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Siege of Vijayanagar: Difference between revisions
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===Preparations of the Vijayanagar=== | ===Preparations of the Vijayanagar=== | ||
Feeling the weight of his isolation, Bukka III, the ruler of Vijayanagar, wisely recognized the need for assistance and dispatched messengers to [[Recherla Nayakas|Anapota Velama]] of Telangana for aid. In response, Anapota sent his forces, likely under the command of Linga, to support Vijayanagar, his southern neighbor.{{Sfn|Sherwani|1985|p=198}} Vira Vijaya, aided by the Velamas of Telangana, commanded an army, comprising nearly a million infantry and gunners, to the southern bank of the [[Tungabhadra River]]. His intention was to block the passage of the Bahmanis.{{sfn|Haig|1928|p=397}} | Feeling the weight of his isolation, Bukka III, the ruler of Vijayanagar, wisely recognized the need for assistance and dispatched messengers to [[Recherla Nayakas|Anapota Velama]] of Telangana for aid. In response, Anapota sent his forces, likely under the command of Linga, to support Vijayanagar, his southern neighbor.{{Sfn|Sherwani|1985|p=198}} Vira Vijaya, aided by the Velamas of Telangana, commanded an army, comprising nearly a million infantry and gunners, to the southern bank of the [[Tungabhadra River]]. His intention was to block the passage of the Bahmanis.{{sfn|Haig|1928|p=397}} | ||
== The campaign == | |||
[[File:Hampi, Tungabhadra River, India.jpg|Tungabhadra river|thumb]] | |||
Ahmad advanced to the northern bank of the river and, after forty days of unsuccessful attempts to entice the enemy into crossing, decided to take the offensive. During the night, a division of 10,000 men was dispatched upstream to cross the river above the enemy's camp. Their mission was to create a diversion by launching an attack on the enemy's left flank or rear.{{Sfn|Haig|1928|p=396}} Ahmad anticipated a decisive engagement, but the Vijayanagar forces chose not to engage in battle and instead retreated to their own territories.{{Sfn|Sherwani|1985|p=198}} The Vijayanagar ruler sought refuge in the [[Sugarcane plantation|sugarcane plantations]]. As the Bahmanis were harvesting the sugarcane for themselves and their horses, Vira Vijaya, fearing capture, stealthily slipped out and hid himself among the standing crop. Some of the Bahmani troops stumbled upon him, mistaking him for a gardener tasked with carrying the sugarcane. Unaware of his true identity as the Vijayanagar king, they took him into custody.{{Sfn|Allan|1964|p=282}}{{Sfn|Haig|1928|p=396}} | |||
As the main Bahmani army commenced crossing the river, the leaderless Vijayanagar host, already under attack from the division that had captured their king, began to scatter in retreat. While the Bahmanis looted the camp, the Vijayanagar king managed to escape. However, feeling exhausted and demoralized, he opted not to attempt rallying his army and instead joined them in their flight back to Vijayanagar.{{Sfn|Allan|1964|p=282}} | |||
The Vijayanagaris now had cause to regret their violation of the humane treaty between Muhammad I and Bukka I, as never before in a long series of wars had either army exhibited the ferocity displayed by Ahmad's troops in this campaign. Although not naturally inclined towards cruelty, Ahmad's temper was inflamed by the atrocities committed by the Vijayanagar troops following the disastrous campaign of Pangul in 1420, and he sought to exact his revenge. Avoiding a siege of Vijayanagar, which was deemed an unprofitable endeavor, he led his forces through the kingdom, massacring men and enslaving women and children.{{Sfn|Haig|1928|p=397}} An account of the massacre was meticulously kept, and whenever the tally of victims reached 20,000, Ahmad would pause to commemorate the event. On one such occasion, while he was out hunting, a group of enemy soldiers ambushed him. His bodyguard bravely held their ground until reinforcements arrived, driving off the Vijayanagar troops. Impressed by the valiant defense put up by the foreign archers of his guard, Ahmad ordered the principal foreign officer in his service, known as Malik Tujjär, to raise a corps of three thousand of them. This decision would ultimately have a profound and enduring impact on the history of Muslims in the Deccan.{{Sfn|Allan|1964|p=283}} | |||
Throughout his campaign, Ahmad engaged in the destruction of [[Hindu temple|temples]] and the slaughter of cows, aiming to inflict maximum harm on the natural affections, patriotism, and religious sentiments of the Vijayanagaris. In March 1423, he paused by an artificial lake to observe the festival of the [[Nowruz|Nauruz]] and celebrate his own exploits. During a hunting excursion, he pursued an antelope relentlessly, leading him twelve miles from his camp where he encountered a body of five or six thousand enemy horsemen. In the ensuing fierce attack, half of his immediate bodyguard of 400 men were killed, but Ahmad managed to find refuge in a cattle-fold. There, his 200 foreign archers held off the Vijayanagar attackers for some time, despite the partial destruction of the enclosure wall. However, aid arrived unexpectedly when a loyal officer, ‘Abd-ul-Qadir, led two or three thousand royal guards in search of Ahmad, and they swiftly engaged the Vijayanagar forces. The Vijayanagar troops initially stood their ground, but after inflicting casualties on their assailants, they eventually fled, leaving a thousand of their own dead on the battlefield.{{Sfn|Haig|1928|pp=397-398}} After this, Ahmad himself marched towards Vijayanagar, and the Vijayanagar King, seeing the sufferings of his people, sued for peace accepting the terms offered by Ahmad Shah.{{sfn|Allan|1964|p=284}} | |||
==Reference== | ==Reference== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||