• The greatest of the Vijayanagar rulers, Krishna Deva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty.
  • He possessed great military ability.
  • His imposing personality was accompanied by high intellectual quality. His first task was to check the invading Bahmani forces.
  • The Muslim armies were decisively defeated in the battle of Diwani by Krishna Deva Raya.
  • He invaded Raichur Doab which had resulted in the confrontation with the Sultan of Bijapur, Ismail Adil Shah. But,
  • Krishna Deva Raya defeated him and captured the city of Raichur in 1520.
  • Krishna Deva Raya’s Orissa campaign was also successful.
  • He defeated the Gajapathi ruler Prataparudra and conquered the whole of Telungana. He maintained friendly relations with the Portuguese. Albuquerque sent his ambassadors to Krishna Deva Raya.
  • His important works include Manucharitam and Harikathasaram. Pingali Suranna and Tenali Ramakrishna were other important scholars.
  • Krishna Deva Raya himself authored a Telugu work, Amukthamalyadha and Sanskrit works, Jambavati Kalyanam and Ushaparinayam.
  • He repaired most of the temples of south India. He also built the famous Vittalaswamy and Hazara Ramaswamy temples at Vijayanagar. He also built a new city called Nagalapuram in memory of his queen Nagaladevi. Besides, he built a large number of Rayagopurams.