Nayaks of Gingee
| Gingee Nayak Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
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| Capital | Gingee Fort | |||||||||||||
| Languages | Tamil, Telugu | |||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||
| • | Established | 1509 | ||||||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1649 | ||||||||||||
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The Nayaks of Gingee (Senji) were rulers of the Gingee principality of Tamil Nadu between 16th to 18th century CE. 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.
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:
"...Achyutappa, it is generally believed, belonged to the Balija Chetti mercantile community, originally of Telugu extraction, but settled in the Tamil region as a part of the extensive migratory movement from the Andhra to the Tamil regions that began c.1350 and continued into our period. The family tree of Achyutappa – to the extent we are aware of it – was as follows: Siblings of Achyutappa: Achyutappa—Chinnana—Kesava—Brother(unknown)--Sister(unknown). Children of Kesava': Laksmana. Children of Achyutappa's Unknown Brother: Koneri—father of Krishnappa (the founder of Senji Nayaka kingdom)..
Some of the Nayakas in the Gingee line were:
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.
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Wikipedia