Story of Hari Hara I
Hari Hara Veera Mallu is famously known as Hari Hara I or Veera Mallu or Veera Hari Hara I. So who is Hari Hara Veera Mallu? What is his story? Many of us came to know about this after the release of Power Star Pawan Kalyan’s movie “Hari Hara Veera Mallu” teaser. So, in this blog, we are going to the greatest person, warrior, and king who was the main reason for establishing the prominent dynasty in Indian history.
Before Hari Hara I (Hari Hara Veera Mallu)
To know about Veera mallu we need to travel 900 years back in time. In the 11th century, India faced many invasions. During that time many foreign countries invaded that made the starting medieval period in Indian history. That is the time many Muslim rulers invaded India from the northwest to spread the Islam religion and to plunder the wealth of India.
After 200 years many Muslim rulers invaded and conquered the northern part of India. They ruled India by making Delhi their capital. After conquering the northern part, the Muslim kings tried to extend their kingdoms by invading the southern part of India too. But during that time many Hindu kingdoms such as Kakatiyas, Hoyasalas, and Pandyas are ruling the southern part of India.
Compared to the northern kingdoms, southern kingdoms are rich in wealth and other aspects. But there was no unity between these kingdoms. It became an opportunity for the Muslim rulers to the southern kingdoms. In the year 1327, Sultan Mohammad bin Tugluq was ruling the Delhi Sultanate. This is the period when the situation in India became worse. They destroyed Hindu cities, temples, king’s halls, houses, and many others. People were treated very badly at that time.
Rise of Hari Hara Veera Mallu
In the year 1323, Sultan Mohammad Bin Thuglaq invaded the Kakatiya dynasty. At that, the Kakatiya dynasty was ruled by Prathaparudra. In the battle, Prathaparudra was killed by Mohammad bin Tugluq and captured the kingdom. In the Prataparudra’s treasury, there were two brothers named Hari Hara and Bukkaraya who maintained the treasury.
After the invasion both Hari Hara I and Bukkaraya went to Kampili and joined the Anegundi dynasty. Hari Hara and Bukkaraya belong to the sanagama clan. King Kampilideva gave shelter to these brothers. In the year 1326, Mohammad bin Tugluq conquered Kampili. After conquering Kampili, Tugluq took both Hari Hara I and Bukkaraya as hostages taken them to Delhi. In Delhi, they were converted to Muslims by force.
The people of Kampili started a revolution against Tugluq. So, Tugluq sent both Hari Hara I, Bukkaraya, and a few other soldiers to Kampili to re-capture the kingdom. Hari Hara I succeeded in capturing Kampili back again. After that Hari Hara I declared Kampili an independent kingdom. This incident gave him the title “Hari Hara Veera Mallu.”
Establishing Vijayanagara Empire
After capturing Kampili, Hari Hara Veera Mallu declared himself an independent king of anegundi in the year 1336. Through the influence of Sri Vidyaranya Swami, both brothers again converted back to Hinduism. Later Veera Mallu opposed Sultan Mohammad bin Tugluq and established the mighty Vijayanagara Empire.
Veera Mallu’s first task was to consolidate his position and establish a kingdom for comprehensive protection. Hari Hara I believe that the strength of the kingdom lies in the strength of its walls. So to strengthen his kingdom, Hari Hara Veera Mallu strengthened Badami, Udayagiri, Gooty, and Anegundi. But Hari Hara thought that anegundi is a weak place to have his capital, as it was already invaded two times in the past 10 years because it was on the north shore of the Tungabhadra river. So he chose another place to build his capital. Veera Mallu chose the place near the Virupaaksha temple which is situated around the Hemakuta mountain as his new capital.
His dearest brother Bukkaraya took the construction work on his shoulders and completed it in 7 years i.e., in 1343 the capital became fully ready. In the year 1344, the capital was shifted from anegundi to Vidya Nagara. After 1340, Bukkaraya successfully captured penugonda from the Hoyasalas and made it his primary center. In the year 1342, Veera Mallu invaded Mathura ruled by the Pandyas, and killed the Bhallala III in the war. In the year 1346, the Hosalayas kingdom was submerged into the Vijayanagara Empire. In the entire reign of Veera Mallu, Hoysalas’s submission is the most prominent one.
In the Sringeri book, it was mentioned that Hari Hara Veera Mallu ruled the land between the two seas of west and east and Vidya Nagar was his capital. The dynasty of Hari Hara Veera Mallu has named the Sangama dynasty which came after his father’s name “Sangama.” Hari Hara I dynasty was evenly disturbed between his four brothers Bukkaraya, Kampana, and Muddppa. So that they can expand the kingdom in all directions. After Hari Hara Veera Mallu, the Vijayanagara Empire became an unstoppable kingdom in the next 3 centuries.
