After the death of Achyutaraya, his son Sadasivaraya succeeded him to the throne. Since he was a boy his uncle Sakalarasa imprisoned him. Ramaraya came to Sadasiva’s rescue and waged war against Sakalarasa who died after four battles.
Sadasivaraya ruled from 1543 to 1571. He was only a nominal king. All the powers vested with Ramaraya who recruited a large number of Muslims in his army. He had a desire to push Muslim kings to the north of river Krishna. The Muslim kings united and attacked the kingdom. The war took place at Rakkasatangadi on Tuesday the 23rd of January 1565. Ramaraya fought the army of Ahmadnagar while his brother Tirumala faced the armies of Bidar and Golkonda. Another brother Venkatadri took on the army of Bijapur. The Muslims in the Vijayanagar army joined the enemy and so Ramaraya suffered defeat. His head was cut off and brandished in the battlefield. More than one lakh soldiers died there.
Thirumala escaped to Chandragiri with the wealth of the empire. He took with him the emperor Sadasivaraya and the ladies of the royal family. Vijayanagara was looted by the Marauders for six months. All the people ran away from the capital. Tirumala instigated his son Venkata to kill Sadasivaraya. Thus the Tulu dynasty came to an end.