Krishnadevaraya was a prominent ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire of South India. As the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire, he extended the empire to most of South India, which included present-day Karnataka, Northern Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, stretching upwards in the northeast to Cuttack. He ascended the throne during the most critical stage of the empire and went on to consolidate it as a flourishing empire. He played a major role in defeating the Bahmani Sultans and Portuguese, forcing them to retreat their plans of expanding their empire beyond their boundaries. Along with his prime minister and mentor, Timmarusu, he defeated the Bahmani Sutans, thereby conquering their fortresses of Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, and Bijapur. He led a major campaign against the Gajapatis of Odisha, following which he seized and captured the fortresses of Udayagiri, Kondavalli and Kondavidu. He is often compared with the greatest emperors of Asia and Europe, due to his brilliant achievements and exceptional ability to maintain political stability in the Deccan. By ruling the three most powerful territories in the southern peninsula of India, he was known by different titles, earned as a mark of respect, such as ‘Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana’ (Lord of the Kannada empire) and ‘Andhra Bhoja and ‘Mooru Rayara Ganda’ (King of three Kings).
Krishnadevaraya was born in 1471 in Hampi, Karnataka, to Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, an army commander under Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya, and Nagala Devi.
His father established the Tuluva Dynasty after the death of Saluva Narasimha to prevent it from splitting up.He ascended the throne in 1509 and developed a strong relationship with the empire’s Prime Minister, Timmarusu, whom he looked upon as a fatherly figure.
He was crowned during the gloomiest period of the Vijayanagara Empire and hence, spent the first few years of his reign battling .
Since the Portuguese dominated the sea trade along the Indian coastline, he developed friendly relations with them, following which he traded Arabian horses and guns from the Portuguese merchants.
He engaged Portuguese engineers in improving the supply of water in Vijayanagara City, apart from receiving arms and war materials for invading Raichur.
He was married to Tirumala Devi and Chinnama Devi.
He married Prathapa Rudra’s daughter, Princess Annapurna Devi, who became his third queen, as part of the peace treaty signed by the two rulers to establish peace and harmony on both sides of the Krishna River.
Being highly religious and devout follower of Lord Tirumala of Tirupati, he donated numerous precious objects to the Venkateswara Temple, including a jewel-studded golden sword and diamond-encrusted crowns.
In 1524, he pronounced his son, Tirumala Raya as the Yuvaraja but the crown prince didn’t live long to continue his father’s legacy and died, probably due to poisoning.
With Timmarusu’s son rumored to have poisoned his son, he got both Timmarusu and his son blinded.
He declared his half-brother Achyuta Deva Raya, as his successor and died in 1529, after falling ill critically.