Book excerpt: 1565, Vijayanagara Empire When Krishnadevaraya, the great hero of the Vijayanagara empire, appoints his brother as successor to the throne, his son-in-law Ramaraya feels betrayed. Though he nurses a feeling of being let down, he is loyal to the empire. In the dark decades that followed – filled with internal feuds and external invasions – it took Ramaraya’s strong hands to bring back peace and prosperity to the land as the chief minister to the child emperor Sadashiva Raya. Ramaraya fought wars, schemed and negotiated his way to make Vijayanagara the greatest power of the land. Now at the height of his power and influence, Ramaraya learns of a new danger. The Deccan Sultanates, the pack of wolves who had always been snapping at the heels of the mighty empire, have now decided to unite for a single purpose – the destruction of Vijayanagara. The country needed a saviour; it needed him, Ramaraya. For how else could he finally prove to everyone that he was the true successor of Krishnadevaraya? THE FALL OF AN EMPIRE unravels the battle of Talikota, which sealed the fate of both, Ramaraya and the Vijayanagara empire.