Vijayanagara was the last great Hindu empire of South India, whose magnificent capital Hampi rivaled contemporary European cities in scale; it served as a bulwark against the Deccan Sultanates and preserved South Indian literary and artistic traditions.
The Vijayanagara Empire effectively ended after the catastrophic Battle of Talikota on 23 January 1565 CE, when a coalition of the Deccan Sultanates (Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Golconda) defeated and killed king Aliya Rama Raya, and subsequently sacked and razed the capital Hampi.
The atlas holds 3 border frames for Vijayanagara Empire — the shape you scrub through changes in 1336 · 1496 · 1515.
Classic 19th-century account drawing on Portuguese chronicles and indigenous sources, still a foundational reference.
Sastri's survey culminates in Vijayanagara as the last great Hindu empire and bulwark against the Deccan Sultanates, complementing Sewell's older 'A Forgotten Empire'.