The Assaka was one of the sixteen kingdoms in the 6th century BCE. The Assaka period was succeeded by the Satavahana Empire (230 BCE - 220 CE). This empire built the great city of Amaravati and reached its zenith under Satakarni. At the end of the Satavahana Empire, a divided Telugu region was ruled by various Satavahana feudatories. The Andhra Ikshvakus ruled the eastern Andhra country, along the
Krishna river during the latter half of the 2nd century. The Pallavas extended their rule from southern Andhra to the Tamil region and established their capital at Kanchipuram, probably in the 4th century. They increased in power during the reigns of Mahendravarman I (571 – 630) and Narasimhavarman I (630 – 668) and dominated the southern Telugu and the northern parts of the Tamil region until the end of the 9th century. Between 624 and 1323, a significant change came about in the social, religious, linguistic and literary spheres of Andhra society. The Kakatiya dynasty emerged as the largest state, bringing the entire Telugu land under unified rule. During this period, the Telugu language emerged as a literary medium, overcoming the predominance of Prakrit and Sanskrit through the contributions of Nannaya. The Chalukya Chola dynasty ruled the Cholas from 1070 until the demise of their empire in the second half of the 13th century. In 1323, the Delhi Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq sent a large army under Ulugh Khan (who later ruled as Delhi Sultan under the name Mohammad bin Tuglhluq) to conquer the Telugu country and lay siege to Warangal. The fall of the Kakatiya dynasty led to a new era under the competing influence of the Turkic kingdoms ruling Delhi, the Chalukya Chola dynasty ruling the south, and the sultanate of central India (Persio-Tajik). The struggle for Andhra ended with the dramatic The Vijayanagara Empire (also called Karnata Empire), referred to as the Kingdom of Bisnegar by the Portuguese, was an empire based in South India, in the Deccan Plateau region. It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of Sangama Dynasty.[1][2][3] The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts by the southern powers to ward off Islamic invasions by the end of the 13th century. It lasted until 1646 although its power declined after a major military defeat in 1565 by the Deccan sultanates. The empire is named after its capital city of Vijayanagara, whose ruins surround present day Hampi, now a World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India.[4] The writings of medieval European travelers such as Domingo Paes, Fernão Nunes and Niccolò Da Conti, and the literature in local languages provide crucial information about its history. Archaeological excavations at Vijayanagara have revealed the empire's power and wealth. The empire's legacy includes many monuments spread over South India, the best known of which is the group at Hampi. The previous temple building traditions in South India came together in the Vijayanagara Architecture style. The mingling of all faiths and vernaculars inspired architectural innovation of Hindu temple construction, first in the Deccan and later in the Dravidian idioms using the local granite. Efficient administration and vigorous overseas trade brought new technologies such as water management systems for irrigation. The empire's patronage enabled fine arts and literature to reach new heights in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved into its current form. The Vijayanagara Empire created an epoch in South Indian history that transcended regionalism by promoting Hinduism
