TALIKOTA, BATTLE OF

(January 1565), confrontation between the forces of the Hindu raja of Vijayanagar and the four Muslim sultans of Bijapur, Bidar, Ahmadnagar, and Golconda in the Indian Deccan. The armies numbered several hundred thousand with large contingents of elephants. The battle seems to have been decided by the Muslim artillery and the capture and execution of the ruling Hindu minister Rama Raya. The capital city of Vijayanagar was captured, destroyed over a period of five months, and never reoccupied. The Raja and Rama Raya's brother Tirumala retired to Penukonda, where the latter usurped the throne (1570). The battle was decisive in breaking up the Vijayanagar Empire, a Telugu domination over the Tamil and Kannada South. It also began a final Muslim penetration lasting until the end of the 18th century.