Vijayanagar King Krishnadevaraya

• 26 Feb 2021

Why in News

The first-ever epigraphical reference (an inscription) to the date of death of Vijayanagar king Krishnadevaraya has been discovered at Honnenahalli in Tumakuru district, Karnataka.

• Normally, the death of kings was not recorded in the inscriptions and this was one of those rare records.

Key Points

• Findings:
  
  • As per the inscription, Krishnadevaraya, one of the greatest emperors of India who ruled from the South, died on 17th October, 1529 (Sunday).
    
    • Incidentally, this day was marked by a lunar eclipse.
  • The inscription is engraved on a slab kept on the north side of the Gopalakrishna temple at Honnenahalli in Tumakuru district.
  • The inscription also registers the gift of village Honnenahalli in Tumakuru for conducting worship to the god Veeraprasanna Hanumantha of Tumakuru.
  • The inscription is written in Kannada.
• Krishnadevaraya:
  
  • He was the ruler of the Tuluva dynasty of Vijayanagar empire (1509-29 AD).
  • His rule was characterised by expansion and consolidation.
  • He is credited with building some fine temples and adding impressive gopurams to many important south Indian temples.
  • He also founded a suburban township near Vijayanagar called Nagalapuram after his mother.
  • He composed a work on statecraft in Telugu known as the Amuktamalyada.
• Vijayanagara Empire:
  
  • Vijayanagara or “city of victory” was the name of both a city and an empire.
  • The empire was founded in the fourteenth century (1336 AD) by Harihara and Bukka of the Sangama dynasty.
    
    • They made Hampi the capital city. In 1986, Hampi was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
  • It stretched from the river Krishna in the north to the extreme south of the peninsula.
  • Vijayanagar Empire was ruled by four important dynasties and they are:
    
    • Sangama
    • Saluva
    • Tuluva
    • Aravidu

Source: TH