father predecessor successor death_date birth_place death_place title article_title name reign
muttu alkadri nayak muttu alkadri nayak rangakrishna muthu virappa nayak '' circa '' 1682 madurai madurai , present daytamil nadu , india king of madurai kingdom chokkanatha nayak
 mannar chokkanatha nayakkar 1662 & ndash ; 1682c . e.
chokkanatha nayak

chokkanatha nayak -lrb- 1662 -- 1682 -rrb- succeeded his father muttu alkadri nayak , as the ruler of the madurai nayak dynasty , when he was sixteen years old .
this young ruler began his reign with an ill-considered attempt to drive out the muslim troops , despatching a large army against the gingee fortress .
his general , however , sold himself to the enemy and wasted time and money in a long and unprofitable campaign which was little but pretence .
chokkanatha was also harassed by a domestic conspiracy , in which the same unfaithful general took a prominent part , and though he detected and quashed this , the general went over openly to the muslims and induced them to join in an assault upon trichinopoly , in which they had the countenance , if not the practical assistance , of the nayakkan -lrb- nayak ruler -rrb- of tanjore .
the officers whom chokkanatha entrusted with the duty of repelling the attack again were disloyal , and it was not until he himself finally took command of the army that the muslim invaders were driven back to tanjore and eventually to gingee .
so far things had not gone so badly , but in the next or the following year -lrb- 1663 or 1664 -rrb- chokkanatha paid a heavy price for his temporary success .
the muslims burst into the trichinopoly and madura districts and devastated the country with almost incredible cruelty .
they again besieged trichinoploy , and this time chokkanatha had to buy them off with a large sum .
he consoled himself by punishing the nayakkan of tanjore for assisting them , and he attempted similar reprisals on the setupati of ramnad , who had failed to help him in repelling them .
this latter enterprise was unsuccessful , for though chokkanatha succeeded in taking several forts in the marava country , he was baffled by the guerilla tactics of his adversary , and had to retire without obtaining that chief 's submission .
this campaign aspired the setupati to form a new kingdom .
