Tuluva Narasa Nayaka

Tuluva Narasa Nayaka was an Indian general a Bunt chieftain and later an Imperial Regent who founded the Tuluva dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire. He was the father of the Emperors Viranarasimha Raya, Krishnadevaraya and Achyuta Deva Raya.

Biography
Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, like his father Tuluva Isvara Nayaka, was a General of the Vijayanagara Empire. After the death of the Emperor Saluva Narasimha I in 1491 CE, the crown prince Thimma Bhupala was assassinated by an army commander. The faithful Narasa Nayaka then crowned the other prince, Narasimha Raya II but retained all administrative powers in order to bring stability to the Empire. He was called the Rakshakarta (lit. 'Protector of the realm') and Svami (lit. 'Lord'). He held the offices of the Senadhipati (lit. 'Commander-in-chief'), the Mahapradhana (lit. 'Prime Minister') and the Karyakarta (lit. 'Agent of the Emperor'). He successfully kept the Turko-Persian Bahamani Sultanate and the Gajapatis away from the Empire and quelled many rebellions by unfaithful chieftains, trying to exert their independence.

Capturing Narasimha Raya II in fortress of Penukonda
After the death of Emperor Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya in 1491, crown prince Thimma Bhupala was assassinated by an army commander. The faithful Narasa Nayaka then crowned the other prince, Narasimha Raya II but retained all administrative powers in order to bring stability to the empire. Narasimha Raya II was a teenager when he became Emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, and real power lay in the hands of his guardian, Tuluva Narasa Nayaka. In 1494, Narasa Captured Narasimha II in Fortress of Penukonda. Narasa Nayaka reigned over the Vijayanagara Empire in disguise of Narasimha Raya II.

Hoysala campaign
During August 1463, when Vijayanagara Empire was ruled by Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya, the region south of the Kaveri river had slipped out of Vijayanagara control when the Emperor was busy protecting interests closer to the capital. In 1496 CE, General Narasa Nayaka marched south and brought under control rebellious chiefs like the governor of Trichi named Salas Rai and Tanjore named Vikram Shah. The whole area south of Kaveri to Cape Comorin was brought under control. The chiefs of Chola, Chera, Madurai area, Heuna or Hoysala chief of Srirangapatna and Gokarna on the west coast were brought under Vijayanagara empire control in one long successful campaign which ended in May 1497.

Resistance to Gajapati Prataparudra Deva
On 27 November 1496, the Gajapati Monarch Prataparudra Deva attacked the Vijayanagara Empire and advanced up to Pennar but Narasa Nayaka held out and succeeded in a stalemate. He was succeeded by his eldest son Viranarasimha Raya in 1503 CE.

Third Adil Shahi War and Death
Due to ongoing internal strife within the Vijayanagara Empire and the tenuous central control, independent sultans of the divided Bahmani Sultanate saw an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Mahmud Shah, citing unspecified reasons, marched against Vijayanagara, breaking the existing peace. The Sultanate army advanced to Hutgi, then joined forces with contingents from other Turko-Persian sultanates. Splitting into two groups, one moved towards Vijayanagara through Gulbarga, while Mahmud Shah led the other to besiege Raichur in the Krishna-Tungabhadra Doab region. No decisive battle took place, and a peace agreement was reached, with Vijayanagara ceding Raichur and Mudgal to Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur. It is evident that Tuluva Narasa Nayaka understood the precarious situation and wisely chose not to engage the combined armies of the Shahi kingdoms on two fronts simultaneously.

Tuluva Narasa Nayaka was an astute ruler who wasted no time in strengthening the empire. As the Bahmani Sultanate began to splinter into smaller chiefdoms, a Bahmani minister named Qasim Barid I approached Narasa with a proposal. He offered Narasa the forts of Mudgal and Raichur in exchange for his assistance in a war against Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur. Narasa Nayaka accepted the offer and sent his army to the region surrounding Raichur Doab. His forces were able to defeat Yusuf Adil Shah. However, in a treacherous turn of events, Yusuf Adil Shah plotted against Tuluva Narasa Nayaka and had him and his seventy high-ranking officers murdered. Despite this, Yusuf Adil Shah managed to reclaim the Doab area and Mudgal from the control of the Vijayanagar empire in 1502.