The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c13.12

v1.c13.12

ed him in his former campaigns. There is no doubt that this was one of the first deeds of Visvanatha after his accession to the throne; because the History of the Karnataka Governors records that the reign of Visvanatha lasted twenty-six years after this settlement ¹. The towns and the villages belonging to each of these Palaiyams were specified from the beginning, in order to avoid quarrels among their petty lords. These Palaiyams were held in military tenure, and the Palaiyakaran, or Polegar as he was afterwards called, was responsible for the defence of each of the seventy-two bastions of the Madura fort: the very title of Palaiyakaran shows the basis which the power of these chieftains rested upon, because it means 'a holder of an armed camp'. The Palaiyakarans were theoretically at the disposal of their sovereign ².