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1336 CE (founded); sacked 1565Primary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Vijayanagara, the Last Great Hindu Empire of the South

A city of victory that grew into one of the world's largest, until six months of sacking in 1565

On the timeline · around 1336 CE (founded); sacked 1565 · Sultanate and Mughal IndiaClassical and Early MedievalSultanate and Mughal IndiaVijayanagara, the Last Great Hindu Empire of the South11501200125013001350140014501500

Quick facts

Founded
1336 CE
Meaning of name
City of victory
Decisive defeat
Battle of Talikota, 1565
Site today
Group of Monuments at Hampi (UNESCO)

What happened

While sultans ruled the north, a Hindu empire rose in the south. Vijayanagara, meaning city of victory, was founded in 1336 and became, in the Victoria and Albert Museum's description, the imperial capital of the last great Hindu empire to rule south India. India's Ministry of Culture calls the site the magnificent capital of the Vijayanagar Empire, which flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries. By 1500 the city was among the largest on Earth, drawing traders from Persia and Portugal. In 1565 an alliance of Deccan sultanates defeated the empire at the Battle of Talikota, and the V&A records that the impressive city was sacked by armies from the Deccan sultanates and never rebuilt. Its granite ruins at Hampi are now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Why it matters

Vijayanagara was the counterweight to Muslim rule in the medieval subcontinent, a wealthy Hindu state that sponsored a burst of temple architecture and Dravidian-language literature. Its sudden destruction after Talikota ended the last major southern Hindu empire and left one of the world's great ruined cities.

How we know

Hampi survives as an extensively surveyed ruin field recognized by UNESCO and documented by the V&A and India's Ministry of Culture, and the 1565 defeat and sack are recorded in these institutional descriptions and in contemporary accounts by foreign visitors.

Sources

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Part of a timelineHistory of India28 events · Cities with covered drains 4,500 years ago, an emperor who renounced war after winning it, six centuries of Muslim and Mughal rule, a colony wrenched free by a man with a spinning wheel, and a partition that killed a million people the week it was bornView all →
Vijayanagara, the Last Great Hindu Empire of the South · History of India · SourcedStory