Siege of Vijayanagar
The siege of Vijayanagar or Bahmani–Vijayanagar war of 1423 was a military campaign by the Bahmani Sultanate in the Deccan plateau, led by Ahmad Shah I Wali, against the Vijayanagar empire, ruled by Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya III, beginning in 1423 in present-day Karnataka. The campaign resulted in a victory for the Bahmanis, leading to the recapture of all of the Sultanate's territories that had fallen into the hands of Vijayanagar during the war of 1420.
| Siege of Vijayanagar | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Bahmani–Vijayanagar Wars | |||||||||
 Natural fortress of Vijayanagar | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Bahmani Sultanate |
Vijayanagar Empire Velama Chiefs | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Ahmad Shah Bahmani Ugrasen Ghorpade[1][2] |
Vira Vijaya (POW) Linga | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 40,000 horsemen[3] | 1,000,000[3] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | 20,000 massacred by sect, sects unknown. | ||||||||
  Location within Karnataka  Siege of Vijayanagar (India) | |||||||||
After their triumph in the war with the Bahmanis in 1420, the Vijayanagar empire carried out a massacre of the civilian population, violating the treaty signed between them during the war of 1367. Following the coronation of Ahmad Shah Wali after the death of his brother Tajuddin Firuz Shah, Ahmad sought revenge for his brother's defeat by assembling an army. Vira Vijaya, the king of Vijayanagar, opposed them with a vast army, supported by Velama Chiefs. However, they were repelled from Tungabhadra, and at one point, the Vijayanagar king was taken as a prisoner of war, though he later managed to escape.
Ahmad Shah retaliated by massacring the Vijayanagar population, seeking retribution for their actions in the earlier war. This led to the Vijayanagar ruler seeking peace, which he achieved by paying a large indemnity as a tribute and returning the lands taken from the Bahmanis in the war of 1420.
- ↑ M. S. Ghorpade. History Of Mudhol State. pp. 53–56.
- ↑ Sardesai, H. S. (2002). Shivaji, the Great Maratha. Cosmo Publications. p. 121. ISBN 978-81-7755-285-0.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Connolly, Peter; Gillingham, John; Lazenby, John (2016-05-13). The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Warfare. Routledge. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-135-93674-7.
In 1423, with an army of 40,000 horsemen, he (Ahmad) defeated a million-strong Hindu army on the river Tungabhadra.