The city of Vijayanagara (Hampi), capital of the Vijayanagara empire, was founded on the banks of which river?

The city of Vijayanagara ("City of Victory"), the capital of the Vijayanagara empire, was founded on the southern bank of the Tungabhadra river, at the site now known as Hampi, in the Vijayanagara (Ballari) district of Karnataka.

Why the site was chosen:

• The area is surrounded by rocky granite hills, which formed natural defences.
• The Tungabhadra river provided water and protection on the northern side.
• The site had religious importance: it was associated with the goddess Pampa (a local form of Parvati) and the god Virupaksha (a form of Shiva).
• According to the Ramayana tradition, the area was Kishkindha, the kingdom of the monkey king Sugriva.

Water management:

• The rulers built tanks, canals and channels to bring water from the Tungabhadra to the city and the fields.
• NCERT notes that the Kamalapuram tank and the Hiriya canal were important parts of this system.

About the river:

• The Tungabhadra is formed by the joining of two rivers, the Tunga and the Bhadra, at Kudli (Koodli), in Karnataka.
• It flows into Andhra Pradesh and joins the Krishna river near Kurnool.
• A large dam (the Tungabhadra Dam) was built on it near Hosapete.

The Raichur doab:

The land between the Tungabhadra and the Krishna rivers, called the Raichur doab, was fertile and rich, and was the cause of many wars between the Vijayanagara and Bahmani kingdoms.

About Hampi:

• The ruins of Vijayanagara are spread over a large area, with temples, palaces, markets and fortifications.
• They were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site ("Group of Monuments at Hampi").
• NCERT discusses Hampi in detail in its chapter "An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara".

The founders:

The kingdom was founded in the 14th century by the brothers Harihara and Bukka of the Sangama dynasty.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Krishna, Kaveri and Godavari are other rivers of the south, but Vijayanagara stood on the Tungabhadra.