Sangama Dynasty and Saluva Dynasty: Deva Raya I to the Tuluva Takeover

Overview

The Sangama dynasty, the first of Vijayanagara's four ruling houses, reached its height under Deva Raya I (1404 to 1422) and Deva Raya II (1425 to 1446), when travellers called Vijayanagara the most powerful state in the south. After Deva Raya II came civil wars and losses to the Bahmanis and the Gajapatis of Orissa, until in 1485 the minister Saluva Narasimha took the throne and founded the Saluva dynasty, which gave way to the Tuluvas in 1503.

Sangama Dynasty at Its Height: Deva Raya I and Deva Raya II

Deva Raya I (1404 to 1422): Firuz Shah, Warangal and the Tungabhadra Dam

Deva Raya I came to the throne in 1404 after a period of confusion. His great rival was the Bahmani kingdom, founded by Hasan Gangu in 1347 with its capital at Gulbarga. Early in his reign the fight for the Tungabhadra doab broke out again, and he was defeated by the Bahmani Sultan Firuz Shah. He paid ten lakh huns with pearls and elephants, gave his daughter in marriage to the Sultan and ceded Bankapur in the doab as dowry. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp, and the road from the city gate to the palace, 10 km long, was spread with cloth of gold and velvet.

Marriages alone could not bring peace. In the struggle for the Krishna-Godavari delta Deva Raya I allied with Warangal, whose defection from the Bahmanis changed the balance of power, and in 1419 he inflicted a shattering defeat on Firuz Shah and annexed the whole Reddi territory up to the mouth of the Krishna.

He also looked after the capital. He built a dam across the Tungabhadra so that canals could carry water into the city, and the canals irrigated the fields around it too, adding 3,50,000 perdaos to his revenue. He built a second dam on the Haridra for irrigation.

Deva Raya II (1425 to 1446): Muslim Archers and the War of 1443

Deva Raya II, considered the greatest ruler of the dynasty, came to the throne in 1425. He believed the Bahmani army owed its superiority to sturdier horses and a large body of good archers, so he enlisted 2,000 Muslims, gave them jagirs and ordered his Hindu soldiers and officers to learn mounted archery from them. Muslims in the army were not new; Deva Raya I is said to have kept 10,000.

Ferishta puts Deva Raya II's army at 60,000 Hindu archers, 80,000 cavalry and 2,00,000 infantry, figures that may be exaggerated. A large cavalry strained the treasury, since good horses had to be imported and the Arabs who controlled the trade charged high prices for them.

With his new army Deva Raya II crossed the Tungabhadra in 1443 to win back Mudkal, Bankapur and the other places lost to the Bahmanis south of the Krishna. Three hard battles were fought, but both sides had to accept the old frontiers. The Portuguese writer Nuniz says the kings of Quilon, Sri Lanka, Pulicat, Pegu and Tenasserim paid him tribute. Regular tribute from Pegu and Tenasserim is doubtful. Sri Lanka, however, had been invaded several times, and such expeditions needed a strong navy.

Vijayanagara under the Sangama Dynasty: Accounts of the Travellers

Nicolo Conti and Abdur Razzaq on Vijayanagara

Two foreign visitors of the first half of the fifteenth century left vivid accounts of Vijayanagara.

  • Nicolo Conti, 1420: The Italian traveller found a city sixty miles (about 97 km) round, its walls carried up to the mountains, with 90,000 men fit to bear arms, and a king more powerful than all the other kings of India.
  • Abdur Razzaq, 1443: The Persian envoy, in the reign of Deva Raya II, wrote that the king had 300 ports, each equal to Calicut, and lands three months' journey across, well cultivated and fertile. The city had seven citadels inside seven walls and four long, broad bazars, and he counted it among the most splendid cities he had seen or heard of.

The empire was named after its capital, Vijayanagara, which was its seat from 1336 until 1565. People of one caste or trade lived in one quarter, and the Muslims seem to have had quarters of their own. A later traveller called the city larger than Rome. The kings were reputed to be very rich, with bullion stored in the palace, but hoarded wealth stayed out of circulation and sometimes invited attack.

Two panels. Nicolo Conti, an Italian traveller, 1420: A city circuit of sixty miles, walls carried up to the mountains, 90,000 men fit to bear arms, and a king more powerful than all other Indian kings. Abdur Razzaq, a Persian envoy, 1443: Three hundred ports, seven citadels inside seven walls, four long and broad bazars, and bullion stored in the palace.

Administration, Economy and Temples under the Sangama Kings

Amara-Nayaka System and the Nayakas of Vijayanagara

Vijayanagara's power rested on its military chiefs, the nayakas, who held forts and armed men and usually spoke Telugu or Kannada. Many submitted to the kings but often rebelled and had to be subdued by force.

The amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation of the empire, and many of its features were probably taken from the iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate. It had three features:

  • Territory: The amara-nayakas were military commanders given territories to govern by the king.
  • Revenue: They collected taxes and dues from peasants, craftspeople and traders, kept part for themselves and for a stipulated contingent of horses and elephants, and spent some on temples and irrigation.
  • Loyalty: They sent tribute to the king every year and appeared at court with gifts; the kings sometimes transferred them to keep control.

These contingents gave the kings an effective fighting force, but strong nayakas could also break away, as many did later.

Irrigation, Trade and Temple Building under the Sangama Kings

Vijayanagara stood in one of the driest parts of the peninsula, so its kings built works to store and carry water. Besides Deva Raya I's dam and canals, the most important tank, now called the Kamalapuram tank, was built early in the fifteenth century and fed both the fields and the royal centre. The Hiriya canal, which drew water from a dam across the Tungabhadra, was apparently built by the Sangama kings.

Trade brought wealth and horses. Abdur Razzaq credited the king with 300 ports, and the cavalry depended on horses imported by sea, mostly through Arab traders. The kingdom's coins were struck largely in gold and copper.

The Sangama kings were also great temple builders. The Virupaksha temple, whose earliest shrine dated to the ninth or tenth century, was greatly enlarged with the founding of the empire; the underground Prasanna Virupaksha temple is credited to Bukka; and the Hazara Rama temple in the royal centre, credited to a king named Deva Raya (sources differ on which), carries scenes from the Ramayana on its inner walls.

Decline of the Sangama Dynasty and the Saluva Dynasty

After Deva Raya II: Civil Wars, the Gajapatis and the Loss of Goa

Confusion followed the death of Deva Raya II in 1446. Since no rule of primogeniture had been established, rival claimants fought a series of civil wars, many feudatories became independent, and the ministers grew so powerful that they extorted presents and heavy taxes from the people.

Table 1. Vijayanagara's losses after Deva Raya II
Rival after 1446 What Vijayanagara suffered When
Gajapatis of Orissa Raids deep into the south, as far as Madurai After 1450
Rajahmundry taken 1454
Udayagiri and Chandragiri taken 1463
Bahmanis under Mahmud Gawan The western coast, including Dabhol and Goa, a heavy blow to its trade By 1470

Mallikarjuna (1446 to 1465) and Virupaksha Raya II (1465 to 1485) could not stop these losses.

The king's authority shrank to Karnataka and parts of the western Andhra region, while the rulers, sunk in pleasure, neglected the state.

Map of the Deccan and the south with the Godavari, Bhima, Krishna, Tungabhadra and Kaveri rivers. Vijayanagara: The capital; Bankapur, given in dowry; Mudkal, fought over in 1443; Raichur in the doab. Bahmani gains: Gulbarga and Bidar, the capitals; Goa and Dabhol, lost to Mahmud Gawan; Warangal, taken by the Bahmanis. Gajapati raids: Rajahmundry in 1454, Chandragiri in 1463, and raids as far as Madurai.

Saluva Narasimha and the Saluva Dynasty (1485 to 1503)

The Saluvas were a family of military commanders. Saluva Narasimha, the king's minister, whose family governed Chandragiri, judged that only a military coup could save the realm. In 1485, after the death of Virupaksha Raya II, he seized the throne, ending the Sangama dynasty, and restored internal law and order.

His dynasty was short. After his death in 1491 his general Narasa Nayaka of the Tuluva family crowned the young Narasimha II but kept all power as regent. The Saluvas remained in power until 1503, when, in NCERT's dating, they were replaced by the Tuluvas.

Narasa Nayaka, Vira Narasimha and the Tuluva Dynasty

The Tuluva dynasty grew out of Narasa Nayaka's regency, and he is often named as its founder. Narasa Nayaka, as regent, held the offices of commander-in-chief and prime minister and was called the protector of the realm. He was the father of three emperors, Vira Narasimha, Krishnadeva Raya and Achyuta Deva Raya.

His son Vira Narasimha had the last Saluva prince assassinated and took the throne in a coup, the first of the family to be crowned king, and spent his reign fighting rebel chiefs. He was succeeded in 1509 by his younger half-brother Krishnadeva Raya, under whom Vijayanagara reached its zenith.

A stepped chain. Sangama: Deva Raya II, 1425 to 1446; Mallikarjuna, 1446 to 1465; Virupaksha Raya II, 1465 to 1485. Saluva: Saluva Narasimha, 1485 to 1491; Narasimha II, with Narasa Nayaka as regent, to 1503. Tuluva, from 1503: Vira Narasimha, then Krishnadeva Raya.

Previous Year UPSC‑CSE Questions

Each question is explained option by option.

  1. UPSC Prelims 2023Who among the following rulers of Vijayanagara Empire constructed a large dam across Tungabhadra River and a canal-cum-aqueduct several kilometres long from the river to the capital city?
    1. a Devaraya I
    2. b Mallikarjuna
    3. c Vira Vijaya
    4. d Virupaksha
    How to approach this Prelims question

    Question type: Single correct answer

    Approach: The question names a building work, so match it to the reign that built it.

    • Step 1: The dam across the Tungabhadra with canals into the capital was built by Deva Raya I, to relieve the city's shortage of water.
    • Step 2: The canals also irrigated nearby fields and raised his revenue by 3,50,000 perdaos.

    Trap to watch: Deva Raya II is better known, but the Tungabhadra dam was Deva Raya I's work.

    Why each option is right or wrong:

    • (a) Devaraya I: Correct. He built the Tungabhadra dam and the canals to the capital.
    • (b) Mallikarjuna: Wrong. His reign, from 1446, was one of losses to the Bahmanis and Gajapatis.
    • (c) Vira Vijaya: Wrong. Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya ruled only from 1422 to 1424, between Deva Raya I and Deva Raya II; the dam was Deva Raya I's work.
    • (d) Virupaksha: Wrong. Virupaksha Raya II lost Goa and the Konkan; Virupaksha is also the name of the city's guardian deity.

    Answer: (a) Devaraya I. Deva Raya I built the dam across the Tungabhadra and the canal that carried its water to the capital.

  2. UPSC Prelims 2003Assertion and Reason:
    1. Assertion (A): Saluva Narasimha put an end to the old dynasty and assumed the royal title.
    2. Reason (R): He wanted to save the kingdom from further degeneration and disintegration.
    1. a Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
    2. b Both A and R are individually true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A
    3. c A is true but R is false
    4. d A is false but R is true
    How to approach this Prelims question

    Question type: Assertion and Reason

    Approach: Judge the Assertion and the Reason separately, then ask whether the Reason explains the Assertion.

    • Step 1: Test the Assertion. In 1485 Saluva Narasimha seized the throne, ending the Sangama dynasty, so A is true.
    • Step 2: Test the Reason. The empire was falling into neglect and anarchy, and he judged a coup the only way to save it, so R is true.
    • Step 3: That is why he acted, so R explains A.

    Trap to watch: Option (b) tempts a student who reads the coup as personal ambition, but the decay of the old dynasty is why he acted, so R does explain A.

    Why each option is right or wrong:

    • (a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A: Correct. He took the throne to save the kingdom from decay.
    • (b) Both A and R are individually true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A: Wrong. The decay of the realm is why he acted.
    • (c) A is true but R is false: Wrong. The kingdom was in fact sinking into neglect and anarchy.
    • (d) A is false but R is true: Wrong. He did end the old dynasty and take the royal title.

    Answer: (a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A. Saluva Narasimha ended the old dynasty to save the decaying kingdom, so both are true and R explains A.

Sources

Editorial Disclaimer

This article draws on the current NCERT history textbook, the Karnataka district histories and Wikipedia. Some dates of this period differ by a year or more between sources; NCERT's are used.

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