks of Tungabharda because of the following
Reasons:—

 According to local tradition these hills were the kingdom of Vali & Sugriva , i.e. Kiskinda as
mentioned in the Ramayana.
 The place has religious importance too as mother Goddess; Pampa Devi did penance inorder to
marry merely Virupaksha, a form of Lord Shiva.
 These hills are also associated with several sacred traditions, as many Jain temples are found of
the pre Vijaynagar period.
 The city was on the granite hills from where number of streams flow down to the river
Tungabhadra, so the abundance of water also inspired the rulers to establish their Capital.
 Above all the strategic importance of the city provided natural safety to the Vijaynagar rulers, so
the city was chosen as the capital.

Q8: who was Krishna Dev Ray? Discuss his Contribution.

 Krishna Dev Ray was probably one of the most powerful rulers of Vijaynagar who ruled from
1509 to 1529.
 After Veer Narasingha of Tulva Dynasty his brother Krishna Dev Ray succeeded to the throne.
 The new king suppressed the rebellious regions of the South and defeated many kings including
Gajapati Raja, Pratap Rudra Dev of Orrisa & yusuf Adil sahi of Bahamani Kingdom. In 1574, he
conquered Kondavidu and other forts. He also successfully invaded Gulburga and Bidar.
 To Commemorate his victory, adopted the title of Yavanaraja Sthapaka charya, Entire Telangana
was also brought under his possession by defeating Sultan of Golconda. Ismile Adil Saha was
defeated in Raichur and established his supremacy over Raichur Doab region. Besides a few
islands on the Indian Ocean were also conquered by him.
 Krishna Dev Ray had friendly relationship with the Portuguese.
  His enmity with Bijapur and import of horses were main reasons for his friendship with the
Portuguese.
 The reign of Krishna Dev Ray is also known for the development of art, architecture & literature.
He founded a new city and named it Nagalapur near Vijaynagar where he built many temples
and tanks. Kannad, Telugu and Sanskrit were patronised by the rulers; he himself had written a
book named ‘Amukta Malayada’.
 Intellectuals like Tenali Ramakrishnan were patronized by the ruler. He respected each and
every cult though he believed in vaishnavism.
 He enunciated many administrative reforms.
 Despite his noble efforts the Vijaynagar kingdom became weak and in 1565 in the battle of
Talicota (Rakshasgarhi), the combined forces of Bahamani kingdoms defeated Ram Raya and
Vijaynagar, the crown of the world was destroyed.

Q9: Vijaynagar was characterized by a distinctive physical layout and building style. Comment.
 The most striking feature of Vijaynagar is the natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra.
The granite hills and flowing down of a number of streams from these rocky outcrops also
increases beauty of the city.
 As per the depictions of Abdur Razzak, the city has seven lines of forts. The high walls encircled
not only the city but also its agricultural hinter lands and forests. In the constructions of the
walls no motor or cementing agents were applied.
 Between the second & the third walls there were cultivated fields, gardens & the houses.
 The rulers adopted a major and more expensive strategy of protecting agriculture.
 A second line of fortification went round the inner core and the third line surrounded the Royal
centre. The major buildings were further surrounded by its own high walls.
 The fort was entered through well guarded gates which linked the city to the major roads.
 16th century Portuguese traveler Barbosa described the houses of ordinary people(whose
existence is no more noticed by the historians) but archaeologist find Chinese porcelain in some
areas in north Eastern corner. Probably in these areas were the houses of traders. Tombs and
Mosques located here have distinctive functions. Their architecture resembles that of
Mandapas.
 The Royal centre was located in south Western part of the settlement. It included 60 temples
and 30 building complexes. The temples were build by using stone blocks whereas the super
structure of palaces were made up perishable objects.
 Mahanavami Dibba, lotus mahal, Audience Hall, Hazar Rama Temple are some of the best
specimens of Royal Centre..

Q10: What do you mean by Gopurams?

 Gopurams are the entrance gate to the south Indian temples.
 During Vijaynagar period to mark the imperial authority, massive Royal Gateways were
constructed.
 These Gateways often depicted the forms of the cultural shines.
  The Gopurams signaled the presence of temples form long distance. It also meant as reminders
of the power of the kings, able to command and the resources, techniques and skills needed to
construct these towers.
 Many Amar nayaks and Nayaks also constructed Gopurams.

Q11: Name any two archaeologists who had helped in identifying various secular buildings.
 The efforts of Jhon M Fritz, J George Michell and M.S. Nagraja Rao are worth to be
remembering in discovering and indentifying the monuments of Vijaynagar.

Q12: The temples and palaces of Vijaynagar tell us a lot about the glorious past. Comment.
 The buildings of Vijaynagar which are still surviving to tell us about the way spaces were
organized and used.
 The materials used, techniques applied, way of construction can be traced out from the
buildings. For e.g. the historians can access the defense requirements, military preparedness of
the city by studying its fortifications. The fortification of hinter lands, agriculture and forests is
highlighting medieval military strategy.
 Buildings also tell us about the spread of ideas and cultural influences. Construction of Vithal
temple tell us liberal attitude of the Vijaynagar rulers and their interest to exhale essence of
other regions. Massive structure of Ram Navami Dibba, scenes from Ramayana in Hajar Ram
Temple are also giving silently much information on the functions of these structures, popular
traditions etc.
 Existence of Pampa Devi Temple and Virupaksha temple are showing the religious traditions of
the Vijanagar.
 Though archaeological features do not tell us what ordinary man, women or children were doing
still historians are believing that without their help huge moments would not have been
possible to construct.
Q13: Why do you think that agricultural tracts were fortified during medieval period?
During medieval period agricultural tracts were fortified because:
 Medieval war strategy was to siege agricultural land and to force the opposition to
surrender in fear of starvation.
 As war was continuing for long time so Kings were trying to have control over their
resources.
 Kings were taking initiative for elaborate strategy by which resources of the state
should not fall to the hands of the enemy.

Q14: Write a note on “Mhanavami Dibba”. Mention the rituals associated with this.

 King Krishnadevaraya constructed this in commemoration on the victory over Udaygiri (now in
Orissa).
 The king used this platform to watch the army march-pasts, war games, aquatic sports, shows
of the royal animals, musical performances and also the most important Navarathri
celebrations, the nine day-nine night state festival.
  And this was the annual occasion the governors of various provinces under the king visited the
capital to pledge their loyalty to the king’s dominion. For the king it was an event to
demonstrate the imperial pomp and power at his disposal.
 This is the tallest structure in this area. The whole structure is made as a giant square structure
in three layers.
 There are mainly two stairways to reach the top. The front one (east facing) is highly decorated
on either sides with carvings of elephants, horses and a host of other things.
 At the back of the platform a twin staircase is located. Probably this was used as a service
staircase during the ceremonies. 
 The sides of this three layered platform is basically fluted design with chains of sculptures
(largely of elephants one behind the other). The most celebrated of the carvings are of the
panels at the sidewall in the bottom portion. 
 It is a massive platform rising from a base of about 11000 sq ft. and a height of 40ft.
 Rituals associated with this structure was the ten day Hindu Festival of Dussehera.
 The ceremonies performed on the occasion included worship of the image, worship of the
state horse, sacrifice of the buffaloes and other animals.
 Dances, chariot racing, wrestling, processions of horses, elephants, soldiers were also
performed there.
 Nayaks , Amar-nayaks and subordinate kings were also giving personal presence by
performing various activies before the king and guests.

Q15:Who was Krishna Deva Raya?

 Sri Krishnadevaraya  was the greatest emperor South India has produced.
 When he ascended the throne in 1509, the political condition of the Vijayanagar Empire was
very gloomy. 
 Krishnadevaraya  first turned his attention towards the Muslim rulers of the Deccan and
inflicted a crushing defeat on the combined Muslim army. Raichur was captured in 1512 A.D.
and the Doab region of Krishna-Tungabhadra came under the control of Sri Krishnadevaraya .
 Gulbarga was also captured. Krishnadevaraya  restored the Bahmani kingdom to its legal ruler
Muhammad Shah and adopted the title Yavanrajya stapanacharya.
 He launched five campaigns against the Oriya rulers and succeeded defeating the large Orissa
army of Prataparudra Dev.
 The last important campaign of Sri Krishnadevaraya  was against Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur.  In
the battle that followed the Bijapur army was completely routed. 
 He maintained friendly relations with the Portuguese. As a result trade and commerce
developed. The Vijayanagar ruler was able to procure Arabian horses from the Portuguese
traders. The Portuguese supplied guns and other war material to the Vijayanagar ruler which
was used in the siege of Raichur. Similarly the Portuguese engineers were engaged in
improving the water supply to the city of Vijayanagar.
  He followed policy of religious toleration. He granted complete freedom of worship to
his subjects irrespective of caste and creed. He restored many shrines throughout South India.
Kalahasti temple gopuram was built by him.
 He was a versatile genius and made his mark as a great warrior, able administrator and a liberal
patron of art and literature. Eight literary luminaries popularly known as Ashtadiggajas adorned
his court. His book Amuktamalayada in Telugu is a masterly piece.
 Sri Krishnadevaraya  was a great builder. The Hazara Rama temple, the Vittalaswami temple at
the capital city is attributed to him. In honour of his mother he built a new city called
Nagalapuram.
 In a word Sri Krishnadevaraya  ranks with the greatest emperors of Europe and Asia.