Battle of Talikota

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Battle of Talikota

Date	January 26, 1565
Location	Talikota in present day Karnataka
Result	Decisive Deccan victory

Combatants

The Vijayanagara Empire

The Deccan sultanates

Commanders

Rama Raya

Deccan Sultanite Kings & Generals

Strength

140,000 foot, 10,000 horse and over 100 War elephants<ref name="Magazine">India Today Collector's edition of History</ref>

80,000 foot, 30,000 horse and several dozen cannons<ref name="Magazine" />

Casualties

Unknown but very heavy including Rama Raya

Unknown but moderate to heavy

The Battle of Talikota (or, Tellikota) (January 26, 1565) a watershed battle fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, resulted in a rout for Vijayanagar, and ended the last great Hindu kingdom in South India. Talikota is situated in northern Karnataka, about 80 km to the southeast of the city of Bijapur.

1 Prelude
2 The Battle
3 Aftermath
4 Causes of defeat
5 References
6 Notes
7 External links

[edit] Prelude

The throne of the Vijayanagara Empire had passed from Achyuta Raya, upon his death, to Rama Raya who according to many scholars interfered in the affairs of the neighbouring Muslim sultanates. Though this tactic worked initially to his favor, it backfired later and finally the sultanates decided to unite together and destroy the Hindu kingdom. However other scholars disagree that Rama Raya interfered with Sultanate affairs but rather used the disunity of the Sultans to the advantage of Vijayanagar. Later inter-family marraiges between Sultans solved many of their internal conflicts and they finally united against Vijayanagar empire, which was seen as the common enemy being a Hindu kingdom.<ref name="backfire">According to Dr. P.B. Desai in A concise history of Karnataka, pp 171-172 by Dr. S.U. Kamath</ref>

[edit] The Battle

On January 26, 1565 the Deccan sultanates of Ahmednagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur and Golconda who had formed a grand alliance, met the Vijayanagar army at Talikota, on the banks of the Krishna River, in present day Karnataka state. It was one of the few times in medieval Indian history that a joint strategy was employed. The sultanates were also aided by some minor Hindu kingdoms who held grudges against the Vijayanagara Empire. The Deccan kings had a grand total of 80,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry. Vijayanagara, on the other hand, had a 140,000 foot soldiers, with another 10,000 on horseback. The armies also had large numbers of war elephants. The decisive battle was brief and bitter. Fighting in a rocky terrain, the invading troops launched a classic offensive strategy. First they softened up the primary lines of the Vijayanagar army using cannon fire. The concentrated artillery took its toll, and the massive frontal attack by the combined armies finished the job. The battle ended in a complete victory for the sultanates, with the raja being beheaded and put on display as a trophy. What followed was pillage and the plunder of Vijayanagara.

[edit] Aftermath

The battle spelt the death knell for the large Hindu kingdoms in India, and it also ended the last great southern empire in India. What followed was a victorious army along with hordes of robbers and jungle dwellers falling upon the great city, looting, robbing, murdering and pillaging the residents. With axes, crowbars, fire and sword the victorious armies went about the task of bringing to rubble the city of Vijayanagara which never recovered the onslaught. The highly diminished Vijayanagar empire now tried to stage an unsuccessful comeback with its capital at Penukonda. Aliya Tirumala however could not lay claim over Vijayanagara as local support was to make the eldest son of Aliya Rama Raya, also called Tirumala the regent. It was another six years before Aliya Tirumala could claim regency over the former capital of Vijayanagara. During this time, anarchy had spread. Aliya Rama Rayas habit of nominating family relatives to key positions of the former kingdom instead of loyal officers became a reason for family fueds and rebellion. The Palyagar system (local chieftains) which had been so successful earlier was also a reason for break away factions. The Nayaks of Tamil country, Gingee, Madurai and Tanjore were flexing their freedom and in fact Tirumala had to tacitly accept the independence of these Nayakas in order to keep their friendship in an hour of impending invasions from Bijapur. Later, the Vijayanagar empire shifted capitals to Chandragiri and eventually to Vellore during which tme the other feudatories, the kingdom of Mysore, Nayakas of Keladi in Shimoga and Nayakas of Vellore also became independent. As a result of Vijayanagar empire's collapse, the political system of the southern areas disintegrated. However, it left a residue of Telugu enclaves and local elites scattered over most of South India.<ref>Elite Formation in 19th Century South India - An Interpretative Analysis by Robert Eric Frykenberg</ref> Kannada country lost its united identity for the coming four centuries, with the creation of smaller states like the Kingdom of Mysore, Keladi Nayakas, Nayakas of Chitradurga, the later two eventually merging with Mysore.<ref name="united">A Concise History of Karnataka, pp 171-172 by Dr. S.U. Kamath </ref> Even for the Sultanates and Muslim rulers of the south, victory seemed temporary, as they continued to engage in squabbling and fighting amongst themselves, which would ultimately result in their capitulation to the Mughals and later the British Empire. Regions of Kannada speaking regions became part of Hyderabad Karnataka ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad, and Bombay Presidency governed by Maratha chieftens all of whom came under the British umbrella.

[edit] Causes of defeat

Historians have debated over the cause of the defeat with much enthusiasm.<ref name="cause">A concise history of Karnataka, pp 170-173, Dr. S.U. Kamath.</ref> Apart from epigraphal analysis, historians also have at their disposal writings of European travellers to the kingdom around the time of the war.

It has been suggested that while the Vijayanagar armies had relatively lesser number of cavalry on horseback and depended on commanders riding war elephants making them slower on battlefield, the Sultanate armies had larger dependence on swift Persian horses used by key sections of the army and commanders. This gave the them an edge.
It is also well known that all the three main commanders of the Vijayanagar army including Aliya Rama Raya were aging compared to the young commanders of the Sultanate armies.
While the Vijayanagar infantry depended on bows made of bamboo, the Sultanate armies used crossbows made of metal which were much more lethal in accuracy and distance. Also, the Vijayanagar army was overconfident and used 7 feet long spears and javelins while the Sultanate armies used 15 feet long spears while riding horse back. This gave them a clear advantage.
The Sultanate armies had a much better prepared artillery division manned by gunners from Turkisthan, who were at that time considered the best at artillery warfare while Vijayanagar depended on European merceneries who were not as well trained.
In spite of all these disadvantages, historians agree that the biggest reason for the defeat was the betrayal by two key Vijayanagar commanders, the Gilani brothers who had thousands of soldiers under their command. These commanders were defecters from the Adil Shahi kingdom and later employed by Rama Raya who fled the battlefield at a key juncture. This has been strongly supported by the writings of two European travellers, Frendricci and Frenchman Anquetil Du Perron who visited Vijayanagar in 1567 C.E.<ref name="traitors"> The two Muslim generals each of whom were in charge of large armies fled the battlefield, History of South India, Prof. K.A.N. Sastri, pp 267 and Dr. S.U. Kamath, A Concise History of Karnataka, pp 172-73</ref>

[edit] References

India Today Collector's edition of History
Dr. Suryanath U. Kamath, A concise history of Karnataka, 2001, Bangalore (Reprinted 2002)
Prof K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002)