Nayak (title)

Not to be confused with Nayak (surname).

Not to be confused with Nayak (caste).

Nayak, Nayaka or Nayakar, was historically a honorific title conferred on a military captain in various feudal states of the Indian subcontinent, ^[1] as a derivative of the ancient Sanskrit word Nāyaka. ^[2] The title often came with a prize in the form of a palayam, jagir, zamindari, or similar grant of a fief carved out of the newly annexed territory. ^[3] Today, they are also used as surnames by the descendants of the original recipients and as the modern military rank of Naik, while the film industry has co-opted the term with Katha Nayagan and Kathanayakudu. The title is closely related to the Telugu Nayakudu, Nayudu, or Naidu, the Malayali Nair, and the Tamil Nayakar, Nayakan, Naicken and Naicker. Nayaks are mostly Hindu with a few Sikhs. ^[4]

As a title

Today, the title is used by various castes and ethnic groups across India as a matter of tradition and custom.

• Nayak and Naik are surnames used by Koli caste of Maharashtra. The Princely State of Jawhar was founded by a Koli Nayak Jayaba Mukne around 1300. ^[5] The Maval region was known as Koli country of fifty two valleys in Maratha Confederacy. Each valley was controlled by a Koli Nayak and the Sirnayak, or head chief, lived at Junnar, and presided over the gotarni, or caste council. ^[6] the Fort of Sinhagad was built and ruled by Koli chief Nag Nayak who resisted the Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq for eight months. ^[7] the Kolis of Maharashtra revolted against Mughal ruler Aurangzeb under their Koli chief Khemirao Sirnaik and in 1769, Kolis revolted against Peshwa of Maratha Confederacy under their Koli Naik Javji Bamble and broken the peace of Konkan and in 1798, Kolis challenged the Company under their Koli Naik Ramji Naik Bhangria who was father of freedom fighters Bapuji Bhangare and Raghoji Bhangare. ^[8]
• In Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, the Naik and Nayak versions are used by people belonging to Lambadi and Banjara social groups. Naicker and Naidu titles are also used by Telugu castes, such as Balija, Golla and Kamma. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]} Also in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Naik surname is adopted as a surname by other communities, including Bedar. ^[13]
• In Karnataka it is used by some subcastes of the Vokkaliga, Namadhari Naik communities. ^{[14] [15] [16]} The Muslim Siddis of Karnataka, use the surname Nayaka which they received as a title from the kings of Bijapur. ^[17]
• In Maharashtra the surname Nayak and Naik is used by Kshatriya Marathas, CKPs, Saraswat Brahmin and Deshastha Brahmin communities. ^[18]
• Tamil Nadu, Nayakkar, Naidu or Naicker is also a surname used by Kannada, Tamil and Telugu speaking communities, in some cases as a caste affiliation. ^[9] Naicker, also spelt as Nayakar, is the Tamil equivalent for the Telugu Naidu and the Sanskrit Nayaka. This title was historically bestowed upon vassals and army commanders of the Vijayanagara empire who once ruled present-day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as Nayakas and Poligars. Many places in Tamil Nadu, which were once fortified palayams like Palayamkottai that were ruled by the local Nayak poligar, have portmanteau names prefixed by the original ruling poligar's patronymic followed by "naicken and "palayam", such as Narasimhanaickenpalayam, Kamanaicken Palayam, and Thimmanayakanpalayam. ^[1]

See also

• List of Nayakars
• Nayaka dynasties
• Vijayanagara Empire
• Poligars

References

1. B.S. Baliga (1966). Madras District Gazetteers: Coimbatore. Madras, Director of Stationary and Printing. pp. 64, 65.
2. "Learn Sanskrit". www.learnsanskrit.cc.
3. Vadivelu, A. (1903). The aristocracy of southern India. Madras: Printed by Vest. pp. 129–152.
4. Kumar Suresh Singh (2002). People of India: Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 54. ISBN   978-0-19-564444-9.
5. Hardiman, David (2007). Histories for the Subordinated. New Delhi, India: Seagull Books. pp. 103: the state of Jawhar, below the mountains in the Konkan, was founded by a Koli nayak around 1300. ISBN   978-1-905422-38-8.
6. Hardiman, David; Hardiman, Professor of History David (1996). Feeding the Baniya: Peasants and Usurers in Western India. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press. p. 221. ISBN   978-0-19-563956-8. The Koli country was then known as the Bavan Mavals, or '52 valleys ' in Maratha Empire . Each valley was controlled by a Koli chief, or nayak . The sirnayak, or head chief, lived at Junnar, and presided over the gotarni, or caste council
7. Sharma, Himanshu (5 November 2019). Veer Tanhaji Malusare. New Delhi, India: Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd. ISBN   978-93-5296-955-5.
8. Hassan, Syed Siraj ul (1989). The Castes and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions. New Delhi, India: Asian Educational Services. p. 333. ISBN   978-81-206-0488-9.
9. Benbabaali, Dalel (6 July 2018). "Caste Dominance and Territory in South India: Understanding Kammas' socio-spatial mobility" . Modern Asian Studies. 52 (6): 1938–1976. doi:10.1017/S0026749X16000755. ISSN   0026-749X.
10. A. Vijay Kumari (1998). Social Change Among Balijas: Majority Community of Andhra Pradesh. M D Publications. p. 89. ISBN   978-81-7533-072-6.
11. Journal of Indian History - Volume 85. Department of History, University of Kerala. 2006. p. 181. Naidu is a title assumed by a number of Telugu castes such as Balija, Bestha, Boya, Ekari, Gavara, Golla, Kaingi, Kamma, Kapu, Mutracha and Velama. They had migrated from Telugu country during the Vijayanagar rule.
12. Thurston, Edgar (2020) [1909]. Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume V of VII. Assisted by K. Rangachari. Library of Alexandria. ISBN   978-1-4655-8240-9. Naidu.— Naidu or Nāyudu is a title, returned at times of census by many Telugu classes, e.g., Balija, Bestha, Bōya, Ēkari, Gavara, Golla, Kālingi, Kāpu, Mutrācha, and Velama. A Tamilian, when speaking of a Telugu person bearing this title, would call him Naicker or Naickan instead of Naidu
13. Kumar Suresh Singh (1993). Ethnography, Customary Law, and Change. Concept Publishing Company. p. 249. ISBN   978-81-7022-471-6.
14. "The Mysore Tribes and Castles".
15. L. K. A. Iyer (2005). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Vol. 3. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. p. 270. Gauda and Naika are the titles affixed to their names, and the common honorific suffixes Appa and Ayya for males and Avva and Akka for females are also in use
16. B. N. Sri Sathyan, ed. (1975). Karnataka State Gazetteer: Shimoga (PDF). Karnataka (India): Director of Print., Stationery and Publications at the Government Press. p. 102. Some Vokkaliga families also have surnames like Nayak and Heggade in this district.
17. Shanti Sadiq Ali (1996). The African Dispersal in the Deccan: From Medieval to Modern Times. Orient Blackswan. p. 226. ISBN   978-81-250-0485-1.
18. Anupama Rao (2009). The Caste Question: Dalits and the Politics of Modern India. University of California Press. p. 315. ISBN   978-0-520-25761-0.