Origin of Vijayanagara Empire - Telugu Origin Theory

Telugu Origin Theory

Historians such as Robert Sewell, Dallapiccola, M.H. Ramasarma, Y. Subbarayalu, N. Venkataramanayya and B. Suryanarain Rao have attested the Telugu origin of Vijayanagar empire. According to British traveler Francis Buchanan (1801), while on a visit to Beidur in Mysore (Karnataka), he was shown a Sanskrit book called Vidyaranya Sikka by a person called Ramappa Varmika. The book mentioned that the founders of Vijayanagar were Harihara and Bukka, and that they were guards of the treasury of the Kakatiya King Prataparudra of Warangal. The brothers met a spiritual teacher called Vidyaranya, the sage of Sringeri monastery, who guided them to establish the Kingdom of Vijayanagar to safeguard the Hindu religion. This was in 1336 and Harihara was made first king of the fledgling empire. Robert Sewell considered various such theories and concluded that Harihara and Bukka were treasury officers of Kuruba Gowda caste, in the court of Warangal, the capital of the (Kakatiya dynasty). The Delhi Sultan who captured and converted the brothers to Islam, sent them back to put down the rebellion of Hoysala king. They succeeded in suppressing the rebellion but laid foundation of an independent kingdom at the behest of Vidyaranya.

Historians Venkataramanayya and Ramasarma supported the conclusions of Sewell based on his research and the information provided by the Sanskrit and Kannada treatises such as Vidyaranya Kalajnana (in Sanskrit), Vidyaranya Vrittanta, Rajakalanirnaya, Piramahasamhiti and Sivatatva Ratnakara (all in Kannada). According to the scholar Suryanarain Rao, who described seven traditional accounts of the origin of Harihara and Bukka, five were inclined towards a Telugu origin of the founding kings. Well-known historian, Saletore surmised that Hampi was outside the Hoysala territory and supported the Telugu origin of Vijayanagara kings.According to Sreenivasa Rao, the Telugu Golla identity of Harihara and Bukka and their devotion to the goddess Bhuvaneswari is also established. According to Subbarayalu, indirect evidences such as the employment of predominantly Telugu Nayaks (Kamma, Balija, Velama and Reddy people) for revenue collection throughout the empire also supported their Telugu affinity.

According to Gribble, Muslim scholars of the time, such as Ziauddin Barani, Isarni and Ferishta and foreign visitors such as Ibn Batuta and Nuniz also recorded that the Sangama brothers were serving King Prataparudra and were taken captive after the fall of Warangal. According to B.R. Gopal, who based his research on evidence gleaned from inscriptions such as the Gozalavidu record, the founders of Vijayanagara were at first in the service of the last Kakatiya king Prataparudra of Warangal. When that monarch was defeated by Muhammad bin Tughluq and taken prisoner, they fled to Kampili and took refuge in the court of Kampilideva. Venkataramanayya states that on the outbreak of a rebellion in Kampili the brothers were sent by Tughlaq with an army to Kampili to reconquer it from the rebels and rule the province as his deputies. According to M.Somesekhara Sarma, they successfully suppressed the rebellion, but under the influence of Vidyaranya renounced Islam and threw in their lot with the Andhra nationalists led by Musunuri Nayaks who had just then succeeded under the leadership of Kaapaya Nayaka in expelling the Muslims and re-establish the national independence. Professor Nilakanta Shastri claims that Harihara and Bukka then reverted to their ancient faith and having declared independence, assumed the leadership of the Hindus of Kampili in their fight against the Muslims.

According to Venkataramanaya, Kaapaya and Bukka had actively collaborated with each other to ward off the Muslim threat, probably because of their close association in the court of Warangal. He surmised that the establishment of Vijayanagar kingdom drew inspiration from the successful exploits of Kaapaya.