# Vijayanagara and the Bahmani Kingdom: Rulers, Administration, Economy, Travellers, Hampi and the Deccan Sultanates

Source: https://tracknation.in/story/vijayanagara-and-the-bahmani-kingdom-rulers-administration-economy-travellers-hampi-and-the-deccan-sultanates (TrackNation — free UPSC notes with PYQs)

> A full guide to the Deccan's two great medieval powers: the Vijayanagara empire (Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu dynasties, Krishnadeva Raya, the Nayankara system, Hampi's architecture, foreign travellers, Talikota) and the Bahmani Sultanate (Hasan Gangu, Mahmud Gawan, the Deccanis versus the Afaqis) with its successor Sultanates — and every PYQ on them, plus verified Mains questions and what could come next.

## Start Here — Two Rival Powers South of the Vindhyas

🎯 **Exam priority: Steady (T2) with a strong Culture link.** *Prelims has asked: the taxation of Krishnadeva Raya (2016), the Kalyana mandapa tradition (2019), Nuniz's account of women (2021), Mysore's origin (2021), the Devaraya I dam (2023), the Portuguese fort at Bhatkal (2024), and the Madras factory lease (2022). Mains asked about Krishnadeva Raya as scholar and patron (2016) and — in the paper of 22 August 2026 — on how Vijayanagara architecture amalgamates past traditions with contemporary practices.*

Vijayanagara (1336–1646) and the Bahmani Sultanate (1347–1527) both appeared in the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, fought for the Tungabhadra–Krishna Raichur doab and created the Deccan's mixed Hindu–Islamic culture. Vijayanagara gave the south the Nayankara system, the Hampi style and a Telugu-Kannada literary flowering; the Bahmanis gave it Persianate courts, Deccani Urdu and the first Muslim kingdom of the Deccan. Both end in the same battle — Talikota (1565) — and the Mughals later absorbed the successors.

| **Dynasty**

 | **Period (c.)**

 | **Rulers and facts**

 |
| Sangama

 | 1336–1485

 | Harihara I, Bukka I, Devaraya I (dam and canal on the Tungabhadra), Devaraya II (1424–46; Abdur Razzak visited)

 |
| Saluva

 | 1485–1505

 | Saluva Narasimha seized the throne in a crisis

 |
| Tuluva

 | 1505–1570

 | Vira Narasimha, Krishnadeva Raya (1509–29), Achyuta Raya, Sadashiva Raya (Rama Raya as regent)

 |
| Aravidu

 | 1570–c. 1646

 | Tirumala; moved to Penukonda, then Chandragiri; the English got Madras in 1639 from the Aravidu viceroy Damarla Venkatapati

 |

## Vijayanagara — Foundation and Rulers

- **Foundation (1336).** After a revolt by Muhammad bin Tughlaq's cousin Gurshasp and the fall of the small Kampili state, two Kampili officers, **Harihara and Bukka**, were taken to Delhi, and later sent back as governors. Under the influence of the sage Vidyaranya (of Sringeri) they renounced the Sultan's authority and founded Vijayanagara, with **Hampi** as the capital on the Tungabhadra.

- **Devaraya I (1406–22)** built a dam on the Tungabhadra and a long canal-cum-aqueduct to the capital (the 2023 PYQ), and **Devaraya II (1424–46)** expanded the army by recruiting Muslim archers and horsemen; he is the Sangama ruler whom the Persian Abdur Razzak met. (The 2021 PYQ's third statement — that Vasco da Gama reached Kerala in Devaraya II's reign — is false: he arrived in 1498.)

- **Krishnadeva Raya (1509–29)** of the Tuluva line was the empire's greatest king. He defeated the Gajapati of Odisha and took Udayagiri and Kondavidu; he won the Raichur doab (1520) and defeated Bijapur; he allowed the Portuguese (Albuquerque, Almeida) to build a fort at Bhatkal, in exchange for horses (the 2024 PYQ); he supported irrigation and the city of Nagalapuram. He took the titles Andhra Bhoja and Yavanaraja-sthapanacharya. His patronage of learning is below.

- **Talikota (1565).** Rama Raya, regent of Sadashiva Raya, was beaten at Talikota (also called Rakshasa-Tangadi or Banihatti) by the combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda and Bidar; Hampi was sacked and the empire lost its centre. The Aravidu line continued from Penukonda and Chandragiri; the Nayaks of Madurai, Thanjavur, Gingee and Mysore (the Wodeyars) became independent. **The Mysore kingdom emerged out of Vijayanagara** (the 2021 PYQ statement 2 — correct).

## Administration, Economy and Society

- **Polity.** The king ruled with a council of ministers; the empire was divided into provinces (*rajya, mandalam*) under governors — royal princes and nobles — with their own officials and armies; below were *nadu*, *sthala* and *grama*. Brahmanas held posts in the secretariat and as fort commanders; the military department was the *kandachara*.

- **The Nayankara (Amaram) system.** Military chiefs (*nayakas*) received land (*amaram*) and had to maintain a fixed number of troops (foot, horse, elephants) and pay a share of revenue to the king. Nuniz describes it. It resembles the Delhi iqta but was heritable and local; later the nayakas became independent.

- **Village administration.** The Ayyangar system: a council of twelve hereditary village officials (including the headman — *gauda/reddy*, the accountant and the watchman), supported by tax-free land (*manya*).

- **Revenue.** Land taxes varied with fertility (a third on good rice land, a quarter on ragi and horse-gram); there were taxes on marriage, professions, workshops (*industries tax* in the 2016 PYQ's statement 2) and on sales; the standard gold coin was the *varaha* or pagoda. In the 2016 PYQ, both statements — fixed land tax according to land quality, and an industries tax paid by private workshop owners — were correct.

- **Economy.** Irrigation by dams and tanks (the Raya canal, the Kamalapuram tank) boosted agriculture; Hampi's markets sold jewels, textiles and horses; the west coast ports (Bhatkal, Honavar, Mangalore, Cannanore, Calicut) dealt with Arabs and Portuguese; imported Persian and Arabian horses were vital for war.

- **Society.** Brahmana influence; the right-hand (*valangai*) and left-hand (*idangai*) castes; sati and polygamy; women had a visible public role — as musicians, accountants, wrestlers, bodyguards and astrologers (Nuniz, the 2021 PYQ answer: all four); festivals like Mahanavami and Vijayadashami.

| **Traveller**

 | **Origin and time**

 | **Observations**

 |
| Nicolo de' Conti

 | Italian; under Devaraya I (c. 1420)

 | Described the capital's size and walls; sati; festivals; called Telugu the 'Italian of the East'

 |
| Abdur Razzak

 | Persian ambassador of Timurid Shah Rukh; under Devaraya II (1443)

 | Praised the city's seven fortified walls, markets and king

 |
| Domingo Paes

 | Portuguese; under Krishnadeva Raya

 | Compared the city with Rome; praised the king; described the Mahanavami festival and markets

 |
| Fernao Nuniz

 | Portuguese; under Achyuta Raya

 | Wrote the Chronicle; Nayankara feudal system; imported Persian and Arabian horses; women active as wrestlers, astrologers, accountants and soothsayers

 |
| Duarte Barbosa

 | Portuguese; early 16th c.

 | Described ports and commodities along the west coast

 |
| Afanasy Nikitin

 | Russian; Bahmani (Bidar), 1470s

 | The gap between the nobles' wealth and common people's poverty; a magnificent Bidar

 |

## Krishnadeva Raya as Scholar and Patron; Culture and Hampi

Mains 2016 asked: *Krishnadeva Raya, the king of Vijayanagar, was not only an accomplished scholar himself but was also a great patron of learning and literature. Discuss.*

- **The scholar.** He wrote the Telugu epic *Amuktamalyada* (the story of Andal and Ranganatha, also treating statecraft) and the Sanskrit *Jambavati Kalyanam*; he knew Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil.

- **The patron.** His court had the *Ashtadiggajas*, 'eight elephants' of Telugu literature — Allasani Peddana (Andhra Kavita Pitamaha, *Manucharitamu*), Nandi Timmana (*Parijatapaharanam*), Madayyagari Mallana, Dhurjati, Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu, Pingali Surana, Ramarajabhushana (Bhattumurti) and Tenali Ramakrishna. He also encouraged Kannada, Sanskrit and Tamil writers, and Vaishnava and Madhva scholars (Vyasatirtha). Earlier, Gangadevi's *Madhura Vijayam* narrated the Vijayanagara conquest of the Madurai Sultanate.

- **Music.** The Haridasa tradition of Purandaradasa flourished in this period.

### Vijayanagara architecture — the Hampi style

- **Raya gopurams** — monumental gateway towers (stone base, brick-and-stucco upper storeys) that shifted the visual focus from the central vimana; **kalyana mandapas** — ornate marriage halls for ritual weddings of the deities (the 2019 PYQ: this was a notable feature of Vijayanagara temples, not of the Chalukya, Chandela or Rashtrakuta); pillared halls with **yali** (mythical lion-elephant) pillars; **musical pillars** at the Vitthala temple; amman shrines for the consort goddess; **pushkarini** tanks.

- **Monuments:** Virupaksha temple (the oldest, still worshipped), Vitthala temple with its stone chariot, Hazara Rama temple with Ramayana reliefs, Lakshmi Narasimha, Krishna temple; secular structures reflect Indo-Islamic exchange — Lotus Mahal, Elephant Stables, Queen's Bath, the Mahanavami Dibba platform. The Hampi group is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1986). The style evolved into the Nayaka architecture of Madurai and Thanjavur.

## The Bahmani Sultanate

- **Foundation (1347).** **Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah** (Hasan Gangu), a noble who rebelled against Muhammad bin Tughlaq, established the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan at **Gulbarga**. The capital moved to **Bidar** under Ahmad Shah I 'Wali' (c. 1424).

- **Rulers.** Muhammad Shah I organised the administration into four *tarafs* (provinces), each under a *tarafdar*; **Firoz Shah** (1397–1422) was the most cultured — fluent in several languages, an astronomy enthusiast who built an observatory near Daulatabad, he inducted Hindus into government, and lost to Vijayanagara in 1420; Ahmad Shah I defeated the Kakatiyas of Warangal.

- **Mahmud Gawan** (vizier 1463–81), a Persian merchant-scholar under Muhammad Shah III, took the Bahmani state to its zenith: he conquered Konkan and the ports of Dabhol and Goa, invaded Orissa and reached as far as Kanchi, reorganised the provinces into eight *tarafs*, measured land for revenue, fixed salaries and cash pay for nobles, reformed the army, built a great *madrasa at Bidar* and wrote Persian letters (*Riyaz-ul-Insha*).

- **The factional split.** The old settlers — the **Deccanis** (Sunni; locals and Abyssinians) — and the newcomers — the **Afaqis / Pardesis** (mostly Shia from Iran and Central Asia) — fought constantly. Gawan, an Afaqi, was executed in 1481 on a forged charge by the Deccani party; the kingdom fragmented into five Sultanates by 1527.

| **Successor Sultanate**

 | **Founder (c.)**

 | **Capital**

 | **Notes**

 |
| Ahmadnagar (Nizam Shahi)

 | Malik Ahmad, 1490

 | Ahmadnagar

 | Chand Bibi resisted Akbar's army (1595); Malik Ambar's guerrilla tactics; annexed by Shah Jahan (1633)

 |
| Bijapur (Adil Shahi)

 | Yusuf Adil Khan, 1490

 | Bijapur

 | Gol Gumbaz (1656); annexed by Aurangzeb (1686)

 |
| Berar (Imad Shahi)

 | Fathullah Imad Shah, 1490

 | Ellichpur

 | Absorbed by Ahmadnagar (1574)

 |
| Bidar (Barid Shahi)

 | Qasim Barid, c. 1492

 | Bidar

 | Smallest; absorbed by Bijapur (1619)

 |
| Golconda (Qutb Shahi)

 | Quli Qutb Shah, 1518

 | Golconda; Hyderabad from 1591

 | Charminar and Golconda; annexed by Aurangzeb (1687)

 |

## Deccan Culture and Architecture

- **Architecture.** Persian influence with Indian elements: tall arches, enormous domes, hazaras (halls), minarets, crescent finials. Bahmani: Gulbarga's Jama Masjid (enclosed by a roof, no open courtyard), Bidar's Mahmud Gawan Madrasa, Solah Khamba mosque, Rangeen Mahal. Bijapur: **Gol Gumbaz**, the mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah (1656), one of the largest domes in the world, with a whispering gallery; Ibrahim Rauza. Golconda: the fort and the **Charminar** (1591), built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, who founded Hyderabad.

- **Language and painting.** Dakhni (Deccani) Urdu in the writings of Gesu Daraz and later Ibrahim Adil Shah II (*Kitab-i-Navras*), Deccani miniature painting (Ragamala), Persian histories (Firishta's *Tarikh-i-Firishta*), and Marathi, Telugu and Kannada support.

- **The Sultanates and the Mughals.** Akbar took Khandesh and part of Ahmadnagar (Chand Bibi's defence, 1595–96); Shah Jahan annexed Ahmadnagar (1633); Aurangzeb took Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687), a major strain on the empire.

## Conflict, Contrast and the Coast

| **Year (c.)**

 | **Event in the Vijayanagara–Bahmani contest**

 |
| 1336 / 1347

 | Vijayanagara and the Bahmani state both emerge from Tughlaq control

 |
| 1367

 | Muhammad Shah I defeats Bukka I over the Raichur doab

 |
| 1406

 | Firoz Shah Bahmani defeats Devaraya I at Pangal

 |
| 1420

 | Devaraya I defeats Firoz Shah; Bahmani decline begins

 |
| 1443

 | Abdur Razzak visits Devaraya II's Vijayanagara

 |
| 1470s

 | Mahmud Gawan raids deep into Vijayanagara territory up to Kanchi; takes Goa (1472) and Dabhol

 |
| 1509–29

 | Krishnadeva Raya: victory over Bijapur and the Raichur doab (1520)

 |
| 1565

 | Talikota: the Sultanate coalition destroys Vijayanagara's military power

 |

### Nayankara versus iqta

| ****

 | **Delhi Sultanate's iqta**

 | **Vijayanagara's amaram**

 |
| Holder

 | Muqti (noble, often Turkish or Afghan)

 | Nayaka (military chief; often a local or Telugu/Kannada leader)

 |
| Obligation

 | Maintain troops from the revenue and remit the surplus (fawazil)

 | Keep an agreed contingent and pay a share to the king

 |
| Heritability

 | Initially transferable; hereditary under Firoz

 | Often hereditary; chiefs became semi-independent

 |
| Result

 | Replaced by the Mughal jagir system

 | Nayaks of Madurai, Thanjavur, Gingee became independent after Talikota

 |

### The Portuguese and the western coast

- Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498; Francisco de Almeida (first viceroy, 'blue water policy') and **Afonso de Albuquerque** built a sea empire. Albuquerque seized **Goa** from the Bijapur Sultanate in 1510, which became the Portuguese capital in Asia; he encouraged intermarriage and used Goa to supply horses to Vijayanagara in return for trading and fortification rights.

- Krishnadeva Raya's alliance with the Portuguese supplied him with Arab horses and guns and cost Bijapur a naval rival; he allowed the fort at Bhatkal. Later, the Portuguese were drawn into the wars between the Sultanates and Vijayanagara.

### Why Vijayanagara fell at Talikota

- Rama Raya's arrogant interference in the Sultanates' internal quarrels united them; the Muslim contingents in his army defected; Hindu nayakas were not always loyal; the Sultanate armies' artillery and cavalry were better; and the nayankara structure left the centre dependent on semi-independent chiefs.

## Answer Framework — Vijayanagara Architecture (Mains 2026)

The 2026 Mains (22 August 2026) set a 15-mark, 250-word question: *Vijayanagara architecture exemplifies the amalgamation of past traditions with contemporary practices. Elucidate with examples.*

- **Introduction.** Vijayanagara (Hampi, UNESCO 1986) inherited the Dravida tradition from the Pallavas, Cholas, Chalukyas and Hoysalas and the Deccan; it also absorbed the arches, domes and vaults of the neighbouring Sultanates.

- **Past traditions retained.** The Dravida vimana over the sanctum (Virupaksha), pillared mandapas and prakara walls (Chola and Pallava temple complexes), the Chalukyan–Hoysala sculptural detail and star-shaped bases, the temple as the centre of the city, the pushkarini tank, the stone chariot and the Ramayana reliefs; the Dravida tradition's inscriptions and temple land grants.

- **New or contemporary practices.** (1) *Raya gopurams* — monumental gateway towers overshadowing the vimana, a development of the Chola gopuram; (2) *kalyana mandapas* for ritual weddings; (3) *composite pillars* with rearing yalis and horsemen, and musical pillars at Vitthala; (4) amman (consort goddess) shrines; (5) *secular architecture* — the Lotus Mahal, Elephant Stables, Queen's Bath and the Mahanavami Dibba — using arches, domes and vaults from Deccan Sultanate practice; (6) planned urban fortified complexes with water-supply systems.

- **Legacy.** The Nayaka temples of Madurai, Thanjavur and Srirangam extended the style.

- **Conclusion.** A confident synthesis: the sacred remained Dravida, while the secular and urban borrowed from the Indo-Islamic repertoire.

## How UPSC Has Asked It — And What Could Come Next

- **Seen:** Krishnadeva Raya's taxation (2016) and Portuguese fort (2024), Kalyana mandapas (2019), Nuniz's women (2021), the Devaraya I dam (2023), the origin of Mysore (2021) and Madras (2022); Mains on Krishnadeva Raya (2016).

- **Likely next:** travellers matched to rulers (Conti, Razzak, Paes, Nuniz, Barbosa); Vijayanagara's temples (Vitthala, Hazara Rama, Virupaksha) and features (yali, kalyana mandapa, raya gopuram); the Nayankara/amaram system; the Ashtadiggajas and their works; the five Deccan Sultanates and founders; Mahmud Gawan's reforms; Talikota's cause and result; Hampi and Hoysala UNESCO listings.

- **Traps:** Harihara and Bukka founded the Sangama dynasty, not Krishnadeva Raya's Tuluva; Talikota was fought by Rama Raya, not Krishnadeva Raya; Mahmud Gawan was an Afaqi vizier, not a Sultan; Gol Gumbaz is Adil Shahi, not Qutb Shahi; Charminar belongs to Hyderabad.

## Further Reading

- Standard NCERT-level texts and reference books on ancient, medieval and cultural Indian history (any UPSC reading list).

## Test Yourself: Practice Questions & PYQs

Pair each ruler with a traveller and each monument with a dynasty before opening the answer.

## Practice Questions

**Q1.** The Vijayanagara empire was founded in 1336 by:

- (a) Devaraya II

- (b) Saluva Narasimha

- (c) Harihara and Bukka

- (d) Krishnadeva Raya

**Answer: (c)** — Harihara and Bukka, formerly Kampili officers, founded the Sangama line at Hampi.

**Q2.** The Nayankara system of Vijayanagara refers to:

- (a) Military chiefs holding land in exchange for maintaining troops

- (b) A system of village councils

- (c) A tax on Brahmanas

- (d) A coinage system

**Answer: (a)** — Nayakas held amaram lands and kept an agreed number of soldiers.

**Q3.** The Battle of Talikota (1565) was fought between Vijayanagara and:

- (a) The Mughals

- (b) The Marathas

- (c) The Portuguese

- (d) The combined Deccan Sultanates

**Answer: (d)** — Rama Raya was defeated by a coalition of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda and Bidar.

**Q4.** The 'Amuktamalyada' was written by:

- (a) Krishnadeva Raya

- (b) Nandi Timmana

- (c) Allasani Peddana

- (d) Tenali Ramakrishna

**Answer: (a)** — It is a Telugu epic composed by Krishnadeva Raya.

**Q5.** Which Portuguese traveller wrote a chronicle of Vijayanagara under Achyuta Raya?

- (a) Nicolo Conti

- (b) Fernao Nuniz

- (c) Domingo Paes

- (d) Duarte Barbosa

**Answer: (b)** — Nuniz described the Nayankara system and women's occupations.

**Q6.** The first capital of the Bahmani Sultanate was:

- (a) Bijapur

- (b) Gulbarga

- (c) Golconda

- (d) Bidar

**Answer: (b)** — Gulbarga, later replaced by Bidar under Ahmad Shah I.

**Q7.** Mahmud Gawan founded a famed madrasa at:

- (a) Gulbarga

- (b) Hyderabad

- (c) Bijapur

- (d) Bidar

**Answer: (d)** — The Mahmud Gawan Madrasa stands in Bidar.

**Q8.** The conflict between the Deccanis and the Afaqis refers to:

- (a) Factional rivalry in the Bahmani court

- (b) Mughal mansabdars

- (c) The Portuguese traders

- (d) Vijayanagara's nobility

**Answer: (a)** — It split the Bahmani nobility between old settlers (Deccanis) and newcomers (Afaqis / Pardesis).

**Q9.** The Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur was built by:

- (a) Nizam Shahis

- (b) Barid Shahis

- (c) Qutb Shahis

- (d) Adil Shahis

**Answer: (d)** — It is the mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah (1656).

**Q10.** Which of the following is a feature of the Vijayanagara temple architecture?

- (a) Kalyana mandapa and raya gopuram

- (b) Rock-cut chaitya halls

- (c) Corbelled shikhara of the Nagara type

- (d) Stellate plan and soapstone only

**Answer: (a)** — Ornate kalyana mandapas, yali pillars and raya gopurams are hallmarks; the stellate soapstone plan is Hoysala.

### UPSC Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

*Real UPSC Prelims questions on Vijayanagara and the Deccan (2016–2024), answers matched to UPSC's official key. Explanations in our own words.*

**Q11.** (UPSC Prelims 2016) Regarding the taxation system of Krishnadeva Raya, the ruler of Vijayanagara, consider the following statements:
1. The tax rate on land was fixed depending on the quality of the land.
2. Private owners of workshops paid an industries tax.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

- (a) Neither 1 nor 2

- (b) Both 1 and 2

- (c) 2 only

- (d) 1 only

**Answer: (b)** — Both are correct for Krishnadeva Raya's Vijayanagara: land tax was fixed by the quality of land, and owners of workshops paid an industries tax.

**Q12.** (UPSC Prelims 2019) Building 'Kalyana Mandapas' was a notable feature in the temple construction in the kingdom of

- (a) Chandela

- (b) Chalukya

- (c) Vijayanagara

- (d) Rashtrakuta

**Answer: (c)** — Kalyana mandapas — ornate halls for the ritual weddings of deities — were a notable feature of Vijayanagara temple construction.

**Q13.** (UPSC Prelims 2021) According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, the women in Vijayanagara Empire were expert in which of the following areas?
1. Wrestling
2. Astrology
3. Accounting
4. Soothsaying
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

- (a) 2 and 4 only

- (b) 1, 2 and 3 only

- (c) 1, 3 and 4 only

- (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

**Answer: (d)** — Nuniz records women of Vijayanagara as expert in wrestling, astrology, accounting and soothsaying — all four.

**Q14.** (UPSC Prelims 2021) With reference to Indian history, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. The Nizamat of Arcot emerged out of Hyderabad State.
2. The Mysore Kingdom emerged out of Vijayanagara Empire.
3. Rohilkhand Kingdom was formed out of the territories occupied by Ahmad Shah Durrani.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

- (a) 3 only

- (b) 2 and 3

- (c) 1 and 2

- (d) 2 only

**Answer: (d)** — The Mysore kingdom emerged from the Vijayanagara empire after its decline. The Nizamat of Arcot arose from the Mughal Deccan (under the Nizam's overlordship) rather than being a creation of the Hyderabad state, and Rohilkhand was not carved out of the territory occupied by Ahmad Shah Durrani.

**Q15.** (UPSC Prelims 2022) With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:
1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers.
2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate.
3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

- (a) 1 and 3 only

- (b) 1 and 2 only

- (c) 1, 2 and 3

- (d) 2 and 3 only

**Answer: (d)** — Albuquerque captured Goa (1510) from the Bijapur Sultanate, and the English founded Madras (1639) on a plot leased from a local Vijayanagara representative. The Dutch did not get their east-coast factories from the Gajapati rulers.

**Q16.** (UPSC Prelims 2023) Who 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?

- (a) Mallikarjuna

- (b) Vira Vijaya

- (c) Devaraya I

- (d) Virupaksha

**Answer: (c)** — Devaraya I built a large dam across the Tungabhadra and a long canal-cum-aqueduct to Vijayanagara.

**Q17.** (UPSC Prelims 2024) Who of the following rulers of medieval India gave permission to the Portuguese to build a fort at Bhatkal?

- (a) Yusuf Adil Shah

- (b) Muhammad Shah III

- (c) Krishnadevaraya

- (d) Narasimha Saluva

**Answer: (c)** — Krishnadevaraya permitted the Portuguese to build a fort at Bhatkal, in return for the horse trade.

### Mains Practice Questions

Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly — they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover.

- Krishnadeva Raya was not only an accomplished scholar but also a great patron of learning and literature. Discuss.

- Describe the Nayankara system and its effect on the Vijayanagara polity.

- Assess the role of Mahmud Gawan in the Bahmani Sultanate.

- What were the causes of the defeat of Vijayanagara at Talikota?

- Discuss the architecture of the Vijayanagara and Deccan Sultanates.

### Mains PYQs — Last 10 Years (UPSC GS-I)

*The exact questions UPSC has actually asked on this topic over the last decade. Practise writing full-length answers to these.*

- Vijayanagara architecture exemplifies the amalgamation of past traditions with contemporary practices. Elucidate with examples. **(UPSC GS-I, 2026, 15 marks)**

- Krishnadeva Raya, the king of Vijayanagar, was not only an accomplished scholar himself but was also a great patron of learning and literature. Discuss. **(UPSC GS-I, 2016)**