Anegondi

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Anegondi ಆನೆಗೊಂದಿ which literally means elephant pit in Kannada is a small village in Koppal district of Karnataka state, located on the north side of the Tungabhadra and opposite to the Vittala Temple. Anegondi was famous for being the supposed original capitol city of the Vijayanagara Empire. This began when Mohammad Tughlaq, Sultan of Delhi, defeated the King of Anegondi (Jambukeshwara Raya) and appointed Malik Nayab, his representative, to rule over the city. During this time, the brothers Hakka and Bukka organised a group following Vidyaranya's advice that successfully recaptured Anegondi without bloodshed through sneaking into the Anegondi fort and taking Malik Nayab prisoner while he was drunk. Later on, Hakka and Bukka (along with the help of Vidyaranya) would found the Vijayanagara Empire with Anegondi as its capital, though it was moved to nearby Vijayanagara in northern Karnataka as the empire continued to expand.