ABSTRACT
The founders of the Vijayanagar Empire were two brothers, Harihara and Bukka, who had an unusual personal history. Harihara’s and Bukka’s arrival as the Tughluq sultan’s governor and deputy governor of Kampili must be seen in this context of Hindu resistance to extension of Muslim rule in peninsular India. The Vijayanagar Empire lasted for two centuries as a strong and stable entity, from 1336 until its defeat at the hands of an alliance of four Bahmani kingdoms in 1565 at the famous but wrongly named Battle of Talicota. The Bahmani kingdom was one of the states born as a result of the protests of the nobility over the excesses of Muhammad bin Tughluq. There are two different stories of the origin of the name Bahmani by which the kingdom and the dynasty came to be known. One linked the name to the Persian hero Bahman; the other, put forth by the historian Ferishta.
