Sri Krishnadevaraya

Sri Krishnadevaraya History

Sri krishnadevaraya was a famous emperor who ruled Vijayanagara kingdom from 1509 to 1530 AD. He was born on February 16, 1471 AD. His father was Narasa Nayaka, a minister under the Saluva Narasimha, and his mother was Nagalamba. Narasimha was a governor of Chandragiri in Andhra Pradesh. When the Vijayanagara Empire became weak, Narasimha invaded, occupied it, and appointed Narasa Nayaka as his chief minister. When Saluva was arrested during the raid on Udayagiri, he set Narasanayaka as the reagent to his young sons and asked him to raise his sons to be kings. Instead of his wish, Narasanayaka raised his eldest son Viranarasimha royal, as emperor and ruled for six years. Later, he fell ill and wanted his son, the future emperor, so he feared a threat to his younger son from Sri Krishnadevaraya.

So he asked his chief minister Timmarusu to kill Sri Krishnadevarayalu and bring his eyes as proof. Timmarusu was very brilliant, and he knew about the abilities of Sri krishnadevaraya. He believed the young Krishnadevaraya would become a great ruler in future. So he went to Sri krishnadevaraya and revealed the plans of his younger brother. Later he hid Sri krishnadevaraya in his house, took the goat’s eyes to Viranarasimharayalu and showed the goat’s eyes. Finally, Viranarasimha royal died, and Timmarusu raised Srikrishnadevaraya as the emperor of Vijayanagara.

Military Campaign

For the first six months, he spent his days in the capital to understand the administration and read the history of the Vijayanagara empire. In later years, consolidating power, Srikrishnadevaraya went to campaign and was victorious everywhere he went. He defeated the sultanate of Bidar and his ally Yusuf Adil Khan in 1510.

The emperor also conquered Raichur, Gulbarga, and Bidar. He built Seringapatnam and made it the capital of Vijayanagaram. The Vijayanagara territory stretched both sides of the Krishna and Godavari rivers. The highlight of his conquests occurred on May 19, 1520, when he secured the fortress of Raichur from Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur after a brutal siege during which 16000 Vijayanagara soldiers were killed. During the campaign against Raichur, it is said that 7,03,000 foot soldiers, 32,600 cavalries, and 551 elephants were used. Before Krishnadevaraya’s rise to the emperor, the Muslim sultans used to wage Jihad on Hindus and used to kill at least 1,00,000 to 5,00,000 people every year. In Srikrishnadevaraya, the people enjoyed themselves a lot and led peaceful life.

Krishnadevaraya Administration

He gave much preference to the security of people in his region. During his administration, no Muslim sultan dare to dream of invading the Vijayanagara empire. He controlled the robberies and thefts and built many lakes to improve water facilities to cultivate crops. Krishnadevaraya constructed many temples that are still very famous and noted sacred places. He encouraged the tradition and culture of Hinduism.

During his period, he flourished in Telugu literature; he had eight eminent poets called Asthadiggajas in his court, and he was a poet who wrote in Telugu and Sanskrit languages. His court was famous as Bhuvanavijayam, and he wrote Amuktamalyada in Telugu. Krishnadevaraya, also called Krishna Raya, is the daily court proceedings in the Telugu language. Krishnadevaraya said about Telugu: “Desabhashalandu Telugu lessa” means ‘Telugu is the best language among the national languages.’

Patron of Hinduism:

As a king, Krishnadevaraya built many temples in his kingdom. He respected all sects of Hinduism, although he followed Vaishnavism. Krishnadevaraya was a great devotee of Lord Venkateswara. He visited Tirumala temple many times and presented numerous valuable objects, diamond-studded crowns and golden swords. Here the bronze statue of him was installed, accompanied by his two wives’ figures—one of his wives, Tirumaladevi, is on his left side, and Chinnadevi is on his right.

Personal Life

At first, he married Tirumala Devi and Chinnama Devi. However, as a part of the peace treaty with Prathapa Rudra, he married his daughter, Princess Annapurna Devi, to strengthen Vijayanagara Empire on both sides of the Krishna River. On another side of his personality, he was a great devotee of Lord Venkateswara, so he visited the Tirumala Tirupati temple many times and donated numerous precious ornaments to Lord Venkateswara. Among them are golden swords and diamond-encrusted crowns. Even he named his son Tirumala Raya in honour of Lord Venkateswara. However, the young Prince didn’t live any longer due to poisoning. A few of the courtiers misguided Sri Krishnadevaraya about the poisoning of Tirumala Raya.

He believed Timmarusu and his son were the cause of the death of Tirumala Raya. Hence, he prisoned Timmarusu and his son and made them blinded. Later, he found the truth and lamented the strenuous activity at his Guru Timmarusu and fell ill critically and died in 1529 AD.

Sri Krishnadevaraya Death

Sri Krishnadevaraya’s son Tirumala Raya died mysteriously. Before his death, he nominated his brother Achyuta Deva Raya as his successor. The rule of Krishnadevaraya was a glorious chapter in Indian history. It is difficult for historians to compare him with any other king in India in the way of administration and aggressive action on the battlefields.