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JUNE, 1914)
THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA
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Badugas19 or northerners as the Telugu and the Canarese peoples were called. The Râyas of Vijayanagar were probably Telugus, though their capital was in the Canarese country. The imperial civil and military services consisted largely, though not entirely, of the Telugus and the Canarese The Viceroys were Telugu, their subordinates mainly Telugu, and above all, the thousands of followers who came with them were all Telugu. Nor could it be otherwise. A Telugu dynasty supported by a Telugu army and service, could not but send forth, for its own safety, into every quarter of the empire, Telugu soldiers and rulers. Refractory chiefs had to be subdued by Telugu generals, and tributary vassals had to be watched by Telugu political Officers. The result was, there came into existence a large number of Telugu colonies 50 everywhere in the south. Throughout the Tamil country, hundreds of Telugu villages came into existence, and Telugu customs and habits, creeds and cults began to mingle in complex companionship with the Tamil ones. Many a strange festival and observance, many a household name and superstition, was brought by the conquering colonists, and the civilisation of the Tamils became mixed up with the civilisation of the Badugas."
The causes of Baduga colonization. The causes and circumstances of the colonization were not the same in all cases. Some colonies had a military origin. They arose from the camps of the northerr army. camps which while on march resembled, in their size and their component factors, wving cities. The presence of a large number of men, and of horses and cattle, necessitated, wherever the camp was pitched, the opening of shops and the formation of villages; so to say, of the camp-followers. The frequency of military operations compelled the presence of engineers, masons, carpenters and other artisans. The Brahmins again, were indispensable as priests, as astrologers and as accountants. In this way wherever there was a noilitary encampment, there was necessarily a Telugu-Canarese settlement, consisting of all cantos and classes of the community. The camp in time became, after the conquest, a permanent colony; and even when the army was ordered to another locality, the activities which it stimulated there were adequate enough to perpetuate the village that was brought into existence by it. In this way many Telugu villages and even towns arose. Some colonies had perhaps a different peaceful origin. They possibly arose from the men of peace following in the wake of a northern viceroy who, however, was invariably a military commander also. But the vast majority of the Telugu colonies owe their origin, not so much to the State or the army, as to the valour and enterprise of numerous private adventurers; and this is borne out by hundreds of historic 1 MSS. They consisted, as a rule, of people, who followed the pastoral and other peaceful occupations of life. The majority of them were cowherds or peasants, some were soldiers and Sirdars in the Raya's Service, some minor chiefs, and some probably merchants and manufacturers. These men had naturally among them many who had been rewarded by the Râyas with feudal estates, or
19 For an interesting article on the Badugás, see Chris Coll. Magaz. Vol IX. 753-64 and 830-43. The Badugas who colonized the regions of Coimbatore and Nilgiris c to be called "Badagas". The Badugas were a race of strong and muscular physique, and they were always very ready to enlist in the armies of the Rajas of S. India." The Vijayanagar sovereigns employed them largely, as soldiers, generals, governors and viceroys. Vi vanatha Naik was only one of these. For a description of the Badaga customs, etc., of the Nilgiris, nee Grigg'e Nilgiri Manual ; Thurston's Castes and Tribes ; Chris. Col. Maga. Vol: IX. &c.
50 Wilks compares them to the Roman colonies. See his Wysore, I, 10. Also Caldwell's Tinnevelly, p. 48.
