Veera Ballala III
| Veera Ballala III | |
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| Penultimate Hoysala |
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Veera Ballala III (r. 1292–1342) was the last great king of the
Suryanath Kamath, Chopra, Ravindran and Subrahmanian have called him a "great ruler".[2][3] With his death in c. 1343, South India saw the rise of a new Hindu empire, the Vijayanagara Empire. In the words of the historian Sen "the Hoysalas were the greatest among those who claim to be the makers of modern Mysore".[4] Harihara I and Bukka Raya I, the brothers who founded the Vijayanagara Empire
had served the king in a military capacity.
Pandya and Yadava affairs
In c. 1303, Veera Ballala III subdued the recalcitrant
Tungabhadra river and on the affairs in the Tamil country to the south laid open the northern boundaries of his territories to the invasion of Malik Kafur, the commander of the armies of All-ud-din-Khalji. The Yadavas themselves, according to historian John Keay, provided the necessary help to Mallik Kafur's armies to march south. Halebidu was attacked and plundered in c. 1311, only to be rebuilt in c. 1316. Veera Ballala III had to accept defeat to the Delhi Sultan, pay a handsome tribute, and send his son Veera Virupaksha to Delhi as an act of submission. His son returned in 1313.[2] According to historian John Keay, claims by later writers such as Ferishta that Mallik Kafur even built a mosque in Halebidu to establish his supremacy are legends without historical evidence.[2][5]
Invasion from Delhi
By 1318, the Yadava kingdom had been completely destroyed and
Hoysala Empire had been defeated and large areas annexed by the Sultanate of Delhi. The Madurai Sultanate was also established around c. 1335–6. With an intention of confronting the Muslim invasion, Veera Ballala III founded a second capital called Hosapattna on the banks of Tungabhadra river, which according to historians Henry Heras and William Coelho, later came to be called Vijayanagara, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire.[6] In c. 1342–3, a decisive war that would end the Hoysala fortunes was fought at Kannanur. Veera Ballala III fought a pitched battle against Ghiyas-ud-din, the Sultan of Madurai. Just when a Hoysala victory seemed imminent, The Hoysala monarch was captured, and according to historians Chopra et al., was "strangled and flayed". His son, Veera Ballala IV met the same fate in c. 1346, bringing to an end the rule of the Hoysalas.[2][3]
Notes
References
- Chopra, P.N.; Ravindran, T.K.; Subrahmanian, N (2003) [2003]. History of South India (Ancient, Medieval and Modern) Part 1. New Delhi: Chand Publications. ISBN 81-219-0153-7.
- Kamath, Suryanath U. (2001) [1980]. A concise history of Karnataka: from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. OCLC 7796041.
- Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999) [1999]. Ancient Indian History and Civilization-Part1. New Age Publishers. ISBN 81-224-1198-3.
- ISBN 0-19-560686-8.
- ISBN 0-8021-3797-0.