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continued.... Rama Raya's brother, Tirumala, fled southward with King Sadasiva and set up a base at Penugonda. There he rebuilt his army but was forced to accept the independence of southern provinces. In 1570, ignoring Sadasiva, Tirumala had himself crowned, thus founding the kingdom's fourth and final dynasty. He then retired in favour of his son, Sriranga, who reigned from 1572 to 1585. Sriranga struggled to beat off destructive invasions from Golconda, and to prevent the state from breaking up even more. His vigorous brother, Venkata, who ascended the throne in 1585, managed to stop the decline but could not reverse it. The next ruler, Sriranga II, was murdered after reigning for only four months. This event sparked off a long civil war. When Rama Deva Raya came to the throne his authority was little greater than that of his provincial governors. In 1642, an expedition from Golconda drove him from his capital at Vellore. His nephew, Sriranga, had himself crowned, but could not assert his authority and retired to Mysore. The empire effectively ended in the 1640's, but Sriranga kept a court in exile until his death in 1672. The Vijayanagar realm successfully united a region of many different languages and established, and benefited from, vigorous international trade. At its peak, it also sponsored brilliant achievements in literature and the arts. The rulers of Vijayanagar were Hindus, and occasionally claimed to be strict defenders of the faith. But they were quite prepared to ally themselves with Muslims, and employed Muslim servants when it suited them. The great and persistent weakness of the realm lay in its inability to prevent local governors from claiming independent authority and power. This was especially so when pretenders to the throne squabbled over who was to be king and thus provided opportunities for rebellion. Today, Vijayanagar (Hampi) is a deserted ruin which provides a magnet for tourists and archaeologists. In its greatest days, the capital covered an area of 33 square kilometres. It was ringed by seven concentric lines of defence and had a population of up to half a million.
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