Krishnadevaraya (1509-1529 C.E.):Krishnadevaraya of the Tuluva dynasty was the greatest Ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire. He was the son of Tuluva Narasanayaka and Nagaladevi He came to the throne in 1509 C.E. The glory and prestige of the Kingdom reached its zenith during the rule of Krishnadevaraya. He got a good training under his Prime minister’ Timmarasa whom he called as Appaji.
Military achievements of Krishnadevaraya :
1. The war of 1510 C.E.: Krishnadevaraya had to fight a war against Mohammed Shah of Bidar and Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur whose combined army attacked Vijayanagara. A battle took place in 1510 C.E. near Doni, in which the Muslim army was routed and it ran away from the battle field. Krishnadevaraya pursued the enemy forces up to Govilkonda and once again defeated them. He then occupied the Fort of Raichur and the Krishna-Tungabhadra doab area.
2. Siege of Unimatturu-1513 C.E.: Krishnadevaraya marched against the rebellious chief, Gangaraja of Ummatturu. Gangaraja was defeated and the forts of Shivanasainudra and Srirangapattana were captured. Krishnadevaraya created a new province with its head quarters at Srirangapattana.
3. Kalinga (Orissa) expedition -1513-1518 C.E.: Krishnadevaraya took an expedition to Kalinga to defeat the Gajapalhi Ruler, Prataparudra, which was achieved in stages. Udayagiri Fort was captured first. Next, he signed the Fort of Kondavidu and del bated the Reddies. The administration of the Krishna region of Andhra was entrusted to Salva Thimma. Then he captured the Forts of Vijayawada and Kondapalli. Later, the rest of the Telangana region came under his rule. When the Vijayanagara army reached Cuttack, the capital of the Gajapathis, King Prataparudradcva capitulated and settled for peace in 1518 C.E.
4. Battle or Raichur-1520 C. E.: When Krishnadevaraya was busily engage. in his Orissa campaign, Sultan Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur recaptured the fort of Raichur. In 1520, Krishnadevaraya marched against the Sultan, defeated him and took back the Fort of Raichur. In this battle, the Portuguese musketeers helped the Vijayanagara army.
5. Captured the Fort of Gulbarga -1523: Krishnadevaraya went as far as Bijapura, From here, he went to Gulbarga and defeated Amir Barid. Then he went upto Bidar and released the Bahamani Sultan, who had been imprisoned by his own subordinates and placed him on the throne of Gulbarga and took the title ‘Yavanarajya Pralishtapanacharya’.
6. Relation with the Portuguese: Krishnadevaraya maintained friendly relations with the Portuguese at Goa. He did not give help to Albuquerque to conquer Goa from the Bijapur Sultan in 1510 C.E. lie gave permission to the Portuguese to build Fort at Bhatkal. Durate Barbosa (1514-1515 C.E.) and Domingo Paes (1520 C.E.) is and the court of Krishnadevaraya. They have given information about the Vijayanaga i trade and the personality of Krishnadevaraya.
7. Peace in Ceylon: There was political instability in Ceylon (Srilanka) There wen revolts against King Vijayabahu. Krishnadevaraya intervened in its political affairs and peace was established. Bhuvanaikyabahu, the son of Vijayabahu was brought to power.
8. Extend of his Empirer The Empire extended from river Krishna and Godavari in the North, to Kanya kumari in the South and from the Arabian Sea in the West to the way of Bengal in the East.
Patronage to Literature : Krishnadevaraya was not only a great Ruler but also a agreat scholar in Sanskrit and Telugu. He wrote ‘Amukta Malyada’ in Telugu, Jambavathi Kalyanam Ushaparinayam, Madalasa Charithe and Rasamanjari in Sanskrit. He patronized eights Telugu poets popularly called as the ‘Ashtadiggajas’. He honoured the great scholar vyasateertha and Allasani Peddanna was conferred with the title ‘AndraKavi Pitamaha’. Krishnadevaraya is often described as ‘Andhra Bhoja’.
He abolished the marriage tax. In memory of his mother Nagaladevi, he built a new city called Nagalapura and he built Purandara Mantapa at Hampi. He built many tanks and canals for both drinking water and irrigation purposes. He was a devotee of Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati. He had many titles like Kannadarajya Ramaramana, Kavipungava, Karnatakandhrabhoja, Yavanarajya Pratishthapanacharya etc., The last days of Krishnadevaraya were unhappy. Due to his only son Tirumala’s death under mysterious circumstances in 1524 C. E., Krishnadevaraya was much grieved and died in 1529 C.E.
