Chapter – 7

An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara

In this post, we have given the detailed notes of Class 12 History Chapter 7 (An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara) in English. These notes are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

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Vijayanagar Empire

• The literal meaning of Vijayanagar is the city of victory, that is, the city of victory.
• Vijayanagar was a vast Hindu empire spread in South India.
• It existed from 1336 to 1565.
• The capital of Vijayanagar was named Hampi, hence it is also known as Hampi.

Establishment

• It was founded in 1336 by two brothers Harihara and Bukka.
• It is said that Harihara and Bukka Ho were sent by the then Sultan of Delhi Sultanate to capture the region of South India.
• After the victory Harihara and Bukka founded Vijayanagar.

Geographical location

• This region extended from the Krishna River to far south India.
• Neighbouring States
  • The north of Vijayanagar was ruled by the sultans of Deccan. These rulers were called ashwapatis because they had a large number of horses.
  • The Gajapati rulers used to rule in the north-eastern part of this, ie the area of ​​present-day Orissa. They were called Gajapatis. Because they used to have many elephants.
  • The struggle of Vijayanagar continued with all these rulers.
  • This struggle was for the possession of the fertile river valley and the wealth generated by foreign trade.

Discovery of Vijayanagar (Hampi)

• The ruins of Hampi were discovered by Colonel Colin McKenzie in 1800 AD.
• Colonel Colin Mackenzie was a historian and cartographer and served in the East India Company.
• To know more about Vijayanagar he interacted with the priests of Virupaksha temple and places of worship of Pampa Devi and gathered information based on their smriti (memories).
• Based on all this information, McKenzie made the first survey map of the area.
• In 1826 the inscriptions collected a number of inscriptions from several temples in the region.
• In 1856, pictures of the buildings here were started to be collected and researchers studied these pictures.
• In order to understand the history of Vijayanagar, besides all this information, historians also took recourse to the accounts of foreign travels and literature written in Tamil, Kannada and Sanskrit.
• In this way the information about Vijay Nagar was collected.

Colonel Colin McKenzie

• Mackenzie was born in 1754 AD.
• This historian was famous as cartographer and surveyor.
• In 1815 he was made the first Surveyor General of India and he remained in this post until his death in 1821.

Rule in Vijayanagara

• The rulers of Vijayanagar were called Rayas.
• The army chief of Vijayanagar was called Nayak.

Sangam Dynasty

• As we read that Vijayanagar was founded by Harihara and Bukka in 1336.
• His father’s name was Sangam and, in his name, he established his dynasty.
• Thus, Vijayanagar was first ruled by the Sangam dynasty.
• Their last ruler was Virupaksha II.

Suluv Dynasty

• The Suluva were military commanders during the Sangam dynasty.
• Narasimha established his rule by defeating Virupaksha II, the last ruler of the Sangam dynasty.
• This is where the Suluva dynasty began.

Tuluva Dynasty

• The Tuluva dynasty was established by Veer Narasimha, the first ruler of Tuluva, by defeating the last ruler of the Suluva dynasty.
• It was during this dynasty that Krishna Deva Raya became the king.
• He is considered to be the most majestic king of Vijayanagar.
• Sadashiva was the last ruler of Tuluva dynasty.

Aravindu Dynasty

• Aravindu dynasty was founded by Tirumal defeating the last ruler of Tuluva dynasty
• The last ruler of the Aravindu dynasty was Sriranga III.

Krishna Deva Raya, the majestic ruler of Vijayanagar

• Krishna Deva Raya took over the reign in 1509.
• This period is considered to be the most prosperous and happy period of Vijayanagar.

Administration

• Krishnadeva Raya strengthened the rule of Vijayanagar and conquered many influential areas.
  • For example
    • In 1512 Raichur doab (fertile region between Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers) was acquired.
    • Defeated the rulers of Orissa in 1514.
    • The Sultan of Bijapur was also badly defeated in 1520.
  • During the time of Krishna Deva Raya, the state was always ready for war.
  • He was also given the title of Andhra Bhoja i.e., the king of the whole of Andhra.

Art and literature

• Apart from being a majestic king, he was also a good writer.
• He wrote mainly two books.
  • Amuktamalyad (Telugu language)
  • Jamwanti Kalyan (Sanskrit Language)
• Many big temples were built by Krishna Dev.
• The credit of installing gopurams (huge gateways) in these huge temples also goes to Krishnadeva Raya.

Other Tasks

• The Kamalapuram reservoir was also constructed by Krishna Deva Raya to supply water.
• Krishnadevaraya also established a sub-town named Nagalapuram near Vijayanagar in the name of his mother.

Business

• Horse Trading

  • The army in Vijayanagar depended on horses.
  • That is why horses were imported from Central Asia and Arabia by the rulers of Vijayanagar.
  • Initially this trade was controlled by the Arab traders.
  • The horse traders who lived in Vijayanagar were called Kudirai Chetties.
• Vijayanagar was famous for the market of spices, gems and textiles.
• The people of Vijayanagar were prosperous and there was a high demand for expensive foreign goods.
• Due to high trade, the state received high revenue and due to this the states were prosperous.

Vijayanagar water system

• By the way, the Vijayanagar region was surrounded by rivers from all sides. But the main capital Vijayanagar was far away from the sources of water.

• water availability

  • A natural water body was formed from the Tungabhadra river located near Vijayanagar. From this water tank, water was brought to Vijayanagar.

Tank

• Some small streams originated from the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers and were built on these streams.
• Water from these dams was diverted to man-made reservoirs. These reservoirs were called Hauz.
• One of the important of these was the Hauz (reservoir). Kamalapuram Reservoir

Nehre

• Simultaneously, some small canals were built. Which used to supply water to different areas of Vijayanagar.
• The most important canal in this was Hiriya Canal.
• Nehru used to irrigate the fields in the state and water was delivered to the common people.

Architecture of Vijayanagar

• All the main administrative centres of Vijayanagar were located in the southwest part.
• From here all the administrative work was done.
• More than 60 temples have been found in this area which shows the religious interest of the kings.
• A huge structure has been found in this area. Which was called the palace of the king. There were two impressive forums here.
• Where does the Sabha Mandap and Maha Navami Dibba go?

Meeting hall

• It is a high pavilion. Which is surrounded by double walls and has a street in the middle.
• It has several pillars in the middle. And on these pillars rests the second floor of this platform.
• There are stairs to go to the second floor.
• All the pillars are very close in this. That is why very little open space is left between them.
• Due to less space, historians have not been able to understand the function of this pavilion because this space between these pillars is not enough to sit and organize any kind of meeting.

Mahanavami Box

• Mahanavami Dibba is a giant platform.
• It is spread over an area of ​​11000 square feet and its height is about 40 feet.
• Found some very beautiful pictures on the basis of this forum.
• Use
  • Big fairs were organized on this.
  • These fares were mainly organized on Hindu festivals like Dussehra, Durga Puja etc.
  • Religious rituals were organized on this occasion. In which idols were worshiped, animals were sacrificed and the state horse was worshipped etc.
  • During this time dance wrestling competitions and processions were organized.
  • During the last days of festivals, the king oversaw the army of his heroes.

lotus palace

• Kamal Mahal is a room shaped palace.
• It was named by the British because of its shape.
• Here the king used to sit and consult with his ministers.

Temple

• Hazar Ram Mandir

  • Hazara Rama Temple is one of the few main temples of Vijayanagar.
  • There is a huge temple and its walls are carved with stories from Ramayana in the form of paintings.
  • That is why it is called Hazar Ram Mandir.

• Virupaksha Temple

  • Lord Virupaksha was worshiped by the residents of Vijayanagar and they considered him as a form of Shiva.
  • For this the Virupaksha temple was built.
  • This is a very big and beautiful temple.
  • Its gopuram (entrance) is very huge and beautiful.
  • In this, Pampa Devi was also worshiped, who was believed to be the form of Parvati, the consort of Shiva.

• Vitthal Temple

  • Lord Vitthal was worshiped by the residents of Vijayanagar and they considered it to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
  • This temple has been made by cutting it in the shape of a chariot, hence it is a very beautiful structure.

Vijayanagar and Fortifications

• Information about the fortifications located in Vijayanagar comes to us from the description of Abdur Razzaq, a messenger from Persia.
• He was greatly impressed by the fortifications located at Vijayanagar.
• According to his description, 7 levels of siege was done in Vijayanagar.
• The main cities as well as common places, fields and hills were encircled inside this fortification.

Fortification level

• The king’s territory was surrounded on the first level.
• to the administrative centre on the second level
• Important buildings on the third level
• the general public sector at the fourth level
• farms on the fifth level
• crops at the sixth level
• And at the last level all the hills were encircled inside the captive for it.
• Funeral stones were used to build this wall. Because of which they used to get stuck together due to their shape and used to strengthen the wall.

Benefits of fortification

• protection from external aggression
• protection of crops
• protection from intruders
• Inside these walls, granaries were built. Where food was preserved and kept.

Disadvantages of Fortifications

• it was a very expensive system
• Maintenance was difficult.

Why were crops fortified?

• The main reason for fortification of crops was to protect them from enemy reach in the event of war.
• In the event of any war, the crops of the state were first captured by the enemy so that he could support his army in that area.
• That is why the crops were fortified by Vijay Nagar so that in the event of war, the crops could not be planted in the hands of any enemy.
• This made it difficult for the enemy army to maintain itself and also did not create a food crisis for the people of Vijayanagar.

Immortal hero system

• The Amar Nayak system prevalent in Vijayanagar was influenced by the Iqta system existing in the Delhi Sultanate.
• The military commanders based in Vijayanagar were called Amar Nayakas.
• These immortal heroes were given certain areas for administration by the king i.e., Rai.
• Amar Nayak used to collect taxes from the farmers and merchants located in those areas.
• He used to keep some part of this tax for his own use. Others used to maintain their horses and elephants in some part.
• Part of this was spent for the maintenance of the temple and irrigation facilities and the remaining revenue was given by the immortal Nayaka to the king.

Battle of Talikota (the demon Tagdi) and the fall of Vijayanagar

• In 1565, a combined army of Bijapur, Ahmedgarh Nagar and Golconda attacked Vijayanagar.
• During this time Raja Ram Raya was the ruler of Vijayanagar.
• This battle took place in Talikota, hence it is called the Battle of Talikota.
• Along with this, it is also known as the battle of the demonic Tagdi. Because where this war took place there were small villages named Rakshasi Tagdi.
• Due to the simultaneous attack of the armies of the three regions, Vijayanagar’s army was defeated in this battle and Vijayanagar collapsed.
• The army of the conquered territories plundered Vijayanagar and thus gradually the decline of Vijayanagar

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