1 Fanam - Nayaks of Chitradurga

The Nayaks of Chitradurga began as polygar chieftains under Vijayanagara overlordship before asserting effective independence following the catastrophic defeat at Talikota in 1565. The fanam was the standard small-denomination gold unit across much of south India throughout this period, and Chitradurga's issues circulated in a region constantly contested between the declining Vijayanagara successor states, the Bahmani Sultanate's fragments, and later Mysore under Hyder Ali, who finally extinguished the Nayak line in 1779.