Madurai Nayak dynasty

The Madurai Nayaks were a Telugu-speaking dynasty that ruled much of modern Tamil Nadu from about 1529 to 1736, with Madurai as its capital. The dynasty began as a viceroyalty of the Vijayanagara Empire, founded by Viswanatha Nayak, and it retained close cultural and political ties with the empire even as it became effectively independent in the 17th century. The Nayaks reorganized local administration through the palaiyakkarar system of armed landholders, rebuilt temples damaged in earlier wars and patronized a distinctive style of Nayak architecture with huge pillared halls, gopurams and palace complexes. Tirumala Nayaka, who reigned from 1623 to 1659, was the greatest builder, and Rani Mangammal, regent from 1689 to 1704, is remembered for roads, irrigation and welfare works. The kingdom traded textiles, spices and pearls with the Portuguese and Dutch, and Madurai became a major centre of Tamil literature and Shaiva scholarship. Dynastic disputes and the rise of neighbouring powers weakened the state in the early 18th century, and the last Nayak ruler was deposed in 1736; the region soon passed under the Nawabs of Arcot and then the British.