Tuluva dynasty

Tuluva is the name of the third ruling dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire.[1] The dynasty traces Bedar Nayaka kshatriya vamsam its patrilineal ancestry to Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, a powerful warlord from the westerly Tulu speaking region.[2] His son Narasimha Nayaka arranged for the assassination of the weak Narasimha Raya II bringing an end to the rule of the Saluva dynasty.[2] Narasimha Nayaka later assumed the Vijayangara throne as Viranarasimha Raya bringing the Tuluva dynasty to prominence.[2] The dynasty was at its zenith during the rule of Krishnadevaraya, the second son of Tuluva Narasa Nayaka.

Vijayanagara Empire

Sangama dynasty Harihara I 1336–1356 Bukka Raya I 1356–1377 Harihara Raya II 1377–1404 Virupaksha Raya 1404–1405 Bukka Raya II 1405–1406 Deva Raya I 1406–1422 Ramachandra Raya 1422 Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya 1422–1424 Deva Raya II 1424–1446 Mallikarjuna Raya 1446–1465 Virupaksha Raya II 1465–1485 Praudha Raya 1485 Saluva dynasty Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya 1485–1491 Thimma Bhupala 1491 Narasimha Raya II 1491–1505 Tuluva dynasty Tuluva Narasa Nayaka 1491–1503 Vira Narasimha Raya 1503–1509 Krishna Deva Raya 1509–1529 Achyuta Deva Raya 1529–1542 Venkata I 1542 Sadasiva Raya 1542–1570 Aravidu dynasty Aliya Rama Raya 1542–1565 Tirumala Deva Raya 1565–1572 Sriranga I 1572–1586 Venkata II 1586–1614 Sriranga II 1614 Rama Deva Raya 1617–1632 Venkata III 1632–1642 Sriranga III 1642–1646

History

The original home of the dynasty was the westerly Tulu speaking region. A Sanskrit epigraph on the eastern wall of Tirumala temple describes the genealogy of Krishnadevaraya.[3] (Nayaka vamsam)[3] The first ancestor of the Tuluva lineage to be mentioned is Timmabhupati and his wife Devaki.[3] Timmabhupati is followed by his son Ishvara and consort Bukkamma and then a certain Narasa Bhupala who is none other than Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, the father of Emperor Krishnadevaraya.[3] The powerful warlord Tuluva Narasa Nayaka is attributed with the conquest of the Gajapatis as well as certain Muslim rulers.[3]

Krishnadevaraya is known to have patronised poets and issued inscriptions in languages as varied as Sanskrit, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu.[4] However, he elevated Telugu as a royal language possibly because of the dominance of Telugu speaking chiefs and composed the epic poem Amuktamalyada in it.[4] Tuluva rulers were staunch Vaishnavas and patronised Vaishnavism.[5] Vyasatirtha, a Dvaita saint was the Kulaguru of Krishnadevaraya.[6]

The fall of the Tuluva dynasty led to the beginning of the disintegration of the Vijayanagar empire.

References

1. Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 103–112. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
2. Pollock, Sheldon (2011). Forms of Knowledge in Early Modern Asia: Explorations in the Intellectual History of India and Tibet, 1500–1800. Duke University Press. p. 81. ISBN 9780822349044. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
3. Pollock, Sheldon (2011). Forms of Knowledge in Early Modern Asia: Explorations in the Intellectual History of India and Tibet, 1500–1800. Duke University Press. p. 74. ISBN 9780822349044. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
4. Peter Fibiger Bang, Dariusz Kolodziejczyk (2012). Universal Empire: A Comparative Approach to Imperial Culture and Representation in Eurasian History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 222–223. ISBN 9781107022676. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
5. N. Jagadeesan (1977). History of Sri Vaishnavism in the Tamil Country: Post-Ramanuja. Koodal Publishers. p. 302. The Tuluva kings of Vijayanagara especially Krishnadeva Raya and his successors were staunch Vaishnavaites.
6. William J. Jackson. Vijaynagar Visions: Religious Experience and Cultural Creativity in a South Indian Empire. Oxford University Press India. p. 219. Retrieved 26 July 2007. When Krishnadevaraya became the ruler Vyasa Tirtha was his guru