The Saluva dynasty was the second dynasty of Chandravamsa lineage to rule the Vijayanagara Empire and was created by the Saluvas, who by historical tradition were natives of the Kalyani region of northern Karnataka in modern India. The Gorantla inscription traces their origins to this region from the time of the Western Chalukyas and Kalachuris of Karnataka. The term "Saluva" is known to lexicographers as "hawk" used in hunting. They later spread into the east coast of modern Andhra Pradesh, perhaps by migration or during the Vijayanagara conquests during the 14th century.
The earliest known Saluva from inscriptional evidence in the Vijayanagara era was Mangaladeva, the great-grandfather of Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya. Mangaladeva played an important role in the victories of Emperor Bukka Raya I against the Turko-Persian Sultanate of Madurai. His descendants founded the Saluva Dynasty and became one of the ruling lines of the Vijayanagara Empire. Three emperors ruled from 1485 to 1505 after which the Tuluva Dynasty won the throne. They ruled almost the entire Southern India with Vijayanagara as their imperial capital.
