Military of Vijayanagara
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The Vijayanagara military supported the
Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, 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 an ...
in particular with regard to the empire's long-lasting rivalry with the
Bahmani Sultanate 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,
. Besides a large standing army, 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, Bellary ...
rulers also maintained a powerful navy. This helped make the Vijayanagara empire the most centralised polity ever to have emerged in South India. However, a major portion of the imperial income was committed to military purposes, straining the economy.


Numbers

The numerical strength of the Vijayanagara army is disputed.
Niccolò de' Conti Niccolò is an Italian male given name, derived from the Greek Nikolaos meaning "Victor of people" or "People's champion". There are several male variations of the name: Nicolò, Niccolò, Nicolas, and Nicola. The female equivalent is Nicole. The fe ...
reported a figure of 245,000 men during the reign of
Krishna Deva Raya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the g ...
but Fernao Nuniz claimed it to be around 200,000, consisting of 170,000 foot soldiers, 30,000
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
and 550
war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant ...
s. Rayawacha countered that the force contained 500,000 foot soldiers, 60,000 cavalry and 1,200 war elephants.
Deva Raya II Deva Raya II (r. 1422–1446 CE) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire. The greatest of the Sangama dynasty rulers, he was an able administrator, warrior, and scholar. He authored well-known works in the Kannada language (''Sobagina Sone'' an ...
, to counter the superior Bahmani cavalry, is believed to have enrolled 2000 Muslim cavalrymen to teach the art of archery to his Hindu soldiers and officers.


Hoysala influence

The military leadership of the Hindu confederacy which Ballaa III had so ably weilded devolved apparently on the Vijayanagara kings after his death. The Vijayanagara principality was at this time the most influential, besides it was situated at a strategic point, and therefore, the Vijayanagara kings were likely to accomplish the great mission of Ballala III, viz., that of warding off the Mussalman menace and rebuilding a Hindu empire in South India. The Vijayanagara kings were rapidly rising and after A. D. 1346 they gradually absorbed the whole of the Hoysala Empire as a matter of course, without the least sign of opposition. An inscription dated A. D 1346, belonging to Ballala IV is found in the Begurr Hobli, Bangalore Taluk, and the very next year an inscription belonging to Harihara 1 is found in the same Hobli*. It is therefore evident that the Vijayanagara kings occupied the Hoysala empire within a very short period. Many of the early Vijayanagara inscriptions describe Harihara and Bukka as ruling “the Hoysala kingdom”.


Branches

The Vijayanagara army contained two main branches, being the Kaijeeta Sainya and the Amaranayaka Sainya. Sainya roughly means army.


Kaijeeta Sainya

The Kaijeeta is Vijayanagar claims that it comprised 50,000 men during the reign of
Krishna Deva Raya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the g ...
, including 2,00,000 horsemen who served as palace guards and 2,000 who served as the emperor's personal bodyguards.
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says that the army was on salary, being paid every four months rather than by the award of
jagir A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...
s.


Amaranayaka Sainya

The Amaranayaka Sainya was maintained using the feudal nayankara system of the
Kakatiyas 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 ...
. For this purpose, the empire was divided into ''Amaras'' (areas of revenue-producing land), that were granted to leaders called Nayakas. In return, these Nayakas supplied soldiers when required. The number supplied depended on the rank of the Nayaka, who himself divided lands among his subordinates. According to Nuniz, the Amaranayaka army strength stood at 600,000 during the rule of
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 ...
; Rayawacha itemised the forces supplied as being 200,000 foot soldiers, 24,000 cavalry, 1,200 war elephants.


Composition

The Vijayanagara army consisted primarily of
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
, cavalry and war elephants, armed with bows and arrows, swords and lances as its principal weapons. According to
Ferishta Firishta or Ferešte ( fa, ), full name Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah Astarabadi ( fa, مُحَمَّد قاسِم هِندو شاہ), was a Persian historian, who later settled in India and served the Deccan Sultans as their court historian. He was ...
, the foot soldiers applied oil to their bodies but did not wear armour or helmets, whereas Portuguese travellers, such as
Pace Pace or paces may refer to: Business *Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US * Pace Airlines, an American charter airline *Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...
and
Barros Barros is a Portuguese and Galician surname. It may refer to: People *Alejandra Barros, Mexican actress *Alex Barros, Brazilian motorcycle road racer *Ana Beatriz Barros, Brazilian model * Ana P. Barros, American civil and environmental engineer * ...
, described protective clothing made of animal skin and that they carried shields. Although the Vijayanagran kings had little interest in guns, the infantry did have a regiment of men armed with
matchlock 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. Before ...
. They also built a navy, sited on the west coast, which was headed by the governor of
Hanover Timmoju Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany a ...
in the time of
Krishna Deva Raya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the g ...
and which, according to Heeras Rayala, assisted the Portuguese in their occupation of
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 ...
. The powerful navy enabled the Vijayanagara rulers to invade
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
repeatedly.


Forts

Forts played an important role in medieval warfare. According to tradition, there were eight types of forts. However, Rayawachaka mentions four types of forts. They are giri (hill), stala, jala (water)and vana (forest) forts. Krishnaraya suggests that forts were mainly constructed in Gadi and border areas. Pace wrote that many forts were present in border areas. Deep forests were grown around forts. Catapults and damboli were used for fort defense. Damboli is a cannon which throws stones on enemies. To occupy forts they used lagga systems. Krishnadevaraya used them to occupy Kondaveedu fort.


Recruitment

Emperor
Krishna Deva Raya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the g ...
recruited soldiers from
Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
and
Telugus Telugu people ( te, తెలుగువారు, Teluguvāru), or Telugus, or Telugu vaaru, are the largest of the four major Dravidian ethnolinguistic groups in terms of population. Telugus are native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh ...
of the frontier, Mysoreans and Malabarese from the west and centre, mixed with the Tamils from the remoter districts to the south. Empire training facilities improved bravery, interest in war, and body strength. According to books written in that time, the samu garidi (dance performance of knives and fire) and training gyms were both present throughout the country. Hontakaras trained the fighters. Since Vijayanagara was a multi-faith country, Muslims also joined the army. Their strength increased from the era of
Deva Raya II Deva Raya II (r. 1422–1446 CE) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire. The greatest of the Sangama dynasty rulers, he was an able administrator, warrior, and scholar. He authored well-known works in the Kannada language (''Sobagina Sone'' an ...
and peaked in the time of
Aliya Rama Raya Rama Raya (died 23 January 1565 CE), known as "Aliya" (son-in-law in Kannada) was a statesman of the Vijayanagara Empire, the son-in-law of Emperor Krishna Deva Raya and the progenitor of the Aravidu dynasty of Vijayanagar Empire, the fourth and ...
, diminishing after his surprise defeat in the
Battle of Talikota The Battle of Talikota (23 January 1565) was a watershed battle fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and an alliance of the Deccan sultanates. The battle resulted in the defeat of Aliya Rama Raya which led to the eventual collapse of the poli ...
.


See also

*
Battle of Raichur The Battle of Raichur was a battle fought between the Vijayanagar Empire 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 Rai ...
*
Battle of Talikota The Battle of Talikota (23 January 1565) was a watershed battle fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and an alliance of the Deccan sultanates. The battle resulted in the defeat of Aliya Rama Raya which led to the eventual collapse of the poli ...
*
Battle of Toppur The Battle of Toppur was one of the largest battles in the history of India. In this battle, cannons were used at a large scale for the first time in South India. It caused complete destruction of the already declining Vijayanagara Empire. It was ...
*
Military history of India The predecessors to the contemporary Army of India were many: the sepoy regiments, native cavalry, irregular horse and Indian sapper and miner companies raised by the three British presidencies. The Army of India was raised under the British ...
*
Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, 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 an ...


References

* * * {{Citation , last=Rao, year=1994, title=History And Culture Of Andhra Pradesh: From The Earliest Times To The Present Day , publisher=Sterling Publishers, isbn=81-207-1719-8 * Military system and war policies during Vijayanagara Period(In Kannada)- Dr.S.Y.Somashekhar,2009, Sanchike Prakashana, Kannada University, Hampi, Vidyaranya-583 276, Ballary dist Vijayanagara Empire Military history of India