Water Resources and Fortifications of Vijayanagara (Class 12 History)
Updated 15 October 2026 · Fact-checked
Vijayanagara lay in a dry basin of the Tungabhadra, so its rulers dammed streams into reservoirs, built the Kamalapuram tank and the Hiriya canal, and brought water to the royal centre. Abdur Razzaq saw seven lines of walls built without mortar that enclosed even fields and forests, so the city could survive long sieges.
Notice that the walls enclosed fields too, and that stored stream water and river water both flowed to the royal centre.
Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.
Understand Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications
Why this topic matters. Water management and fortification are the two most examined physical features of Vijayanagara. Boards ask how the city's water needs were met, the significance of the Kamalapuram tank and Hiriya canal, the distinctive features of the fortifications, why farmland was enclosed within the walls, and Paes's account of tank building. NCERT sections 3.1-3.3, Sources 3-4.
1. The site. Vijayanagara ('city of victory') was the name of a city and an empire founded in the fourteenth century (by tradition and inscriptions, by Harihara and Bukka in 1336). The city was sacked in 1565 and abandoned. People of the Krishna-Tungabhadra doab remembered it as Hampi, after the local mother goddess Pampadevi.
- The most striking feature of the location is the natural basin of the Tungabhadra, which flows in a north-easterly direction.
- Granite hills seem to form a girdle around the city; many streams flow down from these rocky outcrops to the river.
- This is one of the most arid zones of the peninsula, so rainwater had to be stored and carried to the city.
2. How the city got its water.
| Work | What NCERT says |
|---|---|
| Embankments on streams | Built along almost all the streams, creating reservoirs of different sizes |
| Kamalapuram tank | Most important tank, built in the early fifteenth century; watered nearby fields and fed a channel to the royal centre |
| Hiriya canal | Drew water from a dam across the Tungabhadra; irrigated the cultivated valley separating the sacred centre from the urban core; apparently built by Sangama kings |
| Aqueducts | One led into the royal centre (Fig. 7.5) |
| Wells, rainwater tanks, temple tanks | Field surveys suggest these served ordinary town dwellers |
Krishnadeva Raya's tank (Source 4, Domingo Paes). The king placed a tank at the mouth of two hills so that water from both sides collected in it; more water came by pipes from over three leagues (about 15 km) away, from a lake that overflowed into a small river. Three large carved pillars connected to pipes used to irrigate gardens and rice fields. To build it the king broke down a hill, and Paes saw fifteen or twenty thousand labourers 'looking like ants'.
- What this shows: state investment on a huge scale, use of hills and gravity, and links between water, agriculture and the city's food supply.
3. Paes's first impression (Source 3). Paes could not see the whole city from any one place, as it lay among several ranges of hills; what he saw seemed to him as large as Rome, with many groves of trees in house gardens, many conduits of water flowing into the city, lakes in places, and a palm-grove close to the king's palace.
4. The fortifications.
- Abdur Razzaq, an ambassador sent by the ruler of Persia to Calicut (Kozhikode) in the fifteenth century, mentioned seven lines of forts. These encircled the city and also its agricultural hinterland and forests.
- Outermost wall: linked the hills around the city.
- Construction: massive masonry, slightly tapered; no mortar or cementing agent anywhere; wedge-shaped stone blocks held themselves in place; the inner portion was earth packed with rubble; square or rectangular bastions projected outwards.
- Farmland inside: Abdur Razzaq noted cultivated fields, gardens and houses between the first, second and third walls; Paes described rice fields, gardens and much water, fed by two lakes, between the first circuit and the city. Archaeologists have corroborated this, finding an agricultural tract between the sacred centre and the urban core, served by canals from the Tungabhadra.
- Inner lines: a second wall went round the inner core of the urban complex; a third surrounded the royal centre, where each set of major buildings had its own high walls.
5. Why enclose fields? Medieval sieges often aimed to starve defenders into submission and could last months or even years. Most rulers built large granaries inside forts. Vijayanagara's rulers chose a more expensive and elaborate strategy: protecting the agricultural belt itself.
- Advantages (inferred): food during sieges, protected irrigation works, and security for cultivators.
- Costs (inferred): far longer walls to build and guard, needing great resources and labour.
6. Gates and roads.
- The fort was entered through well-guarded gates linking the city to major roads. Gateways often defined the structures to which they controlled access.
- The arch and the dome over the gate are typical of architecture introduced by the Turkish Sultans; art historians call the style Indo-Islamic, as it grew through interaction with local building practice. Compare the gateway (Fig. 7.6) with a temple gopuram (Fig. 7.7).
- Archaeologists traced roads through gateways and finds of pavements. Roads wound through valleys, avoiding rocky ground; important roads ran from temple gateways and were lined with bazaars.
7. The urban core in brief. Little evidence survives of ordinary houses. Chinese porcelain in the north-eastern corner suggests rich traders; this was also the Muslim residential quarter, whose tombs and mosques resemble temple mandapas. Barbosa described ordinary houses as thatched but well built, arranged by occupation along long streets.
Key quotations
Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.
seven lines of forts
NCERT, summarising Abdur Razzaq (section 3.2): The Persian envoy's impression of Vijayanagara's walls in the fifteenth century.
The scale of the defences, which enclosed fields and forests as well as the city.
there are cultivated fields, gardens and houses
Abdur Razzaq (quoted in NCERT section 3.2): On what lay within the outer walls.
Literary evidence that farmland lay inside the fortifications, later corroborated by archaeologists.
No mortar or cementing agent was employed anywhere in the construction.
NCERT, section 3.2: Describing the outer wall.
Wedge-shaped blocks held the wall together by their shape.
fifteen or twenty thousand men, looking like ants
Domingo Paes (Source 4, NCERT): Watching labourers build Krishnadeva Raya's tank.
The enormous labour the state could command for waterworks.
Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications: key facts
- The setting
River natural basin of the Tungabhadra, flowing north-east Hills granite hills that girdle the city Streams flow from the rocky outcrops to the river Climate one of the most arid zones of the peninsula - Hence the need to store rainwater and carry it to the city.
- Named waterworks
Kamalapuram tank early fifteenth century; irrigated fields and fed a channel to the royal centre Hiriya canal dam across the Tungabhadra; watered the valley between the sacred centre and the urban core; Sangama kings Krishnadeva Raya's tank described by Paes (Source 4) - Plus embankments, an aqueduct to the royal centre, wells and temple tanks.
- Paes on the tank
Site at the mouth of two hills Supply pipes from over three leagues (about 15 km) Outlets three large carved pillars with pipes Work a hill broken down Labour fifteen or twenty thousand men - Water irrigated gardens and rice fields.
- Wall construction
Masonry massive and slightly tapered Mortar none used anywhere Blocks wedge-shaped, held in place by shape Core earth packed with rubble Bastions square or rectangular, projecting outwards - The outermost wall linked the hills.
- Lines of walls (outer to inner)
- 1.Outer wall round the city, fields and forests
- 2.Second wall round the inner urban core
- 3.Third wall round the royal centre, each building set with its own walls
- Abdur Razzaq counted seven lines of forts.
- Gates and roads
Gates well guarded, linking the city to major roads Arch and dome Indo-Islamic features Roads wound through valleys, avoiding rocky ground Bazaars along roads from temple gateways - Roads traced through gateways and pavements.
How to answer Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications questions
Expect 1-mark items (the river, who built the Hiriya canal, which traveller described seven lines of forts), 3-mark questions (water management, Kamalapuram tank and Hiriya canal, Paes on the city), 4-mark source questions (Paes on tank building) and 8-mark questions on the distinctive features of the fortifications.
- 1Begin with geography: the Tungabhadra basin, granite hills and the arid climate explain everything that follows.
- 2For water, name at least three works with one detail each: embankments, Kamalapuram tank, Hiriya canal, Krishnadeva Raya's tank.
- 3For fortifications, cover the observers (Abdur Razzaq, Paes), the construction (no mortar, wedge-shaped blocks, rubble core, bastions) and the three lines.
- 4Explain the purpose of enclosing farmland: sieges aimed to starve defenders; a costlier strategy than granaries.
- 5Add gates (arch and dome, Indo-Islamic) and roads (valleys, pavements, bazaars) for the full 8 marks.
- 6Mention archaeological corroboration of travellers' accounts to show source evaluation.
Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications in real life
The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.
Protecting the food supply, not just storing it
Suppose a hill town is often cut off by landslides for weeks. One plan is to build a large warehouse of grain; another is to fence in and irrigate the farms around the town so that crops keep growing during any blockade.
Which plan resembles Vijayanagara's strategy, and why is it costlier?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Most medieval rulers stored grain in granaries inside forts.
- Vijayanagara's walls enclosed fields, gardens and forests, so food could still be produced during a siege.
- Enclosing farmland means much longer walls, more labour and more guards.
Answer: The second plan; Vijayanagara protected the agricultural belt itself, a more expensive and elaborate strategy than granaries.
Memory hook: Wall the fields, not just the grain.
Storing rain in a dry land
Imagine a dry village between rocky hills where streams flow only after rain, and the villagers build small earthen bunds across each stream.
What would the bunds achieve, and how did Vijayanagara do the same on a larger scale?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Bunds hold back runoff, creating ponds that last after the rain stops.
- At Vijayanagara embankments were built along almost all the streams, creating reservoirs.
- Larger works followed: the Kamalapuram tank, the Hiriya canal and Krishnadeva Raya's tank.
Answer: Stored water for fields and homes; Vijayanagara built embankments, tanks and canals because it lay in one of the most arid zones of the peninsula.
Memory hook: Catch the rain where it runs.
Tricks to remember Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications
Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.
K-H-K waterworks
Kamalapuram tank, Hiriya canal, Krishnadeva Raya's tank: K for Kamalapuram (fields and royal centre), H for Hiriya (Sangama dam), K for king's tank (Paes, 'ants').
Use it when: Three named waterworks in a 3-mark answer.
No glue, wedge shoe
No mortar (no glue); wedge-shaped blocks lock like a shoe on a foot; rubble belly inside; bastions stick out.
Use it when: Construction features of the walls.
Razzaq counts, Paes walks
Abdur Razzaq counted seven lines of forts; Paes walked from the first circuit through rice fields to the city.
Use it when: Which traveller said what about the walls.
Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications: solved examples
Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.
Example 1: Who dug the Hiriya canal? · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
According to NCERT, the Hiriya canal was apparently built by the kings of which dynasty?
(a) Saluva
(b) Tuluva
(c) Sangama
(d) Aravidu
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- NCERT: the canal drew water from a dam across the Tungabhadra and was apparently built by Sangama kings (1 mark).
Answer: (c) Sangama
Example 2: Building the walls · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level
Describe three features of the construction of Vijayanagara's outer fortification wall. (3 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Massive, slightly tapered masonry linking the hills around the city (1 mark).
- No mortar; wedge-shaped stone blocks held in place by their shape (1 mark).
- Inner portion of earth packed with rubble; square or rectangular bastions projecting outwards (1 mark).
Answer: The outermost wall linked the hills surrounding the city and was a massive masonry structure that tapered slightly. No mortar or cementing agent was used anywhere: the stone blocks were wedge-shaped, which kept them locked in place. The inner part of the wall was earth packed with rubble, and square or rectangular bastions projected outwards from it.
Example 3: Assertion and reason: the gateway · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Art historians describe the arch and the dome over Vijayanagara's fort gateway as Indo-Islamic features.
Reason (R): These features were introduced by the Turkish Sultans, and the style grew through interaction with local building practices.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Both statements are in NCERT, and R explains why the style is called Indo-Islamic (1 mark).
Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Example 4: Water from tank to palace · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Explain how the waterworks of Vijayanagara served both agriculture and the city. Refer to two named works. (3 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Context: arid zone in the Tungabhadra basin; embankments created reservoirs (1 mark).
- Kamalapuram tank: irrigated nearby fields and fed a channel to the royal centre (1 mark).
- Hiriya canal: dam on the Tungabhadra; irrigated the valley between the sacred centre and the urban core, feeding the city (1 mark).
Answer: Because Vijayanagara lay in one of the most arid parts of the peninsula, embankments were built along the streams flowing from the hills to create reservoirs. The Kamalapuram tank, built early in the fifteenth century, irrigated fields nearby and also sent water through a channel to the royal centre, so it served both farming and the court. The Hiriya canal, apparently built by the Sangama kings, took water from a dam across the Tungabhadra to irrigate the cultivated valley between the sacred centre and the urban core; this farmland lay inside the walls and fed the city.
Example 5: Source-based: fields within the walls · 4 marks · Source-basedHarder board level
Read the source (summarised for this page from travellers' accounts quoted in NCERT) and answer.
A Persian envoy wrote that between the first, second and third walls of the city lay cultivated fields, gardens and houses. A Portuguese visitor of the next century added that from the first circuit of walls to the city itself was a long way, through rice fields, many gardens and plenty of water brought from two lakes.
(i) Name the two travellers. (1)
(ii) What common observation do they make? (1)
(iii) How have archaeologists tested these accounts, and why might the rulers have chosen this arrangement? (2)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- (i) Abdur Razzaq (fifteenth century) and Domingo Paes (sixteenth century) (1 mark).
- (ii) Farmland, gardens and water lay inside the fortifications (1 mark).
- (iii) Archaeologists found an agricultural tract between the sacred centre and the urban core, served by canals from the Tungabhadra; protecting crops guarded against starvation in long sieges (2 marks).
Answer: (i) Abdur Razzaq, ambassador of the ruler of Persia, and Domingo Paes, the Portuguese visitor. (ii) Both say that cultivated land, gardens and water supplies lay within the fortified area, not outside it. (iii) Present-day archaeologists have corroborated them by finding evidence of an agricultural tract between the sacred centre and the urban core, served by an elaborate canal system from the Tungabhadra. The rulers probably chose this because medieval sieges tried to starve defenders and could last months or years; protecting the agricultural belt itself, though costlier than building granaries, kept food supplies secure.
Example 6: Long answer: the walls that fed a city · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
"Vijayanagara's walls were built as much to protect food and water as to keep out enemies." Examine this statement with reference to the city's fortifications and water resources. (8 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Setting: arid Tungabhadra basin; granite hills (1 mark).
- Water: embankments, reservoirs; Kamalapuram tank; Hiriya canal; Krishnadeva Raya's tank (1 mark).
- Water reaching the royal centre: channel, aqueduct; wells and temple tanks for ordinary people (1 mark).
- Abdur Razzaq's seven lines of forts enclosing hinterland and forests (1 mark).
- Construction features and inner walls (1 mark).
- Fields within walls: Razzaq, Paes; archaeological corroboration (1 mark).
- Reason: sieges to starve; granaries versus protecting the agricultural belt (1 mark).
- Balance: walls also military and symbolic (bastions, guarded gates, walled royal centre); conclusion (1 mark).
Answer: Vijayanagara stood in the natural basin of the Tungabhadra, surrounded by granite hills, in one of the most arid zones of the peninsula. Survival depended on storing rainwater and carrying it to the city. Embankments built along almost all the streams created reservoirs; the Kamalapuram tank of the early fifteenth century irrigated nearby fields and sent water by channel to the royal centre; the Hiriya canal, apparently built by the Sangama kings, took water from a dam across the Tungabhadra to the cultivated valley between the sacred centre and the urban core. Paes described Krishnadeva Raya's tank, fed by pipes from about fifteen kilometres away, for which a hill was broken down and fifteen to twenty thousand men worked. Ordinary people probably used wells, rainwater tanks and temple tanks.
The walls were designed around these resources. Abdur Razzaq, the Persian envoy, counted seven lines of forts, which encircled not only the city but its agricultural hinterland and forests. He saw fields, gardens and houses between the first three walls, and Paes walked through rice fields and gardens watered from two lakes before reaching the city; archaeologists have confirmed an agricultural tract inside the walls served by canals. The reason was strategic: medieval sieges aimed to starve defenders and could last months or years. Instead of relying only on granaries, the rulers adopted the more expensive strategy of protecting the agricultural belt itself.
The walls were, of course, also military works. The outer wall linked the hills, its tapered masonry built without mortar from wedge-shaped blocks around a rubble core, with projecting bastions. A second line enclosed the urban core and a third the royal centre, where each major complex had its own walls; guarded gates with Indo-Islamic arches and domes controlled access to roads.
The statement is therefore largely valid: the fortifications defended the city against enemies, but their most distinctive feature was that they protected the fields and waterworks on which the city's survival depended.
Where students lose marks in Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications
The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.
Mistake: Naming the Kaveri or Krishna as the river at Vijayanagara
Both rivers appear in the chapter.
Wrong working
Vijayanagara lay on the Kaveri.
Right working
It lay in the basin of the Tungabhadra, which flows north-east.
Do this: Tungabhadra = Hampi.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Crediting the Hiriya canal to Krishnadeva Raya
He is the best-known king.
Wrong working
Krishnadeva Raya built the Hiriya canal.
Right working
The Hiriya canal was apparently built by Sangama kings; Paes describes a separate tank built by Krishnadeva Raya.
Do this: H for Hiriya, S for Sangama; K for the king's tank.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Describing the walls without saying what they enclosed
Focusing only on stones and bastions.
Wrong working
The walls were strong and had bastions.
Right working
The walls also enclosed agricultural land and forests, a deliberate strategy against sieges.
Do this: Always add 'fields inside' and the reason.
Usually costs: 2-3 marks in 8-mark answers.
Mistake: Attributing 'seven lines of forts' to Paes
Two travellers describe the walls.
Wrong working
Domingo Paes counted seven lines of forts.
Right working
Abdur Razzaq (fifteenth century) mentioned seven lines; Paes (sixteenth century) described the fields and the tank.
Do this: Razzaq counts, Paes walks.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Exam tips
- Asked in: 2024 board paper 61/1/1 Q24, 2025 board paper 61/4/1 Q24(a) and 2026 board paper 61/1/1 Q25(a) (3 marks, water resources, Kamalapuram tank and Hiriya canal); 2024 board paper 61/3/1 Q32 (4-mark source, Paes on how tanks were built); 2024 board paper 61/5/1 Q29(b), 2026 board paper 61/2/1 Q29(b) and 61/3/1 Q29(b), sample papers 2025-26 Q29.B and 2026-27 Q29 A (8 marks, fortifications); 1-mark items such as 2024 61/2/1 Q10 (the Tungabhadra) and sample paper 2023-24 Q16 (Abdur Razzaq). Answers here are our own.
- In 8-mark fortification answers, structure: observers, construction, farmland inside and why, inner walls, gates and roads.
- Use numbers: seven lines of forts, three leagues (about 15 km), fifteen to twenty thousand workers, early fifteenth century for Kamalapuram.
- Show source evaluation: travellers' accounts corroborated by archaeologists.
Practice questions on Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications
Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.
Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
The river whose basin formed the site of Vijayanagara flows in which direction?
(a) South-westerly
(b) North-easterly
(c) Due east
(d) Due southHint
The Tungabhadra.
Answer
(b) North-easterly.
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
Which traveller mentioned seven lines of forts at Vijayanagara, and from where was he sent? (2 marks)
Hint
A fifteenth-century ambassador.
Answer
Abdur Razzaq, who came in the fifteenth century as the Persian ruler's ambassador to Calicut (now Kozhikode).
Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
What does Paes's account of Krishnadeva Raya's tank reveal about the resources and priorities of the Vijayanagara state? (3 marks)
Hint
Labour, engineering, irrigation.
Answer
It reveals that the state could command enormous labour: fifteen or twenty thousand men worked on the tank and a hill was broken down. It shows engineering skill: the tank was placed at the mouth of two hills to collect runoff and was fed by pipes from a lake about three leagues away. It shows priorities: the water, released through carved pillars connected to pipes, irrigated gardens and rice fields, so the king invested in agriculture and the city's food supply.
Q4 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
How did the gateways and roads of Vijayanagara reflect both defence needs and wider architectural influences? (3 marks)
Hint
Guarded gates, arch and dome, valleys, bazaars.
Answer
Defence: the fort could only be entered through well-guarded gates, which also linked the city to major roads and regulated access to structures. Influence: the arch and the dome over the gateway are features introduced by the Turkish Sultans, part of the Indo-Islamic style that grew through interaction with local building practices. Roads wound through valleys to avoid rocky terrain, and the important ones ran from temple gateways lined with bazaars, linking defence, worship and trade.
Q5 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Mortar was used to bind the stones of Vijayanagara's outer wall.
Reason (R): The stone blocks of the outer wall were wedge-shaped.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.Hint
What held the blocks in place?
Answer
(d) A is false but R is true: no mortar was used; the wedge shape held the blocks in place.
Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Suppose a city planner today wants to learn from Vijayanagara's water system for a dry hilly town. Which two features would you recommend, and what limitation of the historical evidence should she keep in mind? (3 marks)
Hint
Embankments, tanks, canals; ordinary people's water.
Answer
Recommend embankments on seasonal streams to create reservoirs, and large tanks like Kamalapuram linked by channels to both farms and the town; a canal from a river dam, like the Hiriya canal, could irrigate land within the town limits. Limitation: our evidence is strongest for royal works and the royal centre; for ordinary people we only have field surveys suggesting wells, rainwater tanks and temple tanks, so we know little about how fairly water was shared.
Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
"Enclosing farmland within the walls was a sign of strength, but also a burden." Evaluate this statement. (4 marks)
Hint
Sieges and food versus cost and labour.
Answer
Strength: it secured food during sieges, which often aimed to starve defenders and could last months or years; it protected the canals and fields that fed the city; travellers like Abdur Razzaq and Paes were impressed by it, and archaeologists have confirmed the farmland inside. Burden: NCERT calls it a more expensive and elaborate strategy than building granaries; walls that linked hills and encircled fields and forests needed vast resources and labour to build and guard. On balance it reflects the wealth and organising power of the state, which could afford such a costly defence.
Test your recall
Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.
1.In which direction does the Tungabhadra flow at Vijayanagara?Show answer
North-easterly.
2.When was the Kamalapuram tank built?Show answer
In the early years of the fifteenth century.
3.Which area did the Hiriya canal irrigate?Show answer
The cultivated valley between the sacred centre and the urban core.
4.What held the stones of the outer wall together?Show answer
Their wedge shape; no mortar was used.
5.What lay inside the walls besides the city?Show answer
Agricultural tracts, gardens and forests.
6.Which architectural features of the city gateway are Indo-Islamic?Show answer
The arch and the dome over the gate.
Vijayanagara Water Resources and Fortifications: frequently asked questions
How were the water needs of Vijayanagara met?
By embankments on streams that formed reservoirs, the Kamalapuram tank, the Hiriya canal from a dam on the Tungabhadra, Krishnadeva Raya's tank, channels and aqueducts to the royal centre, and wells and temple tanks for ordinary people.
Why did Vijayanagara enclose farmland within its walls?
Sieges often tried to starve defenders and could last months or years, so the rulers protected the agricultural belt itself rather than relying only on granaries.
What was special about the walls of Vijayanagara?
They formed several lines (seven according to Abdur Razzaq), linked the surrounding hills, used wedge-shaped stone blocks without mortar around an earth-and-rubble core, had projecting bastions and enclosed fields and forests.
Who built the Hiriya canal?
According to NCERT, it was apparently built by kings of the Sangama dynasty.