Sriranga III

Sriranga III (1642–1678/1681 CE) 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.

Sriranga III
Predecessor	Peda Venkata Raya

Vijayanagara Empire

Sangama dynasty Harihara I 1336–1356 Bukka Raya I 1356–1377 Harihara Raya II 1377–1404 Virupaksha Raya 1404–1405 Bukka Raya II 1405–1406 Deva Raya I 1406–1422 Ramachandra Raya 1422 Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya 1422–1424 Deva Raya II 1424–1446 Mallikarjuna Raya 1446–1465 Virupaksha Raya II 1465–1485 Praudha Raya 1485 Saluva dynasty Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya 1485–1491 Thimma Bhupala 1491 Narasimha Raya II 1491–1505 Tuluva dynasty Tuluva Narasa Nayaka 1491–1503 Vira Narasimha Raya 1503–1509 Krishna Deva Raya 1509–1529 Achyuta Deva Raya 1529–1542 Venkata I 1542 Sadasiva Raya 1542–1570 Aravidu dynasty Aliya Rama Raya 1542–1565 Tirumala Deva Raya 1565–1572 Sriranga I 1572–1586 Venkata II 1586–1614 Sriranga II 1614 Rama Deva Raya 1617–1632 Venkata III 1632–1642 Sriranga III 1642–1646

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.[1]

Reign

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. Squabbles among the Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda helped Sriranga III for a while. In 1644 the Sultan of Golkonda appeared with a vast army, but was defeated by Sriranga III. Sriranga III, now feeling strong enough to demand money from the Southern Nayaks, marched south. 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.[2]

Battle of Virinchipuram

In 1646 Sriranga III collected a large army with help from Mysore, Gingee and Tanjore and met the Golkonda forces.

The Muslim forces were losing, but later advanced, when consolidated by additional 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 a 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 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 Muslim forces, but all three retaining their kingdoms.

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.

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.

References

1. Copley, Antony R. H. (1986). C. Rajagopalachari, Gandhi's southern commander. Indo-British Historical Society. p. 4. It was a Pretender of Vijayanagara, Sri Ranga Raya III (also known as the Raja of Chandragiri and Nayaka of Vellore) who had brought the English Company into South India and had given it title to its first petty principality. It was the Baniyas (Balijas, Chettiars, Komartis, &c) and Brahmans of Tirupati who had provided the Company with the coins from the mints of Sri Venkateswara at Tirupati.
2. asi. "Raja & Rani Mahal, Chandragiri Fort". Archeological Survey of India. Archeological Survey of India. Retrieved 5 December 2019.

• http://www.thiruvarangam.com/history.html
• Rao, Velcheru Narayana; Shulman, David Dean; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (1992), Symbols of Substance: Court and state in Nāyaka Period Tamilnadu, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195630213
• Subrahmanyam, Sanjay; Shulman, David (2008). "The Men who Would be King? The Politics of Expansion in Early Seventeenth-Century Northern Tamilnadu". Modern Asian Studies. 24 (2): 225–248. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00010301. ISSN 0026-749X.
• Srinivasachari, G. S. (1943), A History of Gingee and its Rulers, Madras: Annamalai University
• Sathianathaier, R. History of the Nayaks of Madura [microform] by R. Sathyanatha Aiyar ; edited for the University, with introduction and notes by S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar ([Madras] : Oxford University Press, 1924) ; see also ([London] : H. Milford, Oxford university press, 1924) ; xvi, 403 p. ; 21 cm. ; SAMP early 20th-century Indian books project item 10819.
• K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, (Reprinted 2002) ISBN 0-19-560686-8.
• Pedda Varadacharya on the descendants of vijayanagara empire.

Further reading

• The Unlucky Sriranga - Posted by cbkwgl in End of Kingdoms, History, Indian Encyclopedia, Vijayanagar