became established during the reign of Krishnadevaraya and Achyuta Devaraya. This is supported by the evidence of inscriptions and by the accounts of Nuniz and Paes. Nuniz says that the Vijayanagar kingdom at that time was divided between more than two hundred captains (his translation for Nayak) and they were compelled in turn to keep certain number of military forces (horses and foot soldiers) to serve the king in times of need: they were also required to pay certain amount of the revenue to the king in particular times of a year, like during the nine-day Mahanavami festival. Nuniz’ statement is also supported by Telugu work Rayavachakamu , which refers to the to Penugonda.
Tirumala, brother of Ramaraya, declared himself king in , starting the Aravidu, that is the fourth dynasty. After this his sons and grandsons ruled the truncated kingdom for two generations, probably up to . There were some more kings who ruled as fugitives until without a permanent capital. Real power was wielded by the many Nayak chiefs in various parts of the country.
Some of them feigned loyalty to the king while others opposed him. There were fights between the loyalists and others. In there was bitter fighting near Uttaramerur between the loyalist Yachama Nayak of Perumbedu and the Nayak of Vellur (Vellore). In this quarrel Vellur Nayak was supported by Tanjavur, Madurai and Senji Nayak, who had become independent rulers.