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Vijayanagar Empire –
Nayankara System
October 30, 2016 | No Comments

Vijayanagar Empire – Nayankara System

Vijayanagar rulers gave due importance to provincial

administration. The administration which existed in the
provinces was called as ‘Nayankara system’. It was
similar to that of feudalism in Europe. According to the
system, all the land were owned by the rulers. He
distributed the lands to his generals. They functioned
under his control and acted as feudal lords. This
administrative system flourished during the period of
Vijayanagar rulers. Based on the system most of the
lands were distributed among the Nayaks (land lords).
They lived with pomp and show and constructed forts for
their protection. They accepted the supremacy of the
Vijayanagar rulers and acted as their protectors.

The Nayaks who received the lands from the ruler,

distributed them to the tenants for cultivation. In turn the
Nayaks collected land tax regularly from the tenants. The
amount of tax was very high. Nuniz, in his account
mentioned that the Nayaks collected one tenth of the total
revenue as land tax. They collected the tax by arbitrary
method. No sympathy was bestowed on them. The
Nayaks gave half of the revenue to central government.
Rest of the amount was utilised by the Nayaks for
administration, military and other charitable works.
Accordingly, the Vijayanagar rulers received seventy lakhs
of Varagans from the Nayaks. Vijayanagar rulers spent
the major portions of the revenue for their luxurious life.

According to this system, the maintenance of army was

entrusted in the hands of Nayaks. Nayaks maintained a
standing army. The army consisted of the traditional
divisions of infantry, cavalry and Elephantry. They
assisted the Vijayanagar rulers with army at the time of
external threat. Particularly, the success and failure of the
Vijayanagar ruler depended on the efficiency of the army
sent by the Nayaks. Utilising the army, the Vijayanagar
rulers defeated the Muslims in several battles for
example, Vijayanagar ruler Krishnadevaraya invaded
Raichur fort with the help of Nayak army.

This system maintained cordial relations between the

Rayas and Nayaks. The Nayaks helped the Vijayanagar
rulers when they were in distress. They presented gold
ornaments and costly articles as gift to the ruler at the
time of temple festivals and birth-day functions of the
members of royal family. They used to present gold coins
worth fifteen lakhs Varagans to the Vijayanagar ruler at an
ordinary Deepavali function. They also provided all
required commodities needed for the royal family.

They Nayaks who enjoyed enormous powers maintained

law and order in their territories. They punished the
criminals severely. Separate force was utilised to deal
with the criminals. Adequate attention was paid for the
development of agriculture. Irrigational facilities were
improved. Various eries, kulams and well were
constructed all over the kingdom. They were maintained
regularly. With a view to extend irrigation forests were
destroyed. Generally, the Nayaks rendered meritorious
services to get the appreciation of the ruler. On certain
occasions, they were honoured by the rulers.

Though the Nayaks acted independently, there existed

political and administrative relations between the centre
and the province. The Nayaks enjoyed the rights to send
two representatives to the court of Vijayanagar ruler.
Among them, one person administered the Nayak army
stationed at the capital. The other person involved in the
activities related to Nayaks.

As the system functioned effectively, the Vijayanagar ruler

extended the Nayankara system throughout the empire.
As a result the number of Nayaks increased considerably,
Nuniz, in his account mentioned that there were more
than two hundred Nayaks in the Vijayanagar Empire. The
inscriptions and literary evidences proved that the Nayaks
system flourished under the Vijayanagar rule. Particularly,
Chinnappa Nayaka of Thiruvannamala, Palayya Nayaka
of Pooviruthavally, Mirunthiyachey Nayaka of Ponneric
Ariyadeva Nayaka of Thirukovallur, Thimmappa Nayak of
Tanjore, Perhappa Nayaka of Trichy, Raghava Nayaka of
Pudukottai, Chikkama Nayaka of Ramnad and Vairayya
Nayaka of Madurai were prominent among them.

Unlike the governors, the Nayaks functioned

independently. They did various constructive works for
the welfare of the people. Irrigational facilities were
increased to promote cultivation. Law and order was
enforced. Art and architecture were developed.
Numerous attractive temples were constructed. New
cities were founded. In short, they protected Hindu
religion and culture.

The Nayankara system flourished till the decline of

Vijayanagar Empire. Various reasons were attributed for
its decline. Mainly due to internal rivalry and foreign
invasion, the Nayankara system withered away.

Local Administration

For the convenience of administration the Vijayanagar

Empire was divided into provinces or Rajyas. The
provinces were further subdivided into Valanadu or
Kottam. Kottams were again divided into Nadu or
Chimai. Nadu contained certain traditional villages or
Gramams. Village was known as Isthalam. Traditional
administration flourished in the villages. The central
government did not interfere in the internal administration
of the villages. Nattavar looked after its administration.

The local bodies flourished during the reigns of

Kumarakampana, Harihara II and Devaraya II. Among the
local bodies “Sabha” occupied an important place.
Sabhas administered Brahmadhana and Devadhana
villages donated to Brahmins. So most of the members of
the Sabha were Brahmins. The local body which looked
after the administration of the ordinary villages were Urs.
Another local body was Nadu. It looked after the general
administration Sabha and Ur. In addition to the above
local bodies, there were separate committees. They
looked after the general interest of people in the villages.

The members served in the local bodies were elected by

Kudavolai system as existed in the Chola period. They
were elected in a democratic way. The village was
divided into a number of wards or Variyams or Kudambu
for the effective implementation of schemes. Each ward
contained a considerable number of houses. The wards
and elected representatives varies from village to village
based on the size and population.

According to the Kudavolai system of election, the names

of the eligible candidates were written on palm leafs and
put in a pot (Kudam) and shuffled. A small boy was
directed to take out the palam leafs. The persons, whose
palm leafs were picked up by the boy were declared
elected. Usually, thirty candidates were elected by this
system. The elected representatives looked after the
administration of various Variyams such as Eri Variyam,
Thotta Variyam, Pancha Variyam, Ponvariyam and
Kezhani Variyam. The members of the Variyams were
called as a Vriyapperumakkal.

These Sabhas met occasionally in the veranda of a

village temple, or under the shadow of the tree or on the
bank of a tank. They passed resolutions pertaining to the
development of the villages. These resolutions were
recorded on the walls of the temples. These Sabhas had
certain powers and duties. It regularised the land rights of
the tenants, improved irrigational facilities, maintained law
and order, protected the people, conducted festivals and
collected taxes. The Sabhas rendered meritorious
services to the people at the time of famine and invasion.
It awarded rewards to those who rendered meritorious
services. The members of the Sabhas were not paid for
their services. The village gave due respect to them.

Decline of Local Bodies

The local administration flourished in the Chola period

began to decline during the reign of Vijayanagar rulers. It
lost its importance in 16th century. Various reasons were
attributed for its decline. The introduction of Nayankara
System in the province and Ayyangar system in the
villages by the Vijayanagar rulers was the fundamental
reasons for the decline of local bodies in Tamil Nadu.

Ayyangar System

The Vijayanagar rulers during their administration in the

Ayyangar system instead of traditional local administration
in the villages. According to the new system the
administration of the village was entrusted in the hand of
a committee which consisted of twelve members. The
members of the committee were called Ayyangars. They
were Karnam, headman, Talaiyari, Prohita, goldsmith,
near kanchi blacksmith, carpenter, Kuyavan, Vanna,
Navithan and Chakilee. Among them Karnam, headman
and Talaiyari were important. The ruler nominated them.
Karnam looked after the land revenue account. He
maintained a register. It contained all details pertaining to
the village including the pastoral lands, wells, eries,
channels, etc. he maintained close contact with
headman. The headman collected tax from the people
and remitted to the government. Thalaiyari was entrusted
with kaval duty. Tamil people called Talaiyari as Vetti.
The common looked after the duties of the village Sabha.
Lands were donated to them as salaries. The
government took keen interest for the development of
Ayyangar system. Hence, the traditional local bodies
weakened.

Looting of Temple Wealth

Tamil rulers and temple authorities preserved gold,

precious stones, pearls etc. in the palaces and temples.
Due to frequent Muslim invasions the Tamil rulers were
defeated and temples were looted. They also destroyed
temples, palaces and madams. Hence, they lost their
importance. It was irrecoverable loss to the temples and
local bodies. With their decline, the local bodies such as
Sabha, Ur and Nadu lost their economic importance. At
this situation, nobody came forward to protect the interest
of the local bodies.

Administrative Changes

In the ancient period, traditional local bodies and temple

enjoyed enormous powers. It donated lands to Brahmins
and collected tax from the people. This system came to
an end during the Vijayanagar administration. They
introduced radical changes in local administration. They
appointed Thalayari and village head to look after the
work of the local bodies. Vijayanagar ruler took
necessary steps to popularise the new system (Ayyangar
System). Hence, the traditional local bodies such as
Sabha, Ur and Nadu lost their importance.

Reference: 1. Devanesan,

2. K.L.Khurana, Medieval India,

Keywords:Vijayanagar, Thalayari, Nayankara System,
Ayyangar System, Sabha, Ur, Nadu, Karnam,
Vriyapperumakkal, Kudavolai system, Brahmadhana,
Devadhana, Krishnadevaraya, Chinnappa Nayaka,
Thiruvannamala, Palayya Nayaka, Thimmappa Nayak,
Tanjore,feudalism, Vijayanagar administration

Arts, Culture, Heritage, History, Medieval India, Online

Resources, Tamil Nadu

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