# Sriranga III

Vijayanagara Empire :
Ruling dynasties :
Sangama dynastyHarihara I1336–1356Bukka Raya I1356–1377Harihara Raya II1377–1404Virupaksha Raya1404–1405Bukka Raya II1405–1406Deva Raya I1406–1422Ramachandra Raya1422Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya1422–1424Deva Raya II1424–1446Mallikarjuna Raya1446–1465Virupaksha Raya II1465–1485Praudha Raya1485 :
Saluva dynastySaluva Narasimha Deva Raya1485–1491Thimma Bhupala1491Narasimha Raya II1491–1505 :
Tuluva dynastyTuluva Narasa Nayaka1491–1503Vira Narasimha Raya1503–1509Krishna Deva Raya1509–1529Achyuta Deva Raya1529–1542Venkata I1542Sadasiva Raya1542–1570 :
Aravidu dynastyRama Raya1542–1565Tirumala Deva Raya1565–1572Sriranga I1572–1586Venkata II1586–1614Sriranga II1614Rama Deva Raya1617–1632Venkata III1632–1642Sriranga III1642–1646 :
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Sriranga III (died 1678/1681) was the last ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, who came to power in 1642 following the death of his uncle Venkata III. He was also a great grandson of Aliya Rama Raya.

## Early rebellions

Before his accession to the throne, Sriranga III was in rebellion against his uncle Venkata III. He sought help from the Bijapur Sultan and attacked Venkata III in Chandragiri – Vellore in 1638. Another invasion of these two in 1642 was defeated by Venkata III’s army, who were also facing Golkonda armies near Madras. Under these troublesome circumstances Venkata III died, and Sriranga III who was with the Bijapur army deserted them and returned to Vellore and made himself the King of Vijayanagara. Sriranga III brought the English East India Company into South India.

## Downfall

Many of his nobles like the Nayaka of Gingee and Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka, the chieftain of Madras, had a dislike for him for his mischief in rebelling against the former King. He granted site of Fort St. George (Madras) to British agents of East India Company in 1640s at Raja Mahal of Chandragiri fort, present day Tirupathi. Squabbles among the Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda helped Sriranga III for a while. Sriranga III required the consent of his nayakas to be crowned, but struggled to obtain it. In 1645, after attempting to kill Sriranga III with witchcraft, the nayaka of Madurai, Tirumala, together with the nayakas of Tanjavur and Gingee formed a league against Sriranga III. In response, Sriranga III sent his army against Ginjee. Tirumala urged Golkonda to invade while Sriranga III was focused on Ginjee. When the nayaka of Tanjavur allied himself with Golkonda, Tirumala, worried that the alliance would turn against him, asked Bijapur to send help, but the strategy backfired. Bijapur and Golkonda came to an agreement to divide the conquests between them, and by 1648, Bijapur had conquered Ginjee, Tanjavur, and Madurai. Sriranga III was left without a kingdom. He lived as a guest of Tirumala in Madurai until 1647, when he moved to Tanjavur. In 1648, after the nayaka of Tanjavur gradually decreased the king's allowance, he moved to Kannaiga territory.

## Battle of Virinchipuram

On 4 April 1646, Sriranga III collected a large army with help from Mysore, Gingee and Tanjore and met the Golkonda forces in battle, but despite the aid he received, he was defeated.
The Deccan forces were losing, but later advanced, when consolidated by additional Sultanate armies from the Deccan. The war went on till 1652. In 1649 Tirumala Nayaka sent his forces supporting the Bijapur ruler, but upon converging at the Gingee Fort, the Madurai forces created chaos and took sides with the Gingee army, when the Bijapur and Golkonda entered into their agreements. This led to the banishment of Gingee Nayak's rule in 1649.
By 1652, Sriranga III was left with only Vellore Fort, which was finally seized by the Golkonda forces. By now he had only the support of Mysore, while Tanjore had submitted to the Muslim forces and the Madurai Nayak ended up paying huge sums to Deccan forces, and all three had to cede large amounts of their territories to the Muslim kingdoms. Sriranga III and his allies were defeated in the resulting Battle of Virinchipuram which took place at the village of Virinchipuram just west of Vellore on the southern banks of the Palar River. The allied Sultanate forces scored a huge victory and Sriranga's forces were forced to retreat. This battle and defeat significantly weakened the authority of Sriranga III.

## Last years

Sriranga III spent his last years under the support of one of his vassal chieftains, Shivappa Nayaka of Ikkeri, and was still hoping to retrieve Vellore from the Muslim forces. Thirumala Nayaka's treachery to Sriranga III made the Mysore ruler Kanthirava Narasaraja I wage a series of ravaging wars with Madurai, later capturing the territories of Coimbatore and Salem, regions which were retained by Mysore till 1800. The rule of Vellore was then passed over to the Bijapur Sultanate.

## Death

The Mysore ruler Kanthirava Narasaraja I still recognised Sriranga as a namesake emperor. Sriranga died in 1678/1681 as an emperor without an empire, putting an end to over three centuries of Vijayanagara rule in India. Sriranga's only daughter was married to Srivallabha, a descendant of Narasimhacharya.