Achyuta Deva Raya

Achyuta Deva Raya (died June 1542) was a emperor of Vijayanagara who succeeded his older brother, Krishnadevaraya, after the latter's death in 1529. Achyutaraya patronised the Kannada poet Chatu Vittalanatha, the great composer and singer Purandaradasa, one of the major proponents of Carnatic music, and the Sanskrit scholar Rajanatha Dindima II. Upon his death, the succession was disputed, sparking Vijayanagara civil war. His son Venkata I succeeded him but ruled for a very short period and was killed in a chaotic succession dispute in which many claimants to the throne were killed. The dispute ended when his nephew, (younger brother's son) Sadasiva Raya, finally became the emperor while yet a child, under the regency of Rama Raya, a son-in-law of Krishnadevaraya. His chief queen's name was Varadambika. Sadasiva Raya was probably the son of Varadambika's sister Hemavati and her husband Ranga Raya, the younger brother of King Achyutaraya. His second queen, Tirumalamba, was a noted poetess known for composing the Varadambika Parinaya Campu. During his reign, Fernao Nuniz, a Portuguese-Jewish traveller, chronicler and horse trader visited India and spent three years in Vijayanagara.