The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c19: Chapter XIII. The Tamil Viceroyalty
The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c19
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Chapter XIII. The Tamil Viceroyalty
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SUMMARY.—1. Venkata, the brother of Ranga II, Viceroy of the Tamil country.—2. Death of Krishnappa Nayaka of Madura. An estimate of his life.—3. Accession of Virappa Nayaka. Rebellion of the Palaiyakaran of Mavalipuram—4. His relations with the Pandyas and with Ranga I. First war between Madura and Vijayanagara.—5. Behaviour of Sevvappa Nayaka of Tanjore towards the Empire.—6. Beginning of the reign of Achyutappa Nayaka.—7. Some information about Jinji.—8. Chinna Bomma Nayaka of Vellore and Ranga I.—9. Other chiefs.
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CONTEMPORARY SOURCES.—1. Hindu inscriptions and grants.—2. History of the Karnataka Governors, Mrtyunjaya MSS.—3. Tanjavuri Andhra Rajula Charitra, Sahityaratnakara, Rukmini-parinaya, Bhavanapurushottama.
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BEFORE commencing the history of the successor of Sri Ranga I we shall give, in this and in the following chapter, an account of the two viceroyalties into which the whole Empire was divided after the death of Tirumala. We do not know whether, after Ranga was raised to the throne, he still kept the government of the Telugu viceroyalty, or whether a new viceroy was appointed. But we are rather inclined to believe that that territory was attached to the Tamil viceroyalty, both being under the governorship of Venkata, the youngest brother of Ranga. The above-mentioned Aminabad inscription relates that when the troops of Golkonda took possession of the fortress of Udayagiri, Venkata Raju was driven from the place ¹. If this Venkata is the brother of Ranga, as seems probable, his being found at Udayagiri would confirm our opinion.
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¹ S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources, p. 239-40.
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Anyhow Venkata continued to rule over the Tamil country, his capital being Chandragiri. An inscription in the ancient temple of Triplicane tells us that during the reign of Ranga, Tirumala Nayaningaru, the general of Venkata of Chandragiri, made a gift of the villages of Sembiyam and Nidambaram and a garden to the aforesaid temple¹. Gobburi Tirumalal Nayakkar was no doubt another general of his army. In the year 1579 he gave a piece of land at Kunrattur to the temple of Talasayana Perumal at Kadalmallai in return for the services of the King's brother Venkatapatideva Maharaya². It seems that during the time of his viceroyalty Venkata led a military expedition to Ceylon. Ranga I claims to have levied tribute from Ceylon³. But we are sure that he was too busy with the Muhammadans to spare the time to force the Ceylon sovereign to pay the tribute due to him. Now Venkata also boasts of having conquered Ceylon⁵, and since we do not know of any Ceylon campaign during the time of his reign, we may reasonably conclude that any such conquest took place only during his brother's lifetime.
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¹ 237 of 1903.
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² 255 of 1909.
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³ M. E. R. 1904-5, para 35.
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⁵ Taylor, O. H. MSS., II, p. 119. Cf. Sathyanatha Aiyar, History of the Nayaks, p. 76.
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2. The most important state subordinate to the viceroyalty of Venkata was Madura. Only a few months after the demise of Tirumala, the King of Madura, Kumara Krishnappa Nayaka also died. The date given for this event by the Mrtyunjaya MSS. corresponds to December 3rd, 1572⁶. He had been a capable ruler and a worthy successor of his father. His successful campaigns against Tumbichchi and the Raja of Kandi proved him also a valiant and resolute warrior. He thus checked for the rest of his reign the evil ambitions of the other Palaiyakarans. The Krishnapuram plates of Sadasiva speak very highly of his qualities as well as of his deeds. Krishnappa Nayaka, according to them, was a King "of sacred fame; the ocean of mercy, who was the jewel of the family of Kasyapa...who was always studying the art of protecting others; who was a wise man; whose mind was purified with truthfulness; who shone by his desire to do good actions; who possessed great wealth; who was endowed with the virtues of a wise man; whose policy was like that of Manu ;...on whom much wealth was conferred by (the god) Visvanatha, who was pleased with his devotion" ¹. The Kuniyur plates of Venkata III eulogize him, more than half a century after, stating that he was a ruler "who was renowned in the world, who seized the diadems of hostile kings in conformity with his name (viz. who was a worthy namesake of the ancient Krishna), who governed the inhabitants of the earth with justice, whose disposition resembled that of Kubera, the lord of wealth" ².
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⁴ Ibid., 1905-6, para 49.
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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, IX, p. 341, vv. 46-57.
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² *Ibid.*, III, p. 254, v. 50.
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Krishnappa Nayaka had founded two towns: one to the West of Tinnevelly named Kadaiyam-Krishnapuram, and another to the East of Palamcotta called Krishnapuram after his own name. To this he seems to have devoted greater attention; for he built there a Saiva temple, a Vaishnava temple and many agraharas: he dug out a teppakulam and furnished the town with all customary appurtenances ³. The Krishnapuram plates of Sadasiva give some more details; by his care "was built a temple at Krishnapura", they say, "which was encircled by a wall of the shape of the pranava and surmounted a broad and lofty tower. It has a large ranga-mandapa raised on a series of beautiful stone pillars and adorned with rows of spouts. He built a car like the Mandara mountain, and also broad roads round the temple, for the propitiation of the god Vishnu set up there" ⁴. Then in 1563 he made a gift of six villages and some lands to the same temple of Vishnu, (venerated there under the name of Tiruvengalanatha), 'for the merit of his father' ⁵. Two years earlier he had presented a piece of land to the Nelliyappar temple at Tinnevelly ⁶.
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³ *History of the Karnataka Governors*, Taylor, *O. H. MSS.*, II, p. 23.
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⁴ *Ep. Ind.*, IX, l. c.
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⁵ 17 of 1912; *M. E. R.*, 1912, p. 76.
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⁶ 121 of 1894.
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He seems to have continued his father's policy towards the Pandyas, as the title *Pandyakulasthapanacharya*, given him in the Krishnapuram plates¹, shows. His relations with the Emperor Sadasiva were those of loyalty, as the aforesaid plates prove: in them he is said ‘to know the truth about duty’²; and his influence at the court of Vijayanagara is seen in every verse of their text. Then a damaged record of Sadasiva, belonging to the year 1568, also mentions Krishnappa Nayaka³; and another inscription by the same King, of the year 1571, records a gift for the merit of the son of Visvanatha and others⁴.
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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, IX, l. c.
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² Ibid.
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³ 64 of 1903.
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⁴ 403 of 1912.
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3. Krishnappa was succeeded by his two sons Visvanatha and Virappa, according to the *Pandyan Chronicle*⁵. But the former is never mentioned either in the inscriptions or in the *History of the Karnataka Governors*; from which we suspect that he died shortly after and that Virappa Nayaka remained the sole ruler⁶. He is called Vira-Bhupati in the Vellangudi plates of Venkata II⁷. His queen was Tirumalambika⁸. An inscription at Goripalaiyam, Madura, on a pillar set up within the Muhammadan Masjid, declares that a considerable quantity of land was presented to the Mussulmans by Kuna Pandya, and that the grant was confirmed by Virappa Nayaka in 1573⁹. This is probably the earliest lithic mention of this King.
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⁵ Taylor, *O. H. MSS.*, I, p. 38. The succession of both brothers is also confirmed by the statues of the Nayaks in the Tirumala's choultry at Madura. The third statue is that of Periya Krishnappa Nayaka, another name of Virappa, it seems. Cf. Nelson, p. 105. The inscription of the fourth statue, as much damaged, cannot be read: I suppose this statue represents Visvanatha. Cf. Heras, *The Statues of the Nayaks of Madura*, *Q. J. M. S.*, XV, p. 212.
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⁶ Vellangudi plates of Venkata II, *Ep. Ind.*, XVI, p. 320; Padmaneri grant of Venkata II, Ibid., p. 297, vv. 62-64.
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⁷ Ibid.
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⁸ Padmaneri grant of Venkata II, *Ep. Ind.*, XVI, p. 297, vv. 65-66; Vellangudi plates of the same, Ibid., p. 320.
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⁹ 77 of 1905; Sewell, I, p. 292.
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It was probably not long after his accession that Virappa had the opportunity of giving a proof of his resolute character; "The king of Mavalipuram," says the *History of the Karnataka Governors*, "came with hostile intent, placed a fortified camp before Manamathurai and Kalaiyarcovil, and conquered some places in the Pandya country." This king of Mavalipuram was one of the Palaiyakarans belonging to the family of Mavali-Vanadarayar, of whose ancestors at the beginning of the sixteenth century we know several inscriptions¹. The action of the Nayaka was swift and decisive: he at once set out from his capital, defeated the chief, conquered his kingdom, and annexed it to his own possessions². That was a good lesson for the rest of his subordinates.
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¹ 109, 113, and 121 of 1903; 585 and 187 of 1902. Taylor, O. H. MSS., II, p. 143-4, is inclined to believe that the chief of Mavalipuram was the king of Mahavalipuram or Seven Pagodas.
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² *History of the Karnataka Governors*, Taylor, O. H. MSS., II, p. 25. One of the Palaiyakarans of Madura at this time was Kumara Ettappa Nayacker who had founded the city of Ettayapuram about 1567, shortly after the disaster of Raksas-Tagdi. In one of the wars of the Nayaks of Madura, Kumara Ettappa helped the Madura Nayak; but he was treacherously killed during the war. The Nayak, who was probably Virappa Nayak, out of regard for the deceased chief, conferred Kalugumalai on his family and granted the title of Aiyan to his successor. Ketchila Ettappa Nayacker Aiyan, Kumara Ettappa's successor, was a great warrior and an intrepid rider. He defeated the Setupati of Ramnad and captured from him some insignia of royalty and two state horses. Madhava Rao, *The Ruling Chiefs*, I, p. 597.
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His rule over Madura was also distinguished by the buildings he constructed, some of which still proclaim his munificence. The southern walls of the Trichinopoly fort, as well as the fortress of Aruppakkottai, Ramnad, were built by him³. But his chief work was the *mandapa*, erected in front of the shrine of Sundaresvara, the presiding deity of the famous temple at Madura, which is supported on beautiful 'pillars of rare workmanship'⁴. It was completed in 1583⁵.
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³ Ibid. Cf. Rangachary, *The History of the Naik Kingdom, Ind., Ant.*, XLV, p. 91, note 30.
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⁴ Vellangudi plates of Venkata II, *Ep. Ind.*, XVI, p. 320; Dalavay Agraharam plates of Venkata II, *Ep. Ind.*, XII, p. 187, vv 67-79; Padmaneri grant of Venkata II. *Ep. Ind.*, XVI, p. 288.
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⁵ Rangacharya, o. c., *Ind Ant.*, XLV, p. 91.
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This was not the only act of devotion towards that temple. He also presented the goddess Minakshi with a *kavacha* or mantle ‘made of gold and set with rare gems.’ He also made the sixteen *Mahadanas*, beginning with *hemasva* ¹.
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¹ Ibid., and Padmaneri grant of Venkata II, *Ep. Ind.*, XVI, p. 297, vv. 62-64. About his acts of devotion, see *Ep. Ind.*, XIII, p. 161.
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4. His relations with the Pandyas continued on the same good terms as during his father’s life. The copper-plates of Sri vallabha and Varatungarama Pandya record the gift of the village of Pudukkottai by a certain Tirumala Nayaka, with the approval of Virappa ².
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² *T. A. S.*, I, p. 61-88.
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His subjection to the Vijayanagara overlords is clearly shown in the epigraphical records in the first years of his reign. In 1577, ‘during the reign of Sri Ranga Raya,’ Virappa Nayaka made a gift of land for the merit of his father Krishnappa Nayaka to a temple of Krishnapuram, as stated in a local inscription ³. In the following year Virappa Nayaka, who calls himself ‘an agent to the King,’ made a gift of land to a temple in Sermadevi for conducting certain festivals ⁴. And in the year 1579, a record of Ranga in the Appar temple of Sermadevi, Tinnevelly, mentions Visvanatha Krishnappa Virappa Nayaka as his feudatory ⁵.
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³ 16 of 1912; Sewell, I, p. 310.
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⁴ 663 of 1915.
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⁵ 187 of 1895.
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But somewhat before 1583 a war broke out between the Nayak and Venkata of Chandragiri, the Viceroy of Vijayanagara. What was the cause of this rupture of relations? The success of Virappa against the Mavalipuram chief perhaps excited his ambition, and he consequently refused to pay his tribute to the Emperor. This was invariably the cause of all the following wars between Madura and Vijayanagara. Nor do we groundlessly attribute the same cause to the first of these wars ⁶. We are made aware of it by the Pudukkottai plates of Srivallabha and Varatungarama Pandya. They speak only of the final battle between the two armies: Venkataraja himself was at the head of his ‘huge army’, one of his officers being Basavaraja, a Telugu chieftain who had also been present at the battle of Raksas-Tagdi¹. Achyutaraya, the Tanjore Nayak, had also joined Venkata against Virappa. The army of Madura was commanded by Tirmularaja, who, in the same plates, is called the right hand of Virappa. He “employed in his wars against his enemies iron guns which he charged with leaden shots.” This Pandya document states that Tirumularaja killed Basavaraja in the battle of Vallaprakara, and defeated Venkata’s army. “The armies of Viraraja”, it says, “were destroyed, but that of Achyutaraja fled away. Tirumalalraja collected all the horses from the battlefield”². We may admit the first fact, but the defeat of Venkata’s troops is a figment of imagination. How can we explain the fact that Virappa Nayaka himself acknowledges the authority of the Vijayanagara Emperor in the beginning of the reign of the same Venkata, a few years later? These plates are all a panegyric of Tirumalairaja, at whose request the Pandya sovereigns made the grant of Pudukkottai. We are sure that Venkata obtained a victory over his enemies on this occasion. This implies also the payment of the tribute due.
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⁶ The tribute paid by Madura to Vijayanagara was, according to Barradas, 600,000 pagodas; Sewell, p. 230. Fr. A. Vico writing to Fr. A. Laerzie from Madura, August 30, 1611, states that the annual tribute of six to ten million *francs*; Bertrand, *La Mission de Madure*, II, p. 124. Queyroz, *Conquista de Ceylao*, p. 308, says: “O Naique de Madura le paga sinco centos pr. ano.”
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¹ Cf. Ch. IX, No. 3.
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² T. A. S., I, p. 84, vv. 61-67 and 161-164. If the date of these plates is correct, and there is no ground hitherto for reasonable doubt, we must place this battle during the time of Venkata’s viceroyalty in Chandragiri. It is very strange that Prof. Sathyanatha Aiyar, o. c., does not mention this rebellion of Virappa Nayaka at all.
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5. Passing from Madura to Tanjore, we find again in the old Chola capital the venerable person of Sevvappa still ruling over his kingdom, and making extensive grants to many temples during the considerable period of his peaceful rule³.
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³ Tanjavuri Andhra Rajula Charitra, S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Sources, p. 323.
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Sevvappa Nayaka’s attitude towards the Empire seems to have been that of a faithful vassal. There is an inscription in the Vallalgopuram in the Arunachalesvara temple at Tiruvannamalai, in which the names of both the Emperor and the Nayak's son are to be seen together. It deals with the remission of certain taxes in the villages belonging to the temple. This was done by order of Achyutappa Nayaka, Sadasiva still reigning ¹. Again, in the year 1566, one year after the battle of Raksas-Tagdi, and during the reign of his father, Achyutappa Nayaka made a gift of the village of Tiruvesh-kalam to several shrines of the Tirumalasthanam, for the merit of Tirumala Raya, then the Regent of the Empire ². Finally one year later, an inscription of Sadasiva at Tiruvannamalai records the remission of taxes in the villages belonging to the temple by order of Achyutappa Nayaka ³. This policy of Sevvappa continued unchanged during the reign of Ranga. In 1574, at the request of Sevvappa Nayaka, Ranga I granted the village of Arivilimangalam to the Madhva guru, Vijayindra Tirtha. The grant had been made by Prince Achyuta, but now the formal sanction from the Vijayanagara Emperor was obtained ⁴.
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¹ 567 of 1902.
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² 259 of 1913.
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³ 567 of 1902.
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⁴ *Ep. Ind.*, XII, p. 357, vv. 27-44. Cf. *Catalogue of Copper-Plate Grants in the Government Museum Madras*, p. 53-4.
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6. Further, these inscriptions show that during the last years of Sevvappa's rule, his son Achyuta took a prominent part in the government of the state. He was actually made Yuvaraya some time before the death of his father ⁵, most probably before 1577; because there is an inscription of this year in which Achyuta appears as actually ruling over the whole kingdom. Sevvappa's last inscription is of the year 1572-73; it refers to the son of Timmappa Nayakkar of the chaturtha gotra ⁶. Achyutappa's first inscription is dated 1577; it is found in the southern outer wall of the second gopura of the temple of Brahathesvaraswami in Tanjore, and records that Achyutappa Nayaka gave some land on perpetual free tenure to goldsmiths ⁷.
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⁵ *Sahityaratnakara*, canto III, v. 14.
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⁶ 497 of 1907.
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⁷ 22 of 1897. Cf. Kuppuswami Sastri, *A Short History*, p. 5.
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His Queen was named Murtyamba ¹, and his minister and general was the famous Govinda Dikshita ², a very learned Kannada Brahman, of whom we shall speak at length when dealing with the literature of this period. The Tanjavuri Andhra Rajula Charitra says that Achyutappa ‘ruled the kingdom in peace and prosperity for a considerable period’ ³. During his time, the *anicut* across the Kaveri was repaired and flights of steps at various places along its course were put up, as for example at Mayavaram, Kumbhakonam, Tiruvidaimarudur, etc. ⁴. We shall speak again of Achyutappa when we come to the reign of Venkata II.
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¹ *Raghunathabhyudayam*, S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, *Sources*, p. 285.
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² Ibid., p. 323.
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³ Ibid.
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⁴ *Rukmini-parinaya*. Cf. *Ep. Ind.*, XII, p. 343.
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7. Going northwards, Jinji offers us no better information at this period than during the reign of Sadasiva. According to the drama *Bhavanapurushottama*, Surappa Nayaka was still ruling at Jinji during the reign of Ranga. He seems to have helped the Emperor of Vijayanagara, either Triumala or Ranga I, to repulse one of the Muhammadan invasions; for which he is given the title of ‘the firm establisher of the throne of Karnata’. He founded the villages of Surasamudra, Peta-samudra and Vengalambapura, calling them after himself, his father and his mother respectively ⁵. Such is the slight information we get about Jinji at this time.
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⁵ S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, *Sources*, p. 272, note.
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8. During the time of Ranga, the chief of Vellore was still Chinna Bomma Nayaka, of whom we have previously spoken ⁶. We find him mentioned several times by the Emperor himself: one of the latter’s inscriptions records the gift of the village of Perumai, North Arcot, by Krishnappa Nayaka, his feudatory, at the request of Chinna Bomma Nayaka to the Jvarakandesvara shrine at Vellore ⁷. Two other inscriptions mention the donation of the villages of Sattuvachcheri and Sampanginallur under the same terms ¹. Chinna Bomma Nayaka is again mentioned in a Tamil inscription of Ranga I of 1578 at Devikapuram, North Arcot ². In 1582 he was still living, since an inscription of his at Adaipalam records that Appaiya Dikshita constructed the temple of Kalakanthesvara ³.
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⁶ Cf. Ch. VIII, No 12.
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⁷ 43 of 1887.
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¹ 41 and 42 of 1887.
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² 399 of 1912.
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³ 395 of 1911.
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Some other members of this family are occasionally mentioned in the lithic records of those years. An inscription of Ranga, of 1578, at Devikapuram registers a gift made to the temple for the merit of Agastyappa Nayaka of Vellore ⁴. Another of the same, of the year 1583, at Tindivanam, South Arcot, records that Virappa Nayaka, son of Pappau Nayaka of Vellore, who was apparently the governor of Padaividurajya, ordered that toll should be levied according to a fixed scale on all the articles brought into the market at Gidangil on Wednesdays, and that the proceeds should be spent on the repairs of the Tintrinisvara temple ⁵.
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⁴ 399 of 1912.
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⁵ 30 of 1905.
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9. Some other chiefs of the Tamil country are occasionally mentioned in the inscriptions of those years: first one Vaiyappa Krishnappa Kondama Nayaka, who built the wall round the Srimushnam temple ⁶; then one Achyutappa Nayaka, son of Bayyappa Nayaka, who established a shrine for the goddess in the temple of Adivarsha Perumal of Srimushnam, besides making several other gifts to the same temple ⁷; finally one Kanchi Paparaju, who gave some land to the Reddis at Kottapalli in 1585 in the reign of Sri Ranga Raya of Penukonda ⁸.
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⁶ M.E.R., 1916, para 73.
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⁷ Ibid.
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⁸ Rangacharya, I, p 622, 534.