(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.

The five independent Deccan kingdoms were Bidar, Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Berar and Golconda.

(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.

1) Sangama dynasty (1336-1485) - Devaraya II
2) Saluva dynasty (1485-1505) - Saluva Narsimha
3) Thuluva dynasty (1505-1570) -  Krishnadeva Raya
4) Aravidu dynasty (1570-1646) - Tirumaladeva Raya

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.