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Mallikarjuna Raya
Emperor of Vijayanagara
ReignMay 1446 – 14 July 1465[1]
PredecessorDeva Raya II
SuccessorVirupaksha Raya II
IssueVirupaksha Raya II
DynastySangama
FatherDeva Raya II
ReligionHinduism

Mallikarjuna Raya (reigned May 1446 – 14 July 1465), also known as Deva Raya III, was an Emperor of Vijayanagara from the Sangama Dynasty.

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

Mallikarjuna Raya succeeded his father Emperor Deva Raya II, who had brought prosperity throughout the Vijayanagara Empire as well as a golden age for the Sangama Dynasty. However, unlike his father, Mallikarjuna was a weak and corrupt ruler[citation needed].

At the beginning of his reign, he successfully defended the empire against invasions by the Turko-Persian Bahmani Sultanate and the Gajapati Empire, which then stretched from the Ganges to the Kaveri, but thereafter his reign was marked by a string of defeats. The Gajapatis conquered Rajamahendri in 1454 and Udayagiri and Chandragiri in 1463. The Bahmani Sultanate took over much of the Vijayanagara Empire by 1450 and grew closer to the capital of Vijayanagara.

These events eventually led to the decline of the Sangama Dynasty; Mallikarjuna Raya's nephew Virupaksha Raya II took the opportunity to seize the throne, though he failed to prove a better ruler. It is unknown what happened to Mallikarjuna after that.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Lakshmi, Kumari Jhansi (1958). "The Chronology of the Sangama Dynasty". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 21: 290–297. JSTOR 44145214.
  • Dr. Suryanath U. Kamat, Concise history of Karnataka, MCC, Bangalore, 2001 (Reprinted 2002)

External links[edit | edit source]

Preceded by
Deva Raya II
Vijayanagar Empire
1446–1465
Succeeded by
Virupaksha Raya II