Historicity

From the middle of the 16th century A.D. the Nayankara system became a prominent feature of the Vijayanagara provincial organization. Under this system the king was regarded as the owner of the soil and he distributed lands to his dependents, which were called the Nayaks. The Nayaks ruled over their territories with a great measure of freedom. In return they paid a fixed annual contribution to the imperial government and maintained a sufficient number of troops, and helped the king in his wars. In course of time, the Nayakship became hereditary, when the central control grew weak and inefficient. The Nayaks of Madurai and Thanjavur ruled as the subordinates of the Vijayanagara and soon rose to prominence. The sculpture and paintings are the main sources of information for the study of the dress pattern of the people under the Vijayanagara and the Nayaks rulers of Madurai and Thanjavur. They gave a fresh lease of life to Vijayanagara architecture.

• Nayaks
• sakachcha
• visiri matippu
• narsarikaiseelai
• mutu salavai
• salapanjikas
• Kurati

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