Vijayanagara & Bahmani

Two rival, roughly contemporary powers that carved up the peninsula after the Delhi Sultanate's southern raids (notably by Malik Kafur under Alauddin Khilji) had shattered the old southern kingdoms.

The Vijayanagara Empire (1336–1646)

Founded by two brothers, Harihara and Bukka (traditionally said to have earlier served, and then broken from, the Delhi Sultanate administration, reconverting to Hinduism under the sage Vidyaranya's influence), of the Sangama dynasty — the first of four ruling dynasties (Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, Aravidu) the empire passed through over three centuries.

Memory hook — four ruling houses in order: Sangama → Saluva → Tuluva → Aravidu — "Some Saints Take Ashes" (S-S-T-A). Anchor image: Krishnadevaraya, the empire's most famous ruler, belongs to the third house, Tuluva — picture him standing third in a four-person line.

Practice Recall: Name Vijayanagara's four ruling dynasties in order, and which one produced Krishnadevaraya, before reading on. (Answer: Sangama → Saluva → Tuluva → Aravidu; Krishnadevaraya was Tuluva.)

• Capital at Hampi (Vijayanagara) on the Tungabhadra river — its ruins today are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with distinctive temple-chariot streets, the Virupaksha Temple, and the iconic stone chariot.
• Peak under Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529, Tuluva dynasty) — the empire's greatest ruler: expanded territory decisively, was himself a Telugu poet (author of Amuktamalyada) and a lavish patron of literature, maintaining a court of eight great scholar-poets known as the Ashtadiggajas. His reign is unusually well-documented by foreign travellers: the Portuguese horse-trader Domingo Paes left a vivid eyewitness account of Hampi's prosperity, festivals, and markets, while Duarte Barbosa (also Portuguese) documented trade, administration, and social customs; the earlier Persian traveller Abdur Razzaq (visiting an earlier ruler's court) is likewise a frequently cited source.
• The empire's economy rested heavily on horse and spice trade through west-coast ports and a sophisticated system of land revenue and temple-centred local administration (Nayankara system — military chiefs, or Nayakas, granted land in exchange for troops, somewhat analogous to the northern Iqta).
• Decisive defeat at the Battle of Talikota (1565) by a rare united coalition of the Deccan Sultanates led to Hampi's sack and the empire's steep, irreversible decline (though a much-reduced Aravidu-dynasty rump survived into the 17th century).

The Bahmani Sultanate (1347–1527)

Founded by Alauddin Bahman Shah (Hasan Gangu), a noble who broke away from Delhi Sultanate authority in the Deccan amid the chaos following Muhammad bin Tughlaq's failed policies. The Bahmanis and Vijayanagara fought each other repeatedly over the fertile Raichur Doab and coastal access for nearly two centuries. Internal noble factionalism (notably between "Deccani" and "foreign/Afaqi" nobles) eventually fragmented the Bahmani Sultanate by the early 16th century into five successor "Deccan Sultanates":

Memory hook — five Deccan Sultanates: Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, Berar — "Big Girls Adore Beautiful Bangles" (B-G-A-B-B). Anchor image: the three that jointly crushed Vijayanagara at Talikota — Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda — standing together in front, Bidar and Berar (the weaker two) standing behind.

Practice Recall: Name the five Deccan Sultanates that emerged from the Bahmani breakup, and the three that combined to defeat Vijayanagara at Talikota, before reading on. (Answer: Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, Berar; the Talikota coalition was chiefly Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, and Golconda.)

It was precisely this coalition of Deccan Sultanates (chiefly Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, and Golconda) that jointly crushed Vijayanagara at Talikota in 1565 — a direct causal link worth remembering as one connected exam fact rather than two separate ones.