The greatest of the Vijayanagar rulers, Krishna Deva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty.
He possessed great military ability.
His imposing personality was accompanied by high intellectual quality. His first task was to check the invading Bahmani forces.
The Muslim armies were decisively defeated in the battle of Diwani by Krishna Deva Raya.
He invaded Raichur Doab which had resulted in the confrontation with the Sultan of Bijapur, Ismail Adil Shah. But,
Krishna Deva Raya defeated him and captured the city of Raichur in 1520.
Krishna Deva Raya’s Orissa campaign was also successful.
He defeated the Gajapathi ruler Prataparudra and conquered the whole of Telungana. He maintained friendly relations with the Portuguese. Albuquerque sent his ambassadors to Krishna Deva Raya.
His important works include Manucharitam and Harikathasaram. Pingali Suranna and Tenali Ramakrishna were other important scholars.
Krishna Deva Raya himself authored a Telugu work, Amukthamalyadha and Sanskrit works, Jambavati Kalyanam and Ushaparinayam.
He repaired most of the temples of south India. He also built the famous Vittalaswamy and Hazara Ramaswamy temples at Vijayanagar. He also built a new city called Nagalapuram in memory of his queen Nagaladevi. Besides, he built a large number of Rayagopurams.
