Deva Raya II

Deva Raya II
bronze Pagoda of Deva Raya II
Vijayanagara Emperor
Reign10 February 1423 – May 1446[1]
PredecessorBukka Raya III
SuccessorDeva Raya III
BornVijayanagar, Vijayanagara Empire
(modern day Hampi, Karnataka, India)
Died1456 CE
Vijayanagar, Vijayanagara Empire
(modern day Hampi, Karnataka, India)
IssueDeva Raya III
HouseSangama
Father Bukka Raya III
Motherunknown
ReligionHinduism
Vijayanagara Empire
Ruling dynasties
Sangama dynasty
Harihara I1336–1356
Bukka Raya I1356–1377
Harihara Raya II1377–1404
Virupaksha Raya1404–1405
Bukka Raya II1405–1406
Deva Raya I1406–1422
Ramachandra Raya1422
Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya1422–1424
Deva Raya II1424–1446
Mallikarjuna Raya1446–1465
Virupaksha Raya II1465–1485
Praudha Raya1485
Saluva dynasty
Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya1485–1491
Thimma Bhupala1491
Narasimha Raya II1491–1505
Tuluva dynasty
Tuluva Narasa Nayaka1491–1503
Vira Narasimha Raya1503–1509
Krishna Deva Raya1509–1529
Achyuta Deva Raya1529–1542
Venkata I1542
Sadasiva Raya1542–1570
Aravidu dynasty
Rama Raya1542–1565
Tirumala Deva Raya1565–1572
Sriranga I1572–1586
Venkata II1586–1614
Sriranga II1614
Rama Deva Raya1617–1632
Venkata III1632–1642
Sriranga III1642–1646

Deva Raya II (r. 10 February 1423–May 1446 CE) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire. The greatest of the Sangama dynasty rulers,[2] he was an able administrator, warrior, and scholar. He authored well-known works in Kannada (Sobagina Sone and Amaruka) and Sanskrit (Mahanataka Sudhanidhi).[3][4] He was patron to some of the most noted Kannada poets of the medieval period, including Chamarasa and Kumara Vyasa,[5][6] the Sanskrit poet Gunda Dimdima, and the noted Telugu language poet Srinatha, whom the king honored with the title Kavisarvabhauma ("Emperor of poets").[7] He supported development in secular literature as well as the noted South Indian mathematician Parameshvara, from the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics in his empire.[8]

According to the historian Sastri, Deva Raya II had the title Gajabeteegara, which literally means "Hunter of elephants", an honorific that explained his addiction to hunting elephants or a metaphor referring to his victories against enemies who were "as strong as elephants".[9] Despite some reversals, Deva Raya II extended and held territories up to the Krishna river. According to an account of the visiting Persian chronicler Abdur Razzak, Deva Raya II's empire extended from Ceylon to Gulbarga, and Orissa to the Malabar. According to the historians Chopra, Ravindran and Subrahmaniyan, the king maintained a fleet of ships which helped him in his overseas connections. From the account of the contemporary European explorer Nicolo Conti, the king levied tribute on Ceylon, Quilon, Pegu, Pulicat and Tenasserim.[10][11]

  1. ^ Lakshmi, Kumari Jhansi (1958). THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE SANGAMA DYNASTY.
  2. ^ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 103–106. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference sone was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Kamath (1980), p.164
  5. ^ Sastri (1955), pp.363-364
  6. ^ Rice E.P. (1921), p.68, p.70
  7. ^ Kamath (1980), p.163
  8. ^ David Edwin Pingree (1981). Census of the exact sciences in Sanskrit. A. Vol. 4. American Philosophical Society. pp. 187–192. ISBN 978-0-87169-213-9.
  9. ^ Sastri (1955), p.244
  10. ^ Chopra, Ravindran and Subrahmanian (2003), p.32
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference raz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).