The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.172

v3.c29.172

Various stories are related of the foundation of Vijayanagar. The fortification of the city that afterwards became Vijayanagar must, however, be regarded as the deliberate work of the last great Hoysala ruler, Vīra Ballāla III. It was founded soon after the destruction of Kampli by the army of Muhammad and the immediately following invasion of the Hoysala capital of Dvārasamudra. The fortifications were probably completed by about 1336, the traditional date ascribed to its foundation, and the fact that the Ballāla prince was anointed about the year 1340 in the holy place of Hampi, confirms this view. From 1335 onwards the Hoysala power had to face the Muslims in two directions. The northern frontier was put into a state of defence and on the south the Muhammadan kingdom of Madura was attacked. In the early campaigns of ‘Alā-ud-dīn Bahman Shāh, the founder of the Bahmanī kingdom, figure the names of three chieftains, Harihara, Bukka and Kampa, disguised as Harib (Hariyappa), Kapras (Bukkapparazu), and Kampras (Kamparazu). Earlier than this we have the statement of Ibn Batūta that the Muhammadan Sultan of Honowar was a subordinate of the Hindu chieftain Horaib (Hariyappa). It is thus clear that the arrangement made by Ballāla III continued through the reign of his son, and lasted even longer. The last known date of Hariyappa or Harihara is 1346, the year preceding that in which Bahman Shāh assumed independence. During the next five years the Bahmanī kingdom was open to attack from the north, and was not free for aggressive action on its southern frontier. When Bahman Shāh passed away Bukka was the sole representative of the Hoysala wardens of the marches, and succeeded to the kingdom and the responsibilities of the Hoysalas. His son Kumāra Kampana waged a successful war against the Sambuvarāya chieftains of the Pālār basin and the Sultans of Madura. In the early years of Muhammad Shāh Bahmanī I both the Muhammadan and Hindu powers alike had to keep watch on the movements of Fīrūz Shāh Tughluq, as his attitude towards the southern rebels, Muhammadan and Hindu, had not yet become clear. When Fīrūz definitely declared that he would not interfere in the affairs of the south¹, the two powers stood face to face, and then began the great duel which lasted practically all the time that the empire of Vijayanagar was in existence.