HistoryMedieval India: An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara

Which Sultan stepped in to settle the quarrel over the throne that th…

A researcher is studying how power was shared in a large south Indian kingdom of the sixteenth century. One inscription records that the king placed a friendly claimant on the throne of a neighbouring Sultanate. A chronicle reports that, after the death of a great king of this kingdom, a neighbouring Sultan stepped in to settle a quarrel over the throne. Other records speak of armed chiefs who held forts, moved from one area to another with peasants in search of fertile land, and sometimes rebelled against the king.

Which Sultan stepped in to settle the quarrel over the throne that the chronicle reports?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → The Sultan of Bijapur

After the death of Krishnadeva Raya, the <strong>Sultan of Bijapur intervened to resolve succession disputes</strong> in Vijayanagara. It shows that the rayas and the Sultans were often keen to keep each other's kingdoms stable.

NCERT (2026-27): “2.2 The apogee and decline of the empire …
Although the armies of the Sultans were responsible for the destruction of the city of Vijayanagara, relations between the Sultans and the rayas were not always or inevitably hostile, in spite of religious differences. Krishnadeva Raya, for example, supported some claimants to power in the Sultanates and took pride in the title “establisher of the Yavana kingdom”. Similarly, the Sultan of Bijapur intervened to resolve succession disputes in Vijayanagara following the death of Krishnadeva Raya. In fact the Vijayanagara kings were keen to ensure the stability of the Sultanates and vice versa. …”