NAIK, a chief, a military leader, a head of police under the Vijayanagar dynasty. A division of the Teling Sudras, commonly styled Naidu, as Lutchmana Naidu. Also the titulary distinction of the Bhil chieftains. In Cuttack this title was applied to the headman of a village. Iu the south of India, some of those known as Polygars were so called, and many of the Naiks held lands on military tenure. The leader of a tanda of Binjaras takes the title of Naik, in the•British Indian army a rank equivalent to a corporal.
In Telingtma the titles more frequently met with are Nayakan, Nayaka, Naik, Naeker, Naidu, and Rethli, applied to the Balaja and the Kamavar tribes. These eat together, but do not intermarry. They are classed as Sudra Hindus originally. In the beginning of the 16th century, A.D. 1532, the great Hindu state of Vijayanagar established a Naik dynasty, in the person of Viswanatha Naik, under its protection, at Madura. When the
Vijayanagar sovereignty fell, the Naik dynasty of Madura continued to be dominant. The founder of this dynasty, Viswanathn, was the son of an officer of the king of Vijayanagar. He established himself as king of Madura in 1559, and sub jugated Trichinopoly soon afterwards. The greater portion of the fort of Trichinopoly, and most of the city itself, were built in his reign. The Naiks ruled Trichinopoly and Madura from 1559 to 1740. The greatest of them was the famous Tiruthala Nayakkan, who died in 1659. His grandson, Choka Nayakkan, removed the capital of the kingdom from Madura to Trichinopoly, where he raised the building known as the Nawab's Palace. Its last ruler, a queen, was first aided and then betrayed by Chanda Sahib of Tanjore.