The name Nāyar or Nair is, it may be noted, akin to Naik and Naidu, and signifies a leader or soldier.*[1] In this connection, Mr. Lewis Moore writes †[2] that "almost every page of Mr. Sewell's interesting book on Vijayanagar ‡[3] bears testimony to the close connection between Vijayanagar and the west coast. It is remarkable that Colonel (afterwards Sir Thomas) Munro, in the memorandum written by him in 1802 on the poligars (feudal chiefs) of the Ceded Districts, when dealing with the cases of a number of poligars who were direct descendants of men who had been chiefs under the kings of Vijayanagar, calls them throughout his report Naigue or Nair, using the two names as if they were identical."§[4]
It is noted by Mr. Talboys Wheeler ǁ[5] that, in the city of Madras in former days, "police duties were entrusted to a Hindu official, known as the Pedda Naik or 'elder chief,' who kept a staff of peons, and was bound to make good all stolen articles that were not recovered,"
In the South Canara district, the name Naikini (Naik females) is taken by temple dancing-girls.
Nainar:— See. Nāinar.
Nakāsh.— A name, denoting exquisite workmanship, by which Rāchevars or Chitrakāras are known in some places.
Nakkala.__Nakkala or Nakka, meaning jackal, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Bōya, Gudala, Golla, and Mutrācha. The jackal is the vehicle of the goddess Ankamma, who is the tutelary deity of the
