March Of Patriots

Cavalrymen of Vijayanagara

The history of glorious Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1565 AD) is one of the few alarming
stories ever told by the rubbles of architectural wonders of the past. Vijayanagara embarked
on the obvious pledge of protecting Hinduism when the Tughalaq Sultanates occupied the
Yadav Kingdom of Maharashtra. Defenseless Hindus in the south were desperately looking
for someone to rescue them from the clutches of Islam. Harihara of the Sangama Dynasty
founded the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara in 1336 AD when the Hoysala Empire was on
its last legs. The commanders of the Hoysala Dynasty, including Bommayya Nayaka were
of critical assistance to Harihara and his brother Bukka Raya in establishing the much-
needed Hindu kingdom on the north banks of the Tungabadra River in Anegundi. At the
request of Bommayya, the Kalachuri chief of the South Konkan, Mangaladeva peacefully
merged with Vijayanagara. Mangaladeva was the ancestor of Salwa Narasihma Devaraya
who was the original ruler of the Salva Dynasty of Vijayanagara. The Salwas of
Vijayanagara were the Kalachuris who hid from Kalyani Chalukyas in the forests around
Araga to Adlur in south Konkan, at present villages of Uttara Kannda. They were also
referred by the historians of colonial times as the tribal rulers of South Konkan.

Deva Raya II of the Sangama Dynasty constructed the forts of Ankola and Mirjan in the
fifteenth century. The forts were protecting trades with Arabia and China. They were built
with the typical contemporary fortification architecture. The Mirjan fort protected spice
exports. The Ankola fort was a supplementary buttress to the Vijayanagara armada
guarding the ports between Bhatkal and Goa. They were built in oval shapes on leveled
grounds with 20- 25 feet high barricades surrounded by moats, fifteen feet deep and twenty
feet wide. Large laterite stones from the local mines were cut and veneered squarely and
neatly. The fort barricades were built with twofold walls and 4-8 feet of space in between
them; the hollow space was filled with earthen debris. The stone cubes were arranged
without any fastening materials. At Mirjan the water filled moats were packed with hordes
of crocodiles and the deep ditches of the fort in Ankola were filled with sticky clay. The

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eclectic fortification methods of Vijayanagara implemented in the coastal region promised

security to the flourishing sea trade.

Anjaneya, the monkey god was the foremost divinity of the Sangama Dynasty. Anjaneya is
a well-respected character in the epic of Ramayana. The Anjanadri Hill, situated across
from Hampi village was Anjaneya’s alleged holy birthplace and Hampi was his mythical
kingdom. The Sangamas believed in the spirit of Anjaneya guarding the Vijayanagara
Empire. They built Anjaneya temples all across the empire, including a temple of Anjaneya
in the Ankola fort. The chieftain of Adil Shah, Sharif ul Mulk of Ponda, destroyed the
Anjaneya and Koteshwara temples, but left the fort intact. Sonda Nayakas later on claimed
the fort and rebuilt the temples. The ruler of Mysore, Hyder Ali, conquered Uttara Kannada
in 1763 AD and took control of the forts in Ankola and Mirjan. Since the fall of
Vijayanagara, the Ankola Fort changed hands a few times and temples were refurbished at
least twice before the Colonial Rule. The Collector of North Kanara visited the fort in 1880
AD. He wrote in his report about the exotic cluster of tropical old trees such as mango,
tamarind, mangosteen, guava, custard apple, cashew, and java plum growing wildly inside
the fort. As described by the local fairy tale, Sarpamalika, a person blessed by a snake built
the fort in an unspecified era.

On the Portuguese map of Konkan drawn in the early sixteenth century, the Bay of Colla
(Ankola harbor) was shown thirteen knots south of Liga (Kali River). The important ports,
Cintakala (Sadashivgad) and Mergeo (Mirjan) were also marked. It suggests that Ankola
was once called Colla by Portuguese. Adjacent to the Colla Bay in the east there was a place
called Pale which might have been the present-day Bole. What was the reason for showing
Bole on the Portuguese map? Perhaps Ankola was named in the beginning of the sixteenth
century when the father of Arasappa Nayaka of Sonda, Salwa Devarasa (Devaraya
Nayaka), was the governor of Banavasi Nadu. His mistress who lived in Ankola was a
famous dancer. People flocked to see her dance recitals in a local temple. Ankola was
named after the dancer, but her name was not found; the closest feminine name one can
guess would be Ankila. Naming a temple town after the concubine of a chieftain seems
hilarious but dancing for gods in fashionable costumes perhaps made her eligible for such
an honor. Regardless, Ankola in the past was well known for its enchanting Devadasis.
People from far and wide visited Ankola for its Urvashi like flirting women. A merchant of
Venice, M. Caesar Frederick, in his diary mentioned visiting Ankola in 1567 AD. According
to some, the name for Ankola came from the plant, Alangium Lamarckii (Botanical name)
which in Hindi was called Ankola or Akola plant. It is hard to believe that Ankola was
named after an odd shrub growing wild in India and East Africa. However, the claims of
branding Ankola after a concubine or rare plant somehow seem to be fabricated long after
the town of Ankola was mentioned in the sixteenth century by Caesar Frederick.

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The Ankola fort is one of the oldest known structures in Ankola. The ancient shrines
instituted by Kalachuris in Bhavikeri, Jain Basadi in Honnebail and Jain Tirtankara
(Mahavira?) Basadi of Ankola is even older than the Ankola fort. Obviously, the safety
promised by the fort gave enough confidence for the growth of the town of Ankola. The
next significant add-ons to the town were the lovely temples built during the reign of the
Salwa and Tuluva dynasties. Three temples, Venkataramana (1490 AD), Aryadurga (1506
AD), and Laxmi Narayana (1510 AD) were constructed within a mile radius from the fort.
The town boundary of Ankola was marked by the Ankola harbor and three temples. Half a
mile to the west of the fort was the bustling Hale Peti (old bazaar). By the end of the
sixteenth century, Ankola had many spinning and weaving mills. The Ankola port exported
textile and raw cotton. In the seventeenth century during Adil Shahi rule the textile
industry got bigger and the port was expanded. The blemished landscape of the old port
which was called Bandra or Bandar (port in Persian) existed even in the beginning of the
twentieth century.

Salwas since the twelfth century during the Kalachuri rule domiciled in the southern
Konkan and established a seat of Salwas near Adlur, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka. After the
loss in Kalyani, the hideout of Kalachuri soldiers (Salwas) in the Western Ghats around
Adlur, Ankola in Karnataka is a well-established fact. Salwas of South Konkan were
ancestral relatives of the present day Nadavaras of Uttara Kannada. The Nadavaras of
Uttara Kannada were recruited to the army of Sangama dynasty after the great grandfather
of Narasihma Devaraya, Salwa Mangaladeva made treaty with Bukkaraya. Salwa
Narasihma Devaraya, son of Salwa Gunda, the chief commander of Chandragiri in 1452 AD
was given the title of Maha Mandaleshwara of Chendragiri by Mallikarjuna Raya, the
Emperor of Vijayanagra. He began his campaign working with his father. During the rule
of Virupaksha Raya II, Vijayanagara’s dominance was on a steep decline. Virupaksha Raya
II lost the prime international trading coastal territory of Goa to the Bahamani Sultans in
1472 AD. Mahmud Gawan, an astute general of Bahamanis was avidly seeking for an
opportunity to sack Vijayanagara. After the death of Virupaksha in 1485 AD, his pleasure-
seeking son, Prouda Raya was unable to keep the empire under his control. Salwa
Narasihma Devaraya (1485-1491 AD) in 1485 AD took over the kingdom from Praudha
Raya. It was the end of Sangama dynasty and beginning of the Salwa Dynasty. The Salwas
of Haduvalli, an autonomous domain of Vijayanagara opposed the coronation of
Narasihma Devaraya. The deep routed rivalry between the Salwa families of Adlur and
Haduvalli transformed into jealousy and hatred. Narasihma Devaraya removed the chief of
Haduvalli bringing the region under the command of Banavasi Nadu. The Salwas of
Haduvalli were related of the Salwas of Adlur. A few Salwa families of Haduvalli to avoid
suppression of Jains by the Virashaivas of Keladi migrated to villages around Adlur.

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Growing up in Chandragiri fort, Narasihma Devaraya had developed a close intimacy with
Tirupati Venkateshwara temple. After assuming the realm of Vijayanagara, Narasihma
Devaraya in 1486 granted generous endowment to the Tirupati Venkateshwara Temple and
sanctioned funds for the purposes of creating new farmland and construction of lakes in the
villages owned by the temple. The well-known Chintala Venkatramana temple of
Anantpura, Andhra Pradesh was also built with the grants from Narasihma Devaraya. The
celebrated Venkatarmana Temple of Ankola was built in 1490 during the régime of the
Salwa dynasty of Vijayanagara. Even though Salwas were the followers of Jainism, they
built scores of Hindu temples all across the empire and also, temples received funds for
their maintenance. Temples were major land holders. They were state owned revenue
centers which generated handsome fortune to the treasury of Vijayanagara. The
government appointed Nayakas were in charge of collecting regional tariffs and revenues
from temples. Since the days of Vijayanagara, Banavasi Nadu had five Seemes headed by
Nadavara Nayakas. The ritual of calling out Nadavara Nayakas of five Seemes to receive
devotional offering (Prasada) at Madhukeshwara temple in Banavasi was a ceremonial
practice. Even in the twentieth century the ritual continued but Nadavara Nayakas did not
attend the temple services.
,
Tuluva Narasa Nayaka of Kundapura, Dakshina Kannada was the commander of the
Vijayanagara army. After the death of Narasihma Devaraya in 1491, his older son, Timma
Bhupa was crowned but shortly after he was murdered by a soldier. The influential
minister and a patron of the Salwa dynasty, Salwa Timmayya (Timmarsa) was saddened by
the murder of Timma Bhupa. Disagreements between Narasa Nayka and Timmarasa began
to swell. The chiefs of Vijayanagara lost their trust in Narasa Nayaka. In order to prevent
possible unrest in Hampi, immediately the juvenile brother of Timma Bhupa, Narasihma II
was made the king of Vijayanagara in 1491. Timmarasa was enticed with the rights and
privileges of Mahapradhan (prime minister). Tuluva Narasa Nayaka took over the reign,
forging the role of caretaker. In an effort to legitimatize his rule, he seemingly played the
role of a savior of Hinduism like the Sangama kings. When Narasihma II became fourteen
years old, he was placed in confinement in Penukonda. Narasa Nayaka died in 1502 and
three years later Salwa Narasihma II was murdered. Vijayanagara during the Salwa
Dynasty had the largest Cavalry in Southeast Asia, consisting of thirty-five thousand
horses. Salwas, being passionate horse riders, built their military with a strong cavalry
which dominated their war strategies.

Krishna Devaraya was the son of Salwa Nagamma and Tuluva Narasa Nayaka. Nagamma
was called Salwa Nagala Devi after her marriage to Narasa Nayaka. Nagala Devi was a Jain
woman from Banavasi Nadu. She was related to Salwa Timmarasa (Timmayya Nayaka).

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Krishna Devaraya was not born in Hampi. His date of birth and birthplace are unknown.
He was probably born in Banavasi Nadu, his maternal wing. The sculpture at Hampi of
young Krishna Devaraya sitting with his relative from Bole, a coastal village near Ankola in
Uttara Kannada is intriguing. Bole was village in Banavasi Nadu during the Vijayanagara
Empire. The relative in the carving might be Krishna Devaraya’s cousin and brother-in-law,
Salwa Devaraya, governor of Banavasi Nadu. Probably Nagala Devi was a woman from
Bole. Nadavaras of Bole for long time had treasured Pawanas (gold coins) of Vijayanagara
featuring the Hindu gods. The coins possessed by the Krishna Naik’s family later in the
twentieth century were converted to jewelries for nuptial ceremonies.

Timmarasa was a progeny of the Salwa Dynasty. Tuluva Narasa Nayaka made him the
prime minister of Vijayanagara. Viranarasihma (1505-1509 AD), the half brother of Krishna
Devaraya extended Timmarasa’s tenure. Krishna Devaraya (1509-1529 AD) ascended to the
throne of Vijayanagara after the death of his brother and Timmarasa continued with his
obligatory role. Timmarasa was the prime minister under three different kings. He
arranged the coronation of the emperor on the holy day of Gokulashtami, the celebration of
God Krishna’s birthday. He was the fatherly figure to the emperor. Krishna Devaraya,
acting on the advice of Timmarasa, built Nagalanagara near Hospete, Karnataka as the
memorial of his mother. Tirumala Raya, the son of Krishna Devaraya was made Yuvaraja
(crown prince) in 1524 AD. He accidentally died and was suspected of poisoning. Krishna
Devaraya accused his trusted advisor, Timmarasa and had him blinded. Also, his innocent
son Timmanna was executed. The love story between Krishna Devaraya and Timmarasa
ended in tragedy. Krishna Devaraya apparently regretted of his actions in his death bed.

The Venkataramana Temple in Tirupati was the prime holy place of Krishna Devaraya. He
rejuvenated the temple lavishly with gold and diamonds. Sculptured gold statues of
Krishna Devaraya and his two wives, Chinnamma and Tirumala, were instituted in the
temple corridor. Till 1945, Kalasha, sacred silver pot from the Tirupati Venkataramana
Temple was brought to Bole every year in October. The Kalasha spent one holy week in
Krishna Naik’s house at Bole and a week in Kanabera temple, Bhavikeri. The unique
relation between Bole and Tirupati obviously makes one think of the kinship of Krishna
Devaraya with the Nadavaras of Bole and Vandige. Two families of Bole are still living in
two-hundred-year-old huge homes with thick fort like walls and carved doors and pillars.
The gigantic proportions of these old structures indicate some sort of stately relations to the
residents of the homes in Bole. These antique houses were built two centuries after the end
of Vijayanagara but what kind of structures did exist in Bole during Vijayanagara? One
family of Bole and one from Vandige, in the early Nineteenth century concealed large
amount of their ancestral gold in an anonymous temple, since they were concerned about
the confiscation of treasures by the Colonial rulers. A generation after the families could not

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find their gold in the temple. Further research of Bole and Vandige villages may shed light
on the ancestry of Nadavaras and their relations to Vijayanagara.

Salwa Devaraya Nayaka, the son in low of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka was the Governor of
Banavasi Nadu. Devaraya’s younger brother, Salwa Krishna was the caretaker of the
Bhatkal port. Devaraya facilitated building many temples in Uttar Kannada including
Aryadurga of Ankola. The old fort in Ankola built during the reign of the Sangama
Dynasty was Devaraya Nayaka’s abode. The name of Timmanna Nayaka was somehow
associated with the Portuguese horse trade. He was possibly a commander who perhaps
lived in Ankola fort along with Devaraya Nayaka. The Vijayanagara navy had two hundred
boats to guard the horse trade. There was a mile long restricted and partly underground
passage from the fort to the Ankola harbor. The passage provided secret access to the
harbor. Saraswata accountants came from Goa to manage the horse trade. Saraswats with
Devaraya’s help brought the idol of Laxmi Narayana from Nagwe, Goa to Ankola. The
Laxmi Narayana temple was built in Ankola in 1510 in Vandige, a suburb of Ankola.

The South Indian sultry weather was not suitable for breeding horses. Vijayanagara kings
imported Arabian horses from the Middle East. During the Tuluva Vira Narasihma regime
(1503-1509 AD) both Portuguese and Arabs sold horses to Vijayanagara kings in tandem
with Bijapur Adil Shah. The most celebrated emperor, Krishna Devaraya, was concerned
about the trade practices of Arabs. He made the trade agreement exclusively with
Portuguese for supplying horses and dropped the Arabian suppliers. Devaraya Nayaka
along with his assistant, Timmanna Nayaka was made responsible for complying with the
Portuguese Trade Agreement. The Portuguese stopped supplying horses to Adil Shah, who
in due course started buying horses from pirates at soaring prices. Timoji of Goa was an
infamous pirate who maneuvered from Anjadiv and was a threat to cargo ships between
Bhatkal and Goa. Still, he was clever enough to maintain relations with the Portuguese and
Vijayanagara. Timoji helped the Portuguese with his spy network to penetrate through the
strong garrison built by Adil Shah in Goa. The Portuguese Viceroy, Alfonso de
Albuquerque in 1510 AD defeated Yusuf Adil Shah and occupied Tiswadi Island of Goa.
Even after receiving high honors from Portuguese, Timoji returned to his notorious
profession. Piracy became persistent nuisance. Jointly, the Portuguese and Devaraya
Nayaka captured Timoji, who was later executed by the Portuguese. The Haduvalli chief
did not help to prevent pirate incidents in Bhatkal. The sovereign status savored by the
Haduvalli principality was ceased by Devaraya.

The organization of transporting horses from the ports of Konkan to Vijayanagara was a
well-organized efficient routine. Portuguese Horses arriving at Goa and Bhatkal ports were
brought to Vasare-Kudaragi (Abode for Horses) before transporting them to Vijayanagara.

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Vasare is sited on the north-shore of the Gangavali River, seven miles east of Ankola. Being
in the middle of Bhatkal and Goa ports, the village of Vasare was chosen for the sole
purpose of consolidating horses arriving at two different ports. The horses were transferred
from the cargo ships to smaller ships and transported to Ankola and Vasare-Kudaragi
ports. The horses were brought for cost assessment to Jamagod, which was a flatland of
Bole. The relics of horse tracks and stone columns for tying down horses existed till 1960s in
Jamagod. A road, the Bellari Margh was constructed for transporting horses. The Bellari
Road started in Agsur which was about three miles east of Vasare. Between Agsur and
Vasare-Kudaragi a circular racetrack half a mile in diameter was built to try out the horses.
The horses were washed in the Ganagavali River and before heading towards Hampi,
prayed at the Hulideva (Tiger God) temple in Agsur for protecting horses from tiger
attacks.

Krishna Devaraya died of a sudden illness in 1529 AD. Instability spread all over
Vijayangara. The feudatories began to revolt, and sultanates announced Jihad against the
Hindu empire. Achuta Devaraya, the half-brother of Krishna Devaraya held on to the
empire uneventfully till 1542 AD. Then the control of the kingdom was taken over by the
son-in-law of Krishna Devaraya, Ramaraya of the Aravidu Dynasty. He was the regent for
the boy-king Sadashivaraya, the nephew of Krishna Devaraya. But actually, Sadashivaraya
was held in custody by Ramaraya and his brothers, Venkatadri and Tirumalaraya.
Ramaraya was never officially enthroned since he was not a progeny of the Tuluva
Dynasty. His greed kept him in power till he was very old. The subordinate and feudal
rulers could not interact with Ramaraya. The cavalrymen were subservient to the Tulu
dynasty and did not approve of Ramaraya’s role. Ramaraya tried to curb the dominance of
the cavalry by reducing its strength from 35,000 to 20,000 and tripled the elephant brigade.
The war strategy had to change significantly. Vijayanagara, rather than relying on cavalry
to penetrate enemy defense, used slow moving mighty elephants as spearhead to pound the
enemy’s line of attack. Even though the Vijayanagara army was large in figures it was
equipped for minor battles that could oppress the Sultanates individually.

Ramaraya removed competent officials and replaced them with people related to him.
Ramaraya in 1557 made a secretive accord with Ali Adil Shah and his wife adopted Ali as
her adopted son. Ali amicably complied with Rama Raya’s demands only to build muscle
for a future confrontation. He appointed Muslim commanders, Gilani brothers who had
defected from the army of Ali Adil Shah. Few competent chieftains left Vijayanagara to join
Goa and Travancore kingdoms. Salwa Honnappa Nayaka, the chief commander of the
cavalry appointed by Achuta Raya was murdered. The relations with the Portuguese in Goa
deteriorated. Ramaraya fought irrelevant battles followed by unsatisfying victories and
mediocre results. The army consisting of three hundred thousand soldiers was tired of

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trivial wars and was morally fragmented. The natural resources of the empire were steadily
declining, and the maintenance of its large military became unbearably expensive. Highly
elevated trajectory of the standard of living in Hampi was gradually declining. The
feudatories could not afford the rising taxation imposed on them. Ramaraya’s abysmal
dictatorship was a precursor to the imminent demise of Vijayanagara.

Ramaraya lacked the political savvy to be a successful ruler of Vijayanagara. He

underestimated the grave threat of the Bahamani Sultanates. His political organization
existed to carry out deliberate insults to the neighboring Sultanates. Ramaraya scornfully
disrespected the cabinet and military chieftains. His despicable behavior was passionately
hated by his subordinates and the sultanates. There was no broad plan in place to maintain
the integrity of the south Indian empire. The growing antagonism against Ramaraya was
the reason for the alliance of the southern sultanates. The five Bahamani Sultans, Ibrahim
Qutub Shah: Golconda, Hussain Nizam Shah: Ahmad Nagar: Ali Adil Shah Bijapur, Burhan
Imad Shah: Berar, Ali Barid Shah: Bidar met at Talikota in Deccember 1564. The martial
muscle of Vijayanagara was no longer strong enough to wage a war against the joint forces
of Sultanates. But Ramaraya’s egotism and desire for self-promotion blinded him from the
reality of looming danger. The Sultans through their stealth operatives were well informed
of the war strategies of Ramaraya. Sultans were ready for the long-waited opportunity,
with the agile cavalry of 40,000 horses and far reaching robust cannons.

The soldiers of Vijayanagara had to cross the Krishna River to meet the joint forces of
Sultanates at Rakkasagi and Tangadagi, situated ten miles apart on the north bank of the
Krishna River. Ramaraya’s two Islamic commanders, the Gilani brothers who controlled
large legions of foot-soldiers, deserted the Vijayangara army in the middle of the war. Ali
Adil Shah’s sneaky plot of secretly inserting Gilani brothers two years before the war in the
Vijayanagara army worked out flawlessly. The army of Vijayanagara was shocked by the
sudden unanticipated crafty strategy of Sultanates. The war took an asymmetrical form
within a few hours, like a knockout in the first round of a boxing bout. Perplexed,
Ramaraya was captured and was beheaded by Hussain Nizam Shah of Ahamadnagar. It
was an act of burning vengeance of Hussain Shah, who was dishonored and offended by
Ramaraya on many occasions in the past. The massive army of Vijayanagara succumbed to
the methodically planned guile of Sultanates. Hussain Shah marched around on the war
field with Ramaraya’s head held on a spear. The Bahamani soldiers stampeded over the
retreating Vijayanagara army. Thousands of fleeing soldiers of Vijayangara while trying to
cross the river were shot with arrows. Adil Shah had sent a private letter to Ramaraya a few
days before the war stating that he would stay neutral. On the contrary the night before the
war the soldiers of Adil Shah had secretly crossed river to the south bank of Krishna. The
Vijayanagra soldiers were massacred from both sides of the river. Thousands of dead

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bodies were floating in the river and Krishna turned into a river of blood. The Vijayanagara
army was destroyed and the heroic effort of its soldiers abruptly came to a sad conclusion.
Tirumal Raya, the brother of Ramaraya took loads of the treasured fortune of Vijayanagara
and established his own Aravidu kingdom in Penukonda, Andhra Pradesh.

The majestic empire succumbed to the united coalition of Sultanates in the historic battle of
Talikota on January 26, 1565. Aftermath of the battle was obvious. It was the gloomiest
night when an enormous breaking wave of the Bahamani soldiers rolled over Hampi. The
victorious Bahamani soldiers savagely slaughtered its residents, destroyed temples, robbed
the palaces, and pillaged treasures amassed for two centuries. The scourge of tyranny
spread all over Hampi and beyond. The bustling city of rulers and riches turned into a
ghost town. The stylish human habitation of Hampi was savagely foraged by looters and
scavengers. Ramaraya’s fixated unruly disengagement weakened the integrity of the
strongest empire of that time. Shrinking the strong cavalry built by Krishna Devaraya to
accommodate a few more elephants proved to be a misstep of Ramaraya. But naively hiring
the commanders defected from Adil Shah’s army proved to be the biggest blunder ever
committed in the history of Vijayanagara. His greed for power turned out to be the
blinders. Indirectly Ramaraya became his own executioner.

The war of Talikota was not solely a war between two religions, as some historians had
made impression. The inequalities in wealth, political freedom and religious rights were the
major reasons for the hostilities between the two neighbors. The wealth of Vijayanagara
was accentuated by the rich crops of fertile southern table land, diamond mines of the
Krishna and Tungabadra regions, high-priced spices of Malenadu and natural ports of
South Konkan. Bahamani Sultanates strived to seize the resourceful Vijayanagara for
centuries. The prolonged conflict between two rivals to control the diamond mines was
stretched out for two centuries. The serial of wars that began in 1358 between Bukkaraya
and Mohammad Shah was concluded by Ramaraya and Bahamani Sultanates in 1565 at the
battle of Talikota. The confederation of the Sultanates came out victorious, but the war
drained out any vigor left in them. Sultans rejoiced the capture of the diamond mines, but
diamonds were all gone out of the mines. The superior quality diamond supply of South
Africa entered the European markets around the same time. The Tungabadra diamond rush
proved to be an exhaustive endeavor and the victory celebration of the sultans was short
lived. The Inter-sultanate conflicts obviously disintegrated the coalition and Mogul rulers of
Delhi gobbled up the Deccan sultanates one by one.

The manifestation of Vijayanagara was enviously admired by the visiting emissaries and
dignitaries from Europe and Asia. Abdur Razzak, the ambassador from Persia in 1443 made
a note “The eyes never saw such a place like the city of Vijayanagara, and ears never heard

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that there existed anything to equal such a splendor.” The glorifying eulogies by the
famous visitors like, Niccolo Conti (1420s), Abdur Razzak (1443), Duarte Barbosa (1504-14),
Domingo Paes (1520-22) and Fernao Nuniz (1535-37) made Vijayanagara arrogant and
conceited, only to meet its ultimate destiny. The deadly war of Talikota was the most
dreadful disaster that Nadavaras ever encountered. The ill-fated cavalrymen rode their
horses into the death trap. After the battle what might have happened to all the women and
young children left behind in Vijayanagara, is hard not to think. Nadavaras never regained
the lost charisma and status. Their virtue was on decline and confidence was shattered. For
two centuries they played the second fiddle in the kingdoms of Adil Shah, Keladi Nayakas
and Mysore Sultans, and then for the next hundred and fifty years they were seen as
militants by the British. In all situations the memories of Vijayanagara lingered on. Hampi
was remorsefully remembered as the graveyard of their ancestors. For the longest time
Hampi had a special place deep in the hearts of Nadavaras. Emotional songs referring to
Vijayanagara can still be heard in some traditional Nadavara homes. Once a highly
esteemed vibrant city, a place of admiration by scores of foreign travelers during the late
medieval ages is now a vast landscape of relics and rubles watched over by the UNESCO
World Heritage Society.

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