Madakari Nayaka

Madakari Nayaka V, also known as Veera Madakari Nayaka, was the last ruler of the Nayakas of Chitradurga. He ruled the central Karnataka kingdom from 1758 until 1779, when Chitradurga Fort was captured by Hyder Ali and incorporated into the Kingdom of Mysore.

Background and accession The Chitradurga Nayakas had emerged as local governors under the Vijayanagara Empire and became effectively independent after the empire lost control of its heartland in the late 16th century. Their territory in central Karnataka was organised around Chitradurga Fort, which served as the political and military centre of the kingdom.

Madakari succeeded Kasturi Rangappa Nayaka II. The Chitradurga district administration dates the beginning of his reign to 1758.

The best-known tradition associated with these conflicts is that of Onake Obavva, the wife of a soldier guarding the fort. According to the account, she discovered enemy soldiers entering through a narrow opening in the rocks and killed several of them with an onake (a wooden pestle) before the defenders arrived. The opening is now known as Onake Obavvana Kindi. The story is commemorated in Karnataka, although accounts differ about which of Hyder Ali's attacks it accompanied. B. L. Venu's novel Gandugali Madakari Nayaka also portrays his life.