The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c14.8

v1.c14.8

It is precisely this Prince to whom the foundation of the Nayakship of Tanjore is attributed. According to the *Tanjavuri Andhra Rajula Charitra*, the Chola country was ruled by Visvanatha Nayaka from Madura as a subordinate of the Emperor of Vijayanagara; but on the occasion of the wedding of Murtimambal (the younger sister of his wife Tirumalamba) with Sevvappa, Achyuta appointed the latter sole Viceroy over the Chola country, which was given him as the *stridhana*, or dowry of his bride ¹. The date of this important event is not yet ascertained: the first inscription of his that we know of is on a stone pillar in the Samusaru mosque, near the Tanjore Railway Station; it corresponds to the year 1549 ². But this was not the first year of the reign of Sevvappa Nayaka, for Achyuta Raya had probably died at the end of 1541. Now, we know from the *Tanjavuri Andhra Rajula Charitra* that Tanjore was governed by Visvanatha Nayaka of Madura, even after the death of Chandra Sekhara Pandya when the former had already been appointed King of the southern throne ³ (and this could not but have happened at the end of Achyuta's reign ⁴). Hence we must assign the same year 1541 as the probable date for the foundation of the Tanjore Nayakship.