Nayak Dynasty

Southern Indian dynasty whose capital
was in the city of Madurai in the state of
Tamil Nadu. The Nayaks came to power
in the political vacuum created by the
destruction of the Vijayanagar dynasty
late in the sixteenth century. The Nayaks
ruled the southernmost part of the subcontinent for about the next hundred
years. The dynasty’s greatest ruler was
Tirumalai Nayak (r. 1623–1659), who
constructed large sections of the
Minakshi temple, dedicated to
Madurai’s patron goddess, Minakshi.