he last Hindu empire in South India, the Vijayanagara Empire, was defeated on January 23, 1565, in the Battle of Talikota by the combined forces of the Muslim states of Bijapur, Golconda, and Ahmadnagar to its north.[2] The battle was fought in Talikota on the doab (or "tongue" of land) between the Kistna river and its major left bank tributary, the Bhima, 100 miles (160 km) north of the imperial capital of Vijayanagara (see Map 2).[2] The invaders later destroyed the capital, and the ruler's family escaped to Penukonda, 125 miles (201 km) southeast, where they established their new capital.[2] Soon they moved their capital another 175 miles (282 km) east-southeast to Chandragiri, not far from the southeastern coast, and survived there until 1635, their dwindling empire concentrating its resources on its eastern Tamil and Telugu speaking realms.[3] According to historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam: " ... in the ten years following 1565, the imperial centre of Vijayanagara effectively ceased to be a power as far as the western reaches of the peninsula were concerned, leaving a vacuum that was eventually filled by Ikkeri and Mysore."[4] Earlier, in the heyday of their rule, the kings of Vijayanagara had granted tracts of lands throughout their realm to various vassal chiefs on the stipulation that they pay tribute and render military service.[5] The chiefs in the northern regions were supervised directly from the capital.[6] Those in the richer, more distant southern provinces, however, could not be controlled easily and the Vijayanagara emperors were able to collect only part of the annual revenue from them.[6] Overseen by a viceroy—titled Sri Ranga Raya and based in the island town of Seringapatam on the river Kaveri (also Cauvery), some 200 miles (320 km) south of the capital—the southern chiefs bore various formal titles.[7] These included the title Nayaka, assumed by the chiefs of Keladi in the northwestern hills,[8] of Basavapatna, and Chitaldroog in the north, of Belur in the west, and of Hegalvadi in the centre; the title Gowda, assumed by the chiefs of Ballapur and of Yelahanka in the centre,[8] and of Sugatur in the east; and Wodeyar, assumed by the rulers of Mysore,[8] of Kalale and of Ummatur in the south.[7] (See Map 2.)
The somewhat tenuous hold the Vijayanagara centre had on its southern periphery resulted only partly from the latter's remoteness. The centralisation imposed by the empire was resisted by the southern chiefs (sometimes called rajas, or "little kings") for moral and political reasons as well; according to historian Burton Stein:
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