Bahmani–Vijayanagara War (1470–1481)

Bahmani–Vijayanagara War (1470–1481)
Part of Bahmani–Vijayanagar Wars
Bahamani Sultanate in 1480
Date 1470–1481 Location Krishna River, Raichur, Vijayanagara Result Bahmani victory Territorial changes Konkan, Goa Chaul, Vijayanagara, Raichur and Kanchipuram captured by Bahmani Sultanate
Belligerents
Bahmani Sultanate	Vijayanagara empire
Commanders and leaders
Muhammad Shah III Lashkari Mahmud Gawan X Malik Hasan Bahri Yusuf Adil Shah	Virupaksha Raya II X Saluva Narasimha Deva
Strength
Unknown	70,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy

Bahmani–Vijayanagara War (1470–1481) was fought between Muhammad Shah III Lashkari and Virupaksha Raya II.

Background

During Harihara II’s reign, Vijayanagar forces captured Goa and the Konkan coast after a series of campaigns between 1382 and 1395 CE. This strategic coastal region, including the port of Goa, would later change hands through an unusual turn of events. For many years, Bhatkal had served as the main harbor where Vijayanagar rulers procured warhorses from Moorish traders settled there. In 1469 CE, these traders began supplying horses to the Bahmani Sultan, angering King Virupaksha. He commanded his subordinate at Honāwar to kill as many of the traders as possible and expel the rest. The order was brutally carried out, leading to the death of around 10,000 Moors. The few who survived fled and established themselves in Goa. This massacre had severe and lasting consequences for the kingdom.

War

Loss of Goa (1470)

Mahmud Gawan launched a coordinated assault on the port and island of Goa, dispatching a fleet of around 120 ships to strike from the sea while advancing by land with his forces. The operation was executed with such speed and precision that, before Virupaksha Raya II could mount a defense, Gawan had secured control of the territory. Upon learning of the victory, Sultan Muhammad Shah Bahmani ordered celebratory drumbeats for seven days and held grand festivities. This marked the loss of a key coastline for Vijayanagar, including the prosperous ports of Choul, Dabul, and Goa, which had been under its rule for over seventy-five years.

Loss of Belagaum (1472)

During Saluva Narasinga’s campaigns to suppress revolts in the southern provinces and restore stability in the Tamil region, new challenges arose for the Vijayanagar Empire in the north. Virupaksha Raya II, resentful over the loss of Goa and the Konkan, attempted unsuccessfully to reclaim these territories. Around 1472 CE, he directed his vassal, Birkana Raya of Belgaum, to recover Goa, urging the chief of Bankapur to join the venture. However, the Bahmani Sultanate, then occupied with a campaign in Orissa under Mallik Hussain Bheirz Nizam-ul-Mulk, quickly learned of the plot. Sultan Mahmud Shah responded by marching directly on Belgaum.

Birkana Raya prepared to withstand the siege, and his forces repelled multiple assaults, inflicting around two thousand casualties on the besieging army. Despite his determined resistance, the fort eventually fell, forcing Birkana to surrender both his stronghold and himself to the Bahmani ruler. Impressed by his valor, Mahmud Shah granted him honorable treatment and admitted him into his circle of nobles. The captured territories were subsequently incorporated into the estates of Khwaja Mahmud Gawan, who had played a leading role in the siege.

Loss of Belagaum (1474)

Following the capture of Belgaum in 1472 CE, the Bahmani Sultan shifted his focus toward expanding into the Telangana region. In 1474 CE, he launched an expedition against Wairagarh and seized it from Jatak Roy. During this period, Perkatapha, dissatisfied with the transfer of power, renounced allegiance and led a revolt by occupying the island of Goa. Upon learning of the uprising, Mahmud Gawan sought royal approval to suppress the rebellion, subdue Perkatapha, and extend Bahmani control over Kanara and Vijayanagar territories. Belgaum is believed to have been secured during the subsequent campaign, marking its permanent loss to the Vijayanagara Empire.

Siege of Vijaynagara (1474)

Following the annexation of Belgaum, Gawan advanced towards Vijayanagar as promised. The Russian traveller Athanasi Nikitin, who visited the Deccan around 1474 CE, recorded that the ruler of Bidar launched an assault against the forces of the Hindu chief Kadam and captured his stronghold.

According to contemporary Muslim chronicles, the city of Baichanagar—described as an extensive settlement fortified by three defensive walls and traversed by a river—was seized during the campaign. Reports suggest that around 20,000 inhabitants lost their lives during the capture. Further devastation was prevented when Bahmani forces diverted their attention to Telingana, which soon faced a threat from the king of Orissa. Nonetheless, the incursion left the Vijayanagar Empire unsettled, with many of its local governors challenging Virupaksha’s authority and, in some cases, asserting near-independence.

Bahmani–Vijayangara clashes

The Gajapati ruler advanced into Telingana, defeating Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri near Wazirabad and reaching Kowlas, while Saluva Narasimha seized Kondaveedu and possibly Kondapalli before encamping at Rajamahendri, where he came into conflict with the Bahmani Sultanate. Firishta records that the Sultan forced the Gajapati king into a treaty, then marched south and occupied Rajamahendri after Narasimha withdrew without battle. The town’s governor entered Bahmani service, and Kondapalli and Kondaveedu also fell. Around 1480 CE, Muhammad Shah Bahmani advanced again against Narasimha, citing his role in frontier revolts and failure to send tribute, and launched a campaign from Kondaveedu to subdue his territories.

Sack of Kanchipuram

Although not yet formally independent of Vijayanagar, Saluva Narasimha held authority over much of the empire’s eastern territories, at times extending his control as far as Masulipatam. He commanded a substantial army and maintained several strong fortresses, yet, according to Firishta, made little effort to resist the Bahmani advance. Muhammad Shah is said to have marched swiftly from Kondaveedu to the major fortress of Malur, where Narasimha, intimidated, offered gifts and accepted Bahmani overlordship without resistance. Soon after, reports of the wealth of Kanchipuram reached the Sultan, who led a chosen force to besiege the city on 12 March 1481. Following its sack, he returned north, commissioning a poetic chronicle of the victory to be circulated across his dominions.

Capture of Goa (1481)

In 1481, the earlier success of the Bahmani kingdom quickly unraveled as internal unrest followed in rapid succession. Shortly after returning from Kanchi, Sultan Muhammad Shah II ordered the execution of his trusted minister, Mahmud Gawan, after rival courtiers leveled false accusations against him. The loss of this capable administrator soon gave rise to widespread dissatisfaction among the nobility. One of the first to rebel was Bahadur Mulk Gilani, son of the Bahmani governor of Goa. Taking advantage of the turmoil, the ruler of Vijayanagar dispatched a large force to reclaim Goa around 1481. The campaign initially met with success, but Sultan Muhammad Shah soon ordered Yusuf Adil Shah, leading the Bijapur contingent, to counter the advance. The outcome of the conflict remains uncertain, though contemporary accounts suggest that Vijayanagar lost control of Goa once more, reportedly due to the betrayal of its local Hindu garrison.