Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Nayaka dynasties" in English language version.
The successors of the Vijayanagar empire, the Nayaks of Madura and Tanjore, were Balija Naidus
....in the seventeenth century, when warriors/traders from the Balija caste acquired kingship of the southern kingdoms of Madurai and Tanjavur.
.....in the Tamil country, where Telugu Balija families had established local Nāyaka states (in Senji, Tanjavur, Madurai, and elsewhere) in the course of the sixteenth century.
The Nayaks of Belur became prominent during the period of the third and fourth dynasties of Vijayanagar