Fernão Nuniz, who wrote about the Vijayanagara Empire and its nayaka system, was a:

Fernão Nuniz (Fernao Nunes) was a Portuguese horse trader and chronicler who lived in the Vijayanagara capital for about three years, around 1535-1537, during the reign of Achyuta Deva Raya. He wrote a detailed chronicle of the history of Vijayanagara from its foundation, as well as an account of its customs, government, army and the nayaka system.

The nayaka system was an important feature of Vijayanagara administration. Military chiefs called nayakas (amara-nayakas) were given territories (amaram) to govern. In return, they collected taxes from peasants, craftsmen and traders, kept part of the revenue for themselves and for maintaining a fixed number of soldiers, horses and elephants, which they provided to the king in times of war, and paid an annual tribute to the king. Nuniz described this system, saying that the kingdom was divided among more than 200 nayakas. Over time, some nayakas, such as those of Madurai, Thanjavur and Gingee, became virtually independent after the decline of the empire.

Nuniz's account, together with that of Domingo Paes, another Portuguese visitor who came around 1520-22 during Krishnadeva Raya's reign, was sent to Portugal. These accounts were rediscovered in Lisbon and published in English by the British historian Robert Sewell in 1900 in his book "A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar".

Other foreign travellers to Vijayanagara:

Niccolò de' Conti (Italy): visited around 1420, during Deva Raya I's reign.

Abdur Razzaq (Persia): an ambassador of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh, who visited in 1442-43 during Deva Raya II's reign. He wrote that Vijayanagara was a city "such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it".

Afanasy Nikitin (Russia): a merchant who visited the Bahmani kingdom in 1469-72.

Duarte Barbosa (Portugal): visited in the early 16th century.

Ibn Battuta (Morocco): visited the region earlier, in the 14th century.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Abdur Razzaq was the Persian ambassador.
• ✗Niccolò de' Conti was the Italian traveller.
• ✗Afanasy Nikitin was the Russian merchant who visited the Bahmani kingdom.