What were the results of Bannihatti Battle?

Jagadeva Rao was unhappy over the growing power of Ibrahim who refused to be a puppet in his hands. He, therefore, plotted to replace him by weak and vacilliating Daulat-Quli. The plot was unsuccessful and he took refuge with Darya Imad Shah.

Darya also found his manners overbearing and ordered him to quit. He fled to Edgandal which was invested by Ibrahim’s commanders. Finally Jagadeva went over to Vijayanagar.

Ibrahim and Ramaraj-Battle Of Bannihatti

We have discussed in detail the attempt made by the Adil Shah Sultan Ali to recover Sholapur and Kalyani from Ahmadnagar in collaboration with Vijayanagar and Qutb Shahi rulers in our chapter on Nizam Shahis.

Ibrahim played a dual role. He kept himself secretly in touch with the queen dowager of Ahmadnagar and when she informed him about the miserable condition of the beleaguered garrison, he persuaded Ramaraj to raise the siege.

He even offered him the fort of Kondapalli (A.D. 1559). A few years later (A.D. 1563), the relations between Ahmadnagar and Golkonda were further cemented by the marriage of Husain Nizam Shah’s daughter to Ibrahim Qutb Shah. Both the sultans resolved to wrest Kalyani from Biiapur and invested the fort. On Ali’s appeal, Ramaraj came to his rescue and lay waste the whole country up to Golkonda.

Ibrahim desisted from fighting the enemy in the open on the advice of his nobles and sent his envoy Mustafa Khan to Ramaraj for peace. He agreed to hand over the forts of Panagal and Ghanpura. Thus Kondapalli, Panagal and Ghanpura were lost by Ibrahim to Vijayanagar.

Ramaraj’s position had now become supreme in the Deccan. He “had cowed down Ali Adil Shah, eliminated the power of Ahmadnagar, and was in occupation of the Qutb Shahi forts of Kondapalli, Panagal and Ghanpura.” He had thus annoyed all the three sultans who decided to join hands to crush the Vijayanagar ruler.

This eventually led to the formation of a confederacy of the sultans of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Tilang and Bidar which culminated in the invasion of Vijayanagar and the famous battle of Bannihatti which changed the entire course of history in the Deccan. We have discussed in some detail this war in the various chapters and would, therefore, confine ourselves to a few important aspects.

The causes for this war were not far to seek. Each of the confederates had serious grouse against the dictator of Vijayanagar. The ruler of Bijapur Ali Adil Shah had invited Ramaraj to help him against Ibrahim and Husain Nizam Shah.

He had, however, stipulated that religious buildings, mosques and the Quran should not be desecrated in their invasion of Ahmadnagar. The non-combatants were also not to be harmed. These conditions were however, not honoured and the Vijayanagar soldiers perpetrated all sorts of crimes including the demolition of mosques.

Ibrahim Qutb Shah greatly resented the asylum given to Jagadeva Rao who carried on his clandestine activities against Golkonda. He felt greatly aggrieved at the cession of some of the important places in his dominons such as Kovilkonda, Kondapalli and Panagal. He was anxious to take the earliest opportunity to recover these forts.

The Sultan of Tilang greatly resented the frequent invasions of his territory by Vijayanagar forces which had laid waste his entire kingdom. The Sultan of Bidar also threw in his lot with his co-religionists against the only infidel ruler in the Deccan.

The Sultans arrived at a complete agreement near Sholapur to put all their resources together to annihiliate the kingdom of Vijayanagar. To safeguard against any possible defection, they put a seal on their relations by matrimonial alliances amongst themselves.

Ali married Husain Nizam’s sister while Husain’s son Murtaza married Ali’s sister. Husain Nizam Shah’s daughter had already been married to Ibrahim Qutb Shah. Sholapur, the bone of contention between Nizam and Shah’s Adil Shahis was ceded to Husain by Ali. Thus fortified the allies marched against the lone Hindu ruler of Vijayanagar.

It is not necessary to go into the details of the battle which was fought on 23rd January, 1565 at Bannihatti on the sangam of Maski and Hukeri and lasted for about 4 hours. The
aging but brave Vijayanagar ruler Ramaraj who led the centre completely overpowered his opponents in the beginning and would have carried the day but for the disastrous cannon fire of Rumi Khan’s artillery.

A novel device was adopted by a Nizam Shahi officer Kishwar Khan Lari by name who filled the biggest cannon Malik-i-Maidan with thousands of brass coins which were fired into enemy ranks and caused great havoc. Ramaraj in all probability fell fighting in the battle-field.

Besides several other reasons for the defeat of the Vijayanagar forces, their main drawback was their complete reliance on infantry and elephantry while the Sultans mainly used cavalry and artillery. Vijayanagar forces were completely routed and the whole country was given to indiscriminate loot and plunder. Thousands of innocent persons lost their lives.

The sack of Vijayanagar was complete. To quote Prof. H.K. Sherwani, “The effect of the Battle of Bannihatti on the fortunes of Vijayanagar was disastrous. The city which had experienced all the glories of the capital of a great Empire had given place to a far off town, its treasures taken away by Tirumala and Sadasiva, its streets and houses looted by marauders in the first instance and what little was left after the pillage by the occupying forces.” Most of the civil structures were brought down. However, it seems that not much harm was done to religious edifices.

Having thus achieved their purpose, the Sultans now sat down to distribute the spoils of war. It led to usual bickerings and ultimate breakup of the confederacy.