Vijayanagara Army Organization

Timeline

1. 1336–1340City of Vijayanagara · KarnatakaAfter the Sangama brothers founded the empire, they built an army based on the legacy of the Kakatiyas and Hoysalas, establishing central troops and local Nayakas who controlled taxation and recruitment, initially forming a mixed structure of infantry, cavalry, and war elephants.
2. 1341–1350Eastern Deccan and Kolar · DeccanBukka Raya I advanced into Andhra and Tamil regions; Nayakas were granted land to maintain private forces (padai), the army was organized into regiments, supplemented by firearms imported by Portuguese and Arab merchants, and the system shifted from defensive to expansionist.
3. c. 1350–1500Nayaka territories across South India · South IndiaThe empire entrusted local defense to Nayakas and Palaiyakkarar commanders, forming a three-tier structure of central army, frontier forces, and locally levied troops; war elephant units and archers and spear-armed infantry formed the traditional core, while firearm companies gradually increased.
4. 1565Talikota · KarnatakaIn 1565 a coalition of North Indian sultanates defeated Vijayanagara's main force at Talikota, the central military system collapsed, Nayakas declared independence one after another, and the former imperial army organization split into the armed forces of several regional polities.