possession of their local sovereignties, and to have contented themselves with enforcing an acknowledgment of their paramount dignity, and exacting in times of emergency pecuniary and military aid. Such was the case with the Pandya and Chola kingdoms, which were governed in the reign of Krishna Raya of Vijayanagar by their own kings. A war broke out between Vira Sek'hara, the Chola, and Chandra Sek'hara, or Chandra Kumara, the Pandya prince, in which the Madura monarch being worsted, he was compelled to fly his country, and, in this distress, had recourse to Krishna Raya for protection and assistance. An opportunity of this nature was not likely to be disregarded by the Vijayanagar court, and Nagama Nayaka, overseer of the royal cattle, was despatched with a considerable force to reinstate the Madura prince, and punish the ambitious presumption of the sovereign of Tanjore. The task was easily effected; and Chandra Sek'hara seated on the throne of his ancestors. His restoration, however, was but nominal, as Nagama Nayaka retained the sovereign authority in his own hands, keeping the king of Madura in confinement, and disregarding the commands and menaces even of Krishna Raya, who found his successful general converted into a rebel.
The valour and conduct of Nagama Nayaka rendering the officers of Vijayanagar reluctant to undertake his chastisement, he seemed likely to maintain his newly acquired authority in perfect impunity.[1] To the surprise of the Vijayanagar court, however, an antagonist to Nagama was found in the person of his only son, Viswanath; a son whom he had performed a pilgrimage to Benares to obtain, and whom he had left for education, or who had not improbably been detained as a hostage, at Vijayanagar. As Viswanath Nayak had given many proofs of his military talents, and as his professions of loyalty were credited, he was accordingly intrusted with the unnatural duty of revenging his prince upon a father, and marched with a strong force against Nagama. The father was defeated and taken prisoner, and, according to one account, delivered to Krishna Raya by Viswanath, who replaced the legitimate king of Madura on the throne, and returned triumphantly to Vijayanagar, where, in consideration of the merits of the son, the
- ↑ The materials for the history of the Nayaks of Madura, although not very full, are, as far as they extend, satisfactory. They are, 1. A History of the Modern Kings of Madura, by Triuvercadu Mutiah, an ingenious native of the Carnatic, an amusing account of whose studies, written by himself, is published in the Asiatic Annual Register, for 1801; 2. A History of the Telugu Rulers of Madura, translated by Mr. Wheatley from the Tamil; and, 3. A Sketch of the History of Madura, to the reign of Trimal Nayak, Nos. 19, 22, 23. A fourth account (24) Is confined to the affairs of the descendants of Vijaya Ranga Choka Nat'h, who died in 1731. It is drawn up by the representative of the family, Vijaya Kumara Viswanath Bhangaru Trimala Nayak, the great grandson of the last Nayak of Madura.
