Famous Kings in the History of Bharat : Harihar and Bukkarai !

Harihar and Bukkarai :The Kings who established the Kingdom under the guidance of Shakaracharya Vidyaranyaswami !

Kings establishing independent Kingdom of Vijaynagar

Harihar and Bukkarai were the famous Kings who had established the independent Kingdom of Vijaynagar under the guidance of Shankaracharya Vidyaranyaswami after defeating completely the Mughal attackers. They ruled over Vijaynagar from 1336 A.D. to 1376 A.D., that is, for 40 years and established a prosperous Hindu Kingdom. This Vijaynagar Kingdom, which is eternal in the History of South Bharat, is situated at the banks of Tungabhadra river.

Family Background

Sangama, a landlord from a Yadav family, was in the Court of ‘Hosala’ dynasty. He had 5 sons, namely, Harihar, Bukka, Kampanna, Marappa and Mudappa. The credit of establishing the Kingdom of Vijaynagar goes to these 5 sons of Sangama. Amongst his 5 sons, Harihar and Bukka gained more historical importance due to their great achievements. Out of 4 Royal families that ruled over Vijaynagar, ‘Sangama’ family was the first one.

Contribution towards establishment of Hindu Kingdom

Mughal rulers were invading South Bharat on a large scale in the 14th Century. Mughals captured the then powerful Kingdoms of Hosala, Sina and Kakatiy. At that crucial time, Harihar and Bukkarai getting encouragement from Shakaracharya Vidyaranyaswami and Saint Sayna, tried very hard to stop the Mughal invaders.

Harihar and Bukkarai were converted to Muslim by Mahmad Bin Tughlak; but by the blessings of Saints they got reconverted to Hindu. They had built up a well-trained army and established a Hindu Kingdom by demoralising the tumultuous Mughal invaders who had created a chaos in South Bharat. Harihar was the first King of this newly established Kingdom.

After Harihar’s death, Bukkarai took over the reign in the 1356 A.D. and continued to rule till the 1377 A.D. Emperor Bukkarai’s son, Kampanna, fought a fierce battle with Sultan of Madura. The Sultan was killed in that battle and South Bharat came under the reign of Bukkarai. Bukkarai was an able King. He fought two battles against Bahamani Sultan, one during the reign of Mahammad-1 and the other during the reign of Mujahid. He had conquered Goa region too and had brought it under his control. The then Kings of Malbar, Sri Lanka had accepted Emperor Bukkarai’s sovereignty, and they had maintained friendly relations with him.

Emperor Bukkarai had gathered learned persons who were asked to write the commentaries on Ved Scriptures in order to revive Vedic Dharma in the Nation. He also put a stop to the evil tendencies prevailing in the society. After Bukkarai’s death, ‘Harihar-2’ (Harihar’s son) became the ruler.