00:00 The Scottish captain Colin Mackenzie visited the ruins of Vijayanagara, a once great and powerful empire in South India, and recorded his observations in a journal, describing the grandeur and magnificence of the crumbling city.

11:27 The Indian subcontinent, specifically the Deccan Plateau, is a geologically diverse region that has witnessed the emergence of human civilization for thousands of years, including the ancient Indus Valley civilization, which utilized elephants and possibly a form of writing, before its decline due to climate change and the arrival of the Aryans.

21:43 The story of Vijayanagara begins in the north of India, in the region of Delhi, where the earliest examples of written texts in Sanskrit, known as the Vedas, were laid down, leading to the emergence of the Vedic religion and eventually Hinduism, which is a diverse and varied religion with many different traditions and beliefs.

33:05 The arrival of Islam in India brought both conquest and culture, forming a cultural rift that split the Indian subcontinent in two, but also leading to the building of the greatest Hindu empire on the Indian peninsula.

43:16 Muhammad Khuri, a warlord born in 1149, led an army to conquer territory in northern India, eventually establishing the Muslim kingdom known as the Sultanate of Delhi, which ruled over a large part of India for the next 300 years.

53:20 Muhammad bin Tugluk, the complex and controversial ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, came to power in 1325 and had both intellectual and darker sides, ruling with paranoia and doling out harsh punishments, while also attempting failed modernization policies and making disastrous decisions such as relocating the capital.

01:03:17 The Sangamma Brothers, Bukka and Harihara, raised an army and captured a large part of South India, offering Hindu lords the opportunity to rule over a Hindu-run South India, while areas in the south still ruled by Muslim powers, such as the Madurai Sultanate, continued to fight for their existence.

01:14:16 The Sangama brothers built the city of Vijaya Nagara as a formidable fortress with impressive defensive fortifications, including walls, gates, and towers, to protect their new kingdom from the fragmented kingdoms that emerged after the collapse of the Delhi Sultanate, including the powerful Bahmani Sultanate, which posed a constant threat to the Hindu people of Vijaya Nagara.

01:24:38 The Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara constantly fought with the Bahmani Sultanate over territorial disputes, with the Bahmanis having the advantage due to their connections to the Muslim world and their early adoption of gunpowder technology, leading to the Hindus often paying tribute to their Muslim neighbors.

01:35:28 The city of Vijayanagara was a bustling and diverse place, with palaces, temples, markets, and a great amount of religious freedom, where people of different creeds and backgrounds could coexist peacefully, and it was also a place of cultural fusion, with a blend of Indian and Islamic styles in its architecture and a hybrid culture that combined Hindu traditions with influences from the Muslim world.

01:45:31 The city of Vijayanagara experienced significant changes in its military and infrastructure, with the addition of Muslim cavalry and Portuguese and Muslim gunners, as well as the construction of canals and the expansion of the city's markets and bazaars, while the Persian ambassador Abdul Razak described the wealth and splendor of the city, including the stone elephant stables and the red light district, and King Devaraya II's curiosity and fascination with the Muslim world, but being a king in Vijayanagara was dangerous, as shown by the assassination attempt on Devaraya II by his own brother.

01:55:24 After a period of chaos and dissolution in the empire, Saluva Narasimha seized the throne in a military coup, ending the Sangama dynasty, and the appearance of the Portuguese in South India in 1498 had little impact on the court of Vijayanagara until the reign of Krishnadevar Raya, who became one of the greatest and most famous emperors of South India, known for his justice, fitness routine, and successful campaigns.

02:05:52 Krishnadevaraya, the last great king of Vijayanagara, launched a successful campaign to take the Raichur Doab from the Sultan of Bijapur, but faced a fierce battle and nearly lost before rallying his troops and ultimately emerging victorious.

02:16:14 Krishnadeva and his troops slaughter their own fleeing men, causing them to turn and flee in the opposite direction, ultimately leading to the defeat of the Sultan's army.

02:26:24 Rama Raya rises to power and becomes the de facto ruler of Vijayanagara, imprisoning the young king and causing chaos and corruption throughout the empire.

02:37:18 Rama Raya, the emperor of Vijayanagara, plotted to turn the sultans of the Deccan against each other, but his insults and demands for tribute led the sultans to form an alliance and march against him in the Battle of Talikotta, where Rama Raya's superior numbers and firepower were not enough to secure victory and he was killed.

02:47:50 The city of Vijayanagara was left without leadership, military, or money after the defeat of Rama Raya, leading to riots, looting, and the destruction of the city by the sultan's armies.

02:57:51 With the leadership and administration of Vijayanagara gone, the city fell into ruin, becoming a ghost town where the remaining population resorted to looting and survival, while nature slowly reclaimed the empty streets and buildings, and the last of Vijayanagara's Nayaka lords went their separate ways, leading to the rise of the Mughal Empire in the north and the establishment of the British East India Company in the south.