A researcher is studying how power was shared in a large south Indian kingdom of the sixteenth century. One inscription records that the king placed a friendly claimant on the throne of a neighbouring Sultanate. A chronicle reports that, after the death of a great king of this kingdom, a neighbouring Sultan stepped in to settle a quarrel over the throne. Other records speak of armed chiefs who held forts, moved from one area to another with peasants in search of fertile land, and sometimes rebelled against the king.
The armed chiefs described in the other records were known as nayakas. Which languages did these chiefs usually speak?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Telugu or Kannada
Option (1) Telugu or Tamil — Incorrect. Telugu is half right. The second usual language of the nayakas was Kannada, the language of the Vijayanagara heartland.
Option (2) Tamil or Kannada — Incorrect. Tamil was the speech of the far south, around later centres such as Madurai and Thanjavur. The nayakas themselves usually spoke Telugu or Kannada.
Option (3) Telugu or Kannada — Correct. The military chiefs who held forts, moved with peasants and often rebelled were the <strong>nayakas</strong>, and they <strong>usually spoke Telugu or Kannada</strong>.
Option (4) Kannada or Marathi — Incorrect. Kannada is half right. Marathi was the language of the Deccan to the north-west, outside the usual speech of the nayakas.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.3 The rayas and the nayakas |