The Hampi

It all started in a small way. Two local warrior brothers Hakka and Bukka were captured as prisoners by Tuglak when he attacked the Chalukya kingdom of Kampili (about 25 km from the present day Hampi). The Sultan was impressed by the conduct of the two. Later when the southern provinces started the rebellions, the sultan sent these two to pacify the region. They did pacify the local chieftains. But what happened was the beginning of a large empire with Hakka & Bukka as the founders!

They established their capital at Anegundi near Hampi. Later the Capital was shifted to Hampi (1336AD) and the empire grew from strength to strength. Vijayanagar Empire (City of Victory) was born encompassing the whole of southern peninsula, stretching from the Arabian sea to the Bay of Bengal.

The glory has come to an abrupt end two centuries later when the Vijayanagar commander Rama Raya was defeated by a confederation of Muslim kings. The capital city was ransacked. After this fateful battle the capital was shifted from Hampi, but the Empire never recovered. Slowly the kingdoms started disintegrating.

Abdul Razaq, a Muslim envoy, who visited Hampi in its glorious past wrote “ Vijayanagara is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it ..."

Domingos Paes (Portuguese traveler who visited Hampi during AD 1520-22, during the reign of Emperor Krishnadevaraya ) quoted,

“Going forward, you have a broad and beautiful street, full of rows of fine houses and streets of the sort I have described, and it is to be understood that the houses belong to men rich enough to afford such. In this street live many merchants, and there you will find all sorts of rubies, and diamonds, and emeralds, and pearls, and seed pearls, and cloths, and every other sort of thing there is on earth and that you may wish to buy”

It’s a fallen empire. Nevertheless the ruins of the fallen city vividly speaks of its glorious past…of diamond and pearl markets…of palaces…of temples…