the south to subdue him. He had some encounters with the Deccan sultans too. After his death in , his nephew Sadasivaraya succeeded him and ruled for about thirty years ( – ). But real power lay in the hands of Ramaraya, who got support from many of his close kinsmen (of Aravidu clan) by appointing them as Nayak of many strategic localities.
Ramaraya, a great warrior and strategist, was able to play off the Bahmani Muslim powers against one another. He entered into a commercial treaty with the Portuguese whereby the supply of horses to the Bijapur ruler was stopped. He fought with the Bijapur ruler and after some time, he allied with the Bijapur ruler against Golkonda and Ahmadnagar. This divide and rule policy provoked much enmity against Vijayanagar.
Forgetting their mutual quarrels, the Deccan states, joined hands to wage the last great battle against their common enemy. The battle was fought at Talikota or Rakshasi-Tangadi in January in which Ramaraya, in spite of his old age, personally commanded the forces along with his cousins and brothers. In the final stages, the battle was lost. Ramaraya was imprisoned and executed immediately.
The victorious Bahmani armies entered the Vijayanagar city for the first time in their history, and ransacked it for several months laying it waste. This battle is generally considered the signal for the end of Vijayanagar. The king Sadasivaraya and some of his retinue escaped his seizure of many forts like Udayagiri, under the control of Gajapati, during the course of this eastern expedition. Finally, he put a pillar of victory at Simhachalam.
Krishnadevaraya had to undertake more than one expedition to repulse the Bahmani forces, which were intruding into his territory on a regular annual basis. In some of these ventures the Portuguese, trying to establish their power in the Malabar and Konkan coast, helped Krishanadevaraya with military aid, and got permission to build a fort at Bhatkal. Though he was quite successful for a time, his victories made the warring Bahmani sultans to become united for their survival. There are some other reasons for the celebration