Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c5.7

c5.7

Harihara, Kampa, Bukka, Mārappa and Muddappa, the founders of the empire, expanded the empire on all sides and ruled each over a portion of it. Kumāra Kampaṇa, the son of Bukka, extended the empire in the south as far as Madura, thus putting an end to the Sultanate of Madura. During the reign of Bukka I the Bahmani kingdom was founded in A.D. 1347 by Ḥasan Gangu, just north of the river Kṛṣṇā. Since then both the Muhammadan Sultans of the north and the Hindu Rāyas of the south waged many wars. Bukka was succeeded by Harihara II who died in A.D. 1404. After a short dispute over the succession Dēva Rāya I ascended the throne in A.D. 1406 and ruled till about 1422 and was succeeded by his son Vijaya Rāya³ who occupied the throne for a short time. His son Dēva Rāya II who succeeded him was the most distinguished ruler of the first dynasty of the Vijayanagar sovereigns. He suffered heavy losses in men and money on account of reverses at the hands of the Bahmani Sultans, who massacred the Hindu women and children without mercy and took delight in shedding Hindu blood. Hence Dēva Rāya II, who realised the inferiority of the Hindu forces, and was impressed with the superiority of the Muhammadan cavalry, introduced reforms in the organization of his army. His reign is also important for the literary celebrities who lived in his court, and the foreign travellers Nicolo dei Conti, an Italian, and Abdur Razāk, a Persian, who visited his court. Dēva Rāya II was succeeded successively by Mallikārjuna⁴ and Virūpākṣa who were comparatively weak rulers.