The Vijayanagar and Bahamani Kingdoms | ICSE Class 7 History & Civics Notes

This note covers the origins, location, rulers, administration, economy, society, art, architecture and legacy of the Vijayanagar and Bahamani kingdoms, including Krishnadeva Raya, Mahmud Gawan, Hampi and Gol Gumbaz.

What was the historical setting, and why did the two kingdoms emerge?

What weakened control from Delhi?

The Delhi Sultanate was a kingdom ruled from Delhi by sultans, or rulers. The Tughlaqs were one of its ruling families. Disintegration means the breaking up of a larger political authority into smaller, separately governed territories.

The decline and disintegration of the Tughlaq Empire created opportunities for new kingdoms in southern India. Maintaining control over distant territories was difficult. Regional chiefs and governors could challenge central authority when the government at Delhi weakened.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq's costly projects, rebellions and difficulties in controlling distant provinces contributed to this weakening. A province is a territory forming part of a larger state. These pressures help explain the setting in which separate regional powers emerged.

Where did the new states develop?

Vijayanagar, also called Vijayanagara, means “city of victory”. The name referred both to an empire, a large state controlling several territories, and to its capital city. Its foundation is traditionally dated to 1336. The Bahamani kingdom, also spelt Bahmani, was established in 1347.

The Deccan is the plateau region of peninsular India south of the Narmada. The Bahamani kingdom developed in the Deccan. Vijayanagara's capital stood beside the Tungabhadra River, and its empire extended over much of southern India.

The weakening of Delhi's control explains the opportunity for their rise. Their later strength also depended on organising government, collecting income, maintaining armies and controlling valuable territories. The beginning of a kingdom and the development of a powerful state are therefore connected but distinct changes.

The sketch map labels Vijayanagara near the Tungabhadra, with Bijapur, Gulbarga and Bidar farther north. It also labels the Krishna River, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. The map is not to scale.

Reference: NCERT Class 12 Map 1

How did Vijayanagara develop from its origins into an empire?

Who founded the kingdom?

According to tradition and inscriptional evidence, the brothers Harihara and Bukka founded Vijayanagara in 1336. An inscription is writing engraved on a durable surface, such as stone. The foundation date is conventionally used, although it is also recorded with a question mark to indicate uncertainty.

The empire's frontiers changed over time. At its height, it stretched from the Krishna River in the north to the extreme south of the peninsula. Its people spoke different languages and followed different religious traditions, so the empire was more diverse than a single ruling family.

Which ruling families held power?

A dynasty is a succession of rulers belonging to a ruling family or lineage. The Sangama dynasty held power until 1485. The Saluvas then replaced it and remained in power until 1503, when the Tuluvas replaced them. Krishnadeva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty.

The rulers called themselves rayas, meaning kings. They drew on earlier traditions of temple building and royal support for religious institutions. The empire included areas previously associated with powerful kingdoms such as the Cholas and Hoysalas.

Vijayanagara's kings competed with the Deccan sultans and the rulers of Orissa for fertile river valleys and income from overseas trade. Overseas trade means the exchange of goods across seas. Territorial expansion and commercial wealth were therefore closely connected.

Competition did not prevent exchanges of ideas. Rulers borrowed and developed building techniques from neighbouring states. This helps explain why political rivalry and shared architectural features appear together in the history of southern India.

Note: The city and the empire shared the name Vijayanagara. A statement about the destruction of the capital is not automatically a statement that all imperial rule ended on the same day.

How did the Bahamani kingdom rise, and what did Mahmud Gawan achieve?

Who founded the kingdom?

The Bahamani kingdom was founded in 1347 by Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah. It emerged as Delhi's authority weakened in the Deccan. Its first capital was Gulbarga; the capital was later moved to Bidar. Both places were important centres in the kingdom's history.

The ruler was called a sultan. The kingdom's government included ministers and provincial governors. A minister is an important official who helps the ruler conduct government, while a governor administers a province. These offices should be distinguished from the position of the founder.

Why is Mahmud Gawan remembered?

Mahmud Gawan was an influential minister of the Bahamani kingdom during the fifteenth century. He was not its founder. His importance lies in administration and learning. Administration means the organisation and day-to-day work of government.

Gawan reorganised the provincial administration, increased central supervision over governors and introduced measures relating to land measurement and revenue assessment. Revenue means income received by the government, including taxes. Assessment means deciding how much tax should be paid.

These reforms aimed to strengthen the ruler's control over officials and resources. His career shows that an able minister could shape a kingdom's development even though he did not establish its ruling dynasty.

Gawan also founded a madrasa, an educational institution, at Bidar. This connects his name with the kingdom's intellectual and architectural life as well as its government. Bidar should therefore be remembered as more than a place on a political map.

How did the kingdom fragment?

Rivalries among nobles weakened the Bahamani government. Nobles were powerful members of the ruling elite. The emergence of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Berar as separate sultanates in 1490, followed by Golconda in 1518, marks the growth of new centres of power.

A sultanate is a state ruled by a sultan. These later states belong to the history of the Deccan after Bahamani authority broke apart. They should not all be treated as the original Bahamani kingdom continuing unchanged.

What does the case study of Krishnadeva Raya reveal about kingship?

How did he strengthen his kingdom?

Krishnadeva Raya ruled from 1509 to 1529. His reign combined expansion, meaning the addition of territory, with consolidation, meaning the strengthening of control. He belonged to the Tuluva dynasty and is remembered for military achievements, building activity and encouragement of trade.

The Raichur doab, the land between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, was acquired in 1512. A doab is a tract between two rivers. The rulers of Orissa were subdued in 1514, and the Sultan of Bijapur suffered severe defeats in 1520.

The kingdom remained in a constant state of military preparedness while enjoying exceptional peace and prosperity under his rule. Preparedness means keeping forces ready for conflict. It does not mean that every part of the kingdom experienced continuous fighting.

How did trade and culture support rule?

Krishnadeva Raya composed the Amuktamalyada, a Telugu work containing ideas about statecraft, or the art of governing. He advised rulers to improve harbours and encourage commerce. A harbour is a sheltered place where ships can stop safely; commerce means trade.

He recognised the importance of merchants who supplied horses and other valuable goods. Supporting traders could bring resources into the kingdom and help keep important supplies from rivals. His advice links economic activity to the practical needs of government and warfare.

He is credited with building temples and adding impressive gopurams, or temple gateway towers. He also founded Nagalapuram, a township near Vijayanagara named after his mother. These activities show that royal achievement included buildings and settlements as well as military success.

At the Virupaksha temple, he built the hall in front of the main shrine to mark his accession, or coming to the throne. He is also credited with constructing the eastern gopuram. His reign left visible additions to an older religious centre.

How can the administration of the two kingdoms be compared?

How did the amara-nayaka system operate?

In Vijayanagara, nayakas were military chiefs. They usually controlled forts and had armed followers. Many accepted the king's authority, but they often rebelled. Their relationship with the ruler could therefore involve both cooperation and conflict.

The amara-nayakas were military commanders given territories to govern by the raya. They collected taxes and other payments from peasants, craftspersons and traders. They kept part of this income for their own use and for maintaining an agreed force of horses and elephants.

Some revenue maintained temples and irrigation works, structures that supply water to cultivated land. The commanders sent annual tribute, a payment recognising the king's superior authority, and appeared at court with gifts. Kings occasionally transferred them to assert control.

It is likely that many features of this system came from the Delhi Sultanate's iqta system, in which military officers received territorial revenue assignments. The connection is likely, rather than a demonstrated claim that every feature was copied.

What similarities and differences matter?

The comparison shows why government required more than issuing royal orders. Rulers needed officials who could collect resources and maintain armed forces. Yet powerful regional officials could also weaken central authority. Similar problems did not necessarily produce identical administrative arrangements.

How did different social groups participate in economic life?

Peasants and cultivation

Peasants were people who cultivated the land. Their production supported the population and contributed to government revenue. Around Vijayanagara, cultivated fields were connected to waterworks. Protecting agriculture was therefore important both for everyday food supplies and for the strength of the state.

Nayakas often moved between areas, and in many cases peasants seeking fertile land accompanied them. This shows that changes in political power could be connected with movement and settlement. It does not mean that every cultivator moved whenever a chief changed location.

Merchants and trade

Merchants bought and sold goods. Vijayanagara had markets for spices, textiles and precious stones. Income from trade contributed significantly to the state's prosperity. Wealthy buyers also demanded expensive goods, including jewellery, linking the city's markets to wider trading networks.

Warfare relied on effective cavalry, soldiers who fought on horseback. Horses were imported from Arabia and Central Asia. Arab traders initially controlled this trade, while local horse merchants also participated. From 1498, the Portuguese became involved in west-coast trade and politics.

Craftspersons and town dwellers

Craftspersons were skilled workers who made objects or worked with materials. They contributed to production and building, and amara-nayakas collected dues from them as well as from cultivators and traders. The economy therefore depended on several groups, not simply on rulers and soldiers.

The traveller Barbosa described ordinary people's houses as thatched, well built and arranged in streets according to occupations. These houses have not survived. Wells, rainwater tanks and temple tanks may have supplied water to ordinary town dwellers.

Rich markets do not prove that every inhabitant was equally wealthy. Similarly, grand buildings cannot tell us exactly what all the workers who built them thought. Evidence about ordinary lives must be distinguished from descriptions of kings, ceremonies and wealthy merchants.

Why were waterworks and fortifications important at Vijayanagara?

How was water collected and distributed?

The capital lay in a natural basin formed by the Tungabhadra River, surrounded by granite hills. The region is one of the most arid, or dry, zones of the peninsula. Storing rainwater and carrying water to fields and settlements required elaborate arrangements.

Embankments, raised barriers that hold back water, were built along streams in almost all cases to create reservoirs. A reservoir stores water. Kamalapuram tank irrigated nearby fields and supplied the royal centre, the part of the city associated with royal buildings.

The Hiriya canal drew water from a dam across the Tungabhadra. It irrigated the cultivated valley between the sacred centre, an area containing important religious buildings, and the urban core, the central built-up area. The canal was apparently built by Sangama rulers.

Why were fields enclosed by walls?

Fortifications are defensive structures, including walls and protected gateways. The visitor Abdur Razzaq described seven lines of forts. They enclosed the city, agricultural land and forests. The outermost wall connected the hills surrounding the city.

A siege is an attempt to capture a defended place by surrounding it. Often, attackers tried to starve defenders into surrender. Such sieges could last months and sometimes years. Enclosing agricultural land protected a source of food within the defended area.

Vijayanagara's arrangements linked defence to food production. Rather than depending simply on stored grain, rulers also protected the agricultural belt. This was an elaborate and expensive strategy, showing the importance attached to sustaining a large capital.

The walls, tanks and canals should therefore be studied together. Walls helped protect people and productive land, while channels supplied water. The city's layout reveals planning for daily life as well as preparation for conflict.

What do Hampi's temples reveal about art and religious life?

What were the roles of temples?

Hampi is the name by which the remains of Vijayanagara are known. It derives from Pampadevi, the local mother goddess. The area already had sacred associations before the empire grew there, including the shrines of Pampadevi and Virupaksha.

Vijayanagara's rulers claimed to govern on behalf of Virupaksha, a form of Shiva. Building and maintaining temples helped rulers gain support and recognition for their power and devotion. Temples also functioned as centres of learning and of social, cultural and economic activity.

Patronage means support given to people or institutions. Rulers and others often granted land and resources to temples. Religious buildings consequently connected worship with the organisation of resources, learning and public activities.

Which architectural features stand out?

Large royal gopurams often dwarfed the towers above central shrines. They were probably intended as reminders of royal power. Other features included mandapas, or pillared pavilions, and long pillared corridors that often surrounded shrines.

The Virupaksha temple developed over centuries. Inscriptions suggest that its earliest shrine dated to the ninth or tenth century. It was substantially enlarged under Vijayanagara's rulers. Its long history prevents us from assigning the entire complex to a single king.

The plan labels a tank and shrine, shows two major gateways in black, and uses small dots for pillars. Rows of dots arranged in square or rectangular frames appear to mark out major halls, pavilions and corridors.

See Fig. 7.21 in your NCERT textbook

The Vitthala temple was dedicated to Vitthala, a form of Vishnu generally worshipped in Maharashtra. It has several halls and a shrine designed as a chariot. Stone-paved streets extended from temple gateways, with pillared pavilions where merchants set up shops.

The Hazara Rama temple contains surviving wall panels with scenes from the Ramayana, the epic narrative centred on Rama. It was probably intended to be used only by the king and his family. That probable use should not be turned into a certainty.

How does the architectural legacy connect Hampi, Bidar and Gol Gumbaz?

What does the Lotus Mahal show?

The Lotus Mahal is a building in Vijayanagara's royal centre. Historians are not quite sure what it was used for. One suggestion is that it may have been a council chamber, a place where the king met his advisers.

Its arches were probably inspired by Indo-Islamic architecture, a building tradition shaped by interaction between styles introduced by Turkish rulers and local practices. Political rivalry did not prevent the exchange of architectural ideas.

Photograph: Lotus Mahal (NCERT Class 12 Figure 7.15). The photograph shows a building with arched openings at ground level, an upper storey with windows, and several tiered roof forms. The image shows its appearance without establishing the building's original purpose.

How do Bidar and Gol Gumbaz differ?

Mahmud Gawan's madrasa at Bidar represents the Bahamani kingdom's support for learning. It connects an important minister with an educational institution. Remembering its function helps distinguish it from a palace, a temple or a royal tomb.

Gol Gumbaz is the tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah at Bijapur, now called Vijayapura. It belongs to the Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur, a later Deccan sultanate, rather than to Mahmud Gawan's lifetime. A tomb is a structure containing or marking a burial.

Gol Gumbaz is especially known for its great dome, a rounded roof, and its whispering gallery, a passage associated with striking sound effects. These features distinguish it from the gateway towers and pillared temple spaces prominent at Hampi.

Together, Hampi, Bidar and Bijapur show different purposes of monumental building: worship, royal activity, education and remembrance of a ruler. They should be connected within the region's cultural history while keeping their patrons, functions and political settings distinct.

What caused Vijayanagara's decline, and what were its consequences?

How did relations with neighbouring states change?

After Krishnadeva Raya died in 1529, rebellious nayakas troubled his successors. By 1542, control at the centre had shifted to the Aravidu ruling lineage. The ambitions of Vijayanagara and the Deccan sultanates produced changing political alignments, or arrangements of cooperation and rivalry.

Relations between the rayas and the sultans were not always or inevitably hostile, despite religious differences. Krishnadeva Raya supported some claimants to power in the sultanates. The Sultan of Bijapur also intervened in succession disputes, disagreements over who should become ruler, within Vijayanagara.

Rama Raya's policy of playing one sultan against another helped bring the sultans together against him. This is why the conflict cannot be explained simply as unchanging hostility between religious communities. Political choices and competing ambitions mattered.

What happened at Talikota?

In 1565, Rama Raya, Vijayanagara's chief minister, led its army at Rakshasi-Tangadi, also called Talikota. The combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda defeated his forces. The victorious armies sacked the capital, meaning that they plundered and devastated it.

The city was completely abandoned within a few years. Imperial power shifted eastwards, and the Aravidu rulers governed from Penukonda and later Chandragiri. The defeat was a turning point, but the ruling lineage did not disappear immediately.

During the seventeenth century, many nayakas established independent kingdoms, hastening the collapse of central imperial authority. Yet building traditions continued under these chiefs. Political decline and cultural continuity could therefore occur together.

The consequences included the loss of a great capital, a shift in political centres and increasing regional independence. The surviving buildings at Hampi preserve evidence of the earlier city's scale, while later construction shows that its architectural influence outlasted its political strength.

What does a timeline show about the kingdoms and their changing fortunes?

A timeline arranges events in chronological order, meaning the order in which they happened. This timeline separates foundation, changes of dynasty, expansion and decline. All dates below are years of the Common Era, the dating system used for these historical events.

The sequence shows that the Bahamani kingdom's fragmentation and Vijayanagara's military defeat were different developments. Bijapur and other sultanates had emerged before Talikota. A later Deccan ruler or building should therefore be placed within the appropriate successor state.

The dates also place Krishnadeva Raya between the empire's foundation and its later crisis. He strengthened an existing kingdom; he did not found it. Reading the events in order helps keep founders, powerful later rulers and ministers in their proper roles.

What sources help historians reconstruct the history of Vijayanagara?

What kinds of evidence survive?

Historical sources are materials used to investigate the past. At Hampi they include buildings, inscriptions, objects, travellers' accounts and oral traditions, meaning memories and stories passed on by speaking. Each kind of evidence answers some questions more effectively than others.

Inscriptions record temple donations and important events. Accounts by travellers such as Domingo Paes describe the capital, markets and royal life. Archaeology, the study of material remains, helps investigators examine buildings, water channels, roads and traces of settlement.

The remains of a wall can help explain defence, while a written account can describe a ceremony. Comparing them provides a fuller picture than treating either as a complete record. A traveller's impression of wealth is not a direct account of every household.

How was Hampi documented?

Colin Mackenzie surveyed the ruins in 1800 and prepared the first survey map of the site. Much of his initial information came from priests associated with local shrines. The work therefore drew on local knowledge as well as surveying.

Inscription specialists began collecting inscriptions in 1836. Alexander Greenlaw made detailed photographs in 1856, and J. F. Fleet began documenting temple-wall inscriptions in 1876. Conservation, meaning work to protect remains, began under John Marshall in 1902.

Hampi was recognised as a site of national importance in 1976 and declared a World Heritage site in 1986. Such recognition concerns the protection and value of the remains; these dates should not be confused with the dates when the kingdom flourished.

Some questions remain unanswered. Surviving buildings do not by themselves reveal the wages of builders or the thoughts of ordinary inhabitants. Careful history preserves uncertainty, including the possible council-chamber use of the Lotus Mahal, instead of filling gaps with confident guesses.

Glossary

• Dynasty — A succession of rulers belonging to the same ruling family or lineage.
• Disintegration — The breaking up of a larger political authority into smaller, separately governed territories.
• Deccan — The plateau region of peninsular India lying south of the Narmada River.
• Sultanate — A state governed by a ruler who holds the title of sultan.
• Raya — A title meaning king, used by the rulers of the Vijayanagara Empire.
• Doab — A tract of land lying between two rivers, such as the Raichur doab.
• Amara-nayaka — A military commander assigned territory by the Vijayanagara ruler to govern and collect revenue.
• Revenue — Income received by a government, including taxes collected from people and economic activities.
• Tribute — A payment made to acknowledge the superior authority of a ruler.
• Patronage — Support given by rulers or others to people, institutions or activities.
• Gopuram — A temple gateway tower, often an imposing feature of a south Indian temple complex.
• Mandapa — A pillared pavilion or hall forming part of a temple's architectural spaces.
• Madrasa — An educational institution, such as the one founded by Mahmud Gawan at Bidar.
• Fortification — A defensive structure, such as a wall or protected gateway, built against attack.
• Inscription — Writing engraved on a durable surface, providing evidence about people, donations or events.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Krishnadeva Raya founded Vijayanagara. Correct: Its foundation is associated with Harihara and Bukka; Krishnadeva Raya ruled much later, from 1509 to 1529.
• Misconception: Mahmud Gawan founded the Bahamani kingdom. Correct: Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah was its founder; Gawan was an influential later minister.
• Misconception: Gol Gumbaz was built for a Bahamani founder. Correct: It is Muhammad Adil Shah's tomb in the later Bijapur sultanate.
• Misconception: The rayas and sultans were always enemies. Correct: Their relations included political cooperation and intervention in succession disputes as well as warfare.
• Misconception: Talikota immediately ended every form of Vijayanagara rule. Correct: The capital was devastated, but Aravidu rule continued from centres farther east.
• Misconception: The Lotus Mahal was certainly a council chamber. Correct: That is one possible use; historians are not quite sure of its original function.
• Misconception: Prosperous markets prove that everyone was rich. Correct: Market descriptions reveal trade and supplies, but do not establish equal wealth among all inhabitants.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Read these facts: Harihara and Bukka are associated with Vijayanagara's foundation; Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah founded the Bahamani kingdom. Identify the founders of the two kingdoms in two separate points. [2 marks]

1. Harihara and Bukka were the brothers associated with the foundation of Vijayanagara.
2. Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah was the founder of the Bahamani kingdom.

Q2. Mahmud Gawan was a Bahamani minister who reorganised provinces, increased supervision over governors and founded a madrasa at Bidar. Use these facts to explain three aspects of his contribution. [3 marks]

1. He reorganised the provinces, contributing to the way the kingdom's territories were administered. This was an administrative achievement by a minister.
2. He increased supervision over provincial governors, helping to strengthen central control over officials who governed different parts of the kingdom.
3. He founded a madrasa at Bidar, showing his support for learning alongside his work in government and provincial administration.

Q3. Krishnadeva Raya expanded territory, encouraged harbour development and trade, composed the Telugu Amuktamalyada, and added temples and gateway towers. Explain four kinds of achievement illustrated by this information. [4 marks]

1. Territorial expansion was a political and military achievement because it brought additional land under the authority of his kingdom.
2. Encouraging harbours and trade was an economic achievement because it supported the movement of ships, merchants and goods.
3. Composing the Amuktamalyada in Telugu was a literary achievement, linking the ruler personally with the production of a written work.
4. Building temples and adding gateway towers was an architectural achievement, leaving visible additions to the kingdom's religious buildings.

Q4. Amara-nayakas received territories from the raya, collected taxes, kept part of the revenue for themselves and troops, maintained temples and irrigation with some revenue, and paid annual tribute. Explain these five features of their role. [5 marks]

1. They received territories from the raya to govern. Their administrative position therefore depended on an assignment made by the king.
2. They collected taxes within those territories. This gave them responsibility for gathering resources from the areas placed under their administration.
3. They retained part of the revenue for personal use and for maintaining troops. Their income was therefore connected to military service.
4. Some revenue supported temples and irrigation works. Their responsibilities involved religious institutions and water supply for cultivation as well as armed forces.
5. They paid tribute annually to the ruler. This regular payment acknowledged the king's superior position within the system of government.

Q5. Vijayanagara lay in a dry region; embankments created reservoirs; Kamalapuram tank watered fields and supplied the royal centre; Hiriya canal carried river water to cultivated land; defensive walls enclosed fields during possible sieges. Explain five links between these facts and the city's needs. [5 marks]

1. The dry setting created a need to collect and store water. A large settlement needed arrangements for a dependable supply.
2. Embankments created reservoirs by holding water back. This made storage part of the city's response to its dry surroundings.
3. Kamalapuram tank served both nearby fields and the royal centre. Its water therefore supported cultivation as well as an important urban area.
4. The Hiriya canal carried river water to cultivated land. It linked the river to irrigation and the production of crops.
5. Walls enclosed agricultural fields against attack during possible sieges. Defence planning therefore included protecting food-producing land, not simply the buildings inside the city.

Q6. At Talikota in 1565, the armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda defeated Rama Raya's forces. Vijayanagara was sacked; Aravidu rulers later governed from Penukonda and Chandragiri. State three conclusions about the defeat and its consequences. [3 marks]

1. The defeat was inflicted by the combined armies of three Deccan sultanates: Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda. Rama Raya commanded the opposing forces.
2. The sacking of Vijayanagara made the defeat a disaster for the capital itself, as well as a military setback.
3. Aravidu government continued from Penukonda and Chandragiri. The destruction of the capital therefore did not immediately end the ruling lineage's political activity.

Q7. Hampi preserves temples and royal buildings; Gawan's Bidar madrasa was an educational institution; Gol Gumbaz is Muhammad Adil Shah's tomb at Bijapur, known for its dome. Compare these three examples by function. [3 marks]

1. Hampi's temples and royal buildings represent religious and royal functions. They show that the city's architecture served more than one kind of activity.
2. The madrasa at Bidar served education. Its connection with Mahmud Gawan illustrates support for learning through the foundation of an institution.
3. Gol Gumbaz served as a ruler's tomb. Its dome is an architectural feature, while its burial function distinguishes it from the madrasa.

Q8. Inscriptions record donations; travellers describe markets; buildings reveal construction and layout. The Lotus Mahal's original use is uncertain. Give four points explaining how this evidence should be used carefully. [4 marks]

1. Use inscriptions to investigate recorded donations. They provide evidence of specific acts of support rather than a complete picture of every activity.
2. Use travellers' descriptions to investigate markets, while recognising that a description of trading does not explain every aspect of society.
3. Study surviving buildings for evidence of construction and layout, comparing what remains with other kinds of information about the city.
4. Preserve uncertainty about the Lotus Mahal's original use. A proposed function should remain a possibility when the evidence does not establish it securely.

Key takeaways

• The weakening of Tughlaq authority created opportunities for the rise of Vijayanagara and the Bahamani kingdom in southern India.
• Harihara and Bukka are associated with Vijayanagara's foundation, while Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah founded the Bahamani kingdom.
• Krishnadeva Raya combined territorial expansion with trade, literary activity and temple building during his reign from 1509 to 1529.
• Mahmud Gawan was a Bahamani minister remembered for administrative reforms and the foundation of a madrasa at Bidar.
• Vijayanagara's amara-nayakas collected revenue, maintained troops and acknowledged the king through tribute, but regional chiefs could challenge central power.
• Hampi's waterworks, fortified fields, temples and markets reveal connections between defence, agriculture, worship and urban life.
• Gol Gumbaz belongs to the later Bijapur sultanate and must be distinguished from buildings of the original Bahamani kingdom.
• The defeat at Talikota devastated the capital, while later political centres and building traditions continued beyond its destruction.

Test yourself

What two things did the name Vijayanagara refer to?

It referred both to the empire and to its capital city.

Which two rivers define the Raichur doab?

The Raichur doab is the land between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers.

How should Mahmud Gawan's role be distinguished from that of the founder?

Gawan was an influential minister; Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah was the kingdom's founder.

Why did the horse trade matter to the kingdoms?

Effective cavalry depended on horses, making their import important for military strength.

Why was enclosing farmland within defensive walls useful?

It helped protect food-producing land when attackers might try to starve the defenders during a siege.

What is the difference between a gopuram and a mandapa?

A gopuram is a temple gateway tower; a mandapa is a pillared pavilion or hall.

Why is “the Lotus Mahal was certainly a council chamber” too strong?

A council chamber is only one suggested use; the building's original function remains uncertain.

Whose tomb is Gol Gumbaz, and where is it?

It is Muhammad Adil Shah's tomb at Bijapur, now called Vijayapura.