Nayaks of Kandy

Kandy Nayak Dynasty
නායක්කාර රාජවංශය
கண்டி நாயக்கர் வம்சம்
Kandy Nayak Dynasty; නායක්කාර රාජවංශය; கண்டி நாயக்கர் வம்சம்
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

The Nayaks of Kandy, also known as the Kandyan Nayak Dynasty (Sinhala: මහනුවර නායක්කාරවරු Mahanuwara Nayakkarawaru, Tamil: கண்டி நாயக்கர்) were the rulers of the Kingdom of Kandy from 1739 to 1815. They were the last dynasty to rule Sri Lanka before its full colonisation by the British. The term "Nayak" is derived from the Sanskrit word Nāyaka, meaning "leader" or "governor."

The rise of the Nayak family to power occurred after the death of King Vira Narendrasinha, who left no legitimate heir. As a result, the throne passed to his brother-in-law, Sri Vijaya Rajasinha, who was crowned in 1739.^[1] The Kandyan Nayaks were a cadet branch of the Madurai Nayak dynasty and were also related to the Thanjavur Nayaks.^[2] Like the Madurai and Thanjavur Nayaks,^[3] the Kandyan Nayaks were also of Telugu Balija origin.^[4] They spoke Telugu and Tamil, with Sinhala and Tamil being used as their court languages.^[5]^[6]

These alliances were strengthened through intermarriage between Kandy and South India, reviving the tradition of marrying South Indian nobility, which continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.^[7] The Nayaks were known for their childless marriages, which led to a non-linear succession.^[8]

The dynasty is noted for its contributions to Sri Lankan religious architecture, especially through the establishment of temples dedicated to their clan deity, Vishnu, also known as Upulvan in Sinhala. A notable example is the Kandy Vishnu Temple in the capital. Although the Nayaks practiced Vaishnavite Hinduism, they were also patrons of Theravada Buddhism, offering support to the Buddhist sanghas.^[9]

Four Nayak monarchs ruled Kandy, with the last, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, deposed in 1815 due to the collusion between the Kandyan nobility and the British. This led to his exile in Vellore Fort, India,^[10] and the end of the Kandyan Nayak dynasty, marking the last indigenous rule before Sri Lanka's colonization by the British.^[11] The Kandy Nayak flag, featuring a yellow lion holding a sword on a red background, became a central element of the current Sri Lankan flag.^[12]^[13]

^ University of Ceylon review, Volumes 14–16, p.129.
^ Enemy lines: childhood, warfare, and play in Batticaloa, By Margaret Trawick, p.40-41.
^
- Sheldon Pollock, ed. (2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. p. 413. ISBN 9780520228214. .... in the seventeenth century, when warriors/traders from the Balija caste acquired kingship of the southern kingdoms of Madurai and Tanjavur.
- David Dean Shulman, ed. (2020). Classical Telugu Poetry. University of California Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780520344525. ..... 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.
- 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
- Dr. B.Ramachndra Reddy R. Nata Rajan, ed. (2007). "Identity and Crisis of Telugu Migrants of Tamil Region". Itihas. 33. Andhra Pradesh State Archives and Research Institute: 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, and so were appointed as the rulers of these regions.
- G. S. Ghurye, ed. (1969). Caste and Race in India. Popular Prakashan. p. 106. ISBN 9788171542055. The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were Balijas , traders by caste
- 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
- Francine R. Frankel, M. S. A. Rao, ed. (1989). Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order. Oxford University Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780195620986. The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were balijas ( traders )
- Muzaffar Alam, ed. (1998). The Mughal State, 1526-1750. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-19-563905-6. 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.
- South Asia Politics. Vol. 5. Rashtriya Jagriti Sansthan. 2006. p. 14.
^
- 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Sri Lanka and the Maldive Islands, By Chandra Richard De Silva, p.111, p.137.
^ 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.
^ The Nayaks of Sri Lanka, 1739–1815: political relations with the British in South India, by Subramanian Gopalakrishnan, p.11-15.
^ 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.

[Ceylon14-16-1] University of Ceylon review, Volumes 14–16, p.129.

[2] Enemy lines: childhood, warfare, and play in Batticaloa, By Margaret Trawick, p.40-41.

[Madura/Tanjore-3] 
Sheldon Pollock, ed. (2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. p. 413. ISBN 9780520228214. .... in the seventeenth century, when warriors/traders from the Balija caste acquired kingship of the southern kingdoms of Madurai and Tanjavur.

David Dean Shulman, ed. (2020). Classical Telugu Poetry. University of California Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780520344525. ..... 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.

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

Dr. B.Ramachndra Reddy R. Nata Rajan, ed. (2007). "Identity and Crisis of Telugu Migrants of Tamil Region". Itihas. 33. Andhra Pradesh State Archives and Research Institute: 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, and so were appointed as the rulers of these regions.

G. S. Ghurye, ed. (1969). Caste and Race in India. Popular Prakashan. p. 106. ISBN 9788171542055. The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were Balijas , traders by caste

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

Francine R. Frankel, M. S. A. Rao, ed. (1989). Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order. Oxford University Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780195620986. The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were balijas ( traders )

Muzaffar Alam, ed. (1998). The Mughal State, 1526-1750. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-19-563905-6. 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.

South Asia Politics. Vol. 5. Rashtriya Jagriti Sansthan. 2006. p. 14.

[4] Sheldon Pollock, ed. (2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. p. 413. ISBN 9780520228214. .... in the seventeenth century, when warriors/traders from the Balija caste acquired kingship of the southern kingdoms of Madurai and Tanjavur.

[5] David Dean Shulman, ed. (2020). Classical Telugu Poetry. University of California Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780520344525. ..... 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.

[6] 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

[7] Dr. B.Ramachndra Reddy R. Nata Rajan, ed. (2007). "Identity and Crisis of Telugu Migrants of Tamil Region". Itihas. 33. Andhra Pradesh State Archives and Research Institute: 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, and so were appointed as the rulers of these regions.

[8] G. S. Ghurye, ed. (1969). Caste and Race in India. Popular Prakashan. p. 106. ISBN 9788171542055. The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were Balijas , traders by caste

[9] 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

[10] Francine R. Frankel, M. S. A. Rao, ed. (1989). Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order. Oxford University Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780195620986. The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were balijas ( traders )

[11] Muzaffar Alam, ed. (1998). The Mughal State, 1526-1750. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-19-563905-6. 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.

[12] South Asia Politics. Vol. 5. Rashtriya Jagriti Sansthan. 2006. p. 14.

[kandy-4] 
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.

[14] 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.

[15] 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.

[:0-5] 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.

[:1-6] 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.

[DeSilva111/137-7] Sri Lanka and the Maldive Islands, By Chandra Richard De Silva, p.111, p.137.

[Trawick40-8] Enemy lines: childhood, warfare, and play in Batticaloa, By Margaret Trawick, p.40.

[9] 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.

[10] The Nayaks of Sri Lanka, 1739–1815: political relations with the British in South India, by Subramanian Gopalakrishnan, p.11-15.

[11] Boda, Sharon La (1995). International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania. Taylor & Francis. p. 446. ISBN 9781884964046.

[12] 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!

[13] "The Sri Lankan National Flag". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 24 October 2020.

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Nayaks of Kandy

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