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The Nayakas of Kalahasti were a line of rulers of Kalahasti and Vandavasi principalities. Members of the group include Damarla Chennapa Nayaka, after whom the city of Chennai is named. The Kalahasti Nayaks had their origins in the Velama warrior clans of present-day Andhra Pradesh. These Nayakas served as vassals of the late Vijayanagara Empire, then held by the Aravidu Dynasty and headquartered at Chandragiri and Vellore.

Notable rulers

Damarla Chennappa Nayaka

Chennappa Nayaka was a Nayaka and trusted general under Sriranga Deva Raya. He married Akkamamba, the daughter of Venkatagiri ruler Velugoti Kasturi Ranga and younger sister of Velugoti Yachama Nayaka. Chennai, the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is named in his honor.

Damarla Moodu Venkatappa Nayaka

Also known as Damarla Venkatadri or Venkatappa as he is called in Dutch records, was the son of Damarla Chennapa Nayaka. He was also in-charge of the administration of the Vijayanagara Empire during the reign of Peda Venkata Raya, and was the Nayaka of Kalahasti and directly controlled the region up to Wandiwash.

The land grant for the city of Madras was offered to the British by him and his brother, when they negotiated on behalf of Peda Venkata Raya of Vijayanagara Empire.

Damarla Ayyappa Nayaka

Damarla Ayyappa Nayaka was the brother of Damarla Venkatappa Nayaka and resided at Poonamallee to the west of Madras and administered the territory of Kalahasti for his brother.

Damarla Ankabhupala Nayaka

Damarla Ankabhupala Nayaka was younger brother of Damarla Venkatappa Nayaka and Damarla Ayyappa Nayaka Damarla Ankabhupala Nayaka was son of Damarla Chennapa Nayaka. He was Chief of Kalahasti. Ankabhugala was a well-known Writer In the Telugu literature Ankabhupala known by a Telugu Poem, Ushaparinayam which he wrote and dedicated to his father, Chennappa Nayaka and Ankabhupala has a single kanda verse (16 ganas with 64 matras) from which one can obtain 108 verses in the metre by shortening or elongating the vowels and changing the sequence of the word Damarla Ankabhupala was Royal Telugu poet

Damarla Timmappa Nayaka

Damarla Timmappa Nayaka son of Damarla Chennapa Nayaka. He was the Chief of Kalahasti.

Damarla Chenna Venkata

Damarla Chenna Venkata was the son of Damarla Chennappa Nayaka. Chenna Venkata was a poet. He wrote the Telugu poem Chitra Kavita.

Second Mysore Wars

During the Second Mysore War, the Nayakas of Kalahasti took to the side of Hyder Ali while their northern superiors Venkatagiri Kings took to the side of Arcot and the British.

Notes

1. The last name of the rulers is also found written as Nayak, Nayakudu, Nayudu, or Nayakkar, depending on the language and orientation of the writers. The first name (which is a family name) is also written as Damal, a simplified form.

References

1. Srinivasachari 1943, p. 94
2. "District Profile - CHENNAI". Chennai.tn.nic.in. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
3. Srinivasachari 1939, pp. 63–69.
4. • Alpana Pandey, ed. (2015). Medieval Andhra: A Socio-Historical Perspective. Partridge Publishing. ISBN 9781482850178. By this time there were many Velama principalities whose were called the Nayakas. Some of the famous Velama Nayakas of the time were those of the Kalahasti, Bellamakonda, jataprolu, bobbili, Velugodu Principalities.
   • Ravula Soma Reddy, ed. (2007). Studies in the Socio-economic History of Medieval: Andhra Desa. Research India Press. p. 150. ISBN 9788189131142. Another interesting thing to be noted in this connection is that several Velama Chiefs , after the conquest of the Rachakonda and Devarakonda Kingdoms carved out small principalities small principalities like those of Velugodu ( Kurnool district ) , Venkatagiri , Kalahasti , Bellamkonda and Nuzividu ( coastal Andhra ) in the Vijayanagara Empire , during the period of the last Sangama rulers.
   • Alladi Jagannatha Sastri, ed. (1922). A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas. Addison Press. p. 78. According to the social right established so early as during the days of the second descendant Prasaditya Naidu , under orders of the Emperor Ganapathi Rai , making the Padmanayaka Velamas the first and foremost in rank , the chiefs belonging to the other seventy - six Velama sects , Damara Venkatapathi Naidu of Kalahasti included , paid the customary respects to the Rajah on this occasion by keeping themselves standing . Damara Venkatapathi Naidu himself being the brother - in - law of the Rajah was allowed a seat in the south - east of the hall
   • W. Francis, ed. (1989). Gazetteer of South India. Mittal Publications. p. 20. Kalahasti Zamindari - One of the largest zamindari estates in Madras, situated partly in North Arcot District, partly in Nellore, and partly in Chingleput. Number of villages, 406 in North Arcot, 201 in Nellore, and 206 in Chingleput; area, 638 square miles in North Arcot, 576 in Nellore, and 250 in Chingleput; total population (1901), 223,327. The capital is the town of Kalahasti, where the zamindar resides. The history of the family, which belongs to the Velama caste, is obscure. The original owner of the estate probably received it from a king of the Vijayanagar dynasty in the fifteenth century, on condition of maintaining order. The estate at one time spread as far as the site of Fort St.George, and the Company obtained the land on which Madras now stands from the proprietor in 1639. The settlement is traditionally said to have been named Chennappapatnam in honour of the zamindar's father. The estate came under British control in 1792, and a formal grant to the family was made in 1801. The zamundar afterwards received the hereditary title of Raja. The gross income amounts to over 5 lakhs.
   • Illustrated Guide to the South Indian Railway. Higginbotham Publishing. 1900. p. 336. The Rajahs of Kalahasti appear to have always belonged to the Velama caste and to have come south with the Vijayanagar kings who made them menkavalgars or minor custodians , from which position they rose to be Poligars.
   • R. Parthasarathy, ed. (1984). Andhra Culture: A Petal in Indian Lotus. Government of Andhra Pradesh. p. 120.
   • C. D. Maclean, ed. (1982). Maclean's Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency. Asian Educational Service. p. 58.
5. • A. Krishnaswami, ed. (1964). The Tamil country under Vijayanagar. Annamalai University. p. 188.
   • Madras Tercentenary Celebration Committee, ed. (1994). The Body as Temple Erotica from Telugu. Asian Educational Services. p. 43. ISBN 978-81-206-0537-4.
   • LS, Vuppuluri Lakshminarayana Sastri (1920). Encyclopaedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States. Oriental Enclyclopaedic Publishing Company. p. 105.
   • Journal of Indian History. University of Kerala. 1927. p. 43.
   • IAP, Indo-Aryan philology (1930). The Journal of the Bihar Research Society. p. 145.
6. Srinivasachari 1943, pp. 157, 158.
7. Affiliated East-West Press, S. Muthiah (1987). Madras discovered: a historical guide to looking around, supplemented with tales of "Once upon a city. Affiliated East-West Press. p. 278. ISBN 9788185095608.
8. PPH, People's Publishing House (1970). A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526), ed. by Mohammad Habib and Khaliq Ahmad Nizami. p. 1112.
9. Srinivasachari 1943, p. 93.
10. The (India), People's Publishing House (1970). A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526), ed. by Mohammad Habib and Khaliq Ahmad Nizamis. p. 93.
11. MC, Madras Tercentenary Celebration Committee (1994). The Madras Tercentenary Commemoration Volume. Asian Educational Services. p. 42. ISBN 9788120605374.
12. Jyeshtha Literary Trust, S. V. S. Rao (1999). Vignettes of Telugu Literature: A Concise History of Classical Telugu Literature. p. 42.
13. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (1974). The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Mughul Empire. p. 594.
14. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (1974). The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Mughul Empire. p. 594.
15. Chennai, Henry Davidson Love (1913). Indian Records Series Vestiges of Old Madras 1640-1800. p. 347.
16. The hindu, S. MUTHIAH (2005). Explaining Chennai's roots. p. 7. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
17. Sundeep, Gowri; Kuppuswamy, Muthuswamy Hariharan (1982). Glimpses of Indian music. Sundeep. p. 90. ISBN 9788175740372.
18. Sastri 1922, p. 86.

Bibliography

• Rao, Velcheru Narayana; Shulman, David Dean; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (1992), Symbols of Substance: Court and state in Nāyaka Period Tamilnadu, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-563021-3
• Sastri, Alladi Jagannatha (1922). A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas. Madras: Addison Press – via archive.org.
• Srinivasachari, C. S. (1939). History of the City of Madras. Madras: P. Varadachary & Co – via archive.org.
• Srinivasachari, C. S. (1943), A History of Gingee and its Rulers, Madras: Annamalai University – via archive.org

• History of Chennai
• Telugu monarchs
• Tamil Nadu under the Vijayanagara Empire
• Nayak dynasties