The death of Vijayanagara’s capable ruler Tuluva…
1504 CE to 1515 CE
The death of Vijayanagara’s capable ruler Tuluva Narasa Nayaka in 1503 had resulted in feudatories rising in rebellion throughout the empire.
Tuluva Narasa Nayaka’s eldest son, rules two years before being assassinated.
Vira Narasimha Raya, the next eldest son, succeeds his brother in 1505 and spends all of his four year reign fighting rebel warlords.
Following his death, apparently from illness, his younger half-brother Krishna Deva Raya is crowned on July 26, 1509, the date that the birth of the Hindu God Krishna is celebrated.
The rule of Krishna Deva Raya marks a period of much military success in Vijayanagara history.
On occasion, the king is known to change battle plans abruptly and turn a losing battle into victory.
The first decade of his rule is one of long sieges, bloody conquests and victories.
He reorganizes the army and recruits troops from several south Indian communities in order to make his cavalry more efficient.
His main enemies are the Bahmani Sultans (who, though divided into five small kingdoms, remain a constant threat), the Gajapatis of Odisha, who have been involved in constant conflict since the rule of Vijayanarara emperor Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya, and the Portuguese, a rising maritime power that is rapidly gaining control of much of the sea trade.
The feudal chiefs of Ummattur, the Reddys of Kondavidu and the Velaas of Bhuvanagiri, who have rebelled against Vijayanagar rule are conquered and subdued.
The annual raid and plunder of Vijayanagar towns and villages by the Deccan sultanates will come to an end during the Raya's rule.
He defeats the last remnant of the Bahmani Sultanate, precipitating its collapse.
In 1509 Krishnadevaraya's armies clash with the Sultan of Bijapur at Diwani and the Sultan Mahmud is severely injured and defeated.
Yusuf Adil Shah is killed and the fertile Raichur Doab triangle is annexed.
Taking advantage of the victory and the disunity of the Bahamani Sultans, the Raya invades Bidar, Gulbarga and Bijapur and earns the title "founder of the Yavana kingdom" when he releases Sultan Mahmud and makes him de facto ruler.
The title advertises the boast that he is now the political arbiter of all the Deccan.
The Sultan of Golconda, Sultan Quli Qutb Shah, is defeated by Timmarusu, Krishna Deva Raya’s prime minister.