The Ikkeri or Bednur chiefs styled themselves under-lords of Vijayanagar till 1650.[354] A Vijayanagar viceroy ruled over Mysore till 1610, after which the descendants of the former viceroys became Rajahs in their own right. In Madura and Tanjore the Nayakkas became independent in 1602.
All the Muhammadan dynasties in the Dakhan fell under the power of the Mogul emperors of Delhi towards the close of the seventeenth century, and the whole of the south of India soon became practically theirs. But meanwhile another great power had arisen, and at one time threatened to conquer all India. This was the sovereignty of the Mahrattas. Sivaji conquered all the Konkan country by 1673, and four years later he had overthrown the last shreds of Vijayanagar authority in Kurnool, Gingi, and Vellore; while his brother Ekoji had already, in 1674, captured Tanjore, and established a dynasty there which lasted for a century. But with this exception the Mahrattas established no real domination in the extreme south.
Mysore remained independent under its line of Hindu kings till the throne was usurped by Haidar Ali and his son and successor, "Tippoo," who together ruled for about forty years. After the latter's defeat and death at Seringapatam in 1799, the country was restored by the English to the Hindu line.
The site on which stands Fort St. George at Madras was granted to
Mr. Francis Day, chief factor of the English there, by Sri Ranga Raya
VI. in March 1639, the king being then resident in Chandragiri.
The first English factory at Madras had been established in 1620.
CHAPTER 17
The Story of Barradas (1614)
Chandragiri in 1614 — Death of King Venkata — Rebellion of Jaga
Raya and murder of the royal family — Loyalty of Echama Naik —
The Portuguese independent at San Thome — Actors in the drama —
The affair at "Paleacate." — List of successors — Conclusion.
The following note of occurrences which took place at Chandragiri in 1614 on the death of King Venkata I. will be found of singular interest, as it relates to events of which we in England have hitherto, I think, been in complete ignorance. In consists of an extract from a letter written at Cochin on December 12, A.D. 1616, by Manuel Barradas, and recently found by Senhor Lopes amongst a quantity of letters preserved in the National Archives at Lisbon.[355] He copied it from the original, and kindly sent it to me. The translation is my own.
"I will now tell you … about the death of the old King of Bisnaga, called Vencattapatti Rayalu,[356] and of his selection as his successor of a nephew by name Chica Rayalu; setting aside another who was commonly held to be his son, but who in reality was not so. The true fact was this. The King was married to a daughter of Jaga Raya by name Bayama, and though she eagerly longed for a son she had none in spite of the means, legitimate or illegitimate, that she employed for that purpose. A Brahman woman of the household of the Queen's father, knowing how strong was the Queen's desire to have a son, and seeing that God had not granted her one, told her that she herself was pregnant for a month; and she advised her to tell the King, and to publish it abroad, that she (the Queen) had been pregnant for a month, and to feign to be in that state, and said that after she (the Brahman woman) had been delivered she would secretly send the child to the palace by some confidant, upon which the Queen could announce that this boy was her own son. The advice seemed good to the Queen, and she pretended that she was pregnant, and no sooner was the Brahman woman delivered of a son than she sent it to the palace, and the news was spread abroad that Queen Bayama had brought forth a son. The King, knowing all this, yet for the love he bore the Queen, and so that the matter should not come to light, dissembled and made feasts, giving the name 'Chica Raya' to the boy, which is the name always given to the heir to the throne.[357] Yet he never treated him as a son, but on the contrary kept him always shut up in the palace of Chandigri,[358] nor ever allowed him to go out of it without his especial permission, which indeed he never granted except when in company of the Queen. Withal, the boy arriving at the age of fourteen years, he married him to a niece of his, doing him much honour so as to satisfy Obo Raya, his brother-in-law.[359]