Gingee, also known as Senji or Jinji and originally called Singapuri, is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Gingee is located between three hills covering a perimeter of 3 km, and lies west of the Sankaraparani River. History The founding of the Kon dynasty established Gingee Fort as a fortified royal center. The Gingee country then came under the rule of the Hoysalas in the later part of the 13th and in the first half of the 14th century. From the Hoysalas it passed to the first rulers of Vijayanagara empire. The Vijayanagar dominion gradually expanded over South India and divided the administration into three important provinces, which were under the control of Nayaks. These were the Nayaks of Madurai, Nayaks of Tanjore, and Nayaks of Gingee. Information about the Gingee Nayaks and their rule is very scanty. It is said that Tupakula Krishnappa Nayaka (1490 to 1521) of a Chandragiri family was the founder of the Nayaka line of Gingee kings. He seems to have ruled along the coast from Nellore to the Kollidam River up to 1521. Under the Nayaks the forts were strengthened and the town was greatly enlarged. The last Nayak of Gingee was forced to surrender to the Bijapur army towards the end of December 1649. The booty acquired by the Muslim rulers of Bijapur was 20 crores of rupees in cash and jewels. gingee assumed a new and enhanced strategic importance under the Bijapur governors. Bijapur was in possession of the fortress of Senji till 1677, when the Maratha leader Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj fell upon it in his Carnatic expedition. The Marathas greatly strengthened and fortified its defences. The Mughals were then able to capture Gingee Fort from the Maratha king Rajaram early in 1698, after a siege of seven years. Zulfikar Khan, the son of Asad Khan, the Grand Vizir in the court of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, was in command of the siege operation of Senji and of its governor till he left the Carnatic after about a year from its fall. After that Aurangzeb granted a mansab of 2,500 rank and jagir of 12 lakhs to Raja Swarup Singh, his Bundela Rajput servant, along with the killedari (Fort Commandership) of Gingee in 1700. Raja Swarup Singh died of old age in 1714. His arrears of payments due to the faujdari amounted to 70 lakhs,