Pariksha SaathiLesson 9 of 10 · Ancient and Medieval Indian History
Vijayanagara, the Bahmani Kingdom and the Bhakti-Sufi Movements
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Founding of Vijayanagara
Vijayanagara was founded in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka I of the Sangama family, inspired, by tradition, by the sage Vidyaranya. Its capital, Vijayanagara (modern Hampi), stood on the south bank of the Tungabhadra. Four dynasties ruled: Sangama (1336-1485), Saluva (1485-1505), Tuluva (1505-1570) and Aravidu (from 1570). The Italian Nicolo de Conti visited under Devaraya I, and the Persian envoy Abdur Razzaq came in 1443 under Devaraya II, who recruited Muslim cavalry and archers into his army.
Krishnadeva Raya
The Tuluva king Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529) was the greatest ruler of Vijayanagara. He defeated the Sultan of Bijapur and took Raichur in 1520, beat the Gajapati king Prataparudra of Odisha, and kept good relations with the Portuguese, who supplied horses. He wrote the Telugu Amuktamalyada, which also discusses statecraft, and the Sanskrit Jambavati Kalyanam, and was called Andhra Bhoja. Eight poets known as the Ashtadiggajas, including Allasani Peddana and Tenali Ramakrishna, adorned his court. The Portuguese Domingo Paes described his capital, and Fernao Nuniz wrote about the empire soon after. Hampi's Vitthala temple with its stone chariot and the Hazara Rama temple are among the best-known Vijayanagara monuments.
Administration and Talikota
Under the nayankara system, military chiefs called nayakas or amaranayakas received territories (amaram) in return for keeping troops and paying tribute; many later became independent, like the Nayaks of Madurai and Thanjavur. Villages were served by a hereditary body of twelve functionaries, the ayagars. After Krishnadeva Raya and his brother Achyuta Deva Raya, power passed to Aliya Rama Raya, regent for Sadashiva Raya. His meddling in Deccan politics united Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Golconda and Bidar, which crushed him at Talikota (also called Rakshasa-Tangadi or Bannihatti) on 23 January 1565. Rama Raya was killed and the capital plundered and abandoned; the Aravidus ruled on from Penukonda and later Chandragiri.
The Bahmani kingdom and its successors
In 1347 Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah (Hasan Gangu) rebelled against Muhammad bin Tughlaq and founded the Bahmani kingdom with its capital at Gulbarga; the capital later moved to Bidar. The Bahmanis fought Vijayanagara repeatedly for the fertile Raichur doab between the Krishna and the Tungabhadra. The Persian Mahmud Gawan, prime minister under Muhammad Shah III, reorganised the provinces, took Goa and built a great madrasa at Bidar, but was executed in 1481 on a forged charge, after which the kingdom broke up. The Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin visited it between 1469 and 1472. Its five successor states were Bijapur (Adil Shahi), Ahmednagar (Nizam Shahi), Berar (Imad Shahi), Golconda (Qutb Shahi) and Bidar (Barid Shahi). Bijapur's Gol Gumbaz is the tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah, and the Charminar (1591) was built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, founder of Hyderabad. Chand Bibi defended Ahmednagar against Akbar, and Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda in 1687.
Bhakti in the south
Bhakti, loving devotion to a personal god open to all castes and to women, began in the Tamil country between the sixth and ninth centuries with the 63 Nayanars, devotees of Shiva such as Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar, and the 12 Alvars, devotees of Vishnu, among whom Andal was the only woman. Teachers later gave bhakti a philosophical basis: Ramanuja taught Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism), Madhva Dvaita (dualism), Nimbarka Dvaitadvaita and Vallabha Shuddhadvaita, against Shankaracharya's Advaita (non-dualism) of the eighth century. In Karnataka, Basavanna, a minister of the Kalachuri king Bijjala, led the Virashaiva (Lingayat) movement in the twelfth century, rejecting caste and ritual through his vachanas.
Bhakti in the west, north and east
In Maharashtra the Varkari saints worshipped Vithoba of Pandharpur: Jnaneshwar wrote the Jnaneshwari, a Marathi commentary on the Gita, and Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram, whose songs are called abhangas, followed. In the north Ramananda opened bhakti to all castes. Kabir, a weaver, taught devotion to a formless (nirguna) God, attacked idol worship and caste, and his dohas are collected in the Bijak; Ravidas, Dadu Dayal and Guru Nanak (1469-1539), founder of Sikhism, belong to the same nirguna stream. Saguna saints worshipped God in form: Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi, Surdas the Sursagar, and Mirabai, a Rajput princess, sang of Krishna. In Bengal Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spread Krishna bhakti through kirtan, and in Assam Shankaradeva founded the Ekasarana dharma with its namghars and satras.
The Sufis
Sufism is the mystical side of Islam, stressing love of God, devotion to a pir (master) and service to people. Sufis lived in khanqahs, were organised into silsilas (orders), used sama (devotional music), and their tombs (dargahs) became places of pilgrimage. The Chishti order was brought to India by Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, who settled at Ajmer; it continued through Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki in Delhi, Baba Farid at Pakpattan, whose verses are in the Guru Granth Sahib, Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, whose disciple was Amir Khusrau, and Nasiruddin Chirag-i-Dilli; Shaikh Salim Chishti of Fatehpur Sikri blessed Akbar. The Chishtis kept away from the court, while the Suhrawardi order, led in India by Bahauddin Zakariya of Multan, accepted state patronage. The Naqshbandi order, brought by Khwaja Baqi Billah, was orthodox; its Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, in letters written mostly under Jahangir, condemned the religious liberalism of Akbar's reign. Dara Shikoh followed the Qadiri order.
Key facts
- Vijayanagara: founded 1336 by Harihara I and Bukka I; dynasties Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, Aravidu; capital Hampi on the Tungabhadra.
- Foreign visitors to Vijayanagara: Nicolo de Conti (Italian, Devaraya I), Abdur Razzaq (Persian, Devaraya II, 1443), Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz (Portuguese).
- Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529): Amuktamalyada (Telugu), Jambavati Kalyanam (Sanskrit); title Andhra Bhoja; Ashtadiggajas including Allasani Peddana; took Raichur in 1520.
- Battle of Talikota (Rakshasa-Tangadi), 23 January 1565: Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Golconda and Bidar defeated Rama Raya.
- Bahmani kingdom: founded 1347 by Hasan Gangu (Alauddin Bahman Shah) at Gulbarga, later Bidar; Mahmud Gawan executed 1481; Afanasy Nikitin visited.
- Deccan Sultanates: Bijapur (Adil Shahi, Gol Gumbaz), Ahmednagar (Nizam Shahi, Chand Bibi), Golconda (Qutb Shahi, Charminar 1591), Berar (Imad Shahi), Bidar (Barid Shahi).
- Philosophers: Shankaracharya-Advaita, Ramanuja-Vishishtadvaita, Madhva-Dvaita, Nimbarka-Dvaitadvaita, Vallabha-Shuddhadvaita; Basavanna founded the Lingayat movement.
- Tamil bhakti: 63 Nayanars (Shiva) and 12 Alvars (Vishnu); Andal was the only woman Alvar.
- Nirguna saints: Kabir (Bijak), Ravidas, Dadu, Guru Nanak; saguna saints: Tulsidas (Ramcharitmanas), Surdas (Sursagar), Mirabai; Chaitanya in Bengal, Shankaradeva in Assam.
- Sufi orders: Chishti (Moinuddin, Ajmer; Nizamuddin Auliya, Delhi), Suhrawardi (Bahauddin Zakariya, Multan), Naqshbandi (Baqi Billah, Ahmad Sirhindi), Qadiri (Dara Shikoh).
Quick revision
Vijayanagara 1336 (Harihara, Bukka), four dynasties; Abdur Razzaq 1443; Krishnadeva Raya 1509-1529, Amuktamalyada, Ashtadiggajas; nayankara and ayagar systems; Talikota 23 January 1565; Bahmani 1347 Gulbarga then Bidar; Mahmud Gawan; five Deccan Sultanates; Gol Gumbaz, Charminar; 63 Nayanars, 12 Alvars; Ramanuja Vishishtadvaita; Basavanna Lingayat; Jnaneshwar, Tukaram; Kabir, Nanak, Tulsidas, Mirabai, Chaitanya; Chishti at Ajmer, Suhrawardi at Multan, Naqshbandi orthodox.