Krishna Deva Raya (late 1400’s-1529), was an Indian king who reigned from 1509 to 1529. He was the greatest ruler of the Vijayanagar Empire in the Deccan region. He was a poet and patron of the arts. Krishna Deva’s reign is regarded as a golden age of literature in the Telugu language. The king himself wrote the Telugu poem “Amukta Malyada,” which deals with statecraft.
Krishna Deva did much to beautify Vijayanagar, the capital city of his empire. Buildings put up during his reign include the great entrance tower to Vitthala, a temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, and the huge statue of Vishnu as Narasimha (Man Lion).
Krishna Deva was a descendant of the Tuluva dynasty, which took over from the Saluvas in 1503. In 1512, he acquired the land between the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers in southern India. In 1514, he defeated the Hindus of Orissa. The Orissa region is now the Indian state of Odisha. In 1520, he overcame the sultan of Bijapur. These conquests made his empire secure. Krishna Deva made skillful use of an alliance with the Portuguese.
