6.2 Vijayanagara, the Deccan Sultanates & the Mysore Kingdom

Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1646)

Founded by Harihara I and Bukka Raya of the Sangama dynasty (c. 1336), capital at Vijayanagara on the Tungabhadra river — site now called Hampi (UNESCO World Heritage Site). The empire protected south India from the Delhi Sultanate's southward expansion for over two centuries. Four dynastic lines: Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, Aravidu.

• Krishnadevaraya (1509-1529) — Tuluva dynasty, greatest Vijayanagara ruler; called Andhra Bhoja and Mooru Rayara Ganda ('Lord of three kings'); defeated the Bahmani Sultanate, Gajapatis of Orissa; patron of Telugu and Kannada literature (Amuktamalyada in Telugu); built the Krishna Temple complex at Hampi and Vithala Temple's stone chariot; Tenali Ramakrishna was a famous court poet
• Battle of Talikota (23 January 1565) — combined Deccan Sultanates defeated and destroyed the capital Hampi; empire limped on under Aravidu dynasty until 1646

Bahmani Sultanate & Deccan Sultanates (1347-1686)

The Bahmani Sultanate founded by Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah (Alauddin Hasan Gangu) in 1347; capitals at Gulbarga (Ahsanabad) until 1425, then Bidar. The greatest Bahmani ruler Firuz Shah Bahmani (1397-1422) was a patron of learning. Mahmud Gawan, the powerful prime minister under Bahmani sultans, reformed administration and was executed in 1481; his madrasa at Bidar is a noted monument.

After 1482 the kingdom fractured into five Deccan Sultanates by c. 1518:

Bijapur's Ibrahim Rauza, Gol Gumbaz, and Bidar's madrasa exemplify Deccan Indo-Islamic architecture. The sultanates allied against Vijayanagara at Talikota (1565) and were later absorbed by the Mughals under Aurangzeb (Bijapur and Golconda fell in 1686-1687).

Mysore Kingdom (1399-1947)

Wodeyar Dynasty

The Wodeyars (Yadu dynasty) ruled Mysore from 1399, with capital at Mysore. Raja Wodeyar I (1578-1617) expanded the kingdom and shifted capital from Mysore to Srirangapatna. Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673-1704) was an able administrator and patron of Kannada literature. The Wodeyars lost real power to Hyder Ali in 1761, but the dynasty was restored in 1799 after Tipu's fall, then again briefly displaced in 1831-1881, finally merging into the Indian Union in 1947. Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV (1894-1940, under Dewan Sir M. Visvesvaraya) made Mysore a model progressive state.

Hyder Ali (1761-1782)

A soldier of fortune who rose to become de facto ruler. Fought the First Anglo-Mysore War (1767-69) which ended in his favour (Treaty of Madras). Allied with the French; modernised his army with Western tactics. Died during the Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84), at his camp near Kaveripakkam on 7 December 1782.

Tipu Sultan (1782-1799) — 'Tiger of Mysore'

Son and successor of Hyder Ali; called Sher-e-Mysore ('Tiger of Mysore') — Tipu's emblem was the tiger; his mechanical Tipu's Tiger organ (a wooden tiger mauling a British soldier) is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He introduced administrative reforms, introduced new coinage, the Mysore sword of fine steel, and the rocket brigades (Mysore rockets used against the British were a precursor to modern Congreve rockets).

• Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790-92) — Tipu defeated by Lord Cornwallis and allies (Travancore, Marathas, Nizam); Treaty of Srirangapatna (1792) cost him half his kingdom
• Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799) — Tipu died fighting the British under Lord Wellesley at the gates of Srirangapatna on 4 May 1799

After Tipu's fall, the British placed five-year-old Krishnaraja Wodeyar III on the throne and installed a British Resident; the Wodeyars ruled as princely-state sovereigns under British paramountcy.

Vijayanagara Administration and Society

• The empire was divided into rajyas or mandalas, then nadus, sthalas and gramas. Provincial governors were often royal princes.
• The Nayankara system assigned land to military chiefs (nayakas) in return for troops — the Vijayanagara analogue of the iqta and jagir.
• Ayagar system: each village had a body of twelve hereditary functionaries paid by tax-free land, including the headman, the accountant (karanika) and the watchman. Once again, the VAO's office has a direct medieval ancestor.
• Land revenue (sist) was the main income; there were also commercial, professional and grazing taxes. Amara-nayakas held revenue rights over territory.
• Foreign accounts are a favourite question: Nicolo Conti (Italian), Abdur Razzak (Persian), Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz (Portuguese) and Duarte Barbosa all described the capital's wealth.
• Hampi — Virupaksha temple, Vittala temple with its stone chariot and musical pillars, the Hazara Rama temple, the Lotus Mahal, the Elephant Stables and the Mahanavami Dibba — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Four Anglo-Mysore Wars — A Table Worth Memorising

Tipu Sultan specifics that recur: he styled himself Tiger of Mysore, used the tiger as his emblem, deployed iron-cased rockets at Srirangapatna and Pollilur that the British studied to develop the Congreve rocket, planted the Lal Bagh gardens' expansion, built the Daria Daulat Bagh summer palace, corresponded with the French and with Ottoman and Afghan rulers, and issued a new coinage and calendar.

Mysore under British Paramountcy, and Integration

• After 1799 the child Krishnaraja Wodeyar III ruled with a British Resident. In 1831 the British assumed direct administration of Mysore on grounds of misgovernment, and Commissioners governed until the Rendition of 1881, when Chamaraja Wodeyar X was restored.
• The Mysore Representative Assembly (1881) was the first such body in an Indian state — an early experiment in representative governance.
• Under Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV (ruled 1902–1940) and Dewans including Sir M. Visvesvaraya (1912–1918), Mysore became known as a Model State.
• Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, the last Maharaja, signed the Instrument of Accession in 1947; he later served as Rajpramukh of Mysore State, and then as Governor.
• Meanwhile the Nizam's dominion held Kalaburagi, Bidar and Raichur until Hyderabad's accession in 1948, and the Bombay and Madras Presidencies held the other Kannada districts — the fragmentation that made the unification movement necessary.

Exam Angle

For this period the paper wants war-to-treaty, ruler-to-title and monument-to-patron pairs. Learn the four Anglo-Mysore wars as a single table (years, ruler, treaty), fix the two dates that anchor everything — Talikota 1565 and Srirangapatna 4 May 1799 — and be able to name three Hampi monuments and three foreign travellers. Note also the recurring administrative thread: from the Kadamba karanika through the Vijayanagara ayagar to the modern Village Accountant, Karnataka has kept a village record-keeper for sixteen centuries.