The Battle of Raichur was a battle fought between the

Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and ...

and the Sultanate of Bijapur in 1520: "In 1520, Battle of Raichur was fought between Krishna Raya of Vijayanagara and Sultan Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur." in the town of

Raichur Raichur (formerly Raichore) is a city and municipality in the district of Raichur in the Indian state of Karnataka. Raichur, located between Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, is the headquarters of Raichur district. It is located 409 km fr ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It resulted in a decisive victory for Vijayanagara forces, and the Bijapur ruler was defeated and pushed across the river

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

Background

The fort of

was built by

Kakatiya The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

king

Rudra Rudra (; sa, रुद्र) is a Rigvedic deity associated with Shiva, the wind or storms, Vayu, medicine, and the hunt. One translation of the name is 'the roarer'. In the Rigveda, Rudra is praised as the 'mightiest of the mighty'. Ru ...

in 1284, and passed on to the

Vijayanagar The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Maharas ...

Kingdom after the decline of

s. Ever since, the fort had been under dispute for nearly two centuries. The fort, along with other areas of the northern Deccan, was captured by

Muhammad Bin Tughluq Muhammad bin Tughluq (1290 – 20 March 1351) was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from February 1325 until his death in 1351. The sultan was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. In 1321, the youn ...

in 1323.The Bahmani Sultanate captured the fort in 1347. Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya attempted to recapture the city of

from the Bahmanis, but failed.The immediate prelude to the Battle of Raichur began in the year 1520. In that year, Krishnadevaraya sent Seyed Maraikar, a Muslim in his service, to

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

with a large sum of money to buy horses. Maraikar betrayed Krishnadevaraya's cause and went to Adil Khan with the money and offered his services. Krishnadevaraya made a demand that Maraikar be returned along with the money which was duly refused. During the period of peace Krishnadevaraya made extensive preparations for a grand attack on

Raichur Doab The Raichur Doab is a Doab, in this case the triangular region of land in the southern Indian states of Telangana and Karnataka lying between the Krishna River and its tributary, the Tungabhadra River. The doab is named for the town of Raichur ...

. After the court decided that

should be attacked, the king invited Military Commander

Pemmasani Ramalinga Nayudu Pemmasani Ramalinga Nayudu is named as a commander and 'chief general' of the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya () in the 17th century Telugu text ''Rayavachakamu'', and a later poetic rendition ''Krishnarajavijayam''. He was an army comm ...

(Nayakas) in his service to take part in the battle.

Battle

The battle was fought in

between the armies of Krishnadevaraya and the Sultanate of Bijapur. Main commander of the Vijayanagara army was Saluva

Timmarusu Saluva Timmarusu or Saluva Nayaka or simply Timmarasu was the Prime Minister (Mahapradhana) and military commander of Krishna Deva Raya. He is also known as "Appaji". He had also served as Prime Minister under Viranarasimha Raya and Tuluva Nar ...

also known as Saluva Timma. The Vijayanagara Empire had a force consisting of 32,600 cavalry and 551 elephants according to contemporary sources. The Bijapur Sultanate had a force consisting of 7,000 cavalry and 250 elephants. Modern and contemporary writers disagree on the number of infantry personnel that each side had. The contemporary sources say that Krishnadevaraya had an infantry force consisting of a bit over 700,000 soldiers. Moreover, the use of a Portuguese contingent commanded by Cristovão de Figueiredo with the use of fireweapons help to conquer the fortress, there is a high probability that

matchlocks A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of rope that is touched to the gunpowder by a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or trigger with his finger. Befo ...

, which were obtained through contact with the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, were used as well by the army of the Vijayanagara Empire. Additionally the Portuguese with their

arquebuses An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

picked off the defenders from the walls, and thus enabled the besiegers to approach close to the lines of fortification and pull down the stones. Driven to desperation, and their governor being slain, the garrison surrendered. Portuguese accounts state that cannons were used extensively by the Bijapur Sultanate; the Vijayanagara Empire used them minimally, at best. The Vijayanagara Empire emerged victorious despite the

Bijapur Sultanate The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's T ...

having superior firepower. Arcabuziers India

Aftermath

When the city of

surrendered, Krishnadevaraya made a triumphal entry into it. Krishnadevaraya was brutal towards Bahmani Generals of Raichur. Many

Bahmani The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

generals lost their lands. The other Muslim kings sent envoys to the emperor on hearing of his success and received a haughty reply.{{citation needed, date=April 2019. The king conveyed that if Adil Shah would come to him, do obeisance, and kiss his foot, his lands would be restored to him. The submission never took place. Krishnadevaraya then led his army as far north as Bijapur and occupied it.{{sfn, Eaton, 2013, p=292 He took prisoner three sons of a former king of the

Bahmani The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

dynasty, who had been held captive by the Adil Shah and he proclaimed the eldest as king of the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

. This attempt to subvert the rule of the five Sultans who had established themselves on the ruins of the single

sovereignty only resulted in stiffening their hostility towards their common foe.{{citation , last1=Sewell , first1=Robert , last2=Nunes , first2=Fernão , last3=Paes , first3=Domingos , title=A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kc3LKI_slEC&pg=PA157 , year=2000 , publisher=Asian Educational Services , isbn=978-81-206-0125-3 , pages=157– Krishnadevaraya began to make preparations for an attack on Belgaum, which was in Adil Shah's possession. Soon after, he fell seriously ill to carry out his project and died at the age of forty-five years, in the year 1530. He was succeeded by

Achyuta Deva Raya Achyuta Deva Raya (died 1542 CE) was a ruler of a Vijayanagara Empire of South India. He was the younger brother of Krishna Deva Raya, whom he succeeded in 1529. During his reign, Fernao Nuniz a Portuguese traveller, chronicler and horse t ...

Political consequences

The battle of

had far-reaching effects. The

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bell ...

victory weakened the power and prestige of the Adil Shah. He turned his attention to making alliances with the other Muslim neighbours. The victory also caused other Sultans in

to form an alliance to defeat the

. The war also affected the fortunes of the

on the west coast.

rose and fell simultaneously with the rise and fall of the Vijayanagar dynasty because their entire trade depended on

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

support.{{Cite book , last=Bhat , first=N. Shyam , chapter=Political Interaction between Portuguese Goa and Karnataka , title=Portuguese Studies Review, Vol. 16, No. 2 , publisher=Baywolf Press , year=2009 , page=27

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* {{citation , last=Eaton , first=Richard M. , chapter=‘Kiss My Foot,’ Said the King: Firearms, Diplomacy and the Battle for Raichur, 1520 , editor1=Richard M. Eaton , editor2=Munis D. Faruqui , editor3=David Gilmartin , editor4=Sunil Kumar , title=Expanding Frontiers in South Asian and World History: Essays in Honour of John F. Richards , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0_xhdCScQkC&pg=PA275 , date=2013 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn=978-1-107-03428-0 , pages=275–298 * {{citation , last=Roy , first=Kaushik , title=Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSVnAwAAQBAJ , year=2014 , publisher=A&C Black , isbn=978-1-78093-813-4

Background

Battle

Aftermath

Political consequences

References

Bibliography

Further reading