After the Vijayanagara empire’s collapse, Nayaks of the Tamil country fought amongst themselves. Marathas moved into Thanjavur to establish their own rule. Hyderabad Nizam sent his troops to establish Nawab rule headquartered from Arcot. When the English East India Company wanted to trade in the Tamil country, they had to deal with the Nayaks, Marathas, Nawab and many assorted Polygars. They set out to defeat most of them and partnered with the rest and unified most of South India under the Madras Province.