Military commanders had great powers. They controlled the fortresses of the country. They could keep armed guards. They often moved their residence from one place to another. Agriculturists who were interested in getting fertile fields also accompanied them. These military commanders were called ‘Nayakans’. Most of them lived obeying the Vijayanagara kings. But sometimes they also rose in revolt. The revolts of the Nayakas were suppressed by the ruler.
In Vijayanagara Empire there was the system of “Amara Nayaka”. This system had many of the features of the “Iqta system’ of the Delhi Sultans. Amara Nayakas were military commanders. Vijayanagara kings gave them some regions to govern. These regions were called ‘Amara’.
The governing of these regions was done by the Amaranayaks. They collected taxes of different kinds from the farmers. traders, artisans and big merchants. A big portion of the income was used for their personal needs. The other part was spent in maintaining horses and elephants. A small portion was also spent on maintaining temples and irrigation.
Amaranayakas rendered military help to the kings of Vijayanagara. It was by using this military might that the kings brought the Southern Peninsula under their control.
Amaranayakas were to give the king tribute every year. They also had to visit the king and give him gifts to show their loyalty to him. To show that the king had power over them, he used to transfer amaranayakas to different places. Even then by the 17th century, the amaranayakas became powerful and some of them started challenging the authority of the king. Some even established independent states. This caused the slow disintegration of Vijayanagara.
