The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.178.1

v3.c29.178.1

When Dēvarāya II had been on the throne for about ten years a change of rulers took place in Orissa to the north of the territory of Warangal which exercised great influence upon the history of Vijayanagar during the next century. In 1435, the last year of the reign of Ahmad I, Bahmanī, the enterprising and ambitious Kapilēśvaradeva ascended the throne of Orissa. By that time the territory of Warangal had been annexed by the Bahmanī kingdom, but the Telingana coast was as yet unconquered, and was open to the enterprise of the rising power of Orissa. The Bahmanī kingdom had been involved in wars with the Sultan of Khāndesh, the Marātha chieftains on the western and south-western frontier, and the Gond chieftain, Raja Narsingh of Kherla. Kapilēśvara took advantage of these difficulties to extend his territory gradually along the coast to the Godāvarī, and extended his raids as far south as Nellore and Udayagiri. A new danger thus threatened Vijayanagar. In the years immediately preceding 1440 Vijayanagar took the offensive and attacked the Bahmanī kingdom, but was worsted.