Read the biography of Mallikarjuna (A.D. 1446—A.D. 1465)

Immediately after his accession, Mallikarjuna was confronted with an attack by the forces of the king Gajapati of Orissa and the Bahmani Sultan. It seems to be a coincidence that Bahmani and the Gajapati forces attacked simultaneously. In any case, Mallikarjuna routed them after a pitched battle in A.D. 1450.

The territories of the Gajapati king in coastal regions as well as Kondavidu passed into his hands. However, Gajapati king was able to muster considerable strength during the next four years when he subjugated the Reddi kingdom of Rajahmundry and advanced to Vijayanagar province of Kondavidu which he occupied.

He drove out the Vijayanagar governor and appointed in his place his son Kumara Hamvira. The study of contemporary inscriptions clearly establishes that Kapilesvara Gajpati’s son Hamvira occupied the Tamil country sometime before 1466. It is equally certain that they were not able to rule the country for long.

They were driven out by Mallikarjuna or his governor Saluva Narasimha soon after 1461, who reasserted their authority. Therefore, the Orissa conquest of Tamil country did not prove to be a permanent one and Vijayanagar authority was re-established and we know of an inscription which indicates that Virupaksha (1465-1485), king of Vijayanagar, was ruling over Tamil country.

With the help of his equally brave son Kumara Kapilesvara Mahapatra, he captured almost all the important forts such as Udayagiri, Chandragiri, Padaividu, Kanchi, Tiruchirapalli, etc.

He was anxious to extend his empire still further but had to withdraw due to certain circumstances, of which we find no reference in contemporary records. However, he smashed the prestige of the Vijayanagar rulers.

Professor Gurty Venkat Rao quotes a record of the Jagannatha temple at Gopinathapur in Cuttack in support of his contention that he was “a yawning lion to the sheep the Karnatak King.”

Mallikarjuna died soon afterwards in A.D. 1460. He was a kind-hearted and religious man but his reign marks the beginning of the decline of the Sangama dynasty. His two sons Rajasekhara and Virupaksha succeeded him m 1465 but their rule was confined to a few months.

The throne was usurped by his cousin brother Virupaksha Raya II (1465-1485). He was a voluptuous king and spent most of his time in drinking and in the company of women. He returned to the banks of the Kaveri on the east where he resigned undisturbed.

His territories included parts of Tanjore, South Arcot, Tiruchinopally, Coimbatore, Salem and Madura districts. On the west coast his authority was confined to Karnatak and portions of western Andhra country. Meanwhile the death of the Gajapati King in 1470 changed the political situation.

The Bahmani king was no longer afraid of an attack from Gajapati and he, therefore, attacked Konkan and sent a large army under his great general Gawan who was able to capture the strong fort of Khelna and then besieged Goa which also fell into his hands. It was a great blow to the Vijayanagar ruler.

He was deprived of the main source of his income from overseas trade. He made two attempts to recapture the fort but failed. Virupaksha lost not only the west coast but also most of the Karnatak.

Virupaksha also failed to take advantage of the excellent opportunity afforded to him by the death of Sailendra which led to civil wars in the coastal areas of Andhra country. However, there was a brave and far-sighted nobleman, Narasimha, in his kingdom who assumed the responsibility to save the tottering kingdom.

The war between the two sons of Kailesara Gajapati-Hamvira and Purushottama provided an opportunity to the Bahmani King, Muhammad III (A.D. 1463-A.D. 1482) to intervene in the affairs of Orissa. Muhammad III helped Hamvira who was successful against his brother and gave him the Krishna-Godavari delta which posed a threat to Vijayanagar.

Saluva Narasimha, therefore, helped his rival Purushottama. The Bhamani army at Kondavidu mutined and murdered the Governor. Narasimha skilfully brought about a compromise between the two Orissa princes. They now collected a huge army of about 70,000 strong which was opposed by the Bahmani Sultan’s forces.

The latter was successful and plundered Kanchi and its rich temples and collected immense wealth. But Muhammad’s army was intercepted by the Vijayanagar army under Isvara Nayaka who forced him to part with all that he had acquired. Muhammad sent another army under Adil Khan but Isvara Nayak repulsed the attack and captured Penukonda.

After this Bahmani Sultan did not make any other attempt and was himself involved in internal troubles due to the execution of his able minister Mahmud Gawan. Virupaksha continued to rule up to 1485 when he was murdered by his eldest son and thus the Sangama dynasty came to an end.

Saluva Narasimha was the eldest son of Saluva Gunda who held the fort of Chandragiri in Chittoor district. He succeeded to his estate in A.D. 1456 after the death of his father. The weakness of the Vijayanagar rulers after the death of Mallikarjuna encouraged him to enlarge his territory.

He took full advantage of the state of anarchy which followed the assassination of Mallikarjuna and laid the foundation of his own Saluva dynasty. He was already master of Chittoor, the two Arcots and the Kolar districts. He undertook an expedition against Gajapati in A.D. 1469, defeated the Orissa forces and captured Udayagiri.

The Pandya chief Bhuranaikavira Samarakalahala who invaded the Chola and Tondaimandalam countries checked his advance at this stage. Narasimha drove out the invaders, the Pandyas and the Lambakarna. He also took possession of almost the whole of the coastal Andhra country to the south of the Krishna.

Masulipatam and Kondavidu was also captured by him in A.D. 1480. The acquisition of the latter fort brought him in direct conflict with the Bahmanis who drove him out of Kondavidu and advanced even up to Kanchi.

His fortune helped him at that time. The chaos and confusion which followed in the Bahmani dominions after the murder of Ghawan enabled Narasimha to rout the Bahmanis and recover his earlier possessions.

Narasimha’s great general Isvara Nayaka conquered a number of places including Udayadu, Nellore, Amuru (Chingleput), Bonagiri, Chenji, besides Coimbatore, Salem, Seringapatam, Bangalore, Cuddappah, Anantpur, etc.

The chief of Ummatur who held sway over a large part of South India offered a stiff resistance but had to yield before the superior power of Narasimha who now became master of the whole of the Vijayanagar Empire.

Virupaksha II seemed to have remained a silent spectator of the disintegration of his vast empire. He was killed by one of his sons in 1485 who renounced the throne as he regarded himself as impure in favour of his younger brother Prandha Devaraya. He too proved to be a worthless ruler, killed his brother, and gave himself up to wine and women.

He was ultimately dethroned by Saluva Narasimha in the interest of the state, at the request of nobles who revolted against the tyrannical rule of Virupaksha Raya. He had also some family ties with the Sangama rulers as both of them claimed descent from Yadava race.

As Dr. Krishnaswami in his The Tamil Country under Vijayanagar points out, “Saluva Narasimha’s aim in usurping the throne was not personal ambition but the perpetuation of the Empire. The change-over was popular and bloodless and conducive to public and imperial interests.” Prandha fled away and took refuge in a foreign country. Narasimha celebrated his coronation by about A.D. 1485.