Battle of Tallikota

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 Hindu Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic Deccan sultanates. 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 treacherous defeat of Vijayanagara Empire, followed subsequent destruction and looting which became short lived before the mighty successors of Rama Raya.

The Sultanates to the north of Vijayanagara united and attacked Rama Raya's army, on 23 Jan 1565, in a war known as the Battle of Talikota. The armies clashed on the plains near the villages of Rakshasi and Tangadi.

The Vijayanagara army was winning the war, state Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, but suddenly two Muslim generals of the Vijayanagara army switched sides and turned their loyalty to the united Sultanates. They captured Rama Raya and beheaded him on the spot, with Sultan Hussain on the Sultanates side joining them. The beheading of Rama Raya created confusion and havoc and in the still loyal portions of the Vijayanagara army, which were then completely routed. The Sultanates' army plundered Hampi and reduced it into ruins.. But later, the successors of Rama Raya retaliated vigourously and inflicted such continuous defeats on Bijapur and Golconda Sultanates that they couldn't even shake the empire till the interference of Mughals in South India in 1640s. Entire territory south of Krishna which is present day Andhra Pradesh (except Telangana region) was recaptured by the Vijayanagar empire.

According to Shastri, the greatest factor was the betrayal of the Vijaynagara Army by two Muslim commanders (Gilani Brothers). At the critical point of the war, Muslim officers in the Vijayanagara army launched a subversive attack. Suddenly Rama Raya found himself surprised when the two Muslim divisions in his ranks turned against him.

Robert Sewell, in his book The Forgotten Empire, concludes thus - "With fire and sword, with crowbars and axes, they carried on day after day their work of destruction. Never perhaps in the history of the world has such havoc been wrought, and wrought so suddenly, on so splendid a city; teeming with a wealthy and industrious population in the full plenitude of prosperity one day, and on the next seized, pillaged, and reduced to ruins, amid scenes of savage massacre and horrors beggaring description."

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