The Bahmani–Vijayanagar War of 1443 marked the seventh war between the Bahmani Sultanate and the Vijayanagara empire in peninsular India. It commenced between the Bahmanis under Alauddin Ahmad Shah and the Vijayanagar under Deva Raya II, taking place in present-day Mudgal, Karnataka. During the two-month campaign, three engagements took place near Mudgal; Vijayanagara prevailed in the first, while the Bahmanis prevailed in the second and third. These defeats compelled the Vijayanagara ruler to seek peace, agreeing to pay tribute to the Bahmanis.
Following the Siege of Vijayanagara by Bahmani ruler Ahmad Shah I Wali in 1423, there were no military conflicts between the Bahmanis and the Vijayanagara empire until the ascension of his son, Alauddin Ahmad Shah. Upon assuming power, Alauddin dispatched his brother, Muhammad Khan, to demand tribute from the Vijayanagara ruler, Deva Raya II, which had been withheld. Muhammad Khan successfully defeated the Vijayanagara forces, compelling Deva Raya to pay tribute. This event prompted Deva Raya to incorporate Muslim forces into his army to enhance its training. Returning from the campaign, Muhammad Khan received counsel from certain officers suggesting that he possessed equal rights to the Bahmani Sultanate as his brother Alauddin, as promised by their father, Ahmad Shah. Seeking support from various chiefs, including the Vijayanagara emperor, Muhammad Khan captured several locations, prompting Alauddin to mobilize against him. Despite his defeat, Muhammad Khan was pardoned by Alauddin and granted the jagir of Rajachal.
After surviving an assassination attempt orchestrated by his brother in Vijayanagara, Deva Raya II retaliated by executing those implicated in the conspiracy. Seizing this moment of vulnerability, Bahmani Sultan Alauddin saw an opportunity to invade Vijayanagara and exact tribute, which Deva Raya II had promised but failed to pay. In response, Vijayanagara troops launched attacks on Bahmani territories, plundering their positions. Alauddin mobilized his forces against Deva Raya, deploying his general Malik Tujjar against Deva Raya's sons. The Bahmanis successfully relieved the sieges of Raichur and Bankapur, compelling Vijayanagara troops to retreat from the occupied regions. The decisive battles took place at Mudgal, where Bahmani forces initially faced setbacks but ultimately emerged victorious. Deva Raya agreed to pay tribute under the condition that Alauddin would not cross the frontier again. This conflict marked the final war between the Bahmanis and Vijayanagara.
Background
Following the severe blow dealt by the Bahmanis during the Siege of Vijayanagara in 1423, Vira Vijaya died, and was succeeded by his brother Deva Raya II. The ascension of Devaraya II heralded the peak of prosperity for Vijayanagara under the first dynasty. The repeated defeats suffered at the hands of the Bahmanis prompted Deva Raya II to overhaul his military strategy. He received counsel suggesting that the success of the Bahmanis stemmed from the superiority of their cavalry and their expertise in archery. Consequently, he enlisted Muslims into his service, granted them jagirs (land grants), and even constructed a mosque at Vijayanagar for their worship.
After his victory against Vijayanagara in 1423, Ahmad Shah I Wali proceeded to subjugate the Velama chiefs of Telangana, who had aided Vijayanagara in their war against the Bahmanis. He defeated and killed Anapota II, capturing the entire Telangana region in the process. Following this campaign, Ahmad Shah I focused more on the northern part of his realm. Throughout the remainder of his reign, he engaged in wars with the rulers of Mahur, Malwa, Konkan, and Gujarat, ensuring Vijayanagara's immunity from northern attacks for about a decade.
However, the heirs of the late Velama king managed to reclaim various districts of Telangana. But their success was short-lived, as Ahmad Shah I returned to Telangana around 1433 and reduced them to vassalage. Similar to Ahmad Shah I, Deva Raya also sought to avenge the support of kingdoms that had allied with his enemies in the past. Deva Raya could not overlook the alliance between Pedakomati Vema of Kondavidu and Firuz Shah Bahmani. Capitalising on the weakness of Vema's incompetent successors, Deva Raya conquered the kingdom and incorporated it into his empire. An epigraph at Kondavidu, dated 1432, documents his grant to a Brahman from the region. Ahmad Shah died in 1436, and he was succeeded by his son Alauddin II on 14 July 1436, who assumed the title of Ahmad upon his succession. He renewed war with Vijayanagara upon his succession due to the Vijayanagara king's failure to pay tribute.
Deva Raya II's attitude towards Muslim soldiers
In the years leading up to 1440, Vijayanagara launched offensive attacks against the Bahmani kingdom but suffered defeat. Upon investigating the causes of this defeat, it was concluded that the superiority of the Muslim forces lay in their Turkish mounted archers. In response, Devaraya took immediate steps to address this weakness by recruiting a special force of 2000 Muslim archers. He housed them in a designated quarter of the city where they had a mosque and a separate slaughterhouse. Devaraya showed them respect by placing a copy of the Quran in front of his throne, so that obeisance made before the monarch was offered to the Quran. He widely recruited Muslims and utilized them both within the ranks and as trainers for his Hindu troops.
This force was not the first Muslim contingent to serve in the Vijayanagara armies. Historical records suggest that during the battle at Trichinopoly, the last Hoysala ruler commanded a contingent of 20,000 Muslims. Additionally, inscriptions indicate that Devaraya I, a predecessor of Devaraya II, also employed a force of Muslim cavalry. Devaraya II utilized these Muslim troops to train other archers in cavalry tactics. As a result, within the next few years, he had amassed a body of 60,000 archers ready to take the field. Altogether, Deva Raya's army comprised 10,000 mounted foreign archers, 60,000 Hindu horsemen proficient in archery, and 300,000 adequately trained infantry soldiers.
Record of Nicolo Conti about Bahmanis The fifteenth-century Italian traveler Nicolo Conti provides a description of Indian life during the rule of Alauddin Ahmad Shah, the Bahmani ruler at the time. He observed Indian ships, noting their distinctiveness, especially those anchored in the ports of the Deccan. Conti remarked that these ships were notably larger than those constructed in the shipyards of Italy, each equipped with five sails and as many masts. The lower part of these vessels was constructed with triple planks to withstand the force of the storms prevalent in monsoon climates. Conti mentioned that some of these ships were designed in a way that if one part were damaged by the tempest, the remaining portion could safely complete the voyage to port.
Regarding the arts of war, Conti mentions that the army utilized javelins, swords, arm-pieces, round shields, bows, and arrows. In particular, he notes that the inhabitants of Central India also employed ballistae, bombarding machines, and siege pieces. Conti found it peculiar that pestilence was unknown among the people, and they were not susceptible to the diseases that afflicted populations in his own country.
Record of Abd al-Razzaq about Vijayanagara Shortly after the war, Abd-ur-Razzaq, the ambassador of Shah Rukh from Samarqand, who had spent some time in Calicut, visited Vijayanagara and stayed in the capital for a few months. According to his account, by 1442, the fortifications, temples, palaces, and public buildings of Vijayanagara had been completed. The city occupied an area of approximately sixty-four square miles, with seven enclosures, the accepted number of circuits for a first-class city. The three outermost enclosures consisted of fields designated for cultivation, along with the huts of those working on the land. The four inner enclosures were occupied by houses, with the innermost enclosure containing the palace and its precincts. Several channels had been directed into the city from the Tungabhadra River; one of them is still known as the Raya channel. These channels served the dual purpose of cultivation and supplying water to the city. Despite the potential for exaggeration in Abd-ur-Razzaq's account, Rapson noted that Vijayanagara under Devaraya II must have been a splendid city, boasting exceptional fortifications.
Prelude
In 1436, shortly after Alauddin II's accession, he launched a war against Vijayanagara because the King of Vijayanagara had withheld payment of tribute to the Bahmanis, that had been in arrears for five years. Consequently, Alauddin sent his brother Muhammad Khan and his Amirul Umara Imadul Mulk to demand tribute by force. Additionally, another reason for the conflict was that Deva Raya II, the king of Vijayanagara, had wrongfully seized Anegundi, a Bahmani fort.
As the Bahmani army advanced, they ravaged the Vijayanagara countryside and caused significant devastation. With no other option left, Deva Raya was compelled to sue for peace. Consequently, the Sultan offered peace terms, which included the exchange of twenty elephants, a substantial sum of money, and two hundred females skilled in music and dancing. Additionally, valuable presents were given to Prince Muhammad Khan as part of the peace agreement.
Rebellion of Muhammad Khan While returning home from Vijayanagara, Muhammad Khan halted for a few days at Mudgal. During his stay, he was approached by individuals who were hostile to the interests of his own dynasty. Discontented officers from his own army informed him that it was his late father's wish for him to rule the country jointly with his brother. They claimed that his brother had marginalized him to a subordinate role. They suggested that it was only appropriate for him to demand a partition of the kingdom and receive his rightful share. Muhammad Khan was swayed by these proposals and, influenced by them, he executed Imadul-Mulk and sought assistance from Deva Raya of Vijayanagara. Deva Raya, likely the instigator of the conspiracy himself, readily provided Muhammad Khan with the assistance he sought. In doing so, he attempted to achieve through deceit what he had failed to achieve on the battlefield. The prince promptly seized several forts, including Mudgal, Raichur, Sholapur, and Naldrug, and even crowned himself at a location along the banks of the Krishna River. Alauddin had to personally move to the south to confront his brother. Despite Muhammad's defeat, he was pardoned and granted the jagir of Rajachal.
Deva Raya of Vijayanagara was reeling from the defeat inflicted upon him by Prince Muhammad and had also been unsuccessful in his attempts to manipulate the prince against his brother. Around 1442, according to Sherwani, Deva Raya started to contemplate that perhaps his weakness on the battlefield had contributed to these setbacks, prompting him to embark on reforms for his fighting forces. The nature and implementation of these reforms are an intriguing episode. These were the events that prompted him to recruit Muslim soldiers in his army.
Assassination attempt on Deva Raya