A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c17.85

c17.85

Rāma Rāya knew that the decisive trial of strength was to begin soon, and, on Vijayadaśami day (15 September 1564), he informed the nobles of the impending war and ordered them to gather together all their available strength without delay. Though little reliance can be placed on the large figures given by several writers, there is no doubt that very large numbers of troops were engaged on both sides. The Muslims reached Talikota, a small fortress-town in the neighbourhood of the Krishna river, on 26 December 1564. Rāma Rāya faced the situation with the utmost confidence. He first sent his brother Tirumala with a considerable force of all arms to guard the Krishna and prevent the enemy from crossing it. Then he sent up his other brother, Venkatādri, and finally himself came up with the rest of the forces of the empire. The Hindu camp was on the south side of the Krishna, while the Muslims occupied both banks. Several partisan accounts have been written of the antecedents of the decisive engagement and of that engagement itself, but it is by no means easy to reconstruct the exact course of events. The actual field of battle was on the south bank of the Krishna; but as the two villages of Rakshasi and Tangadi, ten miles apart on its north bank, lie much nearer the field than Talikota, some historians refer to the battle as Rakshasi-Tangadi rather than Talikota.