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SEPTEMBER, 1914.] THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA
grasp of the circumstances under which the campaign was organized leaves no problem as regards the causus belli. Students of epigraphy will easily remember how in the time of Krishna Diva Râya's administration, there ruled in the basin of the Kâvêri and the Vaigai a great Sâluva chieftain of the name of Chellappa34 Vîra Narasimha Nâikar, who had gained the first place among Krishna Dêva's grandees and who had been only looking for a timely opportunity to declare himself independent. The death of Krishna Dêva Râya and the difficulties in which Achyuta Râya was involved with the Sultân and the Gajapati, afforded him the long-wished-for opportunity. Sâluva Nâik would probably have been reconciled to subordination and allegiance, if he had been approached with tact and friendship by the new emperor: But immediately after Achyuta Râya's accession, an event happened which had exactly the contrary effect, which did not only increase the vassal's discontent, but drove him into actual rebellion. This was the rise of a formidable rival, Mahamandalêsvara35 Tirumalaiya Mahârája, in the court and counsels of Achyuta Râya.
The causes of the Tinnevelly Campaign.
Tirumalaiya was the head of the Salaka chiefs, and had distinguished himself in the camp as well as the court. He was, moreover, closely allied by blood to the emperor, for the latter had married his sister. The Salaka chiefs again, had evidently long been the rivals of the Saluvas, and in the keen race for office and distinction had not unoften perhaps come into conflict. The result of all this was the growing discontent of Sâluva Naik. He could not endure to see himself dethroned from the post of first minister by a rival. He could not follow the imperious lead of a man who obstructed his own views of ambition and chances of distinction, and who, thanks to his family, his tradition, his office, and his kinship with the emperor, was his deadly enemy. Either he or Tirumalaiya must go. They could not live side by side, and as the emperor was naturally partial to the Salaka chief, Sâluva Naik felt that he had nothing more to gain by his loyalty to the Empire. From a long-standing feudatory he now changed into an irreconcileable foe, and prepared to gain allies. And they were not wanting. Between Madura and Tinnevelly, there was one of the most turbulent feudatory chiefs of the age-the celebrated Tumbichchi30 Naik. A restless and greedy soldier, he was evidently in dispute with his nominal suzerains, the Pândyan kings. In him Sâļuva Naik found a capable colleague and congenial ally. Shortly after, he found an even more capable ally. In the extreme south of the peninsula, the region between the Tâmbraparni and the sea, the greedy and aggressive king of Travancore, Udaya Mârtânda Varma "the greatest and the most illustrious of the early sovereigns of Vênâd," was waging a deadly war with the Pandyans. From very37 early times the kings of the Pândyan dynasty and the kings
3: The inscriptions speak of Chellappa, but the Achyutarayabhyulaya uses the word Chôlappa. An example of Vira Narasimha's disobedience is his exaction of jodi from the village of Tiruppanangadu, though this tax had been excused in favour of the temple there.
35 See Arch. Surv. 1908-09, p. 188; Ep. Rep. 1911 p. 86. That there were curious disputes between Achyuta and Saluva about grants is clear from a curious insen (No 83) described in p. 336 of Rais catal III. Achyuta Raya, it will be seen, resumes certain grants as a result of Saluva's representations. See Madr. Ep. Rep. 1910, p. 115 for his genealogy, and Ibid 1912, p. 81 for some of his inscriptions.
36 See Madr. Ep. Rep. 1911, p. 86 and appendix VI-the Tinnevelly Palayams. According to a Mack, The MS. says wrongly MS. (M. 30, p. 85-88), the founder of the Palayam was a servant of Kishna Deva. that he was sent by the emperor with Viśvanatha Naik to the south in S. 1331, K. 4510. The date of It is too early by a century. We may suppose Krishna Dêva and Viśvanatha as given here is wrong. that the first of the Tumbichchis came to the south, about 1409 A.D. Then, as a reference to the family memoir will shew, the Tumbichchi Naik referred to here must be Kumaralinga who ruled from 1502-1535 A.D. Tumbichchi's Pâlayam included Pêriyûr, Tummana-Naikenpaṭṭi, Sirumalaipatți and three other
villages.
3 See Nagam Aiya's Travancore Manual I, p. 267, ff. Mr. Nagam Aiya points out that throughout the The kings he attributes to the 15th century are Sri Vira-Râma15th century the dispute gave rise to war. varma, alias Champaka-Rama-varma, the senior Tiruvali of Tiruppâpâr (10 miles south of Trevândrum) who ruled about 1468 A.D.; Vira-Kodai Aditya-varma (1472-847) and Vira-Ravi-varma (1479-1512) in whose time Kayal was evidently part of Travancore state; Aditya-varma; and Bhûtala-vira-UdayaMartândavarma (1494-1535), the conqueror of the Tâmbraparni region then reigned. According to Shungonny Menon, the rulers of Travancore in this period were: Venad Mootha Raja 1444-1458; Vira Martânda
