Saluva Thimmarasu's idea of forging letters from the 16 of Gajapati’s Mahapatras and making it seem like the vassals of Gajapati were actively conspiring with the Vijayanagara Emperor to betray Prataparudra on the day of the battle was a masterstroke. Meanwhile, Subuddhi, the officer who had been sent by the Gajapati to keep him updated of all that was happening, learned that Vijayanagara officers were secretly proceeding toward the Gajapati’s camp with 16 boxes and he hurried to write up a...

We had ended the last episode at a cliffhanger, a crucial juncture for Sri Krishnadevaraya and his army. The Great Raya’s blitzkrieg took him deep into the enemy Gajapati territory, only to realize that he and his army were trapped. “Their strategy totally foils our plans,” he thought. “In fact, the whole campaign is quickly becoming a disaster! Damn! - this is what I get for making light of Thimmarasu’s advice”

Welcome back to Ithihasa Indic History Podcast! This is the 1st episode of 2022 and the Episode 52 of the Season Vijayanagara. Loyal Listeners who have been asking me, your wait is finally over. Let us pick up where we left in December of 2021. We had ended the previous episode with the conquest of the Udayagiri fortress by the Vijayanagara Army after a lengthy siege and fighting off the dogged resistance of the gallant forces of the Gajapati Army. In this episode, we shall continue the...

This episode and the next will look closely at the campaigns of Sri Krishna Devaraya against the Orissa Gajapati’s scion, Prataparudra Deva and their intense personal rivalry that added fuel to the already simmering fire between these two Hindu powers. Not many people realize that the aftermath of this long simmering war between these two great powers, was much more dramatic and in a way anticlimactic than what it is usually made out to be. The decline in the power of Orissan Gajapatis and...

Krishna Deva Raya’s period of rule constitutes the glorious epoch in the history of the Vijayanagara empire, with back to back military victories scored on all sides, in quick succession, besides being the apex time in the history of arts and culture in the South. The name Krishna Deva Raya, even till this day evokes the same response in the hearts and minds of millions of South Indians as much as it did in the 16th century. People loved him then and they love him now. Chatrapathi Shivaji...

Krishna Deva Raya’s period of rule constitutes the glorious epoch in the history of the Vijayanagara empire, with back to back military victories scored on all sides, in quick succession, besides being the apex time in the history of arts and culture in the South. The name Krishna Deva Raya, even till this day evokes the same response in the hearts and minds of millions of South Indians as much as it did in the 16th century. People loved him then and they love him now. In this episode we...

The 1st Emperor of the Saluva Dynasty, Saluva Narasimha died in about the year 1490 CE, without enjoying the power and position for long, leaving two minor sons behind him. Placing the kingdom under the charge of his trusted lieutenant, Tuluva Narasa Nayaka as a regent. When Narasanayaka raised the eldest of the princes to the throne, Timmaraja opposes him in favour of the younger prince which results in a intense rivalry that creates deep fissures in the fabric of Vijayanagara polity. This...

This episode is going to be focused on Saluva Narasimha’s journey to the Lion’s Throne and what it meant to the waning fortunes of Vijayanagara.

The great Emperor Devaraya II had passed away, his inexperienced and not so talented successor Mallikarjuna Raya had ascended the throne. And the dark clouds of war were already hovering around Vijayanagara. It’s arch rivals, the Bahamanis and Gajapatis were more than eager to commence a pincer move to finish it off with their opportunistic alliance. Will they succeed in their plan? Will Mallikarjuna be able to hold against his rivals?

Yet another war between the Vijayanagara and Bahamani had ended, but it was followed by a brutal famine throughout the Deccan and Karnataka that distressed the populations of both the kingdoms up until 1424 CE for two long years. In spite of these setbacks, Vijayanagara soon recovered its strength, making Devaraya I and his successor Devaraya II's reigns memorable in the empire. The long years of peace that followed this war stirred the literary and religious talents of the people of the...

The breathing room and crucial buffer that DevaRaya II’s reign provided to the Empire cannot be understated. His rule had prevented it from being eaten up by its rivals, the Gajapatis and Bahmanis, who were eagerly waiting to carve it up for themselves. And it is exactly for this reason that I will be dedicating some time to the under appreciated reign of DevaRaya II. We had briefly touched his rise to power in the previous episode. And before we look at the reign of Devaraya II, we need to...

How and why did two powerful Hindu emperors and contemporaries of their time end up on the opposite side instead of joining forces against the Islamic Sultanate rivals? If you are interested to know the Why and How of it, then you are at the right place. Like never before on any Indian History Podcast, we shall go in depth into this fascinating history of India.

2020 has been an eventful year that most of us wish never happened in first place. The economic and human devastation that transpired across the globe so rapidly due to this deadly pandemic; is a grim reminder to each one of us to not take our fragile life, peace, material luxuries and the semblance of order in our daily lives for granted. So to all those asking me, when is the next episode or what it is about, I can assure you that it’s going to be very interesting. There is still a lot of...

Familial and succession politics of the empire constantly reproduced new political and kin alliances. In a world shaped by succession struggles and dynastic politics, shifting alliances made and unmade the Nayaka fortunes. With each new struggle at the royal court, an entire chain of political hierarchy stood to gain or lose.

The underlying tension within the empire was between Nayaka's role as a partner and that of a subordinate of the Raya.

To deal with the problem of oscillating loyalties and rebellion of the vassals coupled with the problems of logistics, a robust instrument of administrative control had to be innovated and put in place. And this came in the form of the Nayankara System.

Forced to become courtesans at an early age when they were dedicated for life to a deity, the community of women that history now refers to as Devadasis somehow managed to carve out a powerful social space for themselves. They left their mark on medieval art and literature, on sculpture, music and dance.

Symbols on coins remain a testament to the concepts that an issuing authority wished to project about itself throughout the area in which its coins were destined to circulate.

The legacy and history of Gandabherunda goes long way back to the times of Kadambas, Chalukyas and Hoysalas even before the advent of Vijayanagara Empire, which then adopted the motif into its pantheon of royal emblems.

As part of the research for this episode, one of my main sources has been Crispin Branfoot’s research papers by titles, “In a Land of Kings - Donors, Elite, and Temple Sculpture” published in 2011 and “Expanding Form: The Architectural Sculpture of the South India Temple from 1500-1700 CE”.

The prevailing dominant force on a global scale tends to set the rules of the conversations that take place between the dominant and the dominated. So a nation or a civilization irrespective of whether it calls the shots or not on a smaller scale, has to choose to toe the line if it has to be accepted as an legitimate participant at the geopolitical table at a global level.

“Eat what you like and dress to please others” - Arabic Proverb “In a change of clothing, people express their response to a changing world, and they claim, even create, a place within that world..Many phases and many choices are represented in the laborious passage from ‘national’ clothing to the sartorial proclamation of involvement in a wider, and different, social milieu.” - A Dutch Anthropologist