SocietySouth Asia
Vijayanagara
South India's last great Hindu empire
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The ruins at Hampi stretch over twenty-five square kilometres and are among the largest archaeological fields in the world. The empire lived on horse imports, cotton exports and spice trade with the Portuguese. Collapse came after defeat at Talikota by an alliance of sultanates — and the city was never rebuilt.
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The capital Vijayanagara held half a million people and deeply impressed Portuguese visitors. It had waterworks, bazaars kilometres long and temples cut from granite. In 1565 it was sacked and abandoned.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org