(i) Alaud-din Hasan Shah was educated at Multan. He took special care in founding a school to educate his sons.
(ii) He opened institutions for the purpose of education to the children of noble families in the art of soldiery.

(i) The empire was divided into different mandalams (provinces), nadus (districts), sthalas (taluks) and finally into gramas (villages).
(ii) Each province was administered by a governor called Mandalesvara.
(iii) The lowest unit of the administration was the village. Each village had a grama sabha. Gauda, village headman, looked after the affairs of the village.
(iv) The army consisted of the infantry cavalry and elephant corps.

The sultans of Deccan kingdoms succeeded in forming a league to fight the Vijayanagar Empire. The combined forces of the enemies met in Talikota in 1565. In the ensuing battle, known as Rakasa Tangadi (Battle of aE Talikota), Vijayanagar was defeated.

The main causes of the decline of the Vijayanagar empire were
(i) After Krishna Devaraya, the rulers were inefficient in the Vijayanagar empire. Making use of the situation the commanders declared independence.
(ii) There were frequent wars between Vijayanagar and Bahmani kingdom which made the country economically weak.
(ii) Finally, the sultans of Deccan kingdoms formed a league against Vijayanagar. The combined forces of the enemies defeated Vijayanagar in the Battle of Talikota in 1565 A.D.
(iv) These Sultans destroyed the buildings, palaces, temples and the capital city of Hampi.

Discuss the career and achievements of Krishna Devaraya.
(i) Krishnadevataya who reigned for 20 years was, the most illustrious rulers of the Tuluva dynasty.
(ii) He brought under control the independent chieftains in the Tungabhadra river basin.
(ii) The Bahmani sultan, Mahmud Shah had been overthrown and kept in imprisonment by his minister. Krishnadevaraya freed the sultan and restored him to the throne. Prataparudra negotiated for peace and offered to marry off his daughter to him.
(iv) Accepting the offer, krishnadevaraya returned the territory he had conquered from Prataparudra.
(v) Krishnadevaraya, with the assistance of the Portuguese gunners, could easily defeat the Sultan of Golconda and subsequently take over Raichur from the ruler of Bijapur.
A Great Builder
(i) Krishnadevaraya built huge irrigation tanks and reservoirs for harvesting rainwater.
(ii) He built the famous temples of Krishnaswamy, Hazara Ramaswamy and Vithalaswamy in the capital city of Hampi.
(iii) He distributed the wealth he gained in wars to all major temples of South India for the purpose of constructing temple gateways (gopura), called 'Rayagopuram,' in his honour.
(iv) He had good friendly relationship with the Portuguese and Arabian traders, which increased the Empire's income through customs.
Patron of Literature, Art and Architecture
Krishnadevaraya patronised art and literature. Eight eminent luminaries in literature known as astadiggajas adorned his court.