Context: The Karnataka Government recently notified that, the Vijayanagara has become the 31st district of Karnataka officially.  The district has its headquarter at Hosapete.

About the new district

• Named after the capital of the Vijayanagar Empire, the new district was carved out from Ballari under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.
• Vijayanagara, located in Hyderabad-Karnataka region, is famous for its UNESCO World Heritage sites – Hampi and Virupaksha Temple.
• The austere and grandiose site of Hampi comprise mainly the remnants of the Capital City of Vijayanagara Empire (14th-16th Cent CE), the last great Hindu Kingdom. 
• The property encompasses an area of 4187, 24 hectares, located in the Tungabhadra basin in Central Karnataka, Bellary District.

Reasons behind creating new district

• The govt. stated that it was necessary to create a new district citing administrative reasons, and added that some parts of the Ballari district were about 200km from the present headquarters.
• Carving out a separate district will help promote tourism to places such as Hampi, near Hosapete, and overall development of the six taluks, as Ballari district is spread over a large region.
• The move is widely seen as an attempt to wrest control of the minerals-rich region.

Criticism

• The plan of creating the new district was highly criticised and faced opposition from the ruling party. 
• Further, the move was criticised because of the view that division of the Ballari district to create a new district could lead to a linguistic dispute in between Telugu speaking people and Kannada speaking people with in the district.

About Vijaynagar Empire

• Vijayanagara or “city of victory” was the name of both a city and an empire.
• The empire was founded in the fourteenth century (1336 AD) by Harihara and Bukka of Sangama dynasty.
• They made Hampi as the capital city. In 1986, Hampi was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
• It stretched from the river Krishna in the north to the extreme south of the peninsula.

Vijayanagar Empire was ruled by four important dynasties and they are:

1. Sangama
2. Saluva
3. Tuluva
4. Aravidu

Krishnadevaraya (ruled 1509-29) of the Tuluva dynasty was the most famous ruler of Vijayanagar. His rule was characterised by expansion and consolidation.

• He is credited with building some fine temples and adding impressive gopurams to many important south Indian temples. He also founded a suburban township near Vijayanagar called Nagalapuram after his mother.
• He composed a work on statecraft in Telugu known as the Amuktamalyada.

Hampi or Hampe

• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is located in east-central Karnataka. The site is a pilgrimage centre of the Hindu religion. 
• The Hampi region used to be the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in 14th century. Hampi-Vijayanagara was the second-largest medieval-era city of the world following Beijing.