Krishnadevaraya

Krishnadevaraya (IAST Kṛṣṇadevarāya) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire who reigned from 1509–1529. He was the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty, and is widely considered to be the greatest ruler of the empire. He was also known for employing Turkic archers. Presiding over the empire at its zenith, he is regarded as an icon by many Indians. Krishna Deva Raya earned the titles Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana (lit, "Lord of the Kannada empire"), Andhra Bhoja (lit, "Bhoja for Telugu Literature") and Mooru Rayara Ganda (lit, "King of Three Kings"). He became the dominant ruler of the peninsula of India by defeating the Sultans of Bijapur, Golconda, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Gajapatis of Odisha, and was one of the most powerful Hindu rulers in India. Indeed, when the Mughal Emperor Babur was taking stock of the potentates of north India, Krishnadevaraya was rated the most powerful and had the most extensive empire in the subcontinent.

Portuguese travellers Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz also visited the Vijayanagara Empire during his reign. Travelogues indicate that the king was not only an able administrator but also an excellent general, leading from the front in battle and even attending to the wounded. The south Indian poet Muku Timmana praised him as the destroyer of the Turkics. Krishna Deva Raya benefited from the able prime minister Timmarusu, who was regarded by the emperor as a father figure and was responsible for his coronation.

Krishna Deva Raya was the son of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, an army commander under Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya, who later took control of the empire to prevent its disintegration and became the founder of the Tuluva Dynasty, the third Hindu Dynasty to rule Vijayanagara.

The rule of Krishnadevaraya marks a period of much military success in Vijayanagara history. On occasion, the king was known to change battle plans abruptly and turn a losing battle into victory. The first decade of his rule was one of long sieges, conquests, rebellions and victories. His main enemies were the Bahamani Sultans (who, though divided into five small kingdoms, remained a constant threat), the Gajapatis of Odisha, who had been involved in constant conflict since the rule of Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya and the Portuguese, a rising maritime power which controlled much of the sea trade.

Success in Deccan

The annual affair of the raid and plunder of Vijayanagar towns and villages by the Deccan sultans came to an end during the Raya's rule. In 1509, Krishnadevaraya's armies clashed with the Sultan Samshuddin Zafar Khan of Bijapur at Diwani and the Sultan Mahmud was severely injured and defeated. Yusuf Adil Khan was killed and the Raichur Doab was annexed. Taking advantage of the victory, the Raya reunited Bidar, Gulbarga, and Bijapur into Vijayanagar and earned the title "establisher of the Yavana kingdom" when he released Sultan Mahmud and made him de facto ruler. The Sultan of Golconda Sultan Quli Qutb Shah was defeated by Timmarusu, who was the prime minister of Sri Krishnadevaraya.

War with Feudatories

He defeated many local rulers like the Dharanikota Kammas, who were feudatory rulers of the Gajapathis, and the rebellious Ummatur Chiefs. In 1516-1517, Krishnadevaraya pushed beyond the Godavari river.

War with Kalinga

The Gajapatis of Odisha ruled a vast land comprising Andhra region, Odisha. Krishna Deva Raya's success at Ummatur provided the necessary impetus to carry his campaign into Coastal Andhra region which was in control of the Gajapati Raja Prataparudra Deva. The Vijayanagar army laid siege to the Udayagiri fort in 1512. The campaign lasted for a year before the Gajapati army disintegrated due to starvation. Krishna Deva Raya offered prayers at Tirupati thereafter along with his wives Tirumala Devi and Chinnama Devi. The Gajapati army was then met at Kondaveedu, where the armies of Vijayanagara, after establishing a siege for a few months, began to retreat due to heavy casualties. Then, Timmarusu, upon discovering a secret entrance to the unguarded eastern gate of the fort, launched a night attack that culminated with the capture of the fort and the imprisonment of Prince Virabhadra, the son of Gajapati Emperor Prataparudra Deva. Saluva Timmarusu took over as governor of Kondaveedu thereafter.

Krishnadevaraya planned for an invasion of Kalinga, but the Gajapati Emperor, Prataparudra, was made privy to this plan. Prataparudra formulated his own plan to defeat Krishandevaraya and the Vijayanagara Empire. The confrontation was to happen at the fort of Kalinganagar. But the wily Timmarusu secured the information of Prataparudra's plan by bribing a Telugu deserter, who was formerly under the service of Prataparudra. When the Vijayanagara Empire did invade, Prataprudra was driven to Cuttack, the capital of the Gajapati empire. Prataparudra eventually surrendered to Vijayanagara Empire, and he gave his daughter, Princess Jaganmohini, in marriage to Sri Krishnadevaraya. Krishandevaraya returned all the lands that the Vijayanagara Empire captured to the North of the Krishna River; this made the Krishna river boundary between the Vijayanagar and the Gajapati Kingdoms.

Krishnadevaraya established friendly relations with the Portuguese, who set up the Portuguese Dominion of India in Goa in 1510. The Emperor obtained guns and Arabian horses from the Portuguese merchants. He also utilized Portuguese expertise in improving water supply to Vijayanagara City.

Final conflict and death

The complicated alliances of the empire and the five Deccan sultanates meant that he was continually at war. In one of these campaigns, he defeated Golconda and captured its commander Madurul-Mulk, crushed Bijapur and its Sultan Ismail Adil Shah, and restored Bahmani sultanate to the son of Muhammad Shah II.

The highlight of his conquests occurred on 19 May 1520 where he secured the fortress of Raichur from Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur after a difficult siege during which 16,000 Vijayanagara soldiers were killed. The exploits of the military commander, Pemmasani Ramalinga Nayudu of the Pemmasani Nayaks, during the Battle of Raichur were distinguished and lauded by Krishnadevaraya. It is said that 700,000-foot soldiers, 32,600 cavalry, and 550 elephants were used in the Battle of Raichur. Finally, in his last battle, he razed to the ground the fortress of Gulburga, the early capital of the Bahmani sultanate. His empire extended over the whole of South India.

In 1524, Krishnadevaraya made his son Tirumala Raya the Yuvaraja (crown prince). The prince did not survive for long: he was poisoned to death. Suspecting the involvement of Timmarusu, Krishna Deva Raya had his trusted commander and adviser blinded. At the same time, Krishnadevaraya was preparing for an attack on Belgaum, which was in the Adil Shah's possession. Around this time, Krishnadevaraya took seriously ill. He died soon after in 1529. Before his death, he nominated his brother, Achyuta Deva Raya as his successor.

During his reign he kept a strict control over his ministers, and any minister who committed misdeeds was dealt with severely. He abolished some of the obnoxious taxes such as the marriage fee. To increase revenues, he brought new lands under cultivation by ordering deforestation of some areas. A large-scale work to obtain water for irrigation around Vijayanagar was also undertaken by him. Foreign travelers, such as Paes, Nunez and Barbosa, who visited Vijayanagar spoke highly of the efficiency of administration and prosperity of the people during his reign. In spite of his preoccupations with the defense and reorganization of the territories conquered by him, he founded a new town called Nagalapura. Paes summarises the king's attitude to matters of law and order by stating that "The king maintains the law by killing." Offenses against property (designed to maintain stability) and for murder ranged from cutting of a foot and hand for theft and beheading for murder (except for those occurring as a result of the duel). Paes could not estimate the size of Vijaynagar as his view was obscured by the hills but estimated the city to be at least as large as Rome. Furthermore, he considered Vijayanagara to be "the best provided city in the world" with a population of not less than half a million. The empire was divided into a number of provinces often under members of the royal family and into further subdivisions. The administrative languages of the Empire were Kannada and Telugu. Kannadawas a popular literary medium, reaching its peak under the patronage of Krishnadevaraya.

The administration of the empire was carried along the lines indicated in his Amuktamalyada. He was of the opinion that the King should always rule with an eye towards Dharma. His concern for the welfare of the people is amply proved by his extensive annual tours all over the empire, during which he studied everything personally and tried to redress the grievances of the people and to punish the evil doers. With regard to the promotion of the economic progress of his people, Krishnadevaraya says: "the extent of the kingdom is the means for the acquisition of wealth. Therefore even if the land is limited in extent, excavate tanks and canals and increase the prosperity of the poor by leasing him the land for low ari and koru, so that you may obtain wealth as well as religious merit."

The Portuguese Chronicler Domingo Paes praises Krishna Deva Raya as, "the most feared and perfect King… a great ruler and a man of much justice". Though a follower of Vaishnavism he showed respect to all sects, and petty religious prejudices never influenced him, either in granting gifts or in his choice of companions and officers. According to Barbosa, "The King allows such freedom that every man may come and go, live according to his own creed, without suffering any annoyance".

The rule of Krishna Deva Raya was an age of prolific literature in many languages, although it is also known as a golden age of Kannada literature. Many Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit, and Tamil poets enjoyed the patronage of the emperor. Emperor Krishna Deva Raya was fluent in many languages. There remains a debate whether he was a Kannadiga or Teluguor Tuluva by lineage.

The poet Manku Timma praised him as a great general and stated: "O Krishnaraya, you Man-Lion. You destroyed the Turks from far away with just your great name's power. Oh Lord of the elephant king, just from seeing you the multitude of elephants ran away in horror.

Kannada literature

He patronised Kannada poets Mallanarya, who wrote Veera-saivamruta, Bhava-chinta-ratna and Satyendra Chola-kathe, Chatu Vittal-anatha who wrote Bhaga-vatha, Timmanna Kavi who wrote a eulogy of his king in Krishna Raya Bharata. Vyasatirtha, the great Dvaita saint from Mysore belonging to the Madhwa order was his Rajaguru. Krishna Deva Rayana Dinachari in Kannada is a recently discovered work. The record highlights the contemporary society during Krishna Deva Raya's time in his personal diary. However, it is not yet clear if the record was written by the king himself.

Telugu literature

The rule of Krishna Deva Raya is known as golden age of Telugu literature. Eight Telugu poets were regarded as eight pillars of his literary assembly and known as Ashtadiggajas. Krishna Dev Raya himself composed an epic Telugu poem Amuktamalyada.

Tamil literature

Krishna Deva Raya patronised the Tamil poet Haridasa, and Tamil literature soon began to flourish as the years passed by.

Sanskrit literature

In Sanskrit, Vyasatirtha wrote Bhedo-jjivana, Tat-parya-chandrika, Nyaya-mrita (a work directed against Advaita philosophy) and Tarka-tandava. Krishna Deva Raya himself an accomplished scholar wrote Madalasa Charita, Satyavadu Parinaya and Rasamanjari and Jambavati Kalyana.

Krishna Deva Raya respected all sects of Hinduism and lavished on the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, numerous objects of priceless value, ranging from diamond studded crowns to golden swords. For this he is honored with installing his statues along with his two wives at the temple complex.These statues are still visible at the temple at the exit. He also contributed in building parts of Srisailam temple complex.

Krishna Deva Raya was formally initiated into the Vaishnava Sampradaya by Tathacharya. He was also his Rajguru.When Krishnadevaraya became the ruler Tathacharya was his guru. He patronised poets and scholars in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit.

Chinna Devi

Chinna Devi was the second and younger queen of Krishnadevaraya. She was the daughter of King Jaivarma and Queen Chandikakumari of Koorg Pradesh. Chinna Devi had a daughter named Vengalamba.

Tirumala Devi

Ashta Diggaja Kavigalu

1.AllasaniPeddana 2.Tenali Rama Krishna 3.Nandi Thimmana 4.MadayyagariMallana 5.Dhurjati 6.Ayyala-raju Rama-Bhadra 7.PingaliSurana 8.Rama-raj-bhusha