# Bahmani–Vijayanagar War (1449–1453)

Bahmani–Vijayanagar War (1449–1453), also referred to as eleventh Bahmani–Vijayanagar War, was a conflict between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Bahmani Kingdom.

## Background
### Decline of First dynasty

Upon his uncle Deva Raya III’s death, Mallikarjuna, son of Deva Raya II and his wife Ponnalambika or Ponnala Devi, ascended the throne. Mallikarjuna was known by several names such as Deva Raya, Pratapa Deva Raya, Immadi Deva Raya, Proudha Deva Raya, Immadi Proudha. As per the tradition, he was named Mallikarjuna as his parents were staying at Srisailam, the holy place of god Mallikarjuna, when he was born. After a brief struggle for the throne, he seems to have taken over from his father.

## Initial clash
### Siege of Vijayangara (1449 A.D)

Deva Raya II ruled over the Vijayanagara Empire, which was attacked by the Bahmani Sultan due to internal power struggles in the empire. Although Deva Raya II used to repel threat at that time, the danger continued to persist. After he died, the bahmani ruler thought it would be good to attack because the new king Mallikarjuna who took over Deva Raya’s throne was young and inexperienced. After his previous defeat, the Bahmani king wanted to enter into a coalition with the Gajapati ruler of Odisha who wanted to expand his own territory into the Sircars and the Coromandel Coast. After this, the Gajapati king agreed to team up with the Bahmani Sultan against Vijayanagara. Together, their armies of horsemen, foot soldiers and war elephants laid siege to Vijayanagara. At first, Mallikarjuna had to take a defensive position, but later he switched over to the offensive and engaged the invaders in open battle, pushing them back into their own territories. However Odia sources claims victory for Kapilendra deva.

## Final Clash
### Lost of Chaul and Dabhol (1453 A.D)

During the late war, Vijayanagar's ruler Mallikarjuna succeeded in preventing the capital's thorough destruction, though his advantage was limited. The empire lost hold over its distant provinces especially northwest and northeast in the years before this. The Maratha feudatories had become increasingly rebellious in the Konkan region. It had highlighted the Vijayanagar king’s inability to either rectify the situation or prevent outside meddling. Realizing the decline of Vijayanagar, Bahmani Sultanate decided to take over the Konkan.
In A.D 1453, the Bahmani general Malik-ul-Tujar led an army and set up base at Junnar. He sent out a lot of forces to subdue the lowlands and defeated a number of the chieftains there. Shortly thereafter, the Bahmanis took possession of the strategic port towns of Choul and Dabhol. After winning the decisive battle, Mallik-ul-Tujar started moving with a bigger force but incurred a major defeat near Vishalghad. A chief of the Shirke family, Shankar Rao Shirke who has submitted to Tujar and promised to help him defeat renaming Maratha fedutaries, turned traitor to the Bahmanis and caused the slaughter of Tujar and 10,000 men. Because of this defeat, expansion of the Bahmanis in the Konkan was halted for several years. Vijayanagar ended up taking Chaul and Dabhol, the coastal forts but lost them finding defeat.