NAYAKAS OF CHITRADURGA

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF NAYAKAS OF CHITRADURGA: A TALE LESS CELEBRATED
Dr. Shekhar Naik
Assistant Professor of History, Government First Grade College
Channarayapatna, Hassan District, Karnataka, India
Abstract
History always cherishes the achievements and ruling of great emperors and eminent monarchs. The achievement of many 
small kings and their kingdom appears to be insipid, due to lack of spectacular narratives. But, as it could be traced in history, without 
the support of these small kings and feudatories, large kingdoms and so-called monarchs, would not have functioned effectively. 
These small kings and feudatories have always stood by their masters and demonstrated heroism during critical hours. For instance, 
during Vijayanagara empire, the rulers encouraged and implemented provincial administrative system, which provided feudal type of 
government, in which chieftains of small provinces were given autonomy in local administrative matters. In exchange these 
feudatories were contributing a large sum of money annually or at a regular interval of time. This feudal administration finally led to 
the growth of several small dynasties of rulers in tiny principalities and these rulers were called as “Nayakas”. In fact, there were 
many Nayakas representing different provinces. Nayakas of Chitradurga were prominent amongst them. Leaving their history and 
contribution is like missing many links in a long chain, which we know, will not sustain. The Nayakas of Chitradurga have 
demonstrated a strong and efficient local administration and played a vital role in safeguarding the empire local Muslim invasions. By 
providing the necessary military strength, which was required to beat off the Muslim attempts to snub Hindu Kingdoms of South 
India, these feudatories have contributed for safeguarding the native culture, tradition and to preserve the rich heritage of the land. 
Therefore, making an attempt to record the contributions and works of Nayakas of Chitradurga has been made through this research 
paper. This paper highlights the historical growth of Nayakas of Chitradurga and highlights their Socio, Economic, Political and 
religious activities, with the help of available sources. 
Keywords: Contributions, Feudatory, Local administration, Nayakas, Small kingdoms. 

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