Ever since the dawn of history, the South was totally cut from the influence of north.  It was Ala-ud-din Khalji who penetrated into south and then onwards south India felt the pinch;  Hindu Rajas were deprived of much of their wealth  though they weren't dethroned.  Oppressive rule of Muhammad Tughlak made Hindus realize the need of organization to get away from the Muslim clutches.  It was this time, south produced two great brothers Harihara and Bukka who saved Hindus of south from Muslim clutches. The first dynasty of Vijayanagara is named after these two Sangamas.

Hampi, the capital chosen by the Sangamas occupied an eminently defensible co-ordinates on the Indian map.  The city surrounded by the huge blocks of granite, prospered due to the trade of cotton, precious stones and the spices.  With the huge trading between Portuguese and the empire, the city expanded day by day despite of few usurpations now and then.  The kingdom finally fell to the victorious Islamic army in 1565, and was fully sacked during the Islamic occupation for the next six months. Today, only ruins scattering over few square kilometers, witnesses the then 'City of Victory'.

Vijayanagara produced one of the beautiful series of coins in the Indian history, which had the image of deities on the obverse, and the title on the reverse.  Though these small dumpy pagodas having Hindu deities did not record much events to study the history, it did serve every household in uniting under a single Hindu banner to fight against the Islamic rulers.

This web page is divided into sub sections, please use the thumbnail images to penetrate them.

Sangama Dynasty

Saluva Dynasty

Tuluva Dynasty

Aravidu Dynasty

Nayakas of Chitradurga

Coinage of Vijayanagara

Catalogue