1565, Vijayanagara Empire When Krishnadevaraya, the great hero of the Vijayanagara empire, appoints his brother as successor to the throne, his son-in-law Ramaraya feels betrayed. Though he nurses a feeling of being let down, he is loyal to the empire. In the dark decades that followed – filled with internal feuds and external invasions – it took Ramaraya’s strong hands to bring back peace and prosperity to the land as the chief minister to the child emperor Sadashiva Raya. Ramaraya fought wars, schemed and negotiated his way to make Vijayanagara the greatest power of the land. Now at the height of his power and influence, Ramaraya learns of a new danger. The Deccan Sultanates, the pack of wolves who had always been snapping at the heels of the mighty empire, have now decided to unite for a single purpose – the destruction of Vijayanagara. The country needed a saviour; it needed him, Ramaraya. For how else could he finally prove to everyone that he was the true successor of Krishnadevaraya? THE FALL OF AN EMPIRE unravels the battle of Talikota, which sealed the fate of both, Ramaraya and the Vijayanagara empire.

Written About A.D. 1520 To 1522 And A.D. 1535 To 1537 Respectively.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The epic tale of a woman who breathes a fantastical empire into existence, only to be consumed by it over the centuries—from the transcendent imagination of Booker Prize–winning, internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie Salman Rushdie is one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of the Year • “Victory City is a triumph—not because it exists, but because it is utterly enchanting.”—The Atlantic A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Chicago Public Library, Polygon, The Globe and Mail, Bookreporter In the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. After witnessing the death of her mother, the grief-stricken Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for a goddess, who begins to speak out of the girl’s mouth. Granting her powers beyond Pampa Kampana’s comprehension, the goddess tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga—“victory city”—the wonder of the world. Over the next 250 years, Pampa Kampana’s life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga’s, from its literal sowing from a bag of magic seeds to its tragic ruination in the most human of ways: the hubris of those in power. Whispering Bisnaga and its citizens into existence, Pampa Kampana attempts to make good on the task that the goddess set for her: to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world. But all stories have a way of getting away from their creator, and Bisnaga is no exception. As years pass, rulers come and go, battles are won and lost, and allegiances shift, the very fabric of Bisnaga becomes an ever more complex tapestry—with Pampa Kampana at its center. Brilliantly styled as a translation of an ancient epic, Victory City is a saga of love, adventure, and myth that is in itself a testament to the power of storytelling.

The evolution of Hinduism has been a saga of continuous progression from the unreal to the real, from the profane to the profound, in successive stages of human development. Hinduism has withstood challenges of all hues, both within and without. It has had its periods of light and shade, occurring concurrently, through the course of history. Sometimes shady aspects assumed vast proportions and enveloped the lofty ideals of the Vedas, but prophetic souls appeared to redeem the society of evil, from Adi Shankaracarya to Bhakti reformers of medieval India, and from Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Dayananda and Swami Vivekananda to Mahatma Gandhi. Like any other human faith, Hinduism has its philosophical and practical sides, called “the kernel and the husk” respectively. The survival of Hinduism has been due to its ability to separate the former from the latter, in an unending process, and to withstand challenges of all types by adhering to the timeless principles of truth (satya) and righteousness (dharma). Hinduism has been open, flexible and adaptable. It has discarded outworn ideas and institutions, absorbed the best elements of fellow cultures, and reinterpreted itself in changing milieus. The present publication by Advaita Ashrama, a branch of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India is an attempt to explain the quintessential of Hinduism within the orbit of time and beyond it, involving an explication of the eternal values and principles which sustain existence. It explores the dynamics of Hinduism in religio-historical framework through the second millennium of the common era. About the Cover:The image of Lord Shiva as Nataraja, the king of dancers. As the Cosmic Dancer, his dance represents the five cosmic activities of creation, preservation, destruction, concealment of Truth behind apparitions, and divine grace. He dances on the prostate body of the demon, Apasmara. Apasmara symbolises man's ignorance or forgetfulness of Truth. Shiva is Time (kala), and he is also the Great Time (maha kala), i.e. Eternity. This is the dance of the Cosmic Being, eternally going on.

The book provides a comprehensive account of the social, religious and economic conditions and policies from the Sultanate to the Mughal period in early medieval India. It details the account of the three centuries known for its Islamic influence and rule and the presence of formidable dynasties. The book provides a sound understanding of the history of the period and also evinces the learnings of mutual quarrels and internecine war.

Medieval History of India

Presents a consolidated timeline of medieval India by taking into account the period that marked the end of ancient India, and focusing on the importance of the transitory centuries when Delhi had begun to surface as the new power center, triggering prominent trends in thought and institutions. This book analyzes the nature of social forces, complexity of causation and the interdependence of change and continuity in the light of the crucial transition from ancient to early medieval India, with the emergence of the Delhi Sultanate and the Vijayanagar-Bahmani kingdoms. Proceeding to detail the most effervescent period in Indian history - the era of the great Mughals - the text provides an insight into the ideological-philosophical basis of the times, focusing on the Sufi and Bhakti movements, and culminates with the rise of the Marathas, the advent of European companies, and the eventual establishment of the British in Bengal. keeping in mind that the history of medieval India has not moved in a linear fashion, and that much of the period saw phases of expansion and realignment of political attributes, this book contributes to a deeper understanding of the much misread period of Indian history with a view that takes into account the resultant interface between the political, social, economic, religious and cultural elements and devotes to this crucial period the attention it deserves.