36 Facts About Krishnadevaraya

Krishnadevaraya was emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 to 1529.

Krishnadevaraya was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the greatest rulers in Indian history.

Krishnadevaraya ruled the largest empire in India after the fall of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate.

Krishnadevaraya became the dominant ruler of the peninsula by defeating the sultans of Bijapur, Golconda, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Gajapatis of Odisha, and was one of the most powerful Hindu rulers in India.

Krishnadevaraya benefited from the counsel of his prime minister Timmarusu, whom he regarded as the father figure responsible for his coronation.

Krishnadevaraya was advised by the witty Tenali Ramakrishna, who was employed in his court.

Krishnadevaraya was the son of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka and his queen Nagamamba.

Krishnadevaraya accessed the throne after the death of his brother Viranarasimha.

Krishnadevaraya was married to Srirangapatna's princess Tirumala Devi and his royal dancer from Kodagu, Chinna Devi.

Krishnadevaraya was father to Tirumalamba, Vengalamba and Tirumala Raya.

Krishnadevaraya's daughters were married to Prince Rama Raya of Vijayanagara and his brother Prince Tirumala Deva Raya.

In 1509, Krishnadevaraya's armies clashed with them and Sultan Mahmud was severely injured and defeated.

In 1513, Krishnadevaraya personally engaged in battle with Golconda Sultan Quli Qutb Shah at Pangal.

Krishnadevaraya offered prayers at Tirupati thereafter, along with his wives Tirumala Devi and Chinnama Devi.

Krishnadevaraya planned an invasion of Kalinga, but Prataparudra learned of this plan and formulated his own plan to defeat the former at the fort of Kalinganagar.

Krishnadevaraya returned all the lands that the Vijayanagara Empire had captured north of the Krishna River; this made the Krishna river the boundary between the Vijayanagara and Gajapati Kingdoms.

Krishnadevaraya established friendly relations with the Portuguese in Goa in 1510.

Krishnadevaraya utilized Portuguese expertise to improve the water supply to the Vijayanagara capital.

Krishnadevaraya then led his army as far north as Bijapur and occupied it.

Krishnadevaraya imprisoned three sons of a former king of the Bahmani dynasty, who had been held captive by the Adil Shah and he proclaimed the eldest as king of the Deccan.

In 1524, Krishnadevaraya made his son Tirumala Raya the Yuvaraja.

Around this time, Krishnadevaraya fell ill and eventually died in 1529, succeeded by his brother, Achyuta Deva Raya.

Krishnadevaraya was of the opinion that the King should always rule with an eye towards Dharma.

Krishnadevaraya was noted to be linguistically neutral as he ruled a multilingual empire.

Krishnadevaraya is known to have patronised poets and issued inscriptions in languages as varied as Kannada, Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil.

Krishnadevaraya himself was a polyglot, fluent in Kannada, Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil.

The rule of Krishnadevaraya was an age of prolific literature in many languages, although it is particularly known as a golden age of Telugu literature.

The rule of Krishnadevaraya is known as golden age of Telugu literature.

Krishnadevaraya extolled the Madhwa philosophy in his compositions and was a disciple of the Rajaguru of the emperor.

Krishnadevaraya spent his last years in Hampi where he rendered his compositions in Krishnadevaraya's court.

Krishnadevaraya patronised the Tamil poet Haridasa, and Tamil literature soon began to flourish as the years passed by.

Krishnadevaraya is known to have encouraged and supported various sects and their places of worship.

Krishnadevaraya gave land grants to the temples of Tirumala, Srisailam, Amaravati, Chidambaram, Ahobilam, and Tiruvannamalai.

Krishnadevaraya lavished on the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple numerous objects of priceless value, ranging from diamond studded crowns to golden swords to nine kinds of precious gems.

Krishnadevaraya contributed in building parts of the Srisailam temple complex where he had rows of mandapas built.

Sri Vaishnavas claim that Krishnadevaraya himself was formally initiated into the Sri Vaishnava tradition and that's why he wrote a Telugu work on Andal, a Tamil Sri Vaishnava female saint, called the Amuktamalyada.