Gingee Nayaks

The Nayaks of Gingee (Senji) were Telugu rulers of the Gingee principality of Tamil Nadu between 16th to 18th century CE. The Gingee Nayaks had their origins in the Balija warrior clans of present-day Andhra Pradesh.
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They were subordinates of the imperial Vijayanagara emperors, and were appointed as provincial governors by the Vijayanagar Emperor who divided the Tamil country into three Nayakships viz., Madurai, Tanjore and Gingee. Later, after the fall of the Vijayanagara's Tuluva dynasty, the Gingee rulers declared independence. While they ruled independently, they were sometimes at war with the Tanjore neighbors and the Vijayanagara overlords later based in Vellore and Chandragiri. Gingee ruler Surappa nayaka had a brother called Era Krishnappa Nayak whose son established himself in Karnataka and his family came to be known afterwards as the Belur Nayakas.

Origins

Gingee Nayaks had their origins in the Balija warrior clans of present-day Andhra Pradesh. According to the Thirukovilur Veerapandi Kari Varadaraja Perumal temple Temple inscription ( A.D. 1568 ) mentions that the founder of the Gingee dynasty,  Krishnappa Nayaka, belongs to  Kavarai community. The Tamil Jains Kaifiyat mentions that the Gingee ruler, Venkatapati Nayaka, was from Kavarai community. Kavarai is the Tamil name for Balijas who have settled in Tamil Nadu.

The Nayaka Rulers clan

The Gingee Nayak line was established by Tubaki (aka Tupakula) Krishnappa Nayaka, the son of Koneri Nayaka and grandnephew of Achyutappa Nayaka. Sanjay Subrahmanyam and Brennig provide the following details on Achyutappa Nayak:

Some of the Nayakas in the Gingee line were:
# Tubaki Krishnappa Nayak (1509–1521)
# Chennappa Nayaka
# Gangama Nayaka
# Venkata Krishnappa Nayaka
# Venkata Rama Bhupaala Nayaka
# Thriyambamka Krishnappa Nayaka
# Varadappa Nayaka
# Ramalinga Nayani vaaru
# Venkata Perumal Naidu
# Periya Ramabhadra Naidu
# Ramakrishnappa Naidu (- 1649)

Srinivasachari takes chronicles mentioned in copper plate grants into account and mentions the following nayakas in the Gingee line, noting governorship of Gingee began in Saka era 1386 / CE 1464:Srinivasachari, C.S., (1943). History Of Gingee And Its Rulers, p.78-84, 96, 121-122. Available from: https://factmuseum.com/pdf/south-india/pdf/History-of-Gingee-and-its-Rulers-By-C.S.Srinivasachari.pdf
# 1490 - Vaiyappa Nayak
# 1490-1520 - Tubaki Krishnappa Nayaka (originally Bala / Vala Krishnappa who became Tubbaki / Dubakki / Dubala Krishnappa in local legends).
# 1520-1540 - Achyuta Vijaya Ramachandra Nayak
# 1540-1550 - Muthialu Nayak
# 1570-1600 - Venkatappa Nayak
# 1600-1620 - Varadappa Nayak
# Appa Nayak - up to Muslim conquest.

Territory

The Gingee Nayak kingdom when established covered most of Northern Tamil Nadu including the present day Chennai, Puducherry and vast areas of Nellore, Chittoor, Vellore and Chandragiri. Its Southern boundary extended up to Kollidam River which marked the boundary between the Tanjavur and Madurai kingdoms. Later, during mid 16th centuries, the Gingee Nayaks lost control of the Vellore Fort and its Northern provinces when their erstwhile Vijayanagara overlords under Aravidu Dynasty took possession of these places and re-established their later Kingdom.

History

Historical time

In 1509, under the orders of Krishnadeva Raya, Vaiyappa Nayak led the Vijayanagar forces against the local chieftains of the Gingee area. Thereafter, Krishnadevaraya consolidated this area under one of his men, Tubakki (or Tupakula) Krishnappa Nayaka.

Krishnappa Nayaka established a heredity line of Nayak rulers who ruled Gingee from 1509 to 1648 AD. Krishnappa Nayaka reign lasted from 1507 to 1521.

Krishnappa's rule

Krishnappa Nayak is said to be the founder of Gingee city. The earlier name of Gingee was Krishnapura. Krishnappa Nayak built the Singavaram Venkataramana and Venugopalaswami temples and other structures inside the Gingee Fort. Krishnappa was said be a native of Conjivaram (Kanchipuram) and kept a flower-garden dedicated to the God, Varadaraj Perumal. The granaries of the Gingee Fort, the Kalyana Mahal and the thick walls enclosing the three hills of Gingee are attributed to Krishnappa Nayaka. Although Gingee had been a fortified centre as early as 1240 CE, it was during the rule of Krishnappa that the present layout of the Garh Mahal (fort) was established. Krishnappa is said to be the first Nayaka who converted a fort into an outstanding example of military architecture. Krishnappa Nayaka's rule was fraught with wars against the Muslims. Raghunatha Nayaka of Tanjore is said to have secured the release of Krishnappa Nayaka from the Muhammedans with the sanction of the Vijayanagar emperor. A grateful Krishnappa reportedly gave away his daughter in marriage to the Tanjore king.

Krishnappa's family

Krishnappa Nayaka came from a family of merchants. He was the grandnephew of Achyutappa Chetti who was a trader, a broker and a shipping merchant. Achyutappa's home-base was Devanampattinam of Cuddalore which he got fortified using his ties with the Nayakas and local militia leaders. Initially no more than a broker and an interpreter, by the 1620s Achyutappa's power as an independent merchant came to be on the rise, as was his standing in the elite politics of southern and central coromandel. He was aided by his brothers Chinanna, Kesava and an other unnamed brother. Achyutappa manoeuvered his quasi-diplomatic position by mediating in the internecine warfare of the 1620s between the poligar factions of Senji (Gingee) and Chingleput regions.

Achyutappa's quasi-diplomatic rise in status also emerged from his relations with the King of Arakan and Nayak of Madurai and even the Cochin ruler who used Achyutappa as an intermediary while attempting a rapprochement with the Dutch in the early 1630s. Acyutappa's main trade was shipping. He dominated the coromandel coast. Until 1634, the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) was almost completely dependent on Achyutappa and his relatives for the supply of rice to provision company factories. Together with Chinnana, Koneri, Kesava and Laksmana, Tubaki Krishnappa Nayak owned the Coromadel Shipping, with Royal Shipping as a partner. The Royal Shipping was owned by the rulers of Ayutthaya, Arakan and Kedah of Southeast Asia.

However, Acyutappa's activities were diversified. By the 1620s, along with his brother Chinnana, Achyutappa had become increasingly involved in farming revenue in the territories of the Nayakas and the Chandragiri ruler. When Acyutappa died in Mar 1634, the mantle of VOC's chief broker of Coromandel fell on his brother Chinanna.

Chinnanna lived an exorbitant lifestyle with 40 wives and innumerable children. Chinanna was politically more ambitious than his brother, Achyutappa, with a penchant for diplomacy and even direct participation as a field general in internecine warfare of the 1630s. However, his abrasiveness led him to fall out with his own brother Kesava and his nephews Seshadra and Laksmana. By early 1638, the family feud led Kesava and Lakshmana to persuade Tubaki Krisnappa to take Koneri as a prisoner. Koneri fled and sought refuge under Chinanna. However, when faced with the superior force of Tubaki Krishnappa, Chinanna surrendered.

Descendants

Sankariah Naidu, Zamindar of Chennappa Naicken Palayam was a descendant of Tubaki Krishnappa Nayak, the ruler of the Gingee. He was born on 1754 to a Telugu-speaking Balija merchant family in Cuddalore, then a part of the South Arcot district of the Madras Presidency. His father, Komarappa Naidu, who was a trader and a shipping merchant.

See also

* Madurai Nayak dynasty
* Thanjavur Nayak kingdom

References

External links

* Epigrāphiya Karnāṭaka (5,1): Hassan district 1: Hassan, Belur, Channarayapattana, Hole-Nasipur, Arkalgud, Manjavabad, Arsikere Taluks. Available from: http://idb.ub.uni-tuebingen.de/diglit/EC_05_1_1902/0929

Bibliography

*{{cite book , ref=Subrahmanyam, title=The Political Economy of Commerce: Southern India 1500–1650 , first=Sanjay , last=Subrahmanyam , edition=Reprinted , publisher=Cambridge University Press , year=2002 , isbn=9780521892261 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jgSMPKVh7f8C

Further reading

C. S. Srinivasachari, M. A., Professor of History, Annamalai University, History Of Gingee And Its Rulers (The University, 1943), ASIN: B0007JBT3GQuestioning Ramayanas – by Paula Richman
*Velcheru Narayana Rao, David Shulman. Classical Telugu poetry: an anthology, Page 63.
*B. S. Baliga. Tamil Nadu district gazetteers, page 427.

Nayak dynasties
Telugu people
Hindu monarchs
Telugu monarchs
Tamil monarchs
Tamil Nadu under the Vijayanagara Empire
1509 establishments in Asia