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Nayakas of Keladi (Ikkeri)

The Keladi Nayakas rose as Vijayanagara chiefs in the Malnad hills and outlived the empire by two centuries. Their best-known ruler, Rani Chennammaji, gave shelter to Chhatrapati Rajaram in 1689 and held off Aurangzeb’s army.

  1. Chaudappa Nayaka1499–1513
  2. Sadashiva Nayaka1513–1563
  3. Dodda Sankanna Nayaka1563–1570
  4. Venkatappa Nayaka I1586–1629
  5. Virabhadra Nayaka1629–1645
  6. Shivappa Nayaka1645–1660
  7. Somashekhara Nayaka I1664–1672
  8. +3
Period: 1499–1763 CERegion: Malnad and coastal Karnataka, from Shivamogga to the Kanara coastCapitals: Keladi, Ikkeri, Bidanur (Nagara)
Photo: Amitra123 · CC BY-SA 4.0

01From Keladi to Ikkeri

Chaudappa Nayaka, a farmer’s son of Keladi village, became a Vijayanagara chief around 1499. Sadashiva Nayaka served the emperor Sadashiva Raya in his wars and moved the court to Ikkeri. The Aghoreshwara temple at Ikkeri, built of granite in a blend of Vijayanagara and Hoysala manners, with its great Nandi facing the shrine, is the house’s finest building. The Italian traveller Pietro della Valle came to Ikkeri in 1623 and described the court of Venkatappa Nayaka.

02Shivappa Nayaka

Venkatappa Nayaka I threw off Vijayanagara rule after its decline and fought both Bijapur and the Portuguese on the coast. Virabhadra moved the capital to Bidanur in the hills. Shivappa Nayaka, from 1645 to 1660, surveyed the land and fixed the revenue by the quality of the soil, a system called Shivappa Nayakana Shist that later rulers kept. He took the Portuguese forts at Mangaluru, Honnavar and Kundapura and gave refuge to the last Vijayanagara emperor, Sriranga III.

Mookambika Temple, Kollur
Place · Ancient kshetra; panchaloha murti installed by Adi Shankaracharya by tradition; Keladi Nayaka patronageMookambika Temple, KollurThe Devi who silenced the asura Kaumasura, worshipped in a linga split by a golden line into Shiva and Shakti, at the foot of the Kodachadri hills. Kerala and Karnataka bring their children here to begin learning.Read →

03Chennammaji and Rajaram

Rani Chennammaji ruled from 1672 to 1697. In 1689, after the capture of Chhatrapati Sambhaji, his brother Rajaram fled south through her country on his way to Jinji, and she sheltered him though Aurangzeb’s army was at her border. When the Mughals attacked, her forces fought them off and a settlement followed. Basavappa Nayaka I, her adopted son, compiled the Shivatattva Ratnakara, an encyclopaedia in Sanskrit. In 1763 Haidar Ali took Bidanur and carried off its treasury, and the kingdom ended.

The rulers

  1. 1Chaudappa NayakaFounder at Keladi1499–1513
  2. 2Sadashiva NayakaMoved the court to Ikkeri1513–1563
  3. 3Dodda Sankanna Nayaka1563–1570
  4. 4Venkatappa Nayaka IIndependent; fought Bijapur and the Portuguese1586–1629
  5. 5Virabhadra NayakaMoved the capital to Bidanur1629–1645
  6. 6Shivappa NayakaLand survey; took Portuguese forts1645–1660
  7. 7Somashekhara Nayaka I1664–1672
  8. 8Rani ChennammajiSheltered Rajaram, 16891672–1697
  9. 9Basavappa Nayaka ICompiled the Shivatattva Ratnakara1697–1714
  10. 10Rani VirammajiLast ruler; Haidar Ali took Bidanur1757–1763

What they left

  • Aghoreshwara temple, Ikkeri
  • Shivappa Nayaka’s land revenue survey
  • The Shivatattva Ratnakara encyclopaedia
  • Shivappa Nayaka’s fort at Shivamogga and forts along the coast

People

Keladi ChennammaQueen
ruled 1671–1696 CE

Keladi Chennamma

Queen of Keladi who sheltered Chhatrapati Rajaram

Rani Abbakka ChowtaQueen
fl. 1550s–1570s CE

Rani Abbakka Chowta

Queen of Ullal who fought the Portuguese

Chhatrapati Sambhaji MaharajRuler
1657–1689 CE; reigned 1681–1689

Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj

Second Chhatrapati, executed by Aurangzeb

Chhatrapati RajaramRuler
1670–1700 CE; Chhatrapati 1689–1700

Chhatrapati Rajaram

Third Chhatrapati, who held Swarajya from Jinji

Places

Mookambika Temple, KollurStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Mookambika Temple, Kollur

The Devi who silenced the asura Kaumasura, worshipped in a linga split by a golden line into Shiva and Shakti, at the foot of the Kodachadri hills. Kerala and Karnataka bring their children here to begin learning.

Sringeri Sharada PeethamStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Sringeri Sharada Peetham

The Dakshinamnaya, the southern of the four mathas of Adi Shankaracharya, on the Tunga, with Sureshvaracharya as its first head. Its acharya Vidyaranya stood behind the founding of Vijayanagara.

KeladiStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Keladi

The Malnad village near Sagar where Chaudappa Nayaka founded the Keladi line, Vijayanagara’s governors of the west coast who outlasted the empire by two centuries. Its Rameshwara temple was their family shrine.

IkkeriStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Ikkeri

The second capital of the Keladi Nayakas, who held the Malnad and the coast after Vijayanagara fell. Its granite Aghoreshvara temple is all that remains of the city.

Gingee (Senji) FortRuined
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Gingee (Senji) Fort

Three granite hills bound by one wall, Rajagiri, Krishnagiri and Chandrayandurg, which Shivaji took in 1677 and from which Chhatrapati Rajaram held off a Mughal siege for nearly eight years.

Bidanur (Nagara)Ruined
The Mughal era and the resistance

Bidanur (Nagara)

The hill capital of the Keladi Nayakas in the Malnad forests, from which Rani Chennamma ruled and sheltered Chhatrapati Rajaram in 1689. Haidar Ali took it with its treasure in 1763.