Global InformationNayaks of Kandy information
| Kandy Nayak Dynasty නායක්කාර රාජවංශය கண்டி நாயக்கர் வம்சம் | |
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| Royal house | |
 Flag of the Kingdom of Kandy | |
| Parent family | Madurai Nayak dynasty |
| Country | Sri Lanka, India |
| Place of origin | Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Founded | 1739 |
| Founder | Sri Vijaya Raja Singha |
| Current head | Raja Mohan Babu |
| Final ruler | Sri Vikrama Rajasinha |
| Estate(s) | Kingdom of Kandy |
| Dissolution | 1815 under the terms of the Kandyan Convention |
| History of Kandy |
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| Kingdom of Kandy (1469–1815) |
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| Colonial Kandy (1815–1948) |
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| Kandy (1948–present) |
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| See also |
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 Sri Lanka portal |
The Nayaks of Kandy (also referred to as the Kandyan Nayak Dynasty, Sinhala: මහනුවර නායක්කාරවරු Mahanuwara Nayakkarawaru, Tamil: கண்டி நாயக்கர்) were the rulers of the Kingdom of Kandy between 1739 and 1815, and the last dynasty to rule on the island. The term Nayak is derived from the Sanskrit word Nāyaka (meaning "leader, governor"). Their rise to power came about as a result of the death of Vira Narendrasinha, who left no legitimate heir- the throne passed to his brother-in-law, who was crowned as Sri Vijaya Rajasinha in 1739.[1] They were of Telugu Balija origin,[2] spoke Telugu and Tamil, and used Sinhala and Tamil as their court languages.[3][4] They are also credited for building various Vishnu temples in Sri Lanka dedicated to their clan deity Vishnu, known as Upulvan in Sinhala. A prominent one of them was the Kandy Vishnu Temple established at their capital Kandy. A cadet branch of the Madurai Nayak dynasty, the Kandyan Nayaks were related to the Thanjavur Nayaks as well.[1][5] Both Madurai and Thanjavur nayaks belonged to Balija caste.[6]
In total, four Nayak monarchs ruled in Kandy, the last of whom, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, was deposed as a result of the Kandyan nobility's collusion with the British and exiled to Vellore Fort in India.[7] The Nayaks of Kandy were notable for re-establishing the long-dormant tradition among the Sinhalese monarchs of marrying from South Indian nobility, and for their childless marriages resulting in non-linear succession.[8] The Kandy Nayaks were practicing Vaishnavite Hindus, however were also patrons of Theravada Buddhism and paid tribute to the Buddhist sanghas.[4][9][10]
The stability and power of the Kandyan Nayaks were heavily reliant on the support from the Madurai and Thanjavur branches of the House, particularly in the form of military assistance against the Portuguese and Dutch with alliances cemented by intermarriage between Kandy and South India.[11] Thus, intermarriage across the Palk Strait became a matter of policy for Kandy in 17th and 18th centuries.[8]
The Telugu-led dynasty of Kandy was the last dynasty of the island before being fully colonized by the British Crown in 1815.[12] The flag of the Kandy Nayaks based on the ancient Sinhala flags, a yellow lion holding a sword against a red background, is the main feature of the current Sri Lankan flag.[13][14]
- ^ a b University of Ceylon review, Volumes 14–16, p.129.
- ^
- A.Ramaswami, ed. (1962). Tamil Nadu District Gazetteers: Salem. Vol. 1. Director of Stationery and Print. p. 129.
They are popularly classed as kota balijas, who are military in origin and claim kinship with the Emperors and Viceroys of Vijayanagar and the Kandyan Dynasty.
- Markus Vink, ed. (2015). Encounters on the Opposite Coast: The Dutch East India Company and the Nayaka State of Madurai in the Seventeenth Century. Brill. p. 75 & 56. ISBN 9789004272620.
- A.Ramaswami, ed. (1962). Tamil Nadu District Gazetteers: Salem. Vol. 1. Director of Stationery and Print. p. 129.
- ^ Muthiah, S. (27 March 2017). "The Nayaka kings of Kandy". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
All four worshipped at Buddhist and Hindu shrines, used Sinhala and Tamil as court languages (though they spoke Telugu), and encouraged their courtiers to take wives from Madurai and Thanjavur.
- ^ a b Ricci, Ronit (31 May 2016). Exile in Colonial Asia: Kings, Convicts, Commemoration. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-5375-4.
They spoke Telugu or Tamil rather than Sinhala; they were by origin Vaishnavite Hindus rather than Buddhists, though they fulfilled their key responsibilities as defenders of the Buddhist faith.
- ^ Enemy lines: childhood, warfare, and play in Batticaloa, By Margaret Trawick, p.40-41.
- ^
- G. S. Ghurye, ed. (1969). Caste and Race in India. Popular Prakashan. p. 106.
The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were Balijas , traders by caste
- Eugene F. Irschick, ed. (1969). Politics and Social Conflict in South India. University of California Press. p. 8.
The successors of the Vijayanagar empire, the Nayaks of Madura and Tanjore, were Balija Naidus
- Sheldon Pollock, ed. (2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. p. 413.
.... in the seventeenth century, when warriors/traders from the Balija caste acquired kingship of the southern kingdoms of Madurai and Tanjavur.
- David Shulman, ed. (2020). Classical Telugu Poetry. University of California Press. p. 57.
..... in the Tamil country, where Telugu Balija families had established local Nāyaka states (in Senji, Tanjavur, Madurai, and elsewhere) in the course of the sixteenth century.
- Andhra Pradesh Archives, Andhra Pradesh State Archives & Research Institute, ed. (2007). Itihas. Vol. 33. Director of State Archives, Government of Andhra Pradesh. p. 145.
....It is told that the Nayak Kings of Madurai and Tanjore were Balijas , who had marital relations among themselves and with the Vijaya Nagara rulers
- Muzaffar Alam, ed. (1998). The Mug̲h̲al State, 1526-1750. Oxford University Press. p. 35.
As an arrangement, the Golconda practice in the first half of the seventeenth century was quite similar in crucial respects to what obtained further south, in the territories of the Chandragiri ruler, and the Nayaks of Senji, Tanjavur and Madurai. Here too revenue-farming was common, and the ruling families were closely allied to an important semi-commercial, semi-warrior caste group, the Balija Naidus.
- A. Satyanarayana, Mukkamala Radhakrishna Sarma, ed. (1996). Castes, Communities, and Culture in Andhra Desa, 17th & 18th Centuries, A.D. Osmania University. p. 145.
After the fall of the dynasty several Balija Nayudu chieftains rose into prominence. Tanjore and Madura kingdoms were the most important of such new kingdoms
- G. S. Ghurye, ed. (1969). Caste and Race in India. Popular Prakashan. p. 106.
- ^ The Nayaks of Sri Lanka, 1739–1815: political relations with the British in South India, by Subramanian Gopalakrishnan, p.11-15.
- ^ a b Enemy lines: childhood, warfare, and play in Batticaloa, By Margaret Trawick, p.40.
- ^ Aldrich, Robert (18 January 2018). Banished Potentates: dethroning and exiling indigenous monarchs under British and French colonial rule, 1815-1955. Oxford University Press. p. 40. ISBN 9781526135315.
- ^ Historians, Society of Architectural (1994). Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. The Society. p. 362.
- ^ Sri Lanka and the Maldive Islands, By Chandra Richard De Silva, p.111, p.137.
- ^ Boda, Sharon La (1995). International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania. Taylor & Francis. p. 446. ISBN 9781884964046.
- ^ Muthiah, S. (27 March 2017). "The Nayaka kings of Kandy". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha's royal standard, a yellow lion holding a sword against a red background, is the main feature of the Sri Lankan flag!
- ^ "The Sri Lankan National Flag". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 24 October 2020.