Battle of Talikota

Battle of Talikota
Part of Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent
Date 26 January 1565 Location Talikota in present day Karnataka 16°28′23.9″N 76°18′42.6″E / 16.473306°N 76.311833°E / 16.473306; 76.311833Coordinates: 16°28′23.9″N 76°18′42.6″E / 16.473306°N 76.311833°E / 16.473306; 76.311833 Result Decisive Deccan sultanates victory
Belligerents
Deccan sultanates Ahmadnagar Sultanate Bijapur Sultanate Golkonda Sultanate Berar Sultanate Bidar Sultanate	Vijayanagara Empire
Commanders and leaders
Hussain Nizam Shah I Ali Adil Shah I Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali Ali Barid Shah I Burhan Imad Shah Raja Ghorpade	Aliya Rama Raya † Venkatadri † Tirumala Deva Raya
Strength
80,000 infantry (Beydurs) 30,000 cavalry several dozen artillery cannons	140,000 foot, 10,000 horse and over 100 War elephants
Casualties and losses
70,000 - 80,000	100,000 including Rama Raya

Deccan sultanates

The Battle of Talikota (26 January 1565) was a watershed battle fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates. It ended in the defeat of Vijayanagara, resulting in its subsequent weakening. The battle took place at Talikota, today a town in northern Karnataka, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the southeast from the city of Bijapur. The Vijayanagara Empire was one of the largest Indian Empires originating from Southern India before the Maratha Empire.

The throne of the Vijayanagara Empire had passed from Achyuta Raya, upon his death, to Rama Raya. The Sultanates were in constant fear of a much bigger Vijayanagara Empire united against it, which was seen as the common enemy. The excessive pride of Vijayanagara in its strength and internal conflicts also added to the cause of the battle.

Hussain Nizam Shah I

Ali Adil Shah I

Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali

Ali Barid Shah I of Bidar Sultanate.

By 29 December 1564 the first battles broke out. Qutb Shah and Nizam Shah, who were friends, decided to go on their own first and led their divisions to clash with Tirumala Deva Raya's division. The vijayanagar army inflicted defeat on the enemy and the Sultans fled in disarray losing thousands of men in the encounter. The Sultans were shaken by this encounter and asked Adil Shah to forget previous arguments and stand by them for the intended counter-attack. The Sultans met secretly and decided that the only way to succeed was to resort to stratagem. Nizam Shah and Qutb Shah decided to parley with the Raya who was now planning a large counter-thrust into the flanks. At the same time Adil Shah sent a false message to the Hindu commander that he wished to remain neutral. As a result of these parleys Ramaraya delayed his counter-thrust giving a small but critical time window for the Muslims to regroup. Sultan Imad Shah of Berar made the first thrust by attacking Tirumala Deva Raya 's division guarding the Krishna ford. Tirumala fell upon him with his full force and in a short but intense encounter destroyed the Sultan's army and sent him fleeing for life. However, the sultans Nizam Shah, Qutb Shah, Barid Shah on one side and Adil Shah on the other used this distraction to cross the Krishna and attack the main Hindu divisions.

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Wikipedia