Damarla Chennapa Nayaka
Damarla Chennapa Nayaka also known as Damal Chennappa Nayakkar[a] was a Nayaka ruler of Kalahasti and Vandavasi under the suzerainty of Vijayanagar emperor Venkatapati Raya (r. 1585–1614). He was also the Dalavoy or the Commander-in-Chief of the emperor.[1][2]
The city of Chennai (originally called "Chennapatam") was founded by his sons, Venkatappa and Ayyappa, and named after Chennapa Nayaka. It was established in order to separate the warring Europeans within the region, the Dutch based at Pulicat and the Portuguese based at Mylapore. Later the British establishment at Madras (Fort St. George) was set up to the south of Chennapatam.[3][b]
Family background
[edit]Chennapa Nayaka belonged to the vanniyar caste is obscure.[4] He married Akkamamba, the daughter of Venkatagiri ruler Velugoti Kasturi Ranga and younger sister of Velugoti Yachama Nayaka.[5] The line of Nayakas were chieftains during the Vijayanagar empire and attained full power after its decline, becoming independent Nayaks.[6]
Service under Sriranga Deva Raya
[edit]Chennappa served under Sriranga Deva Raya assisting him against the Golkonda forces of Ibrahim Qutb Shah in several battles, notably in 1576 when Penukonda was captured by Ali Adil Shah and in 1579 when he captured the Golkonda Commander Murari Rao.
Death
[edit]In 1580, Ibrahim Qutb Shah invaded Kondavidu. Later he took the Udayagiri Fort and began to massacre the locals. However he was defeated after a brief fight with the Raya's army. Qutb Shah later took the fort of Vinukonda. Sriranga defeated the Sultan's forces with the assistance of his generals Chennappa(Damarla was his surname) and Kasturiranga. During this fight, Chennappa lost his life. He was succeeded by Kasturiranga. The East India Company established the St.George fort in the present day Chennai, for which the permission was granted by Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka, the local polygar of that area, under the condition that the area is to be named in the honour of his father from Chennapatnam, which was a nearby town named by Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka in honour of his father, Damarla Chennappa Nayakudu, the East India Company in brief named the area as Madras.[citation needed]
Notes
[edit]- ^ The last name is also found written as 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.
- ^ The city was known by the name "Madras" during the British rule and also after Indian independence. The Government of Tamil Nadu eventually ordered it changed to Chennai.
References
[edit]- ^ Dr. Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar (2005). History of Gingee and its Rulers. The Annamalai University. pp. 132. ISBN 978-1-135-95970-8.
- ^ Vēṅkaṭācalapati, Ā Irā; Aravindan, Ramu (1 January 2006). Chennai Not Madras: Perspectives on the City. Marg Publications. ISBN 9788185026749.
- ^ Aiyangar, S. Krishnaswami (1994) [first published 1939 by Oxford University Press], "The Character and Significance of the Foundation of Madras", in Madras Tercentenary Celebration Committee (ed.), The Madras Tercentenary Commemoration Volume, Asian Educational Services, pp. 39–50, ISBN 978-81-206-0537-4
- ^ * Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India, ed. (1986). Annual Report On Epigraphy. THE DIRECTOR GENERAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA.
- 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 vanniyar 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.
- 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.
- W. Francis, ed. (1989). Gazetteer of South India. Mittal Publications. p. 20.
- ^ * 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.
- ^ Nanditha Krishna (2001). Varahishwara Temple - a history of Darmarla. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, Chennai.
Further reading
[edit]- Rao, Velcheru Narayana, and David Shulman, Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Symbols of substance : court and state in Nayaka period Tamilnadu (Delhi; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998); xix, 349 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., maps; 22 cm.; Oxford India paperbacks; Includes bibliographical references and index; ISBN 0-19-564399-2.
- Sathianathaier, R. History of the Nayaks of Madura [microform] by R. Sathyanatha Aiyar; edited for the University, with introduction and notes by S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar ([Madras] : Oxford University Press, 1924); see also ([London] : H. Milford, Oxford university press, 1924); xvi, 403 p.; 21 cm.; SAMP early 20th-century Indian books project item 10819.
- K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, (Reprinted 2002) ISBN 0-19-560686-8.
.History of madraspattanam as detailed by famous archeologist Edgar THURSTON, c.i.e., Superintendent, Madras Government Museum; Correspondent Etranger, Soci£t6 d'Anthropologie de Paris; Socio Corrispondante, Societa Romana di Anthropologia