Sangama

The Sangama was the first dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire, named after Bhavana Sangama, a chieftain claiming Yadava descent whose sons Harihara I and Bukka Raya I founded the empire in 1336. Muhammad bin Tughluq carried the brothers to Delhi in 1327 and forced them to convert to Islam; sent south, they broke away, returned to Hinduism under Vidyaranya and built their City of Victory on the Tungabhadra.

Harihara I absorbed the Hoysala lands after Veera Ballala III's death in 1343. Bukka Raya I fought the Bahmani Sultanate for the Raichur Doab while declaring equal protection for Hindus, Jains, Christians and Muslims.

Under Deva Raya II from 1424 to 1446, the empire reached its height, stretching from Ceylon to Gulbarga, and its court was rich in Kannada and Telugu poetry. In 1485 the general Saluva Narasimha deposed the last Sangama king, Praudha Raya, opening the Saluva dynasty.