In one of Purandara Dāsa’s compositions, he describes Śiva as ‘Hemakūṭa simhāsana virūpākṣa karuṇākara’ meaning ‘You sit in the golden chair. You have three eyes and you are full of mercy’. Incidentally, this line also beautifully captures the landscape of Hampi. Which iconic place(s), that are must-visit tourist spots of Hampi, is/are mentioned in this line? The picture is from Wikimedia Commons.

In 1327/1328 CE, the Sultan of Delhi attacked one of the last independent Hindu kingdoms existing. The war lasted over a year before it was defeated, but not before witnessing one of the only recorded cases of Jauhar-Sākā in southern India. Later, Vijayanagara would emerge from the ashes of this kingdom. Which kingdom is it? The picture is the Shiva temple in Hampi built by their last king.

Baburnāma – Babur’s autobiography – describes India in the early 16th century: “It (Hindustan) was governed by 5 Musalmān rulers (padshah) and 2 pagan (Kāfir)” and lists the five kingdoms as Delhi Sultanate (Afghans), Gujarat Sultanate, Deccan Sultanate (Bahamanis), Malwa Sultanate, and Bengal Sultanate. It lists the first of two Hindu kingdoms – “Of the Pagans, the greater both in territory and army, is the Rāja of Bijanagar” – and another king. The Rāja of Vijayanagara then was Kṛṣṇadevarāya. Who was the second Hindu king? The picture is a latter day illustration in Baburnama.

The Vijayanagara Empire was ruled by four dynasties through the centuries, each known for their contributions to Vijayanagara in their own right. Chronologically, they are – Saṅgama, Saluva, ___, Āravidu. Which was the third dynasty? Hint: The name suggests their linguistic descent. The picture is their last King, Sadashiva Raya.

Emperor Deva Raya II reigned during the Saṅgama dynasty of the Vijayanagara empire and is regarded as one of the most powerful rulers of Vijayanagara. Himself an author in Kannada and Sanskrit, he patronized several scholars including the Kerala School of Mathematics. Travelers such as ʿAbdur Razzak and Nicolo Conti wrote great praises about his rule. He was known to maintain a strong and powerful navy, and his overseas expeditions even extracted tributes from which two regions? The Picture is the coin of Deva Raya II

The Battle of Raichur (1520) was fought by Kṛṣṇadevarāya of Vijayanagara to reclaim a highly fertile region that had been repeatedly contested by Vijayanagara and the Bijapur Sultanate. It was a decisive victory for the Vijayanagara Empire. The Raichur Doab, being agriculturally rich and strategically important, lies between which two rivers? The picture of Raichur Fort.