Splendours of Royal Mysore

SPLENDOURS
OF
ROYAL MYSORE
Copyright © Vikram Sampath 2008
First Published 2008
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Dedicated to
the ever-lasting memory of
Ajji, my grandmother,
who, though not around in flesh and blood
to see this day, will continue to remain
a constant source of inspiration
in all my creative endeavours.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Message
Preface
Introduction
Section â€“ 1
Preface
1. The Genesis AD 1399–1578
2. The Age of Glory AD 1578–1617
3. Peril At the Gates AD 1617–38
Looking Back: Section 1
Section â€“ 2
4. The Golden Period—I (AD 1638–73)
5. India in the Seventeenth Century
6. The Golden Period-II (AD 1673–1704)
7. The Dalavoy Regime AD 1704–34
Section â€“ 3
8. The Early Years of Haidar Ali AD 1734–61

9. Haidar Ali: The Supreme Dictator AD 1761–82
10. Haidar Ali: The Man and His Legacy
11. Sultanat-e-Khudadad Mysore AD 1782–91
12. The Sword of Tipu Sultan AD 1791–99
Appendix to Chapter 12
13. The Legacy of Tipu Sultan
Section â€“ 4
14. The Restoration and Thereafter 1799
15. The Survivor Statesman Dewan Purnaiya’s Life and Times
16. The Beckoning of Doom AD 1812–30
17. A Country on the Boil
18. Commissioners’ Rule and the Issue of Rendition AD 1831–68
19. Towards Rendition
Section â€“ 5
20. The Reformer King Chamarajendra Wodeyar X
21. The Rajarishi
22. Political, Social and Economic Development of Mysore
23. The Struggle for Swaraj
24. The Beginning of the End
Section â€“ 6
25. Defining Culture
26. The Lives and Times of Mysoreans: Classical Music
27. The Lives and Times of Mysoreans: Classical Dance
28. The Lives and Times of Mysoreans: Folk Arts and Popular Traditions
29. The Lives and Times of Mysoreans: Painting, Coinage and Architecture
30. The Lives and Times of Mysoreans: Literature, Theatre and Journalism
Conclusion
References and Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Mine is certainly not the only hand in the mammoth task of writing this
book. I owe my heartfelt gratitude to Shri H.D. Kumaraswamy, chief
minister of Karnataka, for agreeing to write the Foreword. I am also grateful
to eminent historian, Dr Suryanath Kamath, for having agreed to go through
the manuscript in detail and for verifying its historical accuracy and for the
Introduction. I offer a humble thanks to Maharajkumari Meenakshi Devi
Avaru, Princess of Mysore and daughter of Shri Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, for
her words for this book. I also thank her sister-in-law, Smt Bharati Raj Urs,
for all her help and suggestions. Mere words will not suffice to thank Dr
Mamatha Gowda, secretary to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, for all her
help, support and encouragement.
I am also grateful to the authorities at the Bangalore palace for all their
help. The book was transformed for the better by the painstaking and tireless
efforts of the editor, Dr Lata Ramaswamy, who did not live to see this day.
My sincere thanks are also due to eminent author, Dr Shashi Deshpande,
who mentored me through the entire course of publication. A special note of
thanks goes to eminent scholar and author Prof P.V. Nanjaraja Urs, noted
Kannada litterateur Dr Srinivasa Havanur and the late Mr S.R. Prabhu,
former chairman of Canara Bank, for their valuable inputs and guidance.
Dr J.V. Gayathri, deputy director of Archaeology, Museum and Heritage
Department, Mysore, and Shri Gavisiddhayya, archivist-in-charge,
Divisional Archives, Mysore, provided me with rare and unpublished
photographs of the royal family from the archives. Dr Meera Rajaram
Pranesh, eminent musician, musicologist and scholar, and the Vanamala Art
Foundation offered little-seen photographs of the Mysore musicians, as did
Dr Raghavendra and the Ananya Sangraha, Bangalore. Shri M.A.
Narasimhan helped me with valuable information on the Mysore. Pradhans.

I am grateful to Vidushi Jayanthi Kumaresh, one of India’s leading
veena artists, for sharing information regarding the Mysore Bani of veena
playing. I also thank Smt Lalitha Srinivasan and Kumari Bhanumathi—
noted Bharatanatyam dancers and students of Dr Venkatalakshamma—for
inputs regarding the Mysore shaili of dance.
It is with a sense of humility that I acknowledge my ever-loving and
encouraging parents and my late grandmother who have stood by me in all
that I have done. Despite being totally allergic to history, my mother
managed to read one draft and give me valuable insights from a layman’s
perspective. She also helped me type this voluminous document.
Words are insufficient to acknowledge the role of Dr Uma Narain, my
professor, friend, philosopher and guide, with whom every conversation is
an inspiration and provides food for more thought. I could not have
broadened my outlook in matters of publication but for my friend Aruna
Chandaraju, an accomplished journalist. I have to place on record my
immense gratitude to a host of people who helped me procure valuable
material: Mr Thejaswi Shivanand, my hitherto ‘virtual friend’ who was
more than willing to help me in the endeavour; Mr S.N. Jois and his
daughter, Smt S.N. Geetha of Mysore for lending me old and valuable
manuscripts; Mr Subbanna of National College, Basavanagudi, Bangalore;
Smt Geetha Murthy and Smt Uma Shashi, both from the Bangalore
University; Shri Muralidhar of Suhaas Graphics, for giving me beautiful and
hard-to-find photographs of Mysore and the royal family, and for their
meticulous work on the maps.
My special gratitude to my uncle Mr Krishnamurthy, a die-hard Marxist
who has always widened my outlook on life and who, in this case, joined me
tirelessly in the pursuit of books. My thanks are also due to Smt Aditi
Vashisht, my principal at Sri Aurobindo Memorial School; my school
teachers, Smt Jayashri Ravindra and Smt Sheela Raghu, Mrs Hilda Peacock
and Mr Vincent Jeyakaran and to my friends Smt Gayathri Indavara and Mrs
Malini for their encouragement and help. I must of course thank my
publishers Rupa & Co. and Sanjana Roy Choudhury for reposing trust in
me. I also thank the editor Anamika Mukharji, whose meticulous and
tireless efforts helped chisel the book for the better.
Yet, my real obeisance and gratitude is due unto the Divine, without
whose guidance not a word could have been written.

FOREWORD
Karnataka is an ancient and holy land with a history dating back to the
prehistoric times. It has been a melting pot of different cultures, religions,
dynasties and traditions that weave themselves together in a unique and
inimitable fashion. Karnataka embraces within its fold some of the
country’s finest architectural and historical monuments, scenic natural
beauty and many destinations of spiritual and religious pursuit. It would be
no exaggeration to call it ‘One State, many worlds’ keeping with its all
encompassing nature.
A substantial part of the Karnataka of today was the erstwhile Princely
State of Mysore. The Mysore State was a pioneer in the history of India in
more ways than one. The heroic military exploits of the famed rulers of
Mysore—Haidar Ali and his iconic son Tipu Sultan shook the very
foundations of the British East India Company in the 18th Century. Mysore
could thus be counted among the first Kingdoms of India to offer a spirited
resistance to the colonial powers represented by the British. Mysore
thereafter emerged as a seat of education, culture and development under
the benign rule of the Wodeyar kings. Alongside Tanjore, it emerged as the
veritable nucleus for the development of classical music, dance, folk arts,
painting and literature in Southern India. It had bequeathed the legacy of the
glorious Vijayanagara Empire, most noteworthy among them being the
traditional celebration of the Dasara Festival marking the triumph of good
over evil. Under the later Wodeyars like Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar,
guided by the country’s best brains represented by the illustrious Dewans—
Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah, Sir Mirza Ismail and others, Mysore State
achieved an unparalleled degree of industrial and economic growth. This
was a phenomenon not widely seen among the other subservient princely
states of Imperial India. Karnataka today rides high on the strong
foundations of the past. It has evolved its own cultural identity in the Indian
milieu, marked by a commitment to the values of co-existence, secularism
and cosmopolitanism.
It is indeed very heartening and commendable to see this voluminous
and well-researched work on the History of Mysore, covering about 600
years of the past, by Shri Vikram Sampath. Driven entirely by his passion
and commitment towards our state and its culture, he has dwelt into a
subject that is not widely written about. I heartily congratulate him for this
service to the cause of our State and for propagating its story to beyond the
borders of Karnataka. The book has been written in an interesting and
captivating style and I do hope it catches the imagination of the readers as
well. It is my earnest desire that through this book, people across India and
the world get to know more about our glorious State, its unique identity and
its innumerable contributions on a pan-Indian level. I wish this book and its
author all success!
Dated: September 2007 (H.D. KUMARASWAMY)

MESSAGE
Vikram, an engineer by training and management expert by profession, has
written an interesting book on the history of Mysore. In his introduction to
the book the author explains the compulsive need he felt to write this book.
The controversial serial televised on Tippu Sultan drove the young author to
search, research and collect information about the rulers of the erstwhile
State of Mysore and his research has ended up in the form of a neat book
consisting of six sections and thirty chapters. The author needs to be
congratulated for his effort and determination.
The first section gives information about the early rulers of the Wadiyar
dynasty—the origin, growth and the formation of the State of Mysore. All
the available literature has been made use of and the author gives us a
detailed account of the early rulers. His writing on ‘golden period’ makes an
interesting reading.
The information about Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan is elaborate. The
positive and the negative aspects of these rulers are narrated based on the
views expressed by different historians and commentators. Tippu’s action of
destroying and his act of building new extensions in the city of Mysore are
interestingly narrated; ‘Sword of Tippu’ is another interesting chapter.
His writings on modern Mysore are impressive. Discussion on the many
firsts is extensive. There is a chapter on the contributions of Dewans. The
author rightly says that the rulers of Mysore were not dictators, they loved
their subjects and they always desired to leave behind something noteworthy.
The administration of the present days is compared to the administration of
the Wadiyar’s and Wadiyar’s contribution in this regard is always
appreciated by the people even today. The author realising this has said that
rulers of Mysore made use of the services of scholars, statesmen and the
talented to give good administration.

The contribution of Wadiyar dynasty to art, culture and literature are
studied in depth. Their contribution in the field of music and dance are well
written.
The book is the due result of the earnest desire of the author to know
about those who ruled the erstwhile State of Mysore. The style of
presentation is simple, writings are without bias and based on the available
literature, the use of photos and data is good.
After reading this book a reader would feel that Mysore is not just a city
but it is indeed a city of palaces and culture. The contributions of the city
are so remarkable that it is rightly called the cultural capital of Karnataka.
I wish the author all success.
MEENAKSHI DEVI
PREFACE
On this unique princely state of India—Mysore—there had been no modem
book of the type that we have now in our hands. The author is an electronics
engineer and MBA and an employee of a leading bank. His duties require
him to keep dabbling with figures and banking rules. I have said this to
point out that he is not a trained historian and to write on a dynasty like
Mysore Wadiyars, some specialisation in the subject is necessary. Despite
that, the author has undertaken the writing of the work by sheer love and
devotion and made it an extremely readable and interesting account.
The history of the Mysore Dynasty is filled with myths and legends and
many times the extra-ordinary achievements of princes of the dynasty
appear to be suspect when the role of legends tries to glorify them. I had
advised the author to water down such legendary accounts to make the
narrative look factual. But a common reader is more attached to these myths
and legends as he is accustomed to read Puranas. History has to be a factual
account so that it looks to be an account of humans like us and guide us and
teach lessons.
Mysore’s history helps us to trace the past of a small principality of
some villages (definite information is secured after it had 30 villages and
earlier it could have been just three or four or five villages) and its growing
into a territory of over 80,000 square miles, with various stages of its
enlargement clearly marked. Some of the princes were renowned for their
prowess and they enlarged their territories, as in the case of Kanthirava
Narasaraja Wadiyar I or Chikkadevaraya. They were great administrators by
contemporary standards, meticulous as revenue administrators, religious by
temperament, helped and expanded agriculture and extended irrigation.
Concessions were given to peasants bringing new lands under the plough. If
a peasant deserted the village, the village accountant was punished. They
founded agraharas to encourage learning and had increased industrial

activities. Chikkadevaraya had invited weavers from the Baramahals in
Tamil Nadu to Bangalore. He was a man of letters and also encouraged
literary men. His allowing his dumb son to succeed him helped the
emergence of new centres of power, the Dalavayis, and this paved the way
for Haidar’s ascendancy.
Chikkadevaraya accepted Mughal suzerainty for the sake of acquiring
Bangalore and its surroundings. This resulted in his being a feudatory of the
Mughals for this limited area. The Nizam and the Marathas later repeatedly
came to collect the feudal dues (by way of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi) from
Mysore. These powers were authorised to collect the dues from the southern
Mughal Subahs by the Mughals. This point is ignored by Mysore records
and they simply state that Chikkadevaraya ‘purchased’ Bangalore from the
Mughals. Newly discovered Mughal records in Persian have belied this
statement, as pointed out by Sethumadhava Rao Pagadi.
The story of usurpation by Haidar, achievements of Tipu and subsequent
developments under British rule are interesting chapters. The accounts of
post-rendition period, including the growth of Mysore as a modern and
model state are well presented. Mysore, the third largest princely state under
the British, achieved all-round progress in agriculture, industry, education,
culture and other finer aspects of human activity. Power production at
Shivasamudra (1902) helped the founding of the prestigious Indian Institute
of Science in Bangalore (1909), emergence of modern industries (even
under the public sector) and Bangalore growing in our times as a unique hub
of IT, BT and nano-technology. Men like Sir M.V. and Sir Mirza Ismail had
paved the way for such developments.
Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV was an enlightened prince. But he did not yield
to the demand for responsible government despite the fact that there was a
Representative Assembly in Mysore and the British had provided the facility
of responsible rule in their own Presidencies. The rigid policy of Mysore led
to the Vidurashwatha tragedy. Later in 1947, Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, by his
adamant stand over the matter provoked the massive ‘Mysore Chalo’
movement and caused the death of over 20 persons by police firing. These
are some black spots amidst a glaringly bright reign of the Wadiyars.
Vikram Sampath has done some fresh churning, taken pains, collected
unknown or not so known facts on various aspects of Mysore’s history. His
presentation is lucid and smooth. His love for the dynasty has not prevented
him from telling us about the not-so bright aspects, wherever necessary. His
straying off from his regular professional path is welcome, and I
congratulate him for this mammoth effort!
Suryanath U. Kamath
Former Chief Editor,
Karnataka State Gazetteer and Director,
Karnataka State Archives

INTRODUCTION
The artistic representation of history is a more scientific and serious pursuit than the exact
writing of history. For the art of letters goes to the heart of things, whereas the factual
report merely collocates details.
—Aristotle
I must have been a boy of twelve when the ‘Mysore bug’ bit me for the first
time. The provocation was a controversial teleserial—The Sword of Tipu
Sultan— aired on national television in those days and based on an
eponymous novel by Bhagwan S. Gidwani. The serial did not go down too
well with lots of Kannadigas, and Bangalore, my hometown, witnessed quite
a few protests because of a certain raw nerve that the serial had attempted to
touch, which, incidentally, was something the novel never did.
Bangalore and a large part of modern-day South Karnataka had been
part of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore. The state was ruled for over
600 years by the Yadava dynasty who called themselves the Wodeyars of
Mysore. It was after India’s Independence that the princely state merged
with the northern parts of modern Karnataka to become, first the state of
Mysore and later, Karnataka after unification. Though it has been just about
half a century since the royal family ceased to wield power, the twin
torments of indifference and debate dog its long history. Also, the general
populace holds the royal family and its icons in reverence. This applecart
was upset by the way this serial portrayed members of the royal family. The
eighteenth ruler of the family, Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar and his wife,
the celebrated Rani of Mysore, Lakshmammanni, were not shown in a good
light—the former portrayed as a buffoon and the latter as a scheming
woman. That is what led to the voices of dissent. To learn the truth behind
this falsehood was what prompted my little voyage of discovery at that time.
Being a mere middle-school student back then, and one for whom history
had always meant memorising dates and boring details of battles and wars,
the study of Mysore’s sovereigns came as a whiff of fresh air; more so as it
was entirely self-motivated and not done under duress.
Thus began a series of unending trips to Mysore, its palace, numerous
libraries in Bangalore and Mysore, rustling up old contacts—basically doing
everything possible under the sun to get the information that I was looking
for. Being a complete novice and totally ignorant of the ways and means of
historical research, I had to fall back on my grandmother and parents for
help and support and that I got it in far greater measure than expected needs
to be placed on record. While my parents would dutifully take me to Mysore
during almost every vacation and wait patiently for hours on end as I sifted
through dusty books in the libraries there, Ajji, my loving grandmother,
would leave no stone unturned in contacting her old acquaintances and
friends or making trips to libraries and older parts of Bangalore, where the
probability of finding material on the topic would be higher. What began as
a study of just the two sovereigns I mentioned above slowly broadened into
a study of the whole dynasty across the 600-odd years of its reign. It was,
however, disconcerting to note that there were hardly any books readily
available that covered the entire story of the Wodeyar dynasty from 1399 to
1950. People really didn’t seem to care much, like they never do all over
India, about telling the story of their past in a manner that interests, excites
and inspires.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that in the course of my study,
which developed from a novice’s child-like curiosity to a more serious
pursuit of the subject, I found one disturbing trend. The veil of time and the
kind of historical documents that existed have slowly blurred the facts. The
issue gets more complicated in the case of Mysore’s history as it includes a
forty-year-long interregnum when the Hindu dynasty of the Wodeyars was
temporarily dislodged by a Muslim adherent Haidar Ali—a man the
monarch had rescued as a boy by buying him from his tormentor for a paltry
sum. Haidar and later his son Tipu Sultan ruled Mysore over a span of forty
years, in which wars with the neighbouring states of Pune, Hyderabad,
Carnatic and Travancore and especially the English East India Company
became the order of the day. It was with the fall of Tipu in 1799 that power
was restored to the Wodeyar dynasty at the behest of the British.

I called the above fact a complicated one for two reasons. One, you have
two competing parties each with their claims and grouses against the other.
History, in my view, is the handmaiden of the ruler. Naturally the historical
records of the times tend to be invariably biased towards the ruling party.
The pro-Wodeyar records berate the House of Haidar as a barbaric and
dogmatic clan, while the contemporary Muslim records heap encomiums on
the father and son. To complicate matters further, you have English
historians who, seized with rabid hatred for Haidar and particularly Tipu,
portray them as the worst villains mankind could have ever seen. In the
midst of such totally contrasting records, where does a modem, unbiased
commentator on history, such as myself, go? Who am I supposed to believe
and what am I to take as the truth? In such a context the belief that history is
after all an interpretation of the person who wrote it becomes more germane
and hence I began with the quote of Aristotle that alludes to history being an
art by virtue of the inherent judgmental nature in its representation. A
commentator on history can at best see all these differing records and come
to a lowest common denominator of acceptance. This, he must do, without
tilting the scales favourably on either side, since none of us can be certain of
the truth without a time machine!
The other reason for the complex nature is the fact that the communal
angle gets into the whole story. India has long been vivisected by the Hindu-
Muslim debate. These two communities have always been at odds with each
other, perhaps since they are different in so many ways. In this case, since a
Hindu monarch’s kingdom was usurped by a Muslim, it is natural for each
side to paint the other in a poor light on communal grounds. There are
Hindu records that speak of mass conversions to Islam under Tipu’s short
and stormy rule, uprisings and revolts in different parts of Mysore, such as
Malabar, Coorg, South Kanara and so on, offering people a choice between
the Koran and the gallows. At the same time there is evidence of Tipu’s
patronage of Hindu pontiffs and temples across the state, including the
world-famous Sringeri Mutt of Adi Shankaracharya—the harbinger of
Hinduism’s Advaita philosophy. Is that yet again a dead end for the
historian?
Further, in the political climate of India today, people want definitive
answers. Was he communal or was he secular? The demand for instant
classification of characters of the past into categories set by us in the

present, to pander to our present-day exigencies, encourages a tendency to
oversimplify history by painting characters black or white with no place for
shades of gray. The breed of Marxist historians do no great service in this
department, causing more harm in fact, as they have specific agendas to
pursue in their depiction. As Arun Shourie notes in his Eminent Historians,
the game plan adopted is very repetitive and predictable:
Tarnish every person, institution, period from which people may derive pride, confidence;
ascribe tolerance and magnanimity to the intolerant; portray the inclusive, open tradition as
the one out to swallow the others and the exclusivist, totalitarian ideology as the ideology
of peace, tolerance...
In short, a deep malaise that strikes at the very heart of history writing
and documentation. If we are not to believe colonial, Marxist, court or
community-specific historians, on which sources do we rely? Any surprise
then that history gets so easily ‘saffronised’ and subsequently ‘detoxified’ to
suit the political climate of the day?
Perhaps one way out is the manner suggested by celebrated historian
Arnold J. Toynbee in his Study of History (Volume I):
Its (history’s) true concern is with lives of societies in both their internal and their external
aspects. The internal aspect is the articulation of the life of any given society into a series of
chapters succeeding one another in time and into a number of communities living side by
side. The external aspect is the relation of particular societies with one another, which has
likewise to be studied in the two media of time and space.
Lord Acton, one of the greatest minds among modem Western historians
has similar thoughts when he says:
By Universal History, I understand that which is distinct from the combined history of all
countries, which is not a rope of sand, but a continuous development, and is not a burden
on the memory, but an illumination of the soul. It moves in a succession to which the
nations are subsidiary. Their story will be told, not for their own sake, but in reference and
subordination to a higher series, according to the time and degree in which they contribute
to the common fortunes of mankind.
Luckily, in this aspect of the humane study of history, there aren’t as
many controversies as in the political history I was speaking about. The
narration therefore ends with a chapter dedicated to the unique legacy of the
socio-cultural aspects of Mysore’s history, one that, though subservient and
dependent on the political scenario of the times, is still independent and
based more on the aspirations and voices of the common people.
The decision to include a discussion on the economic growth of the state
in the murky nature of its political story was also driven by a motive.
Present-day Karnataka, and Bangalore in particular, has reached the
pinnacle of material success with the growth of the information technology
and biotechnology industries for which it is hailed as the veritable capital in
India and the Silicon Valley of the East. In such times, it is but natural to
lose touch with one’s roots. Traditionally, Kannadigas have been the most
welcoming, hospitable and amiable set of people, to the extent of being
oblivious to their own glorious past and traditions and worse still, apologetic
and even bearing a sense of inferiority at times among more vociferous
neighbours. In these modem and changed times, however, it is essential that,
while you soar in the skies, you have your feet firmly on the ground. Like
many Bangaloreans, I too have been asked why and how Bangalore got into
this IT/BT revolution. The most simplistic answer that people give is that it
has such a salubrious climate and that is what drives the whole engine. But
can weather be the only driver? If that were so, why would companies not
set up shop in hill-stations like Shimla or Kodaikanal? Why choose
Bangalore?
That’s when a Bangalorean’s complete ignorance about his own past
comes to the fore. Under the erstwhile rulers of Mysore and its illustrious
dewans, like Sir M. Vishweswaraiya and Sir Mirza Ismail, the state in
general and the city in particular had attained a high degree of industrial
growth by the time of Independence. Mysore state became one of India’s
first states to have a democratic system of local governance and was hailed
as the ‘Model State’ of India by the founding fathers of the country in view
of the large-scale material, cultural and spiritual progress of the state and its
people. While Mysore city was the cultural capital of the state, Bangalore
emerged as the intellectual capital of India with research centres, such as
IISc and later on IIM, as well as the largest number of engineering colleges
in India. Bangalore was also prominent on the strategic map of India’s
defence with HAL, BHEL and similar companies housing their operations
here. With such a large pool of talent and advantages, the nascent Indian IT
industry, which is a knowledge-based one, naturally chose Bangalore as its

starting point. So the sound fundamentals of the economy were laid
courtesy the progressive maharajas of Mysore, something for which we
could perhaps gloss over the fact that they were completely under the
tutelage of the British Crown after their Restoration in 1799. This book
intends to instil among residents of Karnataka that sense of pride about their
own culture and past, about the achievements that have come about through
years of vision and planning, the ability to see patterns in the scheme of
things, identify the symbols of the past around them that connect them to
bygone days and not foolishly assume that it all happened one fine morning
because of some magic wand waved by hordes of outsiders who poured into
the state.
Perhaps this sense of pride and achievement would be all the more
necessary in the year that Karnataka celebrates its ‘Suvarana Rajyotsava’ or
the golden jubilee of its formation after Independence. This book is my
humble tribute to this everlasting spirit of my state.
At the same time, while history’s intention is to instil pride and comfort
about the achievements of the past, it also needs to infuse a sense of
responsibility about the present. While people of the past might have
undoubtedly won laurels, are we, as present day citizens, doing enough to
preserve this glory? With regular reports of the crumbling infrastructure in
Bangalore and the flight of industry, can’t history inspire us to act, and act
fast? Perhaps the words of C. Rajagopalachari, the first governor general of
Independent India are apt to quote here. In the address he gave to the newly
formed government of independent Mysore during his visit to the state he
said:
I may say without hesitation, not as an old citizen of Mysore State, but as the Governor
General, and an objective judge, that Mysore is really the most beautiful city in India. I have
been feeling it all the time since I came here. In fact I did not get good sleep last night,
because I was feeling as if I had just come back after paying a visit to ‘Fairy Land’! The
State has now been handed over to democratic machinery. Successive and able
administrators under His Highness’ predecessors have built this province to an enviable
degree of progress and glory. The new Government has taken over the responsibility. If I
were here, I would not sleep happily. You have taken over a glorious thing. My colleagues
in national agitation and struggle have taken over, I feel, a very high responsibility. It is not
easy to maintain the State and keep it up to the level it had reached through the talent,
industry, devotion and patriotism of previous administrators.

This is the sense of ownership and responsibility that history needs to
instil in its readers, even while puffing them up with pride about past
achievements.
II
The travails of an Indian student who finishes his schooling and is forced to
branch into one of the two divine disciplines of engineering or medicine
brought me to Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE),
Mysore, acclaimed as one of the premier institutes of Karnataka. I was all
the more thrilled to be in Mysore, a city that had always been little short of
utopia for me, with the tongas that hurry past you as they would have past
your grandfather or his father, the ever-benign countenances of the
maharaja’s statues that one encounters at every road intersection, and where
all roads lead to the sprawling palace. Mysore was always a pleasant
addiction and the special interest that I nurtured for the history of the place
only made this addiction all the more chronic. Even as our train checked
into the narrow Mysore railway station, the freshness of the air beckoned us
—a totally alien experience these days in my hometown Bangalore, which
has got itself entangled in the cesspool of modernism.
That evening, as we hired an autorickshaw to look for the paying guest
accommodation that I wanted, the pleasantness and polite manners of the
auto driver struck us—the same class in Bangalore is a most despised lot
responding only with grunts and angry rebuffs. Caught in the maze of
strikingly similar houses, we lost our way and had to ask at one such house
for directions. We were touched by their earnestness to set us back on the
correct route. The lady of the house took it upon herself to phone the person
concerned from her house and even ventured to come with us to show us the
house we were looking for, and all this at about 9 pm. While the whole
exercise took more than fifteen minutes, the driver did not even demand
extra money.
It is this social ethos that Mysore has been able to maintain, even as the
rat race rushes on unabated elsewhere. It is a city that has not yet opened its
eyes to avarice, urbane sophistication and the materialistic way of life. You
cannot help but get transported into the past when you are in Mysore,
because history for the average Mysorean is not dead, found in the cold
storage of text books giving sleepless nights to many a student, but a more
vibrant and enlivening aspect of their daily lives that makes them shoot at
least cursory glances at all those forts, palaces, statues of their erstwhile
rulers and remind themselves of the legacy they inherit. The kingdom may
be long gone, but it still lives among the people, their attitudes, their daily
discussions, musings and reminiscences.
The next morning we visited the breathtaking palace of the maharaja; it
seemed to embrace the solitude and serenity of the surroundings with its
high walls, merging with the colour of the sand of the adjoining courtyard.
As I strolled past the sprawling fort surrounding the majestic Mysore palace,
built in the Indo-Saracenic style, with large gateways and central archways,
and a beautifully maintained garden of roses, apart from the spathodia
campanulate, gulmohars and rain trees, I was awestruck imagining the
grandeur and pomp of the inhabitants. Mysore and its majestic palace had
always been my addiction and a feast for my eyes. As I left through the
Varaha gate at the southern end of the complex, those large portraits of the
legendary painter Raja Ravi Varma, those chandeliers, mirror cases and
richly carved doorways flashed across my mind.
As I walked along, I could not but help catch sight of a small temple on
the outer ramparts of the fort surrounding the palace. Inside was a small
image of Lord Bhairava with four hands. He holds a trident, a drum, a skull
and a sword. To his left is Bhadra Kali, holding a sickle. Both these gods of
the Hindu pantheon symbolise death and destruction. But in the case of
Mysore, like the phoenix, they ushered in a new era in its resplendent
history.
Located around 770 metres above sea level and 135 kilometres from
Bangalore at 12.18° N and 76.42° E, Mysore represents a cultural melting
pot of the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. According to ancient
legends, the area around Mysore was once the domain of the demon king
Mahishasura who had grown increasingly invincible and wrought havoc on
the world at large. It was then that the gods propitiated the feminine power
in the form of Durga or Chamundeshwari who vanquished the demon in a
massive battle waged over a period of ten days. Chamundeshwari is also
known as Mahishasura Mardini or the slayer of the demon Mahisha. This
epic battle between the forces of divinity and evil has captured the
imagination of Indians who celebrate it across the length and breadth of the
country as Dasara or Dussehra, the consummation of the nine nights of
strife against evil, the Navaratri. Mysore retains the name of the slain demon
as the anglicised version of ‘Mahisuru’, the ooru (Kannada for town) of
Mahisha. Goddess Chamunda is supposed to have slain Mahisha atop a hill
and to this day her image resides on the same hill which benignly overlooks
the town of Mysore.*
———————————
* It is noteworthy that this story behind the name is most likely a mythical one. The first
reference to the name 'Mysore' is actually found in an inscription of more than 1,000 years
ago which refers to the place as 'Mayysoor'.

Section 1
The Period of Legend and Fable (AD 1399–1638)
Raja Wodeyar: AD 1578–1617

PREFACE
This section, dating back to the very origins of the dynasty, has taken shape
through much reliance on folklore. There are various sources available to a
historian to reconstruct the past: manuscripts, documentation, travelogues,
biographies and autobiographies of monarchs, archaeological excavations,
monuments and folklore. In this long list, rationalists and historians have no
quarrel with any of the sources except the last named, and the frown of
disapproval becomes almost instantaneous when they hear the word
‘folklore’. The term is usually associated with something traditional, old
fashioned, quaint, rustic, backward and primitive. Some might even use it
derisively as bordering on the limits of nonsense and falsehood, and rubbish
it away as ‘Oh, that’s mere folklore, it’s gibberish’.
But folklore is much more than that. It is a part of the experiences and
practices of our everyday life, which only goes to suggest that in some way,
all of us as individuals are involved in transmitting folklore, though not
consciously Dan Ben Amos in his essay, ‘Toward a Definition of Folklore in
Context’, in the Journal of American Folklore, defines it as ‘artistic
communication in groups’. He classifies this artistic communication into the
three categories of what people say (folk literature or verbal lore/oral
literature), what people do (folk custom) and what people make (material
culture). Thus it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to link folklore directly with
something as lofty and abstract as the ‘culture’ of a group of individuals or
of a community at large.
All over the world, the study of folklore and legend is being accepted as
one of the means through which history reveals herself to those who seek
her. In Britain, for example, for over a thousand years, storytellers have spun
tales of King Arthur, his Queen Guinevere and the circle of his noble
knights. Why do these stories endure? How have fables, songs and ballads
twisted and turned over the centuries and have they in any way defined and
reflected our expectations of heroism, governance, achievement and well
being? These are questions that invariably emenge when we scratch the
surface and go a little deeper.
Folklorists in Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, the USA, Scandinavia
and Eastern Europe went professional when, in the manner of sociologists
and anthropologists in the first half of the twentieth century, they began to
describe themselves as ‘ethnographers’. Unfortunately, in India the amount
of seriousness and thought that has gone into the study of folklore is
conspicuous by its absence in the course of exploring Indian history. The
first chair in folklore was founded in Helsinki as early as 1886, and an
important international conference was held in Paris in 1937, but nothing as
significant has happened in India to date. This is rather disconcerting
considering the fact that India and Indians are, and have been, congenital
storytellers. It comes so naturally to us. Most of the visible forms of our
cultural expression are linked to the process of spinning a yam. The epics
Ramayana and Mahabharata constitute, without doubt, the bedrock of
Indian storytelling. You have different versions and variations that are local
adaptations of the same epics. We have even heard of versions where Rama
and Sita are siblings. But apart from stories with a religious orientation,
others, with a view of imparting moral education—be it the Panchatantra or
the Jataka tales—have also been handed down over centuries to us. Could
the study of history benefit from these stories? Could they give us an insight
into the ways or lives of those times? Have we done enough to dissect these
stories as a tool of reconstruction?
The early history of the Wodeyars of Mysore features many fascinating
stories and ballads. Some of these fables were originally spun by court
historians to heap encomiums on the incumbent king and to bolster the
divine right theory of kingship. So it may be easy to rubbish away concepts
of divine dispensation that guided the founders of the dynasty or a fable like
that of the blind man regaining sight upon the king’s touch, but one certainly
needs to evaluate the impact they have had on popular imagination, right
down to the present day.
Nowhere else did I get to see legends being so much a part of daily life
than at Talakad. I was there at the recently held conclave of the Pancha linga
darshana and was overawed by the sea of humanity that had congregated in
a rare pursuit of faith. While I stood there marvelling at the beauty of the
harsh and rugged landscape around me, my thoughts were interrupted by the
wails of a woman that seemed to reverberate in the sandy environs. They
were emanating from the CDs and cassettes that a hawker was selling to
curious onlookers. Could something as eerie as this be a saleable
commodity, I wondered. On listening more closely I realised that the wails
and the remorseful dialogues were intended to be that of Rani Alamelamma.
She laments the indifference of the Lord of Doctors, Vaidyeshwara, in
whose town her family has taken refuge to ensure that her husband is cured
of his ailment. But the God has failed her. To add to her misery, the King of
Mysore is hounding them. So in utter frustration arising out of helplessness,
we hear this woman showering the famous three-line curse before plunging
into the Cauvery. And to my surprise I found people all around me, literate
or semi-literate or completely unlettered, talking confidently and knowingly
about this ‘historical’ event of the seventeenth century. Would it matter to
them that some rationalists and historians actually are debating the very
existence of this medieval queen and the event? This is because none of the
early records—Wilks’ mammoth account and Francis Buchanan’s elaborate
travelogue—mention the queen who jumped into the river and cursed the
royal family of Mysore. Would they, who recorded every detail, have missed
something as important as this? And if it were so much a part of public
debate and consciousness, would they not have, in the course of their
interviews with the local populace, got some insight into this event? Would
it thus not suggest that this whole story is a concoction prepared at some
later date with vested interests in mind? This is the line taken by rationalists
and historians.
But then, we should also consider whether such rationalisation changes
the beliefs that are so deeply entrenched by virtue of frequent repetition. If it
does, what would happen then to the many hawkers for whom the curse is a
means of livelihood during this jamboree? It is always so easy to sell a book
or a CD that supposedly harps on a medieval curse as it instantly attracts
customer attention and curiosity. While these thoughts cross my mind, I also
wonder if history is what lies below what is recounted by the masses at large
or it is that which academics debate and decide as the truth in closed door
meetings.
A tale, like that of Rani Alamelamma, for whatever it is worth, talks of a
deep socio-political and cultural truth of the times. It speaks of the delicate
balance that existed those days between the victor and vanquished. It gives
us a glimpse into the mind of a woman of that century and how honour was
more precious to her than her own life. It also acts as a connecting factor
between the past and the present, where greed and avarice seem to be traits
that never get satiated.
So which group owns the truth—popular belief or academic debate?
What actually gets distilled and accepted as ‘true history’? One should
neither debunk nor bank completely on these myths of the past but rather
use them to draw valuable inferences. At the end of the day it reinforces the
balance between art and science on which history does its tightrope walking
on. To tilt it to either side would mean destroying this fine equilibrium.
Medieval ideas, such as curses and omens, that have a visible impact till
date add a dash of romance and thrill to any account. But it all comes as a
package—facts that can be substantiated and rational arguments along with
a lot of mumbo-jumbo and rumour-mongering. If nothing else, it gives the
historian a chance to turn novelist—a temptation that I have succumbed to
as well!
1
THE GENESIS AD 1399–1578
AD 1399
n the early hours of the morning, Mahisuru looked more gorgeous than
ever against the artistic backdrop of the hills that overlooked the place. A
few washerwomen were engrossed in their gossip as they sat thumping
clothes on a stone beside the Devarajasagara tank. One of them remarked:
‘Oh God! What decadence are we facing! Times have really worsened!’
The ignorant companion asked, ‘Why? What’s wrong? Is all well with
the palace and our chieftain? You obviously know more as your husband
guards the chieftain’s private apartments.’
‘Oh you ignorant fool! Do you have no sense of what is happening to
our kingdom? Late last night, Chamaraja Bhupati died.’
‘What?’
‘Yes! No sooner does the king die than our poor queen is put to so much
mental agony. As they say, it’s always good to have a son; after all a son is
the progenitor of the family. Alas! Chamaraja Bhupati died sonless and left
behind his wife and pretty daughter Princess Chikkadevarasi. Don’t tell
anyone, but Dalavoy Maaranayaka has cast his evil eyes on the kingdom. In
the middle of the night, even when our chieftain’s family was facing such a
tragedy, Maaranayaka—that imp of Satan—barged into the wailing queen’s
apartments. Fie upon him, has he forgotten all the decorum of the royals?
And can you believe what he asked the queen Mother Devajammanni? He
threatened her with an attack on the palace if she did not hand over her
daughter Chikkadevarasi in marriage to him and said that he had already

lined up his soldiers along the fort walls. O poor Queen Mother! Hardly had
the vermillion of her forehead been wiped, than she had to face the
treachery of an ordinary minister who hitherto was at the beck and call of
her husband. God alone save our Kingdom, my friend!’
This conversation of the washerwomen caught the attention of a young
and handsome man, Yaduraya. Life had taken strange turns for Yaduraya
and his brother Krishnaraya. They were the sons of Raja Deva of Dwaraka
in present-day Gujarat and claimed their descent from the lunar dynasty of
Lord Krishna of the Hindu pantheon. Yaduraya had a series of inexplicable
dreams—dreams which he could barely comprehend—but he was certain
that they intended to convey a message, a directive. Just a week ago, he had
felt that he had seen a vision of some divine force that coaxed him to leave
Dwaraka for the Mahabala Mountains cradled between the Cauvery and
Kapila Rivers and worship the presiding deity, Goddess Chamundeshwari.
A troubled Raja Deva called for the royal physician.
‘Is there something wrong with my son? He seems to have this sudden
urge to leave for the area below the Vindhyas. He remains disturbed by the
after-effects of these dreams that he has had.’
The physician was clueless, since the prince had no discernible physical
or psychological problems.
‘Your Highness! My knowledge of the human body and mind is limited
by the education I have received. There are matters that transcend the
mundane education, which our intellect cannot perceive. There seems to be
a profound reason that is driving the young Prince out of Dwaraka to the
Mahabala. Let us not act as obstacles in the way of cosmic dispensation. Let
him go where his destiny beckons him.’
Accompanied by his brother and confidant, Krishnaraya, Yaduraya set
out on this unknown mission. He had no idea what he was supposed to do
once he got there, but was sure that he had to go to the land of Mahisha.
They reached the Mahabala Mountains on horseback. The scenic beauty of
the mountainous region and the guiding mantra of Goddess
Chamundeshwari inspired them to explore the land further. They travelled
southwards and reached the beautiful township of Mahisuru, where they
were completely enamoured by the loveliness of the place. As they aimlessly
wandered around the town, the sun was beginning to set and they were in
desperate need for shelter. Their eyes caught sight of a small temple on the
banks of the Devarajasagara tank. It was that of Lord Bhairava who, with his
consort Bhadra Kali, signified death and destruction in a mundane sense,
but liberation and ultimate release from a spiritual perspective. The brothers
were too tired to look any further and decided to spend the night in the
temple with the gory images of the gods overlooking them. Little did they
realise that while they slept comfortably in the temple, catastrophe had
befallen the family of the man who ruled this little township.
It was like any another lovely morning in Mahisuru. The hill that
overlooked the town was believed to be the one atop which Goddess Durga
as Chamundeshwari had beheaded the ferocious demon king Mahishasura.
The benign protection that the hills provided to the town and its inhabitants
seemed reassuring. Yaduraya was stirred from his sleep by the early rays of
the sun and the chirping of the birds. He sauntered along the Devarajasagara
tank. All the while, he was confused and perplexed and kept questioning his
decision.
‘Driven by my strange dreams, I have made the long and tiresome
journey to this distant and unknown land, much against my father’s wishes.
But what now? What am I supposed to do in this beautiful land? What
brought me here? Maybe the force that guided me to reach this place will
show me the path ahead. But what if it was all a mere hallucination of my
mind? What will I tell my father? That I made a wild and thriftless journey
to nowhere and returned empty handed?’
His stream of defeatist thoughts was interrupted by the sounds of the
thumping of clothes by a couple of washerwomen. Yaduraya happened to
hear the whole conversation. As he sat pondering over the conversation, a
mendicant or Jangama approached him.
‘You seem to be a stranger in this country, who are you?’ he asked,
trying to conceal a bag within his saffron robes.
‘Sire! My obeisance to Your Holiness. I am Yaduraya, the prince of
Dwaraka and the man sleeping over there is my brother, Krishna.’
‘What brings you here?’
‘Your Holiness, I have had strange dreams for quite some time now.
Something seemed to be telling me to give up my reverie and leave for
Mahisuru. I had never heard of this place before. So I thought there was
surely more to it than meets the eye. We decided to act accordingly.’

The Jangama was ecstatic. ‘Hail the Mother! Hail the Mother! She
knows how to get Her will done! She knows whom to send and where and
when.’
Yaduraya was baffled. ‘Sire! I do not understand anything that you say.
Which mother are you talking about and whom has she sent?’
Pointing towards the hills, the Jangama said, ‘The Divine Mother, young
lad. There She is, sitting atop that hill, having slain the demon Mahishasura.
She protects this place. How could She let it fall into evil hands? You are
Her chosen man. Look son, you have a tremendous task to accomplish. Let
me explain. The soil on which we sit here today was ruled over by
Chamaraja, the successor of Shuradevaraya of the Bhoja Dynasty who had
reached this land of Mahisuru from Mathura.
‘But, alas! Just last night Chamaraja died after a prolonged illness. The
only wish he had was that of a son to succeed him. Sadly, this wish was
never fulfilled and he was blessed with a beautiful daughter instead. What
sighs does the queen exhale ever since he died. Maaranayaka, the cruel
Minister, is planning to usurp the kingdom and abduct Princess
Chikkadevarasi. Tormented by his threats, Maharani Devajammanni locked
herself in a room and prayed fervently to Sri Hari. There was an immediate
message from the Lord directing her to take into confidence two young
visitors who would be setting their foot on this land from a foreign country.
You are supposed to be the only ones who can redeem her and her family
from this peril. She spoke her heart out to me and pleaded with me in such a
pitiable manner that even I was moved to tears. After all, she is the queen
and if she had to plead with an ordinary man of God like me thus, you can
imagine the intensity of her agony. So I started looking for newcomers to
Mahisuru and without much trouble I found you and knew that you were the
one I was seeking. Son, do not delay, vanquish the evil forces who have cast
their eyes on this beautiful land.’
Saying this, the Janagama held out the saffron bag he had been trying to
conceal, which contained many weapons, and said, ‘Here, these weapons
were smuggled out of the armoury at the queen’s behest. Make haste son,
before it is too late. From the days of yore the forces of evil have always
stood vanquished in this land. May the force of the Goddess, which inspired
you to come to Mahisuru, guide you on your mission.’
Having said this, the Jangama departed.

It all seemed like a fairy tale to Yaduraya. He rubbed his eyes hard to
check if he had perchance slipped into another reverie. Was this another
dream? But the array of weapons lying in front of him dispelled these
doubts. He quickly rushed to the Kodibhairava Temple and woke his brother
to narrate the entire sequence of events. Immediately, both Yaduraya and
Krishnaraya armed themselves and made their way to the palace.
As they reached the main gates, they were stopped by the guards, who
were on Maaranayaka’s payroll. After a fierce battle, the guards were
overcome but danger signals were sent across to Maaranayaka, the self-
proclaimed caretaker of the palace. He rode his horse to the spot with his
battalion behind him. Meanwhile, the prayers inside the palace chambers
had intensified as the queen sat silent with her rosary. Yaduraya and
Krishnaraya fought Maaranayaka for several hours, at the end of which they
emerged victorious. Yaduraya held Maaranayaka’s severed head and entered
the palace.
As an attendant informed the Queen of Yaduraya’s success, her face
beamed with joy and she came hurrying down to the entrance to welcome
the victor. ‘Son! You don’t realise what solace you have bestowed upon our
troubled mind by killing this evil man. Could we have ever dreamt that
someone who was hitherto a loyalist would betray us this way? But then it is
divine providence by virtue of which you and your brother arrived at
Mahisuru and came to our rescue at the right time. You have built for
yourself a new edifice in our heart. None but you can be a befitting
successor to the dynasty and a perfect match for my daughter!’ The Princess
was only too pleased to think of marrying the man who had protected her
father’s kingdom from the dark clouds of misery.
Thus, in the Hindu month of Vaishakha in the year AD 1399, Yaduraya
ascended the throne of Mahisuru after marrying Chikkadevarasi. The
people cheered with joy to see their saviour being led to the throne by a
galaxy of priests amidst the chanting of Vedic hymns. Out of gratitude to
the deity of Melukote—whose blessings he thought had earned him the
kingdom—Yaduraya built a massive fortress on the hill with four gateways
and named it ‘Melukote’, or ‘The Fort atop the Hill’. Goddess
Chamundeshwari became the family deity as it was Her intervention which
supposedly brought Yaduraya to Mahisuru and ensured its subsequent fame.

Thus was laid the foundation of the dynasty of the Yadu rulers of Mysore,
called the Wodeyar or Wadiyar dynasty (‘odeya’ in Kannada meant master).
Wilks, the famous historian who has documented the history of Mysore
in his book, Historical Sketches of the South of India in an Attempt to Trace
the History of Mysoor, narrates a similar incident—with minor variants to
the episode that led to the founding of the Wodeyar Dynasty.
During the period that the dominions of the rajahs of Vijeyanuggur extended really, or
nominally over the greater portion of the South of India, two young men of the tribe of
Yedava, named Vijeya and Kristna, departed from that Court in search of a better
establishment to the South. Their travels carried them to the little fort of Hadena, a few
miles from the present situation of the town of Mysoor; and having alighted, as is usual,
near the border of a tank, they overheard some women of the Jungum sect, who had come
for water, bewailing the fate of a young maiden of their tribe who was about to be married
to a person of inferior quality. The brothers enquired into the circumstances of the case;
desired the women to be comforted; and offered their services in defence of the damsel. She
was the daughter of the Wadeyar (or Lord of 33 villages) who was afflicted with mental
derangement; and in this desolate and unprotected state, the Chief of Caroogully, a person
of mean caste, had proposed to the family the alternative of immediate war, or the
peaceable possession of Hadena by his marriage with the damsel; and to the latter
proposition they had given a forced and reluctant consent. The offer of the strangers was
made known, and they were admitted to examine the means which the family possessed of
averting the impending disgrace. In conformity to their advice no change was made in the
preparations for the marriage feast; and while the Chiefs of Caroogully were seated at the
banquet in one apartment, and their followers in another, the men of Hadena, who had been
previously secreted for the purpose, headed by the two brothers sprung forth upon their
guests and slew them, marched instantly to Caroogully which they surprised, and returned
in triumph to Hadena. The damsel, full of gratitude, became the willing bride of Vijeya,
who changed his religion (from a disciple of Vishnou he became a Jungum or Lingwunt)
and became the Lord of Hadena and Caroogully. He assumed on this occasion, the title of
Wadeyar which is uniformly annexed in the manuscripts to the name of every rajah, and
still retained by the family after another change of religion which took place about the year
1687. Wadeyar or Lord (in the Kalla Canara) seems at this period, to have indicated the
office of governor of a small district, generally of 33 villages.
Here, the reference Wilks makes to Hadena is Hadinadu, Caroogully
being Karugahalli. Yaduraya has been named as Vijaya, just as he has been
in other contemporary literary works like the Mysuru Nagarada Purvottara,
an account of the early history of the Wodeyars.
This episode in Mysore’s history is an interesting legend, which tries to
veil the fact that the dynasty was founded by a humble and adventurous
local soldier with a small group of villagers under his control.
The Wodeyar dynasty was the latest entrant in the long and chequered
political history of the state. The early history of Karnataka—or Mysore
state as it used to be called before India’s independence—is replete with
sagas of brave dynasties and warriors. Early references to the region are
found in Mauryan literature and Ashokan inscriptions. Chandragupta
Maurya is claimed to have come all the way to Shravanabelagola with his
teacher Bhadrabahu. Although many historians refute this claim, the story
points to the hoary past of the region of Mysore. In different time spans of
its political history, the region has been ruled by the various dynasties of
southern India—the Pallavas (AD 200–430), the Gangas of Talakad (AD
350–1050), the Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra (AD 1022–1342) and the
Vijayanagara emperors.
Around the middle of the fourteeth century, the Sultanate of Delhi—
founded under the aegis of the Slave Dynasty of Iltutmish and later on his
daughter Razia—included almost the whole of India with a few minor
exceptions. But the century also marked a kind of assertion of the southern
kingdoms against northern hegemony. The Muslim chiefs from the south
revolted against the control of Delhi while for the Hindu chiefs it was a
matter of national pride and safeguarding their culture and religion against
Muslim domination from north of the Vindhyas. This catapulted to
prominence the two main kingdoms of the south—the magnificent
Vijayanagara dynasty and the Bahamani empire. The people of the Deccan
never reconciled to the fact of being governed by invaders who had occupied
the throne of power at Delhi. As early as AD 1329, when Muhammad-bin-
Tughlaq decided to shift his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad or Devagiri,
there were serious reservations about the proposed move.
In 1336, a new era began in the history of the Deccan with the founding
of the Vijayanagara dynasty by Harihara Raya and Bukka Raya with the aid
of an erudite scholar and religious teacher named Vidyaranya. Under the
Vijayanagara kings, many petty chieftains or Palayagaras flourished. A
Palayagara levied taxes on the people, maintained the law and order of his
dominion and was almost like a king in his small satrapy. It was in one such
small satrapy, Hadinadu, ruled by the chieftain Chamaraja, that the
foundations of the royal family of Mysore were laid.

Yaduraya ruled the principality till AD 1423 and in the month of
Shravana of the same year died after naming his elder son Hiriya Bettada
Chamaraja Wodeyar (1423–59) as his successor. His younger son,
Chamaraja Wodeyar, founded the Kenchalgud branch of the royal family of
Mysore. The successive rulers were feudatories of the glorious Vijayanagara
empire which had touched its zenith under rulers, like Krishnadeva Raya. In
1459, Hiriya Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar’s son, Timmaraja Wodeyar I,
succeeded him and ruled till 1478.
On his demise, his son—Hiriya Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar II—the
Aarberal (or six-fingered king, as mentioned in manuscripts) ascended the
throne. He had three sons by his wife Goparasammanavaru—Timmaraja
Wodeyar II, Krishnaraja Wodeyar and Bola Chamaraja Wodeyar.
Krishnaraja Wodeyar is known to have captured many villages and towns by
defeating their Palayagaras or Poligars, the chieftains of the Vijayanagara
empire, and got the title of ‘Shringaarahara’. Timmaraja II, being the eldest
son, succeeded his father in 1533. Timmaraja is also designated as Hiriya
Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar III. While history does not have sufficient
documentation of the rulers who succeeded Yaduraya, the reign of
Timmaraja and those of his successors have been chronicled in various
manuscripts and inscriptions. He has had various names—Dodda
Chamaraja, Bettendra, Bettarajendra, Betta Chamarat, Betta Chamendra,
Sama, Bettada Chama and so on. It seems more likely that his true name
was Timmaraja, after his grandfather, and that he was later appellated by
these other names. Inscriptions speak of him as a ‘mill for grinding the
corn, his enemies, victorious in war and delighting in the spoils of victory’,
‘destroyer of enemies, famous among kings as the moon from the milky
ocean’.
He acquired the title of ‘Birudentembara Ganda’ in strange
circumstances. It was said that many chieftains had congregated at the
annual car festival of the Lord of Nanjangud. Here, Nanja Shetti of Kalale,
who was a loyalist of Timmaraja, was enraged by the fact that his master
had no title worth his stature while the assembled chieftains were
pompously reeling out their own. He challenged them to the lawful
ownership of the much coveted title of Birudentembara Ganda. A scuffle
followed and it was said that the Shetti managed to hold his own against his
opponents and proclaim the title for his master. The title has since then been
the unique appellation for the kings of Mysore. If nothing else, this incident
shows the hollowness of the medieval and feudal society where it was
common to witness brawls on such matters as titles and their rightful
owners.
Deccan in 1525
(Maps are artistic recreations made at Suhaas Graphics, Bangalore)
Timmaraja is also credited to have laid the foundations of a fort in
Mysore by putting up an inner enclosure wall (valasuttina kote) in 1524 and
naming it Mysuru Nagara. As narrated in a literary work titled Mysuru
Doregala Purvabhyudaya Vivara, Mysore had till then only an irregular fort
(hoodevoo) with an outskirt called Purageri, or the main street of the town,
along with a Tammatagiri or Drummers’ Lane. To the north-eastern end was
the temple of God Someshwara built by the Cholas and a lake by its side
called the Cholakere. The Chola temples of Bhairava and
Lakshmiramanaswamy also stood beside it. Timmaraja also got a tank
constructed behind the Chamundeshwari temple atop the hills called
Hirikere. In November 1548, he purchased Tippur village for the
construction of the temple of Cheluvarayaswamy of Melukote.
It is, however, hard to comprehend the Mysore of this age as a kingdom
and these early rulers as kings. It is noteworthy that for over two centuries
after the dynasty was established, the jurisdiction of the family was at best
limited to the control of thirty-three villages. It was only by the end of the
first decade of the seventeenth century that the Wodeyars of Mysore truly
arrived on the Indian political scene. Till then, they can at best be
considered as subsidiaries of the empire of Vijayanagara which was slowly
but steadily heading towards its doom.
Meanwhile, the Indian political scenario was changing. India had
stepped fully into the later medieval era. At the apex of the country’s
political system was a new dynasty that had come in from outside its
borders and captured the seat of power in Delhi—the Mughals. The
situation in southern India was unexpectedly volatile. After the death of
Krishnadevaraya, the Vijayanagara empire slowly began to disintegrate
under rulers, like Achyutaraya and Sadashivaraya. Trouble cropped up at
this time with a certain Ramaraya playing the pivotal role in the destruction.
He had seized power on the pretext of being regent to the infant
Sadashivaraya, Krishnadevaraya’s nephew, who was now the ruler of the
kingdom. After removing many of the old Brahmin nobility, he placed his
own relatives and adherents in power. There were five Muslim rulers in the
Deccan after the disintegration of the Bahamani kingdom. They sought
Ramaraya’s help in their mutual squabbles.
On 26 December 1564, the Muslim Sultans joined hands against
Vijayanagara, camping at Talikota. The war commenced on 23 January
1565, at a place between the Rakkasa and Tangadagi villages. Initially,
Vijayanagara was at an advantage. But the opposing camp won over two
pivotal Muslim commanders of Vijayanagara after brainwashing them to
fight for Islam rather than side with the Hindus. These two commanded all
the Muslim soldiers of Vijayanagara against the empire itself. Caesar
Frederick writes:
...and when the armies were joined, the battle lasted but a while, not the space of four
hours, because the two traitorous captains, in the chiefest of the fight, with their companies
turned their faces against their king and made such disorder in his army, that being
*
astounded, they set themselves to fight.
Ramaraya was captured and killed by Nizam Shah—a member of the
Muslim leaders’ confederacy formed to fight Vijayanagara. The victorious
forces pursued the princes and the army in the course of which 100,000 and
more men were slain. Robert Sewell’s account, A Forgotten Empire,
explains the ruin which followed when Tirumala, Ramaraya’s brother, fled
the city with as much treasure as he could load on 1,550 elephants:
... then a panic seized the city ... no retreat, no fight was possible except to a few, for the
pack oxen and carts had almost all followed the forces to the war and they had not returned.
Nothing could be done but to bury all the treasures, to arm the younger men, and to wait.
Next day, the place became a prey to the robber tribes and jungle people of the
neighborhood. Hordes of Brinjaris, Lambadis, Kurubas and the like poured down on the
hapless city and looted the stores and shops, carrying off great quantities of riches. Couto
states that there were six concerted attacks by these people during the day.
It is perhaps due to these plunders that Kannadigas to this day refer to
Hampi, the once splendorous capital of the empire where diamonds were
supposedly sold on the streets, as ‘Haalu Hampi’ or the ‘Destroyed Hampi’.
Vijayanagara never recovered from this severe blow.
The fall of Vijayanagara meant the end of a glorious era of India’s
Hindu dynasties. But it also led to the rise of new power centres in the
peninsula which were hitherto subsidiaries of the Empire—the Wodeyars of

Mysore, the Nayakas of Madurai, Tanjore, Ikkeri or Keladi, Jinji,
Chitradurga, Sonda and so on. These families inherited the traditions and
heritage of Vijayanagara.
Meanwhile in 1572, in the month of Pushya, Timmaraja Wodeyar II
died. He was succeeded by his brother Chamaraja Wodeyar IV. We find at
this juncture the practice of polygamy creeping into the family with
Chamaraja marrying Veerarajammanni of Sindhuvalli and Depajammanni.
He had four sons: Devaraja, Chennaraja, Bettada Chamaraja and Raja
Wodeyar. An interesting incident occurred during this time. Once, while
returning from the darshan of Goddess Chamundeshwari, lightning struck
the King’s head as he descended the hill, but miraculously just a few strands
of hair were charred making him bald. He thus came to be known as Bola
Chamaraja Wodeyar or the bald Chamaraja Wodeyar.
Inscriptions speak of him as an expert in archery and in the handling of
weapons of war, and as someone possessing great courage and prowess.
Scuffles between Bola Chamaraja and the Viceroy of Vijayanagara were
common. In 1574, the Vijayanagara troops laid siege to Mysore for three
months. But Chamaraja cleverly intercepted the supplies and reduced the
besieging forces to a state of misery. The commandant, Remati Venkataraya,
was forced to lift the siege and flee in disgrace. It was a complete victory for
Mysore and a fall from grace for Vijayanagara, which had to cede Kalve
Kottagala to Mysore. Mysuru Doregala Vamshavali states that by 1576
Chamaraja had become an overlord of 33 villages, commanding a force of
300 men and surrounded by hostile neighbours.
The rulers of Mysore acquired many titles, like Timmaraja II who was
called Birudentembara Ganda, Bola Chamaraja who was referred to as
Suguna Gambhira, and so on. After Bola Chamaraja died in 1576, his eldest
son, Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar V ascended the throne in the Phalguna of
1576. He had two sons, Timmaraja Wodeyar III and Ranadhira Kantheerava
Narasaraja Wodeyar. Bettada Chamaraja V was a reckless ruler. Wilks sums
up thus:
...mild and brave but thoughtless and improvident and in two years had thrown the finances
into disorder. Elders of the land found themselves obliged to propose to his younger brother
Raj Wadeyar to supplant him in government. The scale of its affairs at the period may be
conjectured from the chief objection of Raj Wadeyar to undertake so weighty a charge; viz.,
that with an empty treasury, an arrear of tribute of 5000 pagodas that was due to the
Viceroy. This difficulty was removed by a contribution of 3000 from the privy purses of the
females of the family and 2000 from the elders of the land; and Raj Wadeyar was installed.
Who exactly were these ‘elders of the land’ who seemed to have so
much referent power on the matters of succession? They are often referred
as ‘Hale Paikis’ which literally meant old peons and soldiers. But in reality
it meant the old and loyalist adherents who wielded sufficient veto power in
deciding who would succeed a ruler or for that matter even depose a sitting
king. This quasi-democratic process seems to be a very unique feature of
Mysore.
Interestingly, while at the same time, kingdoms elsewhere witnessed
many bloodbaths among siblings on matters of kingship and succession, in
the case of the Wodeyar family, the decisions were meekly accepted. It
would not have been difficult for the deposed Chamaraja V to have
assembled a motley crowd of armed men and tried to stage a coup of sorts
or to get his brother assassinated. On the contrary, even after his deposition,
he is known to have taken up cudgels on behalf of his younger brother and
fought the troops of Karugahalli that were menacingly advancing towards
their domain. This absence of rancour and ill-will among members of the
family seems to be a unique trait of the early rulers of Mysore.
Quoting Wilks again on this rather interesting feature of the Mysore
dynasty:
This deposition of the elder and election of the younger brother, by the elders of the
country, is a curious feature of ancient Indian manners, and illustrates the uncertainty of
succession which characterizes the Hindoo Law. We find the power exercised, on several
subsequent occasions, of deviating from the direct course of lineal descent, for the
dangerous and generally delusive purpose, of obtaining a more worthy, or a more compliant
successor; and terminating, as in other countries, in faction, usurpation and murder. Various
incidents seem to prove that the characters of the brothers rather the manners of the time,
are marked in the disposal and subsequent history of the deposed raja. He was neither
murdered nor imprisoned: and on his approaching the hall of audience, where his brother
had been just installed, he was informed by the attendants, that the measure had become
necessary from the state of the finances; but that he might still be usefully and honorably
employed, in representing the family at the court of the Viceroy at Seringapatam; or if he
should prefer independent retirement, that also had been provided for him at Mysoor. ‘I will
reside at neither,’ said he, and departed in anger; but shortly afterwards, we find him living
peacefully at Mysoor... find this generous and gallant soldier leading the forces of his
younger brother, and achieving a variety of petty conquests....

The deposed raja retired to the pleasant village of Gundlu Terakanambi
along with his wives and children.
———————————
*
Frederick’s account has been quoted in Nilakanta Sastri and Srinivasachari’s Advanced
History of India.
2
THE AGE OE GLORY AD 1578–1617
AD 1610
Talakadu Maralaagali
Malingi Maduvaagali
Mysuru Dhoregalige Makkalagade hogali !
I curse Talakad to be submerged under creeping sands;
May a cruel whirlpool be the scourge of Malingi;
And the kings of Mysore suffer the pangs of childlessness!
ith these terrible words on her lips, Rani Alamelamma ended her life
in the Cauvery adorned with all the jewels that Raja Wodeyar was
seeking that she never wanted to relinquish. Folklore and legends state that
it rained sand for ten days after her death and the entire township of Talakad
was submerged under sand dunes. A whirlpool in the Cauvery ensured that
the town of Malingi came under its sway. The effect on the Mysore family
was long lasting: generations of Wodeyars after this remained childless, in
the sense that the royal family was never again of lineal descent with a son
succeeding his father and so on.
The guards who had gone along with the troops to besiege the palace of
the Rani for her jewels rushed to the makeshift tent where Raja Wodeyar
had camped. Gasping for breath they conveyed the message: ‘Your
Highness, the rani jumped off a cliff into the gushing waters of the Cauvery.
She was fully decked in her choicest ornaments. She is dead... she is gone. ’
Raja Wodeyar was consumed by immense pathos when the messengers
brought him the news of the sad suicide of Rani Alamelamma. He was also
shocked. Losing his composure, he sobbed uncontrollably like an infant.
‘What have I done? Will I ever be forgiven? An act of haste on my part has
caused the death of an innocent woman. Fie upon me!’
The ensuing night was perhaps the most difficult one in Raja Wodeyar’s
life. He barely managed to sleep. And if at all he did, the image of the
bejewelled Rani with dishevelled hair and bloodshot eyes woke him with a
shock. This carried on for a few more nights and when he heard the terrible
curse that the Rani had spelt out before ending her life, his heart sank.
He called for the royal priest and confessed to his sins. ‘Oh Holy One! I
have committed a grave sin. Driven by my meaningless and malefic
obsession, I have led an innocent woman into such a state of desperation
that she was forced to end her life in the waters of the Cauvery. The curse
that she pronounced on our family sends a chill down my spine. I have lost
the luxury of sleep ever since. Is there some way out, some remedy? You are
my only hope.’
The priest thought for a while, pulled out his almanac, did a couple of
quick astrological calculations and said: ‘My Lord! It is indeed the most
unfortunate thing to have happened to your esteemed dynasty. Alamelamma
was a woman of great determination. A statement rendered with that kind of
conviction, call it a curse or whatever you might please, is bound to have a
long lasting impact. In our religious traditions, the killing of snakes is also
considered a terrible thing to do. The snake is supposed to avenge this act
for seven generations. But conducting the shraddha ceremonies or the sarpa
samskara to propitiate the soul of the deceased reptile is said to impart great
benefits. I suggest that you conduct similar ceremonies to mollify the
departed rani’s soul and install a bronze idol of the Rani in the Palace and
pray fervently. It is only prayers and repentance that can wash away the
catastrophic effects of the terrible curse. Trust in the Almighty, my Lord. He
will show us a way out. ’
Accordingly, Raja Wodeyar got a bronze idol of Rani Alamelamma
installed. The guilt and shame ensured that he never managed to make eye
contact even with the idol. Yet he prayed fervently and conducted all the
ceremonies as per the prescribed rituals. In the midst of all these rituals his
thoughts invariably went back to the past—a past that had seen a long and
stressful relationship between him and Alamelamma’s deceased husband.
Raja Wodeyar was born in 1552, to Bola Chamaraja Wodeyar and his wife
Sindhuvalli Veerarajammanni. He assumed the leadership of the then
principality in the Vaishaka month of 1578 and his reign is replete with
contradictions. The Battle of Talikota ushered in the emergence of new
centres of power under rulers who were hitherto feudatories of the Empire.
One such kingdom which grew from a state of non-existence to one of
eminence was Mysore and the man who heralded this transition was Raja
Wodeyar. The early years of his reign marked tremendous efforts at
consolidation and expansion of the frontiers of the Mysore principality
which was now slowly, but steadily, becoming a force to reckon with in the
Deccan.
The Vijayanagara empire was in the last phase of its existence.
Historians categorise the history of Vijayanagara into four phases, each
ruled by different dynasties which were different branches of the collateral
line—brothers, uncles, nephews, etc. Harihara and Bukka who founded the
empire belonged to the first dynasty, the Sangama dynasty. In 1486 the
second offshoot emerged under Saaluva Narasimha, which was the Saaluva
dynasty. In 1503, the Tuluva Dynasty came into prominence and
Krishnadevaraya was a part of the same. The Battle of Talikota in 1565 and
the death of Ramaraya led to the total disintegration of the empire and the
last offshoot of the family—the Aravidu dynasty. As stated before,
Tirumala, Ramaraya’s brother, fled the city on the fateful day of the battle
with as much treasure as he could load on 1,550 elephants and later
established his supremacy. Six years after Talikota, there was confusion and
anarchy, following which Tirumala became king. The Nayaks of Madurai,
Tanjore and Gingee became virtually independent monarchs.
The mutual feuds of the sultans of Bijapur and Golconda, however, gave
these early rulers of the Aravidu dynasty some breathing space and freedom
to govern an extensive realm. Tirumala divided his empire among his sons
whom he appointed as Viceroys. His eldest son Srirangaraya represented
Penukonda (in Andhra), Sri Rama was placed in Srirangapatna and

Venkatapatidevaraya in Chandragiri. Tirumala’s reign was short and
troubled. After merely eleven months on the throne, he retired and in 1572,
his eldest son Sri Rangaraya succeeded him and took over Srirangapatna.
The Wodeyars of Mysore and the Nayaks of Vellore and Keladi owed
allegiance to the throne of Srirangapatna, which now had its new monarch,
Srirangaraya.
Relations between Raja Wodeyar and Srirangaraya were strained from
the beginning. The Nayaks of Madurai under Venkatapati Nayak attacked
Srirangapatna and being a feudatory, Srirangaraya expected the ruler of
neighbouring Mysore to stand by him in his hour of need. But Raja Wodeyar
refused to be drawn into this battle of supremacy. He had other ideas in
mind. He was looking for a more sovereign and powerful position for the
Mysore kingdom in Deccan politics.
By then, Srirangapatna had a new viceroy—Tirumala II, who despised
Raja Wodeyar with all his heart. Around 1585, Raja Wodeyar refused to pay
taxes to Tirumala II on the excuse of the large-scale destruction of crops in
Mysore by wild cattle. To keep away the cattle and thieves, he requested
permission for the construction of a fort wall around Mysore. Soon after the
wall was constructed, he expelled the Vijayanagara tax collectors from
Mysore and openly challenged the authority of the throne. Simultaneously,
he also decided to expand and consolidate his domain by defeating the
neighbouring chieftains and Palegars. The same year Raja Wodeyar also
made a customary visit to the court of Tirumala. But the bitterness was
there for all to see.
In 1586 he conquered Rangasamudram, defeated Mallarajayya who
surrendered Naranalli and similarly acquired Arakere from Adhataraya,
Sosale and Banur from Talkad Nanjarajayaa, Kannambadi from Dodda
Hebbar, Narasipura from Lakshmappa Nayak and so on. 1586 also saw
Srirangaraya’s demise and the succession to the throne by his brother
Venkatapatidevaraya or Venkata II, who was to be by far the most significant
ruler of the Aravidu dynasty. He ruled from Chandragiri.
In 1590, Raja Wodeyar visited the court of Tirumala at Srirangapatna for
a second time accompanied by what Wilks calls his ‘usual retinue and rude
music’. An interesting incident from this time gives us insight into the social
customs of those days. On the way to Srirangapatna, Raja Wodeyar met one
Deparaja Wodeyar of Kembal and was enraged to note that he was

accompanied by similar music. Music was subordinate to the powerful and
the kind of music that ‘accompanied’ one seemed to suggest the position
and power of an individual. An incensed Raja Wodeyar reached Tirumala’s
court but asked his music band to stay mum. When questioned about this
strange retinue of ‘silent musicians’ by Tirumala, Raja Wodeyar haughtily
replied: ‘What is the use of being accompanied by music, if someone like
Deparaja, who is inferior to me is also accorded the same status? If music is
not the differentiator, then why even have it along?’ He then challenged
Deparaja to a combat as open contest would be the only way of determining
the superiority of either claimant. The latter accepted the challenge. But the
very next day Deparaja was defeated and Kembal was annexed to Mysore. If
nothing, this incident shows the kind of man Raja Wodeyar was and also the
whimsical grounds on which conquests and annexations were made in those
times.
Meanwhile, Tirumala II was growing wary of the powerful feudatory in
his neighbourhood: Raja Wodeyar, who was slowly but steadily rising right
under his nose and there was precious little he could do to prevent the rise.
He was also encouraged by all the chieftains of the area who were growing
increasingly insecure due to the aggressive designs of the man from Mysore.
A political summit of sorts happened in Srirangapatna in 1596 when
Tirumala returned from his Madurai campaign. The chiefs made their
representations to him there. Raja Wodeyar had sent his Niyogis or political
agents to keep a close watch on the developments at Srirangapatna. In a sly
plot hatched in the dark comers of the Srirangapatna palace, Tirumala
decided to send invitations on palm leaves to all the chieftains under his
suzerainty, including Raja Wodeyar, for the Mahanavami festival during
Dussehra. Raja Wodeyar accepted the invitation and reached Srirangapatna
along with his brother Devaraja Wodeyar. Tirumala met the brothers at a
camp on the outskirts of the city where they had taken temporary shelter. A
great show of bonhomie was made and promises of everlasting friendship
solemnised. But all that seemed to vanish the minute the royal scribe of
Mysore read out the titles of Raja Wodeyar. The title of ‘Birudentembara
Ganda’ bestowed on him through his lineage from his grandfather aroused
Tirumala’s anger. He felt that it was the lawful possession of his own family.
When contradicted, he left in a huff but made up his mind to seal the fate of
the brothers and break all the vows of camaraderie they had just made.
The next day Raja Wodeyar was to visit the Lord Ranganatha Temple at
Srirangapatna. Tirumala had ordered his soldiers to capture the brothers and
imprison them while they were offering worship. Luckily for Raja Wodeyar,
the machinations of Tirumala were loud enough to catch the ears of his
loyalist Niyogi, Somayaji, who promptly alerted him about the impending
disaster. In the dead of night, the brothers fled from Srirangapatna through
the Brahmapuri Gate. His trust in Tirumala was now completely shattered.
Their relations then reached a flashpoint when Raja Wodeyar engaged
Tirumala and his supporters in a bloody war at Kesare. Initially, Tirumala
wanted to besiege the fort of Mysore but was warned by his loyalists about
the futility of such an exercise, keeping in mind the fate that had befallen
Remati Venkataraya in the past. So they thought it prudent to besiege the
fort of Kesare, the gateway to Mysore that was poorly defended by about 30
soldiers only. On 18 August 1596, the Vijayanagara troops, including one
lakh foot soldiers, about 12,000 horses and 200 elephants encircled the fort
of Kesare headed by the chiefs of Ummattur and Mugur.
But Raja Wodeyar’s brothers, Bettada Chamaraja and Chennaraja,
proved daunting enemies. The former left his younger brother to lead at
Mysore, marched southwards and attacked the hostile chief of
Heggadadevanakote. He then crossed the Kabini River near Nanjangud and
in the dead of night made an unnerving surprise attack on the enemy camp
at Kerehatti, Satajagala and Kirangur. This shook the enemy troops, who
were caught completely off-guard. Yet again, this shows the manner in
which the deposed king stood up to back his successor and younger brother.
Meanwhile, Raja Wodeyar fell on the enemy troops like a hawk
sweeping on its prey and killed Jakka, the chief commandant who was
menacingly proceeding towards Hanchega, a premier post. This set the
whole enemy camp in complete disarray. Raja Wodeyar took advantage of
the prevailing confusion and weaned away many hostile chieftains from
being partners-in-sin in Tirumala’s grand alliance. Tirumala was thus dealt a
crushing blow by the Mysore forces and he was shamed into returning to
Srirangapatna to lick his wounds.
Venkata, the emperor, admonished Tirumala for wrecking such disgrace
on the Aravidu household and decided to repose less and lesser faith in him.
In fact, he began to look more favourably upon Raja Wodeyar, who he
thought was more daring and accomplished and a befitting representative of

the Vijayanagara kingdom. With this assurance of sorts from the monarch
himself and his recent victory at Kesare, Raja Wodeyar felt more empowered
and at almost every stage defied the authority of Tirumala II, encroaching
upon his domain whenever possible. His aggressive designs continued with
the acquisition of Hariharapura in 1597 and a receipt in grant from
Tirumala himself in 1598 of vast lands in Belagula.
On his part, Tirumala thought hatching conspiracies was the best way to
deal with the situation. In 1607, a fresh attempt was made on Raja
Wodeyar’s life. Singappa Wodeyar of Belagula was sent to kill him. When
he drew out his dagger and was just about to thrust it into Raja Wodeyar,
Deparaja of Yeleyur, a nephew, who was hiding behind a pillar, flung
himself on the assassin from behind, pushing him away and thereby averting
the mishap. Tirumala was yet again frustrated at the failure of his designs.
Tirumala did not share a very cordial relationship with the monarch
Venkata either. However, he decided to bury his differences and align with
Venkata to vanquish Raja Wodeyar, but the King flatly refused to
accommodate his Viceroy. Tirumala was forced to eat humble pie when
Emperor Venkata asked him to seek the help of the very man he despised,
Raja Wodeyar, to free his officers led by Tirumalarajayya who had been
captured by the Palegar of Narasipura, Lakshmappa Nayak. Raja Wodeyar’s
success in this endeavour endeared him further to the monarch, who was
tilting in his favour with each passing day, at the cost of his own viceroy. As
luck would have it, Tirumala was also afflicted by an incurable disease.
Some records call it Bennu phani, which perhaps is the herpes of the spine.
Realising that he had lost both political and physical power, Tirumala
decided to retire after calling a truce with his long time bete noire Raja
Wodeyar.
Emperor Venkata II called Raja Wodeyar over to Srirangapatna for
discussions. Raja Wodeyar’s stars were at their beneficial best. On the one
hand, his competitor, the viceroy of Srirangapatna, Tirumala, was too unwell
to put up any show of strength. On the other hand, Venkata, unlike his
predecessor, was completely in awe of his man Friday. Raja Wodeyar
marched victoriously to Srirangapatna in the hope that he would be richly
rewarded in the wake of the changed circumstances. His hopes weren’t
misplaced. Fortune awaited him in the court of Srirangapatna with open
arms.
Of course there is a variant to this story which says Raja Wodeyar
supposedly dealt the final blow to his foe in January 1610, when he
dispatched troops under his son Narasaraja Wodeyar, who drove away all the
chiefs loyal to Tirumala and forced him to surrender and retire.
The Annals narrate a rather lengthy dialogue between Raja Wodeyar and
Emperor Venkata with reference to the golden throne of the viceroy which
he handed over to Raja Wodeyar and which remained the official throne of
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the Mysore kings ever after.
Emperor Venkata said:
Do you see that bedecked throne? It has such a long and vibrant history behind it. In the
days of yore, it was the property of Dharmaraja Yudhistira who passed it on to his grandson
Parikshita. The throne was with the Pandava family for 1,115 years. With the fall of the
Pandavas, the king of Magadha, Sumali held possession of it after which 30 kings up to
Kadambaraya of Mysore ruled over it for 494 years. It stayed with Lokalokaditya
Kadambaraya for another 80 years after which Jayanthi Kadambaraya and 31 successors
after him ascended it over 24 years. The throne has seen a rule of 456 years of Durmitaraya
and 30 other kings. Then Vikramaditya, the son of the Kshatriya daughter of Veerasena and
Govindabhagawan held possession of it for 63 years. For another 41 years, Vikramaraya,
the ruler of Malwa, had the opportunity of sitting on the throne. For 64 years thereafter it
was the prized possession of Bhoja, the king of Avanti. It then passed on to the Nava
Ballalas of Halebid. But then the Badshahs of Delhi captured it and held it for 54 years.
It kept changing hands thus in times of anarchy and falling into the laps of
the brave. Then the Tundu rulers of Bidare and Surtal captured the throne.
Prataparudra Kakatiya of Oregallu then held it for 421 years when he and his
successors sat on the bejeweled throne.
Alas! It had to then fall into the hands of one of the successors,
Kampilaraya, who after ruling from it for 13 years secretly buried it one night.
But then in AD 1334 Swami Vidyaranya was keen on establishing a powerful
force in the South to reckon with the Muslim power that was at its peak in the
Northern regions. He decided to invoke the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi.
Pleased with his penance the Goddess supposedly showered gold on the place,
famous as the Suvarna Vrishti or Golden Rain of Vijayanagara. This indicated
that the place was auspicious for the task.
Vidyaranya was on the look out for a befitting ruler for the empire he
wanted to build. One day, two young men Hakka and Bukka, who were
retrenched from their offices at the court of Oregallu, were resting below a tree
when a snake danced on Hakka’s head and left. Vidyaranya happened to see
this rare spectacle and immediately realised that the golden throne must be
buried there, as it was believed that snakes guard secret treasures. On
unearthing the place, they found the dazzling throne there! Vidyaranya
christened the men as Harihara Raya and Bukka Raya and crowned Harihara as
King in 1336, thus marking the foundation of the Vijayanagara Empire.
When the dynasty fell at the battle of Talikota in 1564, the throne went to
Tirumala I, Ramaraya’s brother. My father, Tirumala I, called us all to his
deathbed and divided the kingdom among us. My elder brother, Srirangaraya,
held possession of the throne till his death, after which it was the official
throne of the Viceroy of Srirangapatna. This has been the glorious history of
this throne, which I now hand over to your custody.
Historical records date the throne to a project commissioned by the
Maharaja of Mysore in AD 1716. The present shape of the throne was
designed in the year 1917.
Historians are divided over whether the throne was handed over by
Venkata II to Raja Wodeyar or by Tirumala II who, after being defeated in
battle after battle with the Wodeyar, was admonished by the monarch to
hand over the throne to the victor or whether he willingly decided to
relinquish the throne after being afflicted with the disease. Wilks sums up
this dichotomy aptly:
...the acquisition of Seringapatnam, in 1610...is related in different manuscripts, with a
diversity of statement, which seems only to prove a mysterious intricacy of intrigue beyond
the reach of contemporaries to unravel....
Whatever be the sequence of events, what is noteworthy is that the year
1610 marked a triumphant one in the history of the Wodeyars with their
supremacy being established in greater measure and the shifting of the
capital city to Srirangapatna from Mysore. An inscription of 1612 refers to
Raja Wodeyar as ‘Sriman Mahaadhiraja’, indicating that he was thenceforth
a prominent feudatory of the Vijayanagara Empire.
The sick and vanquished viceroy, Tirumala II, gave up his efforts to
defeat the Wodeyar, submitting himself to the will of Lord Vaidyeshwara in
Talakad on the banks of the Cauvery River and retired to a life of peace and
tranquillity at Malingi (a village by the side of Talakad) along with his two
wives Alamelamma and Rangamma. Historians differ on whether Tirumala
II died in Talakad after succumbing to his illness or, as epigraphical
evidences suggested, survived till 1625. Whatever be the case, he and his
family were now powerless and at the mercy of Raja Wodeyar.

On his part, Raja Wodeyar was not content to let his bete noire beat such
a hasty and simple retreat. He was the same man who had tried to trick him
and get him murdered. He had more than one axe to grind with his hitherto
bitter enemy. Confiscating all that belonged to Tirumala was his top priority.
Rani Alamelamma had brought with her all the jewellery that belonged to
her. She would supposedly lend the same to adorn the Goddess Ranganayaki
Ammal at the Sriranganathaswamy temple at Srirangapatna every Tuesday
and Thursday. Raja Wodeyar believed that with the loss of power, the family
had also relinquished its authority over these costly jewels and that they
rightfully belonged to the Temple. He sent his soldiers to the Rani at
Malingi to get the jewels back.
But history blanks out at this stage, which, according to popular legend,
was undoubtedly crucial in the story of the Wodeyars. It was to determine
the very nature of their genealogy. Historians, geologists, archaeologists,
thinkers and rationalists have differed hugely on the veracity of the legend
and its long-lasting impact on history and geography. Here, I present the
more widely accepted or popularly believed version of the sequence of
events, which can by no means be construed as accurate. The accuracy of
the story has anyway been wiped out by the sands of time (or the sands of
Talakad) and there is absolutely no way of ascertaining the true version—
one of the many dilemmas and predicaments that confront people involved
in historical research. Facts get drowned in the tide of time and popular
legend, by sheer virtue of constant repetition, gets reinforced as truth.
History also does not tell us clearly whether Tirumala was alive at this point
or whether the disease had already claimed his life. Either way, his Rani was
left to fend for herself in the unfortunate circumstances that now befell her.
Totally unaware of the machinations on the part of the new occupant of
the throne of the Viceroy, Rani Alamelamma was in a blissful state of
spiritual and emotional renunciation on the banks of Talakad. She was
baffled to see soldiers from Srirangapatna knock at her apartment.
‘The Viceroy of Srirangapatna has sent us to you to collect all the jewels
that you send across to Goddess Ranganayaki every week. He says it belongs
to the Royal Treasury of the emperor and hence should be kept in safe
custody in Srirangapatna.’
‘What impertinence! These are family jewels that have come down to us
from ages. How can I hand it over to an upstart and a usurper? Please tell
your viceroy that I have no such intention.’ This was the terse reaction of the
Rani.
‘Madam, we have been ordered by His Highness that unless we get the
said jewels from you, we are not allowed to leave Malingi. So let us not
create a scene here. We request you to hand over the jewels to us.’
The Rani finally relented and unwillingly sent across her huge pearl nose
ring.
But this didn’t satisfy Raja Wodeyar who wanted the entire set. He sent
his soldiers again to Malingi with orders to besiege the palace of the Rani
and use force if necessary to get the jewellery back.
From the ramparts of her palace the Rani was shocked to see a huge
retinue of soldiers marching towards Malingi. She was distressed and irked
by the indecent behaviour of the soldiers of Srirangapatna and their new
master. ‘What more does he want? I relinquished my costliest ornament to
him. These jewels are not the property of Vijayanagara, but that of my
family. Anyway I send them twice every week to Srirangapatna to adorn the
Goddess. Why should they be used by Raja Wodeyar and his harem just
because they have vanquished us politically?’
By then the troops had reached the gates of the palace. The personal
attendants of the rani rushed to her apartments. ‘Your Highness, there is a
large army of soldiers knocking at the doors of our palace. I can sense some
trouble here. Why don’t you escape via the secret route?’
The rani was too shocked to react. She was left numb and speechless due
to this indecent behaviour of her husband’s foe. ‘Ask them to wait, I will
give them what they want,’ she said and left with a stony silence adorning
her pretty face. She put on all the ornaments that she could find in the royal
chest and with an air of quiet determination, made her way towards the
secret exit from the palace.
By then, the troops were getting restive. Sensing some foul play they
broke open the doors and barged into the palace, which bore a deserted
look. They rushed towards the Rani’s apartments. Through the windows of
her room, one of the soldiers saw a dazzling apparition making its way
towards the riverside. Sensing that it might be the rani trying to escape, they
hastened to follow her. By then she had climbed a cliff that overlooked the
gushing torrents of the Cauvery, overflowing in the wake of the monsoons.
She cried to the troops from her position there, ‘Go tell your viceroy that in
life he vanquished us, but not in death. Honour is more important to us than
our life and he has tried to play with it. I, my jewels, this territory of
Talakad and Malingi will forever remain invincible for that vile man. He can
only hope to acquire us all, but his hopes would remain just that—
unfulfilled and unconsummated.’ Then she blurted out the inevitable. With
folded hands and closed eyes, she prayed to Lord Vaidyeshwara and said, ‘O
Lord! If I have been ever sincere to you as a devotee and a faithful wife of
my husband, grant me this dying wish that would be a curse for the arrogant
viceroy of Srirangapatna:
Talakadu Maralaagali
Malingi Maduvaagali Mysuru
Dhoregalige Makkalagade hogali !
I curse Talakad to be submerged under creeping sands;
May a cruel whirlpool be the scourge of Malingi;
And the kings of Mysore suffer the pangs of childlessness!
And then, Alamelamma leaped to her death in the waters of the Cauvery, to
the utter dismay of the soldiers of Raja Wodeyar.
Penitent and troubled, Raja Wodeyar performed the prescribed rituals in
front of the bronze image of Rani Alamelamma, but he could not stop his
mind from slipping away into the past, remembering his stressful
relationship with her husband. His thoughts were interrupted by the priest
who nudged him to perform the final pinda daan or rice ball offerings to the
soul of the deceased. With a heavy heart, he arose to bid the final adieu to a
lady whose death was his handiwork.
Even today on the ninth day of the Dussehra festival the idol of
Alamelamma is taken to the main palace from an old outhouse along the
outer walls of the palace fort. In a ceremony that is not much publicised and
kept strictly private, this idol is worshipped along with that of the family
goddess Chamundeshwari. The priests cover their mouths with a cloth, to
signal their shame and embarrassment. The Wodeyar is supposed to never

make eye contact with her—again out of shame, indignity, trepidation and
respect. Over the Internet, the present scion of the Wodeyar dynasty
Srikantha Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar can be seen performing the rituals

*
to venerate Rani Alamelamma. Her pearl nose ring is still preserved in the
Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangapatna. Incidentally, Raja Wodeyar was
the one who continued the glorious Vijayanagara tradition of celebrating the
Dussehra festival with pomp and grandeur over ten days—a phenomenon
that continues in Mysore till today.
Since the days of Rani Alamelamma, every alternate generation of the
Wodeyar family has been heirless in the sense that the king did not have a
son or even if he did, he wasn’t fit enough to ascend the throne as he was
born of an illegitimate union or from a woman of low birth. The Wodeyars
have had to resort to the practice of adopting sons from the collateral line
(children of brothers, uncles, etc.), though after a while even the collateral
line ceased and they had to adopt from outside the family. An interesting
phenomenon was that every adopted son would have a biological son. But
the biological son would be childless and would have to resort to another
adoption. Such is the case that even to this day, with all the progress in
science and technology at their command, the present scion of the Mysore
royal family, who is the son of an adopted heir, is childless.
Strangely the priests who worship the Rani’s idol seem to have been
affected by the same curse and are childless too. Once, when a priest did
beget a son, he died tragically—electrocuted just before the ninth-day ritual
during Dussehra. Such is the gory mystery surrounding the legend of
Alamelamma, the unfortunate Rani who ended her life after being pushed
into a corner by a victorious King. The tale of Alamelamma remains a
disturbing chapter in the history of Mysore—one that has no straight
answers, no historical and scientific justification, but one that continues to
be a living legend.
Not only Rani Alamelamma, but also Raja Wodeyar captured the interest
of the masses through folklore and vernacular literature abounds with tales
about him, for both the right and wrong reasons. The Annals of the Mysore
Royal Family—one of the more popular records of the royal family—
describes a number of miracles centred on his life. The point here is not to
test the veracity of the claims, which as the very name suggests is ‘folklore’
and has been transmitted by word of mouth from one generation to the next.
What it definitely suggests is that this King was certainly someone who was
popular, respected, and of course, by virtue of the age-old divine right
theory of kingship, was bestowed with other worldly powers and
capabilities. But at the same time he was also hated by a few for his actions
and inactions.
Somewhere around 1595, Veerarajayya, the chieftain of the principality
of Karugahalli and a cousin of Raja Wodeyar, failed in his attempts to
prevent him from passing through his dominion to the temple of
Srikantheshwara at Nanjangud. To avenge this shameful defeat, he thought
of a hideous plan to eliminate his rival. He knew that the Wodeyar, being a
devout and God-fearing man, regularly visited all the temples in the palace
complex each morning before he started off the day’s work. One such
temple was that of Sri Lakshmiramanaswamy whose head priest
Srinivasayya was summoned by Veerarajayya’s men. Taking him aside they
handed him a bag full of gold coins. The old priest was flummoxed. ‘Sir,
what is this for? Is it an offering for the Lord?’
‘No my man of God, this is for you. This is just the beginning. You can
see your future lined with gold if you act according to our plans. We bring
you a message from the chieftain of Karugahalli.’ They whispered their
hideous plan in the priest’s ears. His face turned pale with fright.
‘No, no, no, this is something I simply cannot do. That will be the
biggest sin of my life. The Lord Almighty would never forgive me. I am
sorry....’
The hitherto saccharine messengers held a dagger at Srinivasayya’s
throat. ‘But your Lord Almighty would not come down to help you if we
decided to slit your throat right now. Don’t be imprudent. You have nothing
to lose but your life by refusing. But if you comply then you would roll in
wealth. Think about it.’
Srinivasayya had no option but to agree.
The next morning, as always, Raja Wodeyar made a visit to the temple to
pay his respects. Srinivasayya felt a lump in his throat the minute he saw the
King nearing the sanctum. Completely disoriented, he tried to carry on with
the rituals. The King could sense that his usually exuberant priest was not
his normal self. He used to greet him each morning in a pleasant manner
with blessings and words of wisdom on his lips.

‘Sir! Is something bothering you? You look weak and tired,’ the King
enquired.
‘Errrr...no Your Highness, I am alright...couldn’t sleep last night... so...
otherwise... usually....’
His incoherent mumbling astonished the King further. But he let it be.
After the pujas were completed, the priest came out of the sanctum to
offer the tirtha or holy water to the King. His hands trembled violently
while he tried to offer the tirtha.
‘Sir! Something seems to be bothering you. Your hands are trembling.
Shall I send for the royal physician?’
‘Oh no, Your Highness, insomnia, old age...they have no cure...I am all
right...nothing is wrong...there is nothing wrong with the tirtha also.’
‘What? What could be wrong with the tirtha? It comes with the
blessings of the Lord...I don’t understand what you are trying to say,’ the
King was suspicious now.
‘Oh foolish, old me! I think I am getting senile. How can anything be
wrong with the holy water? It is supposed to cure, not kill. Errrr... what am I
saying? Please accept the...’
Raja Wodeyar now knew there was something seriously wrong. He
sternly ordered the old man to come out with the truth or face the
consequences. Finally, Srinivasayya gave in. Setting the bowl aside, he fell at
the king’s feet and with tears in his eyes pleaded for mercy. ‘Forgive me my
Lord! I have sinned. My soul would be condemned to hell fire. Being lured
by gold and giving in to the threats of the Karugahalli chieftain, I poisoned
the tirtha....’
The King was unfazed. ‘The tirtha is divine water. If anything it should
heal and cure, so what if it has poison mixed with it?’
Saying this, he supposedly snatched the bowl of tirtha and drank it in
one gulp, which according to the Annals, ‘turned from poison to nectar in
his throat’. The priest was punished by being transferred to a temple at
remote Kannambadi while the ears and nose of the Karugahalli chief were
cut off with a sledge-hammer after a hand-to-hand fight with him on
horseback at Kadu Basavanathittu, his fort was destroyed, the booty from
his treasury was confiscated and offered to the presiding deity of the Mysore
royal family, Goddess Chamundeshwari.

Another such ‘miracle’ is recorded in the Annals which takes us to
Tirumala Tirupati, the Seven Hills of Lord Venkateswara—the veritable
Vatican of Hindu faith. In this holy place, a devout Brahmin would visit the
temple regularly. This man was blind since his birth. Sitting at the doorstep
of the Lord, he would lament everyday: ‘O! Lord! Grant me the power of
vision so that I can see the wonderful world you have created, see myself,
my friends, relatives, see you! Till now I have just heard that your world is
gloriously colourful. Give me the ability to perceive these colours!’
It was the time of the annual Brahmotsavam celebrations at Tirumala
where the deity is taken on a grand procession along the hills. There was
grandeur everywhere as the temple authorities and the locals got ready to
take out a gloriously bejewelled deity, decked in all His wonderful and
choicest ornaments, in a resplendent chariot on the streets of Tirupati. The
Brahmin devotee was frustrated at his unfulfilled desire. He vented his
frustration and anger on the God whom he had worshipped so far and who
he felt had betrayed his trust. ‘O! Lord! Till now not a day has passed
without my regular visit to your holy presence. I have served you with my
body, mind and soul. Yet you have not granted my wish. If I do not get at
least one of my eyes to see the festivities, I will end my life at your
doorstep.’
Next morning when he woke up, the Brahmin was shaken out of his wits
to realise that he had got sight back in one eye. He rushed to the temple and
fell at the Lord’s feet, thanking him profusely even as tears rolled down
from his eyes. But he was like just any other human being whose desires and
greed knew no bounds. Each time a wish of ours gets fulfilled, we harbour
desires for the consummation of the next one and another. This man began
nurturing the desire of getting back his other eye too. So one night, in his
dream Lord Venkateswara seems to have appeared and directed him to go to
Raja Wodeyar of Mysore if he wanted his other eye as well. At that very
instant the man got up, packed his belongings and left for Mysore.
On reaching Mysore he narrated the tale to the Wodeyar who was
wonderstruck on hearing the tale. He instructed the man to come over to the
Lakshmiramana temple the next day and expressed the hope that the divine
will would prevail. The next morning the miracle happened. On Raja
Wodeyar’s touch, the man gained sight in his other eye as well. He
prostrated himself before the King and ran joyously to Tirupati, narrating
the incident to all passers-by.
With these fascinating fables behind us, we move ahead in the political
history of the Wodeyars after AD 1610 and the accession of Srirangapatna.
With the acquisition of Srirangapatna and the newfound importance
bestowed upon the Wodeyar dynasty, Raja Wodeyar decided to consolidate
his position in the Deccan through a series of conquests. The expansion of
the kingdom continued with the annexing of Siyur and Malavattur from
Peripatna Nanjunde Urs in 1610 and 1617 respectively, Srikantharajayya’s
Suragur in 1612, Terakanambi and Ummattur from Hadinadu Nanjarajayya
in 1614, Talakad, Hullahalli, Kalale, Heggadadevanakote, Mugur,
Hosakoralu and Ramasamudra in 1615.
Ever since the days of perfidy by the then dalavoy or army general,
Maaranayaka, Yaduraya and successive kings had abolished the practice of

*
appointing of Dalavoys. But Raja Wodeyar deemed it necessary to appoint
one and nominated his nephew Mallarajayya as the Dalavoy by giving him
the traditional ring of the Dalavoy. After serving for a few days, this man
went to his native place, Kalale, and mysteriously sent back the ring through
his grandson with no explanation for the same. This became a sore point for
Raja Wodeyar in his last days. It was Raja Wodeyar who had saved this
Mallarajayya from the clutches of his cruel stepmother Tagadoor
Chennammaji and her three sons, Nandinatha, Kantha and Chandrashekara.
Young Mallaraja had to escape from Kalale and from the house arrest that
these people had placed him under to Mysore to his maternal uncle, Raja
Wodeyar who had taken full responsibility for his education and livelihood
and now elevated him to the post of army general, which he threw away with
such ingratitude. He now appointed Bettada Urs as the new Dalavoy for the
kingdom.
As if validating the curse of Alamelamma, all the three sons of Raja
Wodeyar died in quick succession after he ascended the throne of
Srirangapatna. This made him very anxious about the future of the kingdom
as his age was steadily advancing. His last days were spent in utter sorrow
and despair. His wife Edanahalli Timmajammanni was pregnant at that time.
So the King nominated his eleven-year old grandson, Chamaraja, offspring
of his son Narasaraja and Chamarajammanni, as his successor. In the

Jyeshta month of 1617, Raja Wodeyar, who had led such an eventful life and
to whom goes the credit for bringing Mysore to the forefront of kingdoms
that existed in the early seventeenth century, breathed his last. He can truly
be credited as the man who established the Wodeyar dynasty and Mysore as
a powerful and noteworthy force in southern India.
He was also a hero of folklore and fable, and, as indicated earlier, there
is no rational, scientific or historical evidence to prove the veracity of the
tales about him. They are fables and legends which have been passed down
the generations with such conviction that they have almost become a belief.
The exact intention of spinning such yams seems to be to glorify the king of
the times and place him on a pedestal above ordinary mortals. However, in
the case of Raja Wodeyar there are contradictions galore. A man who was
given to such supposedly pious and noble acts was also involved in the most
heinous episode that pulls him down to the nadir of human nature from the
pedestal on which the glorifying fables placed him. Ultimately, one is at a
loss to understand what one needs to believe and what to discount. But
finally, the theme of history in fact needs to be like that. The people of the
past were not clearly demarcated into heroes and villains. They had streaks
of both, like any of us. These stories and fables only highlight the two sides
of the same coin, the dichotomy that exists in human nature and character.
THE SANDS OF TALAKAD—MYTH vs SCIENCE
The submerged temples of Talakad, the disappearance of Malingi and the
strange phenomenon of the Wodeyar lineage raise questions that perplex any
reasoning intellect.
To any rational mind, while the last line of the Rani’s curse might seem
logical—that of destroying the very family of the Wodeyars for what they
had done to her and her family—why the poor towns of Talakad and
Malingi had to become scapegoats in this entire drama baffles everyone.
Wouldn’t it have been better if she had cursed the capital city of the
Wodeyars, Srirangapatna, to death and disaster? In what way did the
submergence of Talakad and the whirlpool formations at Malingi affect the
Wodeyars? These are questions that do not have a direct answer and remain
shrouded in mystery forever.

An unbiased and scientific approach to the story of Alamelamma would
naturally cause anyone to question whether she had the power to curse an
entire lineage and town to doom. Sadly, there is no known evidence or
reference in our historical texts to suggest that she was blessed with
supernatural powers, bestowed on her after perhaps years of penance or
meditation. Such power is usually found in those who are above all earthly
attachments. But in this case, her lust for her gold ornaments was all-
encompassing. How often in Hindu traditions do people submit offerings to
a deity and then take them back for personal use? Did the social customs of
the times permit widows to wear such fancy jewellery? Raja Wodeyar was
supposedly demanding these ornaments for the goddess of the Srirangapatna
temple and not for the inmates of his harem. A woman who would rather
end her life and throw the jewels in the river than submit them to the
presiding deity could certainly not have been a saint capable of such
powerful curses.
It is noteworthy that historical documentations of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries make no reference to Rani Alamelamma. In fact even
the accounts of British travellers like Francis Buchanan, who has recorded
the minutest of details related to the kingdom of Mysore, its people and their
traditions, speaks casually of a legend of the ‘natives’ during his visit to
Malingi. He records their belief that the curious sand formation that had
submerged many temples in neighbouring Talakad was due to the curse of a
local woman drowned while crossing the river to visit the temple. So
enraged was she with the God of the place for having denied her darshan,
that she cursed the temples to be submerged by sand! Nowhere is the
reference made to a queen who lost her life under such tragic circumstances.
Could someone like Buchanan have missed out on something as important
as this—had it been true—even after interviewing several locals for his
account? Would the locals themselves have overlooked telling him such an
interesting and significant tale? It seems extremely unlikely.
Other contemporary records have similar tales to tell. Lieutenant
Colonel Wilks, Political Resident at the Mysore Court who compiled an
exhaustive history of the region, misses out on the rani too! These
documentations date back to the early nineteenth century. If the Rani
episode had indeed occurred in 1610, a full 200 years before, could
vernacular and British literature have omitted mention of the episode
altogether for so long?
The first time that Rani Alamelamma does make an appearance in the
documentation of the history of Mysore is in Rice’s Gazetteer of 1876.
Here, her three-line curse makes its presence felt. The story is further dwelt
upon in the Annals with a full dramatisation of the events preceding her
death. Interestingly the Annals were published by the then maharaja himself,
and he took an active interest in its contents and publication. If this story
was such an embarrassment to the royal family, why did the maharaja not
censor it completely? It thus grows increasingly clear that the story of
Alamelamma was fabricated in the nineteenth century—maybe towards the
1830s or 1840s—and was most probably created at the behest of the royal
family itself. Rationalists argue that Dalhousie’s announcement of the
Doctrine of Lapse spurred the royal court to concoct this story. The nobility
must have witnessed with alarm the annexation of numerous Indian princely
kingdoms by the British on the pretext of illegitimate succession or the
absence of a legal male heir. That the then king of Mysore had no legitimate
male heir was reason enough for them to believe that their kingdom would
be next. To avert this, a possible escape route might have been to attribute
the childlessness to a curse of yore and try to substantiate it by placing it in
a historical and geographical era and circumstance of 1610, Talakad and the
Vijayanagara viceroy’s family.
Scientists, geologists and archaeologists dismiss these legends as mere
mumbo-jumbo. They attribute more plausible reasons for the occurrence of
these phenomena. The course of the Cauvery seems to hold the key, they
say, as it takes a sharp meander on its route along the Mudukutore Betta or
Hill. High school geography textbooks tell us that when a river meanders
and turns back on its course, the outer banks of the river obviously get
eroded by the waters of the river, but it also exposes the inner banks, which
get deposits of sand and sediments. In the mid-fourteenth century, a
minister of the Vijayanagara Empire, Madhava Raya, supposedly built the
Madhava Mantri dam. This created lower water stages downstream and
exposed the deposits of the river that forced the Cauvery to shift its course.
This, coupled with large-scale deforestation in the region, created fine sand
and silt that was trapped in the topographical area of Talakad bounded
closely by the tall temple structures and gradually started accumulating over
the entire region. Archaeologists supplement the theory by virtue of their
excavations, which reveal that it was no catastrophe that killed people in
large numbers or buried their remains in the sands, but a natural and gradual
process. The shifting course of the Cauvery in a westward direction exposed
the inner banks as stated earlier. But it also eroded the outer banks on which
stood Malingi, which was perhaps what was meant by Malingi becoming a
terrible whirlpool.
The curse of Rani Alamelamma remains shrouded in mystery. The third
part of her curse on the Wodeyar dynasty is also irrational, especially
because the very object of her curse, Raja Wodeyar, fathered sons! Since the
impact of the curse was not felt in the very first generation itself, its effect on
future generations is certainly questionable. The Wodeyar lineage (till the
last ruler of the dynasty of fifteen kings who succeeded Raja Wodeyar)
shows that the kings may have died sonless only thrice in the family tree.
Even in these cases, the king did not have legitimate sons from the queen—
his countless concubines or other queens did have sons, but they were not
acceptable as heirs to the throne. It is but natural for a king with so many
wives and concubines to spend the bulk of his time and divert his affection
to them rather than the principal queen. Could it be that this was the reason
—rather than a curse—for the absence of a male heir? Also, during the
eighteenth century, when the kingdom was usurped, it was alleged that the
young kings who had been placed as puppets on the throne were
surreptitiously murdered by the usurper by the time they reached their
puberty. Such young boys could not have had sons at such an early age,
necessitating an adoption from the collateral line. Thus, while every rational
argument goes against the myth of Alamelamma and her existence, she
continues to capture popular imagination. The imagery of an innocent
woman being wronged by a man intoxicated with power, and the subsequent
suicide of the lady in question, can really affect the psyche of the people,
giving rise to myths and legends. No wonder then, that despite the question
on the historical validity and rationale of the Alamelamma legend, it still
continues to be narrated as folklore with such conviction as merits a
documented fact.
Meanwhile, for reasons of geological phenomena or the curse, Talakad
stands as a mute spectator to this sudden metamorphosis, wailing amidst a
million dunes with the fables of the past swishing with the wind across its
arid expanses. The township of Talakad to this day lies submerged in sand
dunes, a town on the banks of the river Cauvery that bears the brunt of its
hoary past.
But since time immemorial Talakad has been home to innumerable
legends; in fact, its name is derived from one such legend.
The temple of Lord Vaidyeshwara at Talakad is among the oldest in the
place. It is worshipped as the main deity along with the pancha lingas, or
five manifested forms of Lord Shiva. The deity has a vertical dent on it.
Legend has it that aeons ago a saint, Somadatta, worshipped Lord Shiva at
Benaras and prayed that he might realise the truth of the scriptures. In a
dream, the Lord of Kashi instructed him to proceed to the quiet abode of
sage Richika in Dalavanapura, the Talakad of today. Somadatta and his
retinue of disciples set forth upon this hazardous journey to the saint’s
hermitage past dense forests and uncharted terrain. Before they reached holy
Talakad, the entourage was set upon by wild elephants and trampled to
death.
Since the saint and his dying disciples thought of wild elephants in their
dying moments, they were reborn in the forests of Dalavanapura as
elephants, worshipping the secret linga of Lord Vaidyeshwara under a tree
with the daintiest lotuses from the pond. Two hunters, Tala and Kada, (and
hence the name Talakad), intrigued by this sight, struck their axe upon the
tree to unravel the mystery of this secret worship. And behold, blood gushed
forth from this slit, in a relentless stream, frightening them out of their wits.
The hunters then heard a strange voice from the heavens bidding them to
pluck a few leaves from the very tree and anoint the wound with the juice of
its leaves. Legend goes that the hunters carried out this divine bidding and
the blood turned into heavenly milk, upon drinking which the hunters and
the elephants, including Somadatta, attained salvation. The dent upon the
linga is said to be the very spot where the hunters, out of curiosity, slashed
the tree with their axe.
The old temple of Vaidyeshwara is probably the most imposing structure
in Talakad. The figurines of Durga, Ganesha, Surya, Srinivasa and Saraswati
loom in silent watchfulness near the sanctum. Huge gatekeepers,
dwarapalakas, stand sentinel over centuries of sandy silence. Beside it is the
shrine of Goddess Manonmani in Vijayanagara style with a five-foot statue
of Goddess Parvati worshipped as Manonmani Amman. The sands bury

every temple in their relentless wake. Over fifty temples and thousands of
lingas, an entire city and palaces lie buried within the treacherous sands, but
they never venture to embrace the shrine of the Lord of Doctors,
Vaidyeshwara. The base of the Vaidyeshwara shrine is over twenty feet
below sand level. An adjoining shrine and a few lingas that were excavated
recently stand testimony to an ancient civilisation under the sands.
Lost amidst the vast stretch of sands is the temple of Lord Kirtinarayana,
Lord of Victory, which is an intricate structure built by the Hoysalas in AD
1117 to commemorate their victory over the Cholas of Talakad. Lost in the
silence of the times, the stellate temple houses ancient idols of
Ramanujacharya, Hanuman and Garuda surrounded by the lathe-turned
pillars that support the structure. In the sanctum, upon a fine lotus pedestal,
towers a two-metre statue of Lord Kirtinarayana holding a conch, discus,
mace and lotus in his four hands. The ten incarnations of Vishnu are
intricately carved upon the archway above the idol.
Near it also stands the small Ganga shrine of the underground Lord
Pataleswara, worshipped as one of the pancha lingas of Talakad. A flight of
steps to a narrow compound wall erected to keep the nuisance of the sands
away bring one to the much-renovated shrine surrounded by scattered lingas
forgotten by time. It is believed that the linga mysteriously changes colour
during the day in the festive month of Magha. It looks red in the morning,
black in the afternoon and whitish in the evening. The shrine of
Maruleswara, Lord of the Sands, is about 300 feet away. Quaint figures
surround the shrine, which has seen much renovation during recent times.
The other lingas of the pancha linga fame include Gokarneswara,
Anandeswara and Arkeshwara atop the Mudukutore Betta and the hilltop
shrine of Lord Mallikarjuna. Mudala kodu tore meant ‘the hill to the east of
the river’ and this was corrupted to its shortened form later.
The pancha linga darshana or the ritual worship of the five lingas is a
unique occurrence much awaited by devout Hindus. To this day, on the
celestial date of Kartika Bahula Amavasya as per the Hindu almanac, when
the sun and moon enter the Vrischika Raashi or Scorpio, which occurs once
in twelve years, lakhs of pilgrims visit the shrines of Vaidyeshwara and in
ritual sequence each of the little shrines nearby and the four other lingas
that loom in the Talakad sandscape. This tradition has come down over the
years in this hallowed Benaras of the south. In fact, it is believed that the
five lingas actually represent the five faces of Lord Shiva.
Talakad and the fables surrounding it will continue to occupy and
engage people’s imaginations. The intriguing and eerie feeling that the arid
landscapes of Talakad evoke definitely shakes one up to think about the
events—both scientific and fictional—that led it to its present state.
———————————
*
Incidentally, The Annals confusingly indicate that it was Srirangaraya who handed over
the throne to Raja Wodeyar. But it must be noted that Srirangaraya passed away in 1586 and
this incident occurred in 1609–10.
*
Visit http://www.royalsplendourofmysore.com/videodasara2004.htm, video file 25.
*
Dalavoys occupied a very important role in Mysore’s history. They were army generals
and determined the military strategies of the kingdom in consultation with the king. At the
beginning they were generally subservient to the ruler. As time went by, however, these
Dalavoys slowly began to assume extra-constitutional powers beyond their normal
jurisdiction and started assuming the title of ‘Sarvadhikari’—supreme dictators. Their
growth spelt doom for the royal family in the centuries to come.
3
PERIL AT THE GATES AD 1617–38
he 14-year-old Chamaraja Wodeyar VI succeeded his grandfather in the
year 1617. Born on 21 April 1603, Chamaraja excelled in the fine arts
of music and literature. The time of his ascendancy to the throne was
strategically significant for the kingdom of Mysore. The death of
Vijayanagara’s Venkata II had led to a civil war of sorts and a struggle for
succession that made the crown one of thorns for the incumbent monarch
Ramadevaraya (1617–32). The menacing attitude of the Sultans of Bijapur
added to the already weak Vijayanagara polity. The time seemed ripe for a
new power to assume its suzerainty and Mysore was not to be found lacking.
Chamaraja being a minor, Dalavoy Bettada Urs served as his regent till
1620. An able and shrewd military man, Bettada Urs seized the opportunity
that destiny seemed to be offering Mysore on a platter. The neighbours of
Mysore at that time were the powerful chieftain Jagadevaraya of
Chennapatna to its north, Muttu Virappa Nayak I of Madurai to its south
and local satraps and chiefs to its east and west. Of these, Jagadevaraya was
the hardest nut to crack and Urs initiated a series of expeditions aimed at
nullifying his influence in the region. Mindful of the political changes in
Mysore, the wily Jagadevaraya sent an olive branch of friendship to the new
Wodeyar in the form of an embassy to Srirangapatna with costly gifts, an

*
elephant named Ramalinga and 3,000 Varahas. This was in return for
Mysore’s support in his conquest of Chikkanayakanahalli.
However, it was strategically suicidal for Mysore to play second fiddle to
a powerful and inherently hostile neighbour. The Dalavoy therefore rejected
the offer and instead launched an offensive on Jagadevaraya’s domain of
Nagamangala that was under his loyalist Chennayya. Nagamangala was

besieged and Chennayya’s brother Doddayya slain in battle. A harried
Jagadevaraya enlisted the support of his brother and Prime Minister
Ankusharaya and Gopalarajayya of Kannambadi. The combined forces spelt
disaster for the besieging Mysorean armies. They were driven back to
Srirangapatna. But not one to take defeat lying down, Urs realigned quickly
and met the same combine in the battlefield. This time, lady luck seemed to
favour Mysore. The allied troops were defeated and the township of
Hosakote was annexed to Mysore.
Buoyed by the victory, Urs now turned his attention to the southern end
of the kingdom and wanted to consolidate his position there vis-à-vis the
Nayak of Madurai. Danayakanakote was a frontier post at the southern
border and coterminous with the Nayak’s realms. Mallarajayya was
dispatched to besiege the fort there. An agitated Palegar of Danayakanakote
sought the help of the Nayak to ward off the enemy. The latter was too
petrified by the rising power that Mysore had become and instead sought a
truce with the besieging army. An agent, Chikkappa Shetty, was therefore
sent to negotiate the terms of the deal, one that resulted in an annual tribute
of 12,000 Varahas liable to be paid by the Palegar to the treasury of Mysore.
Urs carried out a series of annexations following these successes. He
ensured that the authority of Jagadevaraya was curtailed in each of his
conquests. Maddur and Keregodu were wrested from their chieftain in 1619
and 1620 respectively. The deft military expeditions of Bettada Urs resulted
in the extension of Mysore towards Chennapatna, the very seat of power of
Jagadevaraya.
While the dalavoy carried on his relentless campaigns, back home at the
capital, the King on his part was the king in name only He fell into bad
company, with no one to advise and reprimand him, and his sycophantic
servants and friends saw to it that he drifted away from the realm of
education and became a reckless drunkard and womaniser. The people in
charge of his education, Rama Somayyaji and Ranganatha Dixit, along with
the royal physician Bommarasa Pandita were the cause of this drastic change
in the young boy’s behaviour. Dalavoy Bettada Urs was quick to realise the
game plan of these people and threw them out of their positions. He
appointed a new set of qualified personnel for the same. But Chamaraja had
got so addicted to their company that he had lost his capability to think
rationally. He deposed the new appointees and reinstated his old friends. To
further punish him, he imprisoned Bettada Urs and publicly blinded him.
He did not perhaps realise the importance of a dalavoy who was loyal to
both the kingdom and the king. Bannur Linganna was made the new
dalavoy.
Conspirators were, however, on the move. In the shady chambers of the
palace, Bettada Urs’s brother Dodda Chamappa and his son Chikka
Chamappa were hatching a plot to depose Chamaraja, partly to avenge
Chamaraja’s treatment of Bettada Urs. Chikka Chamappa told his father:
This King has lost all his sense of discretion and fails to see the difference between good
and evil. For all his services, my uncle had to undergo such agony. We must avenge this
insult to our family. We will either poison him or call the Tantrik to use black magic to
eliminate this worthless King, out to undo his ancestors’ achievements.
But their whispers were heard by Chennavva, the maidservant of the
Queen Mother Honnajammanni. Chennavva ran to the queen mother’s
apartments, panting for breath. ‘Mahamathrushree, trouble is out to befall
our King. Dodda Chamappa and his son are planning to poison our King.
Make haste, mother, before they succeed in their nefarious designs.’
The terrified Honnajammanni told the king about the motives of the two
conspirators, who immediately imprisoned and executed the mischief-
makers. Chennavva was rewarded with the appointment of her son
Basavayya as the gurikara, or sentinel for the inner apartments of the
palace. Chennavva also pleaded with the queen mother to bring back her old
friend Bommarasa Pandita, the royal physician, not realising what havoc this
tiny man would wreak on the future of Mysore.
Meanwhile, the new dalavoy carried on with the strategy of his
predecessor. In October 1620 Talakad was annexed from Somarajayya,
followed by Malavalli from Jagadevaraya in May 1623 and in December of
the same year, Arikuthara from Baloji Nayaka. Bookinakere and
Sindhugatta from Jagadevaraya again in 1624, and Satyagala from Hadinadu
Nanjarajayya in May 1625 were annexed to Mysore.
All this time, we find the position of the king diminishing to that of a
mute spectator; someone who sat by the sidelines and watched his
avaricious dalavoys and officers exhausting the treasury of his kingdom and
contravening the authority of the throne in every possible manner, but
would not raise a finger in protest.

The following year, Linganna besieged Chennapatna—Jagadevaraya’s
seat of authority—but was unfortunately killed in the assault. So Basava
Linganna was made the dalavoy. He conquered Hoganur and Amachawadi
from Hadinadu Nanjarajayya in March 1626, Tagadur and Kottagala from
Prabhudeva and Lingarajayya in July 1626 and in December of the same
year, Jadale from Chamaraja of Heggad. The domains of one Ghatta
Mudaliar in the southwest of Mysore were also made subservient in 1627.
A long-standing hostility between Mysore and the dynasty of the Ikkeri
(Keladi) kings began in 1626 with a siege of Periyapatna by the dalavoy. The
Ikkeri loyalist Singalaraya was chastised and humiliated by having his nose
cut off. This proved to be the starting point for long-lasting bad blood
between the two royal houses. The King of Keladi, Virabhadra Nayak
(1629–45) and his father Hiriya Venkatappa Nayak I were already facing a
lot of opposition from chieftains across Southern India. A reference to the
unpopularity of these leaders can be found in a passage from a Jesuit letter
from Canara, dated 1630, cited in Rev Hera’s article, ‘The Expansion Wars
*
of Venkatappa Nayaka of Ikkeri’. It points to the unrest and strife that
characterised the Deccan of those times:
The king of Bamguel has rebelled against the said king Virabhadar Naique and the king of
Palpare and the king of Mayzur are lending him aid. The following have also rebelled
against the said king: the queen of Olala and the queen of Carnate...so that from the
Canhorto to Batecalla everything is in revolt and the King Virabhadar Naique is no longer
master of anything below the ghats and is in such straits that he will no more be able to
recover his losses....
In March of 1630, Basava Linganna was succeeded by the infamous
Vikramaraya. True to the post he held, Vikramaraya revelled in military
exploits. He had a rich heritage of predecessors who had won laurels for the
kingdom on the battlefront. Though his avarice and ambitions far surpassed
his military acumen, Vikrama was a brave warrior. In October 1630,
Chennapatna, the bastion of Jagadevaraya—the long-standing foe of Mysore
—was taken after a siege. In the same year, Nagamangala, long sought-after,
was also wrested. By March 1631, some of the last bastions of the
beleaguered Jagadeva like Bellur were annexed as well. Between 1631 and
1634, Vikramaraya unleashed a reign of terror on the neighbouring satraps
and chiefs. Lakshmappa Nayak, the chief of Holenarasipura, Venkatappa

Nayak, the chief of Belur, and many others fell before the magic sword of
the dalavoy. Chennarayapatna was the prized possession won from the Belur
chief that year and this marked the culmination of his advance towards the
northwestern frontiers of the kingdom. Mysore had now emerged as a major
feudatory of Vijayanagara. By 1634, it extended towards Chennapatna and
Nagamangala to the north, till Periyapatna and Chennarayapatna in the west
and northwest and till Malavalli and Danayakanakote to the east and
southeast.
On his part, Chamaraja sat well-cushioned in his palace and acquired a
plethora of titles. He was eulogised as the Chatusshashti Kala Praveena or
the expert of all art forms. His court dazzled with some brilliant luminaries
from different streams of the fine arts. It was also a legendary meeting-
ground for religious and theological discussions between people from
various schools of philosophy like Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Jainism.
Despite being a staunch Vaishnavite himself, Chamaraja was known for
his religious tolerance. On a visit to the world-famous Jain Shrine of
Sravanabelagola in 1631, he is supposed to have heard the story of an
eminent Jain monk, Guru Charukriti Pandita Yogindra who had fled the
place to Gersoppe, peeved by the constant military combats of the Mysore
forces with Jagadevaraya that hindered his peaceful pursuits. Deeply
disturbed by this, Chamaraja invited the Guru to his court at Srirangapatna
with due respect and made arrangements for his comfortable stay at
Sravanabelagola. He also freed the Jain muth of all its debts in 1634. His
grants and gifts to temples and individuals, creation of the Chamaraja
Samudra Agraharams or residential layouts in Aladur and Navilur villages,
speak of his benevolent nature.
Chamaraja patronised many leading lights of Kannada literature. In
1625, an 18-chapter volume on horses and their upkeep was written in
Kannada by Ramachandra. On the same topic, another scholar of the times,
Padmanna Pandita, who was also an Ayurvedic expert, wrote Hayasara
Samucchaya in the literary metre of Kanda. Chamaraja himself is credited
with two works. One was the Brahmottara Khanda (1630) in a colloquial
Kannada prose format on the philosophy of Shaivism. He also composed
the Chamarajokta Vilasa, a translation of the Saptakandas of the Ramayana
into Kannada. It is, however, claimed that the latter work was plagiarised
from Virupaksha or rather, that the scholar was forced to write it in the
King’s name. Whatever be the validity of that assertion, while Chamaraja
seemed a complete misfit when it came to affairs of administration and
military exploits, he was an expert when it came to the arts and religion.
He had five wives: Muddajammanni, Devirammanni, Siddajammanni,
Channajammanni and Doddajammanni. In 1637, Chamaraja died and all his
wives burnt themselves on his funeral pyre in the ritual of Sati, a custom
that had become common among the ruling classes of Hindu society.
In 1617, the very year that Raja Wodeyar died, his wife Edanahalli
Timmajammanni gave birth to Immadi Raja Wodeyar or Raja Wodeyar II,
who was now crowned in the Vaishaka month of 1637 as the successor of
Chamaraja and the 11th ruler of the kingdom of Mysore. Immadi Raja
Wodeyar was worse than his predecessor when it came to asserting himself.
The powers of the kingdom slowly and steadily made their way into the
hands of Dalavoy Vikramaraya who made full use of the powerlessness of
the king.
But there was hope for the troubled throne of Mysore which had seemed
to helplessly accept weak monarchs as its destiny. In faraway Gundlu
Terakanambi, the place to which his father had retired, Ranadhira, the son
of Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar and nephew of Raja Wodeyar I had grown
into a young, handsome and brave man. He was truly what Mysore needed
in those dark days of treachery and bureaucratic avarice. The explorer in
Ranadhira loved to visit new lands and on one such expedition into the
countryside, he happened to reach Tiruchirapalli.
The chieftain of Tiruchirapalli had a famous wrestler called Mahamalla.
While the chieftain was extremely proud of this invincible wrestler, he was
also scared to offend him in any way lest he decided to overthrow him.
Hence, he remained a mute spectator each time Mahamalla defeated and
killed his competitors by deceit. Mahamalla declared that he would hang his
loincloth on the fort door and anyone who dared to cut the cloth would have
to face him in the arena. It was more of a symbolic gesture to demonstrate
and assert his power in the principality. Any sensible and self-respecting
chieftain would have taken this as an affront to his suzerainty. But the
chieftain let this, too, go by. Upon entering the fort at Tiruchirapalli,
Ranadhira was amazed to see a loincloth hanging over the ramparts. It
seemed the most distasteful way of welcoming a visitor. He heard the people
of the town lamenting the disgraceful sight they would witness each
morning. So he cut the cloth away. The royal guards immediately caught him
and dragged him to the wrestling arena where Mahamalla stood waiting for
his prey.
Ranadhira was an athletic man and well-versed in the art of wrestling.
He very easily defeated Mahamalla in no time. Not one to give up easily,
Mahamalla then challenged Ranadhira to meet him in the Vajramushti or
adamantine fist contest, where he usually grabbed his opponent and
suffocated him to death. He tried to use the same tactics against Ranadhira
as well, but the latter was too smart for him. In a split second, Ranadhira
snatched a spear from a guard’s hands and killed Mahamalla. Ironically, this
was precisely the sort of foul play that Mahamalla would resort to which
now ended his life. In the ensuing confusion at Mahamalla’s death,
Ranadhira conveniently slipped away.
While leaving, he left a message for the chieftain on the fort wall which
read: ‘The man who killed that arrogant villain is a common wrestler of
Mysore.’ The chieftain’s anger knew no bounds. The same man who had
had no qualms about the wrestler challenging his authority on almost a daily
basis felt terribly outraged and decided to hunt down the impudent visitor.
Ranadhira returned to Terakanambi where Dalavoy Vikramaraya’s
envoys brought him an ominous and terse message: ‘As the deceased king
had no direct heir, we have decided to crown you the new king of Mysore.’
Ranadhira was shocked to read about his cousin Immadi Raja Wodeyar’s
apparent death. He had had no inkling of any serious illness that the king
might have been suffering from, nor had the king been brave enough to have
died in battle. Then what could possibly have caused his sudden demise?
Even as he sat lost in thought, a Brahmin messenger of Queen Mother
Edanahalli Timmajammanni came over. He said, ‘Prince! I bring to you the
message from Her Honourable Highness Queen Mother Timmajammanni.
She begs you to proceed to the capital immediately to help your cousin, the
young King of Mysore Immadi Raja Wodeyar whose life is in grave danger.’
Ranadhira was flummoxed and unable to understand the implications of
this strange message. On the one hand the Dalavoy had already sent out
news about the King’s demise and made plans for a successor and on the
other hand the Queen Mother had sent him a message to save her son’s life.
There seemed to be more to it than met the eye. He decided to quiz the
Brahmin about what necessitated his presence at the palace and what
dangers he was referring to.
The messenger replied:
The king has begun to assert himself and is no longer the pleasure-loving weakling that he
used to be. As you know, wine and women were his only pastimes, but that was only till
recently and this miracle was brought about by none other than the Queen Mother herself.
Vikramaraya had taken over the reigns of the kingdom and the King was a mere puppet in
his hands. She could bear it no longer and one day she stormed into the King’s apartments
while he was lost amidst damsels in a state of complete intoxication. She thundered at him
and derided him for forgetting his duties towards the state and its people and for betraying
the trust placed in him by his father, the late Maharaja Raja Wodeyar the Great. Her
disparaging comments were so harsh that they brought the King out of his reverie. He was
ashamed of himself and decided to assume his duties in a more responsible manner.
The very next day he paid a surprise visit to the Treasury and found a huge
deficit there. Money was being siphoned off on an almost regular basis by
Vikramaraya and his goons. The King immediately ordered the arrest of the
goons who were carrying out the Dalavoy’s orders. But Prince, the day is not
far when our King would be forced to take stricter action against the evil
Dalavoy as most of the wrongdoings of the state are his brainchild. Smart man
that he is, Vikramaraya has surely sensed trouble ahead of him and will make
an all-out effort to eliminate the King. This is what worries the Queen Mother
and since she has no one to fall back on in the capital, you are her sole hope.
There surely seemed to be a huge gap between what was narrated to him
and what might actually be happening in Srirangapatna. So without further
delay Ranadhira hurried to the capital. He was welcomed at the gate by
Vikramaraya, who hugged him and with feigned sorrow narrated the tale of
the sad demise of the king and led him aside to a palace to rest before he
could proceed to meet the royal family. He placed his guards outside,
instructing them to keep a strict watch on Ranadhira and not allow him
anywhere near the main palace. He had plans of getting Ranadhira killed
later that night. Ranadhira was getting restive; he realised that he was under
virtual house arrest. The guards prevented him from meeting the Queen
Mother or getting out of the building. But he defeated them in a small
scuffle and rode to the Queen Mother’s apartments.
The queen lost her composure on seeing her favourite nephew. She
recounted the sad story:

When my son returned after inspecting the treasury, he complained of headache which was
getting unbearable. All the while, he also kept moaning about vague fears he had about
Vikramaraya harming him as he was enraged by his efforts to check his misdemeanours. It
was I who told him not to worry too much and called for the royal physician Bommarasa
Pandita, the friend of that old servant Chennawa. The evil crook came with his bag of herbs
and prepared a concoction. The King refused to drink it, but I compelled him to and
literally pushed it down his throat, telling him that he needed to get well soon to resume his
duties. To please me, he drank the mixture. Soon after taking the medicine, he complained
of excruciating pain and felt that his throat was on fire. He kept clasping my hand and
yelling out in pain. Even as I looked at Bommarasa to look into the matter, he turned the
other way with an air of indifference. I yelled at Bommarasa to examine the King. By then
my son gave a loud cry: ‘Chamundamba’. The physician examined him and proclaimed him
dead. The entire universe with its multitude of stars, planets and galaxies seemed to stand
still for a moment. I had lost the only hope of my life, my only son! But even in that
moment of sorrow, I suspected Bommarasa and demanded an explanation. On much
questioning, he confessed that he had given the King poison as per Vikramaraya’s orders.
She then beat her hand on the wall and gave a loud cry of grief:
Oh! How can I ever imagine that with these hands that once fed him milk, with these very
wretched hands I gave my own son poison! Ranadhira, I have killed my own son. Fie on
me!
Composing herself after a while she said:
Ranadhira, the palace is without a leader. I am an old woman, desperate and helpless at the
moment. It is now up to you to save the Mysore of Yaduraya and Raja Wodeyar from falling
into the hands of that villain. Meet me only after you have vanquished that devil. Victory be
yours. Hurry! Make haste!
As he walked out of the Queen Mother’s apartments, Ranadhira
encountered Vikramaraya, who had been baffled to hear that his captive had
managed to escape and had learnt the truth about the king’s death. With a
sneer, he told Ranadhira: ‘Prince! I heard from my guards that you were
feeling highly restless in the Palace, with no work at hand. Hence I decided
to arrange for your entertainment. These two wrestlers, Channa and Ranga,
the best of their tribe in Mysore, will keep you occupied.’
Ranadhira’s anger knew no bounds but he consented. Vikramaraya had
given strict orders to the two wrestlers that come what may, they had to
defeat and kill their opponent that night, either by fair play or by deceit. In
return he promised them lucrative goodies. At the arena, Channa and Ranga
were easily defeated by Ranadhira, who had secretly befriended them. That
dark night was a decisive one for Vikramaraya. Decades of his life had been
spent plotting and conspiring for the consummation of that night’s plans. He
could almost see himself ascending the throne of Mysore. He sat drinking
wine and enjoying the dance of the courtesans. Channa and Ranga hurried
into the room with blood-soaked daggers to inform him that the job was
done—Ranadhira was dead. Vikramaraya’s joys knew no bounds. He took
the two men inside to reward them with lavish gifts. The fulfilment of his
long-cherished dream made him feel heady. He embraced the two men in a
tight clasp thanking them for their efforts. But at that moment he was
stabbed in the back, literally. That stroke of the dagger killed him and his
dreams of ascending the throne of Mysore. His horrific cry shook the entire
palace out of its slumber.

*
Vikramaraya was dead.
It was actually Ranadhira’s plan to kill the iniquitous dalavoy in a
manner as cunning and surreptitious as the latter’s mechanisations against
his opponents had always been. Wilks offers his characteristic variant to this
episode as well. He refers to the fateful dark night when Vikramaraya had
stepped out of his apartment to answer the call of nature, which was when
Channa and Ranga pounced on him and devoured him.
The detail of this transaction has been preserved in several manuscripts. The two attendants
scaled the walls of the minister’s courtyard after dark, and laid in wait for an opportunity to
effect their purpose. Shortly afterwards the minister appeared, preceded by a torch-bearer;
passing towards a detached apartment. The associates first killed the torch-bearer and the
light happened to be entirely extinguished. ‘Who are you?’ said the minister. ‘Your enemy!’
replied one of the Peons; and made a blow. The minister, however, closed with him, and
being the more powerful man, threw him to the ground, and held him by the throat, in
which situation he called out for aid. The night was so very dark that the companion was
afraid to strike at random. ‘Are you uppermost or undermost?’ ‘Undermost,’ cried the half-
strangled Peon, and this information enabled his associate to strike the fatal blow.
Canteerava Narsa Raj was installed on the following day, and in two days afterwards
proceeded to the seat of government at Seringapatam.
Ranadhira approached the Queen Mother’s apartments to report the
joyous news. Her laughter rose in a crescendo, stunning the people around
her. She kept looking towards the skies and saying ‘Son! Today is the day of
your salvation!’ Turning to Ranadhira, she said, ‘You have really done a
commendable job my son! My blessings are always with you. But I would
like to retire to the holy town of Kashi after witnessing your coronation.’
Thus, after vanquishing the evil Vikramaraya, Ranadhira was crowned
as the new king of Mysore at Srirangapatna in the Karthika month of 1638.
He went to seek the blessings of his aunt and tried to persuade her to stay
back and guide him in the affairs of the state. But Timmajammanni was
resolute. She said:
Ranadhira! After my son’s death there is nothing in life that is left for me here. I lost my
husband at an early age, at a time when I was still pregnant. I had to bring up my fatherless
son all by myself. My son, for a large part of his life, remained oblivious to his duties and
when he got his senses back, fate had other designs in mind. I would have killed myself the
day his pyre was lit, but stayed on only to ensure that all evil clouds are dispelled from the
skies of Mysore and our kingdom is put back on the rails of stability. Now that you are here
at the helm of affairs, I have nothing to worry about. I can dedicate the rest of my life now
to spiritual pursuits, which would be the only solace for my troubled mind. So I request you
not to embroil my mind in these worldly matters of kingship and politics and let me retire.
May Goddess Chamundeshwari shower Her blessings on you and guide your way!
With these words the Queen Mother departed.
LOOKING BACK: SECTION 1
he reign of Ranadhira divides the history of Mysore, so to say, between
the period of legends and the period of actual documented history. The
period of his reign has a mixture of the two. With all the excitement behind
his installation on the throne and the events preceding it, history now
changes its course to a more sober and scientific path, one that abounds with
written material rather than mere oral history. The tone and tenor of this
narrative will, therefore, change in the course of the following pages.
But before we leave behind the fascinating legends we have recounted
thus far, let us cast a cold, rational eye on them. For instance, a rational
mind would always argue about the story of Yaduraya, a prince hailing from
Gujarat, stirred into action by overhearing a story told by the washerwomen.
How could a man from Gujarat understand the dialect of local
washerwomen? Does it then not imply that Yaduraya was after all a local
himself or a second-generation migrant to Mahisuru?

If we take a rational look at the turn of events that led to the foundation
of the dynasty and discount all the myths of dreams and divine dispensation,
isn’t it intriguing that the leading lady of the principality—the deceased
chieftain’s wife—decided to confide in a stranger her family secrets? Would
she do that with every passer-by in the principality? Would she dream of
marrying her daughter to a complete stranger of unknown antecedents and
lineage? It becomes quite clear then that her confidence in Yaduraya must
have been so strong that she was convinced of his ability to redeem her
family and this confidence is what spurred her to despatch her Jangama as a
messenger. By logical deduction, this implies that Yaduraya must have
committed acts of heroism, which would have been popular enough in those
days, that must have caught the queen’s attention?
It is also pertinent to analyse what language the Jangama and this young
traveller had in common. If he was indeed from Gujarat, could the Jangama
have spoken Gujarati with him or was Kannada known to the people of
Gujarat, enabling Yaduraya to indulge in such a complex conversation with
the mendicant? All these point definitely to the fact that Yaduraya must have
been a local hero whose bravery and exploits instilled such confidence in the
queen’s mind that he alone could help her in this precarious situation. Some
historians do claim that the early Wodeyars belonged to the tribe of local
shepherds and potters. This could have possibly enabled Yaduraya to be well
informed about local political happenings. But with no substantive evidence
on either side, it is difficult to take a confident stand.
What is really true though, not only of the early Wodeyars but of almost
all ruling dynasties of India, is that the founders generally came from
extremely humble backgrounds. It was either that luck favoured them and
they were at the right place at the right time or that they were industrious
and ambitious enough to convert a situation to their advantage. The stories
woven around them come later and are largely an attempt to invent divine or
at least higher-than-human sanction for their success. But, like the tale of
the Suvarna Male or Golden Rain that ushered in Vijayanagara, these stories
get repeated so many times that they become accepted. A historian needs to
be circumspect while considering them and separating the chaff from the
grain is an onerous task.
But there are times when written records help. For example, a number of
inscriptions—lithic and copper plate—from Mysore, Hassan, Tumkur,

Bangalore, Salem and Coimbatore have been compiled in the Epigraphica
Carnatica, Mysore Archaeological Report, Inscriptions of the Madras
Presidency, The Mackenzie Collection and The Madras Epigraphists’
Report. These are in Kannada and Sanskrit and date from the sixteenth to
the mid-eighteenth century. They simply document which king gave what
gifts and grants to which temple or individuals. This helps to construct some
of the events associated with a particular king. So, the epigraphical evidence
that a grant of a car was made to the temple of Talakad by a member of the
royal family in 1670–80 may seem at first glance of small importance, but it
has led rationalists to question the Talakad myth. Why would someone give
a grant to a place that is submerged in sand, they quiz. Does not that mean
that the occurrence of the sand dunes was not courtesy Alamelamma and
her curse, but a later happening?
Perhaps the earliest attempt that was ever made to chronicle the history
of Mysore and its kings was by Lt Col Mark Wilks (1760–1831), the British
Resident at the court of Mysore, 1803–08. His work, Historical Sketches of
the South of India in an Attempt to Trace the History of Mysoor, was
published in 1810 and has been quoted as an authority on the subject. But
Wilks was operating in an India that was completely unaware of techniques
of historical documentation. It was either court eulogisers or biased writers
who had the onerous job of preserving the past. A lot of Wilks’ efforts are
based on local sources, memoirs and translations. Like the predicament that
faces historians today, the paucity of information till about the time of
Haidar Ali (c. 1750s), plagued Wilks too. So to what does a historian, in any
century, turn for information in such a situation?
Literary works have always mirrored society and the political situation
of the times, and therefore are one option. In the case of the history of
Mysore, the seventeenth and eighteenth century works in Kannada and
Sanskrit mirror some of the events, but to a limited extent. Many of these
are not published works and are still maintained as palm-leaf manuscripts in
libraries in Mysore and Madras. But the thrust here seems to be more on
religion, philosophy, poetry and literary value of the work rather than a
serious and well thought-out process of documenting events and people.
Some of them do deal with specific kings of the royal family like the
Kanthirava Narasaraja Vijayam (c.1648) of Govinda Vaidya,
Chikkadevaraja Vamshavali (c.1678–80), Chikkadevaraja Vijayam (c.1682–

86), and Apratimavira Charitram (c.1695–1700) of Tirumalaraya,
Soundaryakavya (c.1740) of Nuronda and so on.
Coins of the time, especially those of Ranadhira Kanthirava Narasaraja
Wodeyar and Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673–1704), throw some light on
the general state of the economy, political evolution, religion of the king’s
family and so on. But they also have their limitations. While a number of
travelogues, chronicles and letters have been found—La Mission Du Madure
(1659–86), Travels of the Jesuits (1743) of John Lockman, Dr John Fryer’s
Travels in India (1676–1680), Niccolo Manucci’s Storio Do Mogor (1683–
1708) to name a few—these are to be taken with a pinch of salt as they are
the jottings of the Jesuit missionaries. They had their specific agendas and
biases, were usually misinformed and tended to exaggerate. Some
contemporary writings give a glimpse of Mysore and its history in hindsight,
like the Muhammad Namah— the official history of Muhammad Adil Shah
of Bijapur which has chapters dedicated to the war between Ranadulla Khan
of Bijapur and Ranadhira Kanthirava of Mysore. The Records of Fort St.
George, Madras, the Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai and the Selections from
the Peshwa Daftar are other pieces of the puzzle we can use to put together
the past.
Much later in time, secondary sources were added. These are: Mysuru
Doregala Poorvabhyudaya Vwara (1710–14), Mysuru Nagarada
Poorvottara (c.1734–40), Mysuru Doregala Vamshavali (c.1800), Mysuru
Rajara Charitre (c.1800) by Venkataramanayya, Kaifiyats (c.1800–04),
Keladi Nripa Vijayam (c.1800), Linganna Kavi’s Halegannada Chhampu
(c.1830), Devachandra’s Rajavali Kathe (1838) and of course, the Palace-
commissioned work, The Annals of the Mysore Royal Family, or
Srimanmaharajaravara Vamshavali (1864–65). It is in the light of this
paucity and confusion that Wilks’ maiden effort becomes so appreciable an
attempt. Also, in the wake of the uncertainty of the available sources, one
tends to turn to the fables and legends for succour. The flavour of freshness
they have and the fact of transfer by word of mouth from the time of the
happening of the event (of course, discounting the distilling over the
generations) makes them a tempting foundation to build our story on. But
one must be incisive enough to know where to draw the line and what to
take at pure face value.

———————————
*
The Varaha was a currency unit, approximately equivalent to the modern Rs 3.50.
*
The article appears in John Lockman’s Travels of the Jesuits (1701).
*
A later inscription at the Nanjangud temple speaks of him as a layman, which seems to
suggest that he did not die and was perhaps merely removed from power.
Section 2
The Golden Period (AD 1638–1734)
Ranadhira Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar: AD 1638–59

4
THE GOLDEN PERIOD â€“ I (AD 1638–
73)
THE REIGN OF RANADHIRA
is ascent to the throne of Mysore brought Ranadhira into the arena of
Indian politics. From small scuffles and fights with chieftains and
their wrestlers, he was now faced with an Indian political landscape that had
vastly changed. The Aravidu dynasty of Vijayanagara was on its last legs.
After the death of Venkata II, powerless kings such as Sriranga II (1614–19)
and Ramadeva Raya (1619–29) caused the remnants of the kingdom great
misery due to their political insignificance. The nobles and satraps indulged
in constant bickering and one-upmanship. Mysore was among the few
kingdoms that still owed a degree of allegiance to its erstwhile monarch.
The Nayakas of Madurai and Gingee were on a constant warpath with the
monarch, who was more a monarch in name alone, having been stripped
completely of his erstwhile power. After much infighting among the
contenders, Venkatapatideva Raya III emerged as the new ruler of the
dwindling dynasty in 1630.
The Bahamani kingdom had split into a number of dynasties—notable
among them being the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur and the Qutub Shahi
dynasty of Golconda. The Adil Shahi dynasty was founded by its illustrious
king Yusuf Adil Shah in 1489 while the famed Quli Qutub Shah founded
the Golconda line of authority. These kingdoms were constantly at war with
each other and generally made common cause only when the enemy in
question was the Hindu ruler of Vijayanagara. Up north, the Mughal empire
was the new reigning power that had brought almost the whole of India,
sans the South, under its control. Under such able rulers as Akbar, Jahangir
and Shah Jahan, it was itching to extend its sway below the Vindhyas. The
Deccan was made a viceroyalty of the Mughal Empire by Akbar. In 1636
Emperor Shah Jahan signed a treaty with Adil Shah and Qutub Shah of
Bijapur and Golconda respectively to define their boundaries, thereby
halting the advance of the Deccan’s two Shahi Kingdoms up north.
Among the contemporaries of the new King of Mysore were
Venkatapatidevaraya and later Sriranga VI (1642–64) of Vijayanagara,
Muhammad Adil Shah (1627–56), the celebrated ruler of Bijapur,
Virabhadra Nayak (1629–45) and Shivappa Nayak I (1645–60) of Ikkeri,
Immadi Kempegowda of Magadi (1585–1633) and Tirumala Nayak of
Madurai (1623–55). The new king had enemies all over the place. If a dying
Vijayanagara was the safest opponent, the others—the Mughals, the Sultans
of Bijapur and Golconda, the Nayakas of Madurai, Tanjore and Ikkeri and
smaller barons like Chennayya of Nagamangala, Nanjunda Mudaliar of
Periapatna—were all forces to be dealt with in a large or small way. And
Mysore’s new ruler simply loved battle and revelled in victory.
The Deccan, like other parts of India, was marked by constant infighting
among the different feudal overlords and barons, each wanting to prove his
supremacy over large tracts of land. The Wodeyars had risen up the ranks in
the same manner. The feudalism of medieval times brought with it this
characteristic nature of turmoil and power struggles among the many petty
local chieftains, each aspiring for a larger slice of the pie. The tottering
Vijayanagara empire brought the feudal satraps into open mutual conflicts.
Madurai’s chieftain Tirumala Nayak declared his independence from the
empire and the kings of Ikkeri were in constant conflict with neighbouring
chieftains and Palegars.
There was everlasting hostility between Hanumappa Nayak of
Basavapatna and Virabhadra Nayak of Ikkeri. Hanumappa sent his envoy to
the court of the Sultan of Bijapur, Muhammad Adil Shah, knowing fully
well that he could not vanquish Virabhadra without the latter’s help. The
Sultan sent in a huge retinue of the Bijapur army under its valiant General
Rustum-i-Zaman Ranadulla Khan to Hanumappa’s aid. Meanwhile, the
Sultan was also constantly being instigated by Chennayya of Nagamangala
to proceed towards Mysore. He exaggerated the political uncertainties and

the power politics that occurred in Mysore under Immadi Raja Wodeyar.
Now that a new king had taken over along with a new dalavoy to replace
Vikramaraya—one Timmarajayya—he made this an even bigger issue,
citing the supposed inexperience of the incumbent and the ripeness of the
time for Bijapur to annex Mysore. The Sultan was lured and directed
Ranadulla to set his eyes on Mysore after he cleared the mess at Ikkeri.
Statue of Demon king Mahishasura atop the Chamundi Hills, Mysore

Idol of Lord Cheluvanarayana, Melukote
Hiriya Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar (1423–59)
Yaduraya, the founder of the dynasty (1399–1423)

Timmaraja Wodeyar I (1459–78)
Bola Chamaraja Wodeyar IV (1572–76)

Hiriya Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar II (1478–1533) or (1478–1513)
Timmaraja Wodeyar II (1533–72) or (1553–72)
Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar V (1576-78)
Hiriya Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar III (1513–53)

Stone Chariot, Hampi
Ugranarasimha Statue, Hampi
The resplendent Golden Throne

Meandering course of the Cauvery River as seen from atop the
Mudukutore Hill, Talakad.
Present scion of the Wodeyar family, Shri Srikanta Dutta
Narasimharaja Wodeyar at the annual Dasara festivities in the Mysore
Palace
The temple of Lord Vaidyeshwara, Talakad
Chamaraja Wodeyar VI (1617–37)

Immadi Raja Wodeyar (1637–38)
Kirtinarayana Temple, lost amidst the sand dunes
Accordingly, Ranadulla made his first stop at Basavapatna and defeated
Hanumappa Nayak’s arch rival Virabhadra in a bloody battle. It resulted in a
tremendous victory for the forces of Bijapur. Ikkeri and Bhuvanagiri fell, the
entire Malnad region was overrun, places like Sira, Turuvekere and Tumkur
ravaged, Bangalore was snatched from its chieftain Immadi Kempegowda
and Shahji was appointed governor. The kingdom of Mysore was the only
low-hanging fruit for Ranadulla Khan.

He sent word to the king of Mysore demanding the payment of tribute to
Bijapur, something Ranadhira flatly rejected. With supreme confidence
following the Ikkeri victory and Chennayya as guide, the troops of Bijapur,
which consisted of about 50,000 horses, 4 lakh foot soldiers, and 100
elephants, pounced on Mysore. One division was headed by Ranadulla
Khan himself and the other by their ally Hanumappa Nayak. On 18 January
1639, the combined forces decided to besiege the Fort of Srirangapatna.
Ranadhira personally led the campaign against the menacing enemy.
Surprise night attacks were made by the Mysorean armies on the enemy
troops, who were ignorant of the topography of the area. The attacks on
their camps at Arakere, Hosholalu and Melukote shook the besieging forces.
The reverses they suffered prompted Hanumappa Nayak to prevail upon
Ranadulla Khan to sign a truce with Mysore. This required payment of
tribute for the cessation of hostilities. In return, the King of Mysore was to
be made the undisputed leader of the region south of the Cauvery. But
Ranadulla was not one to relent. He wanted to script a royal victory for
himself and stage a repeat of the success of Ikkeri in Mysore.
The Bijapur forces secretly ascended the ramparts of the Srirangapatna
fort and with a blow the wall was breached. But even before the enemies
could make their way into the fort, Ranadhira appeared on the scene.
Records speak of him being a terrible ‘lion’ on the battlefield, totally
ruthless with the enemies. Commanding the huge Mysorean army,
Ranadhira managed to drive away the enemy who had stormed the very
doorstep of the kingdom. Badly beaten and bruised, Ranadulla Khan beat a
hasty and shameful retreat.
This was the first defeat that Ranadulla had tasted after a string of
successes. Chennayya’s claims had led him to believe that Mysore would be
the easiest victim. But even he was baffled by the valour with which
Ranadhira had resisted the forces of Bijapur. The troops were fatigued after
such a long series of battles. Ranadulla too had half a mind to sign a truce
with Ranadhira and turn back. But Chennayya was not the sort to give up so
easily. He had an axe to grind with Ranadhira and coaxed Ranadulla to stay
on. Blessed with an agile intellect, Chennayya could win people over with
his rhetoric. As he walked along the walls of the fort, he befriended the
gurikaras or watchmen there and in a subtle manner extracted details of all
the secret entries to the fort. He then communicated by way of signs to

Ranadulla Khan to attack the most vulnerable part of the fort. As Ranadulla
started firing arms, Ranadhira made another heroic appearance and inflicted
the most crushing and humiliating defeat on the Bijapur army. When news
of this defeat reached the Sultan of Bijapur, he was irked and ordered his
commander to make immediate peace with the ‘Lion King’ of Mysore. Left
with no other alternative, Ranadulla dispatched his two Hindu envoys,
Kaveri Hebbaruva and Minchu Hebbaruva, to make peace with Ranadhira.
The siege of Srirangapatna lasted for just three days and on 21 January 1639
the representatives negotiated the terms of peace with the Wodeyar,
according to which the area south of the Cauvery River was to remain the
undisturbed possession of the King of Mysore while the area north of the
same river was the property of the Sultan of Bijapur. Buoyed by his son’s
maiden victory, an overjoyed Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar is said to have
sent his son the famed broad sword ‘Vijaya Narasimha’ from his retreat at
Gundlu Terakanambi.
But even as the warring factions were signing the terms of peace in
Srirangapatna, Ranadulla had sent a secret contingent to Mysore to attack
the fort there. Without further delay, Ranadhira rushed from the capital city
of Srirangapatna to neighbouring Mysore to save it from this sudden
onslaught.
By the time he reached Mysore, he was pleasantly surprised to find the
place completely peaceful. The Annals record a miracle of sorts at this

*
point. The gurikaras there had an astounding tale to narrate to Ranadhira.
The gurikara Verathayya told Ranadhira the sequence of events, with his
lips quivering with excitement:
Doddabuddhi, the evil forces of Ranadulla Khan played foul with you. Engaging you in a
peace mission at Srirangapatna, they attacked our fort in Mysore after proceeding from
Kadabasavanatittu and capturing Lakkihalla and Veerabhadranakotthala. They killed all the
other gurikaras, but I was saved as I hid in a safe place. Our officers Thanedar
Basavarajayya and Hobalidar Siddha Nayak fought bravely but in vain, Sire. The armies
rushed into the fort like a hawk sweeps over its prey. It so happened that Ranadulla Khan’s
soldiers saw a battalion of women on the topmost ramparts of the fort. As it does not befit
the brave to kill women, they decided to get over the ramparts and drive them away. But lo!
As they went there to do so, these women with dishevelled hair, bloodshot eyes, armed with
weapons assaulted the enemy troops. The enemy ran like a goat out of the butcher shop, as
if they had encountered the very devil. After that, it was all calm and to our surprise the
women had disappeared when we went up to thank them!

Ranadhira at once realised that it must be the presiding deity Goddess
Chamundeshwari’s grace that had saved his kingdom from peril. Having
thanked her profusely, he returned to Srirangapatna. The exploits of
Ranadhira set the entire political scene of the Deccan on fire. The powerful
and mighty of southern India sat up and took notice of a man from the
hitherto unknown territory of Mysore who had defeated the most successful
army of the Deccan. These exploits of Ranadhira reached the ears of the
Tiruchirapalli chieftain who wanted to avenge Mahamalla’s death but was
also petrified that in the process of expanding his kingdom, Ranadhira might
attack Tiruchirapalli. He sent twenty-five skilled wrestlers under the
leadership of Chandremalla (the brother of Mahamalla) to Srirangapatna.
Chandremalla happened to meet one Nanjarajayya, who was in fact the
dalavoy of the kingdom and a friend of the late Vikramaraya. United by a
common enemy and goal, they hatched a plot to kill Ranadhira. All twenty-
five wrestlers entered the king’s chamber one night. The king was in deep
slumber. But, sensing shadows on his body, he woke up in a start to see
twenty-five enormous men armed with daggers waiting to pounce on him.
Being an athletic and agile man, he leapt from the bed and took his sword,
Vijaya Narasimha, and fought the intruders alone. On hearing the
commotion in the king’s apartments, his security guards barged in to their
king’s aid. Most of the intruders were killed and the rest sent back with their
hands and legs chopped off, as gifts to the Tiruchirapalli chieftain.
Nanjarajayya was ousted and Lingaraja was made the dalavoy. When the
subjects heard of this feat, they were astonished that one man could
vanquish twenty-five at a time and praised him as the very incarnation of
Lord Narasimha. He was thus christened Ranadhira Kanthirava Narasaraja
Wodeyar.
The peace of 1639 with Bijapur was, however, short-lived. The phantom
returned the very next year when the tributes that were stipulated to be paid
by Mysore (as per the truce treaty signed by Ranadulla) fell into arrears.
Like before, Ranadhira haughtily refused to comply when the
representatives of Bijapur visited his court to remind him of the terms on
the grounds that he owed his allegiance to the throne of Vijayanagara and
that no one else had the right to ask him to pay tribute. An angered Adil
Shah sent Ranadulla Khan for a second combat. On his way to

Srirangapatna, Ranadulla also had the task of quashing the banner of revolt
raised by Hanumappa Nayak who had refused to pay his tributes to the
Bijapur treasury and the task of slaying Chennayya of Nagamangala who
was sent as a negotiator. Ranadulla Khan now decided to align with
Hanumappa’s rival Virabhadra Nayak whom the combined forces had
defeated the last time. They now laid siege to Basavapatna—Hanumappa’s
seat of power—and as some records state, slew him later. Having tasted
sweet victory again, a buoyed Ranadulla decided to rewrite his infamous
history at Srirangapatna.
Alarmed by the menacing advance of the Bijapur forces, Ranadhira on
his part decided to strengthen all the border areas of Mysore. Ramagiridurga
from Immadi Kempegowda and Bagur, Huliyurdurga, Turnvekere—all
frontier posts were snatched from the chieftains owing allegiance to Bijapur.
But Ranadulla’s dream of seeing his flag flutter on the ramparts of
Srirangapatna remained a dream. And it was not Ranadhira this time, but
the Lord of Death who stood in his way. Ranadulla’s untimely death in 1640
quashed all his hopes of vanquishing Mysore. His successor, Mustafa Khan,
decided to pursue the unfinished agenda and marched towards
Srirangapatna. Dalavoy Timmarajayya was sent to halt his advance to the
capital. Mustafa Khan had camped at Chandanahalli near Bellur on the
outskirts of the kingdom and sent word to the dalavoy that either Mysore
pay up the stipulated tribute or face the onslaught of a bloody siege. Instead
of replying to this embarrassing diktat with an act of his sword, the meek
dalavoy just conveyed the ultimatum to his master in Srirangapatna. A
peeved Ranadhira immediately stripped him of his post and made
Nanjarajayya of Hura—an acclaimed and gallant warrior—the new dalavoy.
Accompanying the new and inexperienced dalavoy, Ranadhira made a
frontal attack on the Bijapur troops and inflicted another crushing defeat on
them. For the second consecutive time, the authority of one of Bijapur’s
most illustrious sultans, Muhammad Adil Shah, was fairly and squarely
rejected by the valiant ruler of Mysore.
Trouble, meanwhile, brewed for Ranadhira on the southern frontier of
his kingdom. The neighbourhood of Danayakanokote, the southern tip of his
kingdom, was of strategic importance as it was the southern gateway. Any
disturbances here meant a direct blow to Mysore. The neighbouring
province of Danayakanakote, Samballi, was under the suzerainty of Ghatta

Mudaliar’s son Pattadayya. The nayak of Madurai instigated him to create
trouble in the vicinity, thereby causing a ripple effect on the surrounding
domains of the kingdom of Mysore. In March 1641, the dalavoy was sent to
be-siege Maratahalli, a dependency of Samballi. Ghatta Mudaliar was
thoroughly vanquished and both Samballi and Maratahalli taken over. The
reverses stunned the Madurai nayak. His insecurities grew when, in the span
of a year, the Mysorean forces occupied other important fronts around his
kingdom—Kaveripuram, Toleya and Changappadi. He knew that the
ultimate designs of Mysore were in taking over the coveted and fertile land
of Tiruchirapalli and that would deal the death blow to his authority.
In 1644–45 the dalavoy was dispatched for a series of annexations and
subjugations of hostile satraps that had defaulted on payment of the
stipulated tributes. Hole Narasipura and Periyapatna were thus taken from
Narasimha Nayak and Nanjunda Arasu respectively In the latter case,
sustaining a fierce nine-month siege of Periyapatna and fighting against the
combined forces of the Ikkeri and Bijapur chieftains, Dalavoy Nanjarajayya
emerged victorious. Nanjunda Arasu fled and took refuge in the domains of
the King of Coorg, Nanjarayapatna, but was hotly pursued by Ranadhira
himself. Not only was Nanjunda slain, but Nanjarayapatna was annexed to
Mysore. This marked an important advance of Mysore westwards towards
Coorg.
Meanwhile, relations between Mysore and Ikkeri, which had always
been strained, became worse. It was a long-drawn conflict between two
equal powers, each vying to prove itself the sole authority in south Indian
politics. Among the many reasons for which the rulers of Ikkeri despised
their Mysore counterparts was this rather strange and bizarre custom
adopted by the latter of disgracing their enemies in battlefields by chopping
off their noses with a sledge-hammer. The Ikkeri rulers called the Wodeyars
‘Mayavis’ or sorcerers in view of this peculiar habit of theirs.
Rapid changes occurred within Ikkeri at this time. Virabhadra’s uncle
Shivappa Nayak treacherously deposed his nephew and took over the capital
city of Bidanaur. As a gesture of friendship, Shivappa sent emissaries to
Srirangapatna eliciting the cessation of past enmities with Mysore. But
Ranadhira despised the Ikkeri chief for what he had done with his own
nephew and promptly returned the olive branch of peace that he had sent.
This greatly enraged Shivappa Nayak who decided to bide his time to
avenge this insult.
He did not have to wait too long. The Bijapur commander, Mustafa
Khan, was back on his southern expedition. Proceeding by way of Gadag
and Lakshmeshwar to Honnalli and then to Sakkarepatna he enlisted the
active support of the new chief of Ikkeri. His intention was to recapture
Turuvekere, the northern limit of Mysore that he had lost to the Wodeyar in
1642. But the combine was no match for the deft military skills of Dalavoy
Nanjarajayya who completely repulsed the invaders. Unfortunately, the able
dalavoy was slain in the bloody combat of January 1647. His younger
brother Lingarajayya was made the next Dalavoy.
All through, we see Ranadhira remaining a steadfast loyalist of the
monarch of Vijayanagara. The copper plates of the times refer to the
Wodeyar as ‘Mahamandaleshwara’ or viceroy of the empire and ‘Sriman
Maha Maisuraadhipa’ or the Great Ruler of Mysore. In 1642, with the death
of Venkata II, his son Sriranga VI ascended the Aravidu throne. Ranadhira
continued to remain his loyal subsidiary. Sriranga on his part was happy
with the defence that Randhira had put up for the empire’s southern
provinces against the repeated onslaughts of the Bijapur Sultans. But his
worries were far from over. He was a man who revelled in the glories of the
past when Vijayanagara was one of the Deccan’s undisputed empires.
Sriranga did not care that times had changed, with almost all his powerful
feudatories, like the chiefs of Tanjore, Madurai and Gingee having asserted
their independence, nor that the Ikkeri chief had allied himself with the
Sultan of Bijapur. He still loved to live in his world of make-believe—with
him as the emperor of south India, though the empire was steadily
shrinking.
Realising the vulnerability of this emperor—who did control some
tracts of land—Bijapur’s commander, Mustafa Khan, now made a frontal
attack on Sriranga’s territories. The forces of Bijapur and Golconda united,
like they had for Talikota a century back, and attacked Sriranga. Already a
dispirited monarch with a recalcitrant army, he easily lost ground. The
chieftains of Madurai and Tanjore meekly submitted without defending their
emperor. Sriranga became a fugitive and kept taking shelter with many of
his hitherto feudatories, turn by turn. Once settled in a place he would revel
‘in the midst of festivities, feasts and pleasures’ (as described in Hayavadana
Rao’s 1945 History of Mysore) only to be thrown out to seek refuge under
another chieftain. He was the political football of the south in those times
and only a sad reminder of the glorious past of his dynasty.
Ranadhira on his part remained neutral in this shifting coalition of
South Indian politics. He preferred however, to continue to owe allegiance to
the emperor, though coins that he began to issue from April 1645 onwards
indicate a subtle assertion of his independence. His priorities lay strictly in
consolidating the kingdom of Mysore and maintaining its territorial
integrity. In the mid 1650s Sriranga was shown the door at Tanjore where he
had taken shelter and he literally begged the King of Mysore for help.
According to a contemporary commentator, Proenza, Ranadhira received
Sriranga with all due respect and extended an ‘invitation to choose for his
stay a province more agreeable to him and assurance of a brilliant treatment
worthy of his rank; he eagerly accepted the offer so obliging and found a
hospitality which even surpassed the promises made to his ambassadors.’
Sriranga took up residence either at Srirangapatna or its neighbourhood.
Instead of spending his time peacefully in the domain of his gracious
host, Sriranga kept manoeuvring to stage a comeback and recover lost
ground—of course with the help of the Mysorean forces. But Khan
Muhammad of Bijapur laid siege to his territory of Penukonda, capturing it
in 1653. The very next year he captured Vellore where Sriranga was hoping
to raise an army of his own. Frustrated in all his attempts, the monarch sat
patiently, waiting for destiny to help him recover his empire.
The King of Mysore on his part provided no active support to any of
these machinations. He was just being a cordial host. His priorities were
different—expansion and consolidation of Mysore. In this, his valiant
dalavoys—Lingarajayya (1647–48), Kemparajayya (1648–49), Lingegowda
(1649–50) and Hamparajayya (1650–51) acquired many places for the
kingdom that included Hebbur from Immadi Kempegowda, Sulekeredurga,
Nayakavadi, Yelahankanadu, Channagiri, Tunnagani, Madapura,
Kattarighatta and Basavapatna. The trend was carried on by his father-in-
law Kalale Dasarajayya (1651–53), the succeeding dalavoy who annexed the
bigger territories of Pennagara, Ratnagiri, Virabhadranadurga, Kenegere
Kote, Dharmapuri, Denkanakote and so on.
The string of successes and annexations were enough to send Adil Shah
into a tizzy. Feeling the heat of an ambitious southern neighbour, he once

again sent Khan Muhammad to cap his rival’s power in March 1653.
Tirumala Nayak of Madurai aided and assisted the invaders. After a series
of victories, Ranadhira’s stars seemed to be on the wane and he lost. He was
perhaps growing battle weary. Lingegowda, who was reappointed the
dalavoy, didn’t seem to be a match for the buoyed forces of Bijapur.
Speaking about the devastation the Muhammad Namah says:
The Khan marched out of Vellore, pillaged and burnt the Mysore territory down to a ‘heap
of ashes’...Balaji Haibat Rao who had left Adil Shah’s service for that of Mysore was now
sent by Kanti Rai against Khan Muhammad. The Khan dispatched Siddi Masaud with his
vanguard to meet this army. In the battle that followed, Balaji was beheaded and his army
routed. At this time the Rajah of Mysore in mortal terror sent his envoy to the victorious
Khan Muhammad, with an offer of submission asking pardon for his offences and praying
for safety. He promised to pay ‘treasure beyond calculation’ as an offering to Adil Shah and
regularly deliver tributes every year. By the orders of Adil Shahi, Khan Muhammad left the
Mysore Rajah’s devastated Kingdom to him... the Peshkash was realised by Khan
Muhammad.
The flourish apart, what comes through is the thorough rout of Mysore
at the hands of Bijapur after successfully keeping it at bay for so long.
Bijapur seemed to be having it good all the way through. In 1654, both
Bijapur and Golconda ended their campaign in the Carnatic region and by
1656 accomplished a clear division of their territories. The belt of territory
to the north of Mysore—including Bangalore, Hoskote, Kolar,
Doddaballapura and Sira—was called Carnatic-Bijapur-Balaghat while the
territory below the Ghats that shared its borders with Mysore’s south-
eastern frontier was called the Carnatic-Bijapur-Payeenghat region. Shahji
was put in charge of this vast tract. Golconda’s possessions lay east of this
area with the rich eastern plains of today’s Tamil Nadu, Chittoor, Gutti,
Gurramkonda, Chandragiri, Gandikote, Kanchipuram and so on with Hazrat
Anar Sahib as governor of the Qutub Shah.
But this peace and success too was short-lived. Both the Shahi kingdoms
got embroiled in a bitter fight with the Mughal viceroy of the Deccan,
Aurangzeb. As a consequence they had little time and energy to maintain
their acquisitions in the south and left them completely at the disposal of
their viceroys and governors. The chieftains of the Carnatic region took
advantage of the absence of the two powers. The wily Shivappa Nayak of
Ikkeri acquired Vasudhara and Sakkarepatna from Bijapur and other forts of
Soraba, Udugani, Mahadevapura and so on. He played a masterstroke by
sending feelers to Sriranga, who was aimlessly biding his time in Mysore.
He was convinced that it would be suicidal on his part to remain in a
kingdom that had been so badly beaten by the Bijapur Sultans. Ikkeri, on
the other hand, was the right place for him, having just recorded successes
against those very dreaded Shahs to whom the Wodeyar had capitulated so
meekly. The avaricious Sriranga heeded his advice and took shelter in the
court of Bidanaur from 1656 to 1659.
In 1655, under the new Dalavoy Hamparajayya, Ranadhira’s first priority
was to wreak revenge on the Nayak of Madurai for his support of the
Bijapur forces in that devastating and humiliating decisive battle. The
Mysore troops laid a direct siege to Madurai. Normally a powerless nayak
would have fled the ground, but he enlisted timely help from the Marava
chief Raghunath Setupati. The dalavoy meanwhile, in Proenza’s words, was
...too weak to hazard a general action and informed of the approaching arrival of
reinforcements which his king had sent him...with his presents won the Brahman
commander of the Madura forces. The traitor sought to repress the ardour of his soldiers
and put off, from day to day, the time of attack. But the Maravas, impatient at the delay,
conceived suspicions, cited treason, threw the Brahman into a dungeon, pounced on the
enemies and cut them to pieces. The remains of the defeated enemy took refuge in a
neighbouring fortress, where, after some days, the expected reinforcements of 20,000 men
joined them. The combat again began with such fury that each army left nearly 12,000 dead
on the battlefield...the advantage remained with the Nayak who utilised his superiority to
return to the Mysoreans the evils which they had inflicted on his kingdom, and transport the
theatre of this bloody war to their possessions...
The king of Mysore had ordered to cut off the nose of all the prisoners; his
soldiers to distinguish themselves, executed this barbarous order on all those
who fell into their hands, men, women and children, and sent to Mysore sacks
full of noses, as many glorious trophies. The Nayak, resenting this procedure,
which in the opinion of the Indians, added the most humiliating outrage to
cruelty, ordered reprisals; and his troops burst into the provinces of Mysore,
seeking not enemies to fight, but noses to cut. It is this which has given to this
inhuman war the name of ‘hunt for noses’...the King of Mysore, the first
contriver of this barbarity, himself lost his own nose, and thus suffered the
penalty which he deserved.
Of course the validity of Ranadhira losing his nose in battle is not
certain. But the Mackenzie manuscripts too talk of a complete rout for the
Mysorean army that was pushed into its own territories as far as Nanjanagud
by Madurai (Mahalingam 1972).
When Mysore faced this embarrassing defeat at the hands of Madurai,
Ikkeri’s Shivappa Nayak—who had been waiting for long to avenge the
insult caused to him by the rejection of his offer of friendship—saw this as
the right opportunity to hit back. Since he was the host of Sriranga, whose
cause he sought to espouse, every act of his was considered fair and in the
larger scheme of things beneficial for the restoration of the Emperor. In
1657, he marched southwards and besieged Hassan and Belur, which
belonged to the Sultan of Bijapur. The chieftain of Belur, Krishnappa
Nayak, sought Ranadhira’s help and the latter sent a huge army. But the
Mysorean forces were routed by Ikkeri, Krishnappa was defeated and his
son Venkatadri taken prisoner. Sriranga was put in charge of Hassan and
Belur by Shivappa Nayak and honoured with many titles like Ramabana,
Paravaaranavaarana and so on and given costly gifts that included a richly
ornamented earring of sapphire, a costly pearl, the royal emblems of the
conch and discus and an umbrella called the Jagajhampa, along with the
head of a slain enemy. A thoroughly satisfied Sriranga sat gloating on the
throne with dreams of a return to his glorious past. But little did he realise
that it was he who depended on his feudatories for his existence, and not the
other way round. What this virtually led to was a long-awaited event—the
logical conclusion—the death of a really old and sick man, and the ultimate
demise of the once glorious Vijayanagara empire.
At the same time, the Ranadhira magic that had swept across south India
was definitely on the wane. Three successive defeats were a blow to the
prestige of Mysore and its heroic king. His personal life was also in
shambles at this time. His only son, Chamaraja, from Ayammanni, one
among his ten wives, died at the age of five sometime in 1653–54. This,
coupled with the political reverses and losses, left him a completely dejected
and frustrated man. In 1659, this great hero who shook almost all the
regimes of the south with his valour and presence of mind breathed his last
at the young age of forty-five. His wives Ayammanni, Lakshmammanni,
Channajammanni, Doddananjammanni, Muddajammanni, Nanjammanni,
Gowrammanni Veerajammanni, Somajammanni and Veerarajammanni
committed Safi.
MYSORE UNDER RANADHIRA
Ranadhira contributed much to the progress of the kingdom of Mysore.
Stories about him abound in Kannada literature, which speaks volumes of
his bravery and romance, especially the troubled circumstances under which
he assumed power. The famous poet Charana Kavi Govinda Vaidya’s
Kantheerava Narasaraja Vijayam sings paeans to his legendary bravery. By
the end of his reign, he was able to present a competent administration, a
well-organised army and a considerably extended territory. The kingdom’s
northern boundary extended to Chennapatna and Turuvekere. In the east it
ran alongside the Bijapur kingdom. In the south it extended up to
Danayakanakote and Satyamangalam in present day Tamil Nadu, till
Kaveripatna in the south-east and till Coorg in the west. Under Ranadhira,
Srirangapatna emerged as a major centre of Vedic and Brahminical learning.
Poetry, music, dance, the epics and literature were an important part of the
lives of the people. The twin cities of Srirangapatna and Mysore were
always abuzz with activity.
He was undoubtedly one of the greatest kings the throne of Mysore had
seen after Raja Wodeyar I.
Administration
Ranadhira realised that Mysore had now caught the attention of kings across
India and attacks on it would henceforth be commonplace. Perceiving this
threat to the kingdom of Mysore, Ranadhira got the palaces, forts and
armoury at Srirangapatna and Mysore rebuilt and strengthened. The
weapons he installed in the Mysore armoury were named Ramachandra,
Muddukrishna, Lakshmiramana, Chamundeshwari, Nagaramari,
Ranganatha, Bhairavi, Ramabana, Ugranarasimha and Chikkapirangi. The
Mysore palace was adorned with departments called Thottis, like the
Jantada Thotti, Samukhada Thotti, Soundarya Vilasa Thotti, Namatirtha
Thotti and so on. A total of 43,739 cannons were stationed on the fort
walls–1,927 old cannons, 6,000 small, 3,000 fairly large, 23,000 of iron and
so on. In 1639, the Srirangapatna fort was extended and huge stockpiles of
provisions stationed perpetually in cellars and strategic locations for
anticipated use during a siege. The armoury was re-fashioned with weapons,
like katthi (sword), kathari (dagger), gurani (shield), tupaki (gun), ambit
(arrow), etc. Stables were built for horses, elephants and bullocks.
Another noteworthy feature of his reign was the establishment of a mint
or tenkashala for the first time ever in Srirangapatna. As stated earlier, this
was also a symbol of the autonomy that Mysore had now begun to enjoy vis-
à-vis Vijayanagara. Moreover, Ranadhira was also motivated by the fact that
a standardisation of currency across the kingdom would enhance
administrative efficiency and allow the currency to clearly articulate the
religious orientation of the ruler and the royal family. The first coins were
struck in his name on 26 April 1645 and have been called Kanthiraya Hana
or Kanthirava Raya or Kanthirava Raya Ravi. The other kind of currency he
issued was the Kanthiraya Varaha, which later became corrupted to
‘Canteroi Pagoda’ due to the Anglicised pronunciation. It was made of ten
sub-units of a measure called hanam. The weight of one varaha was equal to
that of nine hanams. In modern currency terms the varahas were worth Rs
3.50. Copper coins called anekasu were also issued as token currency. The
use of the ‘Boar seal’ by the kings of Mysore, signifying their faith in
Varaha—the mythical incarnation of Lord Vishnu as a wild boar—also
began around this time.
Ranadhira also settled the land revenue system of tracts that were
annexed—something long due. The powers of Palegars were curbed a great
deal. Officials like subedar, thanedar, karanikas and gumastas were
appointed for the collection and delivery of revenue to the central treasury.
Among the many confidantes and ministers of Ranadhira’s court were
Timmarasa, his minister-in-chief or Mantrisha; Lappavarasa, the finance
minister; Basavayya, the treasury officer; the royal scribe Narasimha
Upadhyaya; Lingegowda, the mayor of Srirangapatna and Kotturaya, his
agent at Saligrama.
Ranadhira also got the Narasambudhi dam built across River Kaundini
at the Nanjangud temple of Lord Shiva. The Cauvery was bridged along the
Srirangapatna fort at convenient locations and a dam constructed near
Chandravana. The water thus stored was led to the capital by canals from
the bridge. The crops raised under this scheme were to be used for the
services of Lord Ranganatha at Srirangapatna. Many more checkdams

(among them the Bangaradoddi canal) were raised across the Cauvery and
her tributaries. Irrigation thus received a major impetus.
Religion
Sri Vaishnavism, one of the earliest Hindu religious traditions that
originated from the Azhvars and Saint Ramanujacharya’s Vishishtadwaita
philosophy, fascinated Ranadhira and he presented a crown bejewelled with
the nine precious gems and several semi-precious gems called the
Kantheerva mudi to Lord Narasimha, who like Ranadhira symbolised raw
energy and valour. The personal faith of the king in the philosophy led to
the rapid growth of Sri Vaishnavism all over the kingdom. In fact, the sect
was flourishing all over south India. In Mysore in particular, Melukote and
Srirangapatna emerged as centres of Vaishnava tradition and culture. The
Tirunakshatram festival commemorating the birth anniversary of the seer of
Vishishtadwaita or Vaishnava philosophy of Hindusim, Sri
Ramanujacharya, would be celebrated as a major festival—Gajendra
Tirunal—in Melukote. Also prominent on the festival calendar of the
kingdom was the car festival or Rathotsava of the presiding deity of
Srirangapatna, Lord Ranganatha. This was an elaborate ritual and a joyous
occasion when the whole city would be tastefully decked up.
The Mahanavami festival that Raja Wodeyar had continued as part of the
Vijayanagara traditions was carried forward by Ranadhira too with added
gaiety. The first eight days would be marked by the conduct of public
durbars or Oddolaga. The activities included the presentation of gifts by
subjugated chiefs, boxing and athletic feats, acrobatic performances and
fights of gallant men with tigers and bears that were let loose on them. Each
night the palace and the city would be illuminated and recitals of vocal and
veena music reverberated all over, along with poetry sessions and recitations
of the epics. A colourful display of crackers and fireworks would end the
activities of each day. The ninth day marked the worship of weapons in the
armoury and of the horses and elephants in the stables. On the concluding
day, the king would proceed in a delightful procession to the outskirts of the
city for worship of the Sami tree. The main street from the palace to the
mandap where the Sami tree stood would be beautified for the king’s
reception. Crowded streets with eager onlookers were a common sight. On

the striking of a drum, the procession would begin with the army,
beautifully caparisoned elephants, horses, chariots, foot soldiers, musicians
and Ranadhira dressed resplendently and riding on a horse, followed by his
Dalavoy, ministers, courtiers and servants. On reaching the mandap, he
would display his archery skills, witness ram fights and athletic displays,
perform the ritualistic puja and return riding on the state elephant. A lavish
display of light and colours, illumination, crackers and fireworks would
conclude the ten-day long jamboree.
Culture and Architecture
The Kanthirava Narasaraja Vijayam by Charana Kavi Govinda Vaidya
gives graphic details of the state of the kingdom and its capital city. It
eulogises Ranadhira as the very incarnation of Lord Narasimha—the half-
man, half-lion form of Lord Vishnu, known for His raw energy and valour.
He has been described as being born to eliminate the mlecchas—those born
of a lower caste—indicating the Muslim mlers of Bijapur.
It is a refreshing first-hand account of the lives and times of people of
that age. Srirangapatna was an important centre of social and cultural life; it
was prosperous, with a well-guarded fort. The entrance to the fort had deep
trenches and the rooms of the guards were located at the entrance. The fort
had lofty ramparts, bastions and flag staffs. The entrance led to the broad
main streets of the city that were named after the sun and the moon. It was
lined with multi-storeyed mansions of the elite of the city—princes and
nobles. Minor streets and side lanes housed apartments of poets, scholars,
musicians, merchants, ministers, courtiers and militia. The principal gates
of the fort were the Eastern Gate, the Mysore Gate and the Bijapur Gate.
They were lined with stables for horses and elephants.
In the middle of the city was the lavish abode of the king. The palace
was a marvellously sculptured building with intricately carved storeys,
aesthetically decorated pavilions and apartments like the Lakshmi Vilasa,
Soundarya Vilasa, Madana Vilasa, Durga Mandapa, Sharada Mandapa,
Bhuvaneshwari, Indira Mandira, Bangara Chauki, Chitrashala (picture
gallery), Ayudhashala (armoury), Natakashala (theatre), Majjanashala (bath
complex), Bhojanashala (dining-hall), Dolls’ Pavilion, Bokkasa Bhandara
(treasury) and so on.

The city also had the temples of Lord Ranganatha, Lakshmi Narayana,
Tiruvenkateshwara and so on. The striking feature was the similarity of
everything with and the indelible traditional influence of the Vijayanagara
empire.
The city of Mysore emerged as another important hub of the kingdom,
with a well-provided fort and a palace that housed a Durbar Hall, Council
Chamber, picture gallery, theatre and temples of Trineshwara,
Lakshmikantha, and Bagila Hanuman. The Bhogi Bhushana and
Kalabhairava temples stood on the Doddakere tank bund.
The poetry of Govinda Vaidya also portrays at length the culture and
living conditions of the kingdom at that time. It speaks of the many-storied
mansions of the affluent class, the middle-class houses with flat roofs and
plastered pavements and the humbler abodes of the common populace. The
cities also had a teeming market-place that had become an index of the
economic prosperity of the kingdom. The purchasing power of the citizens
could be gauged by their rich tastes in silk and lace fabrics and ornaments of
various descriptions in gold and precious and semi-precious gems. Vaidya
paints a beautiful picture of the capital with scenes of princes and sons of
nobles in public streets parading their horses or witnessing fights of rams,
bulls and cocks, sons of chiefs returning from their daily exercises at the
gymnasium, princesses passing along in palanquins and people playing
chess and dice as common pastimes.
Elaborate descriptions of court scenes marked with characteristic pomp
and splendour also makes refreshing reading. The richly ornamented halls of
the palace with huge pillars, paintings and canopies hosted the public and
private meetings of the king. Ranadhira himself is described as dressing
himself up in the choicest of clothes, overlaid with rich pearls, an
ornamented overcoat, filigreed turban set with a crest of diamonds and a
symbol on his forehead with musk, earrings of pearls and sapphires,
necklaces, medallions, rings of precious stones, wristlets, bracelets,
waistbands, badges for the feet set with precious stones from the crowns of
defeated chieftains and ornamented sandals.
The Nityotsavada Olaga or Daily Durbar was also marked with some
ceremonial grandeur and would usually be held at night at the Lakshmi
Vilasa chamber to the accompaniment of music and dance. Ranadhira
would be seated on a bejewelled throne and ‘served by twice-eight fair ones

holding chowries in their hands’ and honoured with symbols of kingship.
Vedic scholars, musicians, disputants, close ministers, the dalavay,
accountants, feudatories and others would attend the durbar. Other than
music, scholarly debates, drama, politics, grammar, submission of reports
by ministers, etc., were some of the activities of the Durbar. On these
occasions Ranadhira would be variously addressed as ‘Karnataka
Chakreshwara’ or Emperor of Karnataka and ‘Andhra Bala Sangha
Karikula’ or the leader of the elephant herd that vanquished the Andhra
kings.
Ranadhira also constructed many temples, gardens and parks in Mysore.
Near the Trineshwara Temple he got the Shringarathota garden constructed.
A Kalyana Mandapa or marriage hall was constructed near the
Sriranganatha temple at Srirangapatna and many idols of the Vaishnavite
pantheon like the Alwars, Garuda, Vishwaksena, etc., were installed. He
submitted the Vaikuntha mudi crown to Lord Ranganatha at Srirangapatna,
installed Panchalingas in the Gangadhara Swami temple and made liberal
grants to numerous temples. A Brahmin residential area or agrahara called
‘Kantheerapura’ was established. The older parts of present-day Mysore still
have some of these agraharas, which have been the citadels of religion,
philosophy and culture for aeons.
Art and Literature
Ranadhira was also a patron of arts and literature. Notable among the works
written during his rule were the Behara Ganita by Bhaskara, a
mathematical treatise dealing with compound interest, square measure,
chain measure and mint mathematics, Markandeya Ramayana by
Timmarasa and Kanthirava Narasaraja Vijayam by Charana Kavi Govinda
Vaidya. Alasingaraya was a noted Vaishnava scholar who was well-versed in
the philosophy of Srivaishnavism.
Speaking about the athletes of Mysore who were called Jettis Wilks
writes:
Mysoor, I believe, is the only country in the South of India in which the institution of the
athlete has been preserved on its ancient footing. These persons constitute a distinct caste,
trained from their infancy in daily exercises for the express purposes of these exhibitions;
and perhaps the whole world does not produce more perfect forms than those which are
exhibited at these interesting but cruel sports. The combatants clad in a single garment of
light orange coloured drawers, extending half way down their thigh, have their right hand
furnished with a weapon... composed of a buffalo horn fitted to the hand and pointed with
four knobs resembling very sharp knuckles...with a fifth of greater prominence, at the end
nearest the little finger, and at right angles with the other four. This instrument, properly
placed, would enable a man of ordinary strength to cleave open the head of his adversary at
a blow; but the fingers being introduced through the weapon, it is fastened across them at an
equal distance between the first and second lower joints in a situation, it will be observed,
which does not admit of attempting a severe blow, without the risk of dislocating the first
joints of all the fingers...the combat is a mixture of wrestling and boxing...the blows are
mere cuts inflicted...and before the end of the contest both of the combatants may
frequently be observed streaming with blood from the crown of the head down to the sand
of the arena....
Regarding the other members of the royal family at this time,
Ranadhira’s father Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar passed away at the age of
eighty-five in March 1639. The only surviving brother of Raja Wodeyar was
Muppina Devaraja Wodeyar who lived at Gundlu with his family and passed
away at the ripe old age of 103 in 1656. He had four sons by his second wife
Kempammanni. Of them, the eldest Doddadevaraja was born in 1622 and
perhaps held charge of Mysore, ruling jointly with Ranadhira by the time of
the end of his reign.
Thus ends the story of one of the most heroic kings of Mysore.
Ranadhira was a clever tactician and a ruler of vision, besides being an
able warrior. He realised that the dalavoys with a large army under their
control and also a hand in the administration could practically become de
facto rulers and challenge the very authority of the throne. Hence, none of
them were kept for too long. In his entire reign there were ten dalavoys. To
him goes the singular credit of stemming the advance of Bijapur on Mysore
and maintaining the pre-eminence and integrity of the kingdom in south
Indian polity. He thus presented to his successor a compact and progressive
kingdom, which had emerged as a force to reckon with.
An inscription of the times sums up, though in highly exaggerated
terms, this stormy and valiant reign of Ranadhira:
While he ruled, the Gods sent good rains; the earth brought forth full fruit; all points of the
compass were unclouded; the respective orders were diligent in their several rites; all the
people were free from disease; the country was free from trouble; the women were devoted
to their husbands and all the world was prosperous.

THE REIGN OF DEVARAJA WODEYAR
Raja Wodeyar’s brother, Muppina Devaraja had four sons. Of them, the
eldest was Doddadevaraja Wodeyar. His third son, born on 25 May 1627,
was Kempadevaraja or Devaraja Wodeyar and it was ‘this man who was
selected to the exclusion of the elder brothers as the male issue’ by
Ranadhira Kanthirava (Wilks’ History of Mysore, Vol. I). He succeeded the
deceased king in his thirty-seventh year in the Bhadrapada month of 1659.
A series of aggressions greeted the new king’s ascent. The Ikkeri ruler
Shivappa Nayak was waiting for an opportunity to strike another fatal blow
upon Mysore. Espousing the cause of Emperor Sriranga, he enlisted the
support of many local chieftains and encamped on the outskirts of
Srirangapatna. Dalavoy Hamparajayya was sent to repel this menacing
advance. But the Ikkeri forces won a brilliant victory and marched into
Srirangapatna. The fall of the city seemed imminent. It was then that
dubious methods were used to counter the offensive. The incumbent king,
unlike his chivalrous predecessor, decided to resort to means outside of
warfare to ward off this frontal attack on the capital city. He bribed the
officers and agents of Ikkeri who beat a retreat. Stung by this reversal within
his own ranks, Shivappa was forced to retract.
Wilks states: ‘Dud Deo Raj is accused by the historians of Bednore of
having employed bribery...for the purpose of inducing this army to raise the
siege, and retract in confusion and dismay to Bednore.’
The retreating armies were, however, hotly pursued by the defeated
Dalavoy Hamparajayya who had found sufficient time to realign himself.
They were defeated and, as was practice, lost their noses.
The very next year, Shivappa Nayak passed away and his younger
brother Venkatappa Nayak held sway for a short while. This was followed by
the ascent of Bhadrappa Nayak in Ikkeri. During this time, there was a
quick succession of dalavoys at Mysore as well. In 1660, Hamparajayya was
implicated in cases of fraud and dismissed. Mallarajayya was made dalavoy.
But he was inefficient and inexperienced. Hence, Muddayya replaced him as
dalavoy, but his untimely death made way for Nanjanathayya as the dalavoy.
He was a man of rare talent and had two terms as dalavoy with a short
intervening period of Kumarayya. Dalavoy Nanjanathayya made full use of

the political vacuum that the disappearance of the Shahi kingdoms had left
behind in the Balaghat region. In January 1663 he acquired Chelur, Bidare,
Sampige and Chikkanayakanahalli and by the end of the year, the Ikkeri
dominions of Vastare and Honnavalli.
Meanwhile, a regime change at Ikkeri saw Hiriya Somashekara Nayak
taking charge, though he continued the dynasty’s avowed hostility for
Mysore. He launched an aggressive assault on Mysore but was completely
routed in battle by the sagacious dalavoy. He was forced to sue for peace.
If all these reverses upset the ambitions of one man, it ought to have
been Sriranga VI. He had made the suicidal move of aligning with Ikkeri
against Mysore, his one-time host and friend. The death of Shivappa Nayak
and the defeat Ikkeri faced in one battle after another made Sriranga’s
position in Belur untenable. In a huff, he left Belur for the southern reaches
of India in 1663. He reached Madurai and took refuge in the court of the
new chief there, Chokkanatha Nayak. History seemed to repeat itself here.
What Shivappa Nayak planned against Mysore, using Sriranga as the pawn,
Chokkanatha attempted by aligning with forces like Ghatta Mudaliar. The
tragedy was that Sriranga was naive enough to believe that each of these
chieftains were furthering his cause and without reading between the lines,
sought blind refuge in each of their courts. In January 1667, Devaraja
Wodeyar, on hearing about this growing confederacy in the south, attacked
and defeated Mudaliar. Dalavoy Kumarayya raided the territories of the
Madurai Nayak and in 1667–68, Erode, Dharmapuram, Vamalur, Samballi,
etc., were taken. He reached as far as Tiruchirapalli forcing Chokkanatha to
submit. The Madurai forces were routed. Lithic records dated 1663 call
Devaraja Wodeyar the ‘destroyer of the Pandya King’. The brutalities that
followed were quite shocking. The heads of the vanquished were cut off and
hung on the fort walls and from the booty collected, golden slippers were
made for the king. This was done to send cold shivers down the spines of
rebellious Palegars who were attempting a similar act. The remaining part of
the booty was distributed among the army in recognition of their good work
and used for welfare work, like the extension of temples, construction of
tanks and temples, and other grants.
Sriranga’s last hopes of a possible revival of fortunes were thus quashed
and in utter frustration he left for Penukonda where he apparently ruled till
1681 or 1692. Historical records do not give the exact date. During his
absence from the south, two scions of the Aravidu Dynasty, Devadeva
Maharaya and Venkatapatiraya—Sriranga’s son and nephew—held nominal
sway. But this is the last that history recounts of the worthless scions of the
once mighty Vijayanagara empire. For Mysore, it meant breaking free from
the nominal shackles of self-imposed subordination. The name of the
emperor of Vijayanagara is conspicuous by its absence in the records of
Devaraja from 1665–73. From a mere feudatory existence, Mysore had
certainly risen to the status of an independent kingdom. The shifting of the
celebrated Tatacharya family of Sri Vaishnava royal preceptors from the
court of Vijayanagara to Srirangapatna also signified the shift in the axis of
power and the dwindling fortunes of the once mighty empire. The use of the
boar seal by the Mysore kings indicated the kingdom’s suzerainty. Of course
the symbol of the boar, one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, also
signified the religious orientation of the dynasty. By January 1665, Devaraja
assumed the titles of ‘Samrat’ and ‘Chakravarthi’, which further symbolised
this new power.
This new-found freedom bolstered the ambitions of the Mysorean
troops. In 1666, Santavalli and Holenarasipura were annexed, Huliyurdurga
in 1667 and Kunigal in 1668 from Mummadi Kempegowda of Magadi. By
1673, Mysore extended as far as Hassan and Sakrepatna in the west, Salem
in the east, Chikkanayakanahalli in the north and Erode and Dharmapuram
in the south.
Devaraja was famous for the Mahadanas or grants he made in his
tenure, which were called the Shodasha Mahadanas or sixteen Daanas
(great grants/gifts/offerings)—Tulapurusha dana, Hiranyagarbha dana,
Brahmanda dana, Kalpavruksha dana, Gosahasra dana, Hiranya
kamadhenu dana, Hiranyakshwa dana, Hiranyakshwa ratha dana,
Hemahasthiratha dana, Parichalanga dana, Dhara dana, Vishwa chakra
dana, Sapta sagara dana, Kalpa lata dana, Ratna dhenu dana and
Mahabhoota ghata dana. These were grants of gold, grains, cows, horses,
chariots, land, etc., to Brahmins and men of God. Realising the hardships
faced by pilgrims in traversing rocky terrain on the way up to the hill-top
temple of Goddess Chamundeshwari in Mysore, he got a thousand steps
built leading up to the temple. Halfway up the hill, a beautiful granite statue
of Nandi or Basava, the Holy Bull that is the vehicle of Lord Shiva, was
installed. It is worshipped to this day atop the hill and is a tourist attraction.
The king donated sixty-two houses for the Brahmins of the kingdom and
a muth for the Jangama Shaivite saints called the Gacchi Muth. The
Devarajapura Agrahara was constructed and he also made pious grants to
Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati. He was greatly admired by his subjects for
his benevolence and solicitude.
Many scholars resided in Devaraja’s court. Most significant among them
was the scion of the Tatacharya family, Venkatavaradacharya, who was
legendary for his knowledge of the sacred texts, logic and philosophy.
Alasingaraya was another eminent scholar, whose son Tirumalaraya or
Tirumala Iyengar had a profound influence on his childhood classmate—
Devaraja’s son Prince Chikkadevaraja. The royal scribe, Lakshmipati, and
Lakhappa Sharman, an astrological scholar, were other luminaries at the
royal court of Mysore.
Devaraja’s reign also saw the beginnings of intercourse with the
European nations. In June 1671, the French agent Flacour proceeded from
Tellicherry to settle a trade deal at Srirangapatna. Dellon, the physician, who
had sailed from France in 1668, intended to accompany him. While he went
as far as the mountains of the region, the excessive torrents forced him to
retreat. Flacour persisted and managed to reach Srirangapatna and strike his
deal.
Devaraja had two wives, Muddajammanni and Devajammanni. His elder
brother, Doddadevaraja Wodeyar, who had administered Mysore during the
reign of Ranadhira, had retired to Gundlu. His wife Amritammanni gave
birth to two sons, Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar and Kanthiravayya.
Doddadevaraja died at the age of forty-seven in 1669. His brother and king,
Devaraja took over the responsibilities of his young nephews.
Chikkadevaraja lived at the fort of Hangal where he led a life of great
discipline and learning. Devaraja also got his nephew married to
Devajammanni of Yelandur and Devammanni.
Devaraja passed away in the Phalguna month (11 February) of 1673 at
the age of forty-six. Though not credited with military talents like those of
his illustrious predecessor, Devaraja was known for his diplomacy and
shrewdness, which could twist even adverse situations to his own advantage.
THE REIGN OF CHIKKADEVARAJA WODEYAR

Devaraja’s nephew Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar was crowned the fourteenth
ruler of the Wodeyar dynasty on 28 February 1673. If Raja Wodeyar was
gifted with a rare sense of diplomacy and shrewdness and the celebrated
Ranadhira with raw energy and power, Chikkadevaraja had a combination
of all these qualities, coupled with an amazing sense of administrative
acumen and political far-sightedness. He was undoubtedly the man of the
moment for Mysore. Born on 22 September 1645, Chikkadevaraja had
shown great promise right from his childhood. However, the distractions of
youth, in the buzzing capital city of Srirangapatna, made him falter in his
twenties. This compelled his uncle and guardian, Devaraja Wodeyar, to
ensure that the young man was confined in an environment congenial to his
academic and military education. He was packed off to Hangala, a village
south of Mysore. This confinement proved to be a boon for young
Chikkadevaraja. He came into close contact with meritorious men of his
age, who were to have a lasting impact on him. Of these were
Shadaksharayya, a Veerashaiva preceptor of the Yelandur family and
Vishalaksha Pandit, a Jain scholar from Yelandur. He also became close
friends with Tirumalaraya or Tirumala Iyengar, the son of the scholar,
Alasingaraya.
After his coronation, one of his first acts was the constitution of a
Council of Ministers called the Mantralochana Sabhe. It was a form of
Cabinet headed by Vishalaksha Pandit as its prime minister. Other members
included Tirumalaraya, Shadaksharayya, Chikkupadhyaya and Karanika
Lingannayya. Kumarayya was retained as the dalavoy of the kingdom.
Vishalaksha Pandit was a Jain scholar who began to wield great
influence on the king and the polity. His tenure as prime minister helped in
the spread of Jainism in Mysore and he is even credited with the
construction of a chaitya in Srirangapatna dedicated to the last Tirthankara
and endowments to the shrine at Sravana Belagola. Tirumalaraya or
Tirumala Iyengar, as he was called, was a Vaishnavite who succeeded Pandit
to the post of prime minister. He was a classmate of the king’s and a close
associate from childhood. Chikkupadhyaya was also a staunch believer of
the Vaishnava tenets. He was a poet, philosopher and eminent
mathematician, whose real name was Lakshmisha or Lakshmipati. The
suffix of Chhikkupadhyaya signified that he had served as junior teacher to

Chikkadevaraja in his student days. These two individuals had a great
influence on the king’s religious orientations in the latter part of his rule.
Shadaksharayya was a Veerashaiva who did his bit to ensure that the king
remained within the fold he hitherto belonged to, but did not succeed.
*
Lingannaya, a Smartha Brahmin, was in charge of the public accounts and
their maintenance.
The challenges and the road ahead for the young ruler of Mysore were
daunting. But he had the wherewithal to overcome each of these and
transport his own fame and that of Mysore to greater heights.
———————————
*
The veracity of these stories found in the Annals is dubious. They were perhaps narrated
to enhance the reputation of Ranadhira as a man blessed by the Goddess Herself, and as a
chivalrous and romantic warrior, which, in any case, he was.
*
Smartha is a Shaivite Brahmin sect among Kannada, Marathi and Telugu Brahmins.
5
INDIA IN THE SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY
t this point, it is worthwhile to pause and examine the geopolitical
context of Mysore in the seventeenth century. It obviously did not
operate in isolation; being influenced by and in turn influencing the
unprecedented changes taking place in the country and outside.
THE RISE OF THE MARATHAS
The birth of military nationalism came naturally in the mountainous regions
of Maharashtra, with its arid, uncultivable soil and the large number of
easily defended hill forts. The Marathas rose to power in the Deccan after
the weakening of the Vijayanagara empire. The promotion of Hinduism
became the cause of their political existence and they dreamt of building a
vast Hindu empire in India. To this day, the right-wing Hindu nationalistic
politicians of India uphold the Marathas and their leader, Shivaji, as one of
their role models and leading lights. Maratha nationalism of this time was
inspired by the Bhakti literature of the region.
A number of families emerged in the seventeenth century—the Bhosles
of Viral, Yadavas of Deogiri, Nimbalkars of Phalten and so on. The Mughal
emperor Akbar defeated Malik Ambar of Ahmednagar and a host of
Maratha allies. Maloji Bhosle became prominent during this strife. His sons
were Shahji Bhosle and Sarafji Bhosle, and the former became the
sipahsalar or commander of Ahmednagar after his father’s death and fought
the Mughals in the Battle of Bhatvadi. After Malik Ambar died, Shahji fled
to Bijapur and took shelter under Badshah Muhammad Adil Shah (1625–
56). In 1638, Ranadhira Kanthirava had his historic war with Bijapur.
Ranadulla Khan and Shahji captured Sira, Tumkur and Bangalore.
THE STATE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor, fell seriously ill in 1658, and his four sons
laid claim to his throne. The political situation in India was tense with this
turmoil in Delhi. Each of Shah Jahan’s sons had considerable administrative
experience and military skills, commanded a large military force and had a
loyal following. The eldest, Dara Shikoh (1615–59), was resident at Shah
Jahan’s court as the designated heir; Shuja was governor of Bengal, Bihar
and Orissa; Aurangzeb governed the Deccan; and Murad was governor of
Gujarat and Malwa. Dara’s forces were defeated by Aurangzeb, who
occupied the imperial capital of Agra; and Aurangzeb took his own father
prisoner. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in the Agra Fort under the special care
of a tyrannical eunuch who took great delight in inflicting petty indignities
upon the captive and once-powerful emperor.
Shuja’s army was routed in battle; and Murad was lured into a false
agreement and taken prisoner. Dara eventually collected together another
force, suffered defeat as before, and once again fled. But soon he was
betrayed by one of his allies and handed over to his brother. Accused of
idolatry and apostasy from Islam, Dara was condemned to death, and the
sentence was carried out on the night of 30 August 1659, one year after
Aurangzeb took over the Agra Fort and assumed the throne. Aurangzeb
delivered the head of his brother to their father as a gift.
Aurangzeb was among the last of the great Mughal emperors who took
the empire to glory, extending it from Ghazni in the west to Bengal in the
east, Kashmir in the north and southward to the Deccan. It can be said that
with Aurangzeb, the medieval age of Indian history ends. With blood on his
hands—that too of his own siblings—Aurangzeb celebrated his coronation
on 15 June 1659.
Aurangzeb was a tyrannical and communal ruler, who destroyed a
number of temples, imposed the Jaziya tax on the non-Muslims of his
kingdom and led massive conversion drives. The Rajputs in his kingdom
revolted against this discrimination. The Sikhs were another rebellious
group. The killing of their ninth guru, Tegh Bahadur, caused the Sikhs to
align in a rabid anti-Mughal campaign under their tenth guru, Gobind Singh.
In the south, a new power was raising its head against the atrocities of Delhi.
The Marathas were becoming a powerful force to reckon with under their
new leader Shivaji, whose father, Shahji Bhosle, served under the Sultan of
Bijapur.
THE REIGN OF SHIVAJI
Shivaji was born in 1627 to Shahji Bhosle and his wife Jija Bai. His love of
adventure, his knowledge of popular ballads and his exciting raids using
guerilla warfare tactics, his horsemanship and statesmanship coupled with
his vision of a unified Hindu confederacy made him a popular hero among
the Marathas. In an irony of sorts, while his father was on the payroll of the
Sultan of Bijapur, Shivaji revolted against the same sultan. He recaptured
many forts that belonged to the sultan including Pune, which he made his
base. The enraged sultan imprisoned Shahji and decided to release him only
if Shivaji mended his ways. Shivaji then used the services of Shah Jahan
through Prince Murad—who was the Deccan viceroy—to get his father
released. The sultan had no option but to release Shahji. Shivaji’s exploits
continued.
By 1656 he had more than doubled the extent of his geographical sway.
The Western Ghat area from Kalyan to Mahad fell into his hands. Heroic
stories and legends abound of how he would hoodwink most opponents who
came to assault him by deceit. Afzal Khan, the envoy of the Sultan of
Bijapur, and the Mughal envoy Shaista Khan were shown the door in a
clever and cunning way. Aurangzeb invited Shivaji to Agra for talks and
when the latter reached, ‘instead of giving him the promised position, which
was to be the highest in his audience hall, he caused him to be assigned the
lowest place in the first circle of nobles within the golden railing,’ (as
describd by Niccolo Manucci, cited in Edwards’ A History of India). Before
he could storm out of the court in a huff, Shivaji was arrested by
Aurangzeb’s guards. The manner in which he cleverly escaped—hiding in a

basket of fruit—is a popular anecdote of history. If there was anyone who
gave Aurangzeb sleepless nights, it was Shivaji.
In 1664, Shahji died at Hodigere near Chennagiri and his son Ekoji took
over the administration of Bangalore. Ekoji kept waging wars against
neighbouring Mysore and Devaraja Wodeyar.
Meanwhile in 1677, Shivaji (who had crowned himself ‘Chhatrapati’ or
emperor of the Marathas in 1674) prepared for the most important
expedition of his life. With 30,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry, he embarked
on the southern expansion. He captured a number of territories of the
Bijapur Sultanate in the Carnatic region including Tiruvannamalai and
Vellore. He then turned his attention to Bangalore. Claiming it as his
father’s jagir, he overran Bangalore and adjacent areas of Kolar, Hoskote,
Sira and Chikkaballapur and presented Bangalore as a gift to Dipa Bai, wife
of Ekoji. Ginjee fort was strengthened and a strong Maratha army was
stationed there. He then shifted focus towards Mysore and attacked it in
1677.
But just a few years later, in 1680, the valiant hero died. Shivaji’s son
Shambhaji succeeded him.
THE ADVENT OF COLONIALISM
None of the these changes had the kind of impact that a new ideology and
its representative power, in distant England, were to have on India.
By the sixteenth century vast changes had taken place in Europe. The
modem age had set in following the Renaissance and Reformation that
heralded the rise of nation-states. In the East, however, the medieval age
continued long after Europe had entered the modem era. For thousands of
years Europe had imported spices and luxury items from Asian countries
via the Middle East. The capture of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottoman
Turks and the obstruction of this hitherto free route constrained Europe to
look for alternative and more feasible routes to Asia.
With the Renaissance and the spirit of enquiry and reform it brought, the
Europeans set out on their famous voyages to explore distant lands; more so
with the idea of exploring, for trade, new lands that till then had been
blocked by the Turks. Asia was the front-runner among the lands waiting to
be explored by these adventurous sailors, who had the royal sanction of their
respective countries and a kind of charter to reach new lands and explore
trading possibilities there. It is interesting to note that cuisine constraints
were what initially forced Europe to search the world for items, like pepper
—an indispensable ingredient in ensuring that preserved meat was edible.
The Europeans were thrown into a tizzy when they realised that their route
to the pepper lands was blocked.
Columbus of Spain in 1492, Magellan of Spain in 1519 and the
Portuguese Bartholomew Diaz tried unsuccessfully to find a route to India,
but Vasco da Gama of Portugal met with success. As his ship drew closer to
India, the chains of slavery automatically seemed to grip India. In 1498 he
set up settlements at Cochin and Cannanore with the supposed intention of
spreading the Christian faith. When asked by an Arab trader his intentions
behind visiting India, Vasco da Gama reportedly answered, ‘We seek
Christians and spices,’ (Hall 1996). That they got both, in larger measures
than they had expected, is history. The initial Portuguese aspirants had to
face the hostility of the Arabs who had monopolised Indian trade until that
time. But the trouble in Egypt, where the Mamelukes were threatened by the
Turks, a divided North India and a disintegrating Deccan helped Portuguese
designs. The Portuguese king sent Dom Francisco Almeida as governor
(1505–09) and Alfonso de Albuquerque as viceroy (1509–15). Almeida was
involved in a bloody battle with the Egyptian and Gujarati fleets off Diu,
eventually emerging victorious. As Vincent Smith observed, the moral of
his victory set the thumb-rule for all those seeking a share in Indian trade:
‘As long as you may be powerful at sea you will hold India as yours; and if
you do not possess this power, little will avail you a fortress on shore.’
Albuquerque, his successor as governor, hoped to build a Portuguese
empire in the East. By the time of his death, the Portuguese had acquired
strategic control of the Indian Ocean by securing bases covering all the
entrances to the sea—in East Africa, off the Red Sea, at Ormuz, in Malabar,
and at Malacca. Goa, which was acquired by him in 1510, was the principal
port of the Sultan of Bijapur and became the first bit of Indian land to be
directly governed by Europeans since the time of Alexander.
With all these different groups setting their eyes eastward, India would
face a challenge that she had perhaps never before faced in her long and
chequered history. She had seen a number of expeditions and foreign

invasions in the past; but economic subjugation leading to political
domination was unknown to the general Indian psyche.
‘In the middle of the seventeenth century, Asia still had a far more
important place in the world than Europe.’ Thus wrote Pirenne in his
History of the Universe. He added:
The riches of Asia were incomparably greater than those of the European states. Her
industrial techniques showed a subtlety and a tradition that the European handicrafts did
not possess. And there was nothing in the more modem methods used by the traders of the
Western countries that Asian trade had to envy. In matters of credit, transfer of funds,
insurance, and cartels, neither India, Persia, nor China had anything to learn from Europe.
THE ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY: ORIGIN
AND STRUCTURE
The British were not to be left behind in this quest for new lands. A
merchant, Ralph Fitch, inspired the founding of the basis of British power in
India—the English East India Company was established on 31 December
1600. After the English defeated the Spanish Armada, opening the passage
to the East, Queen Elizabeth I gave a charter with exclusive rights to ‘The
Governor and the Company of Merchants of London’, to trade in the ‘East
Indies’.
Interestingly, India never featured on the Company’s initial strategy.
They were looking at the spice islands of modem day Indonesia—pepper
from Java, cloves from the Malaccas, mace and nutmeg from the Banda
islands. But a series of defeats on the Spice Islands at the hands of the
Dutch forced the Company to look for opportunities elsewhere in Asia.
India was their first choice now.
In his classic book The Corporation that Changed the World, which
traces present day multinationals to the East India Company’s philosophy
and management style, Nick Robbins candidly states:
The Company had pioneered the shareholder model of corporate ownership and built the
foundations for modern business administration. With a single-minded pursuit of personal
and corporate gain, the Company and its executives eventually achieved market dominance
in Asia, ruling over large swathes of India for a profit. But the Company also shocked its
age with the scale of its executive malpractice, stock market excess and human oppression.
Such was the situation when the East India Company began its trading
activities in the early seventeenth century. Interestingly, the East India
Company was one of a number of companies that were granted a royal
charter to seize opportunities in other lands. Some of these were Muscovy
(1555), Levant Companies (1581), Company of Royal Adventures (1672),
companies targeting Virginia (1606) and Hudson Bay (1670). But the East
India Company combined acumen with shrewdness, bribery and corruption
to emerge as the ultimate winner. Its very genetic makeup was different
from its contemporaries and it is interesting to note its striking similarities
with modern-day corporate working mechanisms. Due to the huge capital
costs entailed by long-distance voyages to the East, the infrastructure for the
same, political and other risks involved in the process, the Company came
up with the joint stock mechanism. It had a set of investors who pumped in
money to facilitate these operations and a set of managers who manned the
day-to-day activities and drove strategies for the company sitting at

*
Leadenhall Street.
Initially, 218 investors put in a capital investment of £68,373 and
financed a small fleet of four ships that sailed out of England in February
1601. Around 1612, the East India Company’s docks were constructed on
an acre-and-a-half of land at Blackwall. This was envisaged as the
commercial hub which would see an inflow and outflow of goods for the
people of Britain. By 1620, the Company managed a fleet of 10,000 tonnes,
operated by over 2,500 sailors and maintained by 500 ships’ carpenters.
Successful ships returned after a voyage of two or three years, the goods
were unloaded and carted to different warehouses the Company owned. It all
thus began with a romanticised idea of adventure that ended up aiming for
maximum profit.
The way the Company functioned was very similar to what happens in
corporate situations today. If there was a profit, the investors received their
dividends based on the ratio of their investments and in case of losses, they
were liable only for their paid-up capital. Also, the Company conducted
trading as a joint stock company rather than on a member basis, giving it a
very unique institutional character when compared to Asian or European
trading bodies. The exploits of victory and the infamy of loss not only
boosted or destroyed individual reputations, they also had a direct impact on
the share price of the Company, which was listed at Exchange Alley. Thus,
along with profit and personal aggrandisement, responsibilities to the
shareholders and investors and control over the share price were serious
concerns for those managing the Company’s affairs.
Despite all this seeming independence, its ‘chartered’ operations meant
that the Company existed and operated at the pleasure of the British Crown.
Since it had exclusive rights of trade between England and the Cape of
Good Hope, the Company enjoyed the confidence of investors, who trusted
in it since it enjoyed such privileges and the confidence of the king of
England. Maintaining this amiable relationship with the throne was the
constant endeavour of all Company managers. On foreign shores, the
Company tried to outstrip its French, Dutch and Portuguese rivals by
initially appearing servile towards the local monarchs. This usually paid off;
for instance, the Mughal emperor of India favoured them over others, giving
them the additional right (in the form of firmans) to carry on their activities.
At the same time, using military might to resolve a conflict of interest was
never ruled out in those days of stiff competition.
The corporate governance in the East India Company functioned very
systematically. Depending on the stock amount they owned, shareholders
could elect a Board of Directors for four-year tenures and even stand for
election themselves. The chairman and deputy chairman were elected by the
group of directors from among themselves. Shareholders could even veto the
directors’ decisions after debating them in an open forum. They often tried
to exert their influence to secure good jobs for their kith and kin. Each
director was assigned to one of ten committees, of which correspondence,
treasury and accounts were the most important. Other committees dealt with
buying commodities, warehousing, shipping, managing the East India House
headquarters, the legal department, and the Secret Committee that dealt
with political and military strategies in times of war.
Entering as ‘writers’, or clerks, most employees progressed up the ladder
in about five years to become ‘factors’. After three years, they would at this
post be promoted to junior and senior merchant and thereafter the
president’s council itself if they performed well and were high achievers.
The Company had high expectations of its employees and also had the right
to dismiss them in case of malpractice. The overseas staff received minimal

salaries but had the right to conduct private trade in Asia. This was a great
‘employee retention incentive’. The executives loved overseas assignments.
Like many contemporary Indian software employees who await windfalls in
the form of much-awaited ‘offsites’, the executives of the Company knew
that a post in India would ensure enough wealth for the next two or three
generations to live like aristocrats in England.
This digression into the origins of the East Indian Company, the manner
in which it was structured, and the motivations of its employees, becomes
pertinent and relevant in our study of Indian history. In contrast, Indian
monarchs were used to stratify Indian society, which clearly demarcated the
ruling class from the trading community. Faced by the structured, planned
and financially-driven Company, it is no wonder our Indian kings were
completely bulldozed in the Company’s ambitions to control Indian trade
and then India itself. Mysore’s response to the challenge was no better.
Devaraja’s regime first saw European powers seeking a trade deal with
Srirangapatna, and the Wodeyar willingly acquiesced.
THE EARLY YEARS OF THE COMPANY IN INDIA
Driven out of the Spice Islands, the East India Company turned towards
India. They had visited Gujarat and the Coromandel Coast looking for
cotton textiles. British traders had initially come to India hoping to sell
Britain’s most popular export item to Continental Europe—British
broadcloth, but were disappointed to find little demand for it. Instead, like
their Portuguese counterparts, they found several Indian-made items they
could sell quite profitably in their homeland. Competing with other
European traders, and competing with several other trade routes to Europe,
the early British traders were in no position to dictate terms. They had to
seek concessions with a measure of humility and offer trade terms that
allowed at least some benefits to the local rulers and merchants. While
Aurangzeb, (who had, perhaps, seen the connection between growing
European trade concessions and falling revenues from overland trade)
attempted to limit and control the activities of the East India Company, not
all Indian rulers had as many compunctions about making trade
concessions. Besides, the East India Company was willing to persevere;

fighting and cajoling for concessions; it built trading bases wherever it could
along either side of the lengthy Indian coastline. In 1601, their first factory
was established at Surat.
In this period, relations between Indians and the British were not lacking
in cordiality and the East India Company included employees from both
worlds. Friendships between the two nationalities developed not only within
the context of business relations, but even beyond, to the point of inter-
marriage. Disproving the stereotype of the pompous, stuffy British gentry,
the British employees of the East India Company made the most of life in
India, dressing in cool and comfortable Indian garments, enjoying Indian
pastimes and absorbing local words into their dialect. With as yet
unprejudiced eyes, these British traders delighted in the delicate
craftsmanship and attractiveness of Indian manufactures and took advantage
of their growing popularity in Britain and France. So lucrative was the trade
that even though India would accept nothing but silver or gold in return, the
East India Company prospered.
Considering the long route (around the African Cape) that the British
had to take to reach England, it was surprising that they made as much
money as they did. But other factors outweighed this disadvantage. First,
owing to their legally sanctioned monopoly status in England, they had
substantial control over the British market. Second, by buying directly from
the source, they were able to eliminate the considerable mark-up that Indian
goods enjoyed enroute to Europe. Third, the East India Company probably
enjoyed better economies of scale since their ships were amongst the largest
in the Indian Ocean. In addition, they were able to develop new markets for
Indian goods in Africa and the Americas.
Finally, and perhaps most significantly, as Veronica Murphy reports,
‘although the East India Company was not itself engaged in the transatlantic
slave trade, the link was very close and highly profitable’. In fact, in the
eighteenth century, the British dominated the Atlantic slave trade,
transporting more slaves than all the other European powers combined. In
1853, Henry Carey wrote: ‘It (the British System) is the most gigantic
system of slavery the world has yet seen, and therefore it is that freedom
gradually disappears from every country over which England is enabled to

gain control.’ The Atlantic slave trade was hence a vital contributor to the
financial strength of the East Indian trading companies.
So much so that by the middle of the seventeenth century, the East India
Company was exporting Indian goods to Europe and North Africa and even
Turkey. Unsurprisingly, this was to have a severely deleterious effect on the
Ottomans, the Persians and the Afghans, since the revenues of these states
came from Indian trade. It also seriously impacted the revenues of the
Mughals, and while the activities of the Arab and Gujarati traders were not
entirely eliminated, their trade was much curtailed, and largely reduced to
the inter-Asian trade, which continued unabated. In any case, the Mughal
state was unable to resist centrifugal forces and rapidly disintegrated. This
left the East India Company with considerably more leverage and
emboldened it to expand its activities and demand even greater concessions
from Indian rulers.
But even as the Indian rulers were granting more concessions, there was
a rising chorus of voices bemoaning the loss of European silver to Asia. At
the end of the seventeenth century, the silk and wool merchants of France
and England were unwilling to put up with competition from Indian textiles,
which had become the rage in the new bourgeois societies of Europe. Not
only did they seek bans on such trading activities of the East India
Company, they also sought and won restrictions on the purchase of these
items in their respective nations. These prohibitions, while not entirely
eliminating the smuggling of such items, nevertheless squeezed out most of
the trade, impacting the revenues of the regional Indian states that had only
recently broken off from the centralised Mughal state. Bengal was the first
to face the consequences.
Having lost the opportunity to profit from the Indian textile trade, the
East India Company did not hesitate to change its character. In 1616, Sir
Thomas Roe, an envoy of the East India Company’s declared to the Mughals
under Emperor Jahangir that war and trade were incompatible. By 1623,
factories sprang up at Surat, Broach, Ahmedabad, Agra, Machlipatnam and
later at Orissa, Patna, Balasore, Dhaka, Bengal and Bihar. British
settlements evolved from these factories or trading posts into major
commercial towns under British jurisdiction, as Indian merchants and
artisans moved in to do business with the Company and with the British
inhabitants living there. Maintaining their presence in Mughal India was a

herculean task for the Company. But they emulated the Portuguese and
decided to make colonies and settlements for themselves. They signed a
truce with the Portuguese at Goa in 1635 and by 1639 Fort St. George was
established at Madras. Bombay was acquired by 1668 and gifted to King
Charles II when he married the Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza.
The East India Company began to spread its tentacles all over India. But
a strong rival, not as meek and timid as the Dutch and Portuguese, existed in
the form of the French Company, which set up its factories at Surat,
Machlipatnam, Pondicherry and Mahe. Both these companies had high
commercial and political ambitions. The decline of the Mughal empire and
the constant bickering of the southern satraps of Mysore, the Marathas,
Hyderabad and Carnatic was a blessing in disguise.
The East India Company’s trade was built on a sophisticated Indian
economy. India offered foreign traders the skills of its artisans in weaving
cloth and winding raw silk, agricultural products for export, such as sugar,
the indigo dye and opium, and the services of substantial merchants and rich
bankers. The Company’s Indian trade in the first half of the eighteenth
century seemed to be established on a stable and profitable basis. Those
who directed its affairs in London could see no case for military or political
intervention to change the status quo. In 1664 it imported a quarter of a
million cloth pieces from the Coromandel coast, Gujarat and Bengal. By the
1670s, cotton and silk textiles made up about fifty-six per cent of the
Company’s imports, relegating to the background the goods they had
initially set out to import—spices, pepper, raw silk, indigo, saltpetre, coffee
and tea, in that order, formed the other imports. By 1685, textile trade
touched eighty-three per cent of the import share and Bengal started
emerging as the source where cheap cloth could be bought and exported.
Between 1681 and 1685 alone, the Company exported 240 tonnes of silver
and 7 tonnes of gold to India. This steady inflow of bullion helped the
Indian economy in the initial years, stimulating employment and incomes.
The British did, however, intervene in Indian politics from the 1750s,
and revolutionary changes were to come in their role in India. This change
can best be explained partly in terms of changed conditions in India and
partly as a consequence of the aggressive ambitions of the local British
themselves. The seeds of this policy shift were sown by Sir Josiah Child
who became the governor/chairman of the Company in the 1680s. His

policy of engaging an aggressive Mughal empire under Aurangzeb
boomeranged. After much diplomatic humiliation and a payment of Rs
150,000 and damages to the emperor, the Company somehow managed to
retain the trade rights. Factories were also bought at Kolkata, Sutanuti and
Govindapore villages in Bengal. The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 brightened
the prospects of the Company. The Mughal empire gradually declined after
his death. The later Mughals were weak and inefficient. The real power lay
in the hands of powerful wazirs and nobles, like Zulfikar Khan, the Sayyid
brothers and Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah Bahadur. Many new independent and
semi-independent states like Bengal, Hyderabad, Awadh, and Carnatic were
formed. The Sikhs were divided into their twelve misls and the southern
kingdoms of Hyderabad, Carnatic, Mysore and the Marathas were
constantly at war with each other. By 1716, the Mughal emperor
Farrukhsiyar issued three firmans that gave the Company duty-free trading
rights in Bengal, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad provinces. This gave the
Company an opportunity to get directly involved in the petty local disputes
of the provinces and act as an unwelcome arbiter in many cases.
R. Mukerji in his Rise and Fall of the East India Company describes the
motives behind the Company’s political ambitions: ‘Although monopoly
rights assured the India Companies of the exclusive privileges of buying and
selling, it did not guarantee that they could buy cheap. For that, political
control was essential.’ The opium trade of the eighteenth century, which
eventually led to the Opium Wars, when the Royal British Navy worked
more or less hand in hand with the commercial interests of the East India
Company, exemplified precisely such a link between war and trade.
Most Indian kings and satraps of the time lacked the ability and
foresight to see through machinations of this magnitude and the profit-
driven strategies of a band of traders. The traditional Indian social hierarchy
from the times of Manu had been one where the priestly class and the royal
clans occupied the higher echelons of the social ladder. The Vaishya or
trader class were always considered to be subservient to the warrior tribe of
Kshatriyas. They acted on behalf of and at the pleasure of the latter and
seldom or never at their own behest, nor were they driven by their personal
interests overriding those of the king. That it was the king’s duty to create
economic conditions feasible for trade was a concept drilled into the Indian
psyche. But the rules of the game had changed now and sadly caught the
Indians totally unawares. Here was a community of traders that superficially
looked like those merchants the king was traditionally accustomed to. They
wanted a share in the pie, to export spices and textiles and bring in gold and
silver in return. But the equation was more complex. These traders had
profit as their guiding motive, to the extent that they wouldn’t hesitate to
overthrow the very monarch who first facilitated their entrance to the trading
arena. But was it just this unfamiliarity with a foreign community or was it
the natural Indian mindset of succumbing to fair skin? One cannot ever be
sure.
But to give some credit to the Indian kings in the early phase of the East
India Company’s Indian sojourn, till the early decades of the eighteenth
century, the motives of the foreign companies were hardly discernible. It
seemed like a perfect win-win situation for both sides. India had been
carrying on foreign trade for thousands of years. This seemed like just
another harmless addition to the series. It was around the middle of the
eighteenth century, when the British and French companies started direct
intervention in political matters and battles, that the kings of the time should
have sat up and realised the threat they were facing. As we shall see in later
chapters, the manner in which the companies infiltrated the political set-up
was surreptitious in some cases, but entirely blatant in a few others. It
wouldn’t have been impossible for a monarch with foresight and a sixth
sense to see through this gameplan. But sadly for India, no such ruler
existed. Slowly and steadily, her sovereignty and freedom passed into
foreign hands.
————————————
*
Incidentally, this was not the first headquarters of the Company. That was at the City
Mansion of its first chairman, Sir Thomas Smythe, located at Philpot Lane, London.
6
THE GOLDEN PERIOD â€“ II (AD 1673–
1704)
TURBULENT TIMES
he rest of India was going through a period of flux and churning. As
seen earlier, new entrants into the political arena, from within and
outside, complicated matters further. Mysore had just seen a regime change
and the new king Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar had to spend the early years of
his reign in arduous battles with nearby kingdoms.
With Sriranga VI having disappeared into oblivion and the Shahi
Kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda locked in a fight for survival with the
Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the Deccan was an open playing-field for the
powers of the time—Mysore, Ikkeri, Madurai, Tanjore and Ginjee—with
the Marathas making appearances on and off. Ikkeri’s Hiriya Somashekara
Nayak I was murdered by the scriptwriters of a court intrigue and was
succeeded by his daunting and brave dowager Queen Channammaji in 1672.
Chokkanatha Nayak continued to hold his sway over Madurai. Shahji’s
death brought his son Ekoji to the fore.
On 5 March 1673, barely five days after his coronation, Chikkadevaraja
was drawn into battle. He undertook an expedition eastwards and captured
the forts of Dhuligote, Malali, Paramatti and Salem and encountered
Madurai Nayak Chokkanatha and his Dalavoy Venkatakrishnama Nayak.
Chokkanatha faced a crushing defeat in the battle with the Mysorean forces.
Chikkadevaraja returned to the capital with the spoils of his first victory as
king by the end of 1673, capturing Sadamangalam and Anantapur on the

way. But the revelry was short-lived. A combined confederacy of Rani
Channammaji and the forces of Golconda and Bijapur under Hussain Khan
and Balbal Khan planned an attack on Mysore with the help of
Kodandarama I, Sriranga’s nephew. The motive was the same hackneyed
one of attempting to reinforce Sriranga’s supremacy. Dalavoy Kumarayya
was sent to counter this menace at Banavar and he succeeded in capturing
places like Arakalgud, Sakaleshpur, Angadi, Nuggehalli and Belur, but was
defeated by the combine at Hassan.
The political climate in the Deccan of those times was so volatile that
each passing day brought new equations to the fore. Tanjore’s Nayak,
Vijayaraghava Nayagan, died in a skirmish between Madurai and Tanjore.
Chokkanatha installed his foster brother Alagiri N ayak as Viceroy of
Tanjore but the latter had hopes of overthrowing his brother and benefactor.
The deposed Tanjore family’s adherents planned a palace coup to restore the
kingdom to the original family. Bijapur’s help was sought to help install on
the throne a young boy from the original dynasty, Chanagamala Das. The
Sultan of Bijapur dispatched Ekoji to drive out Alagiri Nayak and install the
young boy. This he achieved with no major difficulty, as Alagiri was not a
chivalrous military man. The death of Muhammad Adil Shah in 1675 led
Ekoji to assert his own authority over the province he had captured. Maratha
rule was thus established in Tanjore and Ginjee from 1675 onwards. Ekoji
cut off his allegiance to Bijapur and made Tanjore his headquarters, even as
he maintained a foothold in his father’s jagir of Bangalore.
On his part, Chikkadevaraja was consolidating and also expanding the
frontiers of Mysore. By 1675, he managed to check Madurai’s aggression,
advanced till Belur in the west against Ikkeri and conquered vast tracts of
land in the Camatic-Bijapur Balaghat region, which had become more
susceptible since the exit of Ekoji. In his Travels in India, Dr Fryer mentions
‘the Raja of Saranpatam’ enjoying ‘a vast territory at the back of the
Zamerbin’, the reference of Saranpatam being to Srirangapatna and the
Zamerbin to the Zamorin in the Malabar and Calicut region.
As stated before, the coronation of Shivaji encouraged him to indulge in
military exploits. He swept the Carnatic in 1677. His descent to the Carnatic
plains was at the behest of Raghunath Panth who complained bitterly to
Shivaji about the maladministration of Tanjore by Ekoji. On his way to the
south, Shivaji camped at Bhagnagar—present day Hyderabad—and through

the Madras plains, entered the Carnatic. Shantaji, another brother and a
member of Ekoji’s Council in Tanjore, crossed over to the daring Shivaji’s
side and was given Ginjee. It seems that Shivaji met his brother Ekoji and
the two warring siblings arrived at some sort of conciliation. Ekoji was
issued a stern warning to improve his administrative style. Shivaji then
turned eastwards into Mysore territory. The country was plundered and
overrun. Orme in his Historical Fragments mentions that the ‘Marathas
retired to their country after having some bloody battles with the Naik of
Mysore.’ That Shivaji reached the gates of Srirangapatna and plundered the
territories of Bangalore, Doddaballapur and Hosakote is known. But
whether Chikkadevaraja put up a tough resistance or paid Shivaji off is not
clear. Kannada accounts of the time, however, state the chivalrous conduct
of the young king of Mysore in repulsing the attack and checking Shivaji’s
advance in South Mysore.
Troubles between Ekoji and his sibling (and hitherto friend) Shantaji got
worse after the return of Shivaji. The two met in a bloody battle at
Valikondapuram where Ekoji was defeated. Shivaji sent his emissaries to sue
for peace between the two brothers. This greatly frustrated the attempts of
Chokkanatha Nayak, who had allied with Shantaji to wrest Tanjore back
from Ekoji. But calamity befell Chokkanatha soon. Court intrigues accused
him of being mentally unstable and he was unceremoniously removed from
power. His brother Mutthulinga Nayak was made the lame-duck chieftain,
only to be overrun by Rustum Khan, a Muslim adventurer who captured the
province of Madurai.
The shock of Shivaji’s blitzkrieg in Mysore stirred Chikkadevaraja into
action. A series of conquests and acquisitions followed. It was clearly a
direct contest between Mysore and the Marathas for supremacy over the
South. All the other powers were in such a state of confusion and disarray
that they did not matter much. To assert himself, Chikkadevaraja set out on
an expedition: in 1678, he captured Andur from Ghatta Mudaliar, Erode,
Chikkatotlagere, Korategere, Magadi, Maddagiri, Kudur and Hosur. At
Hosur, he met the forces of Ekoji under his prime minister, Yeshwant Rao.
Yeshwant was dealt a crushing blow and, in characteristic Mysorean style,
lost his nose as well. The annexations of Channarayadurga, Mannekolala,
Midageshi, Bijjavara, Gundumaledurga and Bhutipura followed, making
Mysorean territories coterminous with those of Shivaji’s ancestral property

of Sira in the Carnatic Balaghat. Records of the time bolster these successes
of Chikkadevaraja who is addressed thereafter as ‘Emperor of the South and
the Karnataka Country’ and as a ‘Sultan of Hindu Kings’.
Around the same time, the valiant warrior Shivaji breathed his last and
was succeeded by his son Shambhaji. Soon after coming to power in 1680,
Shambhaji was locked in a contest with the Sidi of Janjira, Aurangzeb and
the English at Surat.
Meanwhile, the deposed chief of Madurai, Chokkanatha sent an
emissary to Mysore enlisting support for restoration. The Maravas’ help was
*
also solicited. Dalavoy Kumarayya led a large army against the usurper
Rustum Khan and after a bloody contest, Khan was defeated.
Chokkanatha’s joy knew no bounds. In his ecstasy, he wrote, in a letter
dated 8 March 1682 to Fort St. George: ‘We and the Naique of Mysore are
now good friends.’
But his joy was short-lived. Dalavoy Kumarayya had pledged to his king
that he would not appear before him till he had wrested the fertile lands of
Tiruchirapalli for the kingdom and collected the tributes payable to Mysore
by Madurai. Chokkanatha was shocked by this betrayal. He now sought
Maratha assistance and an army came to his aid under Haraji. Kumarayya
decided to bribe Haraji and make him retire to Ginjee. He was trying to
while away time as he waited for reinforcements to arrive.
Taking advantage of the absence of a large army from Srirangapatna,
Maratha generals Dadaji, Jathaji and Nimbhaji attacked Srirangapatna in
April 1682. Chikkadevaraja sent an emissary to the Dalavoy to send over a
portion of the army to rescue the capital, under his nephew Doddayya. The
Maratha generals were stationed in the Kalasagere and Kotthathi regions.
Along with the advancing army of Mysore, two to three thousand cattle
were let loose from the shed with torch lamps tied to their horns in the dead
of the night. The generals, who were woken up from their slumber, were
startled by this sea of lights proceeding towards them. The sudden attack by
the Mysorean forces also caught them completely off-guard.
The Marathas had always revelled in their expertise in the techniques, of
guerrilla warfare but were fed a dose of their own medicine. The generals
were slain, the Maratha forces completely routed and a huge booty
confiscated from them. The noses, ears and limbs of people in the Maratha
army were cut off and the head of Dadaji paraded as a trophy in the army
while those of Jathaji and Nimbaji were tied to the gate of the Srirangapatna
Fort.
But the celebrations were, in fact, premature. The position of Dalavoy
Kumarayya, who was trapped at Tiruchirapalli, was getting increasingly
untenable by the day. He had hoped to secure an honourable exit for himself.
But the Marathas wanted to avenge the fate that befell their generals at
Kalasagere. They pounced on his army, took many prisoners, including
Kumarayya, and also captured all the forts that Mysore had conquered from
Madurai’s Nayak. Chikkadevaraja managed to secure the release of his
father-in-law and old Dalavoy Kumarayya. The latter was ashamed of the
ignominy he had faced at Tiruchirapalli and offered to resign. Doddayya was
thereafter made the new dalavoy.
War became imminent for Mysore again. This time the armies of
Shambhaji, Basappa Nayak of Ikkeri and the Qutub Shah of Golconda
attacked Mysore. It was one of the worst reverses Mysore had faced. Fresh
from the debacle at Tiruchirapalli, the war-weary army’s morale was at an
all-time low. Most of Mysore’s fortresses in the east and south were lost.
Aurangzeb had been keeping track of developments in the South. When
news of the defeat of Maratha Generals Jayaji, Dadaji and Nimbhaji reached
the ears of Aurangzeb, he was delighted. It was music to his ears that the
Marathas, his long lasting enemies, were finally routed by a power down
south. All he had to do was to befriend his bitter foe’s enemy to strengthen
his own position in the Deccan. He sent feelers of friendship to
Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar. In fact, a Jesuit letter speaks of Aurangzeb being
willing to send a ‘formidable army against Sambogi at the request of
Mysore’. It was a different matter that the supposed help never came as the
Mughal ruler was involved in his do-or-die battle with the Shahi Kingdoms
of the Deccan. That Mysore was ravaged once again by the lineage of the
brave Shivaji becomes amply clear in another Jesuit letter of the times:
The power of the King of Mysore in Madura begins to grow weak, because, violently
attacked in his own dominion by the troops of Samboji, he cannot sustain and reinforce the
armies he had sent to these countries. The provinces he had conquered there shake off his
yoke gradually to claim their independence, or become attached to some one of the princes,
who have partitioned the shreds of the Kingdom, once so flourished, among themselves.
Peace was finally restored in Madurai with a pact. The kingdom of the
erstwhile chieftain was divided into five portions as referred to in the Jesuit
letter and divided between the Nayak of Madurai, the Wodeyar of Mysore,
the Maravas, Shambhaji and Ekoji. Chokkanatha died in a state of utter
frustration after all his thwarted attempts at restoration. His fifteen-year-old
son, Mutthu Virappa nayak III was made the titular nayak of the portion
allotted to their family.
The ravages of war and an internal rebellion brewing in the kingdom had
made life miserable for Chikkadevaraja. But destiny came to his aid in the
form of the end of two of his enemies—the two Shahi Kingdoms of Bijapur
and Golconda—at the hands of Aurangzeb (in 1684 and 1687 respectively).
The Marathas were also engaged in a battle of nerves with the Mughals and
their attention was diverted. With vast tracts of the Deccan now under his
control Aurangzeb got a little greedy. His commander Kassim Khan
marched by way of Penukonda towards Tumkur in March 1687. He also
took Chikkanayakanahalli, Kandikere and Tyamagondlu from Ekoji. Ekoji
found it difficult to manage the jagir of Bangalore from Tanjore. So he
decided to sell the place to Chikkadevaraja for Rs 3 lakh.
But just as Chikkadevaraja was to occupy Bangalore, Kassim Khan
swept over the place like a hawk and captured it by force. An agreement was
thereafter signed between the two whereby Bangalore, Tumkur and Hoskote
were taken by Chikkadevaraja on lease (izara) from the Mughals. He also
agreed to keep an army contingent ready for them. Mysorean records claim
that they purchased Bangalore at a cost of Rs 3 lakh. But this seems a
travesty of the truth because recently discovered Mughal records, at the
Jaipur Palaces clearly mention the Wodeyar’s acceptance of Mughal
suzerainty. In a way, Mysore had become a feudatory of the Mughal empire
by agreeing to the terms of this treaty. Mysore paid a heavy price for this in
the long run: in subsequent decades, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Nawab of
Arcot and the Marathas—tax collectors for the Mughals—attacked Mysore
regularly. Bangalore remained an integral part of the Mysore kingdom.
Chikkadevaraja also got the Venkataramana Swamy temple constructed
within the Bangalore Fort, famous to this day as Kote Venkataramana.
Kassim Khan retired to Sira where he was appointed as the Mughal
governor. With the Shahi kingdoms destroyed and Mysore almost made a
feudatory, Aurangzeb turned on his biggest and toughest foe, the Marathas.
But the Marathas were going through tumultuous times. Ekoji died in 1688
and his son Shahji II succeeded him at Tanjore. Shambhaji was captured and
executed by the Mughals. The same year, Shambhaji’s gallant general,
Haraji also died.
It was now time for Chikkadevaraja to make up for all the reverses he
had faced in the last few years. The Nayak of Madurai died an untimely
death and Queen Mangammal took over. Taking advantage of the entire
political spectrum of the Deccan, Chikkadevaraja swept through the
territories. In 1688, he acquired Avaniperur, Arasaravani, Hoskote,
Manugondedurga, Mannargudi and Vamalur; and in 1689, Dharmapuri,
Paramatti, Kaveripatnam and Kunturdurga. By 1690, he was able to acquire
all that he had lost in his shameful defeat at the hands of Shambhaji and also
reasserted his claim to the title of ‘Karnataka Chakravarthi’—the Emperor
of Karnataka.
With the execution of Shambhaji in 1689, Rajaram, his younger brother
(later known as Shivaji II), became regent to Shahu—the infant son of his
deceased brother. The fort of Raigarh and many other principal posts fell to
the Mughal assault led by Zulfikar Khan. Rajaram cleverly escaped from
Satara to the Carnatic by way of Ikkeri, and received a hospitable welcome
from Dowager Queen Channammaji. He managed to reach Ginjee fort by
the end of that year. An incensed Aurangzeb sent Zulfikar Khan to reduce
Ginjee and capture the fugitive. Rajaram found the assistance of a valiant
Maratha sardar, Shantaji Ghorpade. By April 1691, Zulfikar Khan reached
the Carnatic and marched as far as Tiruchirapalli and Tanjore. Ginjee was
besieged by Asad Khan, Kassim Khan and the Mughal Prince Kam Baksh.
The Jesuit letters of the times (1690–97) speak of the vast disturbances in
the Carnatic caused by these contesting parties of Mughals and Marathas.
But Ghorpade sprang on the invaders like a predator on its prey. In an ironic
negation of his name, which means peace, Shantaji’s name became
synonymous with terror in the Carnatic region. He mercilessly ransacked
the Deccan subahs of the Mughals. Kassim Khan was cornered, attacked
near Dodderi and defeated. It is said that to avoid disgrace, Khan consumed
poison and ended his life in 1695.
Realising that the situation was getting out of hand, Aurangzeb sent
fresh reinforcements under Bidar Bakht to Ginjee and ordered Zulfikar
Khan to chase Shantaji out of the Carnatic till the boundaries of Mysore.
Unfortunately for the Marathas, Shantaji was murdered in 1697 and Ginjee
captured by Zulfikar Khan, Daud Khan and Dalapat Rao in no time at all.
Rajaram again managed to flee to Satara. This triumph consolidated Mughal
supremacy over all of India, particularly the Deccan.
On his part, Chikkadevaraja remained a mute and neutral spectator,
watching from the sidelines. He maintained cordial relations with the
Mughals, especially Kassim Khan, after the initial skirmish at Bangalore,
and instead directed his energies against Channammaji of Ikkeri. In 1694,
the rani sent a huge army under her Dalavoy Channabasava Setti along with
Sabnis Bommarasayya of Koliwad, Yakub Khan, Krishnappa Nayak of
Aigur and the Beda chiefs of Chitradurga. Mysore’s Dalavoy Timmappayyas
put up a tough resistance at Hebbale. Mutual infighting and treachery in the
Ikkeri army resulted in huge chaos, with commanders giving contradictory
orders to their soldiers. Yakub Khan and Krishnappa Nayak were killed in
the aftermath of the confusion, while the Ikkeri dalavoy managed to flee.
The victorious Mysore armies took Arakalagud, Aigur, Sakaleshpur and
Kodlipet.
In the very next year, however, Channammaji launched yet another
offensive in which the dalavoy of Mysore was killed and his son taken
prisoner. Kalale Mallarajayya was made the new dalavoy and was later
succeeded by Virarajayya and Dasarajayya. But the death of Channammaji
in 1697 brought respite to war-weary Mysore and Chikkadevaraja completed
his annexations of Salem, Sadamangalam, Paramatti, Namakkal and
Tammambaati in the east. His only cause for concern was a possible attack
on Mysorean territories by the Mughal army, buoyed by its significant
victories in the Deccan. The Records of Fort St. George dated 16 June 1698
speak of Aurangzeb ordering ‘Dulpatrow and Daud Cawn to remove to
Bollegol and Adonee and the Nabob to assist Didar Bux coming against
Misore.’
With a long-term strategy of ensuring the territorial integrity of Mysore,
Chikkadevaraja decided to send a goodwill delegation to Agra with a
message of friendship. An embassy left for Ahmednagar—where Aurangzeb
was holding his court—with Chikkadevaraja’s good wishes to the emperor
under the leadership of Karnaik Lingappayya in 1699. The idea was to align
with the Mughals to prevent any possible onslaught on Mysore by the
Maratha forces. The delegation is supposed to have returned in 1700 with a

signet ring of the emperor bearing the inscription ‘Jagadevaraya’ or ‘King of
the World’. It was a subtle sign of permission from the centre of power in
India, granting autonomy to the kingdom of Mysore. A seal engraved in
Persian characters, the words ‘Raja Chikkadevaraj Muhammad Shahi’, along
with costly gifts and presents and a letter recognising the right to hold
durbar seated on the ‘celebrated throne of the Pandavas’ were also
dispatched by Aurangzeb.
This enhanced the prestige of the King of Mysore and his kingdom
immensely in the eyes of his rivals who saw him as power friendly to the
empire. The victorious delegation was given a rousing reception and
paraded in the streets of the capital city.
Wilks, however, takes a different view in his analysis of this momentous
event. He opines it to have been more stage-managed and a variant from the
truth—a ploy that Chikkadevaraja resorted to in order to ensure that his
supremacy among his subjects as well as neighbouring kingdoms and
Palegars was kept intact.
The splendour of the Embassy does not, however, appear to have made much impression at
the imperial court; and if we may judge from the trifling sum recorded to have been
expended in the entertainment of the ambassadors, the Zemindar of Mysoor (as he was
called) was not held to be a person of very high consideration. Whether Aurungzebe
actually conferred the high honours which were pretended to be received, would perhaps be
a balanced question if it were of sufficient importance to merit a separate discussion. It is
sufficient to our present purpose to state that they were publicly assumed, and as far as is
known, were never questioned....
As Wilks states, perhaps the Mughal emperor never accorded
Chikkadevaraja status higher than that of a ‘zamindar’ of Mysore. Whatever
might be the historical veracity of the diplomatic mission’s success, it
certainly did enhance Chikkadevaraja’s position vis-à-vis the other powers
of the south. He managed to advance as far as Coorg and Malabar and took
rich gifts and tributes from their chiefs as well as from those of Tigula and
Malnad. The period from 1700–04 was marked by peace and tranquillity for
Mysore and it also gave Chikkadevaraja ample time to consolidate his rule
and introduce a plethora of reforms for which he later became famous.
By 1700 Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar was at the height of his power and
Mysore was basking in unprecedented glory. In the north the kingdom

extended till Bangalore and parts of Tumkur, coterminous with the Mughal
headquarters of Sira; in the west and northwest up to Hassan and Kadur as
far as Chikkamagalur and Sakrepatna, coterminous with Ikkeri; and in the
east and south, up to and including parts of Salem, Baramahal and
Coimbatore districts. Thus, Chikkadevaraja established himself as a major
force in the south after the disappearance of the Shahi Kingdoms and those
of the Nayaks of Madurai, Tanjore and Ginjee.
Interestingly, all the powers-that-be in the Deccan seemed to want a
piece of Bangalore—a coveted township that began to represent political
supremacy. The accession of Bangalore to the Bijapur dynasty was a major
feather in their cap. Shahji got Bangalore along with Hoskote, Kolar,
Chikkaballapur, Doddaballapur, Sira, Kanakagiri, etc., and lived virtually as
the king of Bangalore. He built the Gowri Mahal Palace there.
It would be worthwhile to temporarily turn to Bangalore, a city that
slowly and steadily emerged as the fulcrum of political activity for Mysore
in the medieval ages and went on to occupy a primary position in the affairs
of the kingdom in later times. The city of Bangalore, the present day capital
of Karnataka, was always a coveted one for warring forces. It played a
pivotal role in the history of the Mysore kingdom. ‘Flowers, flowering
shrubs and creepers blossoming in glorious profusion, snipe (and snakes)
abound in the marshes, brilliant butterflies dance in the sunshine...’ was how
Winston Churchill, the former prime minister of Great Britain had once
described the beauty of Bangalore. Blessed with a salubrious climate, this
once sleepy city—comprising a residential locality to its northern end, a fort
in the south which belonged to its illustrious founder and a deep ditch in the
middle—has now been transformed into the power centre of modern
Karnataka and the pivot of India’s information technology revolution.
There has been much speculation about the origins of the name
‘Bangalore’. According to the Gazetteer of India Bangalore is an anglicised
name for ‘Bengalooru’, a word in the local Kannada language. The story
goes that this word was derived from the phrase ‘benda kaalu ooru’, or ‘the
town of boiled beans’. It is said that King Ballala of the Hoysala dynasty lost
his way in the jungle while on a hunting expedition. Tired and hungry, he
encountered a poor, old woman who offered him the only food she had—
some boiled beans. Grateful to her, the king named the place Bendakaalu
Ooru. However, historical evidence shows that Bengalooru was recorded

much before King Ballala’s time in a ninth-century temple inscription in the
village of Begur.
Another historical figure instrumental in shaping the city of Bangalore is
a feudal lord who called himself Kempe Gowda of the Yelahanka Prabhu
dynasty, and who served under the Vijayanagara kings. Hunting seemed to
be a favourite pastime in those days. During one of his hunting expeditions,
Kempe Gowda was surprised to see a hare chase his dog. Either his dog was
chicken-hearted or the hare was lion-hearted, but the episode surely made
an impression on the feudal lord. He told himself this was surely a place for
heroes and heroics, and he referred to Bangalore from then onwards as
‘gandu bhoomi’ (heroic place).
Kempe Gowda, who was in charge of Yelahanka, acquired twelve

*
hoblis around Bangalore with the help of King Achutaraya. He built the
little towns of Balepet, Cottonpet, and Chickpet, all inside a mud fort in
1537. Today, these small areas serve as the major wholesale and commercial
market places in the city. Kempe Gowda’s son erected the four watch towers
at Ulsoor, Hebbal, Lalbagh and Kempambudhi to mark the boundaries of
Bangalore and indicate the future expansion of the city. Today, these towers
stand almost in the heart of the present city, indicating the extent to which
the city has grown—much beyond the dreams of its founder.
The climate of the place, the high ground nippiness of its air and the
sheer beauty of its landscape have never failed to fascinate outsiders. ‘The
most beautiful habitation that nature has to offer to mankind upon earth—
chill weather, dammit! And that too, in Southern India,’ Churchill had
exclaimed.
Thus, right from the seventeenth century, Bangalore had occupied a
place of primacy in the politics of the region.
THE REIGN OF CHIKKADEVARAJA WODEYAR
Socio-Economic Conditions
The most important component of revenue for a feudal society is through
land revenues. This was as true in Mysore as anywhere else in medieval
India. It was the backbone of the feudal system and defined the entire
cultural, social and political class hierarchy even, while it sustained the
state’s economy. Right from the Vijayanagara empire onwards, the Palegars
acted as the intermediaries for the King to levy these land revenues and
taxes. They controlled vast tracts of land and lived like virtual kings. Some
territories yielded annual revenues of almost 3,50,000–4,00,000 Pagodas of
which the Palegar paid a fraction as yearly tribute to the Vijayanagara
monarch. This also helped him maintain infantry to protect his domain in
cases of aggression by neighbouring kingdoms. As seen during the reigns of
weak sovereigns, the Palegars exceeded their brief and acted as independent
satraps. For the local people, the Palegar was their king and he was called
raja, intrinsically linked to the culture and festivities of his domain. He
constructed temples for the people, provided irrigation facilities, and so on.
As we have seen earlier, the Mysore rajas also started off as Palegars. Once
Vijayanagara’s Aravidu dynasty had been completely wiped out,
Chikkadevaraja proclaimed complete independence and sovereignty for the
Wodeyars. What was till then the responsibility of the Vijayanagara king
was now that of the monarch at Srirangapatna.
But this was also a time of intense class struggle and societal churning
that arose due to a change in the centre of power.
Resentment, Rebellion and Repression
There were frequent peasant struggles against the oppressive extortionist
techniques of the Palegars. In 1684, the famous peasant uprising at
Nanjangud, also known as the Hadinadu rebellion, shook the foundations of
the traditional feudal set-up. It was symbolic that the uprising sparked off in
Hadinadu—the original seat of the Wodeyar dynasty. In the Hadinadu
rebellion, peasants hung their ploughs upside down on peepul trees at
village squares to protest the oppressive taxes exacted by the collection
officers. Inscriptions of the time speak of warnings issued to the officers
against squeezing the peasants beyond their limits. The concerned officer
merited severe punishment if any tiller left his land on account of financial
pressures exerted by the taxation system. Despite this, these officers were
heartless in their collection of taxes. When the peasants revolted,
Chikkadevaraja, who had been sympathetic to the peasants and ignorant of
his officers’ deeds, refused to compromise with the revolting ryots. It is

estimated that as many as 400 peasants were brutally massacred in a blatant
measure of suppression.
There are numerous references to this period of unrest that Mysore faced
in the 1680s. A Jesuit letter by Louis de Mello to Noyelle, dated 1686,
states:
The King of Mysore incensed at their (subjects) insolence sent an army against them to
carry fire and sword everywhere, and toss the rebels on the point of the sword, without
distinction of age or sex. These cruel orders were executed. The Pagodas of Vishnu and
Siva were destroyed, and their large revenues confiscated to the royal treasury. Those
idolaters who escaped the carnage fled to the mountains and forests, where they led a
miserable life.
This certainly seems like a gross exaggeration, especially considering
the fact that Chikkadevaraja was an ardent Vaishnavite himself. Destruction
of temples of Vishnu to fill his coffers seems rather far-fetched and is typical
of missionary-driven zealous propaganda.
What is significant though is the fact that the orange-robed Jangama
priests, who belonged to the Veerashaiva faith of Shiva worshippers and
were pivotal in the establishment of the Wodeyar dynasty, were seen as
sympathetic to the cause of the peasants reeling under the effects of
excessive taxation. These Jangamas had also lost their local importance,
more so after the king turned towards the Sri Vaishnava philosophy.
Historical records speak of a plot Chikkadevaraja hatched to eliminate these
trouble-mongering Jangamas. Wilks details the same in his inimitable style:
A large pit had been previously prepared in a walled enclosure, connected by a series of
squares composed of tent walls ... audience which were successively received one at a time,
and after making their obeisance were desired to retire to a place, where according to
custom, they expected to find refreshments prepared at the expense of the Raja. Expert
executioners were in waiting in the square, and every individual in succession was so
skilfully beheaded and tumbled into the pit, as to give no alarm to those who followed, and
the business of the public audience went on without interruption or suspicion. Circular
orders had been sent for the destruction on the same day of all the Jungum muts in his
dominion; and the number reported to have been in consequence destroyed was upwards of
700. The disappearance of the 400 Jungum priests was the only intimation of their fate
received by their mournful disciples; but the traditional account which I have above
delivered has been traced through several channels to sources of the most respectable
information, and I profess my entire belief in the reality of the fact...wherever a mob had
assembled, a detachment of troops, chief, cavalry was collected in the neighbourhood...the

orders were distinct and simple; to charge without parley into the midst of the mob; to cut
down to the first selection every man wearing an orange-coloured robe; and not to cease
acting until the crowds had everywhere dispersed...system of terror...to the final
establishment of the new system of revenue...the Raja exacted from every village a written
renunciation, ostensibly voluntary, of private property in the land, and an acknowledgement
that it was the right of the State...if such documents ever existed, they were probably
destroyed in 1786.
It is unclear how far one can test the veracity of the claims Wilks makes
based on these ‘traditionary accounts’ on which he professes his ‘entire
belief’. But it was certain that unpopular measures were adopted to crush a
brewing revolt to ensure that it didn’t develop into a large-scale mass
movement. The revolt had been widespread and had far-reaching echoes in
the political echelons of Mysore. A large section of the populace also held
the Jain Pandit Vishalaksha responsible for these reprehensive measures and
were envious of the great power that he wielded over Chikkadevaraja in his
earlier years. The Jangamas had their own grouses against him for
neglecting what had hitherto been the state religion and the religion of the
royal house. The widespread resentment and the manner in which the revolt
was put down led to the ultimate assassination of the Pandit. Wilks sums up
this entire build-up:
The first fourteen years of his reign were occupied in these financial measures, interior
reforms, and minor conquests, but these reforms had rendered so unpopular the
administration of the Jain Pundit, to whom they were chiefly attributed, that a plan was
secretly concerted for his assassination. Chick Deo Raj had, without doubt, in the early part
of his life, been educated in the doctrines of the Jungum, which was the religion of his
ancestors: he had hitherto, since his accession to the throne, shewn no very marked
attachment to any form of worship, but was supposed from particular habits, which he had
adopted, and from the great influence of the Jain Pundit, to have conceived the intention of
reviving the doctrines of that ancient sect. The Pundit was attacked and mortally wounded,
while returning at night, in the usual manner from court to his own dwelling (1686), and as,
in addition to religious motives, the Jungum had a deep account of revenge to retaliate, for
the murder of their priests...the suspicion of this assassination fell chiefly upon that people,
and tended to confirm the alienation of the Raja’s mind from the doctrines of their sect...
Confirming this sentiment of resentment is the Rajavali Kathe of
Devachandra, which also speaks of the Jangamas prevailing upon one
Naganna—a skilled archer—to help them accomplish their mission.
According to Rao’s History of Mysore, where he quotes the poet

Devachandra, Naganna befriended the Pandit and on that fateful night, when
the latter was returning to his abode seated in a palanquin, ‘the hireling
flung himself at him and pierced him through, having him unconscious, in
which state he was conveyed home.’ Chikkadevaraja was baffled and rushed
to his minister and childhood friend’s house. In his dying moments, the
Pandit is supposed to have recommended the name of Tirumala Iyengar as
the next prime minister. His wish was duly fulfilled by the king. Tirumala
Iyengar then succeeded the Pandit and held the post of prime minister till
1704.
Administrative Reforms
Incessant battles, coercive levies and dacoity of goods in transit were
horrors that most merchants faced in Chikkadevaraja’s Mysore. To add to
this was the perennial struggle among the Palegars for petty supremacy. Leo
Huberman sums it up in Man’s Worldly Goods:
The strife between warring overlords frequently meant disaster to the local population, no
matter which side won. It was the presence of different overlords in different places along
the highways of business that made trade so difficult. What was needed was a central
authority, a national state, a supreme power that would be able to bring order out of feudal
chaos. The old overlords could no longer fulfil their social function. Their day was gone.
The time was ripe for a strong central power.
Chikkadevaraja was aware of the socio-economic rumblings felt across
the kingdom. After the successful mission to the Mughal court, he chose to
completely reorganise the way administration ran in Mysore. He made it his
singular duty to completely eliminate the Palegar class. He made new
conquests, disarmed the Palegars and disbanded their armies. He did not
always need the sword to vanquish the influence of the oppressive Palegars.
To quote Huberman again ‘...the Rajah brought these powerful chieftains to
Seringapatam and gave them various dignified appointments in his
household and converted them from powerful chieftains to humble
courtiers.’ In removing this intermediate social structure, Chikkadevaraja
ensured a centralised state apparatus, which was not only directly
subservient to him but also retained some of the best elements of the
disbanded structure.
One of the hallmarks as well as necessities of any such centralised
nation-state is of course an effective defence mechanism, which translates
into powerful and effective armies. Under Chikkadevaraja, Karnataka for the
first time had a regular and well-organised army of 12,000 horse and
1,00,000 foot. As Huberman states:
He could hire and pay for a trained army always at his service, not dependant on the loyalty
of a lord. It would be a better army too, because its only business was to fight. Feudal
troops had no training, no regular organisation, which enabled them to work together
smoothly. An army paid for fighting, well trained and well disciplined, and always on hand
when needed was a great improvement. Moreover technical improvements in military
weapons also called for a new kind of army. Gunpowder and cannon were coming in and
effective use of these arms required trained cooperation. And while a feudal warrior could
bring his own armour, he couldn’t easily bring cannon and powder.
Thus, we see under the reign of Chikkadevaraja, a clear transition of
Mysore from the feudal age to the modern age—along lines similar to the
developments that occurred in Europe in medieval times. B. Puttaiyya
writes:
His numerous conquests and the subjugation of a large number of local polegars created the
necessity of enlarging his army and the strengthening of the forts with cannons and guns.
He therefore increased the strength of his army...fully equipped with all weapons of offence
and defence and mounts, such as horses, camels, elephants and remounts, such as oxen,
carts, tents, etc.
All of this was achieved within a year of his successful mission to the
Mughal court. The best of the forces from among the disbanded Palegars
were merged with the existing Mysorean forces to set up the kandachara or
local militia. Each hobli had a kandachara of 100–400 armed men or
olekars under the hoblidar’s command. As Hayavadana Rao details:
Their duty was to keep in readiness weapons of offence and defence including gunpowder
and shot and to be prepared to fight when necessary. Ordinarily it was the duty of the staff
of the militia to patrol the unit and safeguard the local treasury... in times of war they were
required to be ready with arms and ammunition. The militia seems thus to have occupied
an important place in the civil and military governance of the country, useful alike in times
of war and peace....

Chikkadevaraja had some amazing administrative skills. He had a vision
and knew how to achieve it. The dalavoys continued to hold their post as
army generals. The dalavoys who served during his reign were Kumarayya,
his son Doddayya, Thimappa (1690–96), Mallarajayya (1696–1702) and
Dasarajayya of Devarayadurga (1702–04). To ensure a streamlining of the
activities of the government, he divided the administrative work into
eighteen kacheris or departments, famously called athara kacheri. This was
largely inspired by the Mughal administrative set-up, but Chikkadevaraja
meticulously tweaked that model to suit Mysore’s indigenous needs. This
was his brainchild after the flirtations he had with the Mughal court, after
the return of the embassy from Ahmednagar. These eighteen departments
were as follows:
1. Nirupa Chavadi : Dealt with the recording of petitions from officials to
the king and the same would be disposed off in the form of orders or
nirupas. The Secretariat had one daroga (superintendent) and three
daftars (registrars and accountants).
2. Ayakattuchavadi: Maintained the civil and military accounts of all the
eighty-four administrative units, the central exchequer, the king’s
household, etc.
3. Mysuru Hobali Vicharada Chauadi: A dual department for the
administration of Mysore. The kingdom was divided into two
administrative zones: Patna Hobli (area north of the Cauvery) and
Mysore Hobli (area south of the Cauvery). The Mysore Chavadi looked
after the administration in the Mysore Hobli. It had one dewan and
thirteen daftars.
4. Patnada Hobali Vicharada Chavadi: A similar set-up as above for the
Patna Hobli.
5. Simeya Kandachar : Maintained the accounts of civil and military
establishments in the units, recording the figures for arms,
ammunitions and stores for each unit. It had an accountant for
provisions, military troops and all expenses of the provincial troops
with one bakshi and three daftars.
6. Bagila Kandachar: Accounts of troops stationed at the headquarters.
7. Sunkada Chavadi: Or kacheri of duties, road tolls, import-export
duties and customs levied within Mysore.

8. Pom Chavadi: Pom was a form of tax. In the taluks where sunka (toll)
was levied, an additional tax of half the original amount was also
levied on commodities purchased or disposed of by certain classes of
people, such as Brahmins and officers.
9. Tundeya/Thodaya Chavadi: Was also a tax-collecting department
where a quarter of the first duty was collected at the capital city of
Srirangapatna.
10. Ubhaika Vichara Chavadi: This had two responsibilities under it, for
Mysore and one for Srirangapatna. The Mysuru Hobli Ashtagramada
Chavadi had jurisdiction over eight hoblis formed newly under the
Devanala canals.
11. Ubhaika Vichara Chavadi: This was the Srirangapatna chapter of the
above: the Patna Hobli Ashtagramada Chavadi. It had jurisdiction over
eight hoblis formed under the Chikkadevaraja Sagara Canal. These last
two departments were also in charge of repairs to dams and canals
across the Cauvery and Hemavathy Rivers and maintained accounts of
the government’s share in the produce of lands irrigated thereunder.
12. Benne Chavadi: This was the animal husbandry department (later
christened Amrit Mahal by Tipu Sultan—who changed all Kannada
names to Persian or Islamic ones) and looked after the breeding of
cows for milk, butter, etc., for the royal palace and for domestication.
13. Patnada Chavadi: In charge of repairs of forts, the palace and public
places, etc.
14. Behina Chavadi: This was the department of post and espionage,
responsible for the speedy delivery of couriers (anche harikar) to and
from Srirangapatna and the communication of nirupas from the king to
the litigants.
15. Sammukhada Chavadi: The palace officers, domestic and personal
servants, etc., were part of this kacheri. It was handled by Gurikar
Somarajayya and Appajayya under the direct supervision of the king.
16. Devasthanada Chavadi: In charge of recording the daily grants to
temples, Brahmins, priests, establishing and repairing temples, and
other charitable activities.
17. Kabbinada Chavadi: Handled purchase of raw iron ore, its
manufacture and sale thereafter. The iron trade was a state monopoly.
18. Hogesoppina Chavadi: Tobacco department.

Each department had in common a supervisor (gotthugara), three
record-keepers (daftars), accountants (gumastas), writers (raayasadavaru),
head peon (dajfedar), menials (ooligadavaru), attendants (gollas),
watchman (kavalugar) and torch-bearer (divatigeyavaru). As mentioned
above, some departments also had a few extra personnel. These eighteen
offices formed the fulcrum of the administrative set-up and all the
administrative work was clearly demarcated. In fact, the present-day
Karnataka High Court in Bangalore, opposite the State Legislative
Assembly/Vidhana Soudha, is an impressive two-storied building called
Attara Kacheri, built in 1867. It reminds the people of the benevolent ruler
and able administrator who first coined this term in administrative parlance.
Revenue collection (done entirely in cash) and land assessment were
also structured by Chikkadevaraja. Smaller slices within the kingdom were
combined and eighty-four divisions or gadis created out of them. These
units had the following administrative personnel: peons (daffedars), menials
(kalooligadavaru), treasury attendants (hastaantari golla), two watchmen
(chavadi kavalugararu) and a torchbearer (deevatigeya jana). A local militia
or kandachar was placed in each unit along with a thanedar, a gurikar, three
shirastedars, a hoblidar, a daffedar, an olekar, a bugler and a drummer.
Each such division or unit had hoblis of eight, ten, twelve or nineteen
villages—a model retained from Raja Wodeyar’s times. The villages were
grouped according to size, population, etc., and formed the hobli, which was
a larger administrative unit. The hobli was headed by the hoblidar, who had
a retinue of one assistant, three scroll-writers and six accountants. Land
classification, land assessment, régularisation of tenures, fixing and
collection of revenues, codification of the twenty-four taxes and ensuring
their prompt collection became the hallmarks of this new and efficient set-
up. Each village had a subedar, a messenger or chikkaparupathyagara, three
athavanedars or scroll-writers, six clerks, one postman or anche harikar,
one daffedar, one hastantri, one cowherd, two watchmen and one kaidivitige
or torch-bearer. They formed the core administrative body of the village and
reported to their respective hoblidars.
The village also had a body of twelve functional heads called the
Barabalooti system with one gowda, one to three Shanbogues, one Brahmin,
one blacksmith, one goldsmith, one potter, one washerman, one kalasi, one
gardener, one talvar, one water supplier and one barber. Between them they
represented all the major caste combinations and functional roles of the
village. They also got a share of the grains of harvest. The heads of these
units—the subedar at the village level, the hoblidar at the hobli level and
the killedar for the forts performed their duties with the King’s sanction,
given to them in the form of a signet ring with the words ‘De’ (for
Chikkadevaraja) inscribed between figurines of the sun and moon.
Chikkadevaraja also constructed dams across the Cauvery and built
canals for irrigation called Chikkadevarajanala and Devarajanala which
helped bring large tracts of the Cauvery basin under irrigation. Towards the
end of his rule, Mysore became progressive in its outlook and had
undergone a series of administrative and tax reforms that few other
kingdoms of India had at that time.
Taxation
Under Chikkadevaraja we see the principles of state landlordism taking root
in the revenue model of the kingdom. Land and other taxes were codified
and no one was allowed to amass a disproportionate amount of wealth.
Official remuneration was paid half in currency and half in food grains. It
was decreed that no official should spend more than his income. To
maximise revenues the king decided to expand the cultivable land area. As
an incentive to the ryots, he granted revenue concessions for a fixed number
of years. In the case of superior land the remission granted was two-thirds
of the full assessment for a period of five years and for land of medium
quality it was one-fourth. Incentives given to the ryots not only encouraged
them to increase the agricultural area but also fixed a peasant to a particular
piece of land. Distinguished and meritorious soldiers and kandacharas were
granted lands over which they could claim hereditary rights and obtain
exemption from payment of taxes. These holdings were the final blow to the
feudal system. This also created an elevation in the economic status of the
so-called lower castes of traditional Hindu society. Chief among them were
the Vokkaligas, Lingayats, Kurubas, Bedas, Raja Parivaras and Idigas, who
were now mini landlords in their own right.
Land tax under Chikkadevaraja’s regulation varied, being a quarter, one-
third or half of gross produce, which was collected in cash as well as kind.
This was a distinct improvement compared to the other South Indian

kingdoms, like the Cholas, Vijayanagara Rayas and the Nayaks of Madurai
and Tanjore, where the maximum share of land revenue varied in actual
practice from half to four-fifths or 50–80 per cent of gross produce against
the one-sixth or quarter permitted by Hindu law-givers.
The kingdom had an annual income of 7,20,000 Pagodas or Varahas
(estimated at Rs 21,60,000, with a conversion factor of Rs 3 per Varaha). It
is said that the maharaja would not have his breakfast each day till the
finance minister deposited 2,000 Pagodas in the state treasury. The daily
deadline was noon. It is by such financial prudence that the kingdom’s
coffers were overflowing in no time. In fact, Chikkadevaraja got the title of
‘Navakoti Narayana’ or the Lord of Nine Crores. The economy of surpluses
and the great wealth accumulated under his direct control further enhanced
the power and authority of the king. Wilks records that:
It is certain that the revenues were realised with great regularity and precision, and this
Rajah is stated to have established a separate treasury to provide for extraordinary and
unexpected disbursements, of which he himself assumed the direct custody. It was his fixed
practice, after the performance of his morning ablutions, and marking his forehead with the
upright insignia of the Vishnoo, to deposit two bags (thousands) of Pagodas in his treasury
from the cash dispatched from the districts, before he proceeded to break his fast...By
course of rigid economy and order, and by a widely extended and well organised system of
securing for himself the great mass of plunder obtained by his conquests he had
accumulated a treasure, for which he obtained the designation of Nou Kotte Narain, or the
Lord of Nine Crores (of Pagodas) and a territory producing a revenue calculated on the
estimate of the schedules...of 13,23,371 Canterai Pagodas; a sum which is no further
remarkable than in its near coincidence with the value of the territory assigned to the
revised state of Mysore after the lapse of another century in 1799...
Of course, this financial prudence had its evil effects as well. The king’s
obsession with depositing the requisite pagodas in the treasury by noon
really pressurised officials all the way down the hierarchy. The compulsion
to deliver often made them resort to the extreme step of extortion with the
Hadinadu rebellion, a direct fallout of such measures.
Trade and Commerce
Like administration, Chikkadevaraja also regulated trade and commercial
activities by fixing weights and measures and defining standards. The
prevailing units of weight were mana (28 pounds), dadeya (1/4 mana),
pancheru (1/8 mana), balla, seru or seer, ardha-seru (half seru), pavu,
ardha-pavu, kolaga (8 seru) and chataaka. Canteroi Pagodas or Kanthirava
Varahas were the lowest denominator of currency and given that each
Pagoda was identical in weight, three of them weighed one Duddu-Tola.
Twenty-four of the latter made a Seru, ten Serus made a Dadeya, four
Dadeyas made a Chikka Mana. Fourty-four to fourty-six seers made a
Dodda Mana or big mana used to measure grains, jaggery, arecanut,
turmeric, tamarind, pepper, chillies and miscellaneous spices. A new kind
of currency called the Tandava Krishnamurti Devaraya—a gold Varaha—
was’ introduced. It was symbolic of the triumph of Mysore over Madurai’s
Chokkanatha Nayak and also the growing influence of Vaishnavism on the
royal house. The annual revenues from the different coconut and banyan
groves across the kingdom were also standardised. The taxing of fruit trees
in gardens and of coconut trees, etc., varied from 15, 18, 25, 28 to 30
Varahas per 1,000 trees. This would be collected annually and transferred to
the Srirangapatna treasury. As Puttaiyya summarises:
Finding that weights and measures were not uniform but were much abused, he fixed the
standard of each and caused the monogram of his name ‘De’ to be impressed on each and
ordered that all weightments and measurements should be made in these approved weights
and measures as a safeguard against fraud. Similarly he caused seals bearing the monogram
‘De’ to be kept in the custody of local officials to be used whenever necessary for sealing
purposes.
This standardisation greatly benefited the merchant class and facilitated
free trade, which had suffered hugely after the fall of Vijayanagara and the
Adil Shahis and of course under the oppression by the erstwhile Palegars.
Bangalore, Gubbi, Turuvekere, etc., became hubs of commercial activity
and centres for the growth of cash crops. In fact, 12,000 weavers were
stationed in Bangalore and their products were exported widely. This led to
the rise of the textile merchants or Banajigas. Weekly santhes or rural
markets ensured that all the stakeholders got their proper dues and also a
platform to sell and purchase. The acquisition of Bangalore and its
development as an urban centre speaks of Chikkadevaraja’s vision. Dodda
Petes or market-places were established in Bangalore, Gubbi and Turvekere
where merchants brought their commercial products like cotton, arecanut

and so on, weighed them on the giant scales called chinataalu, and later
took them to local markets for sale. As Puttaiyya states:
The rajah thereupon improved the place (Bangalore), built a fort and a shop street, imported
a large industrial population, such as the weavers, arranged for the safety of the town and
made it a big cloth centre for the export of cotton goods to all parts of the territories. It was
in Chikkadevaraja’s time that the building of towns with divisions and shop centres was
taken up on an extensive scale to deal with merchandise and to provide with settlements for
the industrial population. He strengthened the fortresses he had won from the poligars, built
towns round them and constructed high streets and shop centres therein and arranged for
the weighing and selling of goods in these centres before they were transported to the
interior for being sold in retail. It is interesting to note that Bangalore, Gubbi and
Turuvekere were among the first towns so organised by him. As a result of the
establishment of these centres, trade developed and the raja found an opportunity to tap
fresh sources of revenue and forthwith introduced the octroi system of collecting revenue
on all marketable articles such as cloths, drugs, tobacco and similar articles and entertained
an establishment for collection work.
One of Chikkadevaraja’s pioneering efforts was the wonderful postal
system, started by him in 1672. The department was called anche meaning
swan—a reference to the mythical swan that played Cupid and messenger
between the celestial lovers Nala and Damayanti. A romantic name indeed
for a state department.
Art and Culture
The king was also a man of letters and a patron of the arts. He is in fact
credited with writing two dance dramas: Geeta Gopala and Saptopadaki.
Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music flourished under the Wodeyars. In fact,
Mysore was accredited as a seat of music and dance and developed its own
inimitable Mysore shaili or style. Chikkadevaraja’s court was adorned with
scholars and poets, like Yelandur Pandita, Tirumalayya, Singarayya, his
childhood tutor Chikkupadhyaya, Sanchi Honnamma and Sringaramma. The
famous poet Kavi Lakshmisha was a contemporary. Chikkadevaraja, in fact,
wrote a masterpiece in praise of the Lord Cheluvanarayana Swami of
Melukote. The poem was titled ‘Chikkadevaraja Binnapam’.
Religion
An interesting aspect of Chikkadevaraja’s reign is his religious
transformation and subsequent espousal of his new-found love for
Vaishnavism. It also throws light on the kinds of pulls and pressures
prevalent in the Hindu society of his times. The domineering nature of the
Vaishnava community of the time became apparent in its attempts to ensure
its triumph as the preferred faith of the hitherto Veerashaiva royal house. As
stated before, in the early phase of his reign, Chikkadevaraja was deeply
influenced by Vishalaksha Pandit, a Jain. Between 1673 and 1680, he had a
more egalitarian and secular approach to all faiths. His fascination for the
tenets of Sri Vaishnavism, maybe under the growing influence of people
like, Tirumala Iyengar, his father Alasingaraya, and Chikkupadhyaya, can be
seen around 1680. After the death of Pandit in 1686, the transformation
became complete. The faith became the chief criteria for classification of
the Arasu families in Mysore and emerged as a powerful influencing factor
in the court of Mysore. That Tirumala had succeeded as prime minister only
made matters better for the faith. By 1693, Chikkadevaraja had become a
die-hard follower of the faith and proselytising tendencies took root. In
1693, scholars and priests of different Hindu subsects voluntarily decided to
sport Vaishnava marks in a direct acceptance of the superiority of this faith.
Chikkadevaraja also performed the panchasamskaras or the five rituals—
the Chakrankana, Urdhvapundra, Dasa Namam, Moolamantropasana and
Narayana Puja—any Vaishnava had to go through to become a purebred,
authentic follower.
From 1696 to 1704, Chikkadevaraja had become elevated in his faith. It
was now that he began to realise the true depth of the philosophies of
Vaishnavism. This was also a period of tranquility in Mysore that gave the
ruler ample time to ruminate. His thoughts condensed into spiritual
upliftment and a quest for salvation. Gone was the political need for
proselytisation; it was now a more intense dialogue of the soul with the
Supreme. From a war-enthusiastic ruler who crushed all revolts with an iron
fist, he seems to have metamorphosed into a mystic by this time, guided by
the doctrines of Sri Vaishnavism. This idea couldn’t have been expressed
more beautifully by anyone other than Chikkadevaraja himself in his famous
eulogy in the ‘Chikkadevaraja Binnapam’. A paraphrased, summarised
version follows:
Oh Lord of Yadugiri! Having settled on the famous peak adorning the Karnataka country,
Thou hast attained celebrity as the Protector of all people, and as the tutelary deity of the
Yadu race. Thou art Parabrahman, the primeval cause of the world, Thou art Infinite, Thou
art manifest in the Vedas, Puranas and the 18 Vidyas...Thou art an embodiment of the
entire world, being ‘One’ in diversity...fear of falling into hell vanishes by mere recitation of
Thy name; sinners become purified by contemplating Thee. Salvation is an end most
cherished by those who are free from mundane cares. All the other ends are evanescent;
salvation alone is eternal and it is to be attained by right action, right knowledge and right
faith....Oh Lord of Yadugiri! To those who have renounced the world and placed their trust
in Thee, Thou art easily accessible...Renunciation of worldly desire...is easiest to achieve
and is powered by the conception of relationship between Master and servant...Let Thy
grace dawn upon me...Let Thy accessibility to Thy devotees manifest itself, and may Thou
settle in the abode of my heart...I surrender myself at Thy feet and seek salvation.
The Maratha prince of Tanjore taunted Chikkadevaraja that while his
kingdom had innumerable temples, Mysore had very few to showcase other
than the Chamundeshwari temple at Mysore and the Melukote one. So
Chikkadevaraja constructed a series of fine temples which exist to this day.
They are the Shweta Varaha Swamy temple at Srirangapatna, the Gopala
Krishna temple at Hardanahalli, the Paravasudeva Temple at Gundlupet, the
Varadaraja temple at Varkod, the Venkataramana Swamy temple at
Bangalore fort, also called Kote Venkataramana, etc. He made lavish grants
for their upkeep and maintenance. An ardent Vaishnavaite, he gave
prominence to the Vajramukuta festival or Diamond Crown festival in
Melkote. He followed the Veerashaiva tenets of Basaveshwara in the early
years of his reign. He built a pond at Sravana Belagola for the use of Jain
pilgrims.
Srirangapatna
During Chikkadevaraja’s reign, Srirangapatna became a flourishing city and
a political centre of gravity. A lithic record of 1685 describes the
Srirangapatna township as abundant ‘with plum, jacks, coconut, plantain,
lime, orange, fig and other fruit trees, with houses as high as hills...and with
cows and Brahmanas, with trees of plenty, with temples, with fine
elephants....with horses neighing like the thunder of clouds, with splendid
chariots and fort soldiers...a beautiful city having splendid gateways, an
ornament to the lady Earth, surrounded by the Cauvery.’

Among the pantheon of illustrious rulers, Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar
occupies primacy alongside Raja Wodeyar and Ranadhira Kanthirava
Narasaraja Wodeyar. Believed to have possessed exceptional personal
strength, courage and prowess, he was, according to contemporary sources,
quoted by Hayavadana Rao, ‘a handsome personage with features
characteristic of a great man destined to rule as a sovereign, features
suggesting a budding manhood, charming round face, large lotus-like eyes,
well-proportioned nose, soft arms, round chest, well-built body, pleasing
countenance and excellent voice. He was a trained warrior, a good scholar, a
notable author, a large-hearted and large-minded devotee and exceptionally
capable administrator. He would personally test the weapons, diamonds,
horses and elephants required for his use.’
After a long and illustrious reign of nearly thirty-two years,
Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar—one of the most illustrious sovereigns Mysore
had ever seen—passed away in the Karthika month of 1704.
———————————
*
The chieftains of Ramnad (called Setupatis) and the Rajas of Sivaganga—both in Tamil
Nadu, were called the Maravas. As warriors, they were temperamentally disinclined to
accepting authority. They had hideouts in forests and slowly rose to political eminence in
the south by aligning with various powers in their mutual skirmishes.
*
A group of villages.
7
THE DALAVOY REGIME AD 1704–34
very kingdom and dynasty goes through phases of highs and lows.
History has several stories of even the most powerful kingdoms reduced
to weak reflections of their earlier supremacy, courtesy the inefficiency of
the king in question. The golden era of the Wodeyar Dynasty saw it being
established as a major power to reckon with in the politics of the Deccan
under such able rulers as Raja Wodeyar, Ranadhira and Chikkadevaraja
Wodeyar. After these rulers, however, the kingdom passed through the hands
of successive titular puppets who wilfully surrendered to the wishes of their
powerful dalavoys. A weak ruler, power without accountability and access
to the riches and secrets of the kingdom make a perfect combination for
corruption and pilferage to thrive and that is exactly what happened in.
Mysore. This period of Mysore’s history is aptly called the ‘Dalavoy regime’
and lasted till it spelt ultimate doom for the royal family. It was left to the
prudence and shrewdness of a neutral upstart to milk this situation and turn
the tide in his favour.
THE POLITICAL SCENE
Born in 1672, Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar II was crowned on 30
November 1704. He had two wives, Chamammanni and
Cheluvarajammanni. The latter was the mother of his son, Dodda
Krishnaraja Wodeyar. Mute from birth, he was a titular monarch who
carried out the affairs of the kingdom in sign language. To facilitate the
administration of the kingdom, the kith and kin of the king were appointed
as the dalavoys on the presumption that they would be trustworthy. The

period thus marked the rise to prominence of the Kalale family as dalavoys
of Mysore. Matrimonial alliances between the family of the Kalale nobility
and the royal house of Mysore furthered the referent power that the former
began to exercise in affairs of state.
Meanwhile, just how tenuous the Mysore-Mughal relationship was
became evident after the death of Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar. The hype that
surrounded the successful embassy to the Mughal court seems to have
vanished. If Signor Niccolo Manucci, a Venetian traveller in India and
contemporary chronicler, is to be believed—Aurangzeb mistook the new
king of Mysore to be an illegitimate successor and ordered the seizure of his
treasure, saying that the ‘bear has entered the jaws of death’. Elaborating in
his Storia da Mogor, Manucci writes:
Without troubling himself about the increasing ruin to his Empire due to the Mahrattahs,
this King (Aurangazib) now plans the renewal of war against Maisur or Saranpattan. His
ambition is to capture the great treasure possessed by this Prince. This territory lies near
the region of Malabar and the Prince possesses one hundred thousand matchlock men and
10,000 cavalry...he is lord over a large territory defended by over 100 fortresses and many
forests.... For this reason King Aurangazib protests that this Prince is not a legitimate
succession, and claims the right to take possession. Thus he is making ready for a
campaign, and has sent out orders to the Princes of Tanjoor, the Princes of Trichinopoly,
and other neighbouring rulers who are his feudatories. They must be prepared to invade
Mahisur, and should they refuse compliance, they will, he says, be chastised.
Accordingly Daud Khan was despatched to seize this treasure from the
new ruler of Mysore. But as luck would have it for the Wodeyar, Daud Khan
was intercepted by the Marathas. Anxious to ward off the Mughal advance
on his territory, Kanthirava—a sad and ironical reminder of the other valiant
ruler of the dynasty who bore the same name—found it expedient to appear
subservient to Aurangzeb and offered him fifteen million rupees and five
elephants, so as to escape interference by the Mughals. But conveniently,
these remained mere promises on paper and Mysore never wished to act on
the same. An enraged Aurangzeb kept sending violent reminders to
Srirangapatna on the delay in the tribute due to the imperial treasury at
Delhi. The uprisings in north India, however, distracted Aurangzeb and he
seemed to forget Mysore for a while.

The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 led to a crisis of succession in Delhi.
The lot fell in favour of Shah Alam I (1708–12) and his successor
Farrukhsiyar (1713–19). The confusion in Delhi encouraged the Marathas
to regroup as a considerable force under Shahu (1708–48), son and
successor of Shambhaji. In early 1713, Asaf Jah (Chin Killich Khan, 1671–
1748), who was subedar of Oudh under Shah Alam I, became the foujdar of
Hyderabad as the new Mughal viceroy of the Deccan under the title of
‘Nizam-ul-Mulk’, which he received from Emperor Farrukhsiyar. The
government of the Mughal areas of the Carnatic, which included Payanghat
and Balaghat along with Sira, with its headquarters at Arcot was under
Aurangzeb’s trusted commanders, Zulfikar Khan and Daud Khan. With the
latter being recalled to Delhi during the 1707 civil war there, the Mughal
Carnatic passed on to Daud’s Dewan Sadatullah Khan. He was recognised
as the Nawab of Carnatic by the Peacock Throne of Delhi. Thus, political
equations had changed in the Deccan with the entry of new players. The
older ones, like the Madurai Nayaks under Rani Mangammal and
Vijayaranga Chokkanatha and Tanjore under Shahji II and Serfoji, were in
the throes of dissolution.
The death of Aurangzeb and the political turmoil in Delhi encouraged
Mysore to advance northwards. In 1710, Dalavoy Nanjarajayya was sent to
capture Chikkaballapur from its chieftain Baiche Gowda. In early 1711, he
marched further and captured Doddaballapur and, later on, Midageshi. This
extended the kingdom of Mysore to the very gates of the Mughal Empire’s
southern heartland of Sira. The advance of Mysore was being watched with
amusement by Sadatullah Khan, the Mughal protégé in the Carnatic. In
August 1711, he joined hands with the subedar of Sira, Amin Khan, and
attacked Mysore. The intention was also to remind the kingdom of its
promise to the late Aurangzeb, that of paying tribute to Delhi. The Wodeyar
was obliged to make a payment of Rs 5 lakh, after collecting which
Sadatullah retired to Arcot. Thus, Mysore became a lame-duck province for
the Mughal empire’s representatives in South India. On 18 February 1714,
Kanthirava Narasaraja II died at the age of forty-two and his twelve-year old
son Dodda Krishnaraja succeeded him on 3 March 1714. Devarajayya was
made the new dalavoy after his predecessor Veerarajayya of the Kalale
family stepped down. Devarajayya and his brother Karachuri Nanjarajayya
were to play a pivotal role in the future of Mysore. Another Nanjarajayya of

the Kalale lineage and cousin of Devarajayya was made the Sarvadhikari.
With a titular and spineless ruler unable to control them, this trio made hay
while the sun shone, thus ensuring that power was concentrated in their
hands.
Up north, catastrophe awaited the tottering Mughal empire. Under
monarchs, like Farrukhsiyar and his successor Muhammad Shah (1719–48),
the last proverbial nail in the Mughal coffin seemed to have been fixed. The
hitherto protégé of the Mughal throne, Nizam-ul-Mulk declared his
independence and the entire country below the Ghats, known as the
Carnatic-Bijapur-Balaghat and Carnatic-Bijapur-Payanghat, south of
Hyderabad, came under his suzerainty. He divided the Carnatic Hyderabad
region among three feudatory Pathan chiefs, designated as nawabs, from
Savanoor, Cudappah and Kurnool. He became the de facto absolute ruler of
the Deccan, with Sadatullah being relegated to Arcot.
The Nizam had a contender to the position of absolute authority over the
Deccan in the form of a new Maratha power centre—the Peshwas.
Chhatrapati Shivaji had appointed Moropant Trimbak Pingle as his first
peshwa or prime minister. But with time, the descendants of Shivaji became
titular rulers called ‘Swami’ and the peshwa emerged as the virtual king of
the Maratha dominion. The appointment of Baji Rao I as peshwa by
Chhatrapati Shahu in 1719 made this post hereditary. They were given
considerable powers to command the Maratha armies and also to collect the
taxes of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi from the Mughal provinces and
feudatories in the Deccan. Mysore inevitably was on this list of feudatories
of the Mughals from the days of Chikkadevaraja and this brought the
Marathas on repeated conquests to Mysore.
Meanwhile, Amin Khan, the nawab of Siras was feeling increasingly
threatened by his colleagues in the region. The growing friendship between
Sadatullah Khan of Arcot and the Pathan Nawabs of Savanoor, Cudappah
and Kurnool, as also the threatening moves of the contender to the
chieftainship of Sira, Tahir Khan, prompted Amin to send feelers of
friendship to Mysore. In a suicidal move, Mysore decided to extend its
support to the beleaguered Amin Khan, thus earning the wrath of the other
Mughal officers of the South. Keeping an eye on these moves, the Nizam
ordered a grand confederacy (that included the Pathan nawabs, the nawab of
Arcot, Siddhoji Ghorpade of Gutti and Ikkeri) to rout Amin Khan. The
combined forces under Ikkeri’s Dalavoy Rohile Lingappa routed Amin Khan
in 1724 and Tahir Khan was made the new nawab of Sira. The anger of the
combined forces was now directed against Mysore, which had unwittingly,
and for no benefit, become embroiled in this crossfire. The Fort St. George
dispatch dated 11 February 1725 speaks of the Nizam ordering both
Sadatullah and Tahir to ‘attack the King of Misore’. The huge army led a
violent attack on Srirangapatna. A baffled king was forced to buy them off
with a huge bounty of a crore of rupees, which also included the arrears of
tributes due to the Mughals. Sadatullah divided Rs 60 lakh of this tribute
among his five confederates and apportioned the rest to himself, marching
back to Arcot, victorious.
Meanwhile, seized by zeal and a new-found authority, the peshwas
attacked neighbouring kingdoms regularly. Mysore was always on their
radar. The recent reverses of Mysore encouraged them to strike whenever
the iron was hot. Led by Peshwa Baji Rao, the Marathas attacked the
kingdom of Mysore, reaching up to Chitradurga and, in 1727, marched
victoriously through Hukkeri, Samanagada, Belgaum, Sonda,
Lakshmeshwar, and Bidnaur and laid siege to Srirangapatna. The weak ruler
of Mysore paid twenty-one lakhs to send Baji Rao back. This inspired the
Marathas to attack Mysore repeatedly to collect the dues payable to the
Mughals, as they were assured that the titular ruler on the Masnad of
Mysore would offer the least resistance and generously fill their coffers.
Thus, under Dodda Krishnaraja Wodeyar, Mysore was increasingly
weakened and susceptible to enemy forces.
The only noteworthy success for the Mysorean forces in this tragic phase
of their history was the subjugation of Mummadi Kempa Virappa Gowda of
Magadi in 1728. Dalavoy Devarajayya blockaded the fort of Magadi and
took the chieftain prisoner; he later died in prison at Srirangapatna. The hill
fort of Savandurg was reduced and the accumulated treasure of ages was
taken. The Mysore army advanced till Salem, but the already drained
treasury of Srirangapatna could no longer sustain these military campaigns.
THE DECLINE OF THE WODEYARS

On 5 March 1732, in the month of Phalguna, Dodda Krishnaraja passed
away at the age of thirty. His short rule destroyed the eminent position that
Mysore had begun to occupy under the reign of Chikkadevaraja. He was
content with delegating his authority to his vicious officers and Dalavoys.
He was, however, a devout Vaishnava like his predecessors. He invited the
Parakala Guru Srinivasa Yatindra, a famous Sri Vaishnava luminary, to the
capital. He also made lavish grants to the Vaishnava shrines of Melukote,
Belur and Tirupati, expanded the Kalale Lakshmikantha temple, founded
agraharas and excavated a tank there. His principal queen was
Devajammanni, daughter of Chikke Urs of the Kalale family. He also had
eight junior queens, of which four were from the Kalale household.
Cheluvamba was his favourite queen and a great litterateur, poet and scholar
herself.
Since he died childless, his wife, the powerful dowager Rani
Devajammanni adopted Ankanahalli Devaraja Urs’ sons Chamaraja and
Krishnaraja. Chamaraja Wodeyar VII was crowned the seventeenth king of
the Wodeyar dynasty in 1732. During this time, power had virtually passed
over to the Dalavoy Devarajayya and his cousin Nanjarajayya, who was
appointed the Sarvadhikari or administrative head in his thirtieth year. To
quote Wilks’ The History of Mysore:
The profligacy of Nanjaraj made a shameless job of the revenue by the appointment of his
own menial servants nominally to the office of the Amildar, but retaining them about his
own person leaving to them to provide deputies and exacting a certain proportion of their
income as a joint fund for himself and his brother.
Taking advantage of the political crisis threatening to destroy Mysore,
the two vicious brothers looted most of the revenue coming from the taluks.
Of the revenue from each taluk, which was lawfully the property of the royal
treasury, 2000–3000 Varahas went into the brothers’ pockets. Even some of
the provisions coming to the palace every week conveniently found their
way to the storehouses and kitchens of the brothers. An additional 100–200
Varahas from each gadi or administrative unit were deceitfully drawn for
them and their faithful accomplice Pradhan Venkatapatayya. On receiving
intelligence of the treachery of the brothers, Chamaraja made up his mind to

punish them. But Dalavoy Devarajayya secretly overheard the king’s plans
and rushed to the Queen Mother’s chambers.
In a dramatic way, he began to brainwash the Rani:
Mahamatrushree! This son that you have adopted is out to bring disrepute to Your
Highness. He wants to totally eliminate the influence of the late king and your husband on
the state. He has killed many people who were considered close to the deceased monarch
and is plotting to remove loyalists like me from power. We in fact overheard him expressing
the evil desire of throwing Your Highness out of the Palace and sending the provisions and
other essentials in half their usual amounts to your future residence. Please do something
Your Highness before that servant of yours overpowers you.
The ignorant rani’s anger knew no bounds. ‘Oh! So this boy has got the
audacity and temerity to annul our influence on the state, does he?
Devarajayya, try all means, by hook or crook, to dethrone this arrogant fool.
Your efforts would have my sanction. From today you would be our
instrument in ousting the evil powers and would be amply rewarded.’
Having received encouragement, Devarajayya embarked on his evil
designs. The troops were let out of the fort on Fridays for exercises. On one
such day when all the troops had left the fort, Devarajayya installed those
forces which were under his pay on all the ramparts of the fort. They were
supposed to prevent the return of the forces that had gone out for exercises.
The inmates locked up the doors for protection when they realised this but,
with his elephant Ramabana, Devarajayya broke open the palace doors.
Chamaraja came rushing out and pleaded with his dalavoy. ‘For the first
eight months of my rule, you were my Regent. Now that I have started
assuming independent charges, you are vexed with me. So henceforth, I
appoint you as my Regent and will virtually hand over the reigns of the state
to you. Please don’t kill me.’ The king of the resplendent throne of Mysore
had been reduced to such a pathetic state.
But Devarajayya was too ambitious to listen to him. He snatched the
Shikhamohar ring—worn as a symbol of kingship—from the king’s hands.
He ordered his soldiers to arrest the king and his family. They were packed
off as prisoners to the jail at Kabbaludurga. On 10 June 1734, Chamaraja
Wodeyar VII was unceremoniously deposed and condemned to die in
prison.
Devarajayya then approached Rani Devajammanni, who had
unknowingly been a party to these misdemeanours, and advised her to
coronate Chamaraja’s younger brother Krishnaraja as king. Accordingly, in
the Jyestha month of 1734, the six-year old was crowned the eighteenth
ruler of Mysore as Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar or Krishnaraja Wodeyar II.
He had three wives—Puttammanni, Devirammanni and the daughter of
Katti Gopalaraje Urs, Lakshmammanni, who was to play a pivotal role in
the history of Mysore. His two sons were Nanjaraja Wodeyar and Bettada
Chamaraja Wodeyar VIII.
THE FOREIGN HAND
Meanwhile, the rivalries between the British and the French peaked during
this period and they invariably supported rival sides among the warring
Indian satraps. The fallout of this rivalry was first experienced in the Deccan
in the form of the Carnatic wars. The term ‘Carnatic’ is a generic one for
the region of southern India that includes parts of present-day Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. It is in this region that the Indian classical
music style of south India—Carnatic music—was nurtured. As seen earlier,
the collapse of the Mughal empire led to the formation of the dynasty of the
Nawabs of Carnatic at Arcot with Sadatullah (1710–32). His death was
followed by a war of succession, which put Anwar-ud-din on the throne.
Both the British and the French powers had cast their evil eyes on the fertile
and prosperous lands of the Carnatic, watered by the River Cauvery. There
followed a long period of a series of wars for seven years, called the
Carnatic wars.
The immediate cause for the First Carnatic War (1744–48) was the
Austrian war of succession that broke out in Europe in 1742. England and
France joined the war on opposite sides. Their interests clashed in India and
America. In 1745, the English threatened Pondicherry but failed to capture
it. With the help of a fleet from Mauritius, the French General La
Bourdonnais captured Madras in 1746, and reached an agreement with the
Company to hand it back for a sum of money. But Dupleix, the French
governor of Pondicherry and arch-rival of La Bourdonnais, refused to
honour this agreement. He had promised Madras to the Nawab of Carnatic,
Anwar-ud-din. Anglo-French rivalry erupted in the form of the First

Carnatic War. While the two French leaders were engrossed in this
unseemly battle, a gale of unusual severity in the monsoon season damaged
the French fleet. La Bourdonnais was recalled to Mauritius and then to
France. Dupleix succeeded in holding Madras, one of the key positions of
the British in the Deccan where they had built Fort St. George. The nawab
demanded that Madras be granted to him as per the agreement, but Dupleix
was in no mood to acquiesce. This enraged the nawab, who attacked
Dupleix’s forces with a large battalion. But the cavalry of the nawab was no
match for the musketry and field artillery of the French and the latter won
an easy victory. It exposed the weakness of the Indian army. The British
possessions in the South were reduced to the fort of St. David. The French
were very proud of their victory and the English were feeling the pinch of
humiliating defeat and waited to strike back. The Austrian war ended in
1748 with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and Madras was
restored to the English.
In 1739, Sarvadhikari Nanjarajayya died on the banks of the Cauvery in
Srirangapatna. In a short tenure of five or six years, he had amassed so
much ill-gotten wealth that future generations of his family need not have
bothered to earn a living. But strange are the ways of fate—he died childless.
Before his death, he issued a proclamation, recorded by Wilks in History
of Mysore:
The Marathas are untrustworthy. We better befriend the Mughals. It is futile to invest
powers in the hands of Mahmud Shahabaz Sahib’s brother, Haidar Ali Khan, who has been
granted 50 horses, 100 adherents on Your Highness’ wishes and to appoint him to assist
Katti Gopalaraje Urs at Bangalore. May not be today, but in a few more years, this
Mussalman may prove to be a threat to the throne of Mysore and its Maharaja.
Ex-post facto, his words seem prophetic.
LOOKING BACK: SECTION 2
s the era of the dalavoys leads to another significant span of Mysore’s
history, the Interregnum, it is worthwhile to stop and introspect over
certain disturbing lessons and insights that this phase has to offer. What
comes out clearly is that the canker of corruption and abuse of political
power for personal use is an age-old tradition in India, if we may use that
term. Quoting Manu, the ancient law-giver, may be politically incorrect in

today’s India, but his words in the Manusmriti, (Chapter VII, v.143) are
timeless:
That monarch whose subjects are carried from his kingdom by ruffians, while they call
aloud for protection and he barely looks on them with his ministers, is a dead and not a
living king.
Corruption is indeed an abstract term to define precisely. According to
the 1997 Report of the World Bank, abuse of public power for private gains
is described as corruption. But this appears too simplistic an explanation of
the term. It is, in fact, a multi-headed dragon, which gradually kills a
system. A basic conflict between the ethos and the system has weakened
Indian polity.
The problem with India and Indians is that we revel in and glorify our
past to the extent that we would prefer to live in the past rather than the
present. How often we hear laments like, ‘Oh! Those were the days,’ or,
‘India in the past had achieved almost everything the West now hopes or
dreams to discover!’ This is a suicidal version of history. Of course, India
has a glorious past and resorting to Marxist interpretation by belittling
successes and symbols of the past is not an encouraging practice. We did
indeed make great strides in the arts, spirituality, our own systems of
medicine and health and developed a uniquely Indian way of looking at life
—one that continues to attract and inspire people from different parts of the
world. But there can be no worse tragedy for a nation than to think that all
that was the best, all that was the most magnificent has already happened.
That tendency leaves little inspiration for the present and the future becomes
more of an attempt at weak imitation of the superlative past. We need to
understand that while we excelled in various fields, we had terrible
shortcomings in others and corruption certainly is one such malaise. History
offers us a package of good and bad and to pick only the former is selective
cherry-picking at its worst. The tendency to milk the state, use public funds
for personal pilferage and abuse power vested in one’s hands is something
deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche from times immemorial. Recently,
this has earned us the dubious distinction of being listed among the top
nations in the World’s Corruption Index.

When we are convinced that this is a phenomenon, not merely of the
wretched present but of the glorious past as well, it gives us the self-
confidence to work in the present for a better future, rather than suffer from
a mighty inferiority complex vis-à-vis the bygone era. In the case of Mysore,
the same tendency of the ministers in power to assume a larger-than-life
image and the corresponding inadequacy with which the monarch
responded to these challenges aggravated the situation completely in favour
of a third party.
Section 3
The Interregnum Period (AD 1734–99)
(A portrait of Haidar Ali: AD 1761–82)

8
THE EARLY YEARS OF HAIDAR ALI
AD 1734–61
AD 1796
n the grimy and dingy inner apartments of the Natakashala the glimmer
of a candle was all there was to dispel the darkness. Straining under its
flicker to see and write coherently, but at the same time aware of the perils
of illuminating the room and thereby waking the soldiers who guarded her
closely, Rani Lakshmammanni, the old widow of Immadi Krishnaraja
Wodeyar, signed off the letter with her characteristic nom de plume
‘Sriranga’. She heaved a long sigh and re-read the contents of her letter to
see if she had covered all she wished to convey to her confidante Tirumala
Iyengar.
We have been writing to you of our affairs from time to time. It is twenty-two years since
you left this kingdom. We are daily being persecuted by Tippu. We cannot say at what
moment he may send assassins and get us murdered. And for the restoration of our
kingdom, you have been exerting your best, winning the sympathies of English Sirdars in
our favour and entering into treaties with them. And all this with what amount of sacrifice
and suffering? For our sake 700 families of your kith and kin have been ruthlessly
murdered, all your immense wealth has been spent, and you are a ruined person.
And all along it has also been our greatest anxiety to see our Kingdom
justly administered with you as our right hand in Srirangapatna and our pious
gifts to Brahmins and temples rightly upheld, and thus, leading a holy life
under the sacred influence of God Sriranga, end our days in quietness and
peace.
But while we note the projects of the Mahomedan tyrant, we despair of our
life. For now we learn that the French Vakeel at the Court of Tippu has been
strongly advising him to put us all to death, as we may possibly one day be the
cause of his ruin.
We send along with this a copy of the treaty which Tippu has lately made
with the French. If you show this to the Governor of Madras and get him to
invade the country with a large army before the arrival of French assistance to
Tippu, it will save not only us, but the English also. But if, on the contrary,
there be any vacillation as on the two or three previous occasions, Tippu and
the French will unite like fire and air, and the whole country will be ruined.
Please tell the Governor and the English there that if they may not care for us,
at least in pure self defence, in order to preserve their own safety, they must put
down Tippu at once before he gets French aid.
Under these circumstances, you will see, our life is quite uncertain, and
when we are no more, as you are the best well-wisher of the state, you should
keep exerting your best, see Tippu destroyed, and get a member of our Royal
Family placed on the throne and administer the country with an eye on justice
and truth and maintain our pious and charitable institutions, in such a way that
our soul may rest with satisfaction in the other world. If, however, by God’s
grace we should also be alive, and the English conquer Tippu and restore to us
our kingdom, we shall pay the English army to the extent of one crore of
pagodas. And for this they must abide by the terms of our old treaty with
Sullivan and Macartney. You should communicate all this to the English and
get the army to march at once. And it cannot arrive here at a more opportune
moment, for Tippu is acting here in the most foolish manner. He does not
know who his best friends are and who his worst enemies. And hence he has
lost control even over his army. He has no good military officers. And
everybody here is wishing for his discomfiture and he is very unpopular. By
whatever route the allied armies may come now, they can have ample supplies
and good water.
If you will therefore exert your best now without delay and with your usual
zeal, ability and intelligence, I have no doubt that God will second your efforts
and victory will be ours this time. As for further particulars, the Brahmin
bearers of this will explain.
*
Sriranga
She sealed the letter and closed her eyes in a small prayer. Her troubled
mind took her thirty years back in time, when Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar
lay on his death-bed. He clasped her hand tightly and said: ‘Lakshmi! What
sins have I committed to die this way, a refugee in my own palace? What did
I not do to help this ungrateful man? Don’t you remember me telling you
about Devarajayya narrating to my deceased father the distressing condition
of those fatherless fiends and how he had taken pity on him and recruited
him and his elder brother in the Mysorean services? My heart is heavy; my
soul would find no salvation.’
Battling her tears the young rani had promised her husband, ‘My Lord!
There is nothing else left for me in life. The easiest option before me now is
to jump into the fire that lights your pyre. But I make a solemn promise to
you this day. The mission of the rest of my life would be the liberation and
restoration of the kingdom. Your soul will rest in peace, my Lord, in the
gardens of Paradise. If I fail in my endeavour, then hellfire be upon me. Give
your worries to me and leave.’ Her soothing words had assuaged the worries
of the dying man and with a smile on his face, he had breathed his last.
Rani Lakshmammanni’s ruminations were rudely interrupted by a
violent banging on the door of her apartments. It was daybreak and the
palanquin had come to take her to the only outing she was entitled to in the
day—a visit to the temple of Lord Venkataramana, whose idol she had
brought from Balamuri and consecrated in the palace compound. She hid
the letter beneath the flowers and incense sticks she carried to the temple for
the daily pujas. Upon reaching the temple she signalled to the priest to lay
the letter at the feet of the Lord and by sleight of hand ensured that the letter
was passed to the Brahmin who stood secretly within the sanctum
sanctorum impersonating the priest’s attendant. All the while aware that the
five armed men accompanying her watched her every move, she
communicated with the Brahmin with her eyes. The Brahmin nodded
reassuringly, conveying that the work would be done. With a satisfied smile,
she got back into the palanquin to endure another day of house arrest.
Rani Lakshmammanni lived in the past and the future. The present sent
shivers down her normally resolute spine and she would rather not think of
living through it in her musings as well. The future held a ray of hope for
her, but the past brought a bitterness and frustration she wanted to eschew.
Still, who could prevent the flow of thoughts? They involuntarily led her to
the genesis of this whole sordid affair. Seventy years was a long time—she
was not even born then. She was told that that was when Devarajayya had
approached her father-in-law with the sad story of a young boy whose father
had been treacherously murdered.

IN THE DECCAN, 1728
Dalavoy Devarajayya was not the kind of man to be moved by the piteous
condition of fellow human beings. He and his siblings were motivated purely
by greed, and he would twist any rule to achieve his heart’s desire. But
something turned inside him when he heard the story narrated by Maddagiri
Mallarajayya and his commander of 200 foot-soldiers and 50 cavalry,
Ghulam Haidar Ali Saib. Standing with them was a veiled woman, Majida
Begum. The veil might have concealed her tears, but her body language gave
away her immense misery. Without further ado, Devarajayya took the
delegation to the king’s court. Dodda Krishnaraja Wodeyar was in the midst
of a discussion when the messengers informed him about the arrival of the
dalavoy and his guests. The king let the rapacious dalavoy in.
The delegation suggested that the grievous story be narrated in the first
person by Majida Begum herself. In a faltering voice choked with emotion,
the veiled woman sought the king’s mercy even as she recounted the sad
turn of events. The ancestors of her husband Fateh Mohammad hailed from
Arabia. One Ashraf Ali had left Arabia for India with his family and
personal adherents and settled down at Bijapur in the service of the sultan
of that state. A descendent of Ashraf Ali, followed by his wife and three
sons, came to Kolar from Bijapur. After his death, his three sons found their
own way. The first son was Majida’s husband Fateh Mohammad, who
served the Nawab of Sira, Dargah Quli Khan, as commander of 400 infantry
and 100 cavalry. He proved daunting at the Ganjikota attack and also gained
the village of Gummanahalli. Fateh Mohammad had two sons by his
younger wife Majida Begum, Shahabaz and Haidar. Haidar had been born
seven years ago at Budikota, near Kolar, in 1721. Fateh Mohammad’s
younger brothers were Ghulam Haidar Ali Saib and Ghulam Ali Saib.
Ghulam Haidar was serving Mallarajayya of Srirangapatna. He was
childless. Ghulam Ali Saib served the Doddaballapur Palegar and was
childless too.
Things were going well for Fateh Mohammad and his family. His
courage at the Ganjikota attack attracted the attention of the nawab of Sira,
who rewarded him generously. At the same time it stoked the fires of
jealousy among his contemporaries and rivals. In the meantime, the death of
the nawab of Sira led to disturbances among various contenders and in one
such battle between Abdul Rasool Khan, the son of the deceased nawab,
and Tahir Khan, the subedar of Sira, Fateh Mohammad was made the
scapegoat.
Majida Begum’s voice seemed to be drowning in emotion as she told the
royal audience how one Ramazan night, she and her two sons sat waiting in
their Doddaballapur residence for Fateh Mohammad to get back from the
battle and break the fast with them. The boys were delighted to hear the
sound of an approaching army, anticipating it to be that of their victorious
father. But they were shocked to see the corpse of their father flung down
and Abbas Quli Khan, the son of Abdul Rasool Khan, planting his feet on
its chest. Abdul Rasool and his son Abbas Quli Khan despised Fateh
Mohammad for the favours he had managed to procure from the late nawab.
This was their payback time. Fateh Mohammad owed Abbas Quli Khan
money and the latter demanded that his loans be settled at once.
As if the sudden, ugly turn of events was not bad enough, the financial
burden brought Majida and her sons to their knees. They pleaded for some
time to repay the debts. But the tormentor was in no mood to relent.
Shahabaz and Haidar were locked in a nagara or drum, which was beaten
upon by the adherents of Abbas Quli Khan. Even Majida Begum was
imprisoned but she managed to escape and reached her brother-in-law,
Ghulam Ali Saib, for help. But he said he himself was hopelessly indebted
and could do little to help her. She then approached GhulamHaidar Ali Saib,
who took her to Maddagiri Mallarajayya, making her promise that if the
benevolent maharaja of Mysore helped them, they would remain ever loyal
to him.
Majida fell on her knees and requested the king of Mysore to take pity
on her condition. Krishnaraja was moved beyond words. He made up his
mind that the two boys need to be saved from the clutches of the tyrant. He
accordingly decided to buy Shahabaz and Haidar for 10,000 Varahas. Abbas
Quli Khan was paid off and the boys were recruited into the Mysore service.
Ghulam Haidar Ali Saib was made commander of the army and on his death
Shahabaz became commander under the leadership of Karachuri
Nanjarajayya, the new dalavoy and brother of Devarajayya. Young Haidar
was sent to Bangalore to aid Katti Gopalaraje Urs. His tumultuous

childhood deprived him of the advantages of education and he remained
illiterate to the end of his days.
Of course, in the years that followed history took a dreadful turn for the
benefactor king. The caprice and ambitions of Devarajayya ensured that
Chamaraja Wodeyar was unceremoniously deposed and the baton passed on
to Immadi Krishnaraja. The young man felt stifled under the guidance of the
same villain who had caused untold misery to his elder brother and family.
But there was little he could do; Devarajayya had the covert support of
Queen Mother Devajammanni. So he sat biding his time till he could find an
individual who would be his saviour and outmanoeuvre the cunning
schemes of Devarajayya and Sarvadhikari Nanjarajayya. The latter died with
his famous prediction about the threats the king of Mysore could face from
an ordinary adherent, like Haidar Ali. Spoken by a known traitor, these
words seemed unimportant and Krishnaraja Wodeyar did not think them
worth a second thought.
The exit of Sarvadhikari Nanjarajayya brightened the fortunes of
Karachuri Nanjarajayya, the brother of Devarajayya who was appointed the
new dalavoy. Since Haidar was working under the command of
Nanjarajayya, his destiny seemed to be inextricably linked with that of his
mentor.
DISORDER IN THE DECCAN
The 1740s saw tumultuous times in the Deccan. Rivalries between the
nawab of Arcot, the kingdom of Mysore, the nizam of Hyderabad—the
subedar of the Mughals who had assumed independence, the peshwas of the
Maratha kingdom and the rajas of the Malabar coast, as well as rivalries
within kingdoms, ensured constant ferment in the region. The two foreign
powers present there—the French and the English—did not hesitate to
exploit this unrest to their own advantage.
In the Carnatic, Dost Ali Khan succeeded his uncle Sadatullah Khan as
nawab of Arcot. The period was marked by strife and petty attacks on
neighbouring territories. Mysore bore the brunt of a lot of these misguided
attacks. Relations between Mysore and Sira were troubled, especially after
the king of Mysore helped Fateh Mohammad’s family. Zahir Khan, nawab
of Sira, dispatched Qasim Khan and Murad Khan to capture Srirangapatna.
But they were stopped at Chennapatna and slain by Devarajayya. In 1746,
Nasir Jung, son of Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad attacked Mysore. During
that time Karachuri Nanjarajayya was away at Coimbatore. Unable to face
Nasir Jung, Devarajayya bribed him and sent him away after signing a
contract at Thonanur.
In 1749 the Mysore army laid siege to Devanahalli, an outpost on the
frontiers of Mysore. Haidar made his first appearance here as a volunteer
horseman along with his brother Shahabaz who commanded 200 cavalry
and 100 foot-soldiers. It was at this siege that his skill as a soldier was first
revealed. After eight months of war, Devanahalli was annexed. The daring
feats of young Haidar in the Devanahalli campaign attracted the attention of
Dalavoy Nanjarajayya, who made him commander of 50 horse and 250 foot.
Thus began Haidar’s meteoric career, which eventually saw him becoming
the de facto ruler of a large part of southern India.
Meanwhile, the aged Nizam-ul-Mulk died in 1748 and his son Nasir
Jung succeeded him. But Muzaffar Jung, the dead nizam’s grandson and
Nasir Jung’s nephew, fought his uncle, claiming that his grandfather had
nominated him as successor. This dispute led to the Second Carnatic War in
which, yet again, the English and the French took opposite sides. Nasir Jung
mustered the support of the Pathan nawabs of Cudappah, Kurnool and
Savanoor, Morari Rao Ghorpade and the maharaja of Mysore. Around the
same time, one Chanda Sahib who was released from prison by the
Marathas laid claim to the throne of the nawab of Arcot. Thus, the Deccan
seemed a potpourri of disaster in which the two European forces decided to
test their strength.
Dupleix decided to support the claimants for the positions of the nizam
and the nawab of Arcot, in this case Muzaffar Jung and Chanda Sahib
respectively. The Frenchman had his own brand of thought and strategy—
best summed up by Ananda Ranga Pillai, his secretary of many years, as
follows:
... (his) method of doing things is not known to anyone, because none else is possessed of
the quick mind with which he is gifted. In patience he has no equal. He has peculiar skill in
carrying out his plans and designs in the management of affairs and in governing; in fitting
his advice to times and persons; in maintaining at all times an even countenance; in doing
things through proper agents; in addressing them in appropriate terms; and in assuming a
bearing at once dignified towards all.
With the French position known, the British had no choice but to fall in
on the other side of the divide. The British general Major Lawrence was
sent to the aid of Nasir Jung in his fight against his nephew. Krishnaraja
Wodeyar sent a troop under the command of Berki Venkata Rao, which
joined Nasir Jung at Madhugiri. Haidar and Shahabaz were also present in
this troop. On the battlefield, Nasir Jung sent an elephant to an ally of his,
the Cudappah Nawab and saluted him. But the ambitious nawab had other
plans. He received the salute with a volley of bullets that pierced Nasir’s
chest. Soon, Nasir’s head impaled on a spear announced his fate to his army.
This sudden turnaround on the nawab’s part comes as no surprise. The
Frenchman Dupleix is said to have encouraged sedition among Nasir’s army
and allies through a Brahmin intermediary, Ramadas of Srikakulam.
Discontented at the way he treated them, the Pathan nawabs of Cudappah,
Kumool and Savanur were the chef architects in the conspiracy to kill Nasir.
In fact, as John Malcolm writes:
Dupleix had evinced throughout these extra-ordinary scenes a mixture of European and
Asiatic character, which marked him as the fittest of all instruments for a government which
cherished a wish, as it appeared the French did at this period, to obtain through the
influence of alliances with native states, the superiority over all their European rivals in
India; and gained, as he merited, a rich reward from Muzuffer Jung, both by a share in the
treasures of the late subadar, and a Commission which constituted him governor over all the
countries south of the Kitsna (Krishna river); making Chunda Saheb his deputy of Arcot.
In the huge chaos that ensued, Haidar, along with the aid of the tribal
Bedar peons, looted the army of his own ally, Nasir Jung, gaining many
camels laden with Akbari mohurs (gold coins), 500 muskets and 350 horses.
These he brought triumphantly to Srirangapatna and offered a part of the
exploits as nazar or tribute to the maharaja. This was when the king took
notice of this bright young lad whom he had once saved from the clutches of
penury and misery. He gifted Haidar three camels laden with mohurs as a
reward for his services.
Now began Haidar’s ascent on the ladder of fortune. There was no
looking back. The strife in the Carnatic and shifting loyalties proved that
each political player looked out for his own gains alone. But these warring
rulers failed to recognise that all this while the advantage lay with the
foreign powers supposedly standing by them, but actually nurturing far-
sighted dreams and long-term goals.
With Nasir Jung out of the way, the French were satisfied. They had
vanquished their rival and his allies. Dupleix was at the height of his fame
and was free to complete his designs in the Carnatic. He had a burning
desire to vanquish the British and establish French supremacy in South
India. He made Muzaffar Jung the nizam and sent a huge force under De
Bussy to be stationed at Hyderabad for the nizam’s protection. In return,
they received large grants and vague titles such as ‘Ruler of India south of
the Krishna’. Muzaffar’s glory was, however, short-lived. He was
assassinated and the French ensured the accession of Salabat Jung to the
throne. But the bright days of Dupleix’s political career were by now on the
wane. While Hyderabad had proved to be the lucky charm for French
designs, Arcot had other things in store for them.
From Ginjee, where the battle against Nasir Jung had occurred,
Muhammad Ali—the son of Anwar-ud-din, the deceased nawab of Arcot—
fled to Tiruchirapalli. He was pursued by his rival for the Arcot throne,
Chanda Sahib, who besieged the fort of Tiruchirapalli. A desperate
Muhammad Ali sent Sheshagiri Pandit to Mysore to beseech the maharaja
for help in return for the prosperous and fertile lands of Tiruchirapalli and
all the territory extending till the Cape of Comorin. Against the wishes of
the maharaja and his brother Devarajayya, Nanjarajayya, tempted by the
offer, took his army along with Haidar to aid Muhammad Ali. With 5,000
cavalry and 10,000 infantry they marched towards Tiruchirapalli.
Meanwhile, Chanda Sahib’s health declined rapidly. Food was scarce
and he saw no advantage in continuing with the siege. Resigned to his fate,
he mildly left all authority in the hands of his officers. He requested the
Tanjorean General Monajee to help him. The latter invited him to his palace,
where Chanda Sahib was ‘seized and put in irons and the next day was
secretly murdered at the instigation, it is said, of Muhammad Ali’.
Muhammad Ali had emerged triumphant in this war of nerves. Fair play
demanded that he keep his promise to his allies, who had stood by him in
this crisis. But he was not one to count gratitude among his virtues. He
procrastinated about handing over Tiruchirapalli each time Nanjarajayya
reminded him. After two months, he half-heartedly decided to accede to

Mysore, Srirangam and adjacent areas. When the Mysore troops under Katti
Gopalaraje Urs reached his palace to sign the terms of the handover, he
seized their weapons, turned some of them out of the fort and even fired a
few bullets at the Mysore army.
Nanjarajayya was enraged. His entire professional honour was at stake. It
had been his brainchild to enter this conflict, despite opposition from all
sides. He had named Tiruchirapalli as the prize for the involvement. So he
wanted Tiruchirapalli at any cost. Sensing that the French were licking their
wounds in the aftermath of their ally, Chanda Sahib’s assassination, he
decided to take their help from Pondicherry to annex the land.
The British troops under Dalton and Lawrence naturally aligned
themselves with Muhammad Ali and attacked the Mysorean troops on 10
May 1753. Veeranna, the chief commander of the Mysore forces, yielded to
temptations offered by the British and turned traitor. Dupleix sent 3,000 of
Morari Rao Ghorpade’s corps, 300 Europeans and 100 regular sepoys for
Nanjarajayya’s help, attacked Lawrence and blocked supplies from reaching
the enemy. Lawrence withdrew. With the British dithering, Muhammad Ali
had only one strategy for survival—to break the strength of the allied
opposition and weaken them. He and the raja of Tanjore prevailed upon
Morari Rao to leave the Mysorean forces and join them. A shrewd man, Rao
knew that taking sides would not bring him material benefits. It was a war
of equals and which way the pendulum would swing was anybody’s guess.
He knew that the worthless campaign at Tiruchirapalli had emptied the
Mysore treasury and that Devarajayya would be unable to settle his dues.
Seizing the chance, he declared his intention to quit the Mysore forces and
demanded the settlement of his arrears. On 11 May 1754, he left the Mysore
troops, but not before taking another three lakhs from Muhammad Ali for
promising that he would never step into the Payeenghat region of the
Carnatic again. He had also taken about half a lakh from Nanjarajayya
before withdrawing. Thus, in two men’s war, the third party profited the
most.
By 14 April 1755, Nanjarajayya and the troops were recalled to Mysore.
The four-year-old thriftless campaign, which was largely Nanjarajayya’s
personal ego-aggrandisement agenda, had impoverished the state treasury. It
was a political debacle from which Nanjarajayya never did recover. In the
process, Mysore’s position became more and more susceptible. Always alert
to weakness, the Marathas under the peshwas contemplated an attack on the
impoverished and war-fatigued kingdom. Meanwhile, Salabat Jung attacked
Mysore along with the French armies, who had ironically supported
Mysorean troops in the four-year-long confusion at Tiruchirapalli. With the
army away at the Tiruchirapalli siege, Devarajayya had to pay Rs 56 lakh to
Salabat Jung. But the treasury was exhausted. Thus plates and jewels from
temples, as well as jewellery and precious items belonging to the royal
family were pawned to send Salabat away. Despite all these efforts, only
one-third of the said amount could be realised. Loans from sowcars (the
moneylenders and unofficial bankers of the times) became necessary to buy
Mysore’s freedom. The once magnificent kingdom of Mysore had been
reduced to total bankruptcy and helplessness.
The expensive campaign in the Carnatic took most of the sheen off all
the major players. The French retained their territorial possessions and their
special position in Hyderabad, but their desire to gain a chunk of the
Carnatic and vanquish the British was throttled. The French reputation for
superiority was destroyed. The relative positions of the two European
players were reversed. They had played a major role in Indian politics and
one of them emerged successful. This totally discredited the Indian rulers,
whose existence was now obviously irrelevant to the success or defeat of the
Europeans. This was a huge morale-booster for the foreign powers. They
grabbed this opportunity for further expansion. The fact that the Indians
used their public offices to settle personal scores and rivalries made it all the
more lucrative to intervene in all existing disputes or to create them if they
didn’t exist, thus usurping all powers of the hitherto ally. This seemed to be
the constant mantra for success.
Indian soil was not virgin and invasions had been common ever since
the time of Alexander the Great right down to Muslim invasions. But this
was perhaps the first time India and Indians had to contend with European
diplomacy. Muslim rulers who decided to make India their home took an
interest in her existing culture and, by a process of exchange and integration,
fostered fresh developments, like the Hindustani classical style, which was
born out of Indian dhrupad and Persian/Arabic music, and the emergence of
a new literary language, Urdu.
But with the European powers this was not the case. They meant
business and did not care for local traditions or culture. For them, India was
the goose that laid golden eggs and they wanted to exploit her fully before
having her for dinner. It was beyond the political acumen of the petty rulers
of India to sense this, primarily because they couldn’t see beyond their
personal ego clashes with warring neighbours or ambitious relatives. They
lent themselves to European exploitation time and again and this fact was
borne out in the Deccan as well. The Indians were the losers in this game—
the Nizam became a puppet, Mysore’s maharaja was totally discredited and
so was the architect of the debacle, Nanjarajayya, who had undoubtedly
committed political suicide.
If there were two parties which emerged triumphant, they were the
British forces and, of course, the undaunted Haidar Ali. Their success in
southern India encouraged the British to engage their rivals in other parts of
India as well. They turned their attention eastwards, to Bengal. In the Battle
of Plassey (1757), the British under Robert Clive won a convincing victory
over Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah—the successor of the Mughal viceroy, who had
declared his independence. This laid the foundations of the British empire
in India. Bengal then consisted of modern-day West Bengal, Bangladesh,
Assam, Bihar and Orissa. It was a large geographical expanse, extremely
profitable from an agrarian and industrial viewpoint. Thus, from trader to
intervener in political disputes to a full-fledged political entity—the
metamorphosis of the English East India Company was complete. And
luckily for them, there was no looking back.
For Haidar, it was a golden period. He had caught the maharaja’s
attention from the time he displayed his valour and craftiness in the battle
against Nasir Jung. His was a classic case of running with the hare and
hunting with the hound. Both the maharaja and Nanjarajayya, who hated
each other from the depths of their hearts, seemed to repose the greatest
trust in Haidar and his acumen. Not one to fall short when presented with
opportunity, Haidar used it to the fullest. He had come a long way since the
time he was beaten upon, locked in the nagara by Abbas Quli Khan. He was
fiercely ambitious and luck was seemingly on his side. Such was the
goodwill he had earned in the eyes of the maharaja that, sensing trouble in
and around Dindigul due to British presence, Haidar was dispatched by the
king to the region as the foujdar or commander. The raja bestowed on him
the title of ‘Bahaddar’—the Brave. Erode, Satyamangalam, and
Dharapuram, which was worth three lakh Gopalivarahas, came under his
jurisdiction. The raja perhaps saw Haidar as a possible bulwark against the
impulsive and corrupt brothers he was so averse to dealing with.
In 1755, Haidar left for Dindigul with 25,000 horse, 3,000 infantry,
2,000 peons, and 4 guns, defeating the rebellious Palegars on the way.
Haidar maintained a regular force of Pindaris and Bedar peons who, Wilks
observes, were not generally augmented with regular pay, surviving on
looted money instead. Tribal class that they were, they remained loyal to the
master who gave them the chance to loot and earn their livelihood. Haidar
had a good team to assist him as well, which included his childhood friend
Ghazi Khan. He left his old friend and Brahmin mustaddi(accountant)
Khande Rao at Srirangapatna. Khande Rao, Haidar’s close confidante, was
an expert manager of accounts, strategy and other aspects of statecraft. The
accountant was bold, sagacious and individualistic. He knew how to convert
unprofitable wars into a regular stream of cash flows. Haidar, himself
illiterate and ill at ease with numbers, marvelled at Rao’s mathematical and
computation skills. The Pindaris on their part maintained a good rapport
with both Rao and Haidar. They got their regular pay and half the looted
booty—a profitable arrangement for all parties.
On the personal front as well, Haidar couldn’t have asked for more. He
had been childless for long and that was a source of worry for him. His
pretty wife Fakhrunnissa had tried all kinds of prayers at temples and
dargahs to beget a son. Finally, she reached the tomb of the Sufi saint Tipu
Mastan Oulia at Kolar, known to be rather strange. There was an unwritten
law that women could never enter the tomb, as the Sufi saint had been a
strange man who had lived on twigs and herbs, renounced worldly pleasures,
lived on a hilltop and abhorred women. But the daring Fakhrunnissa made
the arduous journey to Kolar to seek the blessings of Oulia. She vowed at
the tomb that if she were blessed with a son, she would hand him over to the
path of Sufism and Godhead. Finally, her many prayer bells and rosary
beads were answered and the couple was blessed with a son on 20
November 1750. They named him Tipu, after their patron saint. The infant
seemed to usher in good luck for Haidar, because his career graph soared
ever upwards after his birth.

India at the birth of Tippu Sultan, 1750 (Maps are artistic recreations
made at Suhaas Graphics, Bangalore)
At Dindigul, Haidar obtained skilled French artificers to reorganise
arsenal and artillery from Tiruchirapalli, Pondicherry and Srirangam,
realising that military might was quintessential for success. On the other
hand, at Srirangapatna, Khande Rao wasn’t content playing second fiddle to
Haidar. He had ambitions for himself. He exaggerated the political crisis and
Haidar’s exploits at Dindigul. He spun fictitious tales to poison Nanjarajayya
against Haidar, urging him to augment the forces and use revenues from
other taluks for the purpose.

Meanwhile, the maharaja was feeling suffocated—finding it intolerable
to leave the affairs of the kingdom to people, like the vicious brothers who
held him as a virtual captive. Nanjarajayya had fallen from grace after
leading the worthless campaign at Tiruchirapalli against the king’s wishes,
which ended up draining the exchequer. So he decided to strip them of their
powers. But receiving intelligence of this plan well in advance, Nanjarajayya
pleaded with his brother, Devarajayya to quash the idea. The latter was
already most unpopular for his shameful acts against the earlier Maharaja
Chamaraja. So in a holier than thou approach, he refused to support
Nanjarajayya.
Nanjarajayya decided to carry on with his clandestine plans all by
himself. He lined up his forces near the palace and shot at its door, which
had been locked from within by the bewildered inmates when they heard
about the forces gathering outside. Entering the palace, he found the so-
called defenders of the palace hiding in the zenana, the women’s quarters.
He cut off the ears and noses of these cowardly soldiers, right in the
presence of the maharaja, who, though seated on a bejewelled throne, was in
a most unenviable and helpless position, suffering the torment of treachery.
This was the last straw for the maharaja as far as Nanjarajayya—whom he
never trusted again—and Devarajayya were concerned. The latter left
Srirangapatna for Satyamangalam in 1757 with his family, 1,000 cavalry and
2,000 infantry. The fortunes of Haidar and those of his political mentor,
friend, philosopher and guide, Nanjarajayya, seemed to be inversely
proportional to each other. What Nanjarajayya achieved with this action and
why he indulged in repeated political suicide is unknown. Perhaps the only
explanation is that he was impulsive, and not given to careful and deft
strategising.
The royal treasury bore the brunt of repeated wars and political
instability. The coffers were empty and the king couldn’t even pay their
regular salaries to the soldiers. In 1757, the troops at Srirangapatna revolted.
They demanded that their wages be paid. The maharaja turned to Haidar, his
blue-eyed boy, to come to the capital to pacify the troops and work out a
settlement. Haidar did as required, thus elevating his status in the king’s
eyes. But it is said that misfortune seldom comes alone. No sooner had the
problem of the soldiers’salary been resolved than the Marathas under
Peshwa Balaji Rao attacked Mysore in March 1757. Nanjarajayya agreed to

pay thirty-two lakhs to send them back, but could realise only five lakhs. To
pay the rest he surrendered Nagamangala, Belur, Kadur,
Chikkanayakanahalli, Huliyurudurga and nine other taluks. The Marathas
departed but left behind their agents to exact the revenue from these
districts. Mysore’s position thus grew weaker with every passing day. Each
invasion and the knee-jerk reaction to it exposed the hollowness of state
polity.
But Haidar’s fame had spread across the borders. The Nair raja of
Palghat requested Haidar’s help to defeat his enemies, the raja of Cochin and
the Zamorin of Calicut. So he dispatched a unit of 2,000 horse, 5,000
infantry and 5 guns under his brother-in-law Mokdum Saib’s command. The
two rajas were vanquished and decided to end the war in favour of peace,
agreeing to restore all the territory they had taken from the Palaghat Nair
Raja and make a payment of 12 lakhs. But they despised the idea of having
terms dictated to them by a Muslim and wrote to Devarajayya, who still
seemed to call the shots from Satyamangalam. Devarajayya sent his trusted
Rajput accomplice Hari Singh to replace Mokdum Saib.
This of course did not go down well with Haidar. He disliked Hari Singh
anyway and it angered him that even though he himself had won the war and
appointed Mokdum Saib as the negotiator, his wishes were ignored. Haidar
made an attempt to reconcile Devarajayya and Nanjarajayya, who had fallen
out with each other over what he saw as a non-issue. Devarajayya haughtily
rejected the proposal. But Haidar besieged the fort at Satyamangalam and
fired a few shots which scared him out of his hideout. In establishing peace
between the two brothers, Haidar actually managed to intimidate
Devarajayya, and so got back at him for his interference in Haidar’s matters.
In March 1758, Haidar and his men ascended the Ghats through the
Gejjelhutty Pass, reached Hardanahalli, where they halted for fifteen days,
and reached Mysore. Leaving Devarajayya there, Haidar and Khande Rao
proceeded to Srirangapatna. It was the same old issue of troops protesting
over pay. Each time this happened, Haidar would use his good office with
the soldiers and the raja would sail through the crisis. But this time it had
assumed larger proportions. The men had seated themselves in a dharna
outside Nanjarajayya’s house, cutting off supplies of food, water and
provisions to the residents. Nanjarajayya sent frantic messages to Haidar,

who with his rhetoric and glib talk, pacified them and promised to pay them
their arrears soon.
From Mysore, Devarajayya sent his conditions for reunion with his
brother—demanding a public atonement for the latter’s indecent behaviour
with the royal family. He of course conveniently forgot his own similar
actions with another member of the royal family. At a special durbar in
Srirangapatna, the maharaja issued two political documents in favour of
Nanjarajayya, which clearly prove the evils of excessive devolution of power
on the dalavoy, the bhashapatra or deed of promise and the nambige
niroopa or order of assurance. A salute was fired from all the guns of the
garrison to announce that the maharaja had forgiven Nanjarajayya and
recruited him back into service.
It is impossible to believe that the king, who had been humiliated in the
worst possible manner, could have pardoned the perpetrator of such an act.
It was clearly a stage-managed show organised at Haidar’s behest. This was
his way of getting back at his erstwhile mentor and also proved the extent of
Haidar’s influence on the king’s decisions—something the Queen Mother
Devajammanni and Queen Lakshmammanni abhorred. On 13 June 1758,
the king forgave the two brothers. A mere six days later, on 19 June,
Devarajayya*died of dropsy. Haidar was made the dalavoy. Nanjarajayya
was a totally crestfallen man. His own misadventures, the pandemonium and
confusion in the army, the bankruptcy of the kingdom, and the death of his
brother broke him completely. He considered Haidar his only source of
support in this mess.
Meanwhile, Hari Singh failed to get the stipulated twelve lakhs from the
Rajas in Kerala due to the untimely death of his mentor Devarajayya. He left
Malabar for Avanasi in Coimbatore on the pretext of resting the troops but
had secret plans of quitting the Mysorean service for good and joining the
raja of Tanjore. Haidar sent Mokdum Saib with a large army and the latter
gleefully killed his long-time rival Hari Singh at Avanasi, looted his camp
and obtained 300 horses, 1,000 muskets and 3 guns. Haidar urged
Nanjarajayya to secure to him the due payment of three lakhs, which
Devarajayya had borrowed from the sozvcars. Nanjarajayya put up the
matter before the king, who readily agreed and allotted the revenues of
Coimbatore to Haidar to clear the debt.

In early 1759, peril once again struck Mysore in the form of the Maratha
invasion under Gopal Hari and Ananda Rao Raste. They attacked Mysore,
besieged Bangalore and occupied Chennapatna. With the treasury virtually
bled dry and the troops on their perennial protests, Nanjarajayya couldn’t
resort to his usual defence—paying off the enemy. So Haidar was called for
help. He stationed his troops at the forts of Maddur and Malavally under
Latif Ali Beg and his uncle Mir Ibrahim respectively. Latif’s spies were on
the move and informed Haidar of the arrangement of the Maratha troops.
Haidar had perfected the art of guerrilla warfare and surprise attacks in the
dead of night. He used these tactics against the Marathas repeatedly and the
war carried on for over three months. The Marathas began losing their
patience; they were also running out of food supplies. Gopal Hari finally
agreed to retreat after claiming thirty-two lakhs, which Haidar coughed up
through loans from sowcars.
Haidar’s sagacity, as compared to the hastiness of the capricious and
quirky Nanjarajayya, did not go unnoticed by the maharaja. He invited
Haidar to a specially ordered durbar in 1759 and gave him the title of
‘Nawab Haidar Ali Khan Bahaddar’, presenting him with horses, elephants,
Mahtab Khillats and Naubats, which were awards and titles accompanied by
cash rewards for the victorious soldiers. Haidar continued his journey up the
political ladder. He got Bangalore as jagir. He annexed the districts of
Baramahal Javajipalaya, Tiruputtoor, Krishnagiri and 13 other places to
Mysore.
Mostly away on political campaigns, Haidar remained blissfully ignorant
of the games his accountant was playing. Stationed in Srirangapatna,
Khande Rao had ample opportunity to meet the raja and his Queen Mother
Devajammanni, an astute lady who wanted to free Mysore from Haidar’s
clutches. She could not bear the fact that a Muslim, whom they had bought
for a few varahas just a couple of years ago, had the audacity to exercise
such influence over matters of state, marginalising the king himself. Her
anger against Nanjarajayya was more pronounced, for, apart from her
grievances against him for his many misadventures and political follies, she
also considered him the reason for Haidar’s ascent. The two thought that
Nanjarajayya was the oxygen that kept Haidar alive and that cutting off the
former would automatically bring the latter to his knees. They conspired
against Nanjarajayya by encouraging troop anger against him for his lax
dealings in salary matters.
The giant Nandi statue atop the Chamundi Hills

Devaraja Wodeyar (1659–73)
Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673–1704)
The European ships of exploration

The emblem of the English East India Company
Kempegowda, the founder of the city of Bangalore

Kempegowda’s watchtower at Lal Bagh, Bangalore
The Attara Kacheri—the High Court Building in Bangalore that keeps
alive the memory of Chikkadevaraja

Dodda Krishnaraja Wodeyar (1714–32)
Immadi krishnaraja wodeyar (1734–66)

Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar II (1704–14)
Chamaraja wodeyar VII(1732–34)

Dupleix: the master strategist
Muhammad Ali Khan Walahjah: the wily Nawab

Nanjaraja Wodeyar (1766–70)
A painting of Tipu in his younger days

Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar VIII(1770–76)
‘Khasa’ Chamaraja Wodeyar IX (1776–96): the chosen man

The first governor general of India, Warren Hastings
Sir Eyre Coote

A mural of the Battle of Polilur on the walls of the Daria Daulat Bagh
in Srirangapatna
Haidar’s tomb in the Lai Bagh garden: an artist’s impression

Dungeons of death: Srirangapatna
Tipu Sultan: Supreme dictator of the Sultanat-e-Khudadad Mysore

Lord Cornwallis
An artist’s impression of the northern entrance to the Bangalore fort

Tearful farewell: sons of Tipu being surrendered as hostages to Lord
Cornwallis
Kille Venkata-ramana Swamy temple: the God that brought about
change
The breach in the fort wall that welcomed the British in 1799
A view of the once invincible fort wall of Srirangapatna

Distant view of Seringa-patam from Meadow’s redoubt
West View of Seringapatam from the middle of the river

War scene: the final storming of the Srirangapatna fort, 1799
The last fight of a chivalrous hero: Tipu defends his kingdom and
honour
Identification of the body of Tipu
Keeping Tipu’s memory alive

Grieving family members of Tipu
The Obelisk: British victory monument at Srirangapatna

Resting in peace: Tipu with his parents, Gumbaz, Srirangapatna
Fateh Haidar
Abdul Kluiliq
Mahizuddin
Mahizuddin
The Tiger of Mysore
Tipu’s toy
Inner view of the Daria Daulat Bagh in Srirangapatna
The Sword of Tipu Sultan

Masjid-e-Ala, Srirangapatna
Gumhaz, Srirangapatna
But little did Rani Devajammanni know that Haidar had other plans in
mind. Having reached a degree of self-sufficiency and prominence, he no
longer considered Nanjarajayya his mentor. He was in fact embarrassed to
be associated with a man who had brought disrepute upon himself and the
royal family and earned public abhorrence. So, even before the Queen
Mother and Khande Rao could get their act together, Haidar had embarked
on his agenda to see his former political mentor out of the way. With a show
of pressure and false protests followed by an interview with the maharaja, he
put forth the demand that Nanjarajayya must surrender his office, retaining
only the title of Sarvadhikari, that he should have a 3 lakh pagoda yielding
jagir to maintain 1,000 horse and 300 infantry, and that he should leave the
capital immediately
Caught totally unawares by this volte-face Nanjarajayya was forced to
surrender. He left Srirangapatna in June 1759 for Nanjanagud to worship the
God there, but stopped at Mysore due to illness. Knowing that this could be
a ruse to linger on, Haidar took great exception to his stay at Mysore and
ordered him to proceed without further delay. Nanjarajayya was furious. He
sent back a message saying that he took orders only from the maharaja and
none other. Haidar besieged the fort at Mysore and demanded that
*
Nanjarajayya surrender the Sannad of his office, which the latter was
unwilling to relinquish as it had come down the generations to him. Haidar
then opened fire with all arms, guns and muskets on the fort. Once friends,
the two now fought for more than three months.
Lack of provisions and ammunition finally compelled Nanjarajayya to
give up. He, along with his family, reached Haidar’s camp as hostages.
Haidar decided to let them live at Konanur and give them a jagir on the
western frontier of Mysore. Nanjarajayya left for Konanur in utter disbelief
and disgust at the way the tide had turned against him, cursing himself for
having supported such an ungrateful wretch as Haidar. The maharaja
granted Haidar further allotments of revenue to settle arrears and for regular
pay for the troops. He appointed Khande Rao as Haidar’s pradhan—his
second-in-command. Nearly half of Mysore’s territories came under
Haidar’s jurisdiction. Politically, Nanjarajayya was finished and he knew
that better than anyone else.
It is said that in politics there aren’t any permanent friends or enemies,
only permanent interests. Haidar seemed to personify this more than anyone
else. No one could switch sides at convenience as well as Haidar. He used
Nanjarajayya as the ladder to his political success, used him to impress the
ruler, and once the king’s favour was won, he conveniently dumped
Nanjarajayya. Little did Haidar realise, however, that many of his own
colleagues could have been playing the same game with him as well.
THE FINAL BLOW: KHANDE RAO’S TREACHERY
Rani Devajammanni was dumbstruck by the chameleon traits of political
opportunism that Haidar had displayed. Her efforts had been futile but she
was not the kind to be cowed down so easily. She knew about the bitterness
between Khande Rao and Haidar. Like the chitu bird that sits waiting for the
rain, she was on the lookout for an opportunity to trap Haidar. And luckily
for her, the opportunity came sooner rather than later. Haidar was camping
with fewer troops than usual since a major section of his troops had been
dispatched to help the French against the British. Seizing the opportunity,
Devajammanni called on the maharaja and Khande Rao. She managed to
convince the maharaja about the motives of the man he had been favouring
all through. If he could betray his political mentor and friend, he could do
the same any day with his benefactor, the man who had bought him a couple
of decades ago. The maharaja was now certain that scruples were not
Haidar’s priority. He began to see some merit in this argument against
Haidar and agreed to partner his adoptive mother in her plans.
The three of them secretly congregated at the Sri Ranganatha Swamy
Temple at Srirangapatna. In the inner recesses of the ancient temple, an
elaborate plot was hatched and the three vowed to overthrow Haidar. The
Annals record that many chiefs, such as Kollegal Veeranna Shetty, Pradhan
Venkatapathayya and others were also a part of this plot. It was thought that
the presence of the Maratha forces under Visajee Pandit Binniwale at
Doddaballapur was a good omen, as it would distract Haidar’s attention. A
secret army was also appointed to assist the maharaja to overthrow Haidar.
In the dead of night, plans and plots were outlined, Devajammanni being the
coordinator of this meeting. With their plans made, the group dispersed,
waiting anxiously for daybreak when they would execute their plans.
On the fateful morning of 12 August 1760 Haidar, as usual, reached the
fort after his pre-dawn exercises, but found that the gates would not be
opened for him and also that intimidating gunshots were being fired from
the top of the fort, striking close to where he stood, but luckily not hitting
him. Completely shaken, he summoned Khande Rao and learnt that it was
Khande Rao himself directing the fire from the ramparts! Realising Rao’s
treachery, he rushed with a small band of the troops who had accompanied
him on his exercises and found cover in a hut out of reach of the ongoing
firing. He used the boats kept in the hut to get away. Khande Rao’s plan was
to invite the Marathas at this very moment and capture him while Haidar
was mentally and militarily weak. But as luck would have it for Rao, there
was a delay in the arrival of the Maratha troops, giving Haidar ample time to
flee.
Before leaving, he tried to negotiate with Rao, telling the latter that he
owed his present success to him (Haidar) and that he had admired him more
than anyone else in his life for his shrewd brain. But Rao was nonchalant.
He told Haidar matter-of-factly that it was all being done as per the
maharaja’s wishes and was by no means a personal grudge; that the
maharaja and his mother considered Haidar a nuisance now and wished him
to quit the service of Mysore and seek employment elsewhere. Haidar knew
that no amount of coaxing and flattering could budge Khande Rao. So he
secretly made his way out and managed to reach the opposite side of the
river before nightfall. Some say he swam the entire distance. He also
managed to ship across a good deal of jewellery, money on 100 horses with
six officers, two camel harkars and twenty spare horses. Khande Rao had
clearly not been as vigilant as required. The slip between the cup and the lip
was evident—plotting conspiracies in dark comers is easy, executing them is
daunting. Before the Marathas could arrive, Haidar was out of reach.
Khande Rao was astonished to find Haidar’s apartments deserted; he looted
his treasures and imprisoned the family Haidar had left behind, which
included, among others, Haidar’s nine-year-old son Tipu and Karim, his
second son, prematurely born just the previous day.
Haidar went to Anekal and, with his commander Ismail Ali, reached
Bangalore, where the killedar, Kabir Beg, was a loyalist. He took a loan of 4
lakhs from the sowcars of Bangalore and tried to reorganise his army. It was
a decisive phase for him. His entire life and its achievements were at stake
and losing them to a traitor was the last thing he could swallow. He was
determined to win this battle of nerves. His faithful accomplice Mokdum
Saib, on his way to Bangalore, was stopped at Baramahal by the Maratha
forces under Visajee Pandit and Gopal Hari. Mokdum rushed for shelter to
the Anchetidurga Fort from where he sent an urgent message seeking
reinforcements for Haidar that should be commanded by Fazalullah Khan.
At this juncture, Haidar was helpless and could have been easily defeated.
But mysterious are the ways of fate. It was the year 1761, the time of the
Third Battle of Panipat, where the Marathas suffered great reverses against
the invader Ahmed Shah Abdali. The peshwa at Pune recalled all
detachments of Marathas on expedition to assemble at Pune. The Marathas
hence negotiated with Haidar that they would leave Mysore if he gave them
Baramahal and three lakhs. On receiving the news of Visajee Pandit being
summoned back to Pune by the peshwa and of the debacle of the Marathas
at Panipat, Haidar decided to conveniently ‘forget’ paying the said dues to
Visajee Pandit. The defeat of the Marathas at Panipat created a huge
political vacuum and Haidar took full advantage of their absence in the
south by defeating all their allies and regaining his lost reputation.
Haidar then requested the French to help him and a French force of 200
cavalry and 100 infantry joined him at Nanjangud. Buoyed by his resurgent
good luck, he decided to make his way back and reclaim what he had lost.
He crossed the Cauvery at Sosale, where Khande Rao mounted a surprise
attack on him. Haidar was defeated in the very first encounter. Terrified by
this defeat he rushed to his hitherto friend-turned-foe, Nanjarajayya’s house
and fell at his feet begging pardon for his treachery and ingratitude.
Nanjarajayya was as opportunistic as Haidar. He knew that he had nothing
left to lose, that Haidar would somehow triumph over these troubles and that
riding piggyback on him in the future would be the best saving grace for
Nanjarajayya. So he conveniently forgot Haidar’s past actions, forgave him,
and gave him 2,000 cavalry and infantry. He also dispatched letters under
the forged seal of the king conveying the idea that he would be reinstated as
sarvadhikari with Haidar as his dalavoy.
Khande Rao was camping at Katte Malalavadi, twenty-six miles
southwest of Srirangapatna, with a view to looting Nanjarajayya’s
possessions, when he came to know that Haidar was being supported by
him. Haidar prepared false letters with the seal of Nanjarajayya to capture
Khande Rao. These letters were sent to Khande Rao’s army in the name of
Sarvadhikari Nanjarajayya. The army was dismayed. They had earlier
received letters in the name of the maharaja that Nanjarajayya had been
reinstalled as sarvadhikari and it would therefore be their duty to act

according to the sarvadhikari’s orders and capture their own commander,
Khande Rao. Hearing about the confusion in his own army, Khande Rao
fled to Srirangapatna in February 1761 with his army in hot pursuit.
Haidar’s forces, meanwhile, made surprise attacks on the leaderless and
disorganised army of Khande Rao. Haidar descended from the Ghats
through Gejjelhutty Pass to reclaim all the territory he had lost to Khande
Rao, receiving large amounts of danda or fine from Rao’s allies.
Haidar reached Khande Rao’s camp and made a false appeal of
negotiation at Chandgal in late 1761. He camped on the opposite side of the
river and every evening, for eight days, pretended to be exercising his troops.
On the eighth day, on the pretext of parade, he crossed the river and made a
sudden attack on Khande Rao’s army, seizing his equipment and troops.
Khande Rao was imprisoned. Haidar, with his prize hostage, reached
Ganjam in Srirangapatna and wrote to the maharaja:
Khande Rao was my servant initially. But since he is now under your Highness’s service, I
request you to surrender him to me and pay my dues and I will gladly leave Mysore to find
employment elsewhere if that is what your Highness wishes.
But the financially bankrupt and impoverished maharaja had no funds to
pay him the balance and agreed to surrender Khande Rao instead.
On the opportune date, Haidar presented himself before the maharaja in
a private sitting of his court. Perhaps never before had the king of Mysore
felt so helpless and embarrassed. The man he and his family had tried to
eliminate through their supposedly astute plan was there right before them,
triumphant and defiant. Standing beside him in chains was the confidante
who had been the royal family’s partner in sin, Khande Rao. Rani
Devajammanni couldn’t conceal her anguish when she saw her loyalist in
such misery. The maharaja had little option but to surrender the
administrative powers of his kingdom to his favourite. He was in no position
to pay Haidar off and dispense with his services and Haidar ensured that he
demanded his pound of flesh in true earnest. Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s heart
sank as he placed the royal firman that authorised the transition of power
into Haidar’s hands. At the same time wails were heard from the ladies’
quarters upstairs. Queen Mother Devajammanni and the young Rani
Lakshmammanni couldn’t believe their eyes and had burst into tears.
The maharaja couldn’t afford that luxury, however, and kept a straight
face even as he passed on secret documents of the kingdom and those
related to the treasury into the usurper’s custody. ‘Is this the helpless boy we
bought a couple of decades back?’ was the constant question that the
maharaja’s grim and stoic face seemed to ask. But then, he had only himself
to blame for the sad state of affairs. Fortune has an uncanny tendency to
favour the brave and if there was one virtue that the Wodeyar successors of
Chikkadevaraja singularly lacked, it was courage and chivalry. After all, had
Krishnaraja not capitulated to the machinations of his capricious dalavoys
and used different office bearers as pawns and buffers in the political game
of chess, this day of ignominy would never have dawned upon him.
This decisive event of 1761 marked the transfer of the kingdom’s
administration to Haidar’s control. He deposed the maharaja and assumed
the powers of a supreme dictator. The maharaja reserved a jagir yielding
three lakh Pagodas for the nominal maintenance of the royal family and a
jagir worth one lakh for Nanjarajayya. There was much drama before
handing Khande Rao over to Haidar. Here was the man who had helped the
royals in all their endeavours, but could not be saved by his own benefactors.
The least they could do was request Haidar to treat him well. The maharaja
and Queen Mother Devajammanni made Haidar promise not to take harsh
action against Khande Rao. Haidar replied: ‘Khande Rao is my man. I will
look after him as mercifully and endearingly as I would look after my
parrot.’
He kept his promise. Khande Rao was imprisoned in a huge iron cage
and fed only milk and rice for the rest of his life.
———————————
*
This letter is a rough translation of the original letter in the Annals.
*
The official seal.
9
HAIDAR ALI: THE SUPREME
DICTATOR AD 1761–82
he Muslim Interregnum in Mysore’s history, as it is called, had begun
with Haidar assuming supreme charge of the kingdom. The centuries-
old reign of the Wodeyars had ended and they had only themselves to blame
for this situation. After Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar the kings—none of whom
deserved their posts—let power slip into the hands of the powerful dalavoys.
Finally, it was Haidar who emerged successful. However, he stopped short
of assuming the title of king. He continued to act on behalf of the maharaja,
who was retained as the nominal or titular head of state. There could be two
reasons for this. For all his lack of gratitude to others in the past, Haidar had
immense respect for the maharaja. After all, it was this man who had saved
his family from disaster in his childhood. To depose him completely and
occupy his place was perhaps something his conscience didn’t allow. The
other reason was that the people still held the royal family in great esteem. It
would have been unthinkable for them to be ruled by a Muslim upstart
whom their benevolent ruler had bought a decade or two back. Fearing
public outcry against such a brazen act, Haidar decided that he had nothing
to lose in allowing the titular head to carry on. Orders would be issued in
the maharaja’s name though it was he who was instrumental in drafting
those orders. Within twelve years of his debut in Mysorean politics, Haidar
reached the pinnacle of success that had eluded the Nanjarajayyas and
Devarajayyas of the world, despite their best efforts. His fate seemed to
shine throughout his political career, as he ascended rung by rung the ladder
of fortune. History has seen few like Haidar, who turned every adversity to
his own advantage.
HAIDAR ALI IN CHARGE
Haidar’s first act after taking over the reins of the kingdom was to
consolidate and expand its frontiers. He wanted to establish Mysore as a
force in the Carnatic. He helped Basalat Jung, a successor of the nizam, to
conquer Hosakote from the Marathas. The latter were still reeling under the
tremendous blow to their power and prestige after the Third Battle of
Panipat, where Ahmad Shah Abdali vanquished them totally. Haidar’s next
target was Doddaballapur, which was under Killedar Abbas Quli Khan. Quli
Khan fled to Madras upon hearing of this attack, though he left his ailing
mother and family behind. Haidar conquered Doddaballapur without firing a
single gunshot, but magnanimously promised his enemy’s old mother that
he would treat them with all the respect they deserved. He then conquered
Sira from Maratha Killedar Triumbak Krishna, defeated the combined
forces of Morari Rao of Gutti and the Palegar of Chikkaballapur and
annexed the township to Mysore. Haidar then made his way towards
Chitradurga. Advisors to Madakari Nayak V, the Palegar of Chitradurga,
advised him not to antagonise Haidar and so the former paid off two lakhs
Varahas to send him away. Haidar emerged victorious in a series of battles
with the kings of Bidnaur, Hardanahalli and Rayadurga.
In the war camp, Madakari Nayak introduced Haidar to one
Chennabasavayya, described as the adopted son of Raja Basavappa Nayak of
Ikkeri (also called Keladi). The kingdom of Ikkeri shared a long and
stressful relationship with Mysore under the Wodeyars. It was among the
many Hindu principalities that sprang to prominence under the leadership of
Chowda and Bhadra after the fall of Vijayanagara. The ruler Basavappa
Nayak (1739–55) was dead and his adopted son Chennabasavayya had been
put on the throne. But intrigues had reached a climax under the dead king’s
widow, Rani Veerammaji. She was unpopular not only among the subjects
but also among the leading officers and influential persons of the kingdom
due to her affairs with the state’s Dewan Nimbayya. The last straw was
when she allegedly got the adopted son Chennabasavayya murdered, hoping
to usurp the reigns of the kingdom.
If Chennabasavayya was murdered, who was the man introduced to
Haidar in his war camp?
He was an impostor propped up by the Chitradurga chieftain who had an
axe to grind with Rani Chennammaji. Haidar did not care about the true
heir to the throne of Ikkeri. He wanted to make as much hay while the sun
shone. He promised the fake Chennabasavayya freedom from the adoptive
mother who had thrown him out of power. He attacked Ikkeri in 1763,
dividing his troops into four columns. The rani had imprisoned one
Linganna, a faithful minister of the deceased raja, whom Haidar freed. In
his gratitude, Linganna shared all the information on secret routes to the fort
with Haidar.
The rani tried to negotiate with Haidar but the latter replied that he
would return to Srirangapatna and lift the siege only if she handed over
Keladi, as compensation for which she would receive a residence at
Srirangapatna. The rani proudly rejected the offer and resolved to defend her
kingdom. The Nawab of Savanur Abdul Hakim Khan supported her. Haidar
besieged the fort but the clever rani held it for a year. Fearing the onset of
the monsoon, Haidar ordered the troops to attack the fort as fiercely as
possible and stream in. The troops did so and this time the rani could not
resist the attack. She set the palace on fire, burnt many of her jewellery
boxes and pounded her ornaments in an iron mortar lest they fall into the
enemy’s hands. With Nimbayya and a few other confidantes she fled to the
fort of Kavaledurga but was pursued by Haidar. Even here, she held the fort
bravely for a month but finally gave up the futile exercise.
As in the past, Haidar conveniently forgot his promises! He sent Rani
Veerammaji and Nimbayya as prisoners to the fort of Madhugiri but
bundled along Chennabasavayya too, whose cause he had been claiming he
represented. Ikkeri was merged with Mysore. Haidar got a large booty from
whatever was left after the place was burnt down by Veerammaji—two-
three boxes of pearls and diamonds, two boxes of jewelled chains for the
foot of an elephant, two sets of gold and silver bells for the necks of royal
elephants and two gold saddles were among the things he carried back home
after appointing Raja Ramachandra the caretaker of the capital, which he
named Bednore or Haidar Nagar.

On his way back, Haidar and Fazalullah Khan attacked the nawab of
Savanur to avenge the latter’s support to Veerammaji and defeated him,
acquiring ‘elephants, camels, tents of velvet, bechobas embroidered with
gold, Burhampur cloths of great value, arms and ammunition.’
Haidar’s attention then turned to the Malabar. But the brave raja of
Malabar put up a strong resistance as Haidar arrived at Kodathanad. The
Zamorin of Calicut, Raja Mana Vikrama decided to surrender on 11 April
1766 after being vanquished by Haidar. The victorious Haidar demanded
twelve lakhs. Meanwhile the Zamorin’s troops, believing that their king was
already a prisoner, thought it prudent to disappear. The helpless Zamorin
could neither make the stipulated payment nor defend his kingdom without
an army. Hopeless and defeated, he locked himself in his room and set
himself on fire.
The following day, Haidar took over Calicut and appointed Putta
Madanna as caretaker. His troops then marched to Coimbatore, subduing the
rajas of Cochin, Palaghat, Kottayam and Travancore. Another revolt by the
brave Nairs of the Malabar pulled him back to Malabar where the Nairs
were defeated in a deadly war and imprisoned. As early as 1765, Haidar
entered into an agreement with Raghunath Rao, uncle of Peshwa Madhava
Rao, hoping to ensure everlasting peace between Mysore and the Marathas.
While Haidar was engaged in quashing the Nair revolt in Malabar, the
Maharaja of Mysore, Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, died in the year 1766 at
Srirangapatna. His sudden death dealt a great blow to Queen Mother
Devajammanni, who had still hoped to redeem Mysore from Haidar’s
clutches. She decided to crown Nanjaraja Wodeyar (Kalale Devajammanni
and the deceased king’s son) as king in 1766, when the boy was merely four
years old. Hayavadana Rao, however, makes a different point in History of
Mysore, Volume III, where Nanjaraja is described as the elder son, aged
eighteen at the time of his father’s death, and Bettada Chamaraja as the
younger son. Rao (1945) believes that Haidar preferred Nanjaraja Wodeyar,
even though popular opinion dismissed him as a weakling, favouring instead
the younger prince. Of course, Haidar was the one whose opinion mattered
—a true king-maker, he always had his way.
Haidar believed that the king of Travancore had instigated the Nair revolt
in the Malabar and decided to punish him for his mischief and also extend
the domain of Mysore to the coast. By the end of the Nair campaign, in
1765, Haidar returned to Coimbatore and started preparations for the
Travancore invasion. The kingdom was ruled by Balarama Varman, the
successor of Martanda Varman. Martanda Varman was the maker of the
modern state of Travancore who had had his troops disciplined in the
European fashion by a Flemish officer called De Lannoy. The state of
Travancore, though small, had an excellent defence mechanism and also the
historic fort of Travancore lines or Netum Kotta—a forty-mile-long fort.
Haidar was determined to make a concerted attack on Travancore and
decided to win the British over to his side in this campaign by permitting
them to open a factory at Honnavar. He decided to befriend the Marathas
and pre-empt a possible Maratha attack on Mysore while he was away. He
also wanted to make Nizam Ali into an ally through their common friend
Mahfuz Khan. But no sooner did Haidar leave for Travancore than a
combination of forces attacked Mysore.
The political situation was changing rapidly at this time, especially in
southern India. In 1763, the English and the French signed the Treaty of
Paris after the Seven Years’ War. This transformed both these parties into
political players rather than mere merchants or ‘allies to the Circar’ as they
had so far pretended to be. It also altered the power equations among the
different players in the South, especially the Carnatic. Article XI of the
Treaty captures these changes:
In the East Indies, Great Britain shall restore to France, in the condition they are now in
different factories, which that crown possessed, as well as the coast of Coromandel and
Orixa (Orissa), as on that of Malabar, as also in Bengal, at the beginning of the year 1749.
And his most Christian Majesty (France) renounces all acquisitions which he made on the
Coast of the Coromandel and Orixa since the said beginning of the year 1749. His Most
Christian Majesty shall restore, on his side, all that may have been conquered from Great
Britain, in the East Indies, during the present War; and will expressly cause Nattal and
Tapanoly, in the island of Sumatra, to be restored; he engages further, not to erect
fortifications, or to keep troops in any part of the dominion of the Subah (the Mughal
Subedari) of Bengal. And in order to preserve future peace on the coast of Coromandel and
Orixa, the English and French shall acknowledge Muhammad Ali Khan for lawful Nawab
of the Carnatic, and Salabat Jung (who was deposed by his brother Nizam Ali on 27th June
1762) for lawful Subah of the Deccan; and both parties shall renounce all demands and
pretensions of satisfaction with which they might charge each other, or their Indian allies,
for the depredations or pillage committed on the side or the other during the war.
The treaty was political suicide for the French who unwittingly
surrendered their territories on the eastern coast. It was also the first time
two foreign powers were deciding the claimants of the throne and subedari
and also the dominion of the Mughals, while all along they had claimed to
be mere auxiliaries and allies of the Indian political establishment. It also
awoke in Muhammad Ali ambitions of expansion by deposing the nizam of
Hyderabad, the raja of Travancore and Haidar Ali of Mysore. The treaty
empowered him to stand against his masters hitherto, the Mughal emperor
and his deputy in the South, the nizam.
On his part, Nizam Ali felt betrayed at being replaced by Salabat Jung
and within seven months of the treaty and the appointment of Salabat as
nawab, he attacked and killed his brother to take over the Carnatic. In 1765,
in a successful campaign south of the Krishna, Nizam Ali subjugated his
brother Basalat Jung as well. This double victory emboldened him to attack
Haidar and Muhammad Ali.
The English failed to secure a lease of the prized Northern Circars from
Nizam Ali, something he had offered to Muhammad Ali, the nawab of
Arcot, earlier despite the higher negotiating price they offered. The British,
led by Lord Clive, were determined to obtain this crucial deal, which the
French were eyeing as well. In 1765 Clive received the diwani of Bengal
from the Mughal emperor and during this time he managed to convince the
*
emperor to hand over the Northern Circars as well. The victorious British
sent an embassy to Nizam Ali thereafter, asking him to gift the area as a
tributary dependency. Accordingly, on 12 November 1766, a treaty was
concluded at Hyderabad by General Calliaud that stipulated an auxiliary
force at Nizam Ali’s disposal. It was also stipulated that this force should
help Nizam Ali in his plans of conquest against the Marathas and Mysore. It
suited the British policy of setting one principality against the other and
enjoying the advantages of the ensuing unrest.
Meanwhile, back home in Mysore, the death of Immadi Krishnaraja
encouraged the old acquaintance of the throne, Nanjarajayya, who had been
granted a jagir earlier, to try and regain his lost power. After seeking his
support in the troubled days following Khande Rao’s treachery, Haidar had
forgotten his benefactor. Nanjarajayya could not take this anymore. He sent
emissaries to Nizam Ali Khan and Peshwa Madhava Rao to have Haidar
killed. But Haidar’s spy system was far too efficient to bypass the intrigues
of Nanjarajayya. Haidar paid a visit to Nanjarajayya’s house, in all humility
executing an agreement or kararnama with him and agreeing to arrange a
lavish wedding for his son Virarajayya. In a show of false camaraderie,
Haidar even invited Nanjarajayya to ‘come and encamp with his little army
in the island of Seringapatam’. Nanjarajayya knew this would be suicide.
Seeing no other option, he consented, after making Haidar swear on the
Koran that no harm would come to him. The book on which Haidar took his
oath was apparently an ordinary one with just the splendid cover of the
Koran placed over it! On reaching Srirangapatna, his little army was
encircled by Haidar’s troops on the pretext of arranging a grand reception
for the old man. Hayavadana Rao records the description given by a
contemporary historian:
On the day appointed, Nand Raj without any mistrust, made a pompous entrance into
Syringpatam, at the head of his little army, the cannon firing, and the troops beating to arms
and saluting him. Being arrived at his palace, his attention was taken up by the
compliments of the great men of the city, who were admitted by few at a time, on the
pretended account of not making too great a crowd. Moctum (Saiyyad Mokhdum) then
entered the city, followed by a number of officers and made a sign to the troops, not to pay
him any honors: he went directly to the palace of Nand Raj, where every one supposed he
was going to pay his respects; and dismounting, he caused the first company of the
battalions of sepoys who guarded the gate, to follow him. As soon as he came into the
presence of Nand Raj, who came to meet him, he acquainted him, that Ayder, being
informed that he was surrounded by people who gave him bad advice, had sent him to
remove them from about him: at the same time he commanded all present to leave the
palace, which was done without uttering a word; the grenadiers followed them; and
Moctum remaining with Nand Raj, his two sons and some officers, the conversation was
carried on with the greatest politeness. Moctum acquainted the two princes that they were
to make the campaign; and that instead of one father they would find two in Ayder and
himself. During this short conversation, the women and all the family of Moctum were
announced. Moctum took his leave, carrying the two princes with him, to whom he
represented, that it became their dignity to wait upon the Nabob and give him an account of
all that had passed. These young noblemen departed, accompanied by many of Moctum’s
officers; neither they nor Nand Raj expressing the least astonishment or chagrin. After their
departure, Moctum spoke a word to Nand Raj’s general, who ordered his troop to ground
their arms, which was done with great silence. All the gates and windows of Nand Raj’s
palace that looked towards the street were afterwards walled up, except the principal
entrance...
Thus, Haidar imprisoned Nanjarajayya and his family and sent them to
Srirangapatna. Nanjarajayya found himself a prisoner in his own palace, his
guards captured and Haidar’s sentinels in command. His accomplices,
including one Mallu Anna were heavily fined while those who had helped
Haidar (such as Obalayya and Kalappa) got important positions in the
treasury office. Haidar also paid the arrears due to Nanjarajayya’s troops and
confiscated his jagir worth Rs 4 lakh. Half of this was assigned to
Nanjarajayya along with the principality of Kalale for his maintenance. The
remaining half was set aside for his sons, who followed Haidar in his
campaign against Muhammad Ali.
The Mysore records speak no more of Nanjarajayya, who finally died in
captivity in 1773, thus ending the dalavoy legacy in Mysore and all the
treachery that went with it. After his death his principality of Kalale was
taken back by Haidar. When he decided to show some compassion to his
former benefactor’s son, Virarajayya remained indifferent, thus angering
Haidar, who threw him back into the prison.
TIPU
A constant source of worry for the estranged royal family and the dowager
Rani Devajammanni was Haidar’s budding Samaritan son Tipu. As
promised at the tomb of the Sufi saint, Tipu was handed over to the path of
Sufism. But Tipu’s brother Karim, whom Haidar had planned to make a
great warrior and befitting successor, turned out to be the most timid
weakling. He shuddered at the very sight of the sword and even had terrible
convulsions once after Haidar forced him into combat. Haidar changed his
mind about letting Tipu live as a Sufi. Describing these early years of Tipu’s
education, Hayavadana Rao writes:
Haidar, who lamented more deeply than we will ever be able to discern or measure, the lack
of education in himself, not only encouraged Mullahs for teaching the elements of Persian
and Hindustani, but also, what is more interesting, entrusted the care of Tippu, his son and
successor, to a duly qualified Muslim teacher. His attempt at educating Tippu in the
traditional mode is a chapter of history by itself. It is said that Tippu’s teacher was never
questioned by Haidar as to the progress made by the boy for many years, at the end of
which period, he one day conducted a public examination of Tippu. This showed that the
boy had not obtained the training required for a soldier’s son; instead he had had everything
that would be requisite to turn him into a good Moulvie. Haidar’s displeasure knew no
bounds and he exclaimed, much in the strain of Aurangzib, that his boy had not been taught
the things that would make him a great and good ruler. He had not been taught; he
thundered forth, the modes of warfare he should know, the manner of conquering countries
or conducting diplomacy with the surrounding nations, or even the duties of kingship.
Instead, Haidar protested, everything requisite for converting him into a religious zealot had
been done and his mind filled with notions and fancies which had made him hate
everything not connected with Islam. Everything indeed had been done, concluded Haidar
in his anger, to ruin his family and his kingdom and nothing to advance either.+
Convinced that Tipu’s education was not to his liking, and realising
Karim’s soft nature, Haidar Ali redirected young Tipu from the path of
Islamic studies towards a thorough training in various modes of warfare.
Haidar was conscious of the impact the extreme, rabid training had had on
Karim and therefore ensured that Tipu expanded his mind with a wider
range of religious and secular literature.
Tipu, who was to have held the olive branch in his hand, instead had the
sword thrust on him and was pushed into the battlefield by a father who did
not want to lose his grip on the kingdom at any cost. With a heavy heart,
Tipu shed his Sufi robes and entered the camps of Ghazi Khan—another
trusted associate of Haidar’s. Here he was subjected to tremendous physical
exercise and martial training and we find a sudden, yet beautiful
metamorphosis in this young man of fourteen when he made his debut in
the battlefield by plundering the plains of the Carnatic. He invoked the
wrath of the British, ushering in the battle commonly referred to by
historians as the First Anglo-Mysore War.
THE FIRST ANGLO-MYSORE WAR
After charting a series of successes in the Carnatic and Bengal, the British
forces were full of exuberance. After Plassey, the East India Company was
able to enforce the cultivation of opium in sufficient quantities in India, and
procure enough tea for the British market, reaping significant profits. Yet,
military attacks were now also to be directed against Indian, and other
Asian, ships engaged in the inter-Asian trade. These attacks were to lay the
groundwork for the battles against the southern rulers and the Marathas
whose revenues from this trade had dwindled. While Plassey may have been
a matter of survival for the East India Company, the subsequent battles can
certainly not be classified as such. Some historians tried to argue that
competition with the French precipitated the battles in South India, but such
a view is contradicted, ironically, by a Frenchman. Abbe de Pradt, author of
Les Trois Ages des Colonies, Paris, 1902 wrote that with the victory at
Plassey and the establishment of sovereign rights, England had
demonstrated to all of Europe that it was no longer necessary for Europe to
send precious metals obtained from the New World to India. It could trade
on the basis of revenue acquired from taxing subjects and commodities,
whereas other European countries had to trade at a loss with metal currency.
The extension of English sovereignty in India would prevent Europe from
sending capital into India. De Pradt said:
The people who have enough control over India to reduce substantially the exportation of
European metallic currency into Asia rule there as much for Europe’s benefit as for their
own; their empire is more common than particular, more European than British; as it
expands, Europe benefits, and each of their conquests is also a real conquest for the latter.
Chastising European opponents of the British conquest, he wrote:
All the sound and fury now echoing across Europe about England’s hegemony in India are
the shrieks of a blind delirium, as an anti-European uproar; it might be thought that
England was taking away from every European state what it was conquering from those of
Asia, whereas, on the contrary, every part of Asia that she takes for herself, she, by that
very fact, takes for Europe.
Meanwhile, the young maharaja of Mysore was feeling increasingly
stifled by the growing popularity of Haidar and his son Tipu. He was also
constantly heckled and provoked by the two queens, his grandmother
Devajammanni and her daughter-in-law Lakshmammanni. He sent
emissaries to the Peshwa Madhava Rao for help in getting rid of Haidar and
Tipu. The Marathas had recovered from the disastrous defeat at Panipat
under the stewardship of the young and energetic Madhava Rao. Their
resurrection offered a gleam of hope to the beleaguered Wodeyars.
But as ill fate would have it, Haidar learnt of Nanjaraja’s mischief and
sent Mohabat Ali to the peshwa for negotiations. The peshwa refused to
concede—burning with the fire of revenge, he fell on Mysore in January
1767 like a hawk swoops in on its prey. He crossed the Krishna River and
advanced rapidly towards Sira, halting at Savanur. He was joined there by
the forces of Murari Rao of Gutti and the Palegar of Chitradurga. Sira was
guarded by Haidar’s brother-in-law, Mir Ali Raza Khan, with 4,000 cavalry
and 6,000 infantry. After defending the fort for over fifteen days, he finally
gave up. Madhava Rao then moved towards Maddagiri and released his
former ally Rani Veerammaji and her son Chennabasavayya, proceeding
thereafter to Channarayadurga. Sardar Khan of Mysore, with 2,000 foot
soldiers and 1,000 irregulars, put up a tough defence before falling before
peshwa might. The Maratha flags fluttered proudly across Mysore as places
fell like pawns before Madhava Rao’s onslaught—Hoskote, Chikkaballapur,
Doddaballapur, Kolar, Mulbagal and Gurramkonda.
Haidar marched from Coimbatore to Srirangapatna to halt the Maratha
advance. He tried several tactics, from frontal attacks to guerrilla warfare to
strange techniques of tiring the enemy by ‘breaking down the embankments
of tanks, poisoning the wells with milk-hedge, burning all foliage and
presenting a scorched earth to the enemy.’ Finally in April 1767, the
negotiations began. Haidar was forced to conclude the war. He sent a clever
diplomat, Appaji Rao, along with Karim Khan, and a large sum of 35 lakhs.
The peshwa restored all districts of Mysore to the southeast of Sira and
returned to Pune on 11 May 1767, only to attack it again later, in January
1770.
Meanwhile, Nizam Ali had been on the move. Trying to fish in troubled
waters, he, his brother Basalat Jung and a detachment of English troops
under Colonel Joseph Smith had joined Madhava Rao and marched towards
Srirangapatna by April 1767. Sadly for Nizam Ali, the Mysore-Maratha war
ended at this time. Still, this sudden move of Nizam Ali’s petrified Haidar,
who began negotiating with him through Mahfuz Khan, the eldest son of
Anwar-ud-din and the lawful nawab of Arcot. The Dewan of Nizam Ali,
Rukn-ud-daula, mediated in the matter and Haidar bought peace with
Hyderabad at a cost of 30 lakhs. It was also decided that Tipu would marry
Mahfuz Khan’s daughter and that Mahfuz Khan would surrender his claims
to the Arcot throne in favour of Tipu. The two forces decided to make
common cause against Muhammad Ali. Raza Ali Khan, son of Chanda
Sahib, was to give up, in return for the principality of Tanjore, any claims he
may have had to being the nawab of Arcot. The entire deal was clinched so
surreptitiously with an aim to enable a Mysore-Hyderabad joint occupation

over the entire Carnatic region that it even missed prying English ears.
Nizam Ali was a master politician, playing with great finesse his game on
both sides. Colonel Smith was alarmed by Nizam Ali’s betrayal. Not only
had he joined the Maratha campaign towards the end in a token, mock
participation, he had also entered into family ties with the house of Haidar
Ali through his allies Mahfuz Khan and Rukn-ud-daula to consolidate his
positions.
To ward off English fears, the wily Nizam Ali and his minister fooled
Colonel Smith, swearing by the unswerving nature of their friendship and
instigating him to attack Bangalore, promising that he would never want for
support. Smith marched towards Bangalore only to see Nizam Ali’s troops
heading off in the opposite direction without any explanation. Smith’s fears
and bewilderment were further accentuated when the joint forces of Haidar
and Nizam Ali decided to descend on the English and Muhammad Ali. In a
letter to Lord Clive he exclaimed: ‘Although it was as plain as noon day to
every person (except the Council) that they (Nizam Ali and Haidar) were
preparing to enter the Carnatic jointly, no measures were taken to establish
magazines of provisions in proper places nor any steps to supply our army
in time of need.’ Haidar, thus, pulled off a royal coup on the British by
breaking the usual tripartite confederacy of the British, the nizam and the
Marathas against him.
Tiruchirapalli had been a sore memory for Mysore since the days of the
colossal misadventures of Nanjarajayya. To see it occupied by the same
deceitful Muhammad Ali hurt Mysore’s ego all the more. Haidar sent letters
to Muhammad Ali to surrender Tiruchirapalli and honour the earlier treaty,
but the latter chose to ignore it. Haidar also sent letters of warning to the
British asking them not to help Muhammad Ali, whom he planned to
subjugate. The British however, stuck with their ally Muhammad Ali. This
caused hostilities across southern India. Also, Mysore was among the prized
possessions in the peninsula that eluded the British. The neighbouring
kingdoms felt threatened by Haidar’s expansionist policies—he had annexed
one principality after the other since assuming office. It was precisely these
insecurities the British played on to engage Mysore in a long-drawn series of
wars that lasted for eighteen years and became famous as the Anglo-
Mysorean Wars.
Haidar initially joined hands with Nizam Ali of Hyderabad to curb the
British forces in the south. The combined forces of 50,000 men and 100
guns made a quick round-up and in 1767 took over Vaniyambadi,
Changama, Tirupattoor and Kaveripatnam and laid siege to the Krishnagiri
fort. The English tried in vain to stop the growing alliance. A section of the
Mysore force led by Tipu and Berki Srinivasa Rao raided the areas
surrounding Arcot. Muhammad Ali and Colonel Smith decided to repel the
Mysore-Hyderabad joint attack. As head of the cavalry, Haidar entered the
Carnatic on 25 August 1767 by one of the passes near Krishnagiri and
besieged Kaveripatnam fort. A battle ensued between Haidar and Smith in
late August and early September near Tiruvannamalai. Despite suffering
some initial losses, Haidar pushed through, his guns still active,
surrounding, plundering and killing the English forces. Haidar hounded
Smith, driving him all over the place as he ran from one region to the other
in quest of food. The northeast monsoon added to Smith’s misery and the
British decided to evacuate their troops from Tiruvannamalai and move the
wounded and exhausted forces to Settupattu. A sudden reinforcement of
troops and provisions bolstered Smith’s position.
The confederate forces were stopped by Colonel Smith on 26 September
1767. Nizam Ali turned out to be a traitor and showed the trait he was best
known for—duplicity. Abandoning the confederate forces, he retreated
through the Changama Pass to Singarapettai in the middle of the night.
Smith saw the confusion in the enemy camp as an opportunity to regain lost
ground and mounted midnight attacks under Major Fitzgerald. He decided
to proceed to Madras after garrisoning Tiruvannamalai, Vaniyambadi and
other outposts, leaving his army behind at vulnerable places, like Arcot,
Vellore, Gingee, Kanchipuram, Wandiwash and Tiruchirapalli.
Hostilities resumed in November 1767 after a brief lull. Nizam Ali
rejoined the side, apologising profusely for his sudden flight and swore
again to stand by the alliance. He was by far the most untrustworthy and
wily partner in any military alliance. His troops, however, marched to
Hosakote and Haidar recaptured Vaniyambadi and Tirupattoor forts on 5
and 7 November 1767. Haidar then laid a fierce siege of the fort of Ambur,
which was held by the dwindling forces of Captain Culvert for over twenty-
six days. Just when Culvert seemed to be giving in, he received a huge
reinforcement from Vellore and that forced Haidar to move up the valley
again.
However, Captain Culvert attacked Vaniyambadi and forced Haidar to
get away from the Carnatic and retreat to Kaveripatnam. On 14 December
1767, Haidar received intelligence of the Nair revolt brewing in the Malabar.
He sent off his heavy guns and baggage westwards under Tipu and Ghazi
Khan’s command to assist the provincial commander Lutif Ali Beg.
Mangalore, Kumta and Honnavar had been captured by the British. At the
same time, English troops from Bengal landed at the Northern Circars under
Colonel Peach and, in a bid to divert Nizam Ali, attacked his province of
Warangal. The latter opened a secret dialogue with Smith to buy peace with
the British. He was, in any case, a master in this game of double-speak. He
finally made his intentions clear by concluding a peace treaty with
Muhammad Ali and the English on 23 February 1768.
Haidar subdued the Nairs while Tipu annexed Mangalore in May 1768.
But the wily British, under Colonels Smith and Wood, invaded Mysore from
the south, conquering Salem, Erode and Coimbatore, overrunning
Krishnagiri and Baramahal and besieging Bangalore. The very heart of
Mysore was threatened. Almost half its territories and pivotal areas were
under enemy control. Haidar was the last man to be dismayed by such a turn
of events. Realising that the age-old dispute with Muhammad Ali had given
rise to all these conflicts, he sent peace emissaries. But the demands made
by the English and their ally Muhammad Ali were too unreasonable to
accept. The war carried on for a couple of years. Haidar resorted to his usual
guerrilla tactics, false alarms and surprise attacks. The British army, which
was more used to systematic warfare, was taken by surprise. Places began to
fall before Haidar’s advance. He managed to recapture Mangalore, laid siege
to Hosur, forced Smith to raise the siege at Bangalore and inflicted a
crushing defeat on the British by reaching the very gates of their
headquarters, Madras. Seeing the forces of Haidar barely five miles away
from Madras, the British were panic-stricken and sued for peace. Initial
peace overtures made by Captain Brooke in January 1769 did not meet with
much success. By 29 March 1769 Haidar’s troops had reached Tindivanam
and St. Thomas Mount on the very outskirts of Madras city. Charles
Bourchier, the governor of Madras, decided that calling for peace was the
only way to save the English forces an embarrassing defeat.

On 3 April 1769 the peace treaty was signed at Madras between the two
parties after the negotiators from both sides—Vissaji Pant from Mysore and
Du Pre and George Bouchier of the British side—reached mutual consent.
The treaty decided that there should be perpetual friendship between
Mysore and the British and also provided for the mutual restitution of all
conquests; for mutual aid and alliance in defensive war and absolute liberty
of commerce between Mysore and the East India Company’s settlements.
The English ended up promising to help Haidar in case he was attacked by
any other power. It was a big jolt to British pride, which had earlier enjoyed
a string of successes. The First Anglo-Mysore war thus crushed the myth of
British infallibility. Another treaty was signed between Haidar and
Muhammad Ali, according to which the latter was to evacuate Hosakote and
pay Mysore an annual tribute of six lakhs. Both were to respect the borders
that existed before the commencement of hostilities.
It is interesting to note that though the British signed the treaty, they did
so under duress and were already thinking of avenging this defeat rather
than abiding by the terms and conditions of this treaty. The very negotiators
and signatories defended their decision in the Court of Directors:
Much invective hath been circulated in this colony and nearly in the terms in which you
express your sentiments of the peace ‘dictated at the gates of Madras’ and we find it hath
been used as industriously at home to establish the same ideas. If an indifferent person were
to read of an enemy dictating peace at the gates of a fortified town, the idea that would
immediately occur would be that the enemy came with a superior force; that the garrison,
seeing no hope of dislodging the enemy, and fearing for their own town, their lives and
property, accepted the terms prescribed. This is the idea that men have endeavoured at
home and abroad to propagate; how justly will appear. Our army had been in pursuit of the
enemy in the southern part of the Carnatic for nearly four months without being once able
to come up with him; at the last march before the peace he gave our army the slip, and
arrived at the Mount about 48 hours before our army halted at Vandaloor 12 miles short of
the Mount. One of the first points he insisted on was, that an order should be sent to
Colonel Smith to halt at 10 coss (about 25 to 30 miles) from him, and declared that
although he came to negotiate peace, he would not remain there, unless an order was sent,
but march immediately to the northward of Madras, or Tripasoor, where he could be more
conveniently supplied with provisions and provender. As a peace was necessary to us, and
every day increased our distress, it appeared better to us to negotiate with him near at hand
than at a distance, and it was very material to save as much of the Jaghir as possible from
plunder. It missed Colonel Smith, but the messenger returning overtook him at Vandaloor,
twelve miles from the Mount. What then, it might be asked, could induce us to make peace,
if the enemy was so much afraid of our army? The motives are clearly and fully assigned in
our reasons entered in Consultation on the 10th April 1769. This being the case, we cannot
see why it was more disgraceful to negotiate at the Mount than at 100 miles distant.
In a letter dated 29 June 1769, the Governor of Madras, Charles
Bourchier writes about this humiliating defeat of the Company.
We have at length happily put an end to the enormous expenses occasioned by the war by
concluding a peace with Hyder, who, having led Colonel Smith a dance of near a month,
had the address, after drawing him as far as Villaporam, to slip by him and making a march
of no less than 45 miles the first day, got so much ahead of our army that he reached the
Mount three days before they got the length of Vendaloor. On his arrival there, he wrote to
me that he was come, so near to make peace with us himself. In the extremities we were
reduced to we gladly embraced the opportunity of opening the Conference again; for the
country being entirely at his mercy, our army being incapable of protecting it or bringing
him to a decisive action, and daily diminishing by sickness and fatigue; the promised
succors of horse by Nabob Mohamid Aly and Mora Row not arrived nor likely to be for
some months, and our distress for money great; our whole dependence being on the Nabob,
who though he promised largely, we had doubts of his performing; and it being also the
Company’s positive orders to make peace, we were under the necessity of doing it almost at
all events.
A PERIOD OF UNREST
Mysore: Internal Politics
Haidar had no respite. No sooner did he wind up a successful campaign at
Madras than the Marathas struck again. Mahimaji Sindhia, commanding
400 horses and a powerful confederacy of Palegars, attacked Mysore. The
Mysore army of 5,000 cavalry, 4,000 infantry and 4,000 irregulars under
Mir Ali Raza Khan and Berki Srinivasa Rao drove him away. Incensed by
this and by Haidar’s attempts to levy taxes on the Palegars of Cudappah,
Kurnool, Gadaval and of territories thought of as Maratha, Peshwa Madhava
Rao decided to strike himself. He seized Kadur and Hassan, overran
Doddaballapur, Chikkaballapur, Nandidurga, Kolar and Mulbagal.
A decisive battle then took place between the Mysore forces and the
Marathas at Chinkurli, about 11 miles from Srirangapatna, on 6 March
1771. At daybreak a severe artillery action followed during which Trimbaka
Rao was slightly wounded by a bullet passing through his ear. He and
Balwant Rao beat a hasty retreat and it seemed like the Marathas were going
to lose. But then a shot from one of the Maratha cannons struck a few
rockets on the Mysorean side. These rockets had been laden on camels and
when they exploded they caused great disarray among the animals, which
started running helter-skelter. The fire soon spread to the ammunition boxes
and blew them all up. Seeing the confusion in the enemy camp, with the
soldiers running around in distress, the Marathas made a frontal attack.
What followed was a scene of absolute slaughter at the hands of the enemy
Pindaris who looted Haidar’s army. Among those who fell in this disaster
were Mysoreans – Narayana Rao, Srinivasa Jivaji and Lala Mian, Haidar’s
elder brother’s son-in-law, Mir Ali Raza Khan, Ali Zaman Khan, Abdul
Muhammad Mirdhe and Yasin Khan Wunti Koodri—all of Haidar’s chief
officers were taken prisoners. Yasin Khan was mistaken for Haidar and
captured by the enemy, though treated with respect as a state prisoner. The
‘Chinkurli disaster’, as it is known, was the most shocking and embarrassing
defeat the Mysore army had faced in recent times.
Along with his associates, including Ghazi Khan, Haidar fled in fright to
Srirangapatna, hotly pursued by the enemy till the very suburbs of the
capital. By midnight Haidar arrived near the tomb of Khadar Wali in
Srirangapatna. He was joined here by Tipu, who had escaped the field with
his followers in the guise of a travelling mendicant.
Overjoyed at the loot they had got, the Marathas unwittingly allowed
Haidar time to recover even as they enjoyed the spoils of war. They were
complacent because they thought they had already captured Haidar Ali. By
the time they realised their mistake, the real Haidar Ali had escaped to his
hide-out. The 10-day gap was enough for him to realign. He strengthened
the fort on all sides by erecting new works and mounting guns on all sides.
Realising his folly, Trimbaka marched forthwith to attack the fort of
Srirangapatna and laid siege to it for nearly two months. Haidar easily lured
away the battle-weary Maratha soldiers, enticing them with money. His
Commandant Mohammad Ali made a surprise attack on the Maratha army
resulting in a terrible carnage. The siege was lifted and the Marathas
descended through the Gejjelhutty Pass and planned to attack the Mysorean
districts of Coimbatore, Palaghat and Dindigul. But they were chased away
by two divisions of the Mysore army under Tipu and Mohammad Ali. Tipu
inflicted a crushing defeat on Trimbaka Rao near Dharmapuri, while

Mohammad Ali achieved success at Kaveripatnam and also secured the
release of many prisoners of Chinkurli.
Undeterred, the Marathas continued their repeated attacks on
Srirangapatna throughout late 1771 and early 1772. Haidar despatched
Appaji Rao to negotiate peace with them. But Appaji was detained by a
haughty Trimbaka who prepared to raid and pillage the wealthy province of
Bidnaur. To halt them, the Mysorean army rushed to Bidnaur but was badly
defeated. Haidar made piteous representations to the Marathas to revive the
peace talks under Appaji. Sixty five lakhs was the final negotiated war
indemnity that Haidar had to pay. Loans were sought from sowcars to pay
about 40 lakhs and the territories of Gurramkonda, Sira, Kolar, Hosakote
and Doddaballapur were ceded to the Marathas to make up for the rest of
the dues.
Even with all the military campaigns and the constant unrest, Haidar
never forgot to pay his symbolic obeisance to the throne of Mysore and its
titular occupant. He loved to call himself a humble servant of His Highness.
Peixoto, a Portuguese officer in Haidar’s army, records in his memoirs a
meeting on 27 February 1770 between Haidar, the young maharaja, and his
mother Kalale Devajammanni, eleven days after Haidar’s arrival at the
capital after the Maratha campaign.
The Nabob quitted his Palace and went to that great king, and was received by the King
with attention in the customary form, which is, the King remains sitting, and the Nabob to
throw himself at his feet. The King wanted to exempt the Nabob from this humble
ceremony, but the Nabob did it instantly. The King then ordered him to sit down, which he
did, after saying he could not sit in his presence. There was with the King his mother, who,
it is said is a lady of good judgment, and daughter of the Rajah Nande Rajah...and after the
compliments were over, during which the Queen mother looked very grave, the Nabob told
the King that the Maratta was come with great power to contribute that kingdom, and that
he asked a very great sum which seemed to him too much, wherefore he would rather fight
and show him that his kingdom dreaded not his power, that he hath been in the field on that
account and hath already shown his intentions...that he, the Maratta, did not stand to give
battle, but only took satisfaction to ruin the country as much as possible, breaking, burning
and totally ruining the inhabitants, which he could not hinder him from, as the Maratta
force did consist in cavalry, and his own in foot. Wherefore he acquainted him, that he
might order him what he thought proper in this particular. The King answered him, ‘I and
this whole Kingdom do not dread any invasion of the Maratta, nor any other enemy as long
as God preserves your life. All what you do for the utility, conservation and ease of the
people, are precious enamels with which you augment your name. The security and defence
of the Kingdom is in your hand, and in me the confidence that you will prosper in
everything.’ The Nabob remained mute without answering the King, and without any
farther longer stay, took his leave and came to his Palace.
It was a rather strange relationship that Haidar and the throne shared—
replete with symbolism and duplicity. Both parties knew where the real
power rested. Yet they made a sham of false respect and misplaced
graciousness. Whether it was for mere public consumption or for the
consummation of some exalted objective is completely unknown. But the
drama continued, though not for long. The young maharaja passed away all
of a sudden on 2 August 1770. It is interesting to note that this very
commentator, Peixoto—who paints the master-slave relationship that existed
between the raja and his so-called sarvadhikari—nails Haidar as the villain
of the piece; as someone who got the young maharaja murdered in cold
blood! However, it is impossible to think what Haidar could have possily
gained from murdering a man who was anyway subservient to his wishes.
This is yet another instance of the difficulty that contemporary historians
face with depictions of the Interregnum where characters are painted in
black or white, seldom or never in shades of gray. To quote Peixoto,
however:
He was not sick, but was found dead on the morning of the said day. This did cause great
inward sorrow to all, not only his vassals, but even to the most part of the grandees of the
camp, for...he showed such a Royal presence of spirit by which it was judged that he would
not suffer much time the subjection he was kept by the Nabob, but Death made an end of
these hopes. The author of this success is known, of whom fear does not permit to make
mention of. In the night in which he died, which was at 2 o’clock in the morning; he hath
drank, after supper, a cup of milk which the Nabob hath sent him. As soon as it was day,
and it was divulged that the King was dead, the Nabob seemed to be sorry, and sent
instantly to examine into the cause of this success; sent for the surgeon who attends
annually in the Royal Palace and asked him the motive of that success; he knew to answer
no more than that after it was already night, he hath retired from the Palace to his House
and that he hath left the King in health and that this was all he could say to the Nabob. The
surgeon was put prisoner and condemned to pay a great sum into the Royal Treasury,
accusing him greatly of the King’s death and in this manner the Nabob shews his sorrow by
the surgeon’s prison, and by the condemnation, utility to his Treasury, where all the
Nabob’s interests do centre...
While bolstering a lot of these conspiracy claims, eminent historian
Hayavadana Rao points out:

In the midst of his savage purpose, Haidar was, we have to concede, a man. He was not a
mere monster, who mechanically perpetrated cold-blooded deeds. Despite the tendencies of
the times and his own baser instincts, to which he fell a prey sometimes, there is enough in
him to show that he was a humanised being. It is this humanising touch in him that helped
to individualise him and make him convincing as man among men. That explains to some
small extent the great hold he had upon the imagination of the men of his time...we have
seen in him thus far the play of at least three conflicting motives and passions—his love of
money as means to an end, the end being political mastery; his hatred for everyone who
comes in the way of his attaining that mastery; and worse than either of these, his personal
animosity against Nanjaraja, whom he dreaded far more for his cunning than even for the
power that he might, perchance, wield against him to his discomfiture at a moment when he
least expected it.
Without playing devil’s advocate, I must stress that this dichotomy
makes amply clear to the reader the complexities facing the historian. What
source are we to rely upon? What inferences are we to draw about the
perceived motives of people, which none but they themselves would be
privy to and which have evanesced with their descent to their respective
graves? Haidar had faced the worst backlash from the royal family during
Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s reign with the master plot being hatched by
the maharaja, the queen mother and Khande Rao. Did that make him dread
the royal family when any intelligence of their silent moves to reclaim power
reached him? Did he not want any king of the family to attain majority and
did he therefore systematically poison them all? Was Haidar—whom the
mighty English and the neighbouring kingdoms feared—himself afraid of a
powerless, titular teenager whom he could squash like an insect under his
feet at free will? To ward off these supposed dangers, would he have
resorted to those most inhuman acts stated above? If yes, why do other
historians paint such a wonderful and humane picture of a man guilty of the
worst form of murder? Or are their depictions, too, as biased and favourable
to the powerful as most historical accounts usually are? These are questions
lost in the tomb of time and our interpretation is our own truth—perhaps
one of the biggest banes to afflict modern and unbiased narration of ancient
history.
On 16 August 1770, fifteen days after the death of Nanjaraja Wodeyar,
Rani Lakshmammanni placed on the Mysore throne Bettada Chamaraja
Wodeyar VIII, the 11-year-old son of Immadi Krishnaraja.
Administrative Changes
Haidar made changes in the administration set-up during this time. In 1775,
he bifurcated the Revenue Department or the Mahalati Kacheri under the
designation of Balaghat Kacheri and Payanghat Kacheri. The former was
placed under Nazim-ud-din Khan of Arcot as dewan with Jadir Rama Rao
as chief accountant (munshi) and records (daftar) under Puttayya, Singayya,
Appaji Rao, Keshava Rao, Koneri Rao and Lala Lingo Pant. The Payanghat
Kacheri came under Mir Ali Nakim and his younger brother Mohammad
Ghouse, with Kadim Shamaiya as the chief accountant and Kacheri
Krishnayya, Subba Rao and Kushal Chand in charge of the daftar or
records. Grave irregularities prevailed in the collections of land revenue.
Embezzlement of government money became the order of the day.
On receiving intelligence news of these malpractices that had crept in,
Haidar abolished these new offices, re-amalgamated the kacheris and placed
them under Anche Shamaiya in August 1779. A devout Sri Vaishnava
Brahmin, Shamaiya belonged to Sulakunte in Kolar and had known Haidar
since his youth. He began to wield supreme power over affairs of state.
Venkatapatayya was made in-charge of the daftar and the dewanship of the
kacheri was given to Mir Muhammad Sadak, son of Mir Ali Nakim. On
Shamaiya’s advice, the police, finance and espionage departments were
merged and given supreme powers. A special commission was formed for
the investigation of embezzlement, which enabled the detection of actual
frauds, but in establishing apparent proof of alleged malpractices that had
never occurred. Shamaiya misused the authority vested in him to the hilt
and unleashed a reign of terror against everyone he hated. Sullu-pattis or
false statements were a perennial Damocles’ sword over officials’ heads
regardless of their integrity. Once caught by the financial irregularities
committee, punishment was certain. Many old rivals of Shamaiya paid the
price for this rivalry. Harikara Nayaka Shamaiya was heavily taxed, flogged
and imprisoned, and his brothers Singaiya and Sheshaiya severely tortured.
Salayat Khan and Muhammad Ghouse of the erstwhile Mahalati Kacheri
weren’t spared either, and the former died from the wounds inflicted on him.
In fact even Pumaiya, a collections officer of the Kacheri, wasn’t spared—
111,000 Varahas were exacted from him, he was tortured and forced to
prepare false returns or sullu-pattis. He would have surely met his death but
for the timely intervention of Bacche Rao and other benefactors, like
Annadana Setti and Narasa Setti. Berki Srinivasa Rao used to plead to
Haidar the case of Pumaiya and to reduce his punishment to merely keeping
him under guard. Many amildars and officials were similarly punished—tied
to elephants’ feet, flogged to death or pierced with needles.
Haidar, however, had great regard for Shamaiya and the latter was
honoured by him with an umbrella, medal, pearl necklace, palanquin, a cash
reward of 5,000 Varahas, an allowance of 1,000 Varahas and a pair of rich
shawls. His elder brother Rangaiya was granted an additional allowance of
thirty Varahas and the younger one, Aprameya, placed in charge of the
records of the toshikhane or treasury, cavalry, infantry and other
establishments.
In 1779 Haidar despatched a grand embassy to Delhi to secure for
himself the imperial grants of the subadari of the two Camatics of Bijapur
and Hyderabad. The motive, as Wilks states, seems to be ‘in order that an
exterior dignity which still commanded some respect, might accompany the
possession of an authority, which he had now an early prospect of
conferring on himself.’ His dreams, however, remained just dreams.
External Troubles
Meanwhile, the Marathas weren’t likely to give up. Madhava Rao was sick,
but he sent his commander Trimbaka Rao to attack Mysore. Trimbaka
‘Mama’, as he was called (being the peshwa’s maternal uncle), besieged
Gurramkonda commanded by Sayyid Saab and nephew Mir Saab and
captured it after two months. Accompanied by the perennial trouble-maker
Murari Rao and the Palegars of Chitradurga, Ratnagiri, Midageshi, etc., he
then proceeded westwards. He then annexed Tumkur, Devarayadurga and
other places. The main Mysorean army was stationed at Srirangapatna and
Bangalore and Haidar sent them to repel the Maratha invasion. He left no
stone unturned in defending Mysore’s sovereignty. The Mysore commander
Mohammad Ali crossed the Cauvery at night, attacked the Maratha camp,
captured their battery and plundered their possessions. One day, when the
Marathas had gone to bathe at the Sangam at Srirangapatna, near the foot of
the Karighat hills, Ghazi Khan and Mohammad Ali accompanied by 4,000
Pindaris fell on them like wolves, killing many Maratha warriors. Trimbaka
continued to plunder Mysore from Periapatnam in the west to Dindigul in
the south. But catastrophic news from Pune awaited him.
The young and dynamic Peshwa Madhava Rao was seriously ill and lay
on his deathbed. All army contingents were recalled to Pune. On 17 June
1772, Trimbaka was forced to leave Mysore. In November 1772, Madhava
Rao passed away. His untimely demise shook the Maratha kingdom. It
would be no exaggeration to say that had Madhava Rao lived on, India’s
history would have unfolded differently, and the East India Company would
have had a tougher time subjugating the country.
The new peshwa was Madhava Rao’s young and tactless brother
Narayana Rao, and his uncle Raghunath Rao was regent. Raghunath Rao (or
Raghoba, as he was called) had been nurturing dreams of peshwaship. It
didn’t augur well for him that he was sidelined and his inefficient nephew
made the peshwa. He had lost the opportunity twice—once after the death
of his brother Balaji Baji Rao and again now. His wife Anandi Bai’s
scornful taunts and jibes deepened his ambition. Anandi kept attacking his
passivity, taunting him to wear bangles and sit at home rather than play
perpetual regent for all minor peshwas. Narayana Rao, sensing that trouble
would brew, began to negotiate with Haidar and the nizam to imprison
Raghoba. He was arrested, and in prison, along with Sakaram Bapu and
others, he conspired with the Gardis—a Pindari-like tribe—in charge of the
prison. Raghoba gave them a letter which proved decisive. For an exchange
of five lakhs and three forts, he issued a forged document to the Gardis with
the message ‘Capture the Peshwa’. The message found its way to the
apartments of Anandi Bai for her perusal. So angered was she with the
shabby treatment meted to her husband that she appended the message with
the phrase ‘put him to death’.
On 30 August 1773, Narayana Rao was resting in the courtyard after
lunch when the Gardis rushed in and demanded their arrears. The spirit of
the Maratha kingdom, which had been founded on the high ideals of Shivaji,
would have certainly suffered at the sight of its peshwa running around the
palace with the Gardis in hot pursuit. He was finally caught and butchered
by one Sumer Singh Gardi. Raghoba became the peshwa the following day.
Raghunath Rao tried in vain to attack Mysore but the domestic turmoil
at Pune forced him to conclude a peace treaty with Haidar and agree to cede
Sira in return for his acknowledgement of Rao’s claim to the Peshwaship.
Raghoba was building up support for his treacherous act among the
southern powers, lest he be treated as a political pariah. It was agreed that
the entire area north of Srirangapatna up to the banks of the Krishna River
extending to Badami, Jalahalli, Sira, Maddagiri and, Chennarayadurga
would be restored to Haidar.
Meanwhile, Nana Phadnavis, Phadke, Pethe, Patwardhan and other
trusted nobles of the kingdom formed the Barabhai (twelve brothers), a
union to oust Raghoba from the peshwaship. Around this time, Narayana
Rao’s widow Ganga Bai gave birth to a boy who was named Sawai Madhava
Rao. The Barabhai tied the mohur of peshwaship to the child in his cradle
and titled him ‘Srimantha Peshwa Sawai Madhava Rao Saib’ with Nana
Phadnavis—the wise statesman—as regent and guardian. Anticipating
trouble, Raghoba fled to Bombay and in 1775 signed the Treaty of Surat
with the British to help him regain the peshwaship.
The Zamorin, taking advantage of Mysore’s troubles with the English
and the Marathas and the political flux, instigated the Nairs and Moplahs to
revolt in 1773. Haidar sent his agents, harikars Rangappa Naik and
Ramagiri Chennarajaiya for negotiations, but they were treacherously
murdered by the Nairs. An enraged Haidar decided to descend on the
Malabar himself. In 1773–74, he led an expedition to the Malabar region.
Taking immediate possession of all the land belonging to the Zamorin and
the kings of Kadatanadu, Cotiote and others, he despatched a force of
40,000 men under Berki Srinivasa Rao, his pillar in all troubles, along with
Sayyid Saab. The force reached Calicut, hearing which the Zamorin
hurriedly concluded a treaty with the French—seeking their protection—on
12 January 1774. An undeterred Srinivasa Rao marched on to Calicut and
took the fort by storm. The wily French left the scene for Mahe and the
Zamorin himself fled to Travancore with his family. The Nair chieftains
were punished and subjugated. Srinivasa Rao was appointed fouzdar of the
Malabar.
Fighting the British
By 1780 the Indian rulers formed a confederacy against the British. Who
inspired and created this confederacy is a matter of debate and speculation;

it is widely opined that the wise Maratha statesman Nana Phadnavis was the
chief architect of the alliance, though others opine that it was formed on
Haidar’s advice. All the players—Haidar, Nana Phadnavis, the Sindhia, the
Nizam, the Bhosles under Madhoji Bhosle—had an axe to grind against the
British, their common foe. They drew up a plan for simultaneous attacks
against British positions everywhere to expel them from India. This was
perhaps the first time Indian rulers united for a common cause beyond their
narrow personal interests and prejudices. It was decided that the Marathas
would attack the British locations in Bombay and its dependencies; Sindhia
and Bhosle were to invade Bengal, the Nizam was to subjugate the Northern
Circars and Haidar was in charge of the invasion of Madras and the
Carnatic. Haidar swept down the Carnatic like a torrent with 80,000 men
and 100 guns. In October 1780 he captured Arcot, defeating an English
army under Colonel Braille. But the British managed to break the alliance
between the raja of Berar, Mahadji Sindhia, the nizam and Haider. Sadly, the
other members of the confederacy didn’t take up the plan with enthusiasm;
otherwise they may have ensured the complete subjugation of the British,
who were already precariously placed. The confederacy failed to take off
because of duplicity and mutual suspicions among the allied forces even
though Maratha forces—under Mahadji Sindhia, the nizam of Hyderabad
and Haidar—defeated the British and Raghoba between 1775–82 and,
through the Treaty of Salbai, demanded that the British hand Raghoba to the
Marathas, thus ending his ambitious flight.
Mysore vs Coorg
During the Maratha onslaught on Mysore, Haidar had requested the rulers
of Aigoor and Coorg to assist him. The former did but the raja of Coorg
refused. This started the bickering between Mysore and Coorg. Haidar sent
Farzullah Khan with a large army to annex Coorg. Coorg, or Kodagu as it is
called, is hailed as the ‘Scotland of India’. Coorgis have historically been a
warrior class—brave, handsome men and beautiful women being their
hallmarks. They have their own indigenous culture, customs and traditions,
and a language distinct from Kannada. They revel in the fact that they could
never be conquered due to the remote, mountainous location of Coorg and
the inaccessibility of the region, especially in the monsoons. Since the early
medieval period the little kingdom of Coorg began to prosper, because of
the silver, gold and salt trade that came through its mountains from the
Kerala coast to the great cities of the Deccan plateau. Coorg’s relative
wealth attracted several invaders, including the kings of Vijayanagara and
the medieval Deccan sultanates, but the fierce Coorgi men repulsed all of
them. The Coorgis had always been great lovers of freedom and guard their
sovereignty very dearly. The region was ruled by the Virashaiva Haleri
Palegara family. About a third of the population consisted of Kodavas—a
group that had begun its transformation to caste much later than in the
plains of Karnataka and had therefore retained a lot of its tribal past. This
was displayed in the form of holding land and accompanying labour
operations with cooperativist tendencies.
During Haidar’s time, the throne of Coorg was shared by Mudduraja of
Haleri and Muddhiaharaja of Hormale. Their combined forces under
Lingaraja defeated Farzullah Khan. Haidar had to sign a treaty under which
he surrendered Bellare territories. But with the death of the two kings and
the installation of the weak monarch Devrajappa, coupled with the usual
palace intrigues and skirmishes, Haidar found the time ripe to invade Coorg
again. He attacked the kingdom in 1773 and annexed it. Appaji Raja was
made the titular ruler on the promise of a tribute of Rs 24,000. In 1776
Appaji Raja was killed in a campaign to capture Wynad and Lingaraja
became king. He submitted Elusavirasime, Amara, Sulya, Panje and Bellare
to Mysore.
The region had the Jamma ryots composed of a combination of castes,
like Kodava, Amma Kodava, Heggade, Eimbokala, Airi, Koyava, Mapilla
and Arey Gowdas. These Jamma ryots were enraged by the new revenue
system. Lingaraja and his son Viraraja capitalised fully on the discontent
among the ryots, leading to guerrilla warfare and peasant uprisings in Coorg
on a regular basis—a thorn in the flesh for Mysore. It was not until 1782
that Haidar finally captured Viraraja and Lingaraja, though the discontent
was far too deeply entrenched to be so easily quashed. He erected the fort of
Mercara in the most central location and confirmed the landholders in their
possessions for moderately higher revenue. As Hayavadana Rao mentions:
Compared with the revenue raised in the Mysorean territories that which had been arranged
for Coorg was extremely low; but their standard of comparison was not what had been
levied from others, but what they themselves had formerly paid. The very highest rate of
assessment in Coorg had been a tenth of the produce. In general, it was much lower and a
considerable portion of the landholders, exclusively of the military service, paid an
acknowledgement to the Raja which was merely nominal. Hyder deemed his moderation to
be excessive in requiring not much more than the old Hindu assessment of one sixth.
Battling On
Meanwhile, in 1775 a combined force of Basalat Jung of Adoni and Morari
Rao of Gutti, along with Nizam Ali’s commander-in-chief Ibrahim Khan
Dhoonsa, attacked Bellary. Caught unawares, Haidar steadily marched from
Srirangapatna with his light horse and regular and irregular foot soldiers. He
struck the besieging troops with surprise attacks from the rear. Basalat’s
camps were routed and many of his warriors killed. Haidar then set out to
Adoni and exacted ten lakhs from Basalat Jung and reimbursed himself with
one lakh Pagodas. On 23 November 1775, he arrived at Kenchanguda and
captured it along with Adoni, Penagonda, Ratnagiri and Kurnool. Morari
Rao—with his dillydallying and betrayal tactics—had spelt trouble for
Haidar since the days of the Tiruchirapalli campaign. Morari on his part
always allied with Haidar’s enemies in all the major wars, adding to the
latter’s dislike of the Gutti ruler. Haidar’s overtures for reconciliation were
scoffed at by Morari Rao. Towards the end of January 1776, after besieging
the fort for five weeks, Haidar took the fort by storm and looted the place.
Morari’s messages to Pune and Hyderabad for help met with little success.
His peace envoys were rejected by Haidar saying that the tribute money
offered grossly undervalued the real worth of Gutti. He attacked the fort
again and by the end of it, Morari Rao capitulated. He was captured and
sent away to Srirangapatna as prisoner. Morari’s territories were annexed to
Mysore. On his return, Haidar annexed many territories like Anegondi and
made his victorious way to Srirangapatna in August 1776.
In 1773, Warren Hastings had been appointed the first governor general
of India. While Clive had been content with creating the impression that the
nawab of Bengal remained sovereign, subject to the diktat of the Mughal
emperor only in some matters, Hastings moved swiftly to remove this
fiction. The nawab was stripped of his remaining powers and the annual
tribute paid to the Mughal emperor was withdrawn. Hastings supported the
kingdom of Awadh (Oudh) against the depredations of the Rohillas,

chieftains of Afghani descent, and he took measures to contain the
Marathas, though they could not be prevented from attacking Agra,
Mathura, and even Delhi, the seat of the Mughal empire. He had heard
ballads about Haidar and his legendary bravery and was determined to crush
him.
A New Ruler
On 16 September 1776, the 17-year-old Maharaja Bettada Chamaraja
Wodeyar died, throwing the royal family into utter despair. The childless raja
left no heirs. Haidar rushed to Srirangapatna to offer his condolences to the
bereaved family. Maharani Lakshmammanni desired to crown her brother-
in-law’s son Narasarajayya or her co-wife’s son Siddharajayya. But Haidar
intervened, asserting that these boys had physical deformities which
prevented their adoption under the Hindu law of succession. He told her that
since the Yadu family of the Wodeyars must shine with a reputed leader, she
could not just crown anyone without proper scrutiny of his worth. It was
public knowledge that Haidar just wanted to defy the maharani and to
ensure that a powerless infant sat on the throne. Although terribly angry, the
maharani, fearful of Haidar’s wrath, agreed.
All the children of the royal family, the nobility, and the Urs families
were called in for the special kind of examination Haidar set up in a manner
where the final decision rested with him. The children were left in a huge
room strewn with a variety of objects—fruits, sweetmeats, flowers, toys,
books, money bags, male and female ornaments, weapons and so on. The
boys were asked to pick whatever they wanted. Haidar was most satisfied by
the actions of Chamaraja, a two-and-a-half-year old who picked up a mirror
and a sword, symbolising his equanimity between pleasure and duty and
also the transparency with which he intended to run the affairs of the state.
Haidar loudly proclaimed: ‘He is our new king!’ He then directed all the
people assembled there to stand up in reverence and placed the child on a
couch. He sent his word to the horrified maharani that this was his decision
and seemed to seek her acceptance. The powerless maharani accepted his
choice. But deep in her heart she nurtured tremendous hatred for the boy,
who had been handpicked by the usurper of her husband’s throne. On 27
September 1776 (Bhadrapada month), the young lad was crowned as the
twenty-first ruler of Mysore—Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, ‘Khasa’
meaning legitimate. Born on 28 February 1774, he was the son of Devaraja
Urs of Arikuthara and Honnajamma.
Lakshmammanni made life miserable for the young boy and on many
occasions tried to eliminate him. Haidar came to know of her designs and,
foreseeing the possible harm that could befall the young monarch, shifted
Lakshmammanni away from the capital, to the Natakashala Bokkasada
Thotti—the fine-arts section of the palace of Nazarabad—where she was
held under house arrest. Although she left in anger, being away from
Haidar’s gaze proved to be a boon—giving her ample opportunities to
attempt secret negotiations with the British.
Maharani Lakshmammanni
Bom in 1742, this daughter of Katti Gopalaraje Urs was one of the most
heroic and sagacious queens Mysore had ever seen. She found that Haidar’s
hold on the kingdom’s royal family as well as its subjects never slackened
and burned with the desire to rid the family from this eclipse. As Joyser
describes her, she was a widow at twenty-four, ‘while yet looking forward to
a long career of womanly and queenly happiness, Lakshmammanni was left
a dowerless widow, without offspring, without husband, without kingdom,
with princely orphans to maintain and a powerful usurper to fight against!’
Had she been a weak woman, she may have fallen into despair, but
fortunately she was made of sterner stuff.
If there was one community Maharani Lakshmammanni could trust
wholeheartedly, it was that of the Sri Vaishnavas, popularly known as the
Mysore Pradhans. The families of Sri Vaishnavas or Iyengars had settled in
Karnataka many years before the arrival of the Vaishnavite pontiff
Ramanujacharya in the state. They had enjoyed a position of respect under
the benevolent monarchs of the Hoysala, Vijayanagara and Wodeyar
dynasties. Apart from royal patronage they also occupied prominent
positions in the administration either as the gums of the kings or as senior
bureaucrats. In fact, it was a member of the family of the Mysore Pradhans,
Govindarajayya, who solemnised the marriage of Maharani
Lakshmammanni with Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. It is said that in 1765,
Haidar sent his men to plunder the Pradhan’s family of his wealth but found
nothing as the latter had secretly buried the treasures and refused to disclose
their location. In frustration, the soldiers strangled him to death.
Govindarajayya’s sons, Tirumala Rao and Narayana Rao, decided to avenge
the death of their father by teaming up with the maharani.
The trusted duo of Tirumala Rao and Narayana Rao, nephews of Anche
Shamaiya, were employed as the maharani’s pradhans who acted as her
agents to the ‘Company Bahaddars’. Through them she sent emissaries to
Haidar’s foes to enlist their support against him. She even sent a messenger
to Pune to request military aid from the Marathas and though the Maratha
contingent came, Haidar cleverly made peace with them and sent them away.
Tirumala Rao was banished to Cudappah by Haidar. The maharani suffered
her biggest setback with the appointment of Muddu Malamma—her late
husband’s illegitimate wife and mother of the current ruler Bettada
Chamaraja—as the regent of the young king. She found it an affront to her
womanly honour to be seen genuflecting to the diktat of her husband’s
mistress and hated Haidar for inflicting this insult on her.
She began her negotiations as early as 1760, through one Rayadurga
Srinivasa Rao, with the first emissaries being sent to Lord Pigot, governor of
Madras, for recovering the lost grandeur of the family in the wake of the
interregnum. Pigot responded, saying that vanquishing a powerful man, like
Haidar, would require a permanent and trusted envoy of hers to station
himself at Madras and inform the British regularly about Haidar’s
movements. But the changes the Carnatic during this time prevented the
English from taking any firm action.
After a brief lull, the rani heard that Pigot had helped the native ruler of
Tanjore to occupy his lawful throne. Emboldened by this, she prevailed
upon the Rao brothers to carry her message to Pigot. This was an
assignment fraught with risk as incurring Haidar’s wrath could prove fatal
for the envoy. She managed to bribe Tirumala at Cudappah with the promise
—conditional on his help in her time of need—of the hereditary dewanship
of the kingdom after it passed back to the Wodeyar family and also an
annual salary of ten per cent of the state revenue. Haidar got wind of this
plan and sent his soldiers to Cudappah to arrest or kill Tirumala Rao. But
the latter managed to escape to Madras and met Lord Pigot who advised
them to take shelter at the court of the raja of Tanjore. No sooner had they
reached Tanjore that they received news of Pigot’s death. They were now
caught in no-man’s land and didn’t know where to proceed.
But Sullivan, the British Resident of Tanjore, introduced them to the
new Governor Lord Macartney, who readily agreed to help the rani of
Mysore. On 18 October 1782, the governor of Madras and Maharani
Lakshmammanni signed a treaty, as Wilks records, for the ‘conquest of
Hyder Ally and the restoration of Hindoo supremacy’. For the English
services she undertook to pay up to Rs 1 crore to the English army and 30
lakhs as a reward. The treaty had about fifteen articles in all, attested and
authenticated by Rev. Schwartz and shared with Tirumala Rao and John
Sullivan, the Company Representative. Hayavadana Rao describes the terms
and conditions: in the very first article, the Company stated that ‘they are
willing to assist with their troops in reducing Hyder Ali and in re-
establishing the Rajah in his hereditary dominions upon the conditions
proposed in the first, second, third and fourth Articles.’ A successive scale
of payment of money on the rani’s part is suggested in the treaty for the
‘favours’. On taking over and delivery of the Coimbatore country, 3 lakh
Canteroi Pagodas, on the English Army ascending the Balaghat (Mysore)
and taking Hardanahalli and other forts, a sum of one lakh Pagodas. ‘On the
surrender of the fort of Mysore and the government of the country being
*
given over to our Rana or whoever she may adopt,’ another one lakh was to
be paid and finally upon the ‘fall of Seringapatam’, another 5 lakhs to be
paid, ‘in all the sum of ten lakhs of Pagodas’. The English were also to
maintain an army in Mysore whose expenses were to be paid by the rana.
The Company agreed not to interfere in the internal management of the
country nor in the ‘business of the Polygars, in the collection of the
Revenue, or in the nomination of Killedars etc. but will support and assist
all officers who may be appointed by the Government of Mysore.’ If the
Company failed to ‘reduce Hyder Naig’ and were ‘obliged to make peace
with him,’ it would take over the protection of the royal family and
reimburse it of the money advanced ‘on account of our Rana for the
purposes being mentioned’. But if they achieved success in their endeavour,
the rana would be put in possession ‘of all conquests made by Hyder Ali’
and they would ‘protect her and her successors in the same ’
Some of the details of the above stated terms of the Treaty of 1782 make
interesting reading:
We will pay to the Company 3 lakhs of Kandirayeen pagodas as soon as their troops shall
have driven the enemy out of the Coimbatore, etc., countries on this side of the mountains.
As soon as the English troops shall have ascended the Balaghat and possessed themselves
of the forts of Ardmelli or Viseyburam we will pay the further sum of one lakh of pagodas.
Upon the surrender of the fort of Mysore and the Government of the country being given to
our Rana or whoever she may adopt, we will pay another lakh of pagodas. Upon the fall of
Seringapatam we will pay 5 Lakhs of pagodas, that is to say, in all, a sum of ten lakhs of
pagodas, that the Company shall not interfere in the management of the country nor for the
managements for the peshcush and chout; that the killadars, amildars and other officers
who may be appointed by the Rana for the management of the country shall be employed
and none others in the collections, and that they shall be supported by the Company’s
troops in the execution of their office, and further that the Company shall not interfere in
the business of the Paleyagars. That the Company will order to be delivered over to us
whatever jewels, treasures, elephants, horses, military stores, and effects of every kind
belonging to Hyder Naig and his officers that may be taken. That Hyder Naig and all
prisoners of rank who may be taken shall be delivered over to the Rana’s Officers. That
Seringapatam being a place of religious worship no troops shall be stationed within the
walls of that place except in times of actual war. That the Governor and Council of Madras
must procure a Sunnud from the Company in England to confirm to our Rana and her
successors the full possession and Government of all the countries that may be taken as
before mentioned from Hyder Naig for ever and ever, upon the conditions herein definitely
expressed.
It is another story altogether that at the end of the day, the British didn’t
honour a single article of the above treaty and yet, driven by complete
desperation, Maharani Lakshmammanni agreed to the new terms and
conditions laid out by the Company ‘Bahaddars’.
Lord Macartney wrote to her in a letter the same year:
God bless you! I received the letter you sent with Narayana Rao, and have noted the
contents with pleasure. I have always been anxious to serve your interests. The ingratitude
and injustice of Hyder to your Royal Family are well known to everybody. It has become a
matter of necessity not only for us, but for others also, to punish him for his misdeeds. I
write this in accordance with the treaty with you. If God blesses the efforts of the company
it will be seen how your rights will be respected. We also count much upon the services of
Tirumal Rao and other such intelligent noblemen on your behalf. And hence you may be
rest assured that your Kingdom will be restored to you. Hyder has declared war against us
and our allies through enmity. We shall therefore necessarily invade his territories from all
quarters. And by the grace of God we will restore to the rightful owners those territories,
which Hyder had occupied by fraud and force. The English and the Company will see to
this with special care. And we shall always do what is just and upright. The Ranee and her
partisans should join in this noble work. And there is no doubt that good will result in every
way.
After the conclusion of the Treaty of 1782, to help the British pass
through the Gejjelhutty Pass in their march towards Srirangapatna at the
height of the Second Mysore War, the Pradhans collected 300 horses and
accompanied Colonel Lang and his army towards Karur. On 2 April 1783,
Karur was captured, followed by Vijayamangalam on 6 April and Dindigul
on 4 May. Lang was succeeded by Fullarton who annexed Palghat,
Dharapuram and Coimbatore.
Though she remained in seclusion in the zenana, Maharani
Lakshmammanni showed herself as undaunted as some of her letters to the
well-wishers of her family show her quiet faith in the Mercy of Providence
to relieve the misfortune that befell her family; that the night would pass
away and the sun would rise. ‘May Lord Ranga help us,’ was how she
rounded off most of her letters. The locals and the subjects still had great
respect for her and fondly called her Mahamathrushree. Thus, while Haidar
remained busy with innumerable campaigns, he remained blissfully unaware
of the manipulative enemy within, who was showing the secret doorway to
his most hated enemy, the British, and striking at the very roots of his
establishment. Whether he underestimated her prowess or was afraid to take
action against a female member of the respected royal family or if it was a
gross intelligence failure on the part of his otherwise astute spy system is
unknown. But one thing was certain: the foundations of Haidar’s kingdom
were being weakened, brick by brick.
HAIDAR’S CONQUESTS
In early 1777, the confederate armies of the Marathas and the Nizam
launched a combined assault on Mysore. While the Maratha army, estimated
at around 30,000 men, assembled near Miraj on the left of the Krishna with
a view of taking over Savanoor, the Nizam’s army of 40,000 under Ibrahim
Khan Dhoonsa was to attack the southern frontiers. Receiving intelligence
of this plan, Haidar fixed his base at Gutti and reinforced the Mysorean
army commanded by Mohammad Ali. He managed to buy the Nizam with
the lure of gold. Two people failed to fall in line on this occasion—Abdul
Hakim Khan, the Cudappah Nawab and Madakari Nayaka, the Palegar of
Chitradurga. The latter had joined Trimbaka Mama in 1770, sided with the
Marathas in the siege of Nijagal and allowed Sivarama Bhao, nephew of
Morari Rao, to escape after the fall of Gutti.
The Palegar of Chitradurga, Madakari Nayaka, seemed to pose a big
threat to Haidar by befriending the peshwas. The Mysore army hurried to
besiege the fort of Chitradurga in 1777 and Tipu was despatched to conquer
the fort after befriending the minister of the chieftain of Rayadurga,
Krishnappa. But the fort and its dependencies were so well guarded and
fortified that even Tipu found it impossible to annex it. The Maratha army
sent for the help of the Nayaka under Phadke and Parasurama Bhao were
generously bribed by Haidar, who tried to annex the fort by hook or crook.
He came to know through insiders that the fort had only one small entrance,
which one had to crawl through to enter. It was this kindi or narrow opening
that offered a ray of hope for Haidar. He hatched a clever plan to send his
soldiers one by one into the fort through this opening. When a sizeable
number of soldiers had entered, they could open arms on the inmates all of
a sudden.
The Mysore troops kept a close watch on the movements of the
watchman who guarded the ramparts. They decided to sneak into the fort
one hot afternoon when the guard went home for lunch. In the middle of the
lunch, the guard wanted some water to drink. But they had run out of water
at home and so his wife Obawa decided to fetch water from a small stream
that flowed near the kindi. She was shocked to see the soldiers of Mysore
lined up to enter the fort. She rushed home to alert her husband. But finding
him totally engrossed in his lunch, she decided to save the day for
Chitradurga all by herself. She took the otiake or the long club meant for
pounding paddy grains and rushed towards the kindi. As the soldiers tried to
crawl in, Obawa smashed their skulls with her onake. After killing each
soldier she would put aside the corpse and wait for the next victim to enter.
Soon several soldiers had entered and met this fate. Obawa was unfazed that
she was a lone woman combating the skilled soldiers of a kingdom that had
shaken even the English East India Company. She saw herself merely
fulfilling her duty to her chieftain by protecting the fort. Eyes flashing, and
covered in perspiration, she stood like a bloodthirsty vampire, her upraised
onake waiting for the next prey. The guard, on his return, was shocked to see
the grotesque and eerie scene of Obawa standing with a blood-soaked onake
and several dead bodies around her, like the Goddess Kali. He blew the
bugle and aroused the slumbering troops. Obavva’s work was done, and she
encouraged the troops to attack the invaders. But the excitement proved too
much to bear and she died of exhaustion, though not before ensuring that the
enemy troops were being dealt with. The story of this heroic woman of
Chitradurga, popularly known as ‘Onake Obawa’, has assumed iconic
proportions and is known to every child in Karnataka. She is remembered to
this day for her valiant attempt to put off the Mysorean troops.
Unfortunately, Obavva’s sacrifices went in vain. The army of
Chitradurga wasn’t as brave or efficient as the lady who guarded its
ramparts. Also, Haidar managed to bribe all the Muslim soldiers of the
Nayaka’s army in the name of Islam and they literally escorted him into the
fort. The traitors soaked the guns in oil to destroy them and thus the Palegar
didn’t even have the opportunity to defend himself. Madakari Nayaka
surrendered the township in 1779; his brother Parashurama Nayaka, wife
and children were imprisoned and despatched to Srirangapatna, where
Madakari Nayaka died later that year. From all over Chitradurga thousands
of young teenagers were forcibly brought to Srirangapatna, circumcised and
converted to Islam. A special contingent of these, called the ‘Chela
Batallion’, was created at Haidar’s behest.
Haidar’s commander Fazalullah Khan defeated the Palegar of
Hardanahalli, besieged the forts of Ujjini and Kittur, captured Gudikota,
Jarimale, Kanakuppe, Molakalmuru and Dodderi. The same year, Haidar
besieged Cudappah. The Nawab of Cudappah, Abdul Hakim Khan, sent 60
Pathans to behead Haidar by nightfall. These people slowly crept towards
the tent where Haidar slept. But his loyal watchman warned him and Haidar
leapt in self-defence. He made a dummy figurine of himself with pillows
and shawls and escaped to rouse the other soldiers. As the trespassers tried
to stab ‘Haidar’, he and his soldiers attacked them from behind and cut off
their hands and legs. He then besieged Cudappah, took the fort by storm,
looted the place, captured and deposed the Nawab and his family, sending
them to Srirangapatna. The hands and feet of the assassins were cut off and
some others dragged round the camp tied to the feet of elephants!
SECOND ANGLO-MYSORE WAR
Meanwhile, internationally the situation was getting tough for the British.
The American War of Independence broke out in 1775. It began more as a
colonial revolt against the economic policies of the British empire but
eventually widened beyond British colonies in North America with France,
Spain and the Netherlands entering the war against Great Britain. The
British forces in India had just recovered from the shameful debacle in the
Maratha war where they had to give up their loyalist Raghunath Rao to the
combined forces. It was the worst timing for Hastings. The strain of the
American war reduced the possibility of reinforcements in India; British sea
power was severely constrained and gave the French a chance of recovery.
The French declared their war against the British in 1778 and Haidar, who
had remained a trusted ally of the French, threw his lot in, to fight what
came to be known as the Second Anglo-Mysore War.
Tiruchirapalli and the Carnatic were a blot on Mysore’s history and a
personal failure for Haidar. Right from the conquest of Tiruchirapalli by
Nanjarajayya to the time of the First Anglo-Mysore War, Mysore tried in
vain to annex Tiruchirapalli. In 1774–75, Haidar set his eyes again on the
Camatic-Payenghat region. By 1776, detailed strategies were created to
attack Tiruchirapalli again under the command of Sayyid Mokhdum and
Tipu. In 1779, a detachment of 10,000 cavalry under Murarji Mama and
Berki Srinivasa Rao was despatched to cross Kaveripatnam towards the
Changama pass and then divide into four branches. One was to remain there,
the other to invade Tiruchirapalli, the third to move towards Ambur and the
fourth to approach the Carnatic region. Haidar wrote to Muhammad Ali yet
again, demanding that he respect the earlier treaty and hand over
Tiruchirapalli to Mysore. When the latter remained indifferent, Haidar
prepared for the final assault on Tiruchirapalli in June 1780 with a force of
about a lakh—perhaps the largest army confederacy ever assembled in
southern India. It further proved the importance of the accession of
Tiruchirapalli in the larger scheme of things for Mysore.

Proceeding by way of Maddur, Chennapatna and Bangalore, Haidar
crossed the frontier at Hosur and traversed Madanahalli, Palukode,
Kaveripatnam and Singarapettai to reach Kilpauk by end-June 1780. Here,
the army was split into two parts. The larger division stayed with him. The
other one, consisting of 20,000 cavalry, was despatched to conduct
simultaneous raids on the entire southern peninsular and Carnatic regions
from Machlipatnam in the north to Arcot, Chengelpet, Vellore, Pondicherry,
Kumbakonam, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai and Rameswaram in the south.
Balavant Rao was despatched with 500 horses to Karur to intercept the
English forces before they reached Tiruchirapalli, and Sardar Khan at
Calicut was to guard Telichery. With such an extensive strategic movement
of the army, Haidar finally attacked the heart of the Carnatic on 20 July
1780.
Individual regiments were also sent to important locations to guard or
take by storm. Haidar captured a sequence of forts and places—
Tiruvannamalai, Chetput, Tiruvattoor, Gulwa, Kaveripak, etc., before laying
siege to Arcot on 21 August 1780. Achanna Pandita, the chieftain of the
Arcot fort, held his territory in a gallant battle.
No movement was made till smoke was seen from St. Thomas’ Mount,
where Sir Hector Munro commanded some 5,200 troops. Taken by surprise,
the British sent their commanders in defence of their ally Muhammad Ali.
Corps were despatched under Colonel Harper in Guntur; Colonel Baillie
commanded the army towards the southern parts of Kalahasti and Tirupati,
and Colonel Braithwaite moved to Chengelpet. Reinforcements were sent to
salvage Arcot and to important locations like Udaiyarpalayam, Gingee,
Karnatakgar and Wandiwash. However, the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Hector
Munro decided otherwise midway and directed the troops to assemble at
Kanchipuram. Accordingly, before end-August, the regiments regrouped
there—General Munro with a force of 5,209, Colonel Braithwaite and
Colonel Baillie with 2,813 men. The move was intended to distract Haidar
from Arcot and the motive was accomplished. Haidar turned defensive,
lifting the siege of Arcot on 29 August 1780 and marching towards
Kanchipuram.
By the time they reached Kanchipuram, Munro’s provisions seemed to
be running out. They were amazed at Muhammad Ali’s reported inability,
when approached for help, to bail them out at this critical juncture. Colonel
Baillie, however was camped on the wrong side of the River Kortalaiyar and
with the seasonal floods, they were stranded on that bank. Tipu attacked
Baillie’s already exhausted and dissipated forces, completely encircling the
troops. To add to Baillie’s discomfort, Haidar sent his infantry, guns and
forces to Permabakum and Polilur where Baillie was being trapped. The
fierce battle that followed resulted in the total destruction of Baillie’s force
of 2,800 on 10 September 1780. Of the 86 European officers, including the
staff and surgeons, 36 were killed or fatally wounded and 50, of whom 34
were wounded, were taken prisoner along with 3,820 soldiers (including 508
Europeans) and Baillie himself.
This was a major blow to the British, who had already suffered an
ignoble defeat in the First Anglo-Mysore War. It was in fact the first and
most serious setback the English had suffered in India. The whole
detachment was either killed or taken prisoner. This defeat caused much
consternation in Madras. Sir Hector Munro, the hero of Buxar, who had
defeated three rulers of India (Mughal emperor Shah Alam, Nawab of Oudh
Shuja-ud-daula and Nawab of Bengal Mir Qasim) in a single battle, was
petrified at the prospect of facing Tipu. He ran for his life to Madras,
throwing all his cannons into the tank of Kanchipuram.
Tipu had taken great interest in the Mysore-Maratha war of 1769–72.
After the death of Peshwa Madhava Rao in 1772, he was sent to the
northern part of Mysore to recover the territories previously occupied by the
Marathas. By the time of the Second Anglo-Mysore War, he had gained
great experience both in warfare and diplomacy. In September 1780 he
inflicted a crushing defeat on Colonel Baillie near Polilur.
The terrified British were severely critical of Munro, who had been the
chief planner of the Kanchipuram strategy which had boomeranged badly
on the British. Innes Munro said:
In a review of this melancholy and fatal event, that no imputation may fall on any
individual, it is necessary to recur to the origin of the ill-concerted expedition. It was first
suggested, as has always been observed, by the Nabob of Arcot (who was very naturally
solicitous to save his capital), and eagerly embraced by the Council. The only plausible
reason which they could adduce in support of a measure of such singular hazard was the
impossibility of supporting the army, when reinforced in the vicinity of Madras. No
provisions had been laid in by them, nor the smallest preparation made for the support even
of a force so inconsiderable. They, therefore, without any consideration of probable
contingencies, resolved upon sending out the army to forage for themselves, who were to be
joined by another still worse provided than they were. Had Lieutenant Colonel Baillie’s
detachment been ordered to repair to St. Thomas’ Mount, as proposed by Sir Hector Munro
and Lord Macleod, it is probable it would have accomplished the junction without
molestation, as Hyder’s whole army was then before Arcot. When united they might then
have had the ability to execute any judiciously concerted plan which might have tended to
the relief of the settlement.
After pursuing Munro on his flight to Madras, Haidar camped at Arcot yet
again. With the guidance of French officers, he commanded the
simultaneous firing from two columns of his army under Maha Mirza Khan
and Tipu. Finally, on 28 November 1780, Arcot fell to Haidar, and Achanna
Pandita, Arshed Beg Khan, Chistiyar Khan and Sayyid Hamid of the fort
were taken prisoner. It seemed like the death knell for Muhammad Ali.
Haidar advanced down south as far as Tanjore and took Chambargarh,
Dhobigarh, Kailasgarh, Karnatakgarh, Satgarh, Sholingur, Tripasore,
Tindivanam and many other places of the Carnatic and Payenghat. Tipu was
proclaimed ‘Nabob of the Carnatic’.
Warren Hastings had to act fast. Matters were out of control. He sent from
Bengal Sir Eyre Coote, one of the chief architects of the Battle of Plassey.
Sir Charles Smith, a Senior Member of Council replaced Whitehall as
Governor of Madras. The British had to change strategy if they didn’t want
to upset the southern applecart. The Carnatic was already out of their hands.
On 17 January 1781, Eyre Coote marched to salvage Chengelpet,
Wandiwash and Carnagooly. All the three were annexed and Haidar forced
to decamp from Wandiwash. Haidar moved to Porto Novo and from there
attempted a siege of Tiruchirapalli in June 1781 along with Tipu, assisted by
French forces under Monsieur Lally. But Coote diverted him by attacking
Chidambaram, which was Haidar’s strategic entry-point to the Carnatic.
The two met head on in the famous Battle of Porto Novo on 1 July 1781.
Coote dealt Haidar’s forces a crushing defeat at Porto Novo and won the
battle despite odds of five to one. This victory is regarded as one of the great
feats of the British in India. As Innes Munro recounts:
Upon the conclusion of this hard-contested business, how mortifying was it to find that no
other advantage had been gained by us after such extreme fatigue than the simple
possession of the field?—A compensation very inadequate to the loss of so many gallant
soldiers. This might have been one of the most glorious and decisive victories ever
obtained, had the General permitted the line to advance at an earlier period of the day.
There cannot be a doubt but it would have finally terminated the war, as most of the
enemy’s guns must have inevitably fallen into our hands; for it was with the utmost
difficulty they got them reconveyed across the nullah during the pursuit, a labour in which,
by Meer Sahib’s gallantry, and our own tardiness, they were singularly favoured. It was also
a matter of surprise to many in the army that the British cavalry were not ordered to pursue
the fugitives, there being, with Mahrattas and others, a thousand in the camp, a number that
might have done considerable execution against a flying enemy if properly conducted,
particularly as they had eight light three-pounders dragged by horses constantly attached to
them.
This was closely followed by another bloody war in Polilur, where
Haidar had crushed the British during the First Anglo-Mysore war. But luck
did not favour him this time. He suffered a second defeat before Coote’s
forces on 27 August 1781. Munro quotes Coote’s description of this war:
Had not Hyder Ally from a principle of superstition, which we know regulates in a great
measure the actions of the natives, chose to have met me at the ground on which he had
been formerly successful, I could not have moved one mile further to the westward in quest
of him, but must have been, for want of provisions, reduced to the necessity of returning
without action... Hyder Ally’s army was strongly posted. His troops, covered in hollow ways
and ranged just behind the summit of the rising ground in our front, would not stand when
pushed. Their loss consequently (was) not so considerable as it would have been had they
waited the decision of the day from our musketry, but this they in general avoided, always
drawing off their guns, and retiring before we can bring them to close action.
A month later, on 27 September, the Mysore forces lost yet again to
Coote at Sholingarh. Haidar’s forces were pushed towards Kaveripauk and
the army of Mysore suffered more than 2,000 casualties. Lord Macartney
had taken over as the new governor of Madras and his first priority was to
relieve Vellore. Additional provisions were sent to Vellore and Haidar’s
supplies blocked en route to Chittoor. Despite the reverses, Haidar’s army
carried on with their surprise attacks, forcing the British to retreat and join
the main army at Madowady. However Tipu, who had besieged Wandiwash,
was forced to raise the siege even as Coote marched menacingly towards the
place.
Tipu, however, avenged the three successive defeats of the Mysorean
forces at British hands. He inflicted a serious and humiliating defeat on
Colonel Braithwaite at Annagudi near Tanjore on 18 February 1782. This
army consisted of 100 Europeans, 300 cavalry, 1,400 sepoys and 13 guns.
Tipu seized all the guns and took the entire detachment prisoner. The total
force, of a few hundred Europeans, was the standard size of the colonial
armies that had caused havoc in India before Haidar and Tipu. In December
1781 Tipu had successfully seized Chittoor from British hands. Thus, Tipu
had gained sufficient military experience towards the end of the Second
Anglo-Mysore War.
On 17 May 1782, the Treaty of Salbai, signed between the British and
the Marathas, decided Raghoba’s fate. It meant some reprieve from war for
Mysore, though the terms were inimical to Mysore. Haidar had to relinquish
all territories taken from the Marathas after his earlier treaty with the late
Madhava Rao in 1767 and had to evacuate the Carnatic. To add to it, there
was an insurrection in the Malabar and rebellion in Balam and Coorg. The
French contingent arrived, though much later than promised, with about 300
men and an African regiment. Haidar conferred with Monsieur Cossigny
and Admiral Suffrein, hoping that Monsieur Bussy would come to his aid in
the South with a large contingent, as promised. The English kept track of
the clandestine deals between Haidar and the French and sought to stop
Bussy’s arrival through naval actions off Trincomalee in April 1782. Haidar,
however, made four divisions in the Mysore army, the biggest being led by
him and the other three by the faithful Palegars, Monsieur Lally and
Commandant Mohammad Ali and Tipu. They secured Cuddalore and
Permacoil and moved towards Ami. The Battle of Ami with the British
forces took place on 2 June 1782. The English incurred considerable losses
and were forced to beat a hasty retreat to Vellore, with nearly 2,000 of their
soldiers taken prisoner. Attempts at peace bore no fmit as Haidar was
determined that Muhammad Ali cede Tiruchirapalli to Mysore—an idea the
latter decisively dismissed.
DEATH OF HAIDAR
In the midst of the war at Narasingarayapet near Chittoor, Haidar fell
seriously ill. Tipu was at that time away in the Malabar to crush the Nair
revolt and also to enlist French support for rebuilding the artillery. Haidar
had a trusted commander Sheikh Ayaz, to whom he had granted the
governorship of Bidnaur. Unknown to Haidar, the man had been bought by

the British, to whom he regularly leaked important state secrets. Wilks
speaks of Ayaz’s early life and career, which began with Haidar’s first
Malabar invasion of 1766:
Among the many prisoners carried off in the first inhuman emigration from Malabar was a
young Nair, from Chercul, who had been received as a slave of the palace, and to whom on
his forced conversion to Islam, they had given the name of Sheikh Ayaz. The noble port,
the ingenuous manners and singular beauty of the boy, attracted general attention; and
when at a more mature age he was led into the field, his ardent valour and uncommon
intelligence recommended him to the particular favour of Hyder, who was an enthusiast in
his praise, and would frequently speak of him, under the designation of ‘his right hand in
the hour of danger’. Ayaz soon conveyed the impression of an affectionate and trustworthy
humble friend in the estimation of Hyder. To the endowments which have been stated,
incessant and confidential military service has superadded experience beyond his years; and
Hyder selected him for the important trust of civil and military governor of the fort and
territory of Chitteldoorg. But modest as he was faithful and brave, Ayaz wished to decline
the distinction, as one to which he felt himself incompetent...
Despite being rewarded lavishly by Haidar, Sheikh Ayaz seemed to
foster bitter memories and was perhaps biding his time for revenge. On his
part, Tipu never really liked Sheikh Ayaz, because he was his father’s
favourite. Haidar would publicly shower praise on Ayaz and contrast him
with his own son—something Tipu despised with all his heart.
Meanwhile, Haidar’s health was deteriorating by the day. The hakims
and vaids had given up hope of an immediate recovery. Pumaiya, his trusted
associate, was at the helm of affairs in the war camp. News of Haidar’s ill-
health was concealed from the general public and the army, lest it create
confusion. So the only people, other than Pumaiya, who were privy to the
news were Commandant Mohammad Ali, Krishna Rao, Badar-u-Zumaun
Khan, Maha Mirza Khan, Ghazi Khan and Abu Muhammad Mirdha.
Pumaiya decided to send the message to Tipu and did so through three
emissaries—Ghulam Mohammad, Amir Khan and Sadhuram. Mohammad
was in Ayaz’s pay and carried the confidential letter straight to his master’s
chambers. The British got the news in this manner but, since the coded
message meant for Tipu could not be entirely deciphered, were not sure of
Haidar’s exact condition. Even the watchmen outside Haidar’s tent did not
know if their master was dead or alive. Amir Khan was killed on the way
and it was Sadhuram alone who managed to reach Malabar and convey the
message of his father’s critical condition to Tipu.
But by then a different kind of situation prevailed in the war camps at
Narasingarayanapet. A frustrated Sheikh Ayaz spread rumours through
Shamsuddin and Mohammad Araman that Pumaiya had murdered Haidar.
All this was done to create confusion and anarchy in the already thwarted
army. But the enraged Pumaiya dealt with the situation with all firmness. He
immediately ordered the arrest and execution of the mischief-makers. To
instil confidence in the troops, bugles and drums were played outside the
tent as usual, as if on Haidar’s orders. The troops prayed for their master’s
recovery. Had the situation gone out of control it would have ensured
disaster for Mysore. The British were waiting in the wings to deal their final
blow and there was no dearth of traitors either.
Finally, on 7 December 1782, Haidar, who from his humble origin had
risen to the corridors of power and royalty, usurping the very kingdom
whose king had once bought his welfare, who had been relentless in his
hatred and battle against the British who were out to plunder the country,
prayed for the last time to his Maker and dropped down dead.
These were testing times for Pumaiya. The news of Haidar’s death was
to be kept a secret lest it create anarchy in the army. As part of an elaborate
plan, huge chests were brought in and announced as gifts sent by the
Ottoman Caliph of Constantinople wishing Haidar a quick recovery. The
caliph was considered the ultimate symbol of Islamic power and therefore
his name was brought into this entire deception. This practice continued for
a few days, as if Haidar had seen the gifts, accepted them and ordered that
they be sent to the treasury of Srirangapatna. When the people got used to
this practice, Pumaiya decided to use the chests to send Haidar’s body to
Srirangapatna, before the stench of the rotting body could raise the
troops’suspicions. The chest was despatched with an abnormally heavy
escort and the body was taken to Kolar where Haidar’s father Fateh
Muhammad lay buried.
Tipu finally arrived. Shaken by his father’s untimely demise, he wanted
to renounce everything. He was, however, inspired and advised by Pumaiya
and the others to realise his duties and work for the cause for which his
father had laid down his life. After the burial ceremonies at Srirangapatna,
Tipu resolved to carry on the war against the British. Thus ended the story
of one of Mysore and India’s greatest warriors—a man blessed with an
insurmountable spirit coupled with a cunning and sharp intellect; someone
who had the courage to face the challenges of life and turn the tables against
destiny.
———————————
*
The Northern Circars was a former division of British India’s Madras Presidency, which
consisted of a narrow strip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal in
the present-day Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa (comprising the districts of
Krishna, East Godavari, West Godavari, Vishakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram, Srikakulam,
Prakasam and Guntur, as well as the Gajapati and Ganjam districts of Orissa). The territory
derived its name from Circar or Sarkar, an Indian term applied to the component parts of a
subah or province, each of which is administered by a deputy governor. There were five
Northern Circars: Chicacole (Srikakulam), Rajahmundry, Ellore, Kondapalli and Guntur,
covering a total area of about 30,000 square miles.
*
Though a rani, she was referred to as Rana in recognition of her bravery in a man’s world.
10
HAIDAR ALI: THE MAN AND HIS
LEGACY
aidar Ali, who captured popular imagination with his meteoric rise,
and who stayed at the top through a unique mix of leadership, cunning
and manipulative skills, has been much studied by historians. Macaulay
wrote:
About thirty years before this time a Mohammadan soldier had begun to distinguish himself
in the wars of Southern India. His education had been neglected; his extraction was
humble. His father had been a petty officer of revenue; his grand father a wandering
darvise. But though thus meanly descended, though ignorant even of the alphabet, the
adventurer had no sooner been placed at the head of a body of troops than he proved
himself a man born for conquest and command. Among the crowd of chiefs who were
struggling for a share of India, none could compare with him in the qualities of the captain
and the statesman. He became a general; he became a sovereign. Out of the fragments of
old principalities which had gone to pieces in the general wreck, he formed for himself a
great, compact and vigorous Empire. That Empire he ruled with the ability, severity and
vigilance of Louis the Eleventh. Licentious in his pleasures, implacable in his revenge, he
had yet enlargement of mind enough to perceive how much the prosperity of subjects adds
to the strengths of Governments. He was an oppressor; but he had at least the merit of
protecting his people against all oppression except his own. He was now in extreme old age;
but his intellect was as clear and his spirits ashigh as in the prime of his manhood. Such
was the great Hyder Ali, the founder of the Mahammadan Kingdom of Mysore and the
most formidable enemy with whom the English conquerors of India have ever had to
contend.
Nothing could have summed up Haidar’s life and times more aptly. He
had strenuously and painstakingly worked his way up the ladder of fame,
leaving behind a legacy of his own in the pages of history. But, as

mentioned in an earlier context, we find contradictions galore when it comes
to an authenticated account of his nature and psyche. Unlike the Mughals
who were either great poets or writers themselves, Haidar was illiterate, and
so he took his thoughts, strategies and dreams to the grave with him. The
accounts we have are merely those of subservient courtiers or of
antagonistic documenters who supported the royal family. Some of the
latter, as we saw earlier, have depicted him as the murderer of the teenage
kings of Mysore to ensure the elimination of the dynasty itself. Author
Mirza Iqbal strongly criticises Haidar’s regime, and rather surprisingly for a
fellow Muslim of the times:
By his power mankind were held in fear and trembling; and from his severity God’s
creatures, day and night, were thrown into apprehension and terror. Cutting off the nose and
ears of any person within his territories were the commonest things imaginable and the
killing a man there was thought no more of than the treading on an ant. No person of
respectability ever left his house with the expectation to return safe to it.
Thus, records of this period tend to be viewed with a lot of
apprehension. While the Hindu records sing paeans of glory to the royal
family of Mysore and heap scorn on the ‘upstart usurper’, and British
records do only the latter, Muslim records exalt him as a personification of
all that was good and noble in the world. However, one could not dispute his
sense of tolerance, amply brought out in this anecdote:
A Muslim saint, Peer Ladha, complained to Haidar that the Hindus of
Srirangapatna had beaten up his followers, the true soldiers of the army of
Allah. On investigation, Haidar learnt that the fault lay with the Muslim
followers, who had attacked a religious procession of the Hindus and
triggered off this violent reaction. When Peer Ladha tried to justify the
Muslim action, saying that the very fact that such a procession could take
place was an insult to Islam and must not be tolerated by Haidar as the
‘head of a Mussalman Government’, Haidar replied, ‘Who told you that it
was a Mussalman Government? I am sure I never did.’ The priest then
threatened to leave Srirangapatna and Haidar dismissed him, saying he
could go wherever he pleased.
FATEH HAIDAR
Among the many aspects of Haidar’s life, we have a glimpse of him as a
warrior and soldier with a never-say-die attitude that kept him going till his
last breath. The other facets of his life are those of an administrator while he
assumed the supreme dictatorship of the kingdom and importantly, the man
himself. As stated before, the paucity of authentic information limits our
deeper exploration of these facets of Haidar’s long and inspiring life.
Credit for the consolidation of the kingdom, which had endured severe
bouts of political instability and turmoil under the vicious dalavoy regime,
goes to Haidar. Apart from making Mysore a force to reckon with in the
geopolitical environment of the Deccan and India, Haidar streamlined the
administration of the kingdom, which expanded under him to roughly
80,000 square miles, yielding an annual return of Rs 2 crore. The kingdom
was divided into 20 main tukdis or sub-divisions. The daftar, khajana and
fouz were the three main administrative units. The administrative machinery
was run by a dewan, three bakshis in the Capital city, 20 Fouzdars for the 20
divisions of the state, 100 mamaledars, 100 shirastedars, killedars and 1,700
harikars, apart from the large militia guarding the borders.
One particular aspect of Haidar’s personality—reflected both in his
administrative model as well as in his personal dealings—was a deep-rooted
suspicion of everyone around him. Since he had risen up the ranks the hard
way and faced the most treacherous onslaught from the royal family and his
own one-time ally Khande Rao, Haidar simply refused to trust people
around him for too long. Most of his dewans enjoyed the post only for short
periods of time. Haidar did not believe in concentrating power in a few
hands and was convinced that absolute power corrupts absolutely. So he
sacked his dewans at regular intervals. There were five dewans during his
tenure—Venkatappa, Chinnayya, Asad Ali Khan, Silahat Khan and Mir
Sadak. Mir Sadak was the only one who enjoyed Haidar’s confidence and
lasted at his post longer than the others could have ever dreamt of doing. In
fact, Sadak continued even after Haidar’s death, though eventually Tippu
made a grave mistake in continuing to have faith in his father’s trusted
lieutenant. Pumaiya, who headed the Daftar Department as its bakshi, was
another close associate of Haidar’s and almost a part of his family. Krishna
Rao headed the khajana or treasury as Pumaiya’s senior. Haidar’s brother-
in-law Mokhdum Saib was the bakshi of the fouz or army.

Probably mindful of the high-intensity negotiations Rani
Lakshmammanni and other members of the royal family were indulging in,
Haidar had a vast network of spies spread all over Mysore. There were
occasions when people would comment that even walls and doors could
have been planted with ears by the ‘Nawab’. His spies had an uncanny flair
for mingling freely with the local populace and, in the course of common
talk, extracting valuable news of goings-on in the kingdom. Haidar gave
regular audience to these spies.
Curbs were also imposed on the freedom of the subjects of the kingdom
fearing the sort of mobilisation that would be detrimental to his interests.
People could not assemble in large groups or talk in public gatherings. They
had to obtain prior permission from Haidar’s office even for events, such as
a marriage in the family. In fact, Haidar’s men could loiter into a marriage
party, get some goodies from the bride or bridegroom’s side and also collect
secret information from the casual conversation at such get-togethers.
His mohar or signet ring had the name ‘Fateh Haidar’ inscribed on it in
Persian while his durbar mohar or royal insignia had the proud declaration:
‘Fateh Haidar has taken birth to conquer this world. There is none who can
match his bravery and the power of his sword.’
The employees of the kingdom received their salaries through a system
called patta. This had two broad categories—Shamsi and Khamri—which
corresponded to the months of the Muslim calendar. The wages were
seldom paid for a whole month; months of the Muslim calendar with fewer
days earned them lower wages. On an annual basis, employees got their
salary for just 9–10 months of a traditional 12-month year. But they got
plenty of ‘gifts’ in kind—either loot money after successful expeditions or
some gracious bonus awarded by the ‘Nawab’. They had to wait patiently for
these to be sanctioned. His natural suspicion also ensured that Haidar Ali,
resorted to various means, including torture, for extraction of information
and punishment. Errant and corrupt government officials were subjected to
the severest torture the kingdom had ever seen. Thus Mysore, under the
Interregnum Period of Haidar Ali and Tippu, saw a curious combination of
medieval practices and progressiveness. A more comprehensive assessment
of the administrative set-up and reforms that emerged in the 40-year rule of
the house of Haidar has been presented towards the end of this section.
THE MAN HIMSELF
Moving on to other interesting aspects of Haidar’s life—his personality,
what his typical day was like, what anecdotes or glimpses we have of the
way he thought, interacted with people around him and so on—this picture
of the heroes of history is essential to de-mystify them and to help us relate
to their human side. However, as stated earlier, the lack of comprehensive
and credible information impairs our voyage into these aspects of Haidar’s
life. Historian Hayavadana Rao quotes Wilks on Haidar:
It is impossible to withhold homage from the great natural talents, which raised an
unlettered adventurer to the supreme control of a powerful kingdom, or the indomitable
energy and fertility of resource, which found the most desperate reverses but fresh
opportunities of rising...he could neither read nor write any language, though he spoke
fluently Hindustani, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu and Tamil. The sum of his literary
attainments consisted in learning to write the initial of his own name, H, to serve as his
signature on public occasions; but either from inaptitude to learn, or for the purpose of
originality, he invented its form, and signed thus, hh. In person he is described as robust
and of medium height, of dark complexion, with an aquiline nose and small eyes. Contrary
to the usual custom of Mussalmans, his face was clean shaven, even the eyebrows and
eyelashes being removed.
The most striking article of his dress was a scarlet turban, flat at the top and
of immense diameter. His uniform was flowered white satin, with yellow
facings and yellow boots, and a white silk scarf round his waist. He was fond
of show and parade on great occasions and at such times was attended by a
thousand spear-men, and preceded by bards who sang of his exploits in the
Kannada language. He was an accomplished horseman, a skilful swordsman
and a dead shot. He had a large harem of six hundred women, but his strong
sensual instincts were never allowed to interfere with public business. From
sunrise to past noon he was occupied in public durbar; he then made his first
meal and retired to rest for an hour or two. In the evening, he either rode out or
returned to business. But frequently, the night was enlivened with the
performances of dancing girls or of actors of comedies. He took a second meal
about midnight and retired to rest, sometimes having drunk freely.
A couple of anecdotes from contemporary writers, like Kirmani and
Mirza Iqbal, give us a glimpse into Haidar’s personal life and nature. To
quote Kirmani:
On most occasions, Hydur used patiently to bear with the petulance and coarseness of the
brave men in his service. As, for instance, one day, in the Nawaub’s court, or assembly,
some recollections of the battle of Churkoli (Chinkurli) were introduced. The Nawaub said,
that on one day his whole army had followed the path of cowardice; that they had run away
before his face; that no one with his sword in his hand had exerted himself faithfully; and
that they (the officers), to save their own lives, had sacrificed those of their men. Among
those who were present there, was Yaseen Khan Wunti Koodri, who had followed the path
of faith and honour in that battle and who had there devoted, as a charitable donation to the
sword and fear, the whole of his body, and one eye; and he said in answer, ‘Yes, Huzrut,
what you say is true; for such occurrences arise from fate, and depend on the will and
power of no man. Yet, this eye of mine, for what was it put out? And for what man did I
lose the blessings of sight, the pleasures of beholding the lights and shades of the many
coloured world, the object and delight of life?’ The Nawaub smiled at this and said—’ I did
not mean you.’
Kirmani writes on another occasion:
Sometimes he was fond of sporting his wit, or of joking, with his associates or companions,
particularly with Ali Zuman Khan.
At the time the Souba of Sira was conquered, the Nawaub one day mounted his horse to
look at the city, that there are many tombs in front of the doors of the houses, and also in
the streets or roads. The Nawaub, therefore asked those who were with him, how these
tombs became placed in the middle of the town. Those persons replied that apparently, the
whole space had been formerly waste land; but now, men seeing that God’s people were
protected, and the peasantry, encouraged by His Highness, they had assembled from all
parts and had built the city. The Nawaub said, ‘A truce to your compliments! Do you not
know that these men and women died fighting for their houses?’
Mirza Iqbal states:
In his Durbars or levees, no one dared converse, or even whisper. If any one had a wedding
in his house, he could not invite any friends; except thrpugh the Nawaub, and the agency of
his servants; and even then he gave his Wordi Hurkaras orders to go and see and hear what
was said and done. These men, therefore were in general bribed not to tell the truth; but he
believed all they told him. If he had advanced anyone of his servants money, the third part
of his pay was stopped until the amount was refunded; and if anyone paid the debt on
demand, he was accustomed to demand interest, under the pretence that he had borrowed
the money from a banker for him. But when he obtained the interest, he said, ‘This man is
rich, why did he borrow money from me? Seize his goods’; and accordingly, his property
was sometimes confiscated or stolen by thieves set on by Hydur’s authority.
Haidar never had elaborate or fancy dietary habits. He never insisted on
the cooking of his favourite dishes—perhaps he did not have any favourites.
The food and the way it was eaten were not commensurate with the high
post he held and he retained the ruggedness of an average Mysorean solider

all his life. He preferred sour and spicy dishes to sweet ones. Dried grams or
rotis made of rice flour, wheat and ragi were his staple during war times and
travel.
Despite being illiterate, Haidar had a sharp intellect and common sense.
He was a veritable face-reader, a skill he had picked up out of insecurities
born of suspicion. He had an infallible memory as well and recollected
people and incidents even several years later. He seldom met visitors from
unknown lands and that too after they were subjected to stringent cross-
examination to verify their objectives. He had a cheerful disposition, made
interesting and witty conversation interspersed with jokes. But it was just as
easy to incur his wrath—he was infamous for his nasty temper, losing
control over his speech and shooting the worst of invectives on the hapless
victim.
Tuesdays and Fridays were the stipulated days for his elaborate shaves.
No one dared to disturb him while he was busy with this, usually till about
noon. For some strange reason, after assuming kingship, he preferred his
head to be completely hairless. The shave would begin from a tonsure to
shaving of his facial hair—beard, moustache, eyelashes and eyebrows. This
caused his sharp features to seem all the more prominent!
The towns and villages of Mysore would abound with nomadic women
playing the dolu (drum) and singing melodiously to entertain people. A
regular feature of Mysorean weddings and get-togethers, these nomads were
soon placed under Haidar’s pay and they secretly gathered information
about the happenings of the kingdom as well as of pretty women in the
countryside. Haidar’s men would then go to the suggested house and, either
through coercion or wilful surrender, bring those beauties to his harem in
Srirangapatna. Soon, commoners were petrified at the voice of the dolu
woman—the woman who was believed to usher in good fortune now
became a harbinger of doom for the young women in any household. The
captive women were classified into four groups in the harem and
distinguished by the colour of their dress—red, green, blue and white. Each
group was assigned different chores under the supervision of a female head,
who finally reported to Haidar’s principal wife Fatima Begum. Not all were
subjected to Haidar’s licentiousness and lust—some he seldom spoke to.
They ended up being domestic slaves who also added a touch of glamour to
the royal household. He also started a Natakashala (to guard the treasury of
which he exiled Rani Lakshmammanni)—a centre for performing arts
where these captive women were sent if they had a talent for music, theatre
or dance. They were trained there and later utilised for the Nawab’s
entertainment.
Each time Haidar entered Fatima’s apartments, he would bring along the
costliest of jewels and other valuables as gifts. The entire harem of captive
females would wait on him and fan or caress him. But he seldom looked at
them; he had eyes only for his darling wife. Despite all his love for Fatima,
he was also extremely scared of her! She was ‘blessed’ with the most caustic
tongue and Haidar used to dread its wagging! This prevented him from
engaging in any verbal duel or argument with her. If the decibel levels
soared far beyond his comfort, he would make a hurried exit and join his
friends for a drink, lamenting Fatima’s acid-tongue and exclaiming that
encountering the British was a better proposition for him than facing the
domestic harangue!
Tipu seemed to be under the sway of his mother as well. After the
conquest with the British in 1771, Haidar had on his return from Madras via
Arcot selected a bride for Tipu. But his wife and son had other plans,
preferring instead the daughter of Lala Amin, one of the heroes of the
Chinkurli episode. They went ahead and selected this pretty nymphet.
Although this greatly angered Haidar, he later consented to Tipu’s marriage
to both these young women as per Islamic laws. Thus, Tipu wedded on the
same day the woman of his choice and another of his father’s choice. In
1778, Tipu’s brother Karim was married but this did little to change him. He
remained a recluse and had transformed into an ascetic Sufi. Lost in his own
thoughts, Karim was a constant source of worry for Haidar in his last days.
In his memoirs, De La Tour, a Frenchman in charge of Haidar’s artillery,
talks extensively about the routine followed by Haidar. Hayavadana Rao
sums these up in the following way:
Haidar rose daily with the sun, about six o’clock. Immediately thereafter, the military
officers, corresponding to adjutants-generals in attendance on duty overnight and those who
relieved them, entered and made their reports and received orders for transmission to the
ministers and generals. The couriers then entered next, the couriers who had come in the
night or at daybreak, and presented their despatches. Meanwhile he finished his toilet,
which took him two or three hours! The toilet, however, was given up, when any military
operations required his attention. Between 8 and 9 a.m. he arrived at his assembly room,
where the officers waited for him. He passed the letters received by him, with instructions
as to the replies to be sent. Then, he met here his sons and other near relations, besides
friends.
At 9 a.m., they also had refreshments served to them with himself. Next, he
appeared at a balcony and received the salute of his elephants and horses. Next,
tigers passed by led by the hand and were fed by him with sweetmeats. At half
past 10 a.m., the repast ended; he entered the audience-hall, or the grand tent,
if at the army. He seated himself on a sofa beneath a canopy, not infrequently
in some balcony, fronting an open space. Some relations sometimes sat by him
here. Many came to seek audience, those who had business to transact being
introduced by Chobdars or macebearers and accompanied by the officers
concerned, so that immediate relief may be granted to the party...couriers
arrive almost every instant, and are conducted with great noise and bustle. A
secretary kneeling takes the packet, and sitting on his hams, opens it and reads
the letter. Ayder immediately dictates the particulars of the answer, and the
letter is carried to the office of a minister...the letters signed by Ayder are
closed by the seal of the sovereign, of which the principal secretary is
guardian. There were special letters written by him, to which were affixed a
particular or private seal which he always wears on his finger or in that case he
himself carries the packet.
The audience closed at 3 p.m., when Haidar returned to his apartment to a
siesta and returned to the audience hall at 5:30 p.m., from whose balcony he
saw the troops exercise or the cavalry exercise or the cavalry defile before
him...at 6:30 p.m. when the day closed in, a great number of mussalchys, or
bearers of flambeaux, appeared in the courtyard and saluted Haidar as they
passed on the side of the apartment where he was. Haidar’s apartments were
all illuminated in a moment with tapers in chandeliers of exquisite
workmanship, ornamented with festoons of flowers of the utmost lightness and
delicacy.... about nightfall, at 8 p.m., there was for the most part lasting till 11
p.m. entertainment intermixed with dances and songs.
During its progress the Arabsbequi (chamberlains) continued near the
strangers...careful to ask, if any chose to drink or eat, in which case they caused
sherbet, fruits or confectionary to be presented to them...Haidar, to whom
entertainments on stage were very indifferent, discoursed with his ministers or
ambassadors or sometimes passing into a cabinet to speak with more secrecy,
without seeming to be busy...almost always before the end of theperformance,
flowers were brought to him in a basket of filigram, out of which he himself
gave a few to those who were about him... if a battle had been won or any
glorious event had occurred in favour of Haidar, the court-poet announced it on
his first entering the apartments with due pomp and in courtly language....the
entertainers were all women, who were all specially trained to their work by
the directress, who was likewise manager. At 11 p.m. or about midnight, the
entertainment broke up and everyone retired, except those who stayed over to
sup with Haidar...

This mode of life pursued by Haidar is, as may be easily imagined,
interrupted in the army. It is likewise occasionally interrupted by hunting
parties, by excursions on foot or horseback, or by his attending to assist at the
exercises and evolutions made by considerable bodies of troops.
Such was a day in the life and times of a valiant hero of Mysore, a man
who epitomised the proverbial rags to riches story; someone who had a
whole lot of shortcomings, but never fell short of courage and valour and his
singular hatred for the enemies of Mysore.

11
SULTANAT-E-KHUDADAD MYSORE
AD 1782–91
aidar’s death brought yet another hero of Mysore to the fore—Tipu
Sultan, a child given to the path of God who metamorphosed into a
valiant warrior in the long course of battles he fought alongside his brave
father. Tipu had promises to keep and the image of Haidar to live up to. He
had an urgent and unfinished task at hand. The Second Anglo-Mysore War
was still brewing. With Haidar gone, the entire burden of this decisive war
was on his shoulders. Lord Macartney was keen on preventing Tipu’s re-
entry into the Carnatic. He urged Major General Stuart, who had succeeded
Sir Eyre Coote as the commander-in-chief, to take the field before Tipu
could return from the west coast. Tipu’s overtures of peace were haughtily
rejected by Macartney and this compelled the former to storm the Carnatic.
Tipu marched with the army towards Kaveripauk. The rains having
abated, he camped at Ami, where a French contingent of over 1,000 troops
joined him from Cuddalore towards the end of January 1783. This was
followed by the Battle of Wandiwash where General James Stuart was
defeated and arrested by Tipu. All the prisoners of war were packed off to
Srirangapatna and condemned to the dungeons there, where they lived, and
most died, in the most inhuman conditions.
THE SECOND ANGLO-MYSORE WAR
CONTINUES
To divert Tipu from the Carnatic, the British sent their Provincial
Commander-in-Chief Brigadier General Matthews to create trouble on the
western coast of Mysore. In January 1783, Rajahmandurg and Honavar fell
to his assault as Matthews marched victoriously towards Kundapura, closest
to Bidnaur, which the British were eyeing. The traitor Sheikh Ayaz had a
way of ensuring that Tipu’s orders and letters found their way to his camp.
Himself illiterate, Ayaz had the letters read to him and thoroughly
scrutinised every detail in strict confidence. Around 24 January 1783, one
such intercepted letter from Tipu sent shivers down Ayaz’s spine. It
contained orders to his commander Latif Ali Beg to march to Coorg and
thereafter to Bidnaur and put Ayaz to death if the latter resisted. The
unfortunate letter-reader was instantly put to death by Ayaz so as to prevent
discovery. The news of Matthews’ presence in the vicinity of Bidnaur was
very welcome to Ayaz, who decided that aligning with Matthews was the
safest bulwark against Tipu’s designs.
On 29 January 1783, as Matthews marched towards Bidnaur, he was
pleasantly surprised to see the fort gates open in welcome. Sheikh Ayaz
decided to surrender to the forces of Matthews and in return negotiated that
his own private property be secured and that he continue to remain in the
same state of dignity and position under British tutelage. He hated Tipu and
could not imagine being subservient to him. Thus, the British occupied
Bidnaur without firing a single shot.
The new allies’ eyes fell on Anantapur (not the modern-day Anantpur of
Andhra Pradesh, but Anandapura of Shimoga district), which they were
determined to annex. The commander there, Narayana Rao, refused to
surrender. Rao’s army had 500 men and Rao was surprised to find his fort
besieged by the British. After putting up a brave resistance, Anantapur was
captured on 14 February 1783. Of the 500 men, 440 were killed. The
patriotic Narayana Rao refused to surrender even as he lay grievously
injured and even spat at Matthews! He was immediately slaughtered.
Matthews ordered the killing of every man in Anantapur. This was followed
by mindless plunder of the town and large-scale rape of its women.
Following the tragedy at Anantapur, Tipu left his command in the
Carnatic under Sayyid Saab and marched through the Changama Pass,
Devanahalli, Maddagiri, Sira and Chitradurga, reaching Bidnaur in March

1783. Sheikh Ayaz fled to Bombay on hearing of Tipu’s arrival. Tipu
divided his army into two columns—one took the southern route of
Kavaledurga and Haidargarh, which were easily captured. The other took a
northeastern route to reconquer Anantapur and Bidnaur. After five days of
incessant heavy firing, the British were completely outnumbered. Captain
Fetherson, who had been sent to aid Matthews, was killed. Matthews was
also plagued by fellow officers’ allegations of unfair distribution of plunder
and money taken at Bidnaur. Completely routed and short of provisions,
Matthews finally surrendered in April 1783.
A treaty was concluded with Matthews, in which the English
relinquished the forts of Bidnaur, Kavaledurga and Anantapur. In return
they were to be given free exit to Bombay via Goa. Tipu was determined to
teach Matthews a lesson. Concluding the treaty, as Matthews and his army
left Bidnaur after laying down arms, they were surrounded by the Mysorean
forces and captured. They were then sent off to different jails across Mysore
—Srirangapatna, Bangalore, Gutti, Chitradurga and Kabbaladurga. Tipu
took full possession of Bidnaur and then marched towards Mangalore.
On 19 May 1783, Tipu attacked Mangalore with an army of 60,000
cavalry, 30,000 disciplined sepoys, 600 French infantry under Colonel
Cossigny and Monsieur Lally’s corps, 100 pieces of artillery and 1,40,000
fighting men. The army was commanded by Tipu in person, accompanied
by his brother Karim Sahib and Mohammad Ali, one of Haidar’s most
trusted commanders. He laid siege to the fort of Mangalore and inflicted a
crushing defeat on the English army led by Campbell. After fifty-six days of
conflict at Mangalore, around 19 July, the French refused to cooperate with
the Mysore forces any longer. After a brief interlude of flirting with the
British hostages, the French forces under Cossigny retreated, despite Tipu’s
threats and remonstrance. Undaunted by this volte-face of the French, Tipu
carried on the siege from August to December.
Earlier an armistice had been signed with the British, according to
which the latter could buy provisions for up to ten days at a time.
Determined to break the British stronghold, Tipu began a systematic
violation of this armistice. While the bazaar to provide the provisions was
made available, every commodity was so exorbitantly priced that it was
beyond the capacity of the British to purchase. Hayavadana Rao records that
prices were raised on a daily basis ‘till a fowl sold from nine to twelve
rupees, a seer of rice for four, a seer of salt for three and a frog for six
pence’. Seven boats laden with provisions were sent in from Bombay, but
Tipu seized them all, revelling in the British discomfiture.
The British, however, had some temporary success with the capture of
Palghat and Coimbatore by Colonel Fullarton between October and
December 1783. The fall of Coimbatore seemed to provide direct access to
Srirangapatna for the British. Fullarton opened negotiations with the
adherents of the royal family, who continued to provide grain and repair of
carriages to support Fullarton—who seemed to be riding a crest of success
—hoping that he would further the cause of the displaced Wodeyars.
Trouble awaited Tipu on the home front as well—a revolution of sorts
was brewing at the capital. The chief architect this time was Anche
Shamaiya, the terror-kingpin during Haidar’s times, who was with Tipu at
Mangalore and secretly commanded his allies in the capital. His brother
Rangaiya and Narasinga Rao, the paymaster and town mayor were co-actors
in the plot. Subbaraja Urs of the royal family was also part of the game. The
idea was to take advantage of Tipu’s absence from the capital and the
proximity of the British troops in the Carnatic. They would invite the
British to Srirangapatna and prevent the return of Tipu to the capital. The
support of the Marathas, the Palegars and the Coorgis was also solicited.
Narasinga Rao was in charge of the execution of the plot and he chose 9 am,
24 July 1783 as the time they would strike. This was when Asad Khan, the
killedar of the Fort, distributed payslips to the troops, who normally
assembled unarmed in the court to collect their salaries. Jetties or
professional athletes were paid to kill the commandants and the soldiers and
prepare ground for the English arrival.
Unfortunately for the conspirators, the killedar got wind of the whole
plot. Letters written by Narasinga Rao to the British army were intercepted,
Rao taken prisoner and tortured to confess. The conspirators were captured,
stripped and dragged on the streets of the capital, tied to the legs of
elephants and with their ears and noses cut off. Some of them were flogged
in public view and hanged from the Fort ramparts. Narasinga Rao,
Subbaraja Urs and others were later executed, while Shamaiya and Rangaiya
were imprisoned in huge iron cages and rubbed with chilli powder. Till their
last breath the brothers seem to have denied their involvement in the
rebellion. Strict curfew orders were imposed in Srirangapatna and citizens

told not to assemble in groups or in the dark of the night on the threat of
similar punishment. Tipu ordered mass persecution of the kith and kin of
Subbaraja Urs and Tirumala Rao. About 700 families of the Mysore
Iyengars, men, women and children alike were chained and thrust into the
dungeons of Srirangapatna. Narayana Rao was captured but he managed to
escape. The jagirs and properties of the pradhans and their relatives were
confiscated. On Tipu’s return to the capital city, all the captured conspirators
were ruthlessly executed on the festival day, Naraka Chaturdashi, just before
Deepawali. To this day, the descendants of the Iyengars of Mysore observe
the day not as a festival but as a day of shraddha, the Hindu ritual to
propitiate the souls of the dead.
Interestingly, historians are unaware of whether this entire operation was
carried on with the consent of or at the instance of Maharani
Lakshmammanni. As Wilks states:
Neither evidence, nor the unlimited use of the torture, had directed the slightest suspicion
towards the imprisoned Ranee; it is just possible that she might afterwards have been
induced...to assume a disguise in her confidential conversations with the late Sir Barry
Close, and with the author; but the absence of even suspicion, when so strongly excited by
circumstances, added to her uniform and consistent assurances, convinced them both of her
entire ignorance of every part of the correspondence conducted in her name...but that
conviction must not be understood to impugn the reality of Tremalarow’s (Tirumala Rao)
projects for the subversion of the actual government.
Back in the camp at Mangalore, things were not at all easy for Tipu. He
suspected Rustum Ali Beg, the killedar of Mangalore, of treachery for not
having dealt effectively with the siege. But Rustum’s case was strongly
defended by Mohammad Ali, one of Haidar’s most trusted confidants and
friends. Still, so convinced was Tipu about Beg’s misconduct that he
ordered the latter’s public execution. Keen to save his close friend,
Moammad Ali rescued the prisoner and openly declared that he would not
suffer him to be executed and cried out, ‘justice, in the name of God’. The
following day Mohammad Ali was packed off in irons to Srirangapatna.
Saddened by the behaviour meted out to him, he strangled himself to death,
using the common groom’s cord for leading a horse. Strangely, on hearing
the news of Ali’s death, Tipu was so overcome with grief that he ordered the
imprisonment of Shaikh Hamid, the man he had appointed to take
Mohammad Ali to Srirangapatna!
Shaken by the sudden and planned revolt back home, the death of
Mohammad Ali and the weariness setting in among the troops with the
long-drawn battle at Mangalore, Tipu desired a truce. Campbell’s troops
were exhausted and, having run out of provisions in the long siege, were
reduced to eating frogs and rodents for survival. So exhausted was Campbell
at the end of this ordeal that he quit the service on 15 February and in less
than a month, died on 23 March 1784.
PEACE
By 25 December 1783, peace negotiators arrived from Madras. The Madras
government had appointed commissioners to carry on the negotiations with
Tipu. But Sadleir and Staunton, who made up the two-man commission, had
deep differences regarding their approach to the negotiations. Macartney had
to finally appoint a third commissioner, John Huddleston, to balance things.
The sole purpose of this commission was to ensure the release of all
prisoners—this took precedence over the restitution of Mangalore. It was
also decided that both parties should relinquish their possessions and restore
the status quo. The British were so desperate that Colonel Fullarton seemed
to have been coaxed to relinquish all that he had captured in the Carnatic to
encourage reciprocation.
Tipu treated the commissioners with the utmost disregard. He refused to
meet them on various pretexts each time they sought an appointment. He
continued his acts of hostility, as Hayavadana Rao reports, by ‘erecting
gibbets opposite to the tent doors of each of the Commissioners, carrying by
surprise a post dependent on Honawar, cutting up a subaltern detachment
from Col. Fullarton’s army, and putting to death Gen Matthews and several
other English officers in prison’. With every passing day the English woes
increased and Tipu enjoyed their discomfiture. But this did not last long.
The British government at Calcutta was getting increasingly restive at the
suicidal actions of Macartney’s southern campaign. Governor General
Warren Hastings had almost reached a treaty with the Peshwa and the
Sindhia to effect a combined attack on Tipu. Alarmed by the developments,

Tipu thought it prudent to end the war from a position of strength rather
than vacillate.
Since Tipu’s resumption of war with the English, the negotiations for
peace actively engaged the latter’s attention. The preliminaries began in
February 1783, when Lord Macartney sent a Brahmin diplomat, Sambhaji,
to solicit better and more humane treatment of British prisoners of war
languishing in Mysore’s jails. Tipu gladly welcomed him and directed his
own vakil, Srinivasa Rao, to accompany Sambhaji on his return to Madras,
with an equivocal letter addressed to himself under Tipu’s seal, authorising
him to confer on the subject of peace. As recorded in a contemporary
document:
Then the Agent proceeded to mention the grounds of the war on the part of Hyder, which
were, the break of the express and solemn engagements that had been made by Mahommed
Ally Cawn (Nabob of Arcot) to deliver to the Mysorean, Madura and Trichinopoly, besides
a large sum of money lent to Mahommed Ally for which he had given his bond still due and
bearing interest, with other grievances against him for encroachments and violences on the
limits dividing the Carnatic and Hyder’s territories, and suggested the justice of a redress of
such grievances and a compliance with engagements which Mahommed Ally neither
fulfilled nor adjusted by any subsequent agreement. The President Lord Macartney in
answer informed the Agent that the treaty between the Governor and Council of Fort St.
George and the Nabob Hyder Ally Cawn Bahadure made in the year 1769 was in behalf of
the Honorable East India Company expressly for the Carnatic Payanghaut, and that such
treaty was therefore a final adjustment of all claims relative to the country whether upon the
Company or Mahommed Ally Cawn who had the Government of it under their protection,
and that therefore all demands founded on transactions prior to the year 1769, were
absolutely inadmissible.
The siege of Mangalore was lifted on 29 January 1784. The Second
Anglo-Mysore War ended with the Treaty of Mangalore on 11 March 1784.
It is an important document in the history of India—perhaps the last
occasion when an Indian power dictated terms to the English, who were the
humble supplicants for peace. Warren Hastings called it a humiliating
pacification, and appealed to the English king and Parliament to punish the
Madras government, saying that the British nation’s faith and honour had
both been violated. The English could not accept this humiliation, and
worked hard from that day to subvert Tipu’s power.
This treaty is to the credit of Tipu’s diplomatic skills. He had
honourably concluded a long-drawn war. He frustrated the Maratha designs

to seize his northern possessions. The great advantage was the psychological
impact of his victory over the British, with a highly satisfactory conclusion.
The march of the commissioner all the way from Madras to Mangalore,
seeking peace, made Munro remark that such indignities were throughout
poured upon the British, that ‘limited efforts seemed necessary to repudiate
the Treaty at the earliest time’. Such public opinion in the country highly
gratified Tipu, who felt it was his great triumph over the English. That was
the only bright spot in his contest with the English, the only proud event
which had humbled a mighty power. It was also for Tipu a glowing tribute
to his father, who had fought the British till his last breath.
Concluded over 10 articles and executed by the Commissioners Sadleir,
Staunton and Huddleston, the treaty had the following provisions:
1. Peace and friendship to be immediately established between the
Company and the Nawab Tippu Sultan Bahadur and their respective
friends and allies, including the Rajahs of Tanjore and Travancore and
the Camatic-Payanghat on the English side and the Beebi of Cannanore
and the Rajas and Zamindars of the Malabar coast on the Nawab’s side.
The British were not to attack Tipu directly or indirectly, nor assist his
enemies or wage wars against his allies.
2. Tipu had to completely evacuate his troops from the Carnatic, and
release all prisoners of war—a measure to be reciprocated by the
British.
3. The British had to give up Honavar, Karwar, Sadashivagarh and
adjoining forts to their original masters as also Karur, Aravakurichi,
Dindigul and Dharapuram districts to Mysore.
4. Cannanore was to be restored to its queen Ali Raja Beebi. Tipu was to
relinquish claims over Amburgarh and Satgarh forts in the Carnatic.
5. Tipu had to give up all earlier claims on the Carnatic region.
6. Prisoners were to be reunited with their families.
7. Tipu was to maintain peace with the Rajas and Zamindars of the
Coromandel Coast.
8. Mysore had to renew and confirm the commercial privileges and
immunities extended to the British Company by the late Haidar and
honour the treaty signed between the two on 8 August 1770.

Speaking extensively about the Treaty of Mangalore, Innes Munro,
participant in the long war, opined:
Peace is generally considered by those who have toiled through the hardships of war as
such a blessing, that the acquirement of it is generally applauded, however humiliating or
repugnant to the real interests of the state the terms may be upon which it is obtained...it is
to be hoped that the treaty of peace, which the Company have lately concluded with Tippoo
Sahib, is only meant to be temporary. Such, I am certain, must be the wish of every Briton
actuated by the sentiments of patriotism and capable of feeling the indignities which may
have been uniformly heaped upon the British name. Can any Englishman read of the
sufferings of his unfortunate countrymen, in the different prisons of Misore, without
dropping a tear of sympathy? Or can he peruse the account of the repeated indignity and
contempt with which his nation has been treated by the present usurper of Misore, without
being filled with indignation and burning with sentiments of retaliation and revenge?
It must be allowed that the distresses, in which we were involved during the
war, in this quarter of India, were in a great measure occasioned by our own
imprudence and misconduct. Want of unanimity amongst our rulers laid the
foundations for miscarriage and defeat; and the ardour of our armies was
invariably checked by the want of supplies, withheld through the anarchy and
dissensions that generally prevailed in the councils of Madras. The rocks, upon
which we have split, are now perceptible to every eye; and it is to be hoped that
future rulers may be directed by them to shun the fatal disasters into which the
affairs of the settlement have lately been plunged. To retrieve our sinking
reputation in India must be the united effort of labour and wisdom; and I
should humbly conceive that no measure would be more likely to effect this
desirable purpose than to crush the object of our just revenge, the present
usurper of the Misore Throne; and, by observance of rigid integrity in our
future engagements with the country powers, to wipe off the odium and
distrust now universally attached by them to the British name.
Prudence and policy will clearly dictate that the deposing of Tippoo Sahib,
in attempting which little is to be dreaded, and establishing the lawful
sovereign upon the throne of Misore, are objects of the most essential
consequence to the interests of the India Company in the Carnatic. By such
means the Mahrattas would be kept as much in awe as at present; and the
Company, in the King of Misore, would most likely secure a peaceable
neighbour and a powerful ally.
THE NEW SCENARIO
The British
This disastrous war was the last nail in Lord Macartney’s coffin. He was
constantly plagued with scarcity of provisions and money during the
campaign of 1781–82. The arrears due to the army were not cleared until
1789. His difficulties were compounded by non-cooperating commanders-
in-chief and serious ego clashes with Sir Eyre Coote. Macartney however
made a great deal of his position as member of the Supreme Council at
Calcutta and insisted on having his way at Madras. But Coote’s successor,
Stuart, was no better. From the time of his succession, Stuart took up a
position completely opposed to the government upon almost every subject.
His defiance and assertion of independence ensured that he was arrested on
charges of subversion. Macartney also had to live with the complexities of a
strained relationship with the government in Calcutta, something even his
critics (like Dr Vincent Smith) acknowledge by stating that ‘the interference
of Calcutta sometimes was practised in an irritating way’.
Mysore
The treaty and the amicable way in which the war ended dashed the hopes
of the maharani of Mysore and her pradhans. To assuage their fears, Lord
Macartney and Sullivan assured the pradhans they would further their cause
in the days to come and that the temporary reprieve was needed for purposes
of realignment. The pradhans retired to Tanjore and decided that the best
policy was to watch with fingers crossed as events unfolded. They were
conferred a pension of twenty pagodas per month in accordance with the
12th article of the Treaty of 1782. However, Huddlestone, Sullivan’s
successor as resident in the Tanjore court, bargained with the company
authorities to increase the measly sum. Tipu’s persecution ensured that
Tirumala Rao’s stay at Tanjore was short-lived and he had to flee to
Travancore to take refuge there for two years.

Mysore under Tipu (1784) and the Keladi Kingdom (Maps are artistic
recreations made at Suhaas Graphics, Bangalore)
Meanwhile, Tipu was made the sarvadhikari of Mysore on 4 May 1784
in a simple ceremony at Bidnaur. He assumed the title of Tipu Sultan—the
King—and declared himself the de facto ruler of Mysore. Unlike his father,
he felt no love for the royal family and saw it as a mere appendage of little or
no consequence to the polity. Mysore was declared the ‘Sultanat-e-

Khudadad’ or the ‘Kingdom of Allah’ and that meant a complete rout for
the lingering family of the Wodeyars and its so-called ruler Khasa
Chamaraja.
THE RISE OF THE BRITISH
The second half of the eighteenth century Was a period of great confusion
and flux in Indian history with the disintegration of many Indian empires
and the rise of a colonial power. The only state which offered stiff resistance
to their expansion was Mysore, fighting not one but four wars against the
British. Tipu participated in all those four Mysore wars, in two of which he
inflicted serious blows on the English. In fact, Tipu’s rule starts in the
middle of a war against the English and ends similarly. His short but stormy
rule was eventful for his several engagements with his neighbours—the
Marathas and the Nizam—whose short-sighted policy prompted them to
join the colonials against Mysore. None of them shared Tipu’s vision of a
united front against the British to drive them out of the country; petty self-
interests and insecurities plagued these rulers and, more often than not, they
ended up hurting themselves more than they would have gained by joining
Tipu.
With Tipu’s involvement, Mysore had become ‘the terror of Leadenhall
Street’, the headquarters of the East India Company. These 40 years of Tipu
—both as a prince and a ruler—witnessed bloody battles between Mysore,
the British and the neighbouring rulers.
Having learnt the western techniques of warfare, Tipu was not slow to
use these. He was himself bold, dashing, and a person of undaunted
adventurous spirit. Under his leadership the Mysore army proved to be a
school of military science to other Indian princes. The dread of a European
army no longer deterred Tipu, whose attack on British might in the First and
Second Mysore Wars damaged their reputation as an invincible power.
Alexander Dow wrote, ‘We were alarmed, as if his horses had wings to fly
over our walls.’ Such was the valour of the man who began to be hailed as
the ‘Sher-e-Mysore’ or ‘Tiger of Mysore’.
Tipu’s initiation into battle began, as mentioned before, when he was
barely thirteen years old and his parents withdrew him from the path of
religion. He had his first experience on the field in the Malabar, where
Haidar was always busy crushing the Nair revolts. He displayed great
courage and there was no looking back. He was present during Haidar’s
negotiations with the Nizam in the First Mysore War when his tact and
resourcefulness impressed the Nizam, helping to win him over to Haidar’s
side. It was Tipu who obtained the ratification of the Treaty of Alliance
between the Nizam and Haidar in 1767. Tipu had gone to the Nizam’s camp
at the head of 6,000 troops and successfully concluded the treaty. This was
Tipu’s first diplomatic assignment and he was well received by the Nizam,
who conferred on him the title of ‘Nasib-ud-daula’ (fortune of the state) and
also ‘Fateh Ali Khan’. The Maratha war of 1769–72 and the Second Mysore
War—where he displayed great courage and presence of mind—enhanced
his status as a military leader.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Second Mysore War, Tipu began his
march through Balam and quelled a brewing revolt among the mountain-
dwellers of that region. He got a new fortress built there, named
Munzirabad.
The Treaty of Mangalore, which concluded the Second Anglo-Mysore
War, carried the seeds of strife with the Marathas, disappointing their
expectations of playing mediators and recovering their losses in the north of
Mysore. Tipu had emerged with enhanced prestige at the end of the war,
invincible against even the mightiest empire of the world. This made the
Nizam and the Marathas terribly insecure and they were on the look-out for
protection against any possible strike by Tipu in his expansionist zeal. The
Nizam, who regarded himself as the overlord of the entire South, loathed
Mysore and expected that Haidar and Tipu would be subservient to his
wishes. Militarily very weak, he allied himself either with the Marathas or
the English to distress the Mysore rulers. There was always a pro-British
party at Hyderabad that dissuaded the Nizam from being cordial to Tipu.
MYSORE-MARATHA WAR
In early 1785, trouble brewed with the Marathas. Haidar had promised the
Marathas territories south of the Krishna, which were now being demanded
by Nana Phadnavis. Tipu refused to meet the demand, sparking off the long-
drawn Mysore-Maratha war. He claimed instead that the chief of Nargund,
Kala Pandit, who was related to the Maratha strongman Parashuram Bhau,
owed Mysore dues that he had been refusing to pay. Burhan-ud-din, the
Mysorean commander-in-chief and Tipu’s cousin and brother-in-law was
dispatched to Nargund at the head of 5,000 cavalry and three kushoons or
regiments of foot. The army laid siege to the fort of Nargund. Kala Pandit
and his clever guerrilla tactics gave Burhan-ud-din and his men a tough
time. But the Mysorean batteries and forces were quite a daunting prospect
for Kala Pandit. He sent emissaries to Parashuram Bhau who sent aid in the
form of a contingent from Poona. Reinforcements for the Mysore troops
came in from Srirangapatna under Tipu’s cousin Kumr-ud-din. The
combined forces of Mysore successfully routed the Poona armies and also
took Ramdurg fort on 5 May 1785. By August 1785, Nargund was captured
and Kala Pandit packed off as a prisoner to Srirangapatna. Kittur, another
neighbouring principality of a Deshayi or Chieftain, was also annexed.
Kumr-ud-din was however recalled to Srirangapatna owing to mutual
jealousies and ego clashes between the two cousins. On being recalled to
Srirangapatna, Kumr-ud-din spread a wild rumour that the Sultan was dead
and the funeral procession of an eminent person of the kingdom organised
at the Sultan’s behest was in fact the funeral of the Sultan himself. This
created momentary confusion and disarray among Mysorean troops while
the British gloated. This, coupled with alleged secret negotiations he was
carrying on with the Nizam, earned him Tipu’s wrath and Kumr-ud-din was
condemned to a life of imprisonment and disgrace. The incident
underscores the tenuous nature of the polity and circumstances under which
Tipu had to operate, one that was rife with rumours and where almost
everyone, even members of his own family, seemed to wish his downfall.
Meanwhile, Nana Phadnavis was determined to avenge the shameful
retreat at Nargund. He decided to align with the Nizam for a combined
attack on Mysore. They began their blitzkrieg with a siege of Badami and
followed it up with a string of successes in Dharwad, Julihul, Gajendragarh,
Navalgunda, and Nargund and in fact the entire northern side of the
Tungabhadra. The Palegars of Sirahatti, Damul, Kanakagiri and Anegondi
quickly shifted allegiance to the Marathas and the Northern Carnatic region
seemed to be quickly slipping from Tipu’s hands.

Tipu personally took to the field in June 1786 and marched on to
Bangalore with six branches of regular infantry, three regiments of regular
cavalry, 10,000 irregular foot, 30,000 horses and 22 heavy guns. From here
he marched and laid siege to Adoni, a strong frontier post of the Nizam’s
which was under Mohabat Jung, son of Basalat Jung and nephew of Nizam
Ali. Burhan-ud-din was advised to take on the Marathas. The siege of Adoni
was intended to divert the confederate armies from their position. Mohabat
Jung and his widowed mother sent feelers of goodwill to Tipu; but the
latter’s condition for saving Jung’s life—disassociation from his uncle, the
Nizam—seemed unacceptable to Mohabat and he decided to defend the fort
of Adoni. The confederate armies rushed to Adoni to save the place and the
relatives of the Nizam were trapped in the fort. Tipu quickly gave them the
slip and raised the siege, allowing them to flee with all the women who were
held hostage. While they were escaping, he followed. Mir Sadik was left
behind to take Adoni, which he did on 11 July 1786.
The Mysorean forces with Tipu in command and with several daring
leaders of the army, like commander-in-chief Burhan-ud-din, Ghazi Khan,
Maha Mirza Khan and Badr-u-Zaman Khan made many surprise attacks by
night at Sirahatti, some miles away from the fort of Savanur. The Maratha
and Nizam armies faced considerable losses. By October, Tipu managed to
dislodge the confederates from the vicinity and left their ally—the Savanur
Nawab, Abdul Hakim—high and dry. He fled by night and left his son
Abdul Khira Khan behind, who was imprisoned by the Mysore troops.
Savanur was looted of all its innumerable treasures, right down to the last
brick. The Mysorean forces captured Padaspur, Hosakote, Soda, Jamboti,
Khanapur and other Maratha territories.
The war abruptly ended with a peace treaty towards the end of 1786. An
interesting message of peace was sent to Tukoji Rao Holkar, the leader of
the Maratha forces, by Tipu:
You have obtained experience in feat of arms, and are distinguished among the chiefs for
superior valour. Now that war has commenced its destructive career, and thousands are
doomed to fall, why should we longer witness the causeless effusion of human blood? It is
better that you and I should singly descend into the field of combat; let the Almighty
determine who is the conqueror and who the vanquished, and let that result terminate the
contest. Or if you have not sufficient confidence in your own single arm, take to your aid
from one to ten men of your own selection, and I will meet you with equal numbers. Such
was the practice in the days of our Prophet, and though long discontinued, I desire to renew
that species of warfare. But if prudence should dictate your declining the second
proposition also, let the two armies be drawn out, select your weapons, and let us, chief
opposed to chief, horseman opposed to horseman, and foot soldier to foot soldier, engage in
a pitched battle, and let the vanquished become the subject of the victors.
But this peace was short-lived, quickly followed by the war against the
combined forces of the Nizam and Marathas on the banks of the Gandaki
River. The armies fought a pitched battle at Gajendragarh and some of the
Hindu soldiers in Tipu’s army who had been bought over by the Marathas
were severely punished by Tipu—their noses and ears were cut off and the
leader, Hanumant Naik, had his legs amputated. The war ended on 14
February 1787 with the Treaty of Gajendragadh by which Tipu ceded
Badami to the Marathas, hoping to win their support against the English or
at least to prevent them from joining the English. It was agreed that Mysore,
Hyderabad and Poona would act as a combined confederacy in the Deccan
and if any fourth party attacked any of the allies, the others would join to
repel the hostile attempt. But as events unfolded in the years to come, it was
evident that this was not to be. Tipu also had to pay the Marathas four years
of accumulated arrears that Haidar had agreed to pay them for being
acknowledged as ‘the undisputed master of everything south of the Krishna
from sea to sea’. This amounted to about Rs 30 lakh. Kittur and Nargund
were surrendered to the Peshwa along with Badami and Gajendragarh;
Adoni to Mohabat Jung and the Nawab of Savanur, Abdul Hakim was
reinstated. Thus, the troubled relationship between Mysore and Poona ended
temporarily in a brief reprieve.
Tipu also had to concentrate his energies on Coorg and Malabar where
trouble kept brewing.
TROUBLE IN COORG
The valiant Coorgi tribe could not digest the thought of external rule after
their territories were annexed by Haidar. They made repeated attempts to
establish their independence. In fact, even in the middle of the Second
Mysore War, Tipu overran Coorg and crushed a rebellion in 1782. Zain-ul-
Abidin Mehdavi was made the fouzdar and given all powers to permanently
quell the menace. But no sooner had Tipu left for Srirangapatna than trouble
started brewing again. In late 1784, Tipu despatched Raja Kankeri to lead
the Mysorean army against Coorg but he was defeated on his way to
Madikeri. This was followed by a yearlong skirmish where Tipu made
repeated attacks on Coorg to contain the situation. But the guerrillas of
Coorg put up a formidable defence. Tipu’s attempts at Islamising the region
(Madikeri was renamed Zaferabad) further enraged the already discontented
rebels in Coorg. The alleged attempts of Tipu’s handpicked fouzdar,
Mehdavi, to molest the sister of Momuti Nair—a minister of the local chief
—further enraged the Coorgis. The rebels attacked the fort of Zaferabad and
reduced the hostages and the fouzdar, to a state of utter despair. Mehdavi
was forced to send urgent requests for help to Srirangapatna.
In September 1785, Zain-ul-Abidin Shustari, the sipahadar of a kushoon
was sent with an abundance of stores and 2,000 irregular foot soldiers. To
quote Hayavadana Rao:
The Sipahadar, marching quickly, arrived at the ghat leading to Coorg, only to find himself
attacked on all sides by the rebels with their arrows and muskets...he soon retired in despair
on the plea of ague and fever to the pass of Sidapur, despite the remonstrances of his
followers. Also he wrote to the headquarters that nothing but Tipu’s own presence with the
main army would terminate the war.
Accordingly, in October 1785, Tipu marched personally towards Coorg
as head of 20,000 regular infantry, 12,000 irregular foot soldiers, 10,000
cavalry and 21 field pieces. Entering the region in two columns, he left his
horse at the pass of Sidapur, Periapatna and Munzirabad and along with his
irregular foot soldiers, kushoons and artillery crossed the pass and overran
the territory by burning and destroying the patches of vegetation in the
countryside. He had a face-to-face encounter with the rebels at Kushalnagar.
After vanquishing them, he rode to Madikeri and took the fort with ease.
Many of the rebels surrendered and some of them fled for refuge to the
woods and mountains of the region. A huge repression drive began. Large
bodies of troops were sent to punish and torture the captives. Lally
proceeded to the Cardamom Ghats, Shustari and Hussain Ali Khan Bakshi
towards Kurumbanad and the rest of the sipahadars towards Talakaveri and
Kushalpur. The territory was completely overrun and several men captured
and tortured. It was also alleged that a huge drive of conversions to Islam
was carried out during this time—perhaps as a means to display the military
subjugation of Coorg and the superiority of Mysore.
Little did they know that it wasn’t all that easy to suppress the ferocious
tribes of Coorg. They quickly reorganised themselves, bolstered by the
escape of their captured leader Viraraja in 1788. Ghulam Ali led the
Mysorean attack against the newly organised troop of Viraraja in 1789.
After suffering initial losses, Viraraja regained his strength and completely
vanquished Ghulam Ali at the Kodanthur Pass. Though Tipu sent
reinforcements led by four captains, the force was no match for Viraraja
who defeated the lot at Heggala. An alarmed Tipu sent his brother-in-law
Burhan-ud-din. The nature of the insurgence in Coorg was such that
skirmishes and constant give and take of territories among various players
was very common and occurred frequently.
The remarkable nature of the Coorg revolts was that they were entirely
driven by peasant discontent. There was thus an almost endless supply of
fighters from among the brave Coorgis. In terms of strength the guerrillas
were just about 5,000 organised men but they managed to take on the might
of the Sultanat-e-Khudadad of Mysore—an army six times its size. This
peasant-guerrilla warfare was also sustained by the fact that the rebels knew
the terrain infinitely better than the Mysorean army. They utilised this
knowledge to make sudden and mobile wars characterised by surprise
attacks, utilising the countryside to surround towns, avoid decisive conflicts
and fight only when victory was certain, completely routing their enemy’s
supplies and communications, leaving him helpless and dispirited in a
largely unknown, rocky forest terrain. There was tremendous damage
caused by the Coorgis and Nairs of Malabar to Mysore and its army. Haidar
and Tipu grossly underestimated the might of both these coastal satraps.
Finally, realising the futility of the aggression in Coorg, Tipu decided to
extend a hand of peace in 1791. A parwana or order was issued to the Patels
of Coorg seeking a compromise: ‘It is well known to me that you have for a
long time experienced much trouble in your country and under this
consideration I forgive everything of what has happened. You may now
fulfil your several duties as subjects and observe all the customs of your
religion agreeably to ancient practices and whatever you formerly paid to
your own Rajas, the same, I repeat, you will now pay to this Circar.’ It was
perhaps among the most disgraceful retreats Mysore had faced after the
reckless and expensive campaign at Tiruchirapalli in the past. In the twenty-
five years of this bloody campaign, Mysore’s army faced more damage and
casualties than in all their conflicts with the British. Such was the valour
and courage of the people of Coorg. The parwana ended the political
conflict with the Coorgis but their hatred for Mysore remained. The
difference of language also ensured that the Coorgis preferred to maintain
their distinct identity. The latent anger and simmering discontent resulted in
the Haleri king of Coorg finally joining hands with the British against Tipu
by 1799, proving very helpful to the British troops against their common
Mysorean foe.
ARRIVAL OF LORD CORNWALLIS
The year 1786 saw Tipu facing a new challenge—possibly the toughest of
his life. Lord Charles Cornwallis took over from Sir John Macpherson as the
English Governor General at Madras. Cornwallis was fiercely patriotic. A
pompous man out to gain glory for the Crown, he had neither Macpherson’s
cunning nor Hastings’ avarice. He was upright, fair and just in all his
dealings except war with his enemy, when he forgot all tenets of mercy and
humanity.
Born on 31 December 1738, Cornwallis attended the military academy
at Turin, and rose to Lieutenant Colonel while serving in Germany during
the Seven Years’ War. On succeeding to his father, Earl Cornwallis’s title as
the second Earl in 1762, Cornwallis became politically active with the
Whigs and took his seat in the House of Lords where his abilities and
connections led to several high-profile appointments. Although opposed to
the measures that provoked the American Revolution, he accepted a position
in North America as Major General. Cornwallis served with distinction
during the American Revolution.
However, for all his success against the American rebels, he could do
little against the military talents of American commander-in-chief, George
Washington. Choked with tears and shame, he had to surrender at Yorktown
on 19 October 1781. It is torture for any brave solider to be vanquished in
war and surrender his country’s flag to the enemy. Cornwallis was therefore
set upon redeeming himself and saw India as the opportunity he needed. As
Cornwallis made his way to India, he was cognisant of the fact that he had a
reputation to repair. He decided it would be his bounden duty to vanquish
the obstacle to British progress in India—Mysore and its ruler Tipu Sultan.
He saw Washington in every rival and each defeat he inflicted on his
opponent would help him forget the trauma of Yorktown. As his ship sailed
majestically to the shores of Madras and he set foot on Indian soil, his
vision of success and the consummation of his desires urgently beckoned
Cornwallis.
Without any further delay he reached Hyderabad, where he received a
warm welcome from that faithful ally of the British, Nizam Asif Jah
Bahaddur, and his worthless minister Mushir-ul-Mulk. A pact of
understanding was signed between the two. The British were to align with
the Nizam in a joint attack on their common foe Tipu. From Hyderabad,
Cornwallis headed straight to Poona to win over the Marathas. There was a
huge debate in the Maratha camp on whether they should go ahead with this
alliance with the British. Nana Phadnavis was apparently against the idea,
but eventually the Marathas agreed to become a part of the Grand Alliance.
Rumblings were being heard from within the Mysore camp as well; Mir
Sadik, the commander, was secretly negotiating with Cornwallis. This
Grand Tripartite Alliance decided to finish off Tipu once and for all and the
strife that followed led to the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
THE INVASION OF TRAVANCORE
The immediate provocation for the Alliance’s attack on Tipu was his
invasion of Travancore, a British protectorate. Travancore was more of an en
route invasion in Tipu’s larger plan of purchasing the fort of Cochin from
the Dutch. Tipu also argued that the Travancore Lines were actually built on
his property and intersected the country of his tributary of Cochin. He tried
to sell his point of view to the government of Madras, which he knew would
now see him as an aggressor and a violator of the 1784 treaty. At the same
time he also sent emissaries to the Maharaja of Travancore asking him to
surrender the culprits of the Malabar revolt, whom he had hospitably

hosted, and also to give up his claim to the Lines. A defiant reply from
Travancore incensed him and he attacked the Lines on 29 December 1789.
The first attack ended in a surprising disaster for Mysore. Hayavadana
Rao describes how Tipu had personally led the attack ‘seated in his
palankeen and proceeding with two Risalas and two thousand regular
horse...' but by daybreak ‘his palankeen remained in the ditch, the bearers
having been trodden to death, his seals, rings, personal ornaments and
dagger fell as trophies into the hands of the enemy, and the fortunes of a
day, which was turned by twenty men, cost his army upwards of two
thousand.’ Humiliated and enraged, Tipu swore to again attack the small
province of Travancore that had defied his authority. After a few months of
preparation, Mysore attacked Travancore in April 1790. This time fortune
favoured Tipu. About 4,000 Travancoreans were killed and wounded and the
Lines were surrendered to a triumphant Tipu by 15 April 1790. That eyesore
—the Travancore Lines—was demolished. Tipu set the example by dealing
the first blow with a pick-axe. All his officers and courtiers gladly followed
suit. Within six days, the Lines was razed to the ground.
Interestingly enough, Tipu had all along kept the government at Madras
apprised of his dealings with the Travancore Raja and the British had
maintained a diplomatic silence despite the latter being their ally. But with
the destruction of the Lines, danger signals flashed in Madras. Tipu’s
subjugation of Travancore would assure him of easy access to the southern
provinces of the British domains. Conveniently, the British decided to attack
Tipu on the pretext of helping their ally, the Maharaja of Travancore.
Embroiled in the French Revolution, the French, who were on Tipu’s side,
could not help him much.
Tipu had to single-handedly tackle the combined forces of the British,
the Marathas, the Nizam, the rajas of Travancore and Cochin along with the
Palegars of Kangundipalya, Chikaballapur, Punganur, Madanapalli, Anekal,
etc. Cornwallis’s army consisted of about 22,300 combatants along with
nearly 80,000 modes of transport, including camels, elephants and ponies.
This marked the beginning of another long skirmish between Mysore and
the Company—more commonly known as the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
THE THIRD ANGLO-MYSORE WAR

Major General William Meadows commanded the grand army that attacked
Mysore in May 1790. Tipu sent overtures of peace to the English army,
suggesting that the usually upright mind of the general was somewhat dust-
coated, to which he received a reply that the English, who would not accept
an insult just as they could not inflict one, had always considered the war
having begun the moment he attacked their ally, the king of Travancore.
In June-July 1790, Meadows occupied the frontier posts of Karur—
abandoned by the Mysoreans—and advanced towards the weak forts of
Aravakurichi and Dharapuram, which were guarded by just thirty men. The
attainment of a chain of posts closely connected with each other, extending
from the Coromandel coast to the foot of the Gejjelhatty Pass, was evidently
an essential strategy to any initial invasion of Mysore. The acquisition of
Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Karur, Erode and Satyamangalam served this very
purpose. By the time Meadows reached Coimbatore he was stunned to see
the city virtually empty. The chieftain, his family and the subjects had all
fled. Meadows made Coimbatore his headquarters from where he sent
Colonel James Stuart to Dindigul, Colonel Oldham to Erode and Colonel
Floyd towards Mysore.
Hyder Abbas, the brave killedar of Dindigul refused to surrender and
fought bravely. Major Skelly then brought to Stuart an old, villainous man
Shah Abbas, Hyder Abbas’s uncle, who was now under British pay. He was
bribed to convince his nephew to surrender. Hyder Abbas fell for the offer of
a gold-lined future and surrendered, getting a huge treasure in return from
the British. On reaching home, he faced an angry family, disappointed in his
treachery. His brother, Sheikh Abbas killed him, but was himself stabbed by
a dying Hyder. Their aged mother died of shock upon seeing both her young
sons lying dead. Was this the golden future for which Hyder had sold
himself?
The sad truth of our glorious land is that our countrymen do not lack in
wisdom, courage and intellect; but they do not lack in treachery,
cunningness and avarice either. The smell and sight of gold is enough to
send all our patriotism down the drain. We were certainly conquered by the
external enemy, but more significantly by the enemy within. The misfortune,
however, remains that we have not learnt any lessons from history, which
they say repeats itself because nobody was listening the first time, and
continue to divide ourselves along narrow, petty lines.
Meanwhile, Colonel Stuart occupied Palaghat and Colonel Oldham
Erode. Colonel Floyd was in Gejjelhatty, thirteen miles from the route to
Mysore where Tipu was camping. Tipu’s sudden descent into the
Coimbatore district was so sudden, silent and skilful that it took the British
by surprise. A fierce action followed at Satyamangalam on 13 September
1790. The massive British troops were routed by the Sultan. With heavy
casualties on his side, Colonel Floyd was forced to retreat to Coimbatore,
abandoning the post of Satyamangalam.
A centre division of the English army from Bengal left Burhanpur and
reached Kanchipuram by August 1790. The force had been augmented to
9,500 men, including three regiments of European infantry, one regiment of
Indian cavalry and formidable artillery. They assembled at Arni under
Colonel Kelly’s command. He intended to besiege Bangalore and reduce the
districts adjacent to it. But his untimely death foiled the division’s plans. His
successor Colonel Maxwell joined the troops of General Meadows in their
invasion of Baramahal. After a few months of skirmishes, Tipu extended the
olive branch to Meadows through his vakils Mir Sadik, Ali Raza and Appaji
Ram. Meadows replied (as recorded by H. Rao) that he would not mind
entering into a treaty with the Sultan ‘but that before he does so, he must
have some person or place of consequence put into his hands as security for
the Sultaun’s being in earnest, when the first Article will be the unequivocal
release of every English officer, known to be still in existence and in
confinement in the Mysore country’.
With the peace mission making no headway, the battle raged on even as
Tipu swept across the Carnatic. His requests for French help did not meet
with much success as King Louis XVI—a figurehead after the French
Revolution was concluded—was sceptical of offering any assistance. H. Rao
reports his remark that ‘this resembles the affair of America, which I never
think of without regret. My youth was taken advantage of at that time, and
we suffer for it now; the lesson is too severe to be forgotten.’ He is said to
also have been amused with the ‘shabby finery of Tippu’s miserable
presents to himself and the queen, trumpery to dress up dolls!’ Tipu was
therefore left alone to defend his kingdom.

Later, on the banks of the river Bhavani, the English forces were
defeated and pushed back. Coimbatore, Karur, Aravakurichi, Dindigul,
Palaghat and the Carnatic passed back to the Sultan’s hands. Two years of
war had yielded nothing. Cornwallis was getting increasingly restive and
irritated. He had nightmares of the Yorktown debacle happening in India.
He also feared losing his allies—the Nizam and the Marathas—following
these ignoble defeats. ‘I conceive it to be possible that my presence in the
scene of action would be considered by our Allies as a pledge of our
sincerity, and of the confident hopes of success against the common enemy,
and by that means operate as an encouragement to them to continue their
exertions, and abide by their stipulations,’ he declared, and decided to enter
the fray himself (H. Rao 1945).
A series of reaffirmations with the allies at Hyderabad and Poona
followed. Sir Charles Warre Malet at Poona and Captain John Kennaway at
Hyderabad negotiated the strengthening of ties with the Peshwa and the
Nizam respectively on principles of mutual aid and reciprocal partition.
Accordingly, a formidable Triple Alliance was formed in June-July 1790.
According to H. Rao, Cornwallis held that the rationale for such alliances
‘was founded solely upon the expectation of their being guided by the
common influence of passions and by considerations of evident interest,
which ought to dispose them to seize a favourable opportunity with
eagerness to reduce the power of a Prince whose ambition knows no bounds
and from whom both of them have suffered numberless insults and injuries.’
Accordingly, to achieve his heart’s desire, Lord Cornwallis took the field
in person in November 1790, ‘to bring the war to a happy conclusion; to
cement an everlasting connection between the Mahratta State, the Company
and Nizam; to punish a wanton insult; and circumscribe the dangerous
power of Tippoo.’ The British army marched straight to Bangalore and
besieged the fort in March 1791.
The Fall of Bangalore
The fort of Bangalore had been completely rebuilt and strengthened by
Haidar and Tipu. It was almost of an oval form and had round towers at
intervals, five powerful cavaliers, contained a faussebray and a good ditch.
There were two gateways—the Mysore Gate and the Delhi Gate, the latter
stood opposite the Pettah or town of Bangalore. The Pettah was surrounded
by an indifferent rampart and excellent ditch, with an intermediate berm
planted with well-grown thorns.
Speaking about the siege, Wilks says:
Few sieges have ever been conducted under parallel circumstances; a place not only not
invested, but regularly relieved by fresh troops; a besieging army not only not undisturbed
by field operations, but incessantly threatened by the whole of the enemy’s force. No day or
night elapsed without some new project for frustrating the operations of the siege; and
during its continuance, the whole of the besieging army was accoutred, and the cavalry
saddled, every night from sun-set to sun-rise.
Incessant firing by the British troops led to a breach in the strong fort.
Kumr-ud-din had stationed himself in the neighbourhood of Basavanagudi,
which was within a mile and a half of the Mysore Gate, to assist the
besieged killedar. But the news of the battering down of the fort walls by
British guns alarmed Tipu and he dispatched Toshikhana Krishna Rao for
*
assistance.
The day came to an end and Tipu decided to resume the defence by
dawn. But the British had different plans—through the night they climbed
the ramparts of the fort, which was guarded by the French. Unfortunately,
the French betrayed Tipu. They did not defend the fort to the hilt. The
British breached the fort walls, entered and killed the Killedar Bahaddar
Khan. The whole of Bangalore was ransacked by Abercromby on the
General’s orders. Writing about the siege and fall of Bangalore, Wilks says:
It was a bright moonlight; eleven was the hour appointed, and a whisper along the ranks
was the signal appointed for advancing in profound silence: the ladders were nearly planted,
not only to ascend the faussebray, but the projecting work on the right, before the garrison
took the alarm, and just as the serious struggle commenced on the breach, a narrow and
circuitous way along a thin shattered wall, had led a few men to the rampart, on the left
flank of its defenders, where they coolly halted to accumulate their numbers, till sufficient
to charge with the bayonet. The gallantry of the Killedar, who was in an instant at his post,
protracted the obstinacy of resistance until he fell; but the energy of the assailants in front
and flank at length prevailed. Once established on the ramparts, the flank companies
proceeded as told off by alternate companies to the right and left, where the resistance was
everywhere respectable, until they met over the Mysore Gate: separate columns then
descended into the body of the place; and at the expiration of an hour, all opposition had
ceased.
On ascending the breach, a heavy column was observed on the left,
advancing from the embankment described, to attack the assailants in flank and
rear; but this also had been foreseen and provided for, and they were repulsed
with great slaughter by the troops reserved for that special purpose; a similar
column, lodged in the covered way on the right, had been dispersed at the
commencement of the assault, by a body appointed to scour it, and draw off the
enemy’s attention from the breach; and at the moment the flank companies had
met over the Mysore Gate, another column was perceived advancing along the
sortie, to enter and reinforce the garrison; but a few shot from the guns on the
ramparts, announced that the place had changed the masters. The carnage had
been severe, but unavoidable, particularly in the pressure of the fugitives at the
Mysore Gate, which at length was completely choked.
Bangalore was the gateway to Mysore, acclaimed as the strongest and
most important fortress of the kingdom and called ‘Dar-ul-Sultanat’ or
‘Capital of the Empire’. The fall of Bangalore on 21 March 1791 meant that
the very heart of Mysore was threatened. It sounded alarm bells for the
Sultan and sent shivers down his spine. Tipu had to make haste if he did not
want the situation to change completely to favour the English. Devanahalli,
Chikkaballapura and Ambajidurg meekly surrendered to the might of Lord
Cornwallis. Realising that the British now looked straight at Srirangapatna
from their position of strength in Bangalore, Tipu, along with a strong
division of force from Gutti under Qutub-ud-din, stationed himself on the
Chennapatna road that led to Srirangapatna. But Lord Cornwallis, with his
huge army (one regiment of European cavalry, five regiments of Indian
cavalry, three battalions of artillery, seven regiments of European infantry,
ten battalions of coast sepoys with seven other such from Bengal and 14,000
irregular horse) gave Tipu the slip and marched towards Srirangapatna via a
circuitous route. Facing the greatest hardships on the way—exhausted troops
existing on meagre supplies—Cornwallis’s grand army reached Arakere,
about nine miles east of Srirangapatna, on 13 May 1791.
But lady luck did not seem to favour his Lordship. The monsoons set in
earlier than expected that year and with greater severity. This coupled with
the acute deficiency of provisions, the tardy attitude of the allies and the
death of large numbers of cattle in his army for lack of fodder compelled
Cornwallis to beat a retreat. By 26 May 1791, Cornwallis decided to retreat
to Bangalore, but with a firm intention to return to Srirangapatna, better
prepared. As Lieutenant Colonel L.H. Thornton puts it:

There were now two courses open to Lord Cornwallis. He might defer his advance on
Seringapatam till the cold weather had set in. In the meantime he could place his supply
and transport arrangements on a sound basis, and he could render secure his
communications with the Carnatic and with the Nizam’s and the Mahratta’s territory. The
second course open to the Commander-in-Chief was to advance without further delay on
Seringapatam. This course, as Lord Cornwallis well knew, would be attended with very
grave risk. His supply service was in a most precarious state. Since the opening of the
campaign, no less than 12,000 bullocks had perished, and this loss had been but very
partially made up by the arrival of Colonel Oldham’s convoy...nonetheless Lord Cornwallis
chose the second course, hazardous though it was.
Thornton also speaks of the ‘friction’ between Cornwallis and Tejwant
Singh, the leader of the Nizam’s contingent. There are references to a
‘calculated treachery’ on Tejwant’s part that ensured doom for the British
army at Srirangapatna.
Amid all this, Tipu was grappling with personal tragedy. His darling
wife Ruqayya Banu had died. He became a near-recluse and all matters of
decision-making at the military level passed into the hands of the traitor Mir
Sadik.
At around the time Mysore’s army had to deal with the forces of
Cornwallis and Nizam Ali, it also had a tough time repulsing the attacks of
the Marathas. By June 1790, the Maratha army joined the fray under
Parashuram Bhau Patwardhan. The first objective of the Marathas was the
recovery of the provinces between the five tributaries of Krishna,
Gutprabha, Malprabha, Wardha and Tungabhadra, which had been annexed
by Haidar during the civil war that had raged in Poona under Raghoba.
Dharwad was the deemed capital of these annexed provinces. It was
defended by Badr-u-Zaman Khan, who was, H. Rao writes, ‘reputed to be a
sensible, well-informed old man, whose professional abilities and conduct
render him worthy of the trust his master has reposed in him’. A fierce siege
of Dharwad began that September and carried on for months on end. Badr-
u-Zaman Khan valiantly held the fortress and repulsed the continuous
battering of the Maratha forces that were now aided by English
detachments. By January 1791, a huge reinforcement of European troops
under Colonel Frederick joined Bhau’s forces. The shoddy strategies of
Parashuram Bhau cost the Maratha army heavily. But it was a battle that had
dragged on for so long that retreat at this point seemed the least likely option
to boost the already sagging morale of the besieging troops. Already, news
of the fall of Bangalore and the threat to the capital city of Srirangapatna
was encouraging negative thoughts in the minds of the loyalists of the
Sultanat. The old killedar was also running out of provisions and supplies
after holding the fort bravely for six months and twelve days. The hopes of
reinforcements arriving from Srirangapatna seemed bleak given the
precarious position of the kingdom in the wake of Cornwallis’s march
towards the capital. By April 1791, Badr-u-Zaman Khan capitulated and
Dharwad passed into Maratha hands. This was followed by a quick Maratha
takeover of everything north of the Tungabhadra.
If the hasty retreat of Cornwallis from the very gates of Srirangapatna
shattered the morale of the combined army, the victories of the Marathas
brought cheer to them. Cornwallis used the next few months to re-group and
strengthen the forces. A few successes, however minor, were the need of the
hour. Places like Rayakota, Nandidurg, and Pennagara and so on were
annexed between June and November 1791. Tipu also used the breather to
realign himself and resolved to reclaim the provinces lost in the course of
the previous months. He began a fierce siege of Coimbatore, which was held
by Lieutenant Chalmers. But mishaps in the army led to huge and
unexpected losses among the Mysoreans. A larger body was despatched
under Kumr-ud-din, Khan to salvage the position at Coimbatore. A stiff
siege ensued. Lieutenants Chalmers and Nash were severely wounded and
Coimbatore capitulated to the Mysorean might by November 1791. The
Europeans were packed off as prisoners to Srirangapatna.
With every defeat, memories of Yorktown haunted Cornwallis. This also
strengthened his resolve to try harder. Since many positions of strength
between the British base in Bangalore and Tipu’s centre of power of
Srirangapatna still remained in Tipu’s hands, Cornwallis deemed the
reduction of these as his prime task. Savandurg, a place he had long
regarded as a giant obstacle in his capture of Srirangapatna, was the first to
catch his attention. Colonel Stuart, along with two European and three
Indian corps and powerful artillery were sent to reduce this post. After a
stiff siege a string of places—Savandurg, Hutridurg and Shivanagiri—
capitulated to the British army by the close of the year.
The nizam’s armies meanwhile attacked the hill fort of Gurramkonda.
Hafiz Farid-ud-din was deployed for the task. There was a long history of
clashes between Hafiz and Tipu. Hafiz was in fact the ambassador sent by
Nizam Ali in 1789. That Hafiz had refused a marital alliance with Tipu’s
family was a sore point in the Sultan’s mind. Gurramkonda gave Tipu the
opportunity to avenge these insults. An unexpected attack led by Tipu’s
eldest son, Fateh Haidar, assisted by Ghazi Khan and Ali Raza routed the
forces of Hyderabad. Hafiz was taken prisoner, stripped and humiliated. It is
said that someone took mercy and flung a quilt at him to cover himself.
According to H. Rao, a triumphant Ali Raza approached him and said:
‘You recollect the disrespectful language you employed towards my sovereign and me at
Hyderabad on the occasion of the demanded marriage?’
‘Perfectly well,’ replied a disgraced Hafiz, ‘but we were then serving our
respective masters: that day is past. If you are here for the purpose of
revenge, murder me at once, but do not dishonour me!’
Wilks states that Ali Raza immediately ordered Hafiz to be led out to a
concealed place under the cover of a rock and in his presence to be cut into
pieces in cold blood. Hafiz’s death was a huge blow to the Nizam. The ego
clash between the two Muslim sovereigns of the Deccan seemed to have no
end in sight.
Fearing that further procrastination would ruin things, especially in the
wake of the upper hand Tipu seemed to be getting, Cornwallis decided to re-
attack Srirangapatna. Accordingly, the British made a frontal attack on
Srirangapatna in January 1792 and besieged it. The Sultan had made every
effort to strengthen the defences of the capital in the preceding six months
and was encamped to the north of Srirangapatna awaiting the enemy’s
arrival. Tipu had however miscalculated the British moves in hoping that
they would not attack till General Abercromby’s forces joined them from
Bombay. He had hoped to intercept the reinforcements that would head
towards Cornwallis. But a determined Cornwallis decided to make a
surprise attack on the fort of Srirangapatna by night. At about half past eight
on 6 February 1792, under a brilliant moonlit sky, three British columns
marched in dead silence towards the Sultan’s fortified encampments on the
northern side of the Cauvery, flanked by the defences of the Karighatta
Hills. The British attack was made in three divisions—the right under Major
General Meadows, with Lieutenant Colonel Stuart as his second-in-

command, the centre under Lord Cornwallis himself and the left under
Lieutenant Colonel Maxwell.
Tipu was having dinner in his camp when the first news of the stealthy
attack reached him. Taking his position at an outwork of the fort which
commanded the scene, he remained there till morning, issuing orders and
spending one of the most anxious nights of his life. The fierce fighting
continued for two days, during which the losses for the Mysoreans soared
upwards of 4,000 compared to about 535 for the invaders. Taking advantage
of the confusion, about 10,000 Coorgis who had been forcibly converted
and named ‘Ahmadi Chelas’ changed sides. They tried to cart away a large
treasure from the camp that night to pay the troops the following day. But
Pumaiya was ever-alert and ensured that their designs were foiled and all the
treasure sent back to the fort on camel-back. To add to Tipu’s precarious
position, the Bombay army under Abercromby repulsed the Mysorean
resistance and successfully joined the grand army by 16 February 1792.
Mysore’s fall was now inevitable. As Major Dirom records about Tipu’s
actions during this time:
He was seen frequently every day on the ramparts particularly at the north face, viewing the
English approaches, and giving directions to his own troops. He was constantly bringing
guns to the works and cavaliers on that side, and had a multitude of people at work
thickening the inner rampart, filling up the embrasures to strengthen the parapet where he
could not have guns, and repairing such as had been blown and damaged by the firing of his
cannon. He was at work day and night making every preparation possible for a vigorous
defence.
Lieutenant Mackenzie describes the other problems a beleaguered Tipu
faced:
But within doors, Tippoo was by no means secure from danger. However faithful their
allegiance, it was natural to conceive that the multitudes of peaceful people who had
flocked to the capital could not relish a struggle of so little expectance, whilst their families
and property remained at hazard on the issue.

The attack on Srirangapatna in 1792
To add to his woes, Tipu was systematically attacked at the most
vulnerable points of his kingdom. Starting December 1791, a corps of 400
Europeans and three sepoy battalions with field artillery under Major
Cuppage had reduced Danayakanakote and Satyamangalam. By February
1792 they ascended the top of the Gejjalhatty Pass and facilitated the
occupation of the key post of Hardanahalli and the reduction of the new but
unfinished fort of Mysore, barely eight miles south of the capital city.
Peace Comes at a Heavy Price
Cornered, Tipu had no option but to open negotiations with the grand army.
By February 1792, his vakils Ghulam Ali and Ali Raza were met by Sir
John Kennaway and Mr Cherry who represented the British forces and Mir
Alam and Hari Pant on the side of the Nizam and Marathas respectively.
The possible terms of peace were dictated by the jubilant allies—half the
kingdom of Mysore, Rs 3.3 crore, half immediately and the remainder in
three instalments over four months, and the unequivocal release of all
prisoners of war from the allies’ armies languishing in prisons across
Mysore. In a personal twist to the humiliation of defeat, the treaty also
included the handover of Tipu’s sons, Shahzada Abdul Khaliq and
Moizuddin, aged ten and eight respectively, as hostages to the British.
Tippu was shocked at the terms of the treaty. In addition to the indignity
of handing over half his kingdom and paying heavy tributes, parting with his
dear sons would be unbearable agony. But with the enemy at his doorstep,
he had few options left. Hayavadana Rao records that he assembled all his
principal officers at the mosque and sought their advice:
‘You have heard the conditions of peace, and you have now to hear arid
answer my question: shall it be peace or war?’
The assembled officers unanimously pledged their allegiance to their
beloved Sultan and declared that though they were ready to lay their lives for
his sake, they had to take into account the fatigue and disillusionment that
had set in among the Mysorean troops following the string of reverses. Thus,
after a lot of reluctance and trauma, Tipu accepted the terms of the treaty,
including the last one. The ‘Preliminary Treaty of Seringapatam’ was signed
on 26 February 1792 and the ‘Definitive Treaty of Seringapatam’ on 19
March 1792.
Abdul Khaliq and Moizuddin were given a tearful farewell. Major
Dirom gives a vivid account of the reception of the hostages:
Lord Cornwallis...met the Princes at the door of his large tent as they dismounted from the
elephants...and led them in, one in each hand, to the tent; the eldest, Abdul Kalick, was
about ten; the youngest, Mooza-ud-Deen, about eight years of age. When they were seated
on either side of Lord Cornwallis, Gulam Ali, the head Vakeel addressed his Lordship as
follows—’These children were this morning the sons of the Sultan, my master; their
situation is now changed, and they must look up to your Lordship as their father.’ Lord
Cornwallis...anxiously assured the Vakeel and the young Princes themselves, that every
attention possible would be shown to them, and the greatest care taken of their persons.
Their little faces brightened up; the scene became highly interesting; and not only their
attendants but all the spectators were delighted to see that any fears they might have
harboured were removed...

Mysore and its neighbours after the humiliating Treaty of
Srirangapatna, 1792
The Princes were dressed in long white muslin gowns, and red turbans.
They had several rows of large pearls round their necks, from which was
suspended an ornament consisting of a ruby and an emerald of considerable
size, surrounded by large brilliants; and in their turbans, each had a sprig of
rich pearls. Bred up from their infancy with infinite care, and instructed in their
manners to imitate the reserve and politeness of age, it astonished all present to
see the correctness and propriety of their conduct. The eldest boy, rather dark
in his colour, with thick lips, a small fattish nose, and a long thoughtful
countenance, was less admired than the youngest who is remarkably fair, with
regular features, a small round face, large full eyes, and a more animated
appearance...After some conversation, his Lordship presented a handsome gold
watch to each of the Princes, with which they seemed much pleased.
They were taken to the Carnatic via Bangalore, kept at the English
headquarters there and later at the Maratha camp, much against the wishes
of Nana Phadnavis who did not like the idea of torturing children in this
whole affair. Some historians claim that Tipu was later reunited with his
sons at Devanahalli, though some also believe, rather unrealistically, that
they were taken to Britain, where they were kept for the rest of their lives,
married to English ladies and their children have not returned to this day. It
is quite certain that the boys were returned to the family later, as Moizuddin
was reportedly in Srirangapatna when Tipu died and Abdul Khaliq fought in
the battle where Tipu was killed. This inhuman treaty marked the end of the
Third Anglo-Mysore war, which brought much disgrace, humiliation and
personal loss upon Tipu. The geography of the kingdom was completely
altered after the war.
According to the terms of the Definitive Treaty of Srirangapatna, the
English obtained Malabar and Coorg, Dindigul, Shankaridurg, Baramahal
and other territories which yielded a total rental of about 13,16,765
Pagodas. The Maratha territory was extended to the Tungabhadra and the
cessions to them in the Doab, Dharwad and other places valued at 13,16,666
Pagodas. Areas north of the Tungabhadra and the principality of Cudappah
were handed over to the Nizam and valued at a similar sum. The prize
money realised from the sale of property captured during the war amounted
to £ 93,584. For their phenomenal work in the war, each colonel was paid £
1,161, £ 29 to a Sergeant, £ 27 to an Indian subedar, £ 11 to a havaldar and £
5 to other ranks.
Commentators differ in their opinions of the manner in which
Cornwallis concluded the decisive war. While some praise him for bringing
the Tiger of Mysore to his knees, others criticise him for letting go of Tipu,
which resulted in another war seven years later. Below are such contrasting
views about the manner in which the Third Mysore War ended. Lieutenant
Mackenzie writes:
This glorious conclusion of the war was celebrated to the utmost extremities of the British
Empire, with the most brilliant rejoicings; few indeed affected to disapprove of the treaty,
and these were actuated by a desire of seeing the House of Hyder totally extirpated, without
attending to the danger of throwing an addition of power into the hands of our northern
allies. With men of judgment and experience, the peace was evidently calculated to ensure
permanent as well as immediate advantages to the several European settlements in the east,
for whilst the loss of half his dominions would be fatal to his plan of conquest, the
tranquility of India would, in all human probability, be out of danger from the restless
disposition of Tipoo Sultan for many years. His resources crippled, his treasures exhausted,
his troops dispersed, his artillery reduced to wreck, the sternest policy could not have
demanded further reparation for the insult offered to the British nation in the attack of her
ancient and faithful ally, the inoffensive Prince of Travancore.
Lewin B. Bowring adopts a middle-of-the-ground stand on the treaty:
In estimating Lord Cornwallis’ policy, it must be remembered that soldiers are ordinarily
more generous than other negotiators to a conquered foe and that he deprecated a further
conflict which would entail a great sacrifice of life. Moreover, he was probably fettered by
restrictions placed upon him by the East India Company, who, while unwittingly founding
an Empire, were still walking in commercial leading-strings. Tipu was undoubtedly a
usurper, as his father had been before him; the lawful Mysore Raja, though a captive was
still alive; and Tipu had not hesitated to avow himself the implacable enemy of the English.
The Sultan was hemmed in all sides and Seringapatam must inevitably have fallen had the
siege been prosecuted. It must be confessed, moreover, that it was a dubious policy to
restore to power a bitter foe, thus enabling him to resume a hostile attitude which eventually
compelled Lord Momington to crush forever the despot’s arrogance. Cornwallis was of the
opinion that he had effectually curbed Tipu’s power of disturbing the peace of India, a
mistaken idea of which subsequent events showed the fallacy. The restoration of the lawful
Mysore dynasty does not appear to have been contemplated nor would the captive Raja have
been able to maintain his rule unsupported by British troops. The territory held by his
predecessors at the time of Haidar Ali’s usurpation formed but a portion of the Mysore
dominions in 1792. These considerations were probably factors in inducing Lord
Cornwallis to refrain from the extreme measure of dethroning Tipu Sultan.
As Lieutenant Colonel L.H. Thornton opines:
It would have been noted that Cornwallis had held Tippoo in the hollow of his hand, and
there was not wanting critics to say that the Governor General had been too lenient; that he
should have crushed the Sultan completely and have erased the State of Mysore from the
list of future possible belligerents.

In a similar critical vein, General Meadows writes to Lord Cornwallis:*
I mean that three Governors, the Nizam and the Peishwah should dine at Srirangapatna,
with the old Queen of Mysore, sitting at the head of the table. For my own part I freely
confess that I should prefer the dignity and justice of dethroning the cruel tyrant and
usurper and restoring the Kingdom to the Hindu family—the lawful owner—to the wiser
policy perhaps of clipping his wings so effectually that he could soar no more in our time.
In fact, General Meadows was thoroughly disappointed in the way the
war had ended and of the supposed lost opportunities for the British. He
was angry that, rather than eliminating Tipu once and for all, the Sultan was
given a chance to re-align and recover from this shameful defeat. On top of
this, when he was asked to receive Tipu’s sons, an altercation ensued
between him and the governor general. Meadows shot himself in anger and
had to be rushed for medical assistance to Madras. Luckily for him, the
wound was not too serious.
After the successful campaign in Mysore, Cornwallis left India in 1793,
still gloating over his success. Sir John Shore succeeded him as Governor
General and stayed on till 1798.
Maharani Lakshmammanni
In 1794, Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar’s wife Kempananjammanni gave birth
to a son—Mummadi Krishnaraja or Krishnaraja III—bringing great joy to
Mahamathrushree Lakshmammanni. Her anger against the house of Haidar
had been accentuated after the ascent of Tipu to the throne. Unlike his
father, Tipu had completely discredited the royal family and she hated him
for that. Tipu’s humiliating defeat encouraged her to make the final blow
before uprooting him.
By 1790, she had opened negotiations with Cornwallis and General
Meadows; as described earlier, the latter addressed her often as ‘Rana’
Lakshmi Ammanni.
Maharani Lakshmammanni was also a deeply religious person. The
Annals state that Lord Venkataramana supposedly appeared in her dream
and directed her that His statue, which was in Balamuri, be consecrated at
Mysore. The maharani brought the statue to Mysore and installed it at the
Kille Venkataramana Swamy temple in Mysore, offering continuous
worship and observing strict fasts. Her efforts did not go in vain.
Tirumala Rao and Narayana Rao continued to be her faithful emissaries
to the British. This despite the several personal tragedies that struck their
families, thanks to the blessings of Haidar and Tipu, for siding with the rani.
Both Haidar and Tipu stopped short of taking any severe action against the
Maharani, partly out of respect and partly fearing public wrath for
misbehaving with a woman, that too one of royal lineage. So the easiest
targets were the brothers and their families. The Rani refused to heed the
message Haidar and Tipu tried to send her through these actions.
The pradhans tried to utilise Tipu’s attack on Travancore to their
advantage by mobilising support for the Mysore Maharaja’s cause in the
courts of Tanjore and Travancore where they had spent sufficient time. They
also carried the maharani’s messages to General Meadows who had
assumed charge as governor and commander-in-Chief on 20 February 1790.
Narayana Rao met Meadows at Tanjore and guns were fired from the
ramparts of the Tanjore fort to honour the emissary. Meadows stopped short
of committing himself to a treaty with the maharani and said he would need
to consult his allies, the Marathas and Nizam. He promised to write to the
maharani, however, which he did.
His letter, dated May 1790, speaks for itself:*
The repeated greetings of General Meadows, Governor of Channapatna. Your letter was
duly delivered by your ambassador Tirumala Rao and I understand the contents thereof.
God knows when Tipu may die and leave the country. Victory is God’s grace. If He will
enable us to restore the Kingdom to the rightful Rulers, we shall indeed be very happy. We
cannot now discuss about the distribution of territories. As the Nizam and the Mahrathas
are now our allies, we cannot settle the point ourselves. It is right that you should bear the
cost of the war, and it is also very good that you promise to pay prize money to the troops.
If we can but succeed in restoring the country to you and set things right, we shall feel
pleased that we have accomplished a good purpose. We will do our best and the Almighty
God should crown our efforts with success. We cannot say more now.
All through the course of the Third Mysore War the pradhans kept the
British informed of Tipu’s every move. Tirumala Rao supplied spies and
news writers as well to the British. As mentioned in a letter of Captain
Macleod to Tirumala Rao (dated 16 September 1790): ‘I have received the
two Harcars you sent me and I am much obliged to you for them.... if you
can get more good harcars and news-writers that will go to stay in Tippo’s
camp or some of his garrisons I will pay them well and be much obliged to
you.’
During Tipu’s conquest at Dharapuram, he received intelligence of
Tirumala Rao’s presence in Coimbatore. He viewed the pradhans as irritants
and a life-support system for the imprisoned maharani and wished to
eliminate them once and for all. He sent a spy named Singree to ascertain
the strength of the fort of Coimbatore and also confirm Rao’s presence. Tipu
then marched with his forces to attack Tirumala, who was stationed at the
fort with 2,200 men and a garrison that consisted of only one officer and
100 troops with little ammunition. The end seemed near for the pradhans.
Tipu’s huge force was no match for their small and ill-equipped army. But as
Providence would have it, a heavy and intermittent rain for three days gave
the British time to send in a detachment of 2,000 troops from Nanjnad
under Colonel Wahab and Captain Knox. Tipu retreated, dismissing this as a
wasteful and costly campaign to nail the two pradhans and marched ahead
towards Kaveripuram.
During the Third Mysore War, just around the time Bangalore fell, the
discontent among the dispossessed Palegars brimmed over in the form of a
fresh attempt to reinstate the old order of the Mysore royal family.
Interestingly, the role of Maharani Lakshmammanni in this incident is
completely unknown to historians and contemporary commentators. These
loyalists were aided and abetted by Lord Cornwallis himself. But the attempt
failed.
In the following years, the pradhans again acted as major pawns in the
chess game of the times, providing support to British armies all through the
Third Mysore War. Of course, Tirumala Rao also faced some unfortunate
charges of financial misappropriation of over 10,000 Pagodas from the
Treasury at Coimbatore. He denied the charges and blamed his subordinate
Amildar Puttaiya, in whose charge he had placed Coimbatore, and left with
the British armies on their campaign against Tipu. He was arrested in June
1791. It was left to Narayana Rao to make repeated pleas to the Board of
Revenue at Madras to get his brother released. Finally, sensing the potential
utility of Tirumala Rao during the war, the British decided to release him.
Throughout the years following Haidar’s death, low intensity
conspiracies were continuously hatched by Maharani Lakshmammanni and

her cohorts. They had even tried measures like setting fire to Tipu’s powder
magazine in Srirangapatna, overpowering the commander of the fort and his
men and taking possession of the city when Tipu was away on the Malabar
conquest. But all these efforts failed. The Third Mysore War was seen as the
final blow to Tipu and General Meadows had argued with Lord Cornwallis
to take Mysore from Tipu following his defeat in the war. But this
suggestion was rejected by Cornwallis.
Thus, none of the maharani’s efforts or hopes were realised.
Lakshmammanni was no ordinary woman, and refused to lose heart. Her
one-point agenda was to restore the kingdom to her family.
Even Khasa Chamaraja wrote to the Company’s officials wherein he
mentioned the ‘atrocities’ of Tipu and the suffocation and thralldom in
which he and his family were held, requesting the British to suppress Tipu
and restore power to the family. But in 1796 Khasa Chamaraja passed away.
Tipu didn’t see the need to install a puppet king on the throne and hence
completely ignored Lakshmammanni’s pleas to install Mummadi
Krishnaraja on the throne. For the first time since 1399, the chain of
succession was broken and this strengthened further Lakshmammanni’s
resolve to vanquish Tipu.

She wrote to Tirumala Rao thus:
Unless the English defeated the French, victory would remain an impossible dream. If any
delay occurred, as on former occasions, the alliance between Tippoo Sultan and the French
would be like that of fire and wind. The country would be devastated and the people ruined.
There are no able military commanders to oppose the English and everyone wishes Tippu’s
fall.
If however, it should happen by God’s grace that we should be alive and the
English conquer Tippu and restore to us our kingdom, we shall pay the
expenses of the English army to the extent of one crore pagodas. And for this
they must abide by our old treaty with Sullivan and Macartney. You should
communicate all this to the English and get the army to march at once. And it
cannot be timed to arrive here at a more opportune moment. For Tippu is
acting in the most foolish manner. He does not know who are his best friends
and who his worst enemies. And hence he has lost control over his own army.
He has no good military officers. And everybody here is wishing for his
discomfiture and he is very unpopular. By whatever route the army may come
now, it can have ample supplies and good water. If you will therefore exert your
best now without delay and with your usual zeal, ability and intelligence, I have
no doubt that God will second your efforts and give us victory this time! Let
Lord Ranga help us.

On 3 February 1799, she wrote yet another letter to Lord Momington
and Clive, governor of Madras, after narrating in detail the ‘sufferings’ of
her family since the usurpation in 1761.
To their Excellencies Lords Momington and Clive, ornamented with
every noble qualifications—Sallam of Lakshmammanny:
In times of yore, Providence bestowed upon our elders the Raj of Mysore, and got it
administered by us with justice and wisdom. Of late our servant Hyder Naik, growing in
power, usurped our territories and put to death our Lord Consort, our children, our relations
and all our dependents. He plundered our palace several times and with the help of the
wealth thereby acquired, conquered several other countries, and committed ravages
throughout slaying mercilessly and without cause ryots, poligars and other persons by
thousands. Finding it impossible to bear his oppressions any longer and considering the
English nation highly virtuous and upright and their friendship very much to be coveted, as
certain to yield much good in future, we sent an embassy to the then Governor of Madras,
through Mahomed Ali Khan (Nabob of the Kamatic) in the year Pramathi (AD 1760).
Certain negotiations followed, as recorded in our letter to the then Governor. Later, in the
year Durmukhi (AD 1776) relying on the promises of the illustrious Lord Pigot, we sent our
Pradhan Tirumal Row. Unfortunately that Governor could do nothing, as he was himself
involved in trouble.
And in the year Subhakritu (AD 1782), Lord Macartney gave us ample
assurance of our restoration and hence we got together many of our adherents.
Just on the eve of our capturing Tippu and recovering our Kingdom, our object
was disclosed to Tippu; and consequently he put to death 700 families from
amongst our relations as well as those of Timmal Row, including men and
women and children. You are also aware of the events that transpired in the
year Sadharana (1790 AD) in the times of General Meadows and Lord
Cornwallis. After the late treaty under the advice of the French, Tippu has
caused the death of the Rajah, plundered his Palace and placed us in rigorous
custody in a separate house.
While in this state, we learn that you have been sent to this land specially
to restore to us our kingdom. Besides, we have also heard of your great nobility
of character and purity of heart; and placing implicit faith in you, we seek your
protection and aid. And hence with your usual goodness, considering the
claims of justice, and with an eye to God and everlasting fame, you should root
out the enemy, and restore to us our kingdom, according to the conditions of
our last treaty with you. We shall pay you a crore of star pagodas for the
expense of the war. We have also written to our Pradhan Tirumal Row in
greater detail and he will tell you everything. As he is our best friend, whatever
is said or done by him on our behalf shall have our fullest approval, and you
may consider them as completely ratified by us. As we are in the hands of the
enemy, we cannot count upon our life. Should it happen that we are no more,
with the assistance of this our Pradhan Tirumal Row, we request you to
establish the Raj with justice and acquire fame for all time to come.
The stage seemed set for the final kill. Tippu was going to face the toughest
challenge of his life, encountering innumerable foes, both within and outside
his realm.
———————————
*
Kirmani talks of Krishna Rao’s treachery at this juncture and of his passing on hints to
the English about Tipu’s moves. However these charges have not been substantiated by any
other contemporary accounts.
*
Quoted in the Pall Mall Gazette of 26 September 1866 in an article entitled ‘The Man in
Possession—A Story of Mysore’.
*
This letter appears in a research paper by the descendants of the Mysore Pradhans—M.A.
Narayana Iyengar and M.A. Sreenivasachar.

12
THE SWORD OF TIPU SULTAN AD
1791–99
4 MAY 1799
he inner apartments of the Sultan’s Palace at Srirangapatna were
deceptively cool. While the mercury soared outside in a typical South
Indian summer, at its peak in the month of May, the rooms within seemed to
belong to some exotic island. Huge mats sprinkled with water and perfume
hung from the walls and balconies and manual fans ran round the clock. In
more ways than one, this illusion was symbolic. The man in command was
living in a similar world of make-believe, where he was made to believe that
things were fine. Just an hour back, Tipu Sultan had personally visited the
place where a breach had been reported in the once impregnable fort walls
of Srirangapatna. Mir Nadim, an accomplice of his ‘trusted’ ally Mir Sadik,
led him to a place where a few stones lay scattered. ‘Sultan! In times of war
rumours fly thick; see for yourself, there is no breach here. We are
completely in command, Sir, and our troops are stationed at all the main
posts. Please rest assured and proceed for your afternoon meal.’
While a relieved Sultan rode away, the breach stood at an opposite end
of the fort, welcoming the enemy with open arms. And the troops Mir
Nadim was talking about were lured away on the pretext of salary payments
and locked up by Mir Sadik. Srirangapatna had seen trouble in the past, but
this time treachery permeated virtually every brick and stone of the fort.
Back in the cool environs of his lavish palace, Tipu Sultan sat down to
eat. No sooner had he begun than a group of harried soldiers tried to barge
in. His trusted aide and physician Raja Khan was enraged.
‘You impudent fools! Don’t you realise this is the luncheon hour of His
Highness? How dare you interrupt at such an hour and with such defiance?’
he thundered.
‘Sir, I know this is the Sultan’s resting hour. But then calamity has
struck...we have to meet him...immediately.’
Hearing the din, Tipu left the bread untouched and came out to enquire
the cause of the commotion.
‘Salutations to Almighty Allah and his favourite Sultan! Sir, the fort is
breached, the enemy has entered and is moving menacingly towards the
Palace...’
‘What? I just came from....’ Mir Nadim’s nonchalance immediately
made sense to Tipu. ‘Has he too gone the same way as Pumaiya? Deserted
me ultimately? Raja Khan, when is your turn?’
‘Sir, hellfire be upon me if such a thought even crosses my mind. The
enemy would be here in no time. Your respectful father Haidar Ali Sahab
has constructed a number of secret exit routes from the palace after his first
loss of trust. Make haste Sir, slip away from Srirangapatna.’
‘RAJA KHAN!’ roared the Tiger of Mysore, ‘I shall sever your head
from your body for making such an impudent suggestion. You want me to
run away like a mouse from the battlefield? How could you even imagine
that I would do that?’
‘Huzoor, this is not the time for argument. With each passing second I
can sense the enemy’s footsteps drawing closer. You can stay in hiding for a
few months, realign yourself and storm the city again to regain all that you
lost. Isn’t that what Nawab Haidar Ali did when faced with Khande Rao’s
betrayal?’
‘I know you wish me well, Raja Khan—you are among the few well-
wishers left for me in this hell of doom. But if there is something that I have
to defend it is honour—the honour of my clan, the honour of the kingdom of
Mysore and that of myself. Running away in the midst of battle is any
soldier’s worst nightmare. And Allah knows that I have been but a soldier
all my life. How can I act against my characteristic nature and flee? I know
that I might not survive the treachery that has crippled me. I can see my end
is near. But it is far better to live like a lion for a day and die fighting to
defend your honour and your Kingdom, than to live like a jackal for a
hundred years.’
With these prophetic words, Tipu picked up his legendary sword and
hurried towards his horse, with the battle cry ‘Sarkar-e-Khudadad’.
The clarion call echoed through the ramparts of the fort on that fateful
day of 4 May 1799, for the last time ever.
THE FOURTH ANGLO-MYSORE WAR
Richard Wellesley, the Earl of Momington, took over as the new governor
general in 1798. Before coming to India he had written to Lady Anne
Bernard:
I will heap kingdoms upon kingdoms, victory upon victory, revenue upon revenue; I will
accumulate glory and wealth and power until the ambition and avarice even of my masters
shall cry mercy.
Wellesley also had a burning desire to spread Christianity in India.
Sunday was declared a holiday, the Bible was translated into all the major
Indian languages, and Christian missionaries became more active, especially
among the illiterate and under-privileged masses. Wellesley appointed a
commission of five officers: his brother, Colonel Wellesley, Colonel Close,
Colonel Agnew, Colonel Malcolm and Captain Macaulay. He is
remembered for introducing the Subsidiary Alliance system with the Indian
rulers. These subsidiary agreements between the British and the local rulers
ensured that the control of foreign affairs, defence, and communications was
transferred from the ruler to the company and the rulers were allowed to
rule as they wished (up to a limit) on other matters. This development
created what came to be called the native states, or princely states, under a
titular maharaja or nawab. Using this agreement he stationed British troops
at the Nizam’s court in Hyderabad under Captain Kirkpatrick. Slowly, the
Nizam lost all power over his own army and dominion and also the option
of appointing any Europeans without British consent. Wellesley tried the
same trick in Mysore when he tried to get Doveton stationed at

Srirangapatna. But Tipu could not be lured into signing such a treaty and
with this began the first bickering between the two.
Tipu’s soft comer for the French continued. He had heard so much about
the heroic Napoleon Bonaparte. There are only a few individuals in history
who have captured the imagination of their contemporaries and of
historians; perhaps the most compelling of these figures is Napoleon
Bonaparte. Actively involved in the French Revolution and a staunch
opponent of the British, Napoleon stood for everything Tipu upheld in
India. No doubt then, that he sought an alliance with Napoleon. In fact, Tipu
had a wide-ranging correspondence with the kings of Afghanistan, Arabia,
Constantinople and Mauritius as well in his endeavour to drive the British
out of India for good. Napoleon’s response to Tipu, addressing him as ‘The
Sovereign of India’, is recorded in Bhagwan Gidwani’s novel:
BONAPARTE, Member of the National Convention General-in-chief to the most
magnificent SULTAN, our greatest friend TIPPOO SAIB
You have already been informed of my arrival on the borders of the Red
Sea with an innumerable and invincible army full of the desire of delivering
you from the iron yoke of England. I eagerly embrace this opportunity of
testifying to you the desire I have of being informed by you, by the way of
Muscat and Mocha as to your political situation. I would further wish you
could send some intelligent person to Suez or Cairo possessing your
confidence, with whom I may confer.
May the Almighty increase your power and destroy your enemies!
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
Tipu’s plan was to create an international confederacy that would
eliminate the British. He had made friendly overtures to the Nizam earlier
and in fact even got a French contingent of 1,400 troops stationed in
Hyderabad under Raymond. But that was disbanded by Wellesley following
the Subsidiary Alliance system under Kirkpatrick. Tipu had invited
Napoleon and Zaman Shah, the King of Afghanistan, to India to aid him in
this battle. Things seemed to be moving according to plan, as the letter from
Napoleon (intercepted by the British) seemed to suggest. But then suddenly
a series of reverses spoilt his plans. Napoleon was defeated at Accre in Syria
and forced back to France. Zaman Shah beat a hasty retreat to Kabul
because of British machinations that brought about an attack on Afghanistan

from the Iranian border. Wellesley was furious at this international plot
hatched by Tipu and decided to solve this problem once and for all. He
declared war on Mysore and sent the largest army ever assembled in India
towards Srirangapatna. This was the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, and also the
last one.
In a political assessment of the situation, Wellesley wrote in 1798:*
In reviewing our political situation in India, particularly with regard to our comparative
power of curbing the attempts of Tippu, I ought not to omit the consideration of the relative
strength of the prince as it exists at the present moment, and as it stood at the conclusion of
the peace at Seringapatam. Since that period of time, he has enjoyed perfect internal
tranquility; while our allies all around him have been distracted and exhausted by domestic
rebellions, successive revolutions and mutual wars, he has been employed in recruiting the
sources of his strength, improving his revenues and invigorating the discipline of his
armies... he has been very active for some time past in his applications to the courts of
native powers, endeavouring to stir them up against us...But the most remarkable step that
Tippoo has lately taken, is his communication with Zemaun Shah...if an invasion of
Hindostan should ever seriously be attempted by Zemaun Shah, the diversion of our force,
which would be occasioned by such an event, would offer the most favourable opportunity
to an attack from Tippoo on our possessions in the peninsula. No mode of carrying on war
with us could be more vexatious or more distressing to our resources than a combined
attack from the Oude and the Carnatic...if the facts be true which I have stated on both
sides of this enumeration of the comparative circumstances of our situation in India, and of
those which effect the situation of Tippoo, it must be admitted that he has rather gained
than lost weight in the period of time described, and that the consistency, unity and
efficiency of our side of the balance has suffered no considerable degree of diminution...the
balance of power in India no longer exists upon the same footing on which it was placed by
the peace of Seringapatam. The question must therefore arise, how it may best be brought
back again to that state, in which you have directed me to maintain it... Of course I fear him
greatly. He is not like other rulers of India that we have known. I fear also the example he
sets to other rulers. Fortunately all of them are far too pusillanimous to follow his example,
but in the long run such an example can have a disruptive influence on the Empire... the
movement of our troops and military preparations could not escape the vigilance of Tippoo:
his resources are always more prompt than our own; and as a great part of his army is said
to be in a state of field equipment, our attempt to strike a blow at him is likely to produce an
invasion of the Carnatic before we are in a situation to resist him...a comparison between
his own and his father’s wars, with the late experience of his own misfortunes has taught
him that our strength depends upon our supplies...
The superiority of Tippoo in cavalry and the greater rapidity, with which
he moves, would render it impracticable to proceed to the attack of
Seringapatam without establishing a systematic chain of posts for depots of
stores and provisions. That he had endeavoured to frustrate this is evident from
his policy in the destruction of Ossore and Bangalore and in making

Seringapatam his only or principal fortification. By the former it is his
intention to increase our difficulty of our approach by lengthening the time of
our operation, and by the latter to oppose such impediments to make the
capture of Seringapatam impracticable in the course of one campaign...nothing
therefore short of the capture of Seringapatam can justly be considered as
striking an effectual blow against Tippoo...
Thus the vanquishing of Tipu Sultan became the primary objective of
the Company in order to maintain its suzerainty over the subcontinent. It is
evident that this brave son of Mysore shook the very foundations and the
confidence of the mighty British Empire!
THE FOURTH ANGLOMYSORE WAR
War broke out and three English armies burst into Mysore: the Carnatic
army under General Harris from Vellore, the Bombay army under General
Stuart, and the Hyderabad army under Colonel Arthur Wellesley and the
Nizam. The allied forces had an army of almost 50,000—26,000 of who
came with Wellesley (4,000 European and the rest local Indian sepoys) and
the Hyderabad regiment of 10 battalions and over 16,000 cavalry, along with
many soldiers supplied by the Marathas. Tipu’s defending forces had been
seriously depleted by the Third Anglo-Mysore War and the consequent loss
of half his kingdom, but he probably still had up to 30,000 soldiers. On 9
March 1799, the English army under General Harris encamped at
Kilamangalam and on the next day Lieutenant Colonel Read was sent to
protect Baramahal.
A scream of anguish resounded across Mysore as the English army
advanced. There was a cry of despair, a broken prayer for mercy. But the
invaders had been told that their mission aimed not just to conquer the
kingdom, but also to break the spirit of the people and their Sultan.
Undefended towns, villages, farms, temples and mosques were burnt down,
women were seized and shared among the warring forces, men and children
were slaughtered. Tippu rushed from place to place to stall the advancing
army. He marched to Siddheshwara to attack General Stuart’s army.
The Battle of Siddheshwara

In Historical Sketches, Wilks gives an account of the Battle of
Siddheshwara, called the Battle of Sedaseer. The final attack on the territory
that had proved to be the East India Company’s worst southern nightmare
was launched under General Stuart, who assembled armies at Cannanore
that marched from there on 21 February 1799. Beating the severely harsh
Deccan summer, the troops arrived at the top of the Poodicherrum ghats by
2 March, to take up battle positions close to the Mysore frontier.
As Wilks elaborates, the topography of the region—thickly wooded—
was so hostile and impregnable that occupying a regular defensive position
was almost impossible. With his characteristic military acumen, Stuart was
constrained to effect several divisions in his troops so that they could offer
mutual help when the need arose. Siddheshwara was a critical military post.
By virtue of its altitude, it alone offered an eagle’s eye view of signals
established between the two armies. Stuart knew only too well that the
capture of Siddheshwara would be the key to the capture of Srirangapatna.
The British troops in and around Siddheshwara kept a close watch on
the movement of troops in the vicinity. On the morning of 5 March, the very
day on which General Harris crossed the frontier into Mysore, the troops
reported the pitching of green tents and an extensive encampment in
advance of Periapatnam. The news worried Stuart—green tents? They
seemed to indicate that the Tiger was not too far away. But Stuart was
resolute. His gaze was fixed at the advance towards Srirangapatna and the
ultimate goal of seeing the Union Jack flutter on the ramparts of the fort.
The ground at Siddheshwara was occupied by a brigade of three native
battalions, under Lieutenant Colonel Montresor. The Company’s spies
stationed in Srirangapatna had brought in reliable information that the
Sultan was somewhere close to the Madoor River and that a detachment
under Mohammad Reza, popularly called the Benki Nawab or the Nawab of
Fire, constituted the only force west of the Cauvery. Still, Stuart had a great
responsibility and an opportunity to prove his mettle. The green tents ruined
his sleep and he thought it prudent to send another battalion to a convenient
position for reinforcement of the brigade around Siddheshwara.
Accordingly, on the morning of 6 March, the second-in-command,
Major General Hartley, was sent to ascertain the exact location and
movement of the Mysorean forces. But geography seemed to be on the

Sultan’s side. The dense forest cover of the region concealed the presence
and movement of the green brigade from Hartley’s hawk eyes. Between nine
and ten in the morning, Tipu’s troops made a simultaneous attack on the
British troops from both the front and rear ends. Two columns of Mysore
forces united at the rear from the right and the left, just at the time when the
frontal attack was launched, and prevented any reinforcement from reaching
the stranded troops. The Sultan’s idea was to strangle the marching armies
at the very first frontier post towards Mysore in a typical guerrilla attack.
Sadly, the British were not surprised as the traitors had leaked information
on the planned attack to the English sixteen hours in advance! This ensured
that General Stuart was in a state of perpetual alert and would rush in to
help his second-in-command who had ventured into the den of the Tiger.
The minute he received intelligence of Hartley’s perilous position, Stuart
raced to his assistance. That there was a huge disparity in the sheer numbers
of the Mysorean versus British troops, who comprised a pathetic minority,
did not seem to worry Hartley and his men. Wilks records that they ‘
maintained their ground with so much cool resolution, that the utmost
efforts of the Sultaun’s best officers and troops were unable to make any
serious impression on these three sepoy battalions.’ They waited for hours,
and Stuart, after receiving the urgent message lost no time marching there
with the two flank companies of His Majesty’s 75th and the whole of the
77th battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Dunlop. Somewhere around half
past two in the midsummer afternoon, this battalion reached Siddheshwara.
Small, but efficient, the reinforcement proved fatal for the Mysorean sepoys.
Wilks states that ‘ the energy of the attack’ was such that in less than half an
hour they had chased the Mysoreans through the woods to join the division
attacking from the front. But this was accomplished more by treachery than
chivalry on Stuart’s part. Qaman-ud-din the traitor ordered the troops to
withdraw at a juncture when the victory of Mysore seemed definite. The
army was baffled. They were being asked to retreat in the middle of a
success? And this disarray ensured the defeat of the Mysorean troops at
Siddheshwara.
Stuart then reached Montresor’s post to find his men completely
overcome by fatigue and exhaustion and their ammunition almost entirely
expended. By twenty minutes past three that day, the Mysorean troops had
retreated in all directions. Beatson records that General Stuart had a smile of
satisfaction on his lips, even as he tried hard to conceal his admiration for
the ‘ immoveable steadiness of the native troops in a protracted encounter of
nearly six hours, and the energy of the Europeans whom he had led to their
aid’. The bugle of war had been sounded and he was in command of the first
step towards victory. This joy was further buoyed for Stuart when the
statistics of the dead and injured reached him. While his side had lost 143
men, the loss on the other side was reported to be surprisingly high,
amounting to more than two thousand dead. The Maharaja of Coorg, who
accompanied Stuart in this encounter, further heaped encomiums on his deft
handling of a skirmish of considerable strategic importance. A crucial post
had been occupied right in the presence of the Sultan’s main army and there
could be no better morale booster to start off a war as decisive as this one.
The Battle of Malavelly
Losing on the Siddheshwara front, Tipu rushed towards Malavelly to
intercept General Harris. The English advanced to Malavelly where an
armed action took place on 27 March 1799. A man Tipu had trusted all
along, Mir Sadik wrongly informed him about Harris’s intention to conquer
Chandagal fort at the right side of the river. Upon arriving there, the Sultan
was terrified to see the English forces marching eastward, headed straight
towards Srirangapatna.
While the British troops under Harris reached Malavelly, they noticed
that the Sultan and his troops were stationed at a considerable distance
towards the west. The intentions of the Mysorean troops were misjudged by
the fact that they were camped so far from where Harris’s men were. But
they were caught by surprise when, at about ten in the morning, the guns
were opened from the Mysore end on the British cavalry. General Harris
quickly ordered the advance of His Majesty’s 25th Dragoons and the 2nd
Regiment of native cavalry, the three brigades of infantry to form a line
towards the left, the whole to make a frontal and left attack on Tipu’s forces
and Colonel Wellesley to move towards the right flank of the Mysore troops.
The rapid advance of the Mysorean troops baffled the British forces.
They made a resolute charge on the British brigade commanded by Major
General Baird, but found it difficult to encounter His Majesty’s 12th and the
Scotch Brigade that ensured a considerable loss for the advancing troops. It
was believed that this force was led by the Sultan himself and that it had
maintained a heavy musketry attack on His Majesty’s 74th Regiment. The
Sultan’s troops tried to encircle the enemy. While the cavalry charged
towards the right of where the British were stationed, a large infantry
attacked the side that Colonel Wellesley commanded. But this advance was
broken by Major General Floyd and His Majesty’s 19th Dragoons, creating
complete chaos among the Mysoreans. The division of the army and the
attack on its two ends baffled the Mysoreans and this, coupled with the lack
of water, left them no choice but to draw off their cannons and retreat.*
Almost 2,000 men of Tipu’s army were killed or wounded at the end of
this unprecedented attack. A deeply emotional Sultan assembled a council
of his principal officers at Bannur and addressed them:
‘We have now arrived at our last stage, what is your determination?’ He
seemed to have some foreboding that this was the end of the road for him.
‘To die along with you, Sultan!’ was the universal reply, and the meeting
ended in tears, as if it were being convened for the last time. The events of
the next few days saw to it that this had indeed been the last meeting.
As decided at the meeting, Tipu hastened to the southern part of the
island and positioned himself at the village of Chandgal. But General
Harris, by slow yet cautious marches, thwarted his plans—making a
circuitous leftward turn and reaching the face of the capital, two miles from
the southwest face of the fort.
Thus, spreading loot and disaster along their way, the massive British
army reached Srirangapatna for the ultimate siege on 5 April 1799.
The Run-up to the Final Assault
Meanwhile, treachery was at its peak in the troubled fort of Srirangapatna.
The commanders of the fort gave the British easy access to Sultanpet Tope
—the way to the fort. The English attacked from the western and
northwestern sides. Mysore had often known danger in the past, but never
such acute danger. Tipu suffered other personal losses as well. His hitherto
trusted Prime Minister, Pumaiya left. When it had become obvious to
Pumaiya that things were going against Tipu, he decided to leave the fort
and bide his time till the British took over and he could go over to their side.
Tipu’s trusted mentor Ghazi Khan was murdered treacherously by Mir

Sadik. The Tiger was virtually the lone defender of the fort of Srirangapatna
and the Sultanat-e-Khudadad Mysore.
While Tipu was engaged in defending the frontier posts, Major General
Floyd marched to the rear of the camp towards Periapatnam with a strong
detachment to meet the army from Bombay. On 14 April, he reached
Srirangapatna with this additional army. Richard Wellesley planned the
opening of a breach in the walls of Srirangapatna. The location of the
breach, as noted by Beatson, the author of an account of the Fourth Mysore
War was ‘in the west curtain, a little to the right of the flank of the north-
west bastion. This being the old rampart appeared weaker than the new’.
Another frontier bastion, Mahtab Bagh was handed over to the British
by Zain-ul-Abideen Shustari. The River Cauvery, which flowed around the
city of Srirangapatna, was at its lowest level of the year, and could be forded
by infantry if an assault commenced before the monsoon. When letters were
exchanged with Tipu, it seemed that the Sultan was playing for time. He
requested that two persons be sent to him for discussions and also stated that
he was preoccupied with hunting expeditions. The English terms of peace
released on 22 April were ridiculous—the cession of half the remaining
territories of Mysore, payment of two crores of rupees in two instalments
and delivery of four of Tipu’s sons and four of his principal officers as
hostages! This was completely unacceptable to the Sultan. Sheikh Ali writes
that he is believed to have remarked that ‘in the short span of human life, it
was of little importance whether an inevitable event should arrive a few days
or years sooner or later, and it was better to die like a soldier than to live a
miserable dependent on the infidels, in the list of their pensioned rajahs and
nabobs!’
The Mysorean defence succeeded in preventing the establishment of a
battery on the north side of the Cauvery on 22 April 1799. However, by 1
May the British, working at night, had established batteries in the south and
brought them up to the wall. At sunrise on 2 May, the batteries of the nizam
of Hyderabad succeeded in opening a practical breach in the outer wall. In
addition, a magazine of rockets was hit inside the fortress, resulting in a
huge explosion.
The British camp was abuzz with hectic planning and strategising as
maps were drawn and possible routes for the attack debated. The island of
Srirangapatna was about three miles long and one mile broad with a dreary
fort of naked rock and mud walls. Tipu had combined the old Indian style of
fortification with the French style to try and secure his abode. He had
ensured diligently-cut ditches through the granite, but much of it remained
unfinished. The fort had long straight walls and square bastions and the
glacis was so high and steep in many parts that it could shelter any assailant
from fire from the ramparts.
After nearly a month of continued fighting and hardships the
brainstorming British army generals saw a glimmer of hope around 3 May.
The possibility that a breach could be made in the fort—whose maps they
had been scrutinising down to the last brick—sent a wave of cheer through
the battle-weary British commanders. They decided to seize the opportunity
and immediately ascend the fort through this breach. Accordingly, it was
decided that 4 May would be the date for that final and decisive storming of
this bastion. The same evening, the troops moved silently down the trenches
under the command of Major General David Baird, an old enemy of the
Sultan. Held captive by the Sultan for 44 months 20 years ago, he wanted
revenge, and to go down in history as a commander who, within an hour,
conquered the famed fort of Srirangapatna and inflicted a crushing defeat on
the Tiger of Mysore.
While the British soldiers rejoiced at the thought that years and months
of fatigue and anguish were finally drawing to a close, they were also aware
that Tipu was the most unpredictable of Indian rulers, and that fortunes
could change directions any time. They worried that he would give them the
slip and emerge victorious despite all their meticulous planning. But the
positives far outweighed the negatives this time, and besides Providence,
they could definitely count on treachery to finally spell doom for the Sultan
of Mysore.
Information regarding the breach in the fort wall was kept secret from
Tipu. When he insisted on being led to the place for a first-hand
investigation, Mir Nadim led him to a place where just a few stones had
fallen and withheld information of the actual breach. Reassured, Tipu rode
off. But the actual breach was elsewhere and awaiting the British troops.
The Storming of Srirangapatna

The fateful day of 4 May 1799 dawned like any other day. Perhaps it was the
inevitability of what the sunset would bring that caused Tipu to invoke
supernatural aid. A large contingent of Brahmin priests were called in to
carry on a continuous chanting or japam to ensure no harm befell the
Sultan. In his youth Tipu had viewed astrology as a false science, but
somewhere he had become a great believer in this branch of human
knowledge. That morning, he looked at his own horoscope with a grim
expression. He was proficient enough to deduce a couple of things. The
movement of Mars within a particular circle indicated that the fort could
hold on till the completion of this celestial rotation. Sadly, Tipu could see
that the journey of the planet had ended the previous night and the new
planetary positions were anything but favourable. By about nine in the
morning, he proceeded to the palace, bathed and presented the prescribed
oblations to avert a calamity—even as his mind seemed reconciled to the
inevitable. The Brahmin astrologers assisted him in this ritual. Solemnly
trying to ascertain his fortune through the form of his face reflected off the
surface of a jar of oil, he presented the final oblations. The incantations
were interrupted by the news of the death of Syed Ghaffar, a skilled and able
loyalist. Tipu looked at the Brahmin priests questioningly: ‘The news of
death at the time I seek to conquer it—does it portend a deeper message?’
he seemed to ask. The expression on their speechless faces gave him his
answer. Tipu decided that this was no time for rituals and invocations. ‘Pray
for me, holy ones!’ he said and stormed out of the inner apartments.
Meanwhile Baird, who was waiting for the afternoon, kept checking his
watch and at about one o’clock he exclaimed: ‘The time has come... Now,
my brave boys! Follow me!’
The storming troops, including men of the 73rd and 74th regiments,
clambered up the breach and fought their way along the ramparts. The key
position near the breach was held by the traitor Sayyid Saheb. He waved his
handkerchief as a signal to the English to come inside—an open invitation
to enter the fort and vanquish its Sultan. The troops waited for the signal in
the trenches surrounding the fort. From the trench to the river bank was a
distance of 100 yards, the river was rocky and varied in depth, ankle-deep to
waist-deep. Another 280 yards beyond was the stone wall, a ditch some 60
yards wide and finally, the breach. It was a difficult approach, described by
Lieutenant Richard Bayly in his war diary, which is peppered with praise for
the heroism of the British army and completely omits mention of the
betrayal and intrigue that made the victory possible:
We experienced little loss, until we were floundering on the rocky bed of the river, when
the men began to fall fast. All who were wounded were inevitably drowned in a second
afterwards. One step the water scarcely covered the foot; the next we were plunged
headlong into an abyss of fathoms deep. Thus scrambling over, the column at length
reached the ascent of the breach, where numerous flankers who had preceded us were lying
stretched on their backs, killed and wounded, some of the gallant officers waving their
swords and cheering our men on. We dashed forward, and the top of the breach was soon
crowned by our intrepid lads, and the British flag hoisted. But this was for a moment only.
A sudden, sweeping fire from the inner wall came like a lightning blast, and exterminated
the living mass. Others crowded from behind, and again the flag was planted. At this time
General Baird was discovered on the ramparts. On observing a deep, dry, rocky ditch of
sixty feet deep, and an inner wall covered with the troops of the enemy, he exclaimed:
‘Good God! I did not expect this!’ His presence of mind did not desert him...and we were
soon charging to the right and left of the breach along the ramparts of the outer wall.
Without firing a single gunshot, a handful of British soldiers
successfully reached the breach and replaced the Sultan’s flag (which looked
like tiger-skin to represent the Tiger of Mysore) with the Union Jack. The
traitor, Sayyid Saheb, was betrayed to his death too—the same Major Dallas
who had led the forces with General Baird reached the fort’s ramparts and
pushed Sayyid over the battlements. He fell into the ditch and was drowned
in knee-deep water.
The final attack on the fort of Srirangapatna, 4th May 1799 (Maps are
artistic recreations made at Suhaas Graphics, Bangalore)
The British now divided themselves into two groups to the left and right
—one attacking the southern rampart and the other the northern one. They
wanted to encircle the Sultan in his own house and give him no opportunity
to flee. Both the groups were to meet at the eastern gate. The assault was to
begin at 1 pm to coincide with the hottest part of the day when the defenders
would take a refreshment break.
The English had entered the once invincible fort of Srirangapatna.
In the middle of such a bloody and decisive war, Mir Sadik called away
all the troops defending the fort as if to pay them three months’ salary. Mir
Nadim imprisoned the faithful soldiers and blocked all the escape routes
Tipu could have used. The only faithful allies left to theSultan were his
personal physician Raja Khan and a trusted aide, Shekhar. Mir Sadik sent
his wrestlers Khaliq and Jabbar to find and kill Tipu.
Amidst such treachery Tipu rushed out, refusing to escape by the secret
routes, choosing instead to defend his fort while he could, with the very
battle cry on his lips ‘Sarkar-e-Khudadad’, which once upon a time would
shatter the morale of British troops; but would unfortunately never again be
heard after that day.

Catching sight of Shekhar, Mir Nadim shot him. As he lay wounded,
Mir Sadik came along with a small group of British soldiers looking for the
Sultan. Tipu’s enemies were terrified that he would escape, get fresh
weapons, and come back to haunt them. They had planned this as the final
kill and they wanted to keep it that way. Realising all this, Shekhar shouted
to Mir Sadik that the Sultan had left a message for him. Overjoyed, Mir
Sadik rushed towards Shekhar who, pretending to fish for the message in his
pocket, stabbed Mir Sadik. The so-called ‘Future King of Mysore’ was now
dead—an evil smile on his face and an unconsummated dream in his heart.
The British were only too happy at being rid of a man who would have
certainly demanded his pound of flesh. Mir Sadik found his ignoble end. For
long, the local populace who revered Tipu’s memory were believed to throw
stones at the spot where Sadik died, just like the stoning of the devil at
Mecca. But since Shekhar died at the same spot, they quickly add ‘Not for
you Shekhar!’ It is said that Shekhar’s spirit laughs on hearing this.
THE DEATH OF TIPU SULTAN
The enfilade from the Bombay army, on the northern side of the river, had
been so strong that the defendants of the fort had been entirely driven from
the ramparts on the right of the breach, and had been prevented from raising
any traverses. The British troops who proceeded in that direction faced
absolutely no opposition. The flank companies of the 12th regiment, having
found a passage across the inner ditch, passed through the town to attack the
rear of the Mysorean forces.
The column that rounded the northwest corner of the outer wall near
Sallyport faced great opposition. Every twenty-thirty yards, the rampart was
crossed by traverses and many of them were immediately involved in a
tussle with a group of Mysorean warriors under a short fat officer, who
defended every traverse. The officer was observed to be discharging, at
Woodhall’s British forces, loaded hunting weapons being passed to him by
servants at his service. He was seen wearing a richly bejewelled sword belt
and was almost fainting from loss of blood. The soldiers pierced his body
many times and finally with a shot to his temple, killed him. They snatched
away the rich jewels, commenting, ‘Who was he? He fought like a tiger.’
The two divisions of the storming army met at an open place
surrounding a very fine mosque, into which the remains of the garrison
withdrew, and the destruction and fighting seemed to cease even as the day
steadily came to an end. The British troops continued to worry about the
Sultan’s whereabouts. Had he escaped? Was he killed? Commenting on this
predicament, Francis Buchanan writes that the last they had heard of the
Sultan was that when he was near the narrow Sallyport, he was met with a
crowd flying from the flank companies of the 12th Regiment and that a
wound, inflicted by a weapon, was discovered in his arm. Though they had
blocked all roads to retreat and escape, they were still afraid Tipu would had
given them the slip. Buchanan observes:
The Hindus universally think, that, finding the place taken, he was going to the palace to
put all his family to death, and then to seek for his own destruction in the midst of his
enemies. But, although such is considered by the Hindus as the proper conduct for a prince
in his situation, we have no reason to think that a Mussulman would conduct himself in this
manner; nor was Tippoo ever accused of want of affection for his family. I think it more
probable, that he was ignorant of the British troops having got into the inner fort, and was
retiring thither in hopes of being still able to repel the attack.
By the time the sun had set on the gloomy fort of Srirangapatna on 4
May 1799, the British seemed to be quite in command of all the major
frontiers and posts. But fear of the Sultan’s return still loomed large. Having
fought Tipu for several decades now, the British knew that he could ruin
their plans anytime—springing forth from nowhere and launching a fatal
attack. They had to see him, dead or alive, to get rid of these apprehensions.
Major Alexander Allan and Major Beatson took a round across the southern
rampart and saw several persons assembled in the palace, many of whom
were of distinguished rank as could be judged by their dress and appearance.
Tipu’s whereabouts were as much a mystery to the Mysoreans as to the
British. Tipu’s few remaining loyalists and his family members were
petrified to see the British striding confidently across their once-feared
enemy’s threshold. At the same time they were puzzled that Tipu was not
around to save them and his own fort when the enemy had come so
perilously close. The same doubts of his death or escape plagued their
minds. Allan and Beatson tried to read the body language of the natives to
ascertain Tipu’s whereabouts. As Allan states in Beatson’s account of those
nail-biting hours:
I particularly remarked, that one person prostrated himself before he sat down; from which
circumstance I was led to conclude, that Tippoo, with such of his officers who had escaped
from the assault, had taken shelter in the palace.
The troops were left to recover from a long day of battle. In the
meanwhile Beatson and Allan apprised General Baird of the circumstances
they had been witness to in and around the Sultan’s Palace—none of which
offered any definitive clue to his whereabouts. Baird ordered Allan to
proceed to the palace along with a detachment of the 12th and part of Major
Gibbing’s sepoy battalion and meet the residents. He was to carry an olive
branch of friendship to them with a message that their lives would be saved
if they agreed to surrender. Accordingly, Allan proceeded towards the palace
with a white cloth fastened to a sergeant’s pike and reached the palace
where Major Shee and part of the 33rd Regiment were keeping guard. Many
of Tipu’s family members were on the balcony in a state of deep anxiety.
When the message reached the inmates, the killedar along with another
officer and a confidante servant came over to the terrace of the front
building. They tried to procrastinate so as to buy time—they were all
hopeful that their Sultan would not have betrayed them and that he would
spring in suddenly and chop off the British heads. They desperately awaited
nightfall, which they hoped would facilitate their escape in the event of the
Sultan’s exit or his death.
After some initial reluctance to allow Allan inside the palace, they
finally consented and he made his way to the inner apartments along with
Captain Scohey (who was well-versed in the native languages) and Captain
Hastings Fraser. It was literally like entering a tiger’s den for they had to
keep assuring the heavily armed security personnel that their mission was
one of peace and negotiation. Allan describes this journey to the inner
recesses of Tipu’s Palace:
The killedar, and many others affirmed, that the princes and the family of Tippoo were in
the palace, but not the Sultaun. They appeared greatly alarmed and averse to coming to any
decision. I told them, that delay might be attended with fatal consequences; and that I could
not answer for the conduct of our troops, by whom they were surrounded, and whose fury
was with difficulty restrained. They then left me, and shortly I observed people moving
hastily backwards and forwards in the interior of the place; and, as there were many
hundreds of Tippoo’s troops within the walls, I began to think our situation rather critical. I
was advised to take back my sword; but such an act, on my part, might, by exciting their
distrust, have kindled a flame, which, in the present temper of the troops, might have been
attended with the most dreadful consequences; probably the massacre of every soul within
the palace walls. The people on the terrace begged me to hold the flag in a conspicuous
position, in order to give confidence to those in the palace, and prevent our troops from
forcing the gates. Growing impatient at these delays, I sent another message to the princes,
warning them of their critical situation, and that my time was limited. They answered, they
would receive me as soon as a carpet could be spread for the purpose; and soon after the
killedar came to conduct me.
Once inside, the visiting British officers met two of the princes, who
squatted on a carpet and were surrounded by a large retinue of attendants.
They invited the enemy to be seated in front of them. Allan repeated his
request to the princes, that if they valued their lives and peace, they must
inform him of their father’s whereabouts. Gripped with the strongest
feelings of fear and dejection, Prince Moizuddin had a quick word with
some confidantes and later made a passionate plea that he was unsure where
the Sultan was. The British request to have the gates opened in that case
alarmed the princes and their attendants, but seeing that as the only option
and seemingly convinced by British assurances, they complied.
For Prince Moizuddin it all seemed like deja vu. A few years back he
had been similarly faced with the British when handed over as hostage to
Lord Cornwallis. Allan’s suggestion that he quit the palace and proceed to
meet General Baird met with violent protests and objections. But being a
practical young man, he decided that compliance was the best path. General
Baird was consumed with rabid hatred for Tipu and his clan for the murder
of many British prisoners of war and the humiliation and suffering he had
himself endured in that very place for so long, years ago. But he interviewed
the Prince with a sense of equanimity and guaranteed his life, provided he
gave them the details of his father. The Prince pleaded helplessness and
ignorance of his gallant father’s whereabouts.
The British were convinced that the people in the palace were as
clueless about the Sultan as they were. So it was decided that a group of
English troops under General Harris would form a search party to look for
Tipu. The Mysore troops were immediately disarmed as the British search
party made its way to the palace yard. A servant told them that in the noon,
Tipu had gone to the main gate with Raja Khan while the killedar informed
them that the Sultan might have been wounded in the attack and possibly lay
somewhere near the northern face of the fort.
The journey of the search party through the ramparts of the fort was like
a journey through hell. Heaps of dead bodies lay rotting one on the top of
the other and the vultures had already positioned themselves for the feast.
The darkness of the night made it worse. Allan says:
The number of dead, and the darkness of the place, made it difficult to distinguish one
person from another, and the scene was altogether shocking; but, aware of the great
political importance of ascertaining beyond the possibility of doubt, the death of Tippoo,
the bodies were ordered to be dragged out, and the killedar, and the other two persons, were
desired to examine them one after another. This, however, appeared endless; and, as it now
was becoming dark, a light was procured, and I accompanied the killedar into the gateway.
During the search we discovered a wounded person lying under the Sultaun’s palankeen:
this man was afterwards ascertained to be Rajah Cawn, one of Tippoo’s most confidential
servants; he had attended his master during the whole of the day.
The only sign of life in this abundance of death was a moan that the
British search party heard. It was that of Raja Khan. He was grievously
wounded and almost unconscious. Scared out of his wits on seeing the
British, he ran to search for his beloved Sultan. Before he had slipped into
unconsciousness, he faintly remembered the Sultan having a dizzy fall after
considerable loss of blood. He rushed towards a tunnel-like passage that was
choked with scores of corpses and there, amidst a heap of dead bodies, lay
the brave Sultan of Mysore.
The search might have been over, but the British were shocked to behold
Tipu and were in fact scared to even touch him as they weren’t completely
certain he was dead. They immediately called for the physician. Tipu’s body
was still warm, his eyes open, his hands clasped the sword in a tight grip and
his face bore the same resolute and confident look that the British had
shuddered before for decades now. Allan describes it thus:
When Tippoo was brought from under the gateway, his eyes were open, and the body was
so warm, that for a few moments Colonel Wellesley and myself were doubtful whether he
was not alive: on feeling his pulse and heart, that doubt was removed. ...His dress consisted
of a jacket of fine white linen, loose drawers of flowered chintz, with a crimson cloth of silk
and cotton, round his waist: a handsome pouch with a red and green silk belt, hung across
his shoulder: his head was uncovered, his turban being lost in the confusion of his fall: he
had an amulet on his arm, but no ornament whatever.
He further writes:
By a faint glimmering light it was difficult for the killedar to recognise the features; but the
body being brought out, and satisfactorily proved to be that of the Sultaun, was conveyed in
a palankeen to the palace, where it was again recognised by the eunuchs and other servants
of the family...Tippoo was of low stature, corpulent, with high shoulders, and a short thick
neck, but his feet were remarkably small; his complexion was rather dark; his eyes large and
prominent, with small arched eyebrows, and his nose aquiline; he had an appearance of
dignity, or perhaps sternness, in his countenance, which distinguished him above the
common order people.
It was only after the physician checked for a pulse and proclaimed Tipu
dead that the British were relieved. They broke out in jubilation. General
Harris shouted in ecstasy, ‘India is ours from today!’ His laughter echoed
through those ramparts that had seen so much death and destruction that
very day. It was only then that a few officers who were present during the
assault identified the fat, stout Mysorean soldier as the same man whose
corpse lay in front of them. Little had they realised when they attacked the
officer for the costly jewel he wore that the man they thought was a common
soldier of the Mysore army and who fought valiantly till his last breath, was
none other than Sher-e-Mysore Tipu Sultan. Kings usually never came out
of their palaces to fight and often secretly escaped in the midst of such
decisive battles. So they had not imagined that the Sultan might have been
among them, fighting with his men to beat the British.
The soul had escaped the body, but the hand still held the sword. Thus
Tipu Sultan, along with 12,000 soldiers, attained martyrdom on 4 May 1799
—the most grievous fall of any hero in history.
The British took possession of the toshikhane, the palace and the
remains of the fort. Amidst the wailing and crying of the ladies of Tipu’s
harem, his body was delivered to his palace. Charles Stuart, who was a
witness to Tipu’s defeat, reports:
He had 4 wounds, 3 in the body and one in the temple, the ball having entered a little above
the right ear and lodged in the cheek, the countenance was no way distorted but had an
expression of stem composure. This fearless soldier fought till the end, nothing could
conquer him or make him submissive, except, perhaps death. The deep resentment nursed
against the British remained burning in him, till he fell in the battlefield and breathed his
last.
Allan records a jubilant letter from General Harris to Richard Wellesley:
I have the pleasure to inform you that this day at half past two o’clock the palace was
completely in our possession. Tippoo fell in the assault.
Thus fell the last bastion of India’s defence against the British. Richard
Wellesley was apparently entertaining a select group of people at dinner
when news of the Sultan’s death reached him. He rose, unsteady from the
several helpings of whisky he had consumed, raised his glass and said,
‘Ladies and gentlemen, I drink to the corpse of India.’
The Rape of Srirangapatna
On 5 May 1799, Tipu’s second son Abdul Khaliq, who was commanding
the southern face of the fort, surrendered. Once it was confirmed that Tipu
was dead, the victorious British army considered it their right to plunder and
rape a city that had already been grievously assaulted. What followed was a
free-for-all, with each soldier encouraged to fill his coffers as best he could.
They looted Srirangapatna down to the last brick. They saw it as a
personification of the man who had made them run from one battlefield to
the other. The fort, the palace, libraries—everything was destroyed.
As Colonel Bayly recollects:
The fortress now became one wild scene of plunder and confusion...The rest of the troops
had filled their muskets, caps, and pockets with zechins, pagodas, rupees, and ingots of
gold. One of our grenadiers, by name Platt, deposited in my hands, to the amount of fifteen
hundred pounds’ worth of the precious metals, which in six months afterwards he had
dissipated in drinking, horse-racing, cock-fighting, and gambling...Tranquility was scarcely
restored in the Fort, when the honourable Colonel Wellesley was sent in to take the
command, to the great dismay and indignation of General Baird, who had felicitated
himself on the certain command of this acquisition of his gallantry; but he was superseded,
and at once delivered over to Wellesley the important fortress of Seringapatam to his future
guidance, who next day hung up eighteen poor Sepoys, found in the act of plunder, contrary
to his orders...
However, Buchanan in his account gives a clean chit to the British
troops regarding their behaviour with the people, his claim being that ‘our
soldiers killed none intentionally but fighting men’. He also makes probably
one of the first recorded cases for what in the last century was christened
‘collateral damage’ when he says that ‘terrible things must always happen
when an enraged soldiery with firearms are pursuing an enemy through a
populous place.’ Some justification indeed!
He tries occasionally to flirt with the truth, however, such as here:
In this, I believe, very little murder was committed; although there can be no doubt that
many persons were beaten, and threatened with death, in order to make them discover their
property. The women on this occasion went out into the streets, and stood there all night in
large groups; I suppose, with the view of preventing any insult... This precaution was
probably little necessary. The soldiers had mostly been in the trenches two days; they had
been engaged in a hard day’s work; and their hopes and their rage having then ceased, they
were left in a state of languor, by which they were more inclined to seek repose, or cordial
refreshments, than to indulge in sensual gratification.
The Burial
General Harris made preparations for the last rites as per Islamic rituals.
The body was covered with fine muslins and rich clothes, placed in a state
palanquin and taken in a long procession till it reached the Lai Baugh
Mausoleum where the British gun salute began. Tipu was laid to rest beside
his father Haidar Ali and mother Fatima Begum. Several verses were
composed in 1799, Hijira 1213 which said: ‘Tipu was slain unexpectedly of
religion of True God on Saturday 28th Zikad. The day of Judgement
manifested itself as the 7th hour from this morning.’
Scarcely had Tipu’s remains been committed to the earth than a
tremendous storm of thunder, lightning and rain followed for several hours,
taking many lives. It seemed that Srirangapatna needed to be washed so as
to cleanse the bloodstains of the many patriots who had laid down their lives
defending it. It seemed to be nature’s last attempt at defending the once
impregnable fortress of Srirangapatna and safeguarding the kingdom of
Mysore.
Colonel Bayly recounts the terrible thunderstorm that hit Srirangapatna
in May 1799 after Tipu’s burial:

I must relate the effects and appearance of a tremendous storm of wind, rain, thunder, and
lightning that ensued on the afternoon of the burial of Tippoo Saib. I had returned to camp
excessively indisposed. About five o’clock a darkness of unusual obscurity came on, and
volumes of huge clouds were hanging within a few yards of the earth, in a motionless state.
Suddenly, a rushing wind, with irresistible force, raised pyramids of sand to an amazing
height, and swept most of the tents and marquees in frightful eddies far from their site. Ten
Lascars, with my own exertions, clinging to the bamboos of the marquee scarcely preserved
its fall. The thunder cracked in appalling peals close to our ears, and the vivid lightning tore
up the ground in long ridges all around. Such a scene of desolation can hardly be imagined;
Lascars struck dead, as also an officer and his wife in a marquee a few yards from mine.
Bullocks, elephants, and camels broke loose, and scampering in every direction over the
plain; every hospital tent blown away, leaving the wounded exposed, unsheltered to the
elemental strife. In one of these alone eighteen men who had suffered amputation had all
the bandages saturated, and were found dead on the spot the ensuing morning.
The funeral party escorting Tippoo’s body to the mausoleum of his
ancestors situated in the Lai Bagh Garden, where the remains of his warlike
father, Hyder Ali, had been deposited, were overtaken at the commencement of
this furious whirlwind, and the soldiers ever after were impressed with a firm
persuasion that his Satanic majesty attended in person at the funeral
procession. The flashes of lightning were not as usual from far distant clouds,
but proceeded from heavy vapours within a very few yards of the earth. No
park of artillery could have vomited forth such incessant peals as the loud
thunder that exploded close to our ears. Astonishment, dismay, and prayers for
its cessation were our solitary alternative. A fearful description of the Day of
Judgement might have been depicted from the appalling storm of this awful
night. I have experienced hurricanes, typhoons, and gales of wind at sea, but
never in the whole course of my existence had I seen anything comparable to
this desolating visitation. Heaven and earth appeared absolutely to have come
in collision, and no bounds set to the destruction. The roaring of the winds
strove in competition with the stunning explosions of the thunder, as if the
universe was once more returning to chaos. In one of these wild sweeps of the
hurricane, the poles of my tent were riven to atoms, and the canvas wafted
forever from my sight. I escaped without injury, as also my exhausted Lascars,
and casting myself in an agony of despair on the sands, I fully expected instant
annihilation. My hour was not, however, come. Towards morning the storm
subsided; the clouds became more elevated, the thunder and lightning ceased,
and nature once more resumed a serene aspect. But never shall I forget that
dreadful night to the latest day of my existence. All language is inadequate to
describe its horrors. Rather than be exposed to such another scene, I would
prefer the front of a hundred battles....
There was obviously something out of the ordinary about Tipu that
extended beyond his life and made itself felt in the immediate aftermath of
his death. It touched the rational mind of the white man and sent a shiver
down his spine. The events of 4 May 1799 were considered important
enough by many eyewitnesses to prompt them to write it all down for
posterity, and some of these accounts are provided in the appendix to this
chapter.
The celebrated Urdu poet Mohammad Iqbal speaks about the Sultan
who literally heralded India’s first struggle against colonialism in his book
Javid-Namah or the Book of Eternity thus:
I have lighted a different fire in the heart.
I have brought a tale from the Deccan.
I have a shining sword on my side;
I am drawing it out gradually from the scabbard.
I speak a subtle point about the Martyr Tipu Sultan,
I fear the festival day may turn bitter,
I proceed to kiss his dust,
There I heard from his holy grave;
If one cannot live a manly life in this world
Then to sacrifice life, like a man, is life!
In fact, Tippu’s persona attracted even the English poets, such as Sir
Henry Newbolt in his ode to ‘Seringapatam’:
The sleep that Tippoo Sahib sleeps
Heeds not the cry of man;
The faith that Tippoo Sahib keeps
No judge on earth may scan;
He is the lord of whom ye hold
Spirit and sense and limb,
Fetter and chain are all ye gain
Who dared to plead with him.
Baird was bonny and Baird was young,
His heart was strong as steel,
But life and death in the balance hung
For his wounds were ill to heal.
Of fifty chains the Sultan gave
We have filled but forty-nine:

We dare not fail of the perfect tale
For all Golconda’s mine.
That was the hour when Lucas first
Leapt to his long renown;
Like summer rains his anger burst,
And swept their scruples down.
Tell ye the lord to whom ye crouch,
His fetters bite their fill:
To save your oath I’ll wear them both,
And step the lighter still.
The seasons came, the seasons passed,
They watched their fellows die;
But still their thought was forward cast,
Their courage still was high.
Through tortured days and fevered nights
Their limbs alone were weak,
And year by year they kept their cheer,
And spoke as freemen speak.
But once a year, on the fourth of June,
Their speech to silence died,
And the silence beat to a soundless tune
And sang with a wordless pride;
Till when the Indian stars were bright,
And bells at home would ring,
To the fetters’ clank they rose and drank
‘England! God Save the King!’
The years came, and the years went,
The wheel full-circle rolled;
The tyrant’s neck must yet be bent,
The price of blood be told:
The city yet must hear the roar
Of Baird’s avenging guns,

And see him stand with lifted hand
By Tippoo Sahib’s sons.
The lads were bonny, the lads were young,
But he claimed a pitiless debt;
Life and death in the balance hung,
They watched it swing and set.
They saw him search with sombre eyes,
They knew the place he sought;
They saw him feel for the hilted steel,
They bowed before his thought.
But he – he saw the prison there
In the old quivering heat,
Where merry hearts had met despair
And died without defeat;
Where feeble hands had raised the cup
For feebler lips to drain,
And one had worn with smiling scorn
His double load of pain.
The sleep that Tippoo Sahib sleeps
Hears not the voice of man;
The faith that Tippoo Sahib keeps
No earthly judge may scan;
For all the wrong your father wrought
Your father’s sons are free;
Where Lucas lay no tongue shall say
That Mercy bound not me.
Tipu’s family consisted of 600 women and his 25 children, of whom the
eldest was Fateh Haidar at 25 years of age and the youngest was 8 months
old. The other sons were Abdul Khaliq, Moizuddin, Mahizuddin, Yasin Sab,
Shuktar Sab, Shaktarullah and Nizam-ud-din. The whole entourage was
posted off to Vellore with 2,40,000 Canteroi Pagodas as annual pension. But
after they revolted against the British in 1808 in the Vellore Mutiny, they
were packed off to Calcutta to fend for their own lives. It is believed that the
descendants of Tipu still lead anonymous lives somewhere in the slums of
Tollygunge, Calcutta.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 12
APPENDIX 12.1
General Harris’ account of the Battle of Malvelly
n the 27th March, the army reached Malvelly to the westward of which
place, but at a considerable distance, the army of Tippo Sultan
appeared, formed on a very commanding ground to oppose our further
progress. I had previously arranged the march of the army so as to persevere
the right wing and cavalry free from encumbrance of baggage and ready to
act as occasion might require, in conjunction with Colonel Wellesley’s
division, which, lightly equipped, moved at some distance on our left flank,
the left wing under Major General Popham being allotted to protect our
baggage, provisions and stores, in the event of an action, which although it
was not my object to seek, I had determined not to avoid by any movement
which might lead the enemy to suppose I could entertain a doubt of the
event.
Judging from the distance of the enemy that they did not intend an
attack, I directed the ground to be marked out as usual for the encampment
of the army, but at 10 o’clock guns were opened from the distant heights on
the cavalry and the corps advanced for picquets on our right. The shot
falling on the line, I ordered the picquets to be supported by H.M.’s 25th
Dragoons and the 2nd Regiment of native cavalry, the three brigades of
infantry to form line on the left of the picquets, and the whole to advance on
the enemy’s left and front, while Colonel Wellesley’s division was directed
to move towards the right flank of the enemy’s line.
The picquets under Colonel Sherbrooke, assisted by H.M’s 25th
Dragoons, were opposed to a large body of the enemy’s cavalry, who
hovered on the right flank of our troops during the advance which was too
rapid to admit of the fieldpieces attached to corps keeping their position in
the line. Encouraged by this circumstance, a small corps of the enemy’s

cavalry hazarded a resolute charge on the European brigade commanded by
Major General Baird, but found it impossible to make any impression on
H.M.’s 12th, and the Scotch Brigade, who received them with the greatest
steadiness, and by a continued, close and well-directed fire, repulsed them
with considerable loss.
This corps was accompanied by its precipitate retreat by a large body of
horse, led, as we have since learnt, by the Sultan in person, which had been
prepared to sustain the attack if successful; and by a brigade of infantry that
for sometime had maintained a heavy fire of musketry principally directed,
and not without effect, at H.M.’s 74th Regiment.
Nearly at the same time that their cavalry charged our right, a large
division of the enemy’s infantry had advanced on our left to attack the force
commanded by Colonel Wellesley, and was broken by H.M.’s 33rd regiment,
which led his column. At this critical moment, H.M.’s 19th Dragoons and
two regiments of native cavalry, commanded by Major General Floyd,
charged this retreating corps and nearly destroyed it. The army continued to
advance in a well connected line, while that of the enemy retreated before it
in the utmost confusion. Their cannon were drawn off, and after a short
pursuit, the want of water not permitting to encamp upon the field of battle,
the army returned to the vicinity of Mallavelly.
The 19th Dragoons, the 12th, 33rd, 74th and the Scotch Brigade, which
alone of H.M.’s corps were engaged, were equally distinguished by their
steadiness and gallantry. The 25th dragoons, although prevented by their
remote situation from joining in the charge of the cavalry, was most
eminently useful with the picquets under Colonel Sherbrooke in checking
the advance of the large corps of the enemy’s horse which menaced the right
flank of the army till the conclusion of the action.
APPENDIX 12.2
Wilks’s account of the Battle of Sedaseer
General Stuart, after assembling his army at Cannanore, finally marched
from that station on the 21st of April. He arrived at the top of the
Poodicherrum ghaut on the 25th of the same month, and proceeded in

obedience to his instructions, to assume a defensive position close to the
frontier of Mysore. The nature of the country, every where covered with
thick woods, in most places nearly impenetrable, made it impossible to
occupy a regular defensive position, and compelled him to place his troops
in several divisions, so disposed, as to be capable of affording reciprocal
support: the most advanced of these was the height of Sedaseer,
indispensable with reference to an early junction, as being the only spot
from which the signals, established between the two armies, could be
observed.
On the morning of the 5th of March, the very day on which General
Harris crossed the frontier, a few tents were descried from the hill of
Sedaseer, about nine o’clock, and gradually the pitching of an extensive
encampment in advance of Periapatam, and little more than six miles
distant, and on further observation, a green tent of large dimensions was
perceived, indicating the presence of the Sultaun. the ground at Sedaseer
was occupied by a brigade of three native battalions, under Lieutenant-
Colonel Montresor, and although the information of trust-worthy spies
recently returned from Seringapatam, gave reasonable assurance that the
Sultaun, at the time of their departure was still at the Madoor river, and that
a detachment under Mahommed Reza, usually called the Binky Nabob
constituted the only force west of the river Cavery; General Stuart thought it
prudent to send forward another battalion to a convenient position for
reinforcing, if it should be necessary, the advanced brigade at Sedaseer.
Early on the morning of the 6th, Major-General Hartley, the second in
command, went forward to reconnoitre the enemy’s army, which was
discovered to be in motion; but their movements were so well concealed by
the closeness of the country, that it was impossible to ascertain their precise
object, until between the hours of nine and ten, when a simultaneous attack
was made on the front and rear of the position; and the battalion destined to
reinforce it, was prevented from joining by the intervention of two columns
from the right and left, which united in the rear, at the instant of the
commencement of the attack in front.
Before the enemy had accomplished this purpose, Major-General
Hartley had time to apprise General Stuart of their attack, and remained
himself to give any assistance that might be necessary. The best position was
immediately assumed, the brigade was completely surrounded on every side,
and had to contend with a vast disparity of numbers; the troops were aware
that many hours must elapse before they could receive efficient support, but
they were also animated by the conviction that aid would ultimately arrive;
and maintained their ground with so much cool resolution, that the utmost
efforts of the Sultaun’s best officers and troops were unable to make any
serious impression on these three sepoy battalions.
As soon as General Stuart received intelligence of the perilous situation
of his advanced corps, he marched without a moment’s hesitation, with the
two flank companies of His Majesty’s 75th, and the whole of the 77th under
Lieutenant-Colonel Dunlop. It was half past two before he arrived with his
small but most efficient body in sight of the enemy’s divisions, which had
penetrated to the rear and possessed themselves of the great road leading to
Sedaseer. The energy of the attack rendered it of short duration; less than
half an hour was sufficient to accomplish the precipitate flight of the
Mysoreans through the woods, to join the division which still continued the
attack in front. On arriving at Lieuteant-Colonel Montresor’s post, General
Stuart found his men exhausted with fatigue, and their ammunition almost
expended. At twenty minutes past three, the enemy retreated in all
directions, and left General Stuart to admire the immoveable steadiness of
the native troops in a protracted encounter of nearly six hours, and the
energy of the Europeans whom he had led to their aid. The success was
materially enhanced in value, by finding on collecting the reports of corps,
that his loss was considerably smaller than might have been expected;
amounting only to one hundred and forty-three men, while that of the
enemy was unusually severe, amounting according to credible reports to
upwards of two thousand; a difference, to be ascribed chiefly to a judicious
occupation of ground, and a cool reservation of fire in the defensive
position; and in the reinforcement, to the effective consequences of rapid
and vigorous encounter.
The raja of Coorg personally accompanied General Stuart, and
witnessed for the first time the conduct of European troops in the presence
of an enemy. There was a chivalrous air in all that proceeded from this
extraordinary man...
... The first impression on the Sultaun’s mind, was to renew the attack
the following day, with augmented numbers, but in the mean while General
Stuart had changed all his dispositions. The chief object for which this
advanced post had been occupied, must necessarily cease to exist, during the
presence in its front of the Sultaun’s main army; and the security of the
abundant depot of provisions in the rear, accessible by other routes,
rendered necessary a new and more concentrated disposition of the troops:
and the evacuation of the post of Sedaseer, afforded to the Sultaun the faint
colour of describing as a victory what every officer in his army felt to be an
ignominious repulse.
APPENDIX 12.3
Francis Buchanan’s account of the events of 4th May 1799
Seringapatam is commonly called Patana, or Patan, that is to say, the city;
but the name used in our maps is a corruption from Sri Ranga Patana, the
city of Sri Ranga, from its containing a temple dedicated to Vishnu under
that name. The temple is of great celebrity, and of much higher antiquity
than the city, which did not rise to be of importance until the time of the
princes of the Mysore dynasty.
The island is about three miles in length, and one in breadth, and has a
most dreary, ugly appearance; for naked rock, and dirty mud walls are its
predominant features. The fort or city of Sri Ranga, occupies its upper end,
and is an immense, unfinished, unsightly, and injudicious mass of building.
Tippoo seems to have had too high an opinion of his own skill to have
consulted the French who were about him; and adhered to the old Indian
style of fortification, labouring to make the place strong by heaping walls
and cavaliers one above the other. He was also very diligent in cutting
ditches through the granite; but, as he had always on hand more projects
than his finances were adequate to defray, he never finished any work. He
retained the long straight walls and square bastions of the Hindus; and his
glacis was in many parts so high and steep, as to shelter an assailant from
the fire of the ramparts. In the island also, in order to water a garden, he had
dug a deep canal parallel to the works of the fort, and not above eight
hundred yards distant from them. He was also so unskilled, as to look upon
this as an additional security to the place; but had it been deemed necessary
to besiege the town regularly from the island, the assailant would have found
it of the utmost use. Had Tippoo’s troops been capable of defending the
place properly, this mode of attack would have been necessary; but the
confidence which our officers justly reposed in the superiority of their men,
and the extreme difficulty of bringing up the immense stores necessary to
batter down many heavy works, made them prefer an attack across the river,
where the works were not so strong, and where they ventured on storming a
breach, that nothing, but a very great difference between the intrepidity of
the assailants and defendants, could have enabled them to carry. The depth
of the river was of little importance; but the assailants, in passing over its
rocky channel, were exposed to a heavy fire of artillery, and suffered
considerable loss.
On ascending the breach, our men found an inner rampart lined with
troops, separated from them by a wide and deep ditch, and defended at its
angle by a high cavalier. By this they were for a little while discouraged; as,
from the information of spies, they had expected to have been able to mount
the cavalier from the breach, and to form a lodgement there, till means could
be taken to gain the inner works, and expel the garrison, which consisted of
about eight thousand men, nearly the same number with that employed on
the storming party.
After, however, the first surprise occasioned by this disappointment, the
troops soon recovered their spirits, and pushed on, along the outer rampart,
towards both the right and left of the breach. Those who went to the left
found great opposition. At every twenty or thirty yards distance, the rampart
was crossed by traverses, and these were defended by the Sultan in person.
The loss of men here was considerqable; but the English troops gradually
advanced, and the Sultan retired slowly, defending his ground with
obstinacy.
The enfilading fire from the Bombay army, on the north side of the river,
had been so strong, that the defendants had been entirely driven from the
ramparts on the right of the breach, and had been prevented from raising any
traverses. Our people who went in that direction did not meet with the
smallest opposition; and the flank companies of the 12th regiment, having
found a passage across the inner ditch, passed through the town to attack the
rear of the enemy, who were still opposing the Europeans on the left. The
Sultan had now been driven back to the eastward of the palace, and is said
to have had his horse shot under him. He might certainly have gone out at a
gate leading to the north branch of the river, and nothing could have
prevented him from crossing that, and joining his cavalry, which, under the
command of his son Futter Hyder, and of Pumea, were hovering round the
Bombay army. Fortunately, he decided upon going into the inner fort, by a
narrow sally-port; and, as he was attempting to do so, he was met by the
crowd flying from the flan companies of the 12th regiment; while the
troops, coming up behind, cut off all means of retreat. Both parties seem to
have fired into the gateway, and some of the Europeans must have passed
through with the bayonet; as a wound, evidently inflicted by that weapon,
was discovered in the arm of the Sultan. His object in going into this
gateway, is disputed. The Hindus universally think, that, finding the place
taken, he was going to the palace to put all his family to death, and then to
seek for his own destruction in the midst of his enemies. But, although such
is considered by the Hindus as the proper conduct for a prince in his
situation, we have no reason to think that a Mussulman would conduct
himself in this manner; nor was Tippoo ever accused of want of affection for
his family. I think it more probable, that he was ignorant of the British
troops having got into the inner fort, and was retiring thither in hopes of
being still able to repel the attack.
No individual claimed the honour of having slain the Sultan, nor did any
of either party know that he had fallen in the gateway. The assailants were,
indeed, at that time too much enraged to think of any thing but the
destruction of their enemy. Each division pushed on towards the eastern end
of the town; and, as they advanced, the carnage increased. The garrison
threw themselves from the works, attempting to escape into the island and
from thence to their cavalry. The greater part, however, were either killed by
the fall, or broke their limbs in a most shocking manner. Meer Saduc, the
favourite of the Sultan, fell in attempting to get through the gates. He is
supposed to have been killed by the hands of Tippoo’s soldiery, and his
corpse lay for some time exposed to the insults of the populace, none of
whom passed without spitting on it, or loading it with a slipper; for to him
they attributed most of their sufferings in the tyrannical reign of the Sultan.
The two divisions of the storming army now met at an open place
surrounding a very fine mosque, into which the remains of the garrison
withdrew, and their destruction the fighting nearly ceased. The number of
burials amounted to somewhat above seven thousand; several of these were
towns-people of both sexes, and all ages; but this was accidental, for our
soldiers killed none intentionally but fighting men. Those who are disposed
to disclaim on the horrors of a town taken by assault, may always find room
to dwell on women, infants, and aged persons killed, and on the little
protection given to places, however sacred, for such terrible things must
always happen when an enraged soldiery with firearms are pursuing an
enemy through a populous place.
When our two parties had met, and no longer saw before their eyes the
enemy, by whom they, or their countrymen, had been often most
barbarously used, they soon cooled, and were disposed, by their officers, in
the manner most proper to secure their new conquest; many, however, left
their ranks; and the followers of the camp, under pretext of taking
refreshment to their masters, poured into the town, and an entire night was
employed in plunder. In this, I believe, very little murder was committed;
although there can be no doubt that many persons were beaten, and
threatened with death, in order to make them discover their property. The
women on this occasion went out into the streets, and stood there all night in
large groups; I suppose, with the view of preventing any insult, but their
exposed situation; few men being capable of committing brutality in public.
This precaution was probably little necessary. The soldiers had mostly been
in the trenches two days; they had been engaged in a hard day’s work; and
their hopes and their rage having then ceased, they were left in a state of
languor, by which they were more inclined to seek repose, or cordial
refreshments, than to indulge in sensual gratification.
APPENDIX 12.4
Lieutenant Richard Bayly’s account
After a month’s continual fighting and hardships, a breach was reported
practicable on the 3rd of May, and the following day was appointed for the
storm. Towards evening the troops selected on this interesting occasion
moved slowly down to the trenches, under the command of Baird. For nights
and days had the troops suffered from excess of fatigue, up to their knees in
water, and exposed to the fierce rays of the sun, fired at and rocketted from
every direction, and subjected to continual alarms. We were, therefore, all
rejoiced at the speedy prospect of a glorious termination to our incessant
sufferings, advancing with all that animation and buoyant spirit so
characteristic of British soldiers on the eve of a brilliant attack. At one
o’clock p.m., on the 4th inst., Baird, taking out his watch, exclaimed: ‘The
time has expired!’ and leaped on the parapet of the trenches, exclaiming in a
loud voice: ‘Now, my brave boys, follow me!’ The enemy were at this
moment quietly intent on their culinary preparations for dinner, and we
experienced little loss, until we were floundering on the rocky bed of the
river, when the men began to fall fast. All who were wounded were
inevitably drowned in a second afterwards. One step the water scarcely
covered the foot; the next we were plunged headlong into an abyss of
fathoms deep. Thus scrambling over, the column at length reached the
ascent of the breach, where numerous flankers who had preceded us were
lying stretched on their backs, killed and wounded, some of the gallant
officers waving their swords and cheering our men on. We dashed forward,
and the top of the breach was soon crowned by our intrepid lads, and the
British flag hoisted. But this was for a moment only. A sudden, sweeping
fire from the inner wall came like a lightning blast, and exterminated the
living mass. Others crowded from behind, and again the flag was planted.
At this time General Baird was discovered on the ramparts. On
observing a deep, dry, rocky ditch of sixty feet deep, and an inner wall
covered with the troops of the enemy, he exclaimed: ‘Good God! I did not
expect this!’ His presence of mind did not desert him; he gave his directions
in those cool, decided terms that a great man in the hour of danger and
emergency knows so intuitively how to assume, and we were soon charging
to the right and left of the breach along the ramparts of the outer wall. In the
left attack, Tippoo was himself defending the traverses with the best and
bravest of his troops. This impediment caused a sudden halt, but my gallant
friend Woodhall impetuously rushed down a rugged confined pathway into
the ditch, and ascended the second or inner wall, by an equally difficult
road, mounted to the summit, followed by his company, the Light Infantry
of the 12th. Here he attained a footing, he had clasped a tuft of grass with
his left hand, and was on the point of surmounting the difficulty, when a
fierce Mussulman, with a curved, glittering scimitar, made a stroke at his
head, which completely cut the bearskin from his helmet, without further
injury.
Woodhall retaliated, separating the calf of the fellow’s leg from the
bone. He fell, and the gallant Light Bob was on the rampart in a moment,
surrounded by a host of the enemy, whom, with the assistance of his
company, he soon drove before him, thus relieving General Baird and his
column on the outer wall from the destructive fire from the interior rampart,
thereby saving hundreds of lives. How far this deviation from orders can be
justified may be subject for discussion, but a brave man does not often
reflect on consequences, when assured that an energetic movement on his
part will probably ensure a certain victory and the preservation of a
multitude of his fellow-soldiers. Tippoo finding his troops fired on from the
inner ramparts, hastened to the Sallyport. Here Woodhall and his men were
already in the interior of the town, prepared for the recontre, and a sharp
firing ensued. The gateway was filled to the very top of the arch with dead
and dying. The column under Baird had pursued the flying enemy to the
Sallyport, and whilst Woodhall was bayoneting and firing in the front, they
were also attacked in the rear. The body of Tippoo was afterwards amongst
this promiscuous heap of slain. Neither Woodhall nor his men obtained a
single article of plunder on the occasion, but a private of the 74th Regiment
secured a very valuable armlet, which was sold to Doctor Mein of that corps
for a few hundred rupees. It was ultimately discovered to be worth seventy
or eighty thousand pounds. The doctor purchased the man’s discharge, and
settled him in Scotland on £100 pension per annum. The fortress now
became one wild scene of plunder and confusion, but poor Woodhall and
his men were appointed to extinguish the flames of some burning houses in
the vicinity of the grand magazine of gunpowder, which, had it ignited,
would have blown the whole garrison, friends and foes, into the air. He
performed this arduous duty effectually, and although first in the town, his
company were the only part of the regiment who did not reap any pecuniary
reward for such daring heroism. The rest of the troops had filled their
muskets, caps, and pockets with zechins, pagodas, rupees, and ingots of
gold. One of our grenadiers, by name Platt, deposited in my hands, to the
amount of fifteen hundred pounds’ worth of the precious metals, which in

six months afterwards he had dissipated in drinking, horse-racing, cock-
fighting, and gambling.
Tranquility was scarcely restored in the Fort, when the honourable
Colonel Wellesley was sent in to take the command, to the great dismay and
indignation of General Baird, who had felicitated himself on the certain
command of this acquisition of his gallantry; but he was superseded, and at
once delivered over to Wellesley the important fortress of Seringapatam to
his future guidance, who next day hung up eighteen poor Sepoys, found in
the act of plunder, contrary to his orders...’
APPENDIX 12.5
Major Alexander Allan’s account as recorded by Beatson
A short time after the troops were in possession of the works, Major
Beatson and I observed, from the south rampart, several persons assembled
in the palace; many of whom, from their dress and appearance, we judged to
be of distinction. I particularly remarked, that one person prostrated himself
before he sat down; from which circumstance I was led to conclude, that
Tippoo, with such of his officers who had escaped from the assault, had
taken shelter in the palace.
Before any attempt could be made to secure the palace (where it was
thought the enemy, in defence of their sovereign and his family, would make
a serious resistance) it became necessary to refresh the troops, who were
greatly exhausted by the heat of the day, and the fatigue which they had
already undergone. In the mean time Major Beatson and I hastened to
apprise General Baird of the circumstances we had seen: on our way, we
passed Major Craigie and Captain Whitlie, with the grenadiers, and some
battalion companies of the 12th regiment. As soon as we reached General
Baird, we proposed to him to bring these troops to him, to which he
assented. On my return, General Baird directed me to proceed to the palace
with the detachment of the 12th, and part of Major Gibbings’s battalion of
sepoys: he directed me to inform the enemy that their lives should be shared,
on condition of their immediate surrender, but that the least resistance
would prove fatal to every person within the palace walls. Having fastened a
white cloth on a serjeant’s pike, I proceeded to the palace, where I found
Major Shee, and part of the 33d regiment, drawn up opposite the gate:
several of Tippoo’s people were in a balcony, apparently in great
consternation. I informed them that I was deputed by the General, who
commanded the troops in the fort, to offer them their lives, provided they
did not make resistance; of which I desired them to give immediate
intimation to their Sultaun. In a short time the killedar, another officer of
consequence, and a confidential servant, came over the terrace of the front
building, and descended by an unfinished part of the wall. They were greatly
embarrassed, and appeared inclined to create delays; probably with a view
of effecting their escape as soon as the darkness of the night should afford
them an opportunity. I pointed out the danger of their situation, and the
necessity of coming to an immediate determination, pledging myself for
their protection, and proposing that they should allow me to go into the
palace, that I might in person give these assurances to Tippoo. They were
very averse to this proposal, but I positively insisted on returning with them.
I desired Captain Scohey, who speaks the native languages with great
fluency, to accompany me and Captain Hastings Fraser.
We ascended by the broken wall, and lowered ourselves down on a
terrace, where a large body of armed men were assembled. I explained to
them, that the flag which I held in my hand was a pledge of security,
provided no resistance was made; and the stronger to impress them with this
belief, I took off my sword, which I insisted upon their receiving. The
killedar, and many others affirmed, that the princes and the family of
Tippoo were in the palace, but not the Sultaun. They appeared greatly
alarmed, and averse to coming to any decision. I told them, that delay might
be attended with fatal consequences; and that I could not answer for the
conduct of our troops, by whom they were surrounded, and whose fury was
with difficulty restrained. They then left me, and shortly I observed people
moving hastily backwards and forwards in the interior of the place; and, as
there were many hundreds of Tippoo’s troops within the walls, I began it
think our situation rather critical. I was advised to take back my sword; but
such an act, on my part, might, by exciting their distrust, have kindled a
flame, which, in the present temper of the troops, might have been attended
with the most dreadful consequences; probably the massacre of every soul
within the palace walls. The people on the terrace begged me to hold the
flag in a conspicuous position, in order to give confidence to those in the
palace, and prevent our troops from forcing the gates. Growing impatient at
these delays, I sent another message to the princes, warning them of their
critical situation, and that my time was limited. They answered, they would
receive me as soon as a carpet could be spread for the purpose; and soon
after the killedar came to conduct me.
I found two of the princes seated on the carpet, surrounded by a great
many attendants. They desired me to sit down, which I did in front of them.
The recollection of Moiza-deen, who, on a former occasion, I had seen
delivered up with his brother, hostages to Marquis Cornwallis, the sad
reverse of their fortunes, their fear, which, notwithstanding their struggles to
conceal, was but too evident, excited the strongest emotions of compassion
in my mind. I took Moiza-deen (to whom the killedar, &c. principally
directed their attention) by the hand, and endeavoured, by every mode in my
power, to remove his fears, and to persuade him that no violence should be
offered to him or his brother, nor to any person in the palace. I then
entreated him, as the only means to preserve his father’s life, whose escape
was impracticable, to inform me of the spot where he was concealed.
Moiza-deen, after some conversation apart with his attendants, assured me
that the Padshaw was not in the palace. I requested him to allow the gates to
be opened. All were alarmed at this proposal; and the princes were reluctant
to take such a step but by the authority of their father, to whom they desired
to send. At length, however, having promised that that I would post a guard
of their own sepoys within, and a party of Europeans on the outside, and
having given them the strongest assurances that no person should enter the
palace but by my authority, and that I would return, and remain with them
until General Baird arrived, I convinced them of the necessity of
compliance; and I was happy to observe that the princes, as well as their
attendants, appeared to rely with confidence on the assurances I had given
them.
On opening the gate, I found General Baird and several officers, with a
large body of troops assembled. I returned with Lieutenant-Colonel Close
into the palace, for the purpose of bringing the princes to the General. We
had some difficulty in conquering the alarm and the objections which they
raised to quitting the palace; but they at length permitted us to conduct them
to the gate. The indignation of General Baird was justly excited by a report,
which had reached him soon after he had sent me to the palace, that Tippoo
had inhumanely murdered all the Europeans who had fallen into his hands
during the siege; this was heightened probably by a momentary recollection
of his own sufferings, during more than three years imprisonment in that
very place; he was, nevertheless, sensibly affected by the sight of the
princes; and his gallantry, on the assault, was not more conspicuous, than
the moderation and humanity which he displayed on this occasion. He
received the princes with every mark of regard, repeatedly assured them that
no violence or insult should be offered to them, and he gave them in charge
to Lieutenant-colonel Agnew and Captain Marriott, by whom they were
conducted to headquarters in camp, escorted by the light company of the
33d regiment. As they passed the troops were ordered to pay them the
compliment of presented arms.
General Baird now determined to search the most retired parts of the
palace, in the hope of finding Tippoo. He ordered the light company of the
74th regiment, followed by others, to enter the palace-yard. Tippoo’s troops
were immediately disarmed, and we proceeded to make the search through
many of the apartments. Having entreated the killedar, if he had any regard
for his own life, or that of his Sultaun, to inform us where he was concealed,
he put his hands upon the hilt of my sword, and, in the most solemn manner,
protested that the Sultaun was not in the palace, but that he had been
wounded during the storm and lay in a gateway on the north face of the fort,
whither he offered to conduct us; and if it was found that he deceived us,
said, the General might inflict on him what punishment he pleased. General
Baird, on hearing the report of the killedar, proceeded to the gateway, which
was covered with many hundreds of slain. The number of dead, and the
darkness of the place, made it difficult to distinguish one person from
another, and the scene was altogether shocking; but, aware of the great
political importance of ascertaining beyond the possibility of doubt, the
death of Tippoo, the bodies were ordered to be dragged out, and the killedar,
and the other two persons, were desired to examine them one after another.
This, however, appeared endless; and, as it now was becoming dark, a light
was procured, and I accompanied the killedar into the gateway. During the
search we discovered a wounded person laying under the Sultaun’s
palankeen: this man was afterwards ascertained to be Rajah Cawn, one of
Tippoo’s most confidential servants; he had attended his master during the
whole of the day, and, on being made acquainted with the object of our
search, he pointed out the spot where the Sultaun had fallen. By a faint
glimmering light it was difficult for the killedar to recognise the features;
but the body being brought out, and satisfactorily proved to be that of the
Sultaun, was conveyed in a palankeen to the palace, where it was again
recognized by the eunuchs and other servants of the family.
When Tippoo was brought from under the gateway, his eyes were open,
and the body was so warm, that for a few moments Colonel Wellesley and
myself were doubtful whether he was not alive: on feeling his pulse and
heart, that doubt was removed. He had four wounds, three in the body, and
one in the temple; the ball having entered a little above the right ear, and
lodged in the cheek. His dress consisted of a jacket of fine white linen, loose
drawers of flowered chintz, with a crimson cloth of silk and cotton, round
his waist: a handsome pouch with a red and green silk belt, hung across his
shoulder: his head was uncovered, his turban being lost in the confusion of
his fall: he had an amulet on his arm, but no ornament whatever.
Tippoo was of low stature, corpulent, with high shoulders, and a short
thick neck, but his feet were remarkably small; his complexion was rather
dark; his eyes large and prominent, with small arched eyebrows, and his
nose aquiline: he had an appearance of dignity, or perhaps sternness, in his
countenance, which distinguished him above the common order people.
———————————
*
This appears in Beatson’s account.
*
A fuller extract of Harris’s report of the encounter can be found in the Appendix to this
chapter.
13
THE LEGACY OF TIPU SULTAN
ipu has caught the imagination of people, his critics and supporters
alike. The Annals and other records are understandably very critical of
the Sultan. In almost all references to him, they describe him as ‘Loka
Kantaka’ or an oppressor of the masses. This of course was done more to
create a case for the Wodeyar dynasty and to pander to its already crushed
ego. But most balanced historians and contemporaries take a more realistic
approach and eulogise him no end. As Meadows Taylor says:
He was a great man, such a one as Hind will never see again. He had great ambition,
wonderful ability, perseverance, and the art of leading men’s hearts more than they were
aware of or cared to acknowledge; he had patient application and nothing was done without
his sanction, even to the meanest of affairs, and the business of his dominions was vast. You
will allow he was brave and died like a soldier. He was kind and considerate to his servants,
and a friend to those he loved. Mashalla! He was a great man.
Tipu often said that ‘it was far better to live like a lion for a day than to
live like a jackal for a hundred years’. Historians were fascinated by his
unique attitude, unknown among contemporary Indian rulers who didn’t
mind unethical alliances with the British to satisfy their own selfish
ambitions.
*
As James Mill observes:
He had the discernment to perceive what is so generally hidden from the eyes of the rulers
of a more enlightened state of society, that it is the prosperity of those who labour with
their hands which constitutes the principle and cause of the prosperity of states; he,
therefore, made it his business to protect them against the intermediate orders of the
community by whom it is so difficult to prevent them from being oppressed.... His country
was accordingly...the best cultivated and its population the most flourishing in India, while
under the English and their dependencies, the population of the Carnatic and Oudh,
hastening to the state of deserts, were the most wretched upon the face of the earth.
Despite spending half his life on the battlefield, Tipu did not turn into a
crude, bloodthirsty soldier. He managed to maintain the gentlemanliness
and decorum that was demanded of him. The ruler of Adoni revolted against
Mysore on British instigation a few months after ascending to the throne of
Mysore. After sowing the seeds of rebellion, the English conveniently exited
when Tipu attacked Adoni. The baffled ruler knew that his army was no
match for the grand army of Mysore and its Tiger. He fled, leaving his
beautiful wife behind. In those days, it was common for the victor to
subjugate his defeated enemy’s wives to his desires. Anticipating this, the
queen of Adoni sent her veil to Tipu as a symbol of her complete surrender
to him. Tipu refused to take advantage of her plight and sent her with due
dignity to her parents’ house at Bijapur. This contradicts completely Tipu’s
generally perceived attitude, especially regarding women, but perhaps it
reveals his quirky nature.
Wilks states, in a typically cynical English comment on Tipu:
In person, he was neither so tall nor so robust as his father, and had a short pursy neck; the
large limbs, small eyes, aquiline nose, and fair complexion of Hyder, marked the Arabic
character derived from his mother. Tippoo’s singularly small and delicate hands and feet,
his large and full eyes, a nose, less prominent and a much darker complexion, were all
national characteristics of the Indian form. There was, in the first view of countenance, an
appearance of dignity, which wore off on further observation; and his subjects did not feel
that it inspired the terror or respect, which, in common with his father, he desired to
command. Hyder’s lapse from dignity into low and vulgar scolding was among the few
points of imitation or resemblance, but in one it inspired fear, in the other ridicule. In most
instances exhibiting a contrast to the character and manners of his father, he spoke in a loud
and unharmonious tone of voice; he was extremely garrulous and on superficial subjects,
delivered his sentiment with plausibility. In exterior appearance, he affected the soldier; in
his toilet, the distinctive habits of the Mussalman; he thought hardiness to be indicated by a
plain unencumbered attire, which he equally exacted from those around him, and the long
robe and trailing drawers were banished from his court...
Of the vernacular languages, he spoke no other than Hindustani and
Kanarese; but from a smattering in Persian literature, he considered himself as
the first philosopher of the age. He spoke that language with fluency; but
although the pen was forever in his hand, he never attained either elegance or
accuracy of style. The leading features of his character were vanity and
arrogance; no human being was ever so handsome, so wise, so learned, or so
brave as himself.
On a slightly different note is the account of Tipu’s allies—the French
account by Joseph Michaud:
Thus died Tippoo Saib at the age of forty-five. The beginning of his military career had
covered him with very great glory throughout Hindustan; fortune had favoured him in
allowing him without opposition to sit on the throne of Hyder Aly; and she also did
something for him on the occasion in not leaving him to survive the downfall of his Empire.
His height was five feet eight inches; he had a thick short neck; his shoulders square and
massive; his limbs were small, particularly his feet and hands; his eyes large and his
eyebrows arched; he had an aquiline nose, and a brown complexion. Tippoo Saib was a
cultured man; he was master of several European languages; he possessed a deep
knowledge of the sciences studied in India; but he had not that power of perception, that
farseeing and active intuition, which prepares for contingencies, or that wisdom that puts
them to profit. Possessed of a boldness, which braves all dangers, he had not the prudence,
which avoids them; endowed with an impetuous and irascible spirit, he nearly always
preferred violent to slow and prudent measures. In short, it can be said of this Prince, that
he occupied himself too much with the means for displaying his power, and not enough
with those for preserving and strengthening it.
A completely contrasting picture is presented by the contemporary
historian Kirmani, himself a Muslim:
In his courts, the splendour of kingly magnificence and majesty were all well sustained. He
was proficient to a considerable extent in all the sciences. He wrote and composed with
ease and elegance, and indeed had a genius for literary acquirement, had a great talent for
business; and therefore, he was not obliged to rely on the aid or guidance of others in the
management of public affairs. He had a pleasing address and manners, was very
discriminating in his estimation of the character of men of learning and instruction of the
people of Islam. He had, however a great dislike to, or rather an abhorrence of the people of
other religions. He held his durbars from the morning until midnight, and after morning
prayers, he was used to employ some time in reading the Koran, and he was to be seen at all
times with his Tusbih or rosary in his hand, having performed his ablutionary duties. He
made only two meals a day, and all his Amirs and the Princes dined with him. But from the
day on which the peace was made between him and Lord Cornwallis Buhadur, (to the day
of his death) he abandoned his bed and bed-stead and slept or took a few hours rest on
certain pieces of a coarse kind of canvas called Khaddi (used for making tents), spread
upon the ground. He was accustomed on most occasions to speak Persian, and while he was
eating his dinner, two hours were devoted by him to the perusal (from standard historical
works), of the actions of the Kings of Persia and Arabia, religious works, traditions and
biography. He also heard appropriate stories and anecdotes related by his courtiers. Jests
and ribaldry, however, from the repetition of which the religion of Islam might suffer
disparagement, or 312 Splendours ol Royal Mysore injury, were never allowed in the courts
or assemblies of that most religious prince. For the sake of recreation he sometimes
*
witnessed dancing or was present at the performance of Bayaderes. He was not, however
lavish or expensive in any of his habits or amusements, not even in his dress, and contrary
to his former custom, he latterly avoided the use of coloured garments. On his journeys and
expeditions, however, he wore a coat of gold, or the red tiger stripe embroidered with gold.
He was also accustomed to tie a white handkerchief over his turban and under his chin, and
no one was allowed to tie on, or wear a white handkerchief in that manner except himself.
Towards the end of his reign he wore a green turban Shumlehdar (twisted
appropriately) after the fashion of the Arabs, having one embroidered end
pendant on the sides of his head...contrary to the custom of the deceased
Nawab, he the Sultan, retained the hair of his eyebrows, eyelashes and
moustaches. His beard, however, which was chiefly on his chin, he shaved,
thinking it not becoming to him. In delicacy or modesty of feeling, he was the
most particular man in the world, so much so that from the days of his
childhood to that of his death, no one ever saw any part of his person except his
ankle and wrist and even in the bath he always covered himself from head to
foot.
One man, three totally contrasting versions! The opinion of the Hindu
writers of the time tended to be in favour of the royal family of the
Wodeyars and those have been excluded here to save the reader some long
reading. But including those would help no better in resolving the paradox.
What is a contemporary, unbiased historian to make of such versions? Are
we at the end of it, able to make a judgment of the kind of man Tipu was?
Certainly not! History seems to have blurred here and each version sticks to
its characteristic and expected biases. It is impossible to have clear
judgement based on secondary sources more than two centuries after Tipu’s
time. Yet, even the most eminent historians freely take sides on Tipu Sultan.
Isn’t that a travesty of the truth, a departure from the scientific and rational
representation of history? Dr John R. Henderson offers a more balanced
view and in effect mirrors my dilemma on the issue:
It is difficult to form an accurate estimate of the character of Tipu Sultan, because the views
of contemporary writers, whether English or Muhammadan, are obviously biased. His
cruelty and religious bigotry are undoubted and he perpetrated many atrocities in the name
of religion; he has been justly censured for his excesses in war, though they never perhaps
exceeded a standard set elsewhere in modem times. That he was a brave man cannot be
doubted, and while on several occasions he showed considerable military ability, he fell
short of his father in this respect. Unlike Haidar, he was a man of education and the changes
which he introduced into the calendar, the names of his forts, of Civil and Military officers,
and of weights and measures, certainly display a considerable amount of ingenuity, though
by more than one writer they have been held to afford evidence of his insanity. Nowhere
else is Tipu’s love of innovation better seen than in his coinage.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF TIPU SULTAN
What would a typical day in the life of Tipu Sultan be like when he was not
busy heading military expeditions or crushing rebellions? Many
contemporary historians—British and Indian—have documented these
details. He usually rose with the sun and, after being shampooed and
rubbed, he proceeded for a wash followed by a reading of the Quran for
nearly an hour. He then held brief meetings with his principal officers and
any others seeking his audience. This would be followed by a quick
inspection of the Jamdar Khana, where jewellery, plates, fruits and
valuables were kept. A breakfast of nuts, almonds, fruits, jelly and milk
would thereafter be served, which he would have with a munshi (secretary)
and his three youngest children. It was quite a contrast to the spartan food
Haidar had enjoyed. His inner circle consisted of Mir Sadik, the Benki
Nawab, Pumaiya, Syed Mohammad Asif, Ghulam Ali, Ahmad Khan and his
principal secretary Habibullah. The breakfast would always be accompanied
by animated discussions that focused more on the Sultan’s chivalrous days
in the war-front; and even as this discussion carried on scribes would take
notes or have letters dictated to them.
The breakfast and gossip would be followed by the royal durbar for
which he would clothe himself in rich garments. On most other occasions
his attire would generally be plain and coarse—a typical, rugged military
man. New recruits would be inspected and details of their caste, country,
extent of religious knowledge, etc. ascertained. Only then was a decision
made regarding hiring them or increasing the pay of deserving candidates.
Those found wanting would be packed off to the qazi or the Muslim
religious scholar for training! These examinations lasted for hours.
After a brief siesta, the evening would see the Sultan inspect on
horseback the discipline of the troops and their preparedness. Fortifications
and repair work would also be looked into. Beatson had observed that Tipu’s
mind constantly thought of war and military preparations. Upon his return
to the palace, details of arsenals, manufactories, and classified news from

the espionage cell which always worked overtime to catch happenings in
every nook and comer of the kingdom would be discussed.
Beatson notes:
He generally passed the evening with his three elder sons, or one or two of his principal
officers of each of the departments of state, a Cauzy and Moonshy Hubbeeb Oolah, his
Secretary. All these usually sat down to supper with him; and Hubbeeb Oolah asserts that
his conversation was remarkably lively, entertaining and instructive. During his meal, he
was fond of reciting passages from the most admired historians and poets; and sometimes
he amused himself with sarcasms upon the Caufer or infidels and enemies of the Circar and
often discoursed upon learned and religious subjects with the Cauzy and Moonshy. Having
dismissed his company, which he always did immediately after the repast, he was
accustomed to walk about by himself or exercise; and when tired, to lie down on his couch
and read a book, either upon the subject of religion or history until he fell asleep.
TIPU THE ADMINISTRATOR
The more significant aspect of Tipu’s short and stormy rule was the manner
in which he strengthened the administrative and commercial establishments
of Mysore. He was a ruler with a vision and believed in translating that
vision into concrete action. A perceptible change in the quality of life for the
people of the kingdom was also on top of his agenda. His reformist zeal
touched almost every department of life, including coinage and calendar,
weights and measures, banking and finance, trade and commerce,
agriculture and industry and social and cultural life.
Administrative Departments
There were nine major centralised administrative departments in Mysore
under Tipu: Revenue and Finance, Military, Ordinance, Garrison, Zurmana,
Commerce, Marine, Treasury and Mint. The state had twelve mints; gold,
silver and copper coins were issued bearing the letter ‘H’ of Haidar. A gold
coin or Mohar was divided into ½, ¼ and so on. A double rupee was called
a Hydari, a single rupee (Imani) and a copper coin worth Rs 2 (Osmani)
were the popular currency. The kingdom was divided into 37 asafis or
provinces, and 124 talukas or districts. By 1796, kingdom of the Mysore
had a total area of 62,000 square miles. Under Haidar, Mysore had included
the region south of the Krishna river and, along with a large part of present-
day Karnataka, the present Rayalseema tract of Andhra Pradesh, five
districts of Tamil Nadu north of Dindigul and northern Malabar of Kerala.
The Organisation of Tipu’s Army
The Mysore army became a model army for Indian rulers and even for the
British. A well-disciplined army with cavalry, infantry, artillery and 40
ships in the navy were his handiwork. A French engineer was asked to
design an engine run by water for boring cannons. Tipu organised a Board
of Admiralty, which controlled a navy of twenty-two lines of battle ships
and twenty large frigates with seventy-two and sixty-two guns respectively,
besides a fleet of merchant ships. In fact, during Tipu’s time an elaborate
treatise was written on the science of warfare—a seminal work titled Fathul
Mujahidin or the Triumph of the Warrior. The decades of training and later
experience in the rough terrains of Tipu’s battlefields have been compiled
into eight chapters, which are further divided into many sections. They deal
with themes, such as the necessity, importance and value of war against the
invaders and oppressors, mechanisms of offence and defence, treatment of
the conquered people and territories, loyalty and treachery, treason and
conspiracy, prohibition and the evils of intoxicants and tobacco, evils of
slavery and submission to foreign rule and signs off by prophetically
declaring that attainment of martyrdom is higher than sainthood. It is
undoubtedly the first ever military treatise that any Indian ruler might have
compiled in a manner as structured and with such a clear goal—eliminating
the influence of the colonial powers. The opening paragraph from the
translated version of the book reads as follows:
The Timurid Sultanat had become so weak and disturbed in 1757 AD mainly in account of
the treachery of the employees of the house that the English merchants living on the sea
coasts of India, under the pretext of trade and commerce were always looking for
opportunities. They made use of some unworthy persons who traded their faith for worldly
gains for the purpose of colonization and usurpation and took possession of the whole of
Bengal, a part of Carnatic in the Deccan and the port of Surat and brought ruin and
destruction to the lives, properties and the faith of the people. In these circumstances, Tippu
Sultan has appeared on the scene like the sun in darkness who is defending the country and
faith. As the fighting of the English people is based on guns and muskets and the Indians
are inexperienced in that matter, the Sultan framed new rules and methods for the artillery,
arrangement of the army and attacking the enemy, for the individual as well as the whole in
detail to face the enemy on equal terms. Hence in the year 1783 AD this courtier received
the order to compile them so that this noble science which is not found in India may gain
currency and by its help the Sultan’s armies may defeat the enemies.
Though Tipu is credited as the author of this book, it is far more likely
to have been written by anonymous courtiers and soldiers. Some historians
credit Zain-ul-Abidin Shustari, Tipu’s commander, as its author. Saki quotes
Mir Mahmoode Hussaine about the book:
It is a masterpiece produced in the court of Tipu Suitan in simple Persian, a creation of his
revolutionary mind, based on his own military experience and observation of warfare. It is
a brief but comprehensive treatise on military science and the art of warfare... by his royal
command many copies of the book were made and distributed among the military officers
under his signature...his army was guided by this work all through his reign...
By the time of Haidar’s death, the regular Mysorean army had about
1,80,000 men. Two years later by the time of the Treaty of Mangalore the
army had 1,44,000 men; Tipu’s formula being one soldier in the regular
army for every 40 people in the population. He took a keen interest in
recruiting the soldiers into the army. Beatson writes:
It was his custom to review, every morning, the new levies and recruits and to enquire into
their caste, country and extent of their religious knowledge. If he was satisfied with their
examination, they were in consequence entertained with a higher rate of pay... these
examinations often lasted for several hours...From the regular infantry 5000 men being
selected, they were named a Kushoon and the officer commanding that body was called a
Sipahadar. In each Kushoon there were four Risaldars or colonels of infantry and under the
order of each Risaldar or colonel were 10 Jowkidar, and every Jowk or company included
two Sur Kheil, 10 Jamadars and 10 Duffadars. In his regiments of troops or regular horse,
which was formed and appointed after the manner of Europeans, the Teepdar and Subadar,
called Major and Adjutant in the French and English languages, were styled Youzdar and
Nakib.
Writing about the general organisation of the Mysorean army, Lally’s
first-hand account is recorded by De La Tour:
The Batis (patties) are small writings or warrants. Every person in the military service has
one, from the general to the drummer. This writing contains the name of the person, and of
his father and grandfather; a description of his person and that of his horse (if he be a
horseman), the day he entered the service; his station, and his pay; and as often as he is
paid the sum is entered on the same; those of the officers contain simply the name, the
station or degree and the sums received. The Batis are triple, and in three different
languages—Persian, Maratha and Canarin; and as there are three chancellors, they are
preserved in greatest order. Haider signs the state of accounts every month as well as a
particular statement for every troop; for no payment is made without the signature of
Haider, or in his absence, of the general commandant.
In the early days of Haidar’s rule, salaries used to be paid once every
forty days. By the end of his reign, however, prompt monthly payments were
made with sepoys receiving Rs 8 a month and grenadiers Rs 10. Not even
the British army could boast of such a punctual and timely system of
disbursal. Haidar had been through the scourge of frequent uprisings in the
army under Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, when, on most occasions, he was
the peacemaker and negotiator. No doubt then that Tipu prioritised the
streamlining of this process to curb discontent in the army. Lally notes:
From the time of their first establishment, they were exercised every morning in the
handling of their arms, by their own officers; and every afternoon from three till six, five
battalions by turns, were exercised in their evolutions by the French commandant; after
which they were made to march from six to eight, marching out at the ordinary pace and
returning home with a quick step. All the officers, without exception, were obliged to do
this exercise as well as the common soldiers...it was thus that this sovereign formed a body
of troops, to whose rapid movements the English afterwards attributed all his success.
An intriguing question remains—it is rather strange that the same father
and son, who were seized by such rabid hatred for the colonial mindset of
the East India Company, did not hesitate to solicit French help! Would the
French have been any better in their motives and machinations vis-à-vis the
British, had they been the beneficiaries of the great Indian power struggle of
the eighteenth century? The answer is uncertain. Why then did these rulers
with a vision seek to use one colonial force against another? Would Mysore
have turned into a French stooge if not the British one it became in 1799 is a
question that remains unanswered.
Lally writes about the military inventory of Tipu in 1786—3,00,000
firelocks, 3,00,000 matchlocks, 2,00,000 swords, 22,000 pieces of cannon,
700 elephants, 6,000 camels and 11,000 horses. Shama Rao writes about the
stores in the fort of Maddur in 1799:

An idea of the military stores generally contained in the forts may be obtained from what
was found in this fort. This fort contained 373 guns, 60 mortars and 11 howitzers of brass,
466 guns, 12 mortars and 7 guns unfurnished of iron; in all 929 pieces of ordnance, of
which 287 were mounted on the fortification. 4,24,4000 rounds of shot, 5,20,000 pounds of
powder, 99,000 muskets, carbines etc of which 30,000 stand of French and 7000 of the
Company’s arms. There were also powder magazines, 2 buildings for boring guns and
muskets, 5 large arsenals and 17 other buildings filled with swords, accoutrements, rockets
and a variety of small stores.
The very name Maddur (maddu in Kannada meant gunpowder) signified
its strategic importance in the kingdom’s defence.
Tipu’s army also had a large contingent of 4,00,000 bullocks and cows
in 1786. They were sturdy, long-legged and of the Hallikar breed suited
mainly for the transportation of materials. It was the quick pace of these
bullocks which helped Haidar in many a combat with the British as he raced
away at the rate of two feet to one of the British! Lewis Rice writes:
Principal breeds of homed cattle in Mysore are Amrit Mahal, Madesvaram Betta and
Kankanahalli. The Amrit Mahal, literally Milk Department is an establishment for the
breeding of a race of cattle peculiar to the country of Mysore and famous for its utility for
military purposes. The establishment was founded at some time during the Hindu
government with special privileges as regards grazing, but its maintenance for the special
purpose of supplying draught cattle for artillery is due to Hydar Ali. He is reported to have
introduced a breed of cattle from Trichinapoly country, by a cross between which, and the
indigenous breed of Mysore was produced the Hallikar breed, which is considered the best
in the establishment.
Rocketry
Another interesting aspect of Haidar and Tipu’s lives was their fascination
with rockets. In fact, they are considered among the pioneers of rocket
technology in India—not surprising then that a lot of research and
development of the Indian Space Research Organisation happens at
Bangalore, once a key part of Tipu’s kingdom!
As Kenneth Macksey writes:
The first practical rocket missiles were used by Hyder Ally of Mysore against the British in
1780. As a result an Englishman, William Congreve, produced rockets in 1805 which were
used in the naval bombardment of Boulogne in 1806.

In fact, a glowing tribute was paid to Tipu by none other than the former
president of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who was scientific adviser to the
Indian Ministry of Defence during the Hazrath Tippu Sultan Shaheed
Memorial Lecture organised by the Al-Ameen Educational Society
Bangalore on 30 November 1991:
Rocket technology engulfed me for two decades since my visit to Srirangapatna in 1960.
The question continued to haunt me—’ How would Tipu Sultan have led to the world’s first
war rocket?’ ‘What environment was responsible for the birth of such a technological
innovation in our country?’ In August 1974 I received a paper presented by Frank H.
Winter of National Air and Space Museum Washington USA, titled ‘The Rocket in India
from ancient times to the 19th century.’ This highly researched paper presented the ‘Agni
Astra’ from Vedic hymns to Tipu’s war rocket with eighteen classic references. Winter’s
conclusion is startling for the Indian Scientific Community. He says, ‘Thus, it is fair to
suggest that the venerable rocket from the subcontinent of India may well have had its
technological impact upon the West. If so, in retrospect, it was an important, if subtle,
technological transfer of recent history.’ Many such researchers have to spring up in our
Universities as well. Soon, I learnt that two of the war rockets captured by the British at
Srirangapatana have been displayed in the Museum of Artillery at Woolwich in London.
One of my missions during my visit to Europe in 1980 was to study this rocket. Dr V.R.
Gowarkar and I visited the museum. It was a great thrill especially for rocket technologists
like us, to see an Indian innovation on foreign soil well preserved and with facts not
distorted.
Under the heading ‘India’s War Rocket,’ the following details are recorded
in the Woolwich Museum London. The motor casing of this rocket is made of
steel with multi nozzle holes with the sword blade as the warhead. The
propellant used was packed gunpowder. The weight of the rocket is about 2kg.
With about lkg of propellant. 50mm in dia about 250mm length, the range
performance is reported 900mts to 1.5 km. Our designers analysed and
confirmed their performance. What a simple and elegant design effectively
used in war!
The Juzail Burdars were the rocketmen of the Mysorean army and an
integral and indispensable part of it as well. The Mysore rockets were
massive weapons, with a thick bamboo stalk about eight to ten feet long. A
heavy iron tube, weighing between six to twelve pounds, contained the fuse
and powder fixed to the end of the tube. In wet weather or on marshy
grounds the rockets were pointed horizontally and fired randomly in the
enemy’s direction, causing huge casualties among the cavalry and troops. As
Macksey explains:
[A] body of cavalry not used to this kind of instrument, would be quickly thrown into
disorder by it; for the rockets falling at the feet of the horses, emit a flame resembling that
of a forge furnace, which frightens them; and when they burst, they do considerable
mischief. It is no small advantage that they describe a curved line, and may therefore be
thrown by people that are covered by a line of infantry.
These indigenous missiles traversed a distance of almost 1.4 kilometres.
The British, completely unaware of the technology even thirty-seven years
after they began their Mysorean campaign, were caught off-guard by this
superior and locally designed know-how. No doubt then that after the fall of
Srirangapatna, the prime task for the British was to understand and
duplicate this technology.
When Tipu was killed, the British captured more than 700 rockets and
subsystems of 900 rockets in the battle of Turukhanahally in 1799. His army
had 27 brigades, or kushoons, and each kushoon had a company of rocket
men, called Jourks. These rockets were taken to England by William
Congreave, a young scientist in charge of this task who made no major
innovation in the science, merely replicating what was stolen from the
forges, foundries and factories of Mysore. The British then subjected this
knowledge from medieval Mysore to what is called ‘reverse engineering’
today. Of course, the British could do it because there was no GATT, IPR
Act, or patent regime at that time, and with the death of Tipu Sultan, Indian
rocketry died too. Tipu’s rocket science is clearly among India’s major
military and technological discoveries!
Navy
The occupation of the coastal areas of Mangalore and Malabar led to the
establishment of a competent Mysorean navy as well. The aim was to
challenge the might of the British navy in the Arabian Sea. Describing the
fleet, Peixoto states:
It consisted of 80 vessels, 13 topsail vessels, several manchoos of war, besides a great many
skybars and small craft for the transport of war materials and provisions for the passage of
the army across the rivers. The Dutch account differs from the Portuguese. According to the
former, the fleet had 2 ships, 7 smaller vessels and 40 gallivats, besides more than 50 other
vessels laden with provisions.

Two Mir-e-Yams or chief admirals administered the naval set-up assisted
by their admirals or Amirul Bahr. That the initial ideas of Haidar after the
conquest of Honnavar, Mangalore and Bhatkal were carried forward by
Tippu becomes clear in the consternation expressed by William Kirkpatrick:
In proportion as the Sultan might have been able to realise his alarming plan of a maritime
establishment, we should as a measure of necessary precaution, have been compelled to
augment at a heavy expense, our naval force in India, for the purpose of duly watching his
armaments, and of keeping them in constant check. This evil at least, was averted by the
issue of the war of 1799.
Revenue
Both Haidar and Tipu were greatly suspicious of the Palegars who were
notorious for their ambitions and sudden change of loyalties. The Palegar
was also a middleman in the process of revenue collection as per the old
feudal revenue model of the kingdom. While Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar had
begun this campaign against the parasitic Palegar class by eliminating their
influence over districts of Mandya, Mysore and part of Bangalore, Haidar
and Tipu extended this campaign to cover the districts of Hassan, Shimoga,
Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Chitradurga, Raichur, Bellary,
Dharwad, Tumkur and Kolar in present day Karnataka. Haidar was the one
who gave this a serious thought and felt that the state could appropriate
more revenue if they removed this middleman. A professional rent-collector
would be a more cost-effective and apolitical person—suiting the kingdom’s
(and Haidar’s) interests well. He started replacing a lot of these Palegars
under a more systematic tax collection regime—another reason for the
innumerable mutinies of the threatened Palegars. Bristow, in his account of
a prisoner-of-war, mentions that in 1781 Haidar brought with him about
fifty Palegar prisoners to Srirangapatna. During his conquest of Kerala, he
vanquished or eliminated all the forty-two Palegars who ruled over Northern
Malabar. Buchanan writes about the socio-economic transition from the
times of the Rayas of Vijayanagara to the Wodeyars and the times of Haidar
and Tipu:
During the government of the Rayarus, the tributary Polygars of Chatrakal...governed a
country valued at 10,000 Pagodas a year...on the decline of the royal family, Vijayanagara,
these enterprising hunters, by gradually encroaching on their neighbours, increased their

territories until they became worth annually 350,000 Pagodas... Hyder... attacked Chatrakal.
The first siege lasted five months, and was unsuccessful. After the second siege had
continued six months, there was little prospect of success and Hyder had recourse to
corruption...
Gubi...is said to have been founded by about 400 years ago, by a family of Poly gars...they
were first brought under subjection by the Mysore Rajas, who imposed a tribute of 500
Pagodas. Hyder increased this to 2500, leaving them little better than renters. They were
entirely disposed by his son Tippo, and have returned to their original profession of
cultivators; but in their own tribe they still retain their hereditary rank...
Haidar’s and Tipu’s ideas were revolutionary. To tamper with a socio-
economic set-up that had been firmly established over centuries of feudal
governance would meet with severe opposition and in many cases bloody
conflicts. Quoting Buchanan further:
On the arrival of Lord Cornwallis the Raja of Chica Balapura was reinstated, and, after
retreat of the British army, like the other Polygars who had been restored to their countries,
he refused submission to Tippoo. Ishmael Khan...was sent with an army to reduce
them...the chief officer was hanged, and every soldier had either a hand or leg cut off with a
large knife used by...dressers of leather; the only favour shown to the garrison was the
choice of the limb that was to be amputated. A similar punishment was at the same time
inflicted on 700 of the neighboring farmers, who had occasionally stolen into the place and
assisted in its defence. As they had no means of stopping the haemorrhage, except by
applying rags dipped in boiled oil...the messenger of Pumea, who attends me, was present
at the execution, as one of Tippo’s soldiers...
The Amildars were the professional tax collectors, mostly Brahmins,
appointed to replace the Palegars by both Haidar and Tipu. However even
the people who established this system were disappointed in it as it was full
of corruption. The traditional Palegars had been part of local tradition and
custom, whereas the officially appointed Amildars were transplanted from
the capital and usually completely clueless about their new environment.
Unlike the Palegars, who had integrated themselves into the social milieu
they governed, the Amildars were not sensitive enough to the needs of the
people. Quoting Buchanan yet again:
The Amildars, under various pretexts of unavoidable emergency, reported prodigious
outstanding balances; while they received, as bribes from the cultivators, a part of the
deductions so made...The Brahmin...amildars...who managed the whole of the revenue
department were so avaricious, so corrupt...that Tippoo would have entirely displaced them,
if he could have done without their services; but that was impossible; for no other persons
in the country had any knowledge of business.
Many of the land- and tax-reform measures implemented were thus
unrealistic and eventually they impacted the Mysorean economy in the form
of a massive peasant revolt several decades later that shook the very
foundations of the kingdom! Thus the unification of a large part of present-
day Karnataka (barring areas like Belgaum and Bijapur and all of Bidar and
Gulbarga) was achieved during the Haidar-Tipu reign. Their reign was also
marked by the breaking of the old and defunct social order and the feudal
system as mentioned above, setting the ‘Bangalore-Srirangapatna axis’ as
the centre of power. It was a significant axis since it had already witnessed
the throttling of Palegar influence for over a century now.
The entire kingdom was divided into 37 provinces under dewans or
asophs (fouzdars) and these were subdivided into 1,025 districts under
tehsildars or amildars. The taluk as stated before had hoblis under
Parupatyagaras assisted by two clerks or Shirastedars. In 1792, Tipu
prepared and distributed the ‘Land Revenue Regulations’ which were issued
to all the asophs and other officials down the line. It was like an instruction
manual on revenue collection practices in the greatest possible detail, as
perhaps the regulation clause 29, quoted in Nikhiles Guha’s book,
elucidates:
An account shall be taken of all the houses of the ryots and of all the castes throughout
your district, specifying the names of villages, the number of ploughs, the quantity of seed
sown, and of land tilled; the number of workers, their families and children; with their
various castes and occupations. In forming these accounts great precaution is to be
observed, to prevent its creating any alarm among the ryots. Every year the increase or
dimunition of agriculture and population is to be observed in the manner following: the
Shanbhoges of the village are to prepare and transmit the accounts to the Simpt, and the
Shanboges of the Simpt are to form the complete account, and transmit it to the Amil of the
district, who is to prepare one general statement, giving a full view of the population and
cultivation of the country, and deposit it in his Cutchery from whence it will be forwarded
to the Huzoor, and as the month if Zeehujee is appointed for the inspection of these
accounts in the huzoor, they must be deposited in the Cutchery in the month of Ramzan.
Administrative Set-up
Tipu also sized down the authority of hereditary feudal figureheads in
villages, such as the Patels and Shanbhogues. Clauses 5, 11 and 12 make
this point clear:
A Patel has been attached to every village from times of old; wherever it happens that the
person holding this office is unfit for it, another who is capable shall be chosen from
amongst the Ryots and be appointed to it; and the former Patel shall be reduced to the
condition of a Ryot and be made to work at the plough; and the business of the office of the
Patel shall be made over to the new ones. (Clause 11)
The Shamboges of the Atthavana (royal household) and Ahashaum (low
marshy tracts) shall not be employed in the direction of affairs, nor shall farm
of villages be given to them, but they shall be employed in keeping accounts.
(Clause 12)
The Patels, Taajkaurs (revenue officers) and others have for a long time
avoided paying the full revenue of Government lands; this is to be enquired
into, and the lands are to be measured and they are to be assessed like other
Ryots. The Ryots are not to plough the lands of the Patels; but the Patels shall
themselves plough them. If any Patel shall in future employ ryots to till his
ground, the whole of the produce shall be taken by Government. His lands
which have been cultivated for a length of time by the Shamboges, shall be
refused and be delivered over to other ryots to cultivate; and if such Shamboges
shall desire to have other land given to them in lieu of their wages, land which
is lying waste shall be given to them; if they do not ask for land, they shall
receive their wages in money, according to the established rate. (Clause 5)
Writing about the administrative set-up, Praxy Fernandes states:
Tippu was of course an absolute monarch...yet his government was not a disorganised chain
of personal whims and caprices. The Mysore records found after the fall of Seringapatam
indicate the well-organised mechanism of Tippu’s central government. Its division into
departments under responsible heads and with well-defined jurisdictions will seem familiar
to the administrator of today. Each department called a ‘Kutcheri’ worked under a
departmental chief who had the status and rank of a minister and was staffed by competent
and specialised civil servants. Tippu introduced the system of Boards in each Kutcheri
where officers discussed problems, recorded their views and maintained minutes of the
meetings. Decisions were generally taken by a majority of votes. Tippu kept a personal and
vigilant eye over these proceedings...on matters of common concern, the departmental
chiefs would have conferences before advising the Sultan. The entire atmosphere which
emerges from the dusty records of Seringapatam was one which would make a secretariat
official in modem India completely at home.
Building on the Attara Kacheri system of Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar, Tipu
organised six major Kutcheries or Departments in the administration:

1. Mir Asaf Kacheri (Revenue and Finance Department): Maintained
accounts of revenue, taxation and expenditure. It was headed by one of
the senior-most ministers of the kingdom who was called Diwan or Mir
Asaf. Mustaddis and Shirastedars maintained the accounts in Kannada,
Persian and Marathi.
2. Mir Miran Kacheri (Military Accounts and Supply Department)
3. Mir Sadar Kacheri (Admiralty): Looked into the management of ports,
merchant-shipping and the navy that had assumed greater importance
after the conquests of Kanara and Malabar. The head office was at
Mangalore for convenient reasons.
4. Mir Kazain Kacheri (Treasury and Coinage Department): Worked
under the joint supervision of the toshikhana/treasury and the state
mint. State jewels, wardrobes, important state documents, bullion and
ready money were maintained at the toshikhana. The mints were
handled by darogas.
5. The postal and intelligence department.
6. Malik-ut-Tijjar Kacheri (Department of Trade and Commerce)
Along with these major departments were many smaller ones like Public
Works, Temple Department, Amrit Mahal and so on. Tipu was the first
Indian king to make civil servants swear an oath of secrecy and loyalty to
the kingdom. No doubt then that Dodwell commented that he ‘was the first
*
Indian sovereign to apply western methods to his administration.’
Beatson records that when the Sultan had any important business to
transact, or any letters to dispatch that required deliberation, he always
devoted one day to his own reflections before he took the opinion of any of
his counsellors. After having sufficiently considered the subject in question
he assembled the principal officers of the departments of the state, and
writing in his own hand the nature of the subject to be referred to their
consideration, he required from each person, an answer in writing.
Banking Innovation
Tipu was a creative thinker way ahead of his times. He envisaged a sort of
banking organisation in which small investors received higher benefits. It
was an experiment in a new type of cooperative banking which encouraged

small savings among the masses. Designing such a measure back in the
eighteenth century speaks volumes of Tipu’s foresight and vision. Farmers
were given Takkavi loans at low rates of interest to promote agriculture and
*
help peasants in the lean seasons. At the beginning of the year, the Amil
was to give a cowl or security to all the farmers and encourage them to
cultivate their lands. To enable the poorer farmers to buy equipment and
ploughs, he had to sanction the Takkavi loans at the rate of three to four
Pagodas per plough, taking some form of security against repayment. The
idea was to recover the loan amount in one to two years. In cases of revenue
shortfall, the Amil would bridge the gap by bringing in more ryots, granting
them Takkavi loans and new ploughs to enable more cultivation.
Irrigation
Closely linked to the aim of increasing cultivable area was the requirement
of water across the kingdom. Irrigation schemes were toned up and nearly
forty per cent of the kingdom was irrigated and cultivated. The present
Krishnaraja Sagara Dam at Mysore—the lifeline for millions of people in
southern Karnataka and Tamil Nadu—was originally Tippu’s brainchild,
though he did not live to implement it. A detailed look at the irrigation
schemes in vogue in Mysore at the time, as described by Buchanan, speaks
of the ruler’s foresight and attention to agriculture and farmers’ welfare:
The country rises gradually on both sides of the river, is naturally fertile and for some
distance from the town is finely watered by canals; which, having been taken from the river,
follow the windings of the hills, and as they advance horizontally to the eastwards, send off
branches to water the intermediate space. The water is forced into the sources of these
canals by Anacuts, or dams, which have been thrown across the river, and formed of large
blocks of granite of a prodigious strength, and at a great expense...
He describes the Patna Ashtagram irrigation scheme above and speaking
about another scheme he saw in Hunsur adjoining Ashtagram across the
Cauvery’s tributary Lakshmanatirtha, he writes the following:
At a short distance from Sicany Pura is a fine little river called Lakshmanatirtha, which
comes from the South West, and rises among the hills of the country which we call Coorg.
At all times it contains a stream of water, and in the rainy season is not fordable. It supplies
six canals to water the country. The Anas, or dams, that force the water into these canals,
are fine works and produce beautiful cascades. One of them is broken down, but the other
five are in good repair; and in fact one of them that I saw supplied more water than was
wanted; for a quantity sufficient to turn a mill was allowed to run back into the river
through a sluice...it is said that the whole land formerly watered by the canals of the
Lakshmana, amounted to 7000 candacas sowing; but the candacas are small and contain
only from 100 to 140 seers each. If the seed be sown here as thick as in Seringapatam, the
7000 candacas would amount to about 18,000 acres.
He states that the Patna Ashtagram Taluk for example, had 8,487 acres
of irrigated land and 22,172 acres of dry lands making the total irrigated
area about 38 percent of total cultivated area. Lewis Rice states that there
were in all 28 anecuts across the Cauvery and its various tributaries like
Hemavathi, Shimsha, Suvamavathi, Lakshmanatirtha and Nugu. According
to Wilks, out of the total cultivated area of 30,12,397 acres in Mysore,
8,13,491 were irrigated by 1803–04. Sadly, in modern-day Karnataka, large
areas of the northern part of the state remain dry due to a virtually non-
existent irrigation system. Our administrators would do well to take a leaf
out of Tipu’s book.
Trade and Commerce
To strengthen his innovative idea of state capitalism in the form of the
banking system, Tipu launched the state control of trade, commerce and
industries. Mysore was rich in commercial crops and items such as silk,
sandalwood, pepper, cardamom, coconut, betel leaves, horticulture, muslin,
ivory and so on, which were greatly in demand in the Western market. Tipu
was keen that the trade in these commodities should not fall into foreign
hands. Therefore, the state itself became the greatest exporter and importer
of goods, which were sent out and brought in by the Sultan’s own fleet of
merchant ships. Government shops were opened at Jeddah, Muscat, and
Karachi to provide a market for Mysorean articles. The hold of private
bankers, moneylenders and middlemen was vastly reduced.
Mysore, strategically situated as it was with a good harbour, produced
valuable, commercial commodities and also traded in elephants, which were
in great demand abroad and also in other parts of India. The Mysore
elephant was a brand in itself, just like Mysore silk. Shahar Ganjam, as Tipu
renamed Srirangapatna, became a teeming and prosperous commercial hub.

Tipu developed commercial relations with a number of foreign kingdoms:
the Ottoman Empire, China, Muscat, Pegu, Armenia, Jeddah, Ormuz and
Basra but more important than these commercial contacts were Tipu’s
political objectives.
Today, Karnataka prides itself as a leading producer of silk and in fact
the name Mysore silk is synonymous with the state’s heritage. This very silk
industry of Karnataka owes its origin to Tipu. Efforts were also made to
establish pearl fisheries in the Malabar by inviting divers from Muscat. The
Chinese were invited to help in the production of fine-quality sugar.
The various initiatives taken by the Sultan led to the specialisation and
localisation of agriculture and industry. From Buchanan’s accounts, we can
deduce that pockets emerged within the kingdom, specialising in particular
agricultural or industrial goods and products. For example, in agriculture,
Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada were regions that grew pepper,
paddy, coconut, cashew, arecanut; paddy and cardamom in Coorg; paddy
and arecanut in Chickmagalur and Shimoga; coconut and tobacco in
Hassan; tamarind and oil seeds in Kolar; oil seeds, coconut, vegetables,
indigo, janupa and fruits in salubrious Bangalore; coconut, arecanut,
turmeric and tamarind in Tumkur; sugarcane, paddy, vegetables and fruits in
the fertile tracts of Mysore and Mandya; tamarind in Chitradurga; cotton
and tamarind in Bellary, Dharwad and Raichur and so on. Similarly, on the
industrial front, we observe the formation of areas of excellence within the
kingdom. Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada excelled in ship-building
and salt; iron and steel in Mysore; armaments, rope-making, sugar and
jaggery in Mandya armaments, weaving, dyeing, oil-pressing, indigo, sack-
weaving, iron and steel and drugs in Bangalore; iron and steel in Tumkur;
blankets, iron and steel and soap in Chitradurga; blankets and cotton-
spinning in Bellary, Raichur, Dharwad and Bijapur.
Praxy Fernandes states:
The bewildering variety of manufacturing enterprises he set up within the space of a few
years was truly astonishing - factories for the manufacture of watches, cutlery, hour glasses,
scissors, scientific instruments, factories for production of war weapons, guns, musket,
carbines and rockets, foundries for casting cannon, a gunpowder factory, a paper mill and
glassware units. Hundreds of foreign technicians were brought in; Frenchmen, Germans,
Turks, Arabs, Chinese; craftsmen, gunsmiths, watch makers, cutlers bringing with them
their technical know-how and the vision of a modem world. No other sovereign in Indian
history had given such an impetus to industrial production.
Tipu built a navy both for commerce and war. In 1793, he ordered 100
ships to be built entirely with indigenous material. He paid attention to the
manufacture of arms and ammunition. The factory at Srirangapatna
converted iron into steel, and manufactured armaments. He named his iron-
works Taramandals. These were at Srirangapatna, Bangalore, Chitradurga
and Bidnaur.
Arts and Crafts
Not just trade and commerce, but also arts and crafts attracted Tippu’s
attention for state control as well. He helped the development of sericulture.
Weavers also received much patronage. Buchanan describes the life and
activities of these weavers or Pattegaras:
The Puttuegars or silk weavers, make cloth of very rich and strong fabric. The patterns for
the first five kinds of dresses are similar to each other; but are very much varied by the
different colours employed and the different figures woven in the cloth; for they rarely
consist of plain work. Each pattern has an appropriate name, and for the common sale, is
wrought of three different degrees of fineness. If any person chooses to commission them,
whatever parts of the pattern he likes may be wrought in gold thread...the fabric of the sixth
kind of dress is also strong and rich: but the figures resemble those in the shawls of
Cashemire. The turbans are made of a thin fabric of figured patterns, the first three kinds of
dresses of silk and cotton. They also made Sada Putaynshina, or thin white muslins with
silk borders. These are either plain, or dotted in the loom with silk or cotton thread; and are
frequently ornamented with gold and silver. This is an elegant manufacture and is fitted for
the first three kinds of dresses. Plain green muslin with silk borders for the first three kinds
of dresses is also made by the Puttuegars; but not of so fine a quality as that made by the
Devangas...the same may be said of the coloured striped muslin with silk borders called
Dutari Huvina, which is used also entirely for female dresses and is wrought of various
patterns...
The Puttuegars give their yellow silk to the Niligaru, who dye it with
indigo. It is then washed by the Puttuegars in the infusion of tamarinds, and
afterwards is of a fine green colour which, if it be dried in the shade, is
tolerably well fixed...when the goods are in much demand, it is customary for
the merchants to advance one half or even the whole of the price of the goods
which he commissions; but when the demand is small the manufacturers
borrow money from the bankers at 2 percent a month and make goods, which
they sell to merchants of the place...the master weavers keep from two to five
servants, who are paid by the piece. Workmen that are employed on cotton
*
cloths with silk borders make daily about a Fanam. It is not usual for weavers
of any kind in this country, except those of the Whalliaru caste to employ part
of their time in agriculture. The Cutteries are more affluent than the Puttegars,
and these again are more wealthy than any other kind of weavers.
Horticulture
Tipu was so fond of horticulture and gardening that all his correspondence
with foreign dignitaries would invariably carry a request for new varieties of
seeds and plants. The beautiful Lai Bagh gardens at Bangalore are a result
of his tireless efforts. This enthralling 40-acre garden was established by
Haidar Ali and it was Tipu Sultan who added the touch of grandeur to the
garden, importing shrubs from places, like Turkey, Mauritius, Persia and
France. Interestingly, in the midst of one of the battles, Tipu wrote this letter
to the killedar of Srirangapatna, Syed Muhammad on 27 September 1786:
Burhanudeen and Kustury Runga, who were sent to Bengal, for the purpose of securing silk
worms are now on their return by way of Sedhout. On their arrival you must ascertain from
them the proper situation in which to keep the aforesaid worms, and provide accordingly.
You must, moreover supply for their food the wood or wild mulberry trees, which were
formerly ordered to be planted for the purpose. The number of silk worms from Bengal
must likewise be distinctly reported to us. We desire, also, to know, in what kind of place it
is recommended to keep them, and what means are to be pursued for multiplying them.
There is a vacant spot of ground behind the old palace, lately used as a
Toshehkhaneh...prepare a place somewhere near that situation, for the reception of the
worms.
William Kirkpatrick, who hated Tipu from the depths of his heart, could
not hide his appreciation for the man as he sat editing some of Tipu’s
selected letters:
When the peculiar circumstances under which the foregoing letter was written, are adverted
to, it will, no doubt, be allowed to furnish a striking proof, of both the coolness and the
activity of the Sultan’s mind. He was at the date of it, not only deliberating on the measure
to be pursued with respect to Shanoor in planning the future operations of the war on which
he was engaged; and in providing for the safety of Burhanudeen’s army; but he was in fact,
on the eve of a general engagement with the Mahrattas. Yet all these important and urgent
considerations united, were not capable of diverting his attention from any of the minor
objects of his interest. Thus in the bustle of the camp, and in the face of an enemy, he could
find leisure, and was sufficiently composed, to meditate on the rearing of silk worms!
Tipu gave away wasteland free of rent for cultivation. The existing forced
labour was done away with. To discourage needless litigation, he
encouraged villagers to settle disputes among themselves. In fact, he hit
upon a novel way to dispense justice. For various offences committed by
people, he fixed proportionate punishment not in the form of fines or
imprisonment, but of making them plant trees, water them, and bring them
up to a particular height.
Social Reforms
Tipu realised that liquor ruined millions of families all over the kingdom.
He put his foot down on the practice and declared total prohibition in
Mysore, even discouraging the use of tobacco. This is amply displayed in his
memorandum to Mir Sadik in 1787:
...This is a matter in which we must be undeterred and undaunted by financial
considerations. Total prohibition is very near to my heart. It is not a question of religion
alone. We must think of the economic well-being and the moral height of our people and
the need to build the character of our youth. I appreciate your concern for immediate
financial loss but should we not look ahead? Is the gain to our treasury to be rated higher
than the health and morality of our people?...
He put an end to the purchase and sale of abandoned girls and children.
He checked lavish expenditure on the celebrations of weddings. His sense of
justice could be guessed by the fact that he punished his eldest son, Fateh
Haider, for taking vegetables without the permission of the owner.
Tipu thought of setting up a university at Srirangapatna, naming it Jami-
al-Umur. He started Mysore’s first newspaper, Fauji Akhbar. He was himself
an author, and knew, besides Urdu, Persian and Arabic, also Kannada,
Marathi, English and French. More than forty-five books were written
during his time. His library consisted of over 2,000 manuscripts. Many
compilations were created during his reign, and some of them are also
credited to him. The Register of Tipu’s Dreams gives an insight into his
mind and the way it worked. It was discovered by Colonel William
Kirkpatrick amongst other secret documents in an escritoire found in the
palace of Srirangapatna. Historian Sheikh Ali says that this register was
written by Tipu’s own hand and they are 38 in number. They are valuable for knowing the
inner working of Tipu’s mind towards the English....dreams...help us to know the
psychology of the man...His passion to defeat the English haunted him as much in sleep as
when he was awake. Most of his dreams relate his success over the English.
Beatson (as quoted by Hayavadana Rao) has similar thoughts about the
dreams of Tipu, when he states
of some of them it appears, that (war) and conquest and the destruction of the Caufirs were
subjects of his sleeping and that of his waking thoughts. ...Habbibulloh, one of the most
confidential of the Sultan’s servants was present at the time it was discovered. He knew that
there was such a Book of the Sultan’s composition, but had never seen it, as the Sultan
always manifested a peculiar anxiety to conceal it from the view of any who happened to
approach while he was reading or writing in it.
Interestingly many of these legendary dreams were also ‘divine dictates’
to pull down a certain temple here or there, and these Tipu dutifully acted
upon. In a letter to his father Munro writes about Tipu’s diligence:
He had an active mind which never suffered him to be idle...he wrote many hours every day,
either a journal of orders issued by himself, and of reports received by spies, vakeels or
commanders of detatchments; or memorandums respecting intending promotions,
embassies, repairs of forts, marriages of his principal officers...Besides this much of his
time was consumed in signing papers for he not only signed all public acts, but likewise the
innumerable letters and orders which were continually passing from the different officers to
all parts of the empire.
A 1786 edict issued by him to his subjects and officials brings out the
vision of the legendary Sultan more clearly:
No man shall be punished save in accordance with the law. The law of immemorial custom
and as enshrined in our traditions shall be honoured by us. So that people know the extent
and rigour of the law as also their rights, duties, obligations and responsibilities, we have
decided that codification of law shall be undertaken... accordingly we have established a
committee of ministers under Prime Minister Pumaiya.
These edicts and messages bear an almost Ashokan or Akbar-like
resemblance—the manner of codification of laws and the means adopted to
communicate to his masses.
Foreign Policy
Tipu was perhaps the first Indian ruler to apply western techniques in
governance. Being well-read and international in his outlook, he was fired
by the nascent concepts of democracy and nation-state that had gripped
France and America and the successes they charted through their
revolutions, freeing their people from the shackles of colonialism and the
scourge of medieval feudalism.
He was among the few rulers of his times who actually had foreign
affairs on his agenda. Surrounded by a group of kings and contemporaries
who couldn’t see beyond their own backyards, Tipu looked at building
transnational borders. In fact, the cornerstone of his foreign policy was a
letter addressed to him by Haidar and it remained his guiding principle on

*
the matter:
My son, I leave you an Empire which I have not received from my ancestors. A sceptre
acquired by violence is always fragile... you have nothing to fear as regards the internal
affairs of your State; but it is necessary to carry your vision very far. India, since the death
of Aurangzeb, has lost her rank among the Empires of Asia. This fair land is parcelled out
into a multitude of sects, who have lost their love of their country. The Hindus softened by
their pacific maxims are little able to defend their country, which has become a prey to the
strangers. The Mussalmans are more united and more enterprising than the feeble Hindus.
It is to them should belong the glory of saving Hindustan. My son, combine all your efforts
to make the Koran triumph. The greatest obstacle you have to conquer is the jealousy of the
Europeans. The English are today all-powerful in India. It is necessary to weaken them by
war. The resources of Hindustan do not suffice to expel them from the lands they have
invaded; put the nations of Europe one against another. It is by the aid of the French that
you could conquer the British armies, which are better trained than the Indians’. The
Europeans have surer tactics; always use against them their own weapons... remember
above all that valour can elevate us to a throne but it sufficeth not to preserve an Empire.
While we may seize a crown owing to the timidity of the people, it can escape us if we do
not make haste to entrust it to their love. If God allowed me a longer career, you need only
have enjoyed the success of my enterprises. But I leave you for achieving them rich
provinces, a population of 12 million souls, troops, treasuries and immense resources. I
need not awaken your courage. I have seen you often fight my side, and you shall be the
inheritor of my glory.
Tipu’s external relations were aimed at seeking the support of foreign
powers for concerted action against the English. His embassies to distant
places like Paris and Constantinople, his numerous letters to France and
Turkey, his invitation to Zaman Shah of Afghanistan to rescue the Mughals
from the British and his correspondence with Napoleon, were also focused
on his confrontation with the English. He sheltered a number of Frenchmen
driven out of Pondicherry. Agents of the French revolutionary government
were entertained and even allowed to preach their doctrines of
Independence and the Revolution openly in Mysore. A Jacobin club was
established in Srirangapatna where the French flag was hoisted. Even if such
contacts did not bear good political results, he would at least have the
satisfaction of promoting the trade and commerce of his country.
THE SWORD OF TIPU SULTAN
General Baird was so consumed with his hatred for Tipu that he wanted to
establish his supremacy over everything that belonged to the Sultan. As if
mortally hurting him and destroying his township were not enough, Baird’s
eyes fell on the sword of the Sultan, which had become as famous as its
owner and personified valour and bravery.
The sword was found in the bedroom after the storming of Srirangapatna
on 4 May 1799 and presented by Major General Harris to General Baird as
a token of the army’s high opinion of his courage and conduct in the assault
which he commanded and in which Tipu Sultan was slain.
The sword is described by the auctioneers as a single-edged weapon
with a 91-cm-long blade and an impressive hilt inlaid with Arabic
inscriptions. The back edge of the blade bears a Perso-Arabic inscription,
‘Sword of the Ruler’. The wooden scabbard, covered in green velvet, has
mounts in part decorated with Tipu’s favoured tiger-stripe design. James
Forbes, quoted in Hayavadana Rao, writes:
Most of the cannon cast during the reign of Tippu were ornamented with the representation
of a tiger devouring a European...he adopted as the emblem of the state...the figure of the
royal tiger, whose head and stripes constituted the chief ornaments of his throne and of
almost every article which belonged to him.
Tipu’s sword was among a number of priceless artefacts looted by
British forces at the time and taken back to the United Kingdom. Among the
other treasures was a magnificent tiger’s head adorned in gold leaf, which
was part of Tipu’s throne, as well as a jewelled bird of paradise. Both are
now part of the Queen’s Royal Collection and are stored at Windsor Castle
outside London.
In fact, the identification of Tipu with a tiger has much to do with his
adoption of the tiger motif as a personal emblem, in several styles and
forms. The most obvious examples include the distinctive stylised tiger
stripe, commonly referred to as babri, from babr, (meaning tiger); and the
decorative tiger head. Examples of the babri motif can still be seen on the
inner walls of the Gumbaz mausoleum where there is a complete adornment
of yellow walls with red stripes.
The tiger head, on the other hand, is represented in two separate
calligraphic representations. The first monogram or cypher is a square
design, known as tughra, shaped like a tiger’s head, and the seal is made up
of the name ‘Tippu Sultan’. The ‘Musical Tiger’ was a favourite toy in
Tipu’s court. It was shipped to London and kept at the India Office Library
and now adorns the Albert Memorial Hall. In his memoir The Library of the
India Office, the assistant librarian A.J. Arberry mentions:
But we almost forgot our old friend the tiger. Who has not seen, and what is more, heard
him at the old India House, and who having suffered under his unearthly sounds, can ever
dismiss him from his memory? It seems that this horrid creature—we mean of course the
figure representing it—was found among the treasures of Tipu Sultan, when he fell at the
siege of Seringapatam. It was a toy of this great Sultan, representing a tiger preying on the
body of an English officer, and so constructed that by turning a handle, the animal’s growls
mingled with the shrieks of his dying victim. These shrieks and growls were the constant
plague of the students busy at work in the Library of the old India House when the
Leadenhall Street public unremittingly, it appears, were bent on keeping up the
performance of this barbarous machine...luckily he is now removed from the Library; but
what is also lucky, a kind of fate has deprived him of his handle, and stopped up, we are
happy to think, some of his internal organs; or as an ignorant visitor would say, he is out of
repair; and we do sincerely hope that he will remain so, to be seen and to be admired, if
necessary, but to be heard no more.
Shama Rao describes this toy as follows:
In a room was found a curious mechanism made of wood representing a royal tiger in life in
the act of devouring a prostrate man and within the body of the animal was a row of keys of
natural notes acted upon by the rotation of certain barrels in the manner of a hand organ
and which produced sounds intended to resemble the cries of a person in distress,
intermixed with the roar of a tiger.

The second example is far more ornate and is based upon a style of
Arabic calligraphy known as khatt mukabil or khatt ma-kus. In this case, the
monogram of Tipu is the calligraphic merging of the two words Bismillah,
and Muhammed. ‘Bismillah’ is the name of Allah and is derived from the
invocatory verse in the Quran: Bismillah-ir-Rahman-nir-Rahim (‘In the
name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful’); while the name of the
Prophet Muhammed is written in the khatt mukabil style. To the untrained
eye, the words are not readily apparent, overlaid as they are with calligraphic
curves, scrolls, decorative lines, ascenders and descenders. The calligraphic
tiger motif also includes the epithet asad allah ul-ghalib (‘the victorious
lion of God’); and examples of its use can be found on a banner of Tipu
Sultan, as well as on some of his military arms and armaments.
Tipu had adopted the figure of the royal tiger as the emblem of the
Sultanate. The symbolism and imagery of the tiger seemed omnipresent.
The emblem, the flags, the chief ornaments of his throne and almost every
article that belonged to him seemed to bear tiger stripes! His throne was of
considerable beauty and magnificence. The support was a wooden tiger as
large as life, covered with gold. His head and forelegs appeared in front and
under the throne which was placed across his back. It was an octagonal
frame, about eight feet by five, surrounded by a low railing which had ten
small golden tiger heads. The ascent to the throne was by a small flight of
silver steps on either side. From the centre of the throne arose a gilded iron
pillar about seven feet high, surmounted by a canopy tastefully decorated
with pearl strings. The wooden throne was covered with a thin sheet of pure
gold which had on it Arabic verses and tiger stripes inscribed. The statue of
a ‘huma’ bird, considered a good omen, vas placed on top of the canopy and
seemed to represent unbounded zeal and a flight of courage. It was made of
gold and covered with precious diamonds, rubies and emeralds.
Construction and Architecture
Tipu was also a great builder. Beatson quotes an English officer of the
besieging army in 1792 who describes the island fortress of Tipu Sultan
thus: ‘this insulated metropolis must have been the richest, the most
convenient and beautiful spot possessed in the present age by any native
prince in India’.
About Tipu’s fort in Srirangapatna, Major Dirom writes:
The fort and outworks occupy about a mile of the west end of the island, and the Lai Bagh
about the same portion of the east end. The whole space between the fort and the Lai Bagh
except a small enclosure, called Daulat Bagh on the north bank near the fort, was filled
before the war, with houses had formed an extensive suburb of which the village of Ganjam
is the only remaining fort.
Srirangapatna also houses a beautiful mosque with two tall, graceful
minarets, which was constructed in 1784 and named as the Masjid-e-Ala.
Haidar Ali built the Lai Mahal near the Ranganatha Swamy temple.
Monsieur De La Tour, who worked for Haidar, writes that it was a simple
yet impressive structure ‘with an open balcony or durbar hall overlooking
the parade ground, and with another hall opening on to the garden behind.’
He goes on to describe the Lai Mahal as follows:
His apartments are commonly covered with white muslin spread upon the most superb
Persian carpets...chandeliers of exquisite workmanship, ornamental with festoons of flowers
of the utmost lightness and delicacy.
Tipu had renovated the palace and his garden ‘contained many cypresses
and fountains and that the trees were grafted and bore many kinds of
fruits...’
Lord Valentia wrote about the palace:
The Loll Mahal or private residence of Tippu Sultan (which was inside the fort, opposite to
the Watergate and between two Hindu temples) consists of but one square, three sides of
which are divided into two storeys, with a verandah of painted wood in front. Behind were
many small rooms used by him as warehouses. The fourth consists of a single room, the
same height as the rest of the building. This was the Darbar...where he sat or wrote and
received ministers.
The palace was mercilessly pulled down by the British after the fall of
Srirangapatna. So was the Lai Bagh palace, which was pulled down and its
material used in the construction of St. Stephen’s Church and the Holy
Trinity Church at Ootacamund.
One of the few remaining structures of Tipu’s time in Srirangapatna
today is the Daria Daulat Bagh, near the fort. It was his summer palace and
is surrounded by a vast, well-maintained garden. The wooden edifice is a

fine example of Saracenic architecture and has beautiful paintings and
murals depicting the different battles fought by Haidar and Tipu. Haidar
started the construction of the Daria Daulat in 1778 and Tipu completed it
in 1789.
Tipu’s mortal remains are housed in the Gumbaz—an impressive square
mausoleum with beautiful ivory-inlaid doors and black marble pillars. His
remains were laid to rest beside those of his parents, Haidar and Fatima
Begum. On one of the doors is a Persian verse which says: ‘Tipu Sultan
suddenly attained martyrdom, He sacrificed his life in the way of God.’
SOCIETY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
The feudal system that existed in Mysore, as elsewhere in India, had
propped up its significant communities and castes, all of which wielded
influence and power over the other subservient classes. The biggest
landlords happened to be the Gowdas or Patels of the village together with
the Shanbhogues, all drawn from the Vokkaliga, Lingayat and Brahmin
communities. The agricultural reforms initiated during the time of Haidar
and Tipu contributed to the rise of a class of proprietor peasants—small and
middle in size—who held lands not by the whims and wishes of the feudal
overlords but rightfully sanctioned by the state. Patels and Shanbhogues
played a pivotal role in exacting the revenues from the peasants. This was
modified through Tipu’s land revenue regulations, where the peasant
directly negotiated the revenue amount payable as a function of the quantity
of seeds sown. Still, it was the Shanbhogue who indulged in activities such
as evaluating the quantity and type of seed sown, witnessing the threshing
and winnowing operations post harvest and so on. The Patel then transferred
the revenues of the village to the Paraputti or Hobli level administrator.
Interestingly, society in Mysore was divided into the guilds of Right
Hand and Left Hand (Balagai and Edagai jaatis) on the basis of commodity
production and its distribution. Speaking about it at length, Buchanan states:

In this country the division of people into what are called the left and right hand sides, or
Eddagai and Ballagai is productive of more considerable effects than any that I have seen in
India, although among the Hindus is generally known...the tribes or castes comprehended
in the Eddagai or left hand side are nine:

1. Panchala comprehending the Cubbinadava or blacksmiths, the Badiga
carpenters, Cunsuguru coppersmiths, Cul’ badiga masons, Axala gold
and silver smiths.
2. Bheri Chitty, merchants who pretend to be of Vysya cast.
3. Devanga, a class of weavers.
4. Heganigaru, oil makers, who use two oxen in their mills.
5. Gollur or Golwanlu, who transport money.
6. Palwanlu cultivators who are not of Kamata origin
7. Palawanlu.
8. Baydaru, hunters.
9. Madigaru, tanners or shoemakers. The Panchala command the whole
party.
The castes forming the Ballagai or right hand side are eighteen in
number.
1. Banijigaru, who are of many trades, as well as many religions. The two
most conspicuous divisions are Panchum Banijigaru, who are traders
and wear the Linga and the Teliga Banajigaru, who worship Vishnu.
2. Wocligaru, cultivators of the Sudra cast and of Karnata extraction.
3. Jotiphana, oil makers who use one bullock in the mill.
4. Rungaru, calico painters and tailors.
5. Ladaru, a kind of Musulman traders, who are followed by all the
artifices of the same religion.
6. Gujerati, merchants of Guzerat.
7. Jainaru, the worshippers of the Jain.
8. Curubaru, shepherds, blanket weavers and cultivators.
9. Cumbaru, potters.
10. Agasaru, washermen.
11. Besta, palankeen bearers.
12. Padma Shalayvaru, a kind of weavers.
13. Naindaru barbers.
14. Uparu, persons who dig tanks and build rough walls.
15. Chitragaru, painters.
16. Gollaru, keepers of cows and buffaloes.

17. Whalliaru, the people called Parriars at Madras...the Panchum
Banajigaru are the leaders of this division.
The different castes of which each division is composed, are not united by any common tie
of religion, occupation or kindred; it seems therefore to be merely a struggle for certain
honorary distinctions...1 must observe, that these lists differ in some respects, from a
valuable account of the right and left hand sides, which Colonel Close was so obliging as to
communicate. The difference,I suppose, arises partly from his having taken them at
Bangalore. Mine I received at Seringapatam by means of an interpreter from the Karnataca
language; and have found that in different places though at no great distance, there are
considerable variations in the customs of the tribes...
The right hand side pretend that they have exclusive privilege to using 12
pillars in the pandal, or shed, under which their marriage ceremonies are
performed; and that their adversaries, in their possessions, have no right to ride
on horseback, nor to carry a flag painted with the figure of Hanumantha. The
left hand side pretend that all these privileges are confined to them by grant of
Kali on the copper plate; and that they are of the highest rank, having been
placed by the goddess on her left hand, which in India is the place of honour.
In every part of India with which I am acquainted, wherever there is a
considerable number of any one caste or tribe, it is usual to have a headman,
whose office is generally hereditary. His powers are various in different sects
and places; but he is commonly intrusted with the authority of punishing all
transgressions against the rules of the caste...these hereditary chiefs also,
assisted by their council, frequently decide civil causes, or disputes among
their tribe; or when the business is too intricate or difficult, it is generally
referred to the hereditary chief of the ruling tribe or the side of the division to
which the parties belong. In this case, he assembles the most respectable men
of the division, and settles the dispute; and the advice of these persons is
commonly sufficient to make both parties acquiesce in the decision; for
everyone would shun a man who could be so unreasonable as to refute
compliance. These courts have no legal jurisdiction; but their influence is
great, and many of the ablest Amildars support their decisions by the authority
of the government.
With such stratification of society, inter-guild and inter-caste conflicts
and assertions were common-place. Buchanan describes the manner in
which cities, like Bangalore and also other towns of the kingdom, were
partitioned into pockets of inhabitants belonging to these guilds and castes.
On both sides were the ‘lowest of the castes’. The Madigas of the left hand
side and the Holeyas/Whalliaru of the right hand side were the most
oppressed lot. Unlike other castes, they were denied the possession of arms.
Even the so-called soothing balm of Islam under therule of Haidar and Tipu
made little difference to their lives. In the times of the Sultanat-e-Khudadad,
Dalits were denied permission to serve as Kandachar militia. The army was
largely drawn from the Beda, Kuruba, Idiga, Vokkaliga and Lingayat castes
along with the Voddas, Bovis and Lambanies. Writing about Tipu’s
response to this stratification of society, Wilks states:
...on one of these occasions, the Sultan applied his profound research and experience to
trace the origin of these sects, and to devise the means of preventing future riots. To the
Parias (Holeyas) he had already given the new name Sameree, Samaritans, because as he
affirmed, they and their ancient Samaritans were equally distinguished by skill in magic.
The Chucklers (Madigas) were Chermdoz, the common Persian designation of their chief
occupation. ‘In the language of the country’, he adds, ‘they are called Yere Kai and Bui
Kai, that is right and left hand, because these men being the grooms and foragers of the
horsemen of Islam, may be considered as their right and left hands, with reference to the
important services which they perform’...
LOOKING BACK SECTION 3
THE CONTROVERSIAL SULTAN
Tipu: Secular or Not?
It is pertinent to mention that unlike most other historical characters, Tipu
Sultan and certain aspects of his life continue to ruffle feathers to this day.
In September 2006, the Karnataka Minister of Higher Education Mr
Shankaramurthy made some vague comments about Tipu Sultan having
been ‘anti-Kannada’, saying that he had ensured the obliteration of Kannada
by the imposition and adoption of Persian as the court language. This was
enough to send the so-called secularist brigade into a frenzy. Chat shows on
television, articles in newspapers and general public debate was diverted
from the minister’s irrelevant comment to the larger issue of how Tipu was
actually one of the most secular and progressive ruler of his times. Both
sides hardened their stands and what followed was a free-for-all washing of
dirty linen in public by supposed intellectuals and thinkers. Voices of reason
and rationalism usually tend to get subsumed by this kind of high-decibel
frenzy, which anyway aims to cultivate and nurture strategic vote banks.
Tipu’s secularism, or lack thereof, is a subject of great interest, and so
merits much focus in this volume. In India, secularism is often little more
than the branding of another as communal. We too resort to this game of
vivisecting history and categorising the heroes and heroines of the past into
air-tight compartments of ‘secular’ and ‘communal’, forgetting most often
that they were also human beings after all, and, like any of us, were given to
their moments of weakness and greatness alike. Two diametrically opposite
schools of thought dominate the current scene of Indian historical research
and debate. At one extreme we have the so-called ‘left-liberal’ and ‘rational’
historians for whom history is but class struggle. Religion and related
matters do not hold any significance for them. Their notion of secularism
extends to a level where they tend to over-simplify and at times undermine a
lot of things that have been revered over the centuries. Completely distinct
from this approach is that of the supposed ‘right-wing’, ‘nationalist’
historians who would see everything through the lens of religion and judge
people thereby. The slanging match between these two groups continues as
each tries to portray his version as the ‘truth’. Even with respect to Tipu,
both sides have arguments and counter-arguments to buttress their claims.
The notion of the rationalists has been that Tipu was a tolerant ruler
with deep respect for other religions. There are about thirty letters written in
Kannada by Tipu, addressed to the Shankaracharya Swamiji of Sringeri
temple, which were found in 1916 by R. Narasimhachar, Director of
Archaeology in Mysore. Normally, all Tipu’s letters to others would begin
with his own name at the top, but these letters mention the name of the
Swamiji at the top, with all his titles and Tipu’s name is at the bottom
without any title. These letters throw a flood of light on his religious policy
and seem to clearly establish the secular character of his rule. Tipu wrote to
the Swami thus:
You are the Jagat Guru. You are always performing penance in order that the whole world
may prosper and that the people may be happy. Please pray to God for the increase of our
prosperity. In whatever country holy personages like yourself may reside, that country will
flourish with good showers and crops...
In 1791, during the Third Mysore War, the invading Maratha army under
Parsurama Bhau caused a lot of damage to Sringeri—they plundered the
temple property and even displaced the image of the Goddess Sharada Devi.
The Swamiji left the place and informed Tipu about the Maratha raid,
seeking his help to consecrate the image of the Goddess. Tipu responded
immediately with funds to reinstall the image. After the idol was installed,
Tipu received the prasada and shawls, sending in return cloth and
ornaments for the Goddess and a pair of shawls for the Swamiji, besides two
palanquins—one for the Goddess and the other for Swamiji.
To the Lakshmikantha temple at Kalale in Nanjungud taluk, he gave four
silver cups, a silver plate and a silver spittoon. To the Narayanswamy temple
at Melkote, he presented gold and silver vessels, besides an elephant and a
few jewels. The Srikanteswara temple at Nanjungud was presented with a
jewelled cup and some precious stones. To the Nanjundeswara temple in
Nanjungud, he gave a greenish litiga. The Ranganatha temple at
Srirangapatana was gifted seven silver cups and a silver camphor burner.
This temple was barely a stone’s throw from his palace; and the temple of
Lord Venkateswara was adjacent to his palace at Bangalore.
Those opposed to the Sultan, however, claim that he made these gestures
after the Third Anglo Mysore War, when he had been completely routed and
even lost his sons to the British. Newly insecure, perhaps he felt the need to
mollify the Hindu populace. This was what turned him towards spirituality
and the support and blessings of figures like the Shankaracharya. This
magnanimity had been conspicuous by its absence in the first half of his
tenure, when he was heaping victories over victories, principalities over
principalities. The other point of view is that in his zeal to overrun and
destroy the Mysore Pradhans who belonged to the Vaishnavite Iyengar sect,
Tipu decimated the Ramanujacharya Muth revered by the Iyengars. Were all
these gifts to the Shankaracharya therefore a ploy to further divide the
already-divided Hindu society by favouring one of the sub-sects and
destroying their arch rivals? Shaiva-Vaishnava rivalries have long segmented
traditional Hindu society. This book has already discussed similar clashes
between the two Hindu sub-sects during the reign of Chikkadevaraja
Wodeyar and the king’s attempt to force the philosophy of Vaishnavism on
all his officers. Keeping these societal divisions in mind, were Tipu’s
advisers (including Pumaiya) guiding him through a well-planned strategy?
There are no definitive answers.
Tipu also gave full freedom for the uninterrupted continuation of the
traditional festivals of the kingdom—the Dasara at Mysore and the Karaga

at Bangalore. Shama Rao records the writing of an English prisoner-of-war
(sadly, without naming him) about the annual Dasara festivities as he saw
them under Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar in 1783.
This Annual Gentoo festival commenced this evening (23rd September 1783) which was
continued according to custom for nine days. The King of Mysore made his appearance in a
verandah in front of the palace at about 7 o’clock. It is only on the occasion of this
anniversary that he is visible to his nominal subjects. This young prince in whose name
Haidar Ali’s family assumes the title of Regent, carry on the administration of Government,
is allowed for himself and his family an annual pension. He is treated with all those marks
of homage that are paid to crowned heads. In his names proclamation is made of war or of
peace and the trophies of victory are laid at his feet. Like kings too, he has his guards. But
these are appointed and commanded by the usurper of his Throne. Yet people pay good
reverence unto the blood of their ancient kings and he is a powerful prince of the peninsula
of Hindustan, that it is thought by Haidar Ali not to cut off the hereditary Prince of Mysore
but adorn him with the pageantry of a crown.
The spacious Palace in which the young king of Mysore resides stands in a
large square in the very centre of Seringapatam in an angle of which our prison
was also situated. Hence we had an opportunity of enjoying the sight of
Dasara. The curtains with which the gallery was hung being drawn up
discovered the king seated on a throne, with numerous attendants on both
sides, some of whom fanned him while others scattered perfume on his long,
black hair. The verandah was decorated with the finest hangings. The Rajah
was adorned with resplendent precious stones among which a diamond of
immense size and value shone with distinguished lustre. On an extended
square along the front of the Palace, musicians, balladeers and species of
gladiators entertained the Rajah with his train in the gallery and the multitude
that filled the square with music, dance, tumbling, wrestling, mockery and
other diversion. The ladies of His Highness’ harem and European prisoners
were present and enjoyed it through lattice windows. The king sat motionless
for hours, rose up and when he was about to retire advancing to the edge of the
gallery showed himself to the people who honoured him with marks of most
profound and superstitious veneration. The curtains dropped and His Highness
retired to the inner parts of his Palace.
But it must be stated that this very Tipu adopted a slightly different
posture in his dealings outside the kingdom of Mysore. Many of his
invasions would culminate in forced conversions to Islam—the most
pronounced being the ones during his conquest of Malabar. The records
speak of similar atrocities in Coorg and Kerala. Let us go over some of these
accounts from Coorg and Malabar or present-day Kerala.

It is said that on one occasion, he forcibly converted over 10,000 Hindus
in Coorg to Islam. On another occasion, he captured and converted to Islam
more than 1,000 Hindu Coorgis before imprisoning them in the
Srirangapatna fortress. In the confusion and anarchy prevailing in
Srirangapatna during the last war of Tipu Sultan against the British, all the
Coorgi prisoners escaped and became Hindus again upon reaching their
native kingdom. Dhondoji Wagh, a commander in Haidar’s and Tipu’s army
who was to play a very decisive role later in the history of Mysore, was
imprisoned by Tipu, who forcibly changed his name to Sheikh Ahmed and
then to Mallik Jehan Khan on Wagh’s refusal to accept Islam. On the day of
the capture of Srirangapatna, he was found chained to the prison wall and
released by a British soldier. He was apparently hysterical with joy on
hearing news of the Sultan’s death. Stories like these make it even harder to
decide which ‘compartment’ to place our hero in.
Mangalore was a rich and prosperous belt with most of its residents
owning vast paddy fields and estates in the mountains, and some of them
controlled the diamond and gold mines. Mangalore was also seen by the
Portuguese as a vital base from which to safeguard their position in Goa
against the Marathas and the Mughals. Haidar’s attack on Mangalore
following his campaign at Keladi in 1763 left a trail of disaster. Only 204 of
the 15,675 Christians of the region captured by Haidar survived; the rest
were either killed or converted to Islam.
After the siege of Mangalore, which ended in victory for Tipu’s forces in
the Second Anglo-Mysore War, the Mangalorean Christian inhabitants were
subject to much suffering, with over 5,600 of them killed on a single day.
Kirkpatrick’s collection of letters has an account of the campaign against the
Christians of Mangalore, and details the preparations made by the Mysore
army.
We instantly directed the Divan of the Havur Kutchery to prepare a list of houses occupied
by Christians, taking care not to omit a single habitation. After a detailed plan was made,
we stationed an officer and soldiers in every place inhabited by Christians, signifying to
them that at certain time they would receive orders that they would carry out in full effect....
On the morning of a specific day, (Ash Wednesday Feb 24, 1784) at the hour of Morning
Prayer, let all Christians be made prisoner and dispatched to our presence. Accordingly all
orders were everywhere opened at the same moment and at the same hour, namely that of
the Morning Prayer.

The churches that existed in Mangalore were destroyed. As Buchanan
mentions, ‘...in Tuluva, the Christians had twenty-seven churches all
beautifully carved with statues depicting various saints. Every one was
razed to the ground.’ The church of Nossa Senhora de Rosario Milagres at
Mangalore, Fr Miranda’s Seminary at Monte Mariano, church of Jesu Marie
Jose at Omzoor, the chapel at Bolar and the church of Merces at Ullal,
Imaculata Conceiciao at Mulki, San Jose at Perar, Nossa Senhora dos
Remedios at Kirem, Sao Lawrence at Karkal, Rosario at Barkur and many
others were destroyed.
Following this round-up, about 60,000 Christians were supposedly taken
captive and packed off to Srirangapatna in the most inhuman way. They
were asked to traverse the rocky terrain of the Western Ghats by foot to
reach the prisons of Srirangapatna—about 210 miles away. Many of them,
almost 20,000, died of sheer exhaustion on the way. Those who reached
Srirangapatna were tortured in the prisons and freed only if they embraced
Islam. The women were all married to Muslim men of the nobility or
reached the royal harem as pleasure objects. An English prisoner of war
relates the situation in the Srirangapatna prison thus:
Two risalas were sent daily to Srirangapatna to select girls that they could take as prizes to
join their harems. Often, when they seized the girls, their young men would offer resistance
.... The officers would capture the men and administer five hundred strokes with whips and
canes, from the effects of which many men died.
The Jemadars and Subedars meted out more ignominious punishment by
slitting off their ears and noses. One of these, a certain Babli Anton, made the
following speech to the Sultan: ‘You have disfigured my features by cutting off
my ears and nose. May God behold this,’ and raising his eyes to Heaven he
appealed to God, expressed contrition and expired. Severing the ears and noses
of the youth who resisted the Sultan was a common occurrence. Many were
made to carry baskets filled with gobra (cowdung) for three days as a public
display of warning to others.
Bowring narrates in his account that:
Tipu demanded the surrender of the daughters of some of these Christians in order to have
them placed in his seraglio, and that, on the refusal of their parents, the latter had their
noses, ears and upper lips cut off, and were paraded through the streets on asses, with their
faces towards the tails of the animals.

The young and able-bodied men who were captured from Mangalore
were taken into the Mysore army. One hundred men formed a company, four
hundred companies were grouped into a risala, four risalas into a sufedar
and four sufedars came under a bakshi. It was said that twenty-five young
men from each company would be taken and circumcised at the end of each
month. These men formed what was known as the Ahmedi Corps for the
Sultanat.
By the time of the fall of Srirangapatna, there were just about 10,000-
11,000 Christians left of the initial set that was sent to the capital city. Their
lands and properties were gone. While many of them lived on in
Srirangapatna and Mysore, some moved back to their native places to
rebuild their lives after suffering a holocaust of fifteen long years from 1784
to 1799.
A Long History of Strife: Mysore vs Malabar
But the region that faced the brunt of Tipu’s military-religious onslaught
was the Malabar and parts of present-day Kerala. As is clear from the
political history of his time, a major part of Tipu’s rule was spent
conducting military operations to subjugate Malabar.
It was a long and stressful period of strife between Mysore and Malabar,
from the times of Haidar. At about the time Haidar grabbed control over
Mysore, there were a number of small kingdoms in Malabar. The most
important of these were the kingdoms of the rajas of Kottayam, Kolathiri
and Kodathanad in North Malabar and the Zamorin in South Malabar. The
Kolathiri raja had a Muslim feudatory in the person of one Ali Raja—the
senior male member of the Arackal Muslim family. He controlled sea trade
through the Cannanore port. The family originated from the Hindu royal
Family of Kolathiri, but years after their conversion to Islam, they retained
the traditional matriarchal system prevalent among the Hindus of that
region. Arackal Bibi was the matriarch and wielded significant authority.
Though Ali Raja was a feudatory of the Hindu King of Kolathiri, he nursed
ambitions of enhancing his fame and glory. Aligning with the Muslim king
of neighbouring Mysore was the best option to realise his dreams.

Nalwadi Krishnaraja along with the Yuvaraja, Dewan Mirza Ismail
and British officers in a hunting camp
Maharani Pratapa Rudra Kumari performing the Gowri Puja in the
palace
Yuvarani Kempucheluvajammanni with her children, including Prince
Jayachamaraja
The Maharaja and the Yuvaraja with the King of Baroda

The Yuvaraja and his family on a foreign trip
Young Jayachamaraja at the 'Kashi Yatra' ritual during his wedding

In his father’s shadow: Jayachamaraja with the Yuvaraja
Pomp and splendour: the marriage of Prince Jayachamaraja

Maharajakumari Gayathri Devi Avaru
Private puja at the palace

The ageing Yuvarani with her daughter and granddaughters
The complete family: Nalwadi (third from left standing) with his
mother, brother, sisters and family

Jayachamaraja with British officers at a hunting camp
The royal women of Mysore
Yuvarani Kempucheluvajammanni with grandchild

Yuvarani Kempucheluvajammanni with her daughters and
grandchildren
Maharajakumari Meenakshi Devi Avaru
Maharani Kempa Nanjammanni with her children

The obedient sons: Maharani Kempa Nanjam-manni with her
illustrious sons
During Haidar’s campaign at Mangalore, when he almost reached the
northern borders of Malabar, Ali Raja invited him to invade the region and
offered him unconditional support in his campaign. The Malabar campaign
began in 1765–66 after Haidar Ali sufficiently armed his forces with the
powerful Mysore field-guns. Reaching Cannanore, he appointed Ali Raja the
naval chief admiral by virtue of the latter’s control and experience over the
seaport and his brother Sheik Ali as chief of port authority. Ali Raja had a
vast retinue of followers, who were all neo-converts to Islam. They were
called the Mappilas—a corruption of the word Mecca-Pillais. They were a
violent tribe of fanatically trained Muslims. The Mysore army used their
services generously in its Malabar conquest to subjugate the local tribes
culturally and politically.
The Malabar invasion was born out of Mysore’s desire for territorial
expansion. None of the Hindu rajas there had enlisted British support at that
time. Even as he overran territory after territory in the Malabar strip Haidar
was assisted by Ali Raja and his barbaric Mappila tribe to commit untold
atrocities on the Hindu population of the region. Ali Raja also ensured that
the palace of his hitherto master, the king of Kolathiri, was set on fire. The
king had to flee and seek refuge with the British in Tellicherry. With
Kolathiri conquered, Haidar marched towards Kottayam in today’s north
Kerala, where, after some initial resistance, the betrayal of their king by the
Mappilas of Kottayam ensured victory for Haidar.
Kodathanad, his next destination, was where he faced stiff resistance.
This was also where the Mysore armies created the maximum havoc. The
Malabar Manual details the atrocities committed here, recounted by Tipu’s
son Prince Ghulam Muhammed. These were initially the diary entries of a
Muslim officer of the Mysore army:
Nothing was to be seen on the roads for a distance of four leagues, nothing was found but
only scattered limbs and mutilated bodies of Hindus. The country of Nairs was thrown into
a general consternation which was much increased by the cruelty of the Mappilas who
followed the invading cavalry of Hyder Ali Khan and massacred all those who escaped
without sparing even women and children; so that the army advancing under the conduct of
this enraged multitude instead of meeting with continued resistance, found villages,
fortresses, temples and every habitable place forsaken and deserted. Wherever he turned, he
found no opponent; and every inhabitable place was forsaken and the poor inhabitants who
fled to the woods and mountains in the inclement season experienced anguish to behold
their housaes in flames, fruit-trees cut down, cattles destroyed and temples burnt. By means
of Brahmin messengers despatched to woods and mountains, Hyder Ali Khan promised
pardon and mercy to the Hindus who had fled. However, as soon as the unfortunate Hindus
returned on his promise of mercy and pardon, Hyder Ali Khan, like all the other Muslim
tyrants of North India, saw to it that they were all hanged to death, their wives and children
reduced to slavery.
It was from here that he proceeded towards Calicut destroying
everything that came his way. The Zamorin, after dispatching his family
members to safety at Travancore, committed suicide—setting his palace and
ammunition depot on fire and then doing the same to himself.
Haidar sent missives to the kingdoms of Cochin and Travancore to
submit to the might of Mysore. Cochin capitulated and agreed to pay a
subsidy of Rs 2 lakh and eight elephants. Travancore remained defiant. Even
while Haidar contemplated action against it, the monsoons set in in Kerala
by the end of May, as usual. Haidar therefore retreated to Coimbatore by
early June 1766. Taking advantage of his absence, the Keralites besieged the
Mysorean strongholds of Calicut and Ponnani to regain their lost territories.

Haidar dispatched his General Raza Saib to quell this revolt. But he was
caught between the lashing torrential rains and the swell in the Ponnani
river. With a huge retinue of 3,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry, Haidar re-
entered the Malabar and ruthlessly crushed the rebellion.
While leaving the Malabar region, Haidar issued edicts that granted
special rights and privileges to all the Nairs of the region who agreed to
embrace Islam and join the fold. The Hindu Nairs were forbidden from
carrying arms. The Syrian Christians of the region also approached Haidar,
as reported by Prince Ghulam Muhammad. To safeguard themselves from
members of rival sects, they had armed men in their respective folds and
these groups beseeched Haidar’s mercy on the issue of disarmaments which
would make them vulnerable with respect to their opponents. Haidar packed
them off with an assurance that he would provide security and that they
need not carry arms for this reason. The Syrian Christian community was
apparently also instrumental in advancing a loan to General Matthews when
he was with Sheikh Ayaz at the conquest of Mangalore. The amount of Rs
3,30,000 was meant to provide a breather to him while the Mysore troops
besieged the fortress there.
Before his efforts to conquer the entire Malabar region could succeed,
Haidar died in December 1782. Tipu Sultan, who succeeded his father,
considered it his primary duty to continue his father’s unfinished jihad.
However, right-wing historians claim that the Islamic fanaticism of Tipu
Sultan was much worse than that of his father in the Malabar region. His
jihad left people with a choice only between conversion and death. The
intensity and nature of the suffering of the Hindus during the nightmarish
days of Padayottakkalam (military regime) were vividly described in many
historical records preserved in the royal houses of Zamorin and Kottayam
(Pazhassi), Palghat Fort and the office of the East India Company.
Encouraged by Haidar’s death, many of the rajas of the Malabar had
declared their independence and also entered into secret alliances with the
British. From 1783 to 1791, thousands of Nairs besides about 30,000
Brahmins had fled Malabar, leaving behind their entire wealth, and sought
refuge in Travancore State (according to the commission of enquiry
appointed by the British soon after Tipu’s death). Besides, historians, like
Dr M. Gangadharan, claim that there is enough evidence that a few

members of the Zamorin family and many Nairs were forcibly circumcised
*
and converted to Islam, and even compelled to eat beef.
As far as the history of the Malabar region is concerned, the most
dependable book for basic historical facts is the Malabar Manual written by
William Logan. Serving in various administrative positions including that of
a Collector for 20 years up to 1886, he had gone through and extensively
researched a variety of documents to prepare his well-acclaimed book.
There are plenty of references in the Malabar Manual to the cruel military
operations and atrocities of Tipu Sultan in Malabar—forcible mass
circumcision and conversion, large-scale killings, looting and destruction of
hundreds of Hindu temples, and other barbaric acts. Thrichambaram and
Thalipparampu temples in Chirakkal Taluqa, Thiruvangatu Temple in
Tellicherry, and Ponmeri Temple near Badakara were all supposedly
destroyed by Tipu Sultan. The Malabar Manual mentions that the Maniyoor
mosque was once a Hindu temple. The local belief is that it was converted
to a mosque during the days of Tipu Sultan.
Vatakkankoor Raja Raja Varma has written about the loss and
destruction faced by Hindu temples in Kerala during the military regime of

*
Tipu Sultan:
There was no limit as to the loss the Hindu temples suffered due to the military operations
of Tipu Sultan. Burning down the temples, destruction of the idols installed therein and
also cutting the heads of cattle over the temple deities were the cruel entertainments of Tipu
Sultan and his equally cruel army. It was heartrending even to imagine the destruction
caused by Tipu Sultan in the famous ancient temples of Thalipparampu and
Thrichambaram. The devastation caused by this new Ravana’s barbarous activities have not
yet been fully rectified.
As per the provisions of the Treaty of Mangalore of 1784, the British
had allowed Tipu Sultan suzerainty over the Malabar. ‘In consequence, the
Hindus of Malabar had to suffer the most severe enormities the world had
ever known in history,’ observes K.V. Krishna Iyer in Zamorins of Calicut,
which is based on historical records available from the royal house of
Zamorins in Calicut. He goes on to add:
When the second-in-line of Zamorins, Eralppad, refused to cooperate with Tipu Sultan in
his military operations against Travancore because of Tipu’s crude methods of forcible
circumcision and conversion of Hindus to Islam, the enraged Tipu Sultan took a solemn
oath to circumdse and convert the Zamorin and his chieftains and Hindu soldiers to the
Islamic faith.
*
L.B. Boury writes:
To show his ardent devotion and steadfast faith in Muhammaddan religion, Tipu Sultan
found Kozhikode to be the most suitable place. It was because the Hindus of Malabar
refused to reject the matriarchal system, polyandry and half-nakedness of women that the
‘great reformer’ Tipu Sultan tried to honour the entire population with Islam.
To the people of the Malabar, the Muslim harem, polygamy and the
Islamic ritual of circumcision were equally repulsive, conflicting with
ancient culture and tradition in Kerala. Tipu Sultan sought a marriage
alliance with the matriarchal Muslim family of Arackal Bibi in Cannanore.
Kozhikode in those days had over 7,000 Brahmin families living there. More
than 2,000 Brahmin families perished as a result of Tipu Sultan’s Islamic
cruelties. He did not spare even women and children. Most of the men
escaped to forests and foreign lands.
Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai wrote in the Mathrubhoomi Weekly of 25
December 1955:
Muhammadans greatly increased in number. Hindus were forcibly circumcised in
thousands. As a result of Tipu’s atrocities, strength of Nairs and Chamars (Scheduled
Castes) significantly diminished in number. Namboodiris also substantially decreased in
number.
**
The German missionary Gundhert has recorded:
Accompanied by an army of 60,000, Tipu Sultan came to Kozhikode in 1788 and razed it to
the ground. It is not possible even to describe the brutalities committed by that Islamic
barbarian from Mysore.
Thali, Thiruvannur, Varackal, Puthur, Govindapuram, Thalikkunnu and
other important temples in the town of Kozhikode as well as those nearby
were completely destroyed as a result of Tipu’s military operations. The
Zamorin reconstructed some of them after he returned following the defeat
of Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatana and the Treaty of 1792.
The records also claim indescribable damage and devastation caused by
Tipu Sultan to the ancient and holy temples of Keraladheeswaram,

Thrikkandiyoor and Thriprangatu in the Vettum region. The Zamorin
renovated these temples to some extent. The Thirunavaya Temple, famous as
an ancient teaching centre of the Vedas and revered by the devotees of
Vishnu from Tamil Nadu, was also plundered and destroyed by Tipu’s army
(Malabar Gazetteer). As for the Thrikkavu Temple, Logan records that after
dismantling and destroying its idol, Tipu converted it into an ammunition
depot in Ponnani. It was the Zamorin who renovated the temple later.
Kotikkunnu, Thrithala, Panniyoor and other family temples of the Zamorin
were plundered and destroyed. The famous Sukapuram Temple was also
desecrated. The damage done to the Perumparampu Temple and Maranelira
Temple of Azhvancherry Thamprakkal (titular head of all Namboodiri
Brahmins) in Edappadu, can be seen even today. The Vengari Temple and
Thrikkulam Temple in Eranadu, Azhinjillam Temple in Ramanattukara,
Indyannur Temple, Mannur Temple and many other temples were defiled
and damaged extensively during the military regime.
Tipu Sultan reached Guruvayoor Temple only after destroying
Mammiyoor temple and the Palayur Christian Church. If the destruction
caused by Tipu’s army is not visible today in the Guruvayoor Temple, it is
mainly because of the intervention of Hydrose Kutty who had been
converted to Islam by Haidar. He secured the safety of the temple and the
continuation of land-tax exemption as earlier allowed by Haidar, besides the
renovation and repairs initiated by devotees later. According to available
evidence, fearing the wrath of Tipu Sultan, the sacred idol of the
Guruvayoor Temple was removed to the Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple
in Travancore State. It was only after the end of Tipu’s military regime that
the idol was ceremoniously reinstated. Till today, daily pujas are conducted
in Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple where the idol of Guruvayoor Temple
had temporarily been installed and worshipped.
The nearby temples at Parampathali, Panmayanadu and Vengidangu
carry the scars of Tipu’s campaign till date. The damage to the architecture
of the sanctum sanctorum of Parampathali Temple is heart-rending. The
atrocities committed in Kozhikode during the nightmarish days of the
military occupation are vividly described in the works of Fra Bartolomaeo
who had travelled through Kerala at that time.
We have already seen how prosperous the Syrian Christian community
was, in their generous loan to General Matthews in the conquest of

Mangalore. This community suffered a great deal as well. The old Syrian
Seminary at Angamaly was destroyed. Some priests there seemed to have
had premonition of the impending disaster and fled with the rare
manuscripts housed in the seminary. But as luck would have it, the boat they
escaped in capsized and the manuscripts were lost forever. Churches in
Malabar and Cochin were razed by the invading Mysore armies, as also the
Mor Sabor Church at Akaparambu, the Arthat Church, Ollur church,
Ambazhakkad seminary and the Martha Mariam Church at Angamaly.
The destruction of coconut, arecanut, pepper and cashew plantations by
Tipu’s armies, which had been the mainstay of the rich farming classes
among the Syrian Christians, totally crippled the community financially.
Many of the Syrian Christians fled to save their lives and property and
reached Kunnamkulam under the leadership of Father Pulikottil Joseph
Kathanar, Vicar of the Arthat Church. Kunnamkulam continues to be a
stronghold of the Syrian Christian community even today.
Colonel Wilks’ Historical Sketches, K.P. Padmanabha Menon’s History
of Cochin State and Sardar K.M. Panicker’s, Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai’s
articles and other writings by several historians do not project Tipu in a
better light either. One of the leading Congressmen of pre-Independence
days, K. Madhava Nair observes in Malabar Kalapam (‘Mappila Outrage’):
The communal Mappila outrage of 1921 in Malabar could be easily traced to the forcible
mass conversion and related Islamic atrocities of Tippu Sultan during his cruel military
regime from 1783 to 1792. It is doubtful whether the Hindus of Kerala had ever suffered so
much devastation and atrocities since the reclamation of Kerala by the mythological Lord
Parasurama in a previous Era. Many thousands of Hindus were forcibly converted into
Muhammadan faith.
The revolts in south Malabar were led by Ravi Varma of the Zamorin
family. To appease him, Tipu had granted him a jagir, which he graciously
took, but continued to align himself with other powers of the region in
defiance of Mysore’s authority! Most of the women and men of the royal
families of Kolathiri, Parappanad, Calicut and those of the chieftains of
Punnathoor, Nilamboor, Kavalapara, Azhvancherry Thamprakkal, etc., fled
to the kingdom of Travancore for refuge. Even after Tipu’s defeat and the
fall of Srirangapatna they remained there in hiding, fearing the atrocities of
the Mappilas. In fact, British records as late as the midnineteenth century

speak of the prevalence of the Mappilas as groups of fanatics who attacked
Hindus, burnt their houses and plundered their wealth—thus proving the
presence of these tribes and their activities for a long time there.
The continued resistance of the Nairs and the tacit understanding and
support they received from the British became a nightmare for Tipu. This
was the most decisive event during his reign, other than the attacks of the
Nizam and Marathas or subjugating the Wodeyar family in Mysore. He
entered into matrimonial alliances with the Arackal family to consolidate
his position in the Malabar. His son, Abdul Khaliq, was married to Arackal
Bibi’s daughter. He even sent formal requests to the British at Tellicherry to
refrain from helping the rebels in the Malabar..
To bolster their case against Tipu, rightist historians draw freely from
some of Tipu’s own correspondences and utterances recorded by his own
historians, sons and others. In a letter to Budruz Zuman Khan on 19 January

*
1790, Tipu himself states:
Don’t you know I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over four lakh
Hindus were converted to Islam? I am determined to march against that cursed ‘Raman
Nair’ (Rama Verma Raja of Travancore) very soon since I am overjoyed at the prospect of
converting him and his subjects to Islam, I have happily abandoned the idea of going back
to Srirangapatanam now.
Kirkpatrick records another letter from Tipu, dated 13 February 1790
and written to the same gentleman:
Your two letters, with the enclosed memorandums of the Naimar (or Nair) captives, have
been received. You did right in ordering a hundred and thirty-five of them to be
circumcised, and in putting eleven of the youngest of these into the Usud Ilhye band (or
class) and the remaining ninety-four into the Ahmedy Troop, consigning the whole, at the
same time, to the charge of the Kilaaddar of Nugr...
Panicker cites a letter from Tipu, dated 18 January 1790, and written to
Syed Abdul Dulai:
With the grace of Prophet Mohammed and Allah, almost all Hindus in Calicut are
converted to Islam. Only on the borders of Cochin State a few are still not converted. I am
determined to convert them also very soon. I consider this as Jehad to achieve that object.
Many rightist historians dismiss the grants and gifts sent to various
Hindu temples. Tipu was a great believer in astrology and consulted
astrologers regularly on his conquest dates and so on. These gifts are
claimed to have been made in recompense of those favours. In V.R.
Parameswaran Pillai’s biography of the Dewan of Travancore, the author
states:
With respect to the much-published land-grants I had explained the reasons about 40 years
back. Tipu had immense faith in astrological predictions. It was to become an Emperor
(Padushah) after destroying the might of the British that Tipu resorted to land grants and
other donations to Hindu temples in Mysore including Sringeri Mutt, as per the advice of
the local Brahmin astrologers. Most of these were done after his defeat in 1791 and the
humiliating Srirangapatanam Treaty in 1792. These grants were not done out of respect or
love for Hindus or Hindu religion but for becoming Padushah as predicted by the
astrologers.
These revelations and evidences certainly bewilder the student of
history. Was it the same Tipu who, as we saw earlier, made rich tributes to
the Sringeri Muth, the Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple of Srirangapatna,
Nanjangud temples and so on? The rightists have an argument for that as
well. Writing in Mathrubhoomi Weekly (14-20 January 1990), Dr M.

*
Gangadharan says:
In the socio-religious-political conditions prevailing in Mysore of Tipu’s days, such things
could not be avoided. The financial assistance to Sringeri Mutt meant for conducting
religious rites to ward off evil spirits was clearly specified in the letter sent by Tipu Sultan.
As such, these cannot be accepted as evidence of Tipu’s respect for Hindu religion.
According to Lewis Rice:
In the vast empire of Tipu Sultan on the eve of his death, there were only two Hindu
temples having daily pujas within the Sreerangapatanam fortress. It is only for the
satisfaction of the Brahmin astrologers who used to study his horoscope that Tipu Sultan
had spared those two temples. The entire wealth of every Hindu temple was confiscated
before 1790 itself mainly to make up for the revenue loss due to total prohibition in the
country.
Even in administrative matters, there was a blatant Muslim bias,
especially in the taxation policy. Historian M.H. Gopal observes that
Muslims did not have to pay any taxes, and this concession extended to
Muslim converts from other religions as well. In the case of employment,
Hindus were eliminated to the greatest possible extent. In the 16 years Tipu
ruled, the only Hindu to occupy any important official position was
Pumaiya. The changing of place-names to Muslim ones—Mangalore to
Jalalabad, Cannanore to Kusanabad, Bepur (Vaippura) to Sultanpatanam or
Faruqui, Mysore to Nazarabad, Dharwar to Quarshed-Sawad, Gooty to Faiz-
Hissar, Ratnagiri to Mustafabad, Dindigul to Khaliqabad, and Calicut
(Kozhikode) to Islamabad, etc., are cited as further examples of the
intolerance.
With the aid of his innovator friend Zain-ul-abidin, Tipu had envisaged
leaving his imprint on every matter of public life. Josyer writes:
Regulations—military, naval, commercial, fiscal; police, judicature and ethics were
embraced by the code of this Minos: and his reformation of the Calendar and of the system
of weights and measures, was to class him with those philosophical statesmen and
sovereigns of whose useful labours his Secretary had obtained some obscure intelligence. It
may be briefly stated regarding the whole, that the name of every object was changed: of
cycles, years, months; weights, measures, coins, forts, towns, offices—military and civil,
the official designations of all persons and things without exception—a singular parody of
what was transpiring in France. The administration itself was called Sarkar Khodadad, or
God-given Government. Persian was introduced for military commands and official use...he
strove, in short, to obliterate every trace of the previous rulers. For this purpose, even the
fine irrigation works, centuries old, of the Hindu Rajas were to be destroyed and
reconstructed in his own name!
An example that is usually cited to portray Tipu’s intolerance was the
manner in which he cut the land holding rights of upper-caste Brahmins and
their muths and temples. Whether this was done for communal reasons or to
eradicate the existing feudal structure (only to create a new pecking order in
many cases) is uncertain. For instance, Clause 63 of Tipu’s Land Revenue
Regulations explicitly states this policy:
The Devasthanam lands are all to be resumed throughout your district; and after
ascertaining to what Simpts they formerly appertained you shall re-annex them and include
them in the Jumabundy (assessment) of those Simpts.
Francis Buchanan, who made an extensive survey of Mysore during
those times, re-emphasises this point with reference to Mandya and
Melukote—the stronghold of the Sri Vaishnava Brahmins:

It (Mandya) was formerly an agaram or village bestowed in charity on the Brahmanas. They
were deprived of it by Tippoo; when he annexed to the Circar or public, all the property of
that kind... Hyder indeed allowed the Brahmanas the full enjoyment of their revenues but
his son reduced their land to 60 thousand Pagodas a year; then to four; then to two; and at
length to 1000; finally he entirely took away their land and gave them an annual pension of
1000 Pagodas...The Brahmanas of Nunjinagudu occupied 300 houses and they possessed
lands which gave an annual revenue of 14,000 Pagodas...the houses of the Sudras amounted
to 700. The town was fortified by Nundiraya who dispersed the Sudras into the neighboring
villages, and permitted none to remain in the holy place, but the Brahmanas and the
servants who belonged to the temple. Tippoo Sultan gradually deprived the Brahmanas of
the whole of their lands and gave them a monthly pension of 100 Pagodas.
Yet another dead-end for a modem day historian? Even if we commit
ourselves to view and assess things with impartiality, how can we gloss over
the heaps of evidence, many of which have a lasting impact to this day? At
the same time, should a well-meaning and ‘rational’ historian paint people
of the past in colours deemed fit today? Rightist historians rubbish the very
claim of Tipu being a nationalist in the first place. Their arguments stem
from the question—how can someone who invited foreign powers like
Napoleon, Louis XVI, the kings of Afghanistan and Persia to attack India in
a confederacy with him against the British be termed as anti-colonial? If the
Wodeyar sought the help of the British against Tipu and is thereby dubbed a
puppet, then can Tipu soliciting French help against the British be termed as
nationalist? Do we have any kind of empirical evidence that had the French
managed to win the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799 against the British,
they would have been any less colonial or imperialistic than the British
were? The French designs were always those of acquisition of kingdoms and
power as was evident from the time of the famed Carnatic Wars. So would a
Mysore under French dominion after 1799 have been any different from a
Mysore under British suzerainty? Wouldn’t the French have claimed their
pound of flesh for helping the Sultan in his dark days? These questions
haunt every sane mind.
It is noteworthy that Tipu is supposed to have written a letter to
American leaders lauding them on their success in the War of Independence

*
against the British:
Every blow that is struck in the cause of American liberty throughout the world—in
France, India and elsewhere—and so long as a single insolent savage tyrant remains, the
struggle shall continue.
Does this not demonstrate that Tipu understood the perils of British
colonialism (if not of French imperialism or American hegemony) and felt
that a united blow was what was needed to throw them out? Even this partial
clarity of vision was absent in his contemporaries.
Does one come any closer to solving the mystery that Tipu was? How do
we judge his policies towards his subjects, towards vanquished states and his
ideas of nationalism? It seems most plausible that Tipu was conscious of the
fact that the Wodeyars enjoyed considerable clout in Mysore. Though
stripped of his royalty, people swore by his blue blood and always had this at
the back of their minds that a Hindu monarch had been displaced by a
Muslim upstart who had once been the Wodeyar’s protege. Undoubtedly, he
had kept Maharani Lakshmammanni in virtual captivity after, her acts of
treason against Sul tana t-e-Khudadad became known. But he still stopped
short of inflicting any harsh punishment on her or other members of the
Wodeyar family. Had Tipu treated his own Mysorean subjects with the
cruelty he showed outsiders, he would have been completely alienated as a
ruler. We therefore see his tyranny in more subtle and indiscernible forms
within the Mysore borders. But outside the periphery of the Mysore
kingdom, as seen in the Malabar, these compulsions didn’t exist. In
addition, rather than religion, it was the power of the victor that had to be
established, and what better way to do it than by enforcing one’s religious
identity on the vanquished? His orders in the conquest of Malabar in 1788

*
seem bewildering:
Every being in the district without distinction should be honoured with Islam, that the
houses of such as fled to that honour should be burnt; that they should be traced to their
lurking places; and that all means of truth and falsehood, fraud or force, should be
employed to effect their universal conversion.
A state paper in Tipu’s own handwriting seems more intriguing:
There are 500 Coorg prisoners, who must be dealt with in such a manner as shall ensure
their death in the course of a month or twenty days; such of their women as are young must
be given to Mussalmans, and the rest, together with their children, kept in prison on a small
allowance.
At the end of this long narrative of one the greatest sons that the soil of
Mysore had seen, questions seem to naturally haunt any rational mind. Does
the fact that Tipu showed extreme intolerance to people of other faiths,
especially in his conquests outside Mysore, deny him the greatness he has
earned for his name in the hall of fame of history? Are these violent
exercises of destruction an assertion of faith or the usual practice of
declaring one’s supremacy over the vanquished? History does have records
of sub-faiths within Hinduism that tried to demonstrate their supremacy
over the other through political conquest. Should this be construed as
another such exercise or is there a deeper malaise and attitudinal problem in
the man who was believed to be so widely read and had the benefits of a
liberal and secular education?
In our zeal to construct stereotypes, why must we project ‘secular’ and
‘progressive’ as synonyms or ‘religious’ and ‘backward’ as synonyms? The
ruler could be religious and progressive. As in modem India, states ruled by
supposedly ‘secular’ parties do not automatically become progressive or
prosperous states. But in Tipu’s case, he was not overtly religious—a cause
for resentment among many devout Muslims. He could have lined the whole
of Mysore with mosques and madrasas. But barring a few, hardly any
mosques were built. At the same time, barring two temples in the whole of
Mysore there were hardly any temples left untouched by him. So it is a
strange contradiction of character that historians find difficult to reconcile.
Some of his own writings, inspired by his dreams, which he had collated
in a book recovered after the fall of Srirangapatna, demonstrate his rabid
hatred for people of other faiths. Most of Tipu’s dreams seem to be
exhortations by some unknown force or fakirs to demolish one temple or the
other. Thus, the definitions that we attribute in today’s context to terms like
secular and communal definitely do not sit easy on Tipu.
Was he being a true ‘nationalist’ in the sense that we comprehend the
term, at a time when the concept of nation-state or Indianness was
unknown? Was he so consumed by hatred for the British that he wouldn’t
mind enlisting the support of foreign powers and other colonial forces to
achieve his goal? How different was he then, from the Wodeyars who
enlisted British support against the usurper of their hereditary throne?
Though he did have vision and foresight about the serious consequences of
British colonialism—something his counterparts singularly lacked—it did
not fructify into any major strategy.
Indians in general failed to wake up to the new dangers that had struck
their borders in the form of the East India Company. They totally misjudged
the Company’s intentions, which metamorphosed from trade relations to
direct political intervention. They continued to feel that adding one more foe
or ally to their long lists of friends and rivals did not make a difference to
them. But they did not realise how dangerously different this particular foe
would prove.
Also, the profile of the enemy was seldom on religious lines. Tipu and
the Nizam were rabid rivals despite being Muslims, and the Marathas
committed outrage on the Sringeri Muth and the seat of Jagadguru
Shankaracharya himself despite being Hindus. Thus, the notion of religious
identity defining friends and foes as it ironically does in modem,
‘progressive’ India was absent in those days.
Tipu is thus a classic case of a historical character containing too many
contradictions. No doubt he has been the object of such varied
representations by historians and narrators from across the political
spectrum. No narrative on the history of Mysore is complete without
assessing this man whose tumultuous reign led Mysore to become the worst
nightmare of the East India Company. As Dr N.K. Sinha states, ‘Tipu’s
greatest drawback was his restless spirit of innovations and the increasing
bigotry of his later years.’
It seems totally futile to judge people of the past by standards that we
have set today in the present ridiculous political syntax of our country. One
must realise that these heroes of the past are products of their times and
circumstances and one can rarely view their actions or inactions through the
prism of contemporary morality and judgment. At the end of the day, Tipu
like all other human beings, was a man of grey and there seems absolutely
no need to paint him pure black or white. He had his failings and he
committed some of the worst excesses among monarchs of his time. To be a
modem historian doesn’t necessarily mean one needs to brush these cold
facts under the carpet and paint a beautiful picture. At the same time, Tippu
cannot be denied the greatness he so richly deserves.
Undoubtedly, Tipu was a great ruler and a visionary well ahead of his
times. His progressive measures, as discussed, were greatly beneficial to the

state of Mysore, which would have collapsed like a pack of cards under the
weak Wodeyars of the time. His resistance against the British and his
bravery are part of folklore. The reforms in agriculture, the spread of
irrigation, the breaking of the old feudal order, the innovations and various
other measures discussed earlier bear testimony to this fact. But at the end
of the day he was a human being. He had his mindsets and ideas and
believed that his faith was the ultimate one. What better way to subjugate
the conquered than by destroying them culturally? This was the tactic he
lavishly adopted in his conquests.
It would be apt to conclude this rather elaborate treatise on the house of
Haidar and Tipu with a quote from Denys Forrest:
Looking back over his story, I think it can be seen that he had a rare quality of single-
mindedness. As in the style of his letters, so in the shape of his life, Tippu Sultan was
always recognisably himself. That is why the English feared him, even beyond reason. And
he was a brave man. He may have fallen short in wisdom and foresight, but never in
courage, never in aspiration, never in his dream of a united, an independent, a prosperous
Mysore.
————————————
*
Taken from Ali’s 1993 book, Tipu Sultan—A Great Martyr.
*
Nautch girls.
*
Dodwell’s words have been taken from Fernandes’ 1969 book, Storm over
Seringapatnam.
*
Takkavi loans were interest-free and thus non-usurious agricultural loans provided by the
government for the peasantry. These loans, provided in the form of material inputs, were
repayable in instalments, some within a two-year period and others within a four-year
period. They were granted to peasants who desired to bring new lands under cultivation or
to those who were ravaged by famines or other calamities and also to those whose lands
remained fallow for years on end.
*
This was the new currency Tipu introduced in place of Canteroi Pagodas and Varahas.
*
Taken from Diwakar et al.’s 1968 book, Karnataka through the Ages.
*
This is taken from Menon’s 1989 book, History of Cochin State
*
Varma’s writing is taken from the anthology, Tipu Sultan: Villain or Hero? compiled by
Sita Ram Goel.
*
Taken from Goel’s Tipu Sultan: Villain or Hero?
**
Taken from Goel’s Tipu Sultan: Villain or Hero?
*
This quote is taken from an article by K.M. Panicker in the August 1923 issue of the
magazine Bhasha Poshini. He found Tipu’s personal letters and published them in this
magazine.
*
Taken from an article in Mathrubhoomi Weekly, 14-20 January 1990.
*
Taken from Saki’s Making History—Karnataka’s People and Their Past.
*
This quote and the following one is taken from Goel’s book, Tipu Sultan: Villain or
Hero?
Section 4
Towards Modernism: The Period of Unrest (AD 1799–1868)
(Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar: AD 1799–1831)

14
THE RESTORATION AND
THEREAFTER 1799
NOVEMBER 1799
he inhospitable weather of Tamil Nadu was less oppressive than the
volcanoes that seemed to erupt in his heart. Tirumala Rao was a
shattered man. As he sat in the open balcony of his little apartment in
Madras, he had three letters strewn around him, each conveying a story
contrary to the other. He was not sure what his dominant emotion was.
Anger? Self-pity? Betrayal? Whatever the feeling, he knew it was certainly
not positive. Wiping the tears pooling in the corners of his eyes, he picked
up the first letter, written by the woman he had begun to worship and revere
in the thirty-odd years of his struggle for her cause—Maharani

*
Lakshmammanni.
Respect to our Tirumalachar
By the blessing of God and the Brahmins, we have been doing quite well up to date, the 2nd
of Jyestha Suddha (3 June 1799). Please keep us informed about your welfare from time to
time. We have understood everything from your letter that you sent with Jatavallabha Singri
Iyengar. Your efforts so far, living in a foreign land for 24 years and suffering so much on
our account, all for the sake of justice and patriotism, have now borne fruit. To such This
letter appears in a research paper by the descendants of the Mysore Pradhans—M.A.
Narayana Iyengar and M.A. Sreenivasachar.a wise man and great friend of ours as you are,
what more can we say in a letter like this? Even the services of Tirumaliengariah in the days
of yore cannot bear comparison to what you have done now. The great good you have done
to the state now has brought you everlasting fame, which will last as long as the sun and
moon endure. And in future, we shall fully abide by your acts, and shall have nothing to say
against them. It is impossible for us to express the fullness of our gratitude for your
invaluable services, by means of any letter. It can only be after we meet personally and talk
to each other, that we shall be fully pleased and you yourself made to understand everything
completely.
(Sd/-) Sriranga
Tirumala’s eyes were fixed on ‘brought you everlasting fame, which will
last as long as the sun and moon endure’. What fame is this, he wondered. It
was undoubtedly greed and avarice, the lure of the grand post of Mysore
Dewan that had impelled him to help the Maharani in distress. But
somewhere down the line, he was so consumed and obsessed by the
prospect of the realisation of that dream that it had become a matter of
personal success and failure for him. He had welcomed the news of Tipu’s
death and the fall of Srirangapatna on 4 May by beating drums in Madras
and distributing sugar by the cartload to all the citizens. The very next day
he had met Lord Clive personally. The latter had assured him of the post of
prime minister of the new Mysore. The British were still undecided who to
place on the throne. People like Pumaiya—who suggested that one of Tipu’s
*
sons be placed on the Masnad —were already trying to influence the British
one way or another, and it seemed like the battle for restoration had only just
begun. Clive had asked Tirumala to proceed to Krishnagiri and stay there to
wait on Lord Mornington for further discussions.
But while at Krishnagiri he received a letter from the office of the
Commissioners of the Company that spelt the death of his dreams. He re-
read those terse and judgemental lines—matter-of-fact—with renewed
incredulity:
...that having been long absent from the Mysore country, he might not possess that thorough
and practical knowledge of the present state of its local resources and other minute
particulars, which Purnaiah had been presumed to command in consequence of his long
and unremitting residence in the country, and having held offices of importance under Tipu
Sultan and his father; that the disorganised and unsettled condition of the country then
newly conquered rendered the knowledge, though otherwise of secondary consequence, an
indispensable qualification in anyone who should be placed at the head of its affairs at that
crisis; that in as much as it was believed that the early tranquilisation of the country chiefly
depended upon the said knowledge, they wished he would unite with them in promoting the
peace and order of his country from the administration of whose affairs he was not to
however consider himself of either totally or long excluded; that in the meantime they
would recommend to superior authorities to make a handsome provision for him besides
the grant of some present...
When he had first read this letter he had shivered with disbelief and
fright. While a man who had recommended the discontinuation of the
Hindu dynasty was being promoted to a post of eminence, he—a faithful
slave for decades—was being relegated to oblivion. Were his long years of
sacrifice in vain? Was the trust he had reposed been misplaced? He wanted
answers and for that he had to meet Maharani Lakshmammanni. When he
rushed to Srirangapatna to meet his icon, he was denied entry. In a curt
manner he was informed that he did not have the requisite permission to
meet Her Highness. Tirumala Rao could not believe his ears. He could not
meet the rani whose messages he had carried faithfully for twenty-five
years, risking his own life more than once? But the message was simple:
leave Srirangapatna at once and settle down at Madras. Was it the
maharani’s message, he asked. No; that of the victorious company bahadars,
came the prompt reply.
Totally shattered and disillusioned, Tirumala Rao made his way to
Madras, the city he had inhabited for decades as a refugee. He still could not
fathom why the maharani had not intervened at least to grant him the
courtesy of an audience for all that he had done for her. Almost
telepathically, a few days later, a letter—the third one that lay on the floor
beside him—arrived from the maharani’s new residence at Mysore. The
capital city had shifted and she, along with her grandson and future king,
Mummadi Krishnaraja, had proceeded to Mysore, leaving behind a wailing
Srirangapatna to heal its wounds. In some ways, he thought, Srirangapatna
personified him. It was good as long as it was of use; after that it was
discarded to fend for itself and the victorious entourage had proceeded to its
new destination. Of course, he had heard of the maharani’s protests against
leaving Srirangapatna before meeting her faithful pradhan and consoling
him for the sudden and inexplicable change of fortune. But since she was
given an ultimatum by the company authorities, she had no choice but to
comply and proceed without further delay to the new capital city of Mysore.
The letter was dated 25 June 1799 and was addressed to Lord Clive and
*
Lord Mornington.
You have already been made aware of all our affairs through our Pradhan Tirumal Row.
Being unable to put up with the tyranny of the Mahomedan usurpers, and hearing of the
nobility and prowess of the English Company, and of the fame due to their extending their
protection to many a principality, we sent our Tirumal Row to Channapatna 24 years ago.
You know perfectly well of everything that transpired from that time up to date, about our
negotiations with you and the promises of restoration made by the Governors and other
English Sirdars. You have now overthrown the tyrant Tipu by the strength of your virtue
and heroism, conquered the country and spread the glory of your achievement throughout
the length and breadth of the land. As you always espouse the cause of justice and truth,
you have been pleased to favour us and order Sirdars here to restore to us our Kingdom. To
thank you for this act of yours and express our gratitude to you, words will not suffice. Our
gratitude to you for what you have done for us now cannot be forgotten even after our death.
Now that your Sirdars here have made up their minds to entrust the conduct
of an administration to the officers of the late government, we press the
following on your Excellencies’ consideration. We had in the very beginning
promised to confer the Ministership upon our Tirumal Row, and on the faith of
this, our promise, he put forth his strenuous exertions with the Company for
the past 24 years as is very well known to you. We have not at all paid him a
single pie for his expenses. And in addition to this, many dependents working
on your behalf during the time of the late tyranny, have been completely ruined
and reduced to poverty and misery. And you will grant that it is but fair and
just that we should provide for them.
And hence as you have been good enough to restore to us our Kingdom,
please allow us also to administer it in the manner that suits us best. We have
already promised our Tirumal Row to appoint him and his heirs as Ministers in
hereditary succession, to grant him 10 per cent of the revenues of the state, and
also to pay up all his expenses. It is therefore our request that you will be
pleased to permit us to keep up our promise.
Sriranga
8, Bahula Jyeshta, Siddharthi
Even before he could finish reading the letter, a knock on the door
informed him that the priest was soliciting his presence. Wiping his tears,
Tirumala realised that it was the day of Naraka Chaturdashi—fifteen years
ago on this day scores of his family members were brutally killed for no
fault of theirs. While the rest of the kingdom celebrated Diwali under the
new regime, Tirumala’s house bore a pall of gloom. He had to prepare for
the annual shraddha ceremonies for the peace of his forefathers and
murdered kin—now a ritual in his family every Diwali. He flung the three
letters away; they meant nothing to him any more.

THE RESTORATION AND THE TREATY OF
SRIRANGAPATNA
With their goal achieved—the defeat of their arch-rival and enemy, Tipu
Sultan—the British turned towards the royal family of Mysore, which had
been waiting in the wings all this time. Headed by Maharani
Lakshmammanni, the only male support for the Wodeyars had been
Nandiraja, the maternal grandfather of Prince Krishnaraja Wodeyar III.
Even before the fall of Srirangapatna, back in February 1799, Maharani
Lakshmammanni wrote to Lord Mornington recapitulating the negotiations
she had been having with the ‘Company Bahaddur’ for many years now.
*
Josiah Webbe, Secretary to the Madras Government, replied in April 1799:
With compliments from J. Webbe to Maharani Narapathi Mathoshri Rana Saheb: Three
letters you sent, one to me, one to His Lordship of Bengal, and one to His Lordship here,
your Pradhan Tirumal Rao delivered, and these gave us much pleasure. Your Pradhan
Tirumal Rao has for a long period continued to give us every information respecting you,
and their Lordships have solemnly promised to serve you, which your Pradhan must have
mentioned to you. You may rest assured that there will be no end to our friendship. We have
now declared war against Tipu. But we know not what will be the result. God only knows
it. I cannot write much on that head. After it be over they will without doubt attend to your
business.
Soon after this letter was written, Tipu was dead and Srirangapatna had
been destroyed completely. Maharani Lakshmammanni thanked the British
whole-heartedly for saving her and her family from sorrow and humiliation.
She sent feelers to the East India Company officials about her eagerness to
quickly install Mummadi Krishnaraja on the throne and restore the royal
family to its earlier grandeur. The British were in a quandary. Many of them
wanted to appropriate this kingdom, won after so many conquests. But a
majority of them felt that a situation of power without accountability suited
them best and that it was also necessary for them to be seen rewarding
someone who had stood by the British through thick and thin. At the same
time they wanted their pound of flesh for themselves and their allies—the
Marathas and the Nizam.
Finally, it was decided that while the Wodeyar would be restored to his
throne, it would be with a diminished dominion, in a position subservient to
British authority. Elaborate plans were drawn to partition Mysore among the
victorious forces. The Nizam was given the present districts of Bellary,
Anantpur, Cudappah and Kurnool. This last, however, was ceded by him in
1800 in lieu of maintaining a British force in his dominion as per the British
India policy. The Marathas got the territory north of the Tungabhadra River
(Hubli, Belgaum, Dharwad, etc.) except the North Kanara region, which
remained with the British. The British also took South Kanara and all the
areas west, south and east of the Old Mysore state. At that time Kanara was
a single district and it was in 1862 that it was divided into North and South
Kanara. The British took special care to keep the entire seacoast under their
control; they had bitter memories of Tipu’s efforts to enlist the support of
the French naval fleets and build his sea-power. The motives behind the
*
partition are detailed in a letter written by the Marquess of Wellesley,
Governor general of India to the Court of Directors in England on 7 June
1799:
The approved policy, interests and honour of the British Nation therefore required that the
settlement of the extensive Kingdom subjected to our disposal, should be formed on
principles acceptable to the inhabitants of the conquered territories, just and conciliatory to
the contiguous Native States, and indulgent to every party in any degree affected by the
consequences of our success.
To have divided the whole territory equally between the Company and the
Nizam, to the exclusion of any other State, would have afforded strong grounds
of jealousy to the Marathas, and aggrandised the Nizam’s power beyond all
bounds of discretion and would have left in our hands a territory so extensive,
as it might have been difficult to manage, especially in the present state of the
Company’s service at the Presidency. Under whatever form such a partition
could have been made, it must have placed in the hands of the Nizam many of
the strong fortresses on the northern frontiers of Mysore, and exposed our
frontier in that quarter to every predatory incursion; such a partition would
have laid the foundation of perpetual differences, not only between the
Marathas and the Nizam, but between the Company and both these powers.
To have divided the territory into three equal portions allowing the
Marathas who had taken part in the expense or hazard of the war, an equal
share with the other two branches of the Triple Alliance in the advantages of
the peace, would neither have been just to the Nizam, politic, in the way of
example to our other allies, nor prudent in respect of aggrandisement of the
Maratha Empire. This mode of partition, also must have placed Chitaldoorg
and some of the most important northern fortresses in the hands of the
Marathas, while the remainder of the fortresses in the same line would have
been occupied by the Nizam, and our unfortified and open frontier in Mysore
would have been exposed to the excesses of the undisciplined troops of both
powers. To have given the Marathas no larger a territory than is now proposed,
while the Company and the Nizam divided the whole of the remainder to the
exclusion of any central power, would have been liable nearly to the same
objection as that stated against a total exclusion of the Marathas from all
participation.
The establishment, therefore, of a central and separate power in the ancient
territories of Mysore, appeared to be the best expedient for reconciling the
interests of all parties. It would certainly have been desirable that the ancient
Mysore territory should have been placed in the hands of one of Tipu’s sons,
but the hereditary and intimate connection established between Tipu and the
French, the probability that the French may be enabled to maintain themselves
in Egypt, the perpetual interest that Tipu’s family must feel to undermine and
subvert a system which had so much reduced their patrimony and power, added
to their natural hatred of the English name, and to the aspiring ambition,
indignant pride and deadly revenge congenial to the Mohammadan character,
precluded the possibility of restoring any branch of the family of the late
Sultan to the throne without exposing us to the constant hazard of internal
commotion and even of foreign war. Such a settlement would have cherished in
its bosom a restless and powerful principle of its own dissolution; we could
never have expected harmony or a spirit of friendship or alliance, where no
true reconcilement could grow; even submission must have been reluctant and
treacherous, where bitter memory of fallen dignity, wealth and power must
have united every passion and vice with many of the noblest virtues in a
constant desire to recover an empire, originally acquired by an extraordinary
combination of falsehood, cruelty and courage, and maintained for a long time
with eminent policy and vigour as well as its internal government as in its
foreign relations.
You will observe that throughout this view of the subject I have assumed
the justice and necessity of the late war against Tipu Sultan and consequently
the right of conquest under which I conceive the absolute disposal of the
territory to have accrued to the Company and the Nizam. In the exercise of this
right if I were to look to moral considerations alone, I should certainly on
every principle of justice and humanity, as well as of attention to the welfare of
the people have been led to restore the heir of the ancient Rajah of Mysore to
that rank and dignity which were wrested from his ancestors by the usurpation
of Hyder Ali. The long and cruel imprisonment which several branches of his
family have suffered, the persecution and murder of many of their adherents,
and the state of degradation and misery in which it has been the policy of both
these usurpers to retain the surviving descendants of their lawful sovereign,
would have entitled the representative of the ancient family of Mysore to every
degree of practicable consideration; but it is also evident that every motive
must concur to attach to the heir of the Mysore family, if placed on the throne,
to our interests, through which alone he can hope to maintain himself against
the family of Tipu.
Thus, it seems clear that it was more of a ploy to consolidate British rule
and to maintain the balance of power among the allies, rather than to honour
the old friendship with Maharani Lakshmammanni, that the Company
decided to reinstate Wodeyar on the throne.
This, however, did not deter Maharani Lakshmammanni. She had
achieved her goal and succeeded in bringing her family back to prominence,
albeit at the cost of the kingdom’s very sovereignty and independence. In a

*
formal letter dated 26 June 1799, signed by her and her mother-in-law
Queen Mother Devajammanni—the adoptive mother of Chamaraja Wodeyar
VII and Immadi Krishnaraja—she thanked the British thus:
The selection you have made of our boy for the purpose of conferring upon the Government
of Mysore, Nagar, Chistel Doorg and their dependencies and the nomination of Purnaiah as
the Diwan, has caused us great Joy...as long as the sun and the moon continue to shine on
us, we would not render ourselves guilty of any offence against your Government. We will
consider ourselves always your protégé and your subordinates.
In the commissioner’s words:
The Rana (Rani), in reply expressed through one of her attendants, the lively sense which
she entertained of His Lordship’s clemency, which had raised her and her family from the
lowest pitch of human misery, to that station of which they had been deprived by tyranny
and usurpation. She dwelt particularly on the persecution to which she and her family had
been exposed from the cruel, savage and relentless disposition of the late Tippoo Sultan;
but she added that the generosity of the Company, having restored the ancient rights of her
house in the person of her grandson, had opened to her a prospect of passing the remnant of
her days in peace.
The Rajah, who is said to be five years old, is of a delicate habit: his
complexion is rather fair than otherwise and his countenance is very
expressive. He showed some symptoms of alarm on our arrival, but these soon
disappeared. He seems to be of a timid disposition, and to have suffered
considerably from restraint.
Over one month of looting and arson, Srirangapatna, the ancient capital
of the Wodeyars and later of Haidar and Tipu Sultan, had been reduced to
rubble. She now stood like an unearthly, wailing damsel and was a mere
pathetic reminder of her glorious past. Josyer records a letter written by
Lord Mornington to the Board of Directors which reveals the extent of
financial benefits that the ‘acquisition of Seringapatam’ accrued to the
Company’s coffers:
The establishment of a Hindoo state in Mysore, with the restoration of the Temples and
endowments of that religion, must be grateful to the Government of Poona independently of
the advantages arising from the substitution of a power of the same religion and of pacific
views, in the place of an odious Mohammadan usurpation, scarcely less hostile to the
Mahrata than to the British Nation.
By the Partition Treaty of Mysore you have acquired an augmentation of
direct territorial revenue to the annual amount of 6,47,641 star pagodas or £
259056 sterling. By the Subsidiary Treaty of Seringapatam you have secured
an annual subsidy of star pagodas 7,00,000 or £ 539056 sterling. But a
reasonable expectation is entertained that the territory acquired by the
Company under the treaty of Mysore will yield, in the course of a few years, a
sum not less than star pagodas 14,78,698 or £ 5,91,479 sterling. If such an
advance in the nominal revenue of the acquired districts should actually be
realised, the positive augmentation of your available annual resources in
consequence of late settlement of Mysore will amount to nearly 20 lakhs of
star pagodas, or £ 8,00,000 sterling. Further we retained full sovereignty over
Seringapatam as being a tower of strength from which we may at any time
shake Hindustan to its center, if any combination should be ever formed against
our interests.
Apart from the revenue benefits accrued, as stated viciously above, the
British got a huge booty from the plunder of Srirangapatna. The Sultan’s
golden throne, tiger-shaped with a jewelled canopy and crest was moved to
*
England. As Colonel Wellesley wrote in a letter to his brother:
By the unrestricted plunder of the town of Seringaptam and its neighbourhood several men
of the army became rich beyond the dreams of avarice. Nothing exceeded what was done on
4th May, that scarcely a house in the town was left unplundered, and that in the camp
bazaars jewels of the greatest value, bars of gold, and numerous other articles of value were
offered for sale by soldiers, at indiscriminate prices, or exchanged for articles of nominal
value. Single pearls of great value are said to be exchanged for a bottle of liquor. An army
doctor was able to purchase from a soldier two bracelets set with diamonds, and the less
costly one is said to have been valued at £300000 sterling or 45 Lakhs of rupees. The other
bracelet was declared by the jeweller to be of such superlative value that the jeweller could
not fix a price.

A committee called the Prize Committee was appointed by General Harris
to share the booty. General Harris found in the palace
an enormous and astonishing mass of wealth consisting of ... gold and silver plate, jewels,
rich and valuable stuffs, and various other articles of great price and rarity. The jewels were
found kept in large dark rooms strongly secured and sealed. In the same manner were stored
the gold plate, both solid and in filigree, of which latter there was an endless variety of
beautiful articles. The repositories of firearms contained swords most magnificently
adorned with gold and jewels. There were also a number of ornamental heavy articles,
particularly several doorposts of ivory of exquisite workmanship. A large library in
excellent preservation also existed, the volumes being kept in chests and each book having a
separate wrapper. Many of them were richly adorned and beautifully illuminated.
The library, except one copy of the Koran, was transferred to the newly
formed College of Calcutta. The copy of the Koran, written in beautiful
characters with elegant ornamentations, is in the Library of Windsor Castle.
The Commander-in-Chief General Harris’s share of the prize money
amounted to £1,42,202 or an equivalent of nearly Rs 19 lakh.
The rape of Srirangapatna left her totally incapable of recovering her
lost glory and grandeur. There was, in fact, no place in Srirangapatna
worthy of hosting the coronation of the new king. Also, many of the
buildings in old Mysore had been demolished by Tipu as part of the plan of
building the new township of Nazarabad. Bangalore was initially chosen for
the coronation, but since it was on the border of the raja’s domain, the idea
was abandoned. The Nazarabad fort would also not do as water supply to
the fort had been cut off many years ago. Finally, with not a single palace or
house fit for the ceremony, the coronation was held in an open space in a
pandal erected outside the Sri Lakshmiramana Swami Temple in Mysore.
On the morning of 30 June 1799, the Hindu officers of the kingdom
accompanied the British generals and reached the little boy’s house. Barely
five years old, the loud sound of the nadaswaram and other traditional
musical instruments that ushered in good luck, and the large crowds that
gathered outside, alarmed the boy. He later recovered his royal poise. He
was then placed on the Masnad of Mysore as the Khavind Nanjarajabidha
Mummadi Krishnarajendra Wodeyar under the tearful gaze of Maharani
Lakshmammanni.
Mysore and its neighbours after the Partition Treaty of 1799 (Maps are
artistic recreations made at Suhaas Graphics, Bangalore)
Purnaiya accompanied them as the new dewan or prime minister of the
state.
To formalise the entire transition process and the appointment of the
new king and his dewan, a treaty was signed between Maharani
Lakshmammanni and the British on 8 July 1799. The Treaty of
Srirangapatna also formalised the partition of the kingdom with Gutti,
Gurramkonda, part of Chitradurga and other territories ceded to the Nizam;
the Canara coast, Wynad, Coimbatore and Srirangapatna to the British and
Soonda and Hardanhalli to the Marathas (which they later rejected). A sum
exceeding 25,000 Star Pagodas was assigned to the raja and a group of hill
forts in north Mysore and posts away from the Marathas’ and the Nizam’s
territory from Punganoor on the line of Eastern parts to Bidnaur on the

Western Ghats. A treaty like this naturally meant the end of suzerainty and
*
independence for Mysore, now completely subservient to the British.
The treaty imposed the payment of an annual subsidy of 7 lakh Star
Pagodas for the maintenance of the Company’s body of troops, which would
be permanently stationed at the capital for the raja’s defence. Extraordinary
expenses that might arise due to sudden hostilities or preparations for
defence would have to be borne entirely by the raja of Mysore. In the event
of the maharaja’s pay failure to this stipulated amount, it was left to the
discretion of the governor general to assume direct charge over part or parts
of the Mysore territory to procure the required funds. The failure to meet his
liabilities, such as the annual subsidy payment, would also ensure a loss of
territory for the maharaja, be it in times of war or peace.
The maharaja had no power of appeal in case the Company chose to take
over territories of the kingdom in the above mentioned circumstances. If the
governor general made known such a decision, the maharaja would have to
issue orders effecting the transfer of power within ten days, failing which the
governor general would be free to issue orders for any regulations or
ordinances for taking over the revenue management of the kingdom even
without the maharaja’s concurrence! As a saving grace for the beleaguered
maharaja of Mysore, even in such an adverse situation, the treaty assured
him of an annual income that would not fall short of 1 lakh Star Pagodas,
along with about one-fifth of the net revenues from the territories ceded to
him.
The ability of the maharaja to forge or break alliances with his
neighbours was also severely curtailed. He could not do so without the
Company’s assent. He needed the Company’s approval to induct any
Europeans in his service and promptly report to the authorities the presence
of unknown Europeans within the Mysore territories. The Company was
apprehensive of the cordial relations Mysore had shared with the French
during Haidar and Tipu’s rule and did not want those old ties to be revived
at any cost.
The governor general was at complete liberty to garrison or repair any
fortress in Mysore with British troops and officers in times of peace or war.
The maharaja had to bear half the expenses in case the governor general
decided to repair existing forts within the kingdom. The maharaja’s

government was not permitted to employ the troops of the British for day-
to-day chores, such as collecting revenue from defaulters, etc., something
armies had traditionally always done.
The entry of all provisions and articles required for the British garrison’s
use at Srirangapatna was to be allowed free of any duty, tax or impediment
whatsoever. The maharaja was bound to heed any advice the Company gave
him in supposed good faith regarding the state of the kingdom’s economy,
its finances, the administration of justice, trade and commerce,
encouragement of agriculture and industry or any subject they deemed fit.
The Partition Treaty was also negotiable in future as and when the allies of
the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War wished to change borders by exchanging
territories among themselves.
The treaty was signed by General Harris, Colonel Arthur Wellesley,
Lieutenant Colonel William Kirkpatrick, Henry Wellesley and Lieutenant
Colonel Barry Close—all on behalf of the governor general and by
Maharani Lakshmammanni and Dewan purnaiya on behalf of the infant
raja.
The year 1799 thus marked a new milestone in the history of Mysore. A
new kingdom was born from blood and strife and the clock seemed to have
turned back fully for the Wodeyar family. The worthlessness of the earlier
rulers had cost them their kingdom. Lady luck had showered her
benevolence on them and destiny did something very rare—she gave them a
second chance. Whether they proved their mettle this time, albeit under the
iron fetters of the East India Company, was something that only time would
tell.
I. THE PARTITION TREATY OF MYSORE, 22
JUNE 1799 (TAKEN FROM BEATON’S ACCOUNT)
Article 1
t being reasonable and just that the allies by this Treaty should accomplish
the original objects of the war (viz. a due indemnification of the expenses
incurred in their own defence, and effectual security for their respective
possessions against the future designs of their enemies,) it is stipulated
and agreed that the districts specified in Schedule A, hereunto annexed,
together with the heads of all the passes leading from the territory of the late
Tippoo Sultan to any part of the possessions of the English East India
Company Bahadoor, of its allies, or tributaries, situated between the ghats
on either coast and all forts situated near to and commanding the said
passes, shall be subjected to the authority, and be forever incorporated with
the Dominions of the English East India Company Bahadoor, the said
Company Bahadoor engaging to provide effectually out of the revenues of
the said districts for the suitable maintenance of the whole of the families of
the late Hyder Ali Khan and of the late Tippoo Sultan, and to apply to this
purpose, with the reservation hereinafter stated, an annual sum of not less
than two lakhs of Star Pagodas, making the Company’s share as follows:-
Estimated value of districts enumerated in the Schedule A, according to
a statement from Tippoo Sultan in 1792...7,77,170 Canteroi Pagodas.
Deduct provision for the families of Hyder Ali Khan and of Tippoo
Sultan, two lakhs of Star Pagodas, in Canteroi Pagodas....2,40,000.
Remains to the East India Company.....5,37, 170 Canteroi Pagodas.
Article 2
For the same reasons stated in the preceding article, the districts specified in
Schedule B annexed hereunto, shall be subjected to the authority and for
ever united to the dominions of the Nawab Nizam-ood-Dowlah Asoph Jah
Bahadoor, the said Nawab having engaged to provide liberally from the
revenues of the said districts for the support of Meer Kummer-ood-Deen
Khan Bahadoor, and of his family and relations, and to grant him for this
purpose a personal Jaghire in the district of Gurromcondah, equal to an
annual sum of Rs 2,10,000 or of 70,000 Canteroi Pagodas, over and above,
and exclusive of a Jaghire which the said Nawab has also agreed to assign to
the said Meer-Kummer-ood-Deen Khan for the pay and maintenance of a
proportionate number of troops to be employed in the service of His
Highness, making the share of His Highness as follows:-Estimated value of
the territory specified in Schedule B, according to the statement of Tippoo
Sultan in 1792...6,07,332 Canteroi Pagodas.

Deduct personal jaghire to Meer Kummer-ood-Deen Khan, Rs 2,10,000
or...70,000 Canteroi Pagodas.
Remains to the Nawab Nizam-ood-Dowlah Asoph Jah Bahadoor....
5,37,332 Canteroi Pagodas.
Article 3
It being further expedient, for the preservation of peace and tranquility and
for the general security on the foundations now established by the
contracting parties, that the fortress of Seringapatam should be subjected to
the said Company Bahadoor, it is stipulated and agreed that the said fortress
and the Island on which it is situated (including the small tract of land, or
island, lying to the westward of the main island, and bounded on the west by
a Nullah, called the Mysore Nullah, which falls into the Cauvery near
Chenagal Ghaut) shall become part of the Dominions of the said Company,
in full right and sovereignty for ever.
Article 4
A separate Government shall be established in Mysore; and for this purpose
it is stipulated and agreed that the Maharajah Kishna Raja Oodiaver
Bahadoor, a descendant of the ancient Rajahs of Mysore, shall possess the
territory hereinafter described, upon the conditions hereinafter mentioned.
Article 5
The contracting powers mutually and severally agree that the districts
specified in Schedule C hereunto annexed, shall be ceded to the said
Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah and shall form the separate Government of
Mysore, upon the conditions hereinafter mentioned.
Article 6
The English East India Company Bahadoor shall be at liberty to make such
deductions from time to time from the sums allotted by the first Article of
the present Treaty for the maintenance of the families of Hyder Ali Khan
and Tippoo Sultan, as may be proper, in consequence of the decease of any
member of the said families; and in the event of any hostile attempt on the
part of the said family or of any member of it, against the authority of the
contracting parties, or against the peace of their respective dominions or the
territories of the Rajah of Mysore, then the said English East India
Company Bahadoor shall be at liberty to limit or suspend entirely the
payment of the whole or any part of the stipend hereinbefore stipulated to be
applied to the maintenance and support of the said families.
Article 7
His Highness the Peshwa Rao Pundit Pradhan Bahadoor shall be invited to
accede to the present Treaty and although the said Peshwa Rao Pundit
Pradhan Bahadoor has neither participated in the expense or danger of the
late war, and therefore is not entitled to share any part of the acquisitions
made by the contracting parties (namely, the English East India Company
Bahadoor and His Highness the Nawab Nizam-ood-Dowlah Asoph Jah
Bahadoor), yet for the maintenance of the relations of friendship and
alliance between the said Peshwa Rao Pundit Pradhan Bahadoor, the
English East India Company Bahadoor, His Highness the Nawab Nizam-
ood-Dowlah Asoph Jah Bahadoor and Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah
Bahadoor, it is stipulated and agreed that certain districts, specified in
Schedule D hereunto annexed, shall be reserved for the purpose of being
eventually ceded to the said Peshwa Rao Pundit Pradhan Bahadoor in full
right and sovereignty; in the same manner as if he had been a contracting
party to this Treaty; provided however, that the said Peshwa Rao Pundit
Pradhan Bahadoor shall accede to the present Treaty in its full extent within
one month from the day on which it shall be formally communicated to him
by the contracting parties, and provided also that he shall give satisfaction to
the English East India Company Bahadoor, and to His Highness the Nawab
Nizam-ood-Dowlah Asoph Jah Bahadoor, with regard to certain points now
depending between him, the said Peshwa and the said Nawab Nizam-ood-
Dowlah Asoph Jah Bahadoor, and also with regard to such points as shall be
presented to the said Peshwa, on the part of the English East India Company
Bahadoor, by the Governor General or the British Resident at the Court of
Poona.
Article 8
If, contrary to the amicable expectation of the contracting parties, the said
Peshwa Rao Pundit Pradhan Bahadoor shall refuse to accede to this Treaty
or to give satisfaction upon the points to which the Seventh Article refers,
then the right to and sovereignty of the several districts hereinbefore
reserved for eventual cession to the Peshwa Rao Pundit Pradhan Bahadoor
shall rest jointly on the said English East India Company Bahadoor, and the
said Nawab Nizam-ood-Dowlah Asoph Jah Bahadoor who will either
exchange them with the Rajah of Mysore for other districts of equal value
more contiguous to their respective territories, or otherwise arrange and
settle respecting them, as they shall judge proper.
Article 9
It being expedient for the effectual establishment of Maharajah Mysore
Kishna Rajah Bahadoor in the Government of Mysore, that His Highness
should be assisted with a suitable subsidiary force, it is stipulated and
agreed that the whole of the said force shall be furnished by the English
East India Company Bahadoor, according to the terms of a separate Treaty
to be immediately concluded between the said English East India Company
Bahadoor and His Highness Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver
Bahadoor.
Article 10
This Treaty consisting of ten Articles being settled and concluded, this day,
the 22nd of June 1799 (recitals follow.)
Ratified at Hyderabad by His Highness, the Nizam, 13th July 1799.
II. THE SUBSIDIARY TREATY OF MYSORE. 8
JULY 1799 (FROM BEATSON’S ACCOUNT)
Article 1:
The friends and enemies of either of the contracting parties shall be
considered as friends and enemies of both.
Article 2:
The Honourable East India Company Bahadoor agrees to maintain, and His
Highness Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor agrees to
receive, a Military Force for the defence and security of His Highness’
dominions; in consideration of which protection His Highness engages to
pay the annual sum of Seven Lakhs of star pagodas to the said East India
Company, the said sum to be paid in twelve equal monthly installments,
commencing from the 1st of July Anno Domini 1799. And His Highness
further agrees that the disposal of the said sum, together with the
arrangement and employment of the Troops to be maintained by it, shall be
entirely left to the Company.
Article 3:
If it shall be necessary for the protection and defence of the territories of the
contracting parties, or of either of them, that hostilities shall be undertaken,
or preparations made for commencing hostilities against any State or power,
His said Highness Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor
agrees to contribute towards the discharge of the increased expense incurred
by the augmentation of the military force and the unavoidable charges of
war, such a sum as shall appear to the Govemor-General-in-Council of Fort
William, on an attentive consideration of the means of His said Highness, to
bear a just and reasonable proportion to the actual net revenues of His said
Highness.
Article 4:
And whereas it is indispensably necessary that effectual and lasing security
should be provided against any failure in the funds destined to defray either
the expenses of the permanent military force in time of peace, or the
extraordinary expenses described in the third Article of the present Treaty, it
is hereby stipulated and agreed between the contracting parties, that
whenever the Govemor-General-in-council of Fort William in Bengal shall
have reason to apprehend such failure in the funds so destined, the said
Govemor-General-in-Council shall be at liberty, and shall have full power
and right either to introduce such regulations and ordinances as he shall
deem expedient for the internal management and collection of the revenues,
or for the better ordering of any other branch and department of the
Government of Mysore, or to assume and bring under the direct
management of the servants of the said Company Bahadoor such part or
parts of the territorial possessions of His Highness Maharajah Mysore
Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor as shall appear to him, the said Govemor-
General-in-Council, necessary to render the said funds efficient and
available, either in time of peace or war.
Article 5:
And it is hereby further agreed that whenever the said Governor-General-in-
Council shall signify to the said Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver
Bahadoor that it become necessary to carry into effect he provisions of the
fourth article, His said Highness Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver
Bahadoor shall immediately issue orders to his aumils or other officers
either for carrying into effect the said regulations and ordinances according
to the tenor of the fourth Article, or for placing the territories required under
the exclusive authority and control of the English Company Bahadoor. And
in case His Highness shall not issue such orders within ten days from the
time when the application shall have formally been made to him, then the
said Govemor-General-in-Council shall be at liberty to issue orders, by his
own authority, either for carrying into effect the said regulations and
ordinances, or for assuming the management and collection of the revenues
of the said territories, as he shall judge most expedient for the purpose of
securing the efficiency of the said military funds and for providing for the
effectual protection of the country and the welfare of the people. Provided
always, that whenever and so long as any part or parts of His said Highness’
territories shall be placed and remain under the exclusive authority and
control of the said East India Company, the Govemor-General-in-Council
shall render to His Highness a true and faithful account of the revenue and
produce of the territories so assumed; provided also, that in no case
whatever shall His Highness’s actual receipt or annual income, arising out of
his territorial revenue, be less than the sum of the net revenues of the whole
territories ceded to him by the fifth Article of the Treaty of Mysore; which
sum of one lakh of Star Pagodas, together with the amount of one-fifth of
the said net revenues, the East India Company engages, at all times and in
every possible case, to be secure and cause to be paid for His Highness’ use.
Article 6:
His Highness Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor engages
that he will be guided by a sincere and cordial attention to the relations of
peace and amity now established between the English Company Bahadoor
and their allies and that will carefully abstain from any interference in the
affairs of any State in alliance with the said English Company Bahadoor, or
any State whatever. And for securing the object of this stipulation it is
further stipulated and agreed that no communication or correspondence
with any foreign State whatever shall be held by His said Highness without
the previous knowledge and sanction of the said English Company
Bahadoor.
Article 7:
His Highness stipulates and agrees that he will not admit any European
foreigners into his service without the concurrence of the English Company
Bahadoor; and that he will apprehend and deliver up to the Company’s
Government of whatever description who shall be found within the
territories of His said Highness without regular passports from the
Company’s Government, it being His Highness’ determined resolution not
to suffer, even for a day, any European foreigners to remain within the
territories now subjected to his authority, unless by consent of the said
Company.
Article 8:
Whereas the complete protection of His Highness’ said territories requires
that various fortresses and strong places situated within the territories of His
Highness should be garrisoned and commanded, as well in time of peace as
of war by British troops and officers, His Highness Maharajah Mysore
Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor engages that the said English Company
Bahadoor shall at all times be at liberty to garrison, in whatever manner
they may judge proper, all such fortresses and strong places within His said
Highness’ territories as shall appear to them advisable to take charge of.
Article 9:
And whereas, in consequence of the system of defence which it may be
expedient to adopt for the security of the territorial possessions of His
Highness Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor, it may be
necessary that certain forts and strong places within His Highness’
territories should be dismantled or destroyed, and that other forts, and
strong places should be strengthened and repaired, it is stipulated and
agreed that the English East India Company Bahadoor shall be the sole
judges of the necessity of any such alterations in the said fortresses; and it is
further agreed that such expenses as may be incurred on this account shall
be borne and defrayed in equal proportions by the contracting parties.
Article 10:
In case it shall become necessary for enforcing and maintaining the
authority and government of His Highness in the territories now subjected
to his power, that the regular troops of the English East India Company
Bahadoor should be employed, it is stipulated and agreed that, upon formal
application being made for the service of the said troops, they shall be
employed in such manner as to the said Company shall seem fit; but it is
expressly understood by the contracting parties that this stipulation shall not
subject the troops of the English East India Company Bahadoor to be
employed in the ordinary transactions of revenue.
Article 11
It being expedient for the restoration and permanent establishment of
tranquility in the territories now subjected to the authority of His Highness
Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor, that suitable
provisions should be made for certain officers of rank in the service of the
late Tippoo Sultan, His said Highness agrees to enter into the intermediate
discussion of this point, and to fix the amount of the funds (as soon as the
necessary information can be obtained) to be granted for this purpose, in a
separate Article, to be hereafter added to this Treaty.
Article 12:
Lest the garrison of Seringapatam should be at any time be subject to
inconvenience from the high prices of provisions and other necessities, His
Highness Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor agrees that
such quantities of provisions and other necessaries as may be required for
the use and consumption of the troops composing the said garrison shall be
allowed to enter the place from all and every part of his dominions free of
any duty, tax or impediment whatever.
Article 13:
The contracting parties hereby agree to take into their early consideration
the best means of establishing such a commercial intercourse between their
respective dominions as shall be mutually beneficial to the subjects of both
Governments, and to conclude a commercial Treaty for this purpose with as
little delay as possible.
Article 14:
His Highness Maharajah Mysore Kishna Rajah Oodiaver Bahadoor hereby
promises to pay at all times the utmost attention to such advice as the
Company’s Government shall occasionally judge it necessary to offer to
him, with a view of the economy of his finances, the better collection of his
revenues, the administration of justice, the extension of commerce, the
encouragement of trade, agriculture and industry, or any other objects
connected with the advancement of His Highness’ interests, the happiness of
the people and the mutual welfare of both States.
Article 15:
Whereas it may hereafter appear that some of the districts declared by the
Treaty of Mysore to belong respectively to the English Company Bahadoor
and to His Highness are inconveniently situated, with a view to the proper
connection of their respective lines of frontier, it is hereby stipulated
between the contracting parties that in all such cases they will proceed to
such adjustment, by means of exchanges or otherwise, as shall be best suited
to the occasion.
Article 16:
This Treaty consisting of 16 Articles, being this day, the 8th of July, Anno
Domini 1799, settled and concluded at the fort of Nazzarbah, near
Seringapatam by His Excellency Lieutenant-General George Harris,
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces of His Brittanic Majesty, and of the
Honourable English East India Company Bahadoor in the Carnatic and on
the coast of Malabar...the aforesaid gentlemen have delivered to the said
Maharajah one copy of the same, in English and Persian, sealed and signed
by them, and His Highness the Maharajah has delivered to the gentlemen
aforesaid another copy, also in Persian and English, bearing his seal, and
signed by Luchummam widow of the late Kishna Rajah, and sealed and
signed by Purneah, Dewan to the Maharajah Kishna Rajah Oodiaver. And
the aforesaid gentlemen have engaged to procure and to deliver to the said
Maharajah without delay a copy of the same, under the seal and signature of
the Right Honourable the Governor-General, on receipt of which the said
Maharajah and the present Treaty shall be deemed complete and binding on
the Honourable English East India Company and on the Maharajah Kishna
Rajah Oodiaver, and the copy of it now delivered to the said Maharajah shall
be returned.
———————————
*
This letter appears in a research paper by the descendants of the Mysore Pradhans—M.A.
Narayana Iyengar and M.A. Sreenivasachar.
*
After betraying Tipu, it is rather strange that Purnaiya should have suggested this. But
since he didn’t have much regard for the Wodeyars either, perhaps his old loyalties came to
the fore in the form of this suggestion.
*
Since the Rani’s letters were always sent to her recipients through Tirumala or Narayana,
this one, too, came to him on its way to Clive. This letter appears in M.A. Narayana Iyengar
and M.A. Sreenivasachar’s research paper.
*
Taken from M.A. Narayana Iyengar and M.A. Sreenivasachar’s 1981 research paper, ‘The
Mysore Pradhans’.
*
This letter appears in Montgomery’s 1885 book, titled British India.
*
This letter, and the Commissioner’s response, appear in Shama Rao’s 1936 book, Modern
Mysore.
*
The letter appears in Josyer’s 1929 book, History of Mysore and the Yadava Dynasty.
*
For the full text of this treaty, see the appendix to this chapter.
15
THE SURVIVOR STATESMAN DEWAN
PURNAIYA’S LIFE AND TIMES
MAY 1811
he clock had struck the end of the day and the British Resident at the
Mysore court, A.H. Cole had just finished updating his diary about an
issue that had vexed him no end. The year had marked the coming of age of
the Maharaja of Mysore, who naturally wanted to now take complete charge
of the kingdom from the Regent Dewan, purnaiya. When the idea was
initially floated, purnaiya readily offered to resign and make way for the
young man’s direct assumption of power. But purnaiya had been making
numerous representations to the Company through the office of Cole, for
many months now, that the post of dewan be made hereditary. Cole was
stunned by this preposterous wish of the old man, whom he described as
‘very avaricious’. The last paragraph of his memoirs, as quoted by Josyer,
read as follows:
My eyes have been gradually opened to the persuasion that old age, impaired faculties and
evil counsel have combined to disappoint my hopes, and have tended to degrade the
character of a Minister whose former conduct had deservedly ranked him among the first
statesmen who have ever existed in this country. Again to my utmost surprise, he, at one
conference used all his abilities to convince me that he should incur the displeasure ofthe
British Government for having admitted the Rajah into a share of the Government, as he
said, to my consternation and astonishment, that he held the Dewanee ‘by contract’ and that
his son or nephew or whoever he should choose to name as his successor would have a
lawful claim to the situation of the Dewanee on his death or resignation.
The Honourable Govemor-in-Council may believe how much I must have
been startled at such a preposterous assertion and the encouragement of such
foolish expectations in the breast of a man like Purniah, and I need not state
that I used my utmost arguments to convince him that he was grossly mistaken.
Butcha Rao, the principal friend and adviser of Purniah, and who had
participated in his fortunes through life (he is between 60 and 70, about the
Dewan’s own age), has been bed-ridden by infirmity for nearly a year, and his
intellects have been frequently deranged during this period. The advice and
assistance of this man whom we have generally looked upon as the second
Dewan, have consequently been denied to Purniah, and as the latter has not had
strength and activity for some years to transact matters with the aid of Butcha
Rao only (as he used to do formerly), he has had recourse to the members of
his own family, and has permitted Coopanna, his brother-in-law, Hirniappah,
his nephew, (young men under the age of 25 years) to be his principal agents,
he himself generally superintending their conduct. As the old man’s faculties
have become impaired the influence of these young men has gained
ascendancy, and their personal interests have led them to encourage in Purniah,
a tenacity of power, that they might benefit under the shade of his authority.
To these young men of whose dispositions I have great doubts, I principally
attribute the Dewan’s defective conduct, and there is another person of the
name of Tippiah, an old follower and an old rogue whose counsels I know to
have had great weight. Tippiah was detected in malpractices whilst Killadar of
Mysore and Chief Engineer or Superintendent of Public Works, and Major
Wilks insisted upon his being expelled from the Capital, but he had influence
enough to return to office and the Dewan has employed him in superintending
the great nullah.
Just as Cole was about to retire for the day, the Principal Hurcars or
messengers from the royal palace sought immediate audience. They sought
to convey a message from His Highness. The previous day had been that of
salary payments for the government servants and accordingly, the Maharaja
had sent the monthly allowance to purnaiya’s son. The Maharaja was baffled
when the amount was haughtily returned by his Dewan with no explanation
for his conduct. The same morning, when the Maharaja questioned the
actions of his Dewan, purnaiya had risen from his seat with an air of
nonchalance and, unmindful of the open durbar he was seated in, addressed
the Maharaja with arrogance and disrespect. He told the young king, much
to the consternation of other principal officers of the government, that since
neither he nor his sons were servants of the Maharaja, he deemed it an insult
to accept the money. Saying this, purnaiya left the durbar in a huff, not even
seeking the Maharaja’s permission. Surprised and unsure how to respond to
such behaviour in a man he regarded highly, the Maharaja sought the
Resident’s intervention.
Cole knew he had a tough task at hand: pandering to an elderly
statesman’s ego and humouring his senility. The next morning, he assured
the Maharaja in a quick meeting that he would try and reason with Purnaiya.
The Maharaja then summoned the Dewan. Both Cole and the Maharaja
were shocked by a loud voice at the inner door of the palace.
‘I am nobody’s servant, I am my own master. Do you people get what I
am saying? I am subservient to none!’
Of course, it was purnaiya, who had reached the Durbar and was arguing
with some junior officers. Huffing and puffing, boiling with rage, the old
Dewan entered the Durbar Hall. Cole urged him to calm down and hear
what he had to say.
‘I shall do whatever you ask me to, Sir,’ was the cold reply.
‘Sir, I am given to understand that your son has been guilty of great
misconduct and given the fact that you are an elderly statesman of this
Province with years of experience behind you, you would agree with us in
condemning this action of his.’
‘What misconduct has my son been guilty of?’ purnaiya thundered in a
voice bordering on the uncivil.
Cole tried to pacify the old man: ‘Sir, I request you to lower your tone as
you are speaking in the presence of His Highness,’ he said, and narrated the
previous day’s incidents.
‘Oh that!’ purnaiya remarked impertinently. ‘My son did no wrong. It
was I who returned the wages!’
Cole was startled by this brazen attitude and stole a quick look at the
Maharaja’s ‘I told you so’ face.
‘Sir, I am stunned. How can someone as wise and senior as you even
defend such misconduct? Don’t you think it is imperative for your son to fall
at the Maharaja’s feet and beg his pardon? I am sure you are trying to shield
him by taking the blame on yourself, as I refuse to believe that a seasoned
diplomat like yourself could even think of acting in a manner as clumsy as
this.’
‘Of course not Mr Resident Sir,’ sneered Purnaiya, ‘this was my decision
and my son had nothing to do with it. Neither I, nor my sons, acknowledge
any master, certainly not the young lad who sits on this Throne,’ he said,
pointing at the hapless Maharaja. His body trembled violently, and his voice
grew louder. ‘We have decided that we no longer consider him our
Maharaja,’ was the final pronouncement.
Irritated, Cole said:
‘Your Highness! I am deeply disturbed by your Dewan’s manner of speech. His want of self-
command and deficiency of respect to his liege Prince is something that I cannot endure any
longer. I do not want to subject you to any unbecoming scene of turbulence and madness, as
I too am on the verge of losing my temper. I therefore beg you to allow either of us to retire,
for so long as I am in your Highness’s service, I am bound by duty to protect you from such
barbs and insults.’
Mindful of overstretching his case and creating a nuisance in front of the
influential and authoritative Englishman, purnaiya beat a hasty retreat,
saying he would prefer to retire, leaving the Resident and the Maharaja to
speak with each other. In a final show of defiance, purnaiya retired, making
a salaam only to Resident Cole. The Maharaja showed the greatest respect,
rising and making his salaam to the Dewan, which went unacknowledged.
After Purnaiya departed, Cole expressed his astonishment that the
Maharaja had allowed things to come to such a pass. The teenaged Maharaja
replied:
‘I am at a loss to understand the reason for his behaviour. I have been fearful of
complaining to you of the Dewan upon this subject, although it is one of serious vexation to
me, lest you might suppose that I was impatient of control, or anxious to emancipate myself
from the shackles of an old man, whom I should wish to consider as my father, and whom I
would ever treat as such, would he but act towards me with common respect, and not always
hold me out as a boy and a fool. But you have now been an eyewitness of the fact and have
perceived in my demeanour every consideration towards purnaiya, which he on the contrary
forgot himself, in your presence and even made that obeisance to you which he denied to
my Throne.’
Assuring the maharaja of a swift solution, Cole departed. purnaiya’s
actions and words were still ringing in the young maharaja’s ears. He had
always known that purnaiya was opposed to the accession of the Wodeyar
dynasty after Tipu’s fall. But his conduct in the last ten years had never
touched the latest low. It seemed just yesterday that the maharaja had been
crowned and purnaiya had vowed that he would do all he could to protect
the maharaja and his dignity. What had changed since then?
II
PURNAIYA’S LIFE AND CAREER
Purnaiya was among the many who had betrayed Tipu. While other traitors
like Mir Sadik and Mir Nadim had met their ignoble ends, purnaiya had
stayed on to serve his new masters. Shrewd and greedy, the diplomatic
purnaiya switched sides at convenience and with ease. Master tactician that
he was, he transformed even adverse conditions to windows of opportunity
and profit.
Born in 1746 at Thirukambur in the Kulitali district of Tiruchirapalli, he
lost his father, Madhwa Brahmin Krishnacharya, at the age of ten. His
mother, Lakshmiamma, worked hard to bring up her sons Purnaiya and
Venkata Rao. A trader, Ranga Setty, noticed purnaiya’s potential and
appointed him his gumasta or clerk. The family migrated to Satyamangalam
in 1760. Annadana Setty, a friend of Ranga’s and the chief supplier to
Haidar’s palace, took him to Srirangapatna and recruited him as a junior
accountant in the daftar. Krishna Rao, the shirastedar of the toshikhane (or
treasurer) had an officer called Venkataramanayya, who was in charge of
Setty’s dealings with Haidar. Purnaiya often settled these accounts and once,
when a major discrepancy arose in the tallying, purnaiya caught Haidar’s
notice by cleverly resolving the issue.
Now a confidante of Haidar’s, he continued to rise up the ranks. It is
said that Haidar used to quiz his many officers on various topics and
rewarded those who answered intelligently. Once, purnaiya alone could
explain to Haidar why a huge log of timber floated on water, while a small
stone sank. Impressed, Haidar decided to make him the head of the
toshikhana. By 1770 he was made the head of the daftar where the accounts
had to be maintained in Kannada, which had hitherto been maintained in
Marathi under Krishna Rao.

A spell of serious trouble with Anche Shamaiya had seemed to augur
doom for purnaiya, but soon his stars were on the rise again. He became the
most honoured member of Haidar’s durbar and jagirs were presented to
him. He also had the privilege of the golden umbrella, reserved for the elite
few. In 1780, he saved Mysore from Cornwallis’s attack and was also badly
injured. His sagacity saved the day for Mysore in 1782 in the troubled times
that followed Haidar’s death at Narasingarayanapet. It was these talents that
caught Maharani Lakshmammanni’s attention, and she made overtures,
inviting him to defect to her side. Purnaiya had also managed to establish
friendly ties with the British under Wellesley. In fact, in a letter to Barry
Close, quoted by Josyer, Wellesley wrote: ‘Pumaiah’s abilities have
astonished me; he is so different from another man of the same kind, whom
I have dealt with...’. The other man was Tirumala Rao, Maharani
Lakshmammanni’s agent.
Purnaiya led the Mysore side with intelligence and wisdom during the
Third Mysore War despite being severely wounded himself. But his sly
nature came to the fore in his dealings with his colleague and friend Krishna
Rao, who hailed from the same community. As stated before, the
dispossessed Palegars staged an insurgency, fanned actively by the British.
At Srirangapatna, the suspicion fell on Toshikhane Krishna Rao, one of the
ablest and highly trusted officers of the kingdom since the time of Haidar.
He had played a pivotal role alongside purnaiya in the crisis of 1782
following Haidar’s death. purnaiya was naturally jealous of Krishna Rao.
Narrating the unfortunate turn of events for Krishna Rao, Wilks states:
One of his emissaries was unfortunately detected at this period, with a letter in the Canarese
language, concealed in his hollow bamboo or walking stick. The Sultaun...had reasonable
cause for distrusting all Brahmins...A relation of his own who read the Canarese language,
was entrusted with the examination of the letter, and the writer was seized; formerly a
Brahmin, but forcibly circumcised, and now named Mahommed Abbas. The name of
Sheshgere Row, brother of the treasurer Kishen Row, was implicated, and before he could
be seized, he had heard of the accusation, and fled to his brother at Seringapatam; the
treason seemed alarming and extensive, and Tippoo ordered the writer of the letter to be
brought into his presence. Abbas...denied no part of his own imputed guilt, but boldly
declared that no torture should compel him to implicate others. ‘And how long,’ said
Tippoo, ‘have you been a traitor?’ ‘From the period,’ replied he, ‘that you began to
circumcise Brahmins and destroy their temples.’ He was put to death, by being publicly
dragged round the camp, at the foot of an elephant; but the treasurer, Kishen Row, with
three brothers, including Sheshgere Row, were privately tortured and dispatched...I could
never get Poornea, his colleague, to give an opinion. He kept aloof from enquiry; and of
course from interposition, from the natural dread of consequences; and professed to have
had no opportunity of forming a judgment.
Krishna Rao’s beautiful widow was, according to Kirmani, ‘tyrannically
forced’ into the Sultan’s harem. purnaiya had evidently mastered the skill of
survival amidst all adversities. Friendships and people hardly mattered to
him; they could all be sacrificed at the altar of his ambitions.
Purnaiya seems to have shared a strange relationship with Tipu.
Buchanan details the tragedy of purnaiya’s beautiful daughter, who was
heading to the Cauvery in a palanquin one fine morning for a ritualistic
cleansing bath after the completion of her periods. It is said that some of
Tipu’s soldiers, besotted by the beauty of the damsel, misbehaved with her
and then raped her. When purnaiya went to Tipu for justice, the Sultan
casually remarked that once a stray dog feeds on the eatable in the earthen
pot, the eatable anyway loses its sanctity, becoming public property
thereafter. Far from taking any action against these soldiers of his own army,
he is said to have ‘consoled’ purnaiya by stating that the girl would be
honoured with admission into his harem despite her loss of grace. Any
father would have surely been furious at such treatment and his helplessness
in the face of it, despite being the prime minister of the kingdom.
On another occasion, Buchanan mentions the scene in Tipu’s Darbar
when Purnaiya demonstrated his characteristic intelligence in solving a
problem that seemed insurmountable. So delighted was Tipu by his prime
minister’s intellect that he seemingly made an open offer to him to give up
his false faith and join their ranks as a Muslim. A petrified purnaiya
mumbled something and quickly left. It is said that Tipu’s mother who sat in
purdah beside the throne severely admonished her son for such insolent
behaviour towards his father’s confidante and warned him of dire
consequences if he persisted with his bigotry.
Given these events, could purnaiya be labelled a traitor? He had been
one of the most steadfast and loyal adherents of Haidar after all. What may
have changed in those twenty years of Tipu’s reign that prompted him to
conveniently leave the fort of Srirangapatna three days prior to the storming?
The answers are, sadly, unknown.

After Tipu’s death, when the British forces reached his house to ask him
to surrender, he declared: ‘How can I hesitate to surrender to a nation who
are the protectors of my tribe from Kasi to Rameswaram?’
He was amply rewarded for his services to the British by being
appointed regent for the minor king and the dewan of the state. In fact, the
long-standing contender for the post and the maharani’s trusted and faithful
ally, Tirumala Rao, was completely overlooked by the British. The
Maharani was not consulted while appointing the dewan and Tirumala was
never again allowed to enter Srirangapatna, even to pay his respects to his
queen. Ironically, Purnaiya, who had deserted Tipu in his hour of need,
made a strong (though unsuccessful) case with the British after Tipu’s death
to restore the throne to the Sultan’s sons and not to the erstwhile family of
Mysore. His rationale was that the Hindu dynasty had lost touch with the
administration and the pulse of the people. The real motive was, however,
the fact that Tipu’s sons held him in great regard and he knew he would be
the real master if they took over the reigns of the kingdom. The Wodeyars
were unknown to him and he feared the maharani’s hostility because
Tirumala Rao and not he, was her first choice for the dewan’s post. purnaiya
feared that the Hindu royalty would always view him with suspicion as a
remnant of the old establishment and so he championed the cause of Tipu’s
descendants.
In a way, Purnaiya was a complete antithesis to Tirumala Rao. The
latter’s steadfast loyalty was conspicuous by its absence in purnaiya. It was
indeed a quirk of fate that the man who had single-mindedly worked for the
deliverance of the Wodeyar family, albeit with his own personal agendas in
mind, was completely relegated to the bin of history; while the man who had
betrayed the brave Tipu and opposed the accession of the Wodeyars was
recalled to a position of similar eminence even in the new set-up. Tirumala
Rao had tried to enlist support for his cause with the British and written to
John Sullivan, but received a completely non-committal reply:
It would have given me the greatest pleasure to have heard that your long and faithful
services had been recompensed by your having been placed under your Rana in the
situation that would have been most agreeable to you. But as circumstances with which I
am not acquainted have opposed such an agreement immediately upon the restoration of the
Rajah’s Government, you have had an additional opportunity of proving your attachment by
retiring from the scene and of showing your judgement by relying on the justice of the
English Government.
I most earnestly recommend to you to continue in the same judicious
course and to place your whole confidence in Mr Webbe and in Col. Close,
whose honour, judgement and abilities are held in the highest
consideration...what can I say more than that I am your true friend.
Following this, Lord Mornington recommended his services to the Court
of Directors in England and got him an allowance at par with the officers of
the erstwhile Tipu regime, distinguished by the title of Meer Meeran, paying
him 3,500 Pagodas per annum from the Mysore treasury in addition to his
other pension of 120 Pagodas per month. The maharani kept intervening
and representing his case to Webbe and others in the Company, but met with
little success. In 1811, Narayana Rao breathed his last and Tirumala Rao
passed away as well, four years later.
Purnaiya’s victory over Tirumala Rao perhaps felt even sweeter to the
former as Tirumala had been related to Anche Shamaiya, the man who had
implicated him in false cases and almost brought him close to death’s door.
Meanwhile, at Mysore, since the king was too young to assume charge,
Purnaiya was the de facto ruler. Ambitious and well networked, he shared a
very close friendship with the British residents at Mysore—Barry Close,
Josiah Webbe, John Malcolm Wilks, A.H. Cole—perhaps closer than he
was to the maharaja! As Dr K.N.V. Shastri writes: ‘He was submissive to
the British Resident, but insubordinate to the Maharaja.’ Colonel Wellesley

*
had written to him on 2 March 1805 in a farewell note:
Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm will have informed you that affairs having begun to have a
more settled appearance in the Deccan, I have obtained permission to go to England, and I
shall commence my voyage in a few days. I part with you with the greatest regret; and I
shall ever continue to feel the most lively interest for the honour and prosperity of the
Government of the Rajah of Mysore over which you preside. For six years I have been
concerned in the affairs of the Mysore government, and I have contemplated with the
greatest satisfaction its increasing prosperity under your administration. Experience has
proved the wisdom of the arrangement which was first made of the Government of Mysore,
and I am convinced that under no other management would it have been possible for the
British Government to derive such advantages from the country which you have governed,
as I have enjoyed in the various difficulties with which we have contended since authority
was established.
Every principle of gratitude, therefore, for many acts of personal kindness
to myself, and a strong sense of the public benefits which have been derived
from your administration, render me anxious for its continuance and for its
increasing prosperity, and in every situation in which I may be placed you may
depend upon it that I shall not fail to bear testimony of my sense of your merits
upon every occasion that may offer, and that I shall suffer no opportunity to
pass by, which I may think favourable for rendering your service.
Upon the occasion of my taking leave of you, I must take the liberty to
recommend to you to persevere in the laudable path, which you have hitherto
followed. Let the prosperity of the country be your great object; protect the
ryots and traders and allow no man, whether vested with authority or
otherwise, to oppress them with impunity; do justice to every man, and attend
to the wholesome advice which will be given to you by the British Resident;
and you may depend upon it, that your Government will be as prosperous and
as permanent as I wish it to be.
In a letter of 13 February 1802 to the Resident, Barry Close (recorded
by Shama Rao), Wellesley had said about purnaiya that ‘he has done
everything I could wish him to do.’
III
PURNAIYA AS DEWAN
Administration
Purnaiya took over the reins of the kingdom and sought to make widespread
administrative and political reforms. The prime concern was the
mobilisation of the state’s revenues to meet the huge expenditures entailed
in the treaty that had ended the battle. As mentioned earlier, Haidar had
appointed Amildars to collect revenue for each taluk. Tipu had carried on
the same model with slight variations, bifurcating the authority into two
offices—that of the Asoph or Head of Revenue and the military commander.
purnaiya abolished the former post. Mysore was divided into three
administrative zones—Chitradurga, Patna Ashtagram and Bidnaur or Nagar
—modelled on the organisation under Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar. These came
under the direct control of the office of the dewan and his three officers or
subedars who resided at Bangalore, Chitradurga and Nagar. The divisions
had 115–120 taluks, each under an Amildar with an area of a little over than
29,000 square miles and estimated population of less than 22 lakh. The dvil
government had three departments: Finance, Revenue and Miscellaneous.
The military was reorganised into cavalry and infantry. A kandachar was
appointed for policing work in the countryside and public works as well.
The taluks had a Golla who guarded the treasury, Shirastedars or
accountants and the Amildar or revenue officer. The Shroff examined the
treasury in a sort of auditing role and affixed his seal on the bags. There was
a general and huzur treasury. Land, sayer (customs duty), liquor, toddy,
tobacco were the main sources of revenue.
Revenue and Taxation
Land revenue formed the bulk of revenues accrued to the treasury. The
figures of land revenue over the years Purnaiya served as Dewan appear
here. They are proof of purnaiya’s deft ‘management’ of finances so as to
have funds for the state’s needs and also to honour the commitment to the
British treaty and payable subsidies.
The land tax had detailed land assessments, house tax and a plough tax
(one Canteroi Pagoda from each plough and house). Dry lands paid a third
of the total value of crops as tax to the state. In paddy fields, tax was
collected in kind at times in lieu of cash.
The second main source of revenue was sayer, which denoted the local
customs duty on goods passing through the chowkis. Some taluks levied
sayer in contracts while government agencies directly collected it elsewhere.
Salt, tobacco, sandal trees, etc., had an annually increasing sayer tax
imposed on them. The sayer tax accounts of the kingdom appear here.
These figures again highlight purnaiya’s ingenuous financial management:

Liquor was the next major source of state revenue. Toddy was collected
from date and bagani trees. The tapping of coconut trees was prohibited.
The receipts and expenditures statement of the kingdom in the year
immediately after the disastrous Mysore War appear here and are taken from
Shama Rao’s book:
OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE CONCERNS
The miscellaneous department of the administrative machinery had two
major heads—regulation of the Maharaja’s household, managed by
Maharani Lakshmammanni who ensured that there were no lacunae in the
pomp and splendour of family rituals, and the other department which
looked into judicial records. The judiciary was reorganised. A separate body
headed by the Khaji was appointed to look into disputes under the Islamic
Shariat law, while the rest of the citizens followed a common civil code. The
Amildar of the taluk looked into the resolution of petty cases, while the
subedar was in charge of the criminal and civil ones. In 1805, Adalat
Kutcheries were set up by purnaiya, consisting of two judges, two
Shirastedars, six persons representing the panchayat, one pandit and one
Islamic/maulvi scholar.
A glimpse of the changing demographics of the Mysore Kingdom after
1799 is as follows:
At the cost of 1,40,000 Canteroi Pagodas, a bridge was built across the
northern bank of the Cauvery in 1804. In 1806, seeing the Maharaja’s wife
suffering from small pox, Maharani Lakshmammanni ordered a massive
launch of a small pox eradication campaign across the kingdom, which
successfully controlled the dreaded disease.
The maharaja had a narrow escape in 1805–06, when Maharani
Lakshmammanni took him to Nanjangud to propitiate Lord Srikanteshwara.
They were accompanied by the Resident of Mysore, Major Malcolm ; nd
Dewan purnaiya. As the procession reached Nanjangud the elephant the
maharaja was riding suddenly lost its senses and ran helter-skelter causing
panic in the crowd. The maharani prayed fervently to Srikanteshwara to save
the maharaja’s life and after that, the elephant miraculously regained its
senses and sat servile in front of the still-terrified crowd.
Purnaiya in the Seat of Power

In 1807, a supplementary treaty was signed by Maharani Lakshmammanni
and Dewan purnaiya with the Company’s representative, Wilks. In
December of the same year, the Maharaja gifted Yelandur as jagir to
purnaiya for his ‘extraordinary’ services along with sanrtads or certificates
in English, Kannada and Persian as well as a rich Khillat. After betraying
Tipu during the storming of Srirangapatna, the wily Purnaiya found himself
at the helm of affairs as dewan. His annual pay was fixed at a Canteroi
Pagoda equivalent of Rs 18,000 and was buttressed with 1 per cent of the
net revenue proceeds of the kingdom, amounting to an equivalent of about
Rs 62,000. Narasimha Murthy, one of purnaiya’s descendants, writes about
the jagir of Yelandur:
The taluk of Yelandur selected by Pumaiah for his Jagir is a small but rich tract, one of the
most fertile and densely populated in Mysore...The hills have a large forest area abounding
in teak, sandal, honne and other valuable trees, which are a source of wealth to the Jagir.
The taluk has a large area of compact level ground traversed by the river Suvarnavati, a
perennial river which is the sole source of irrigation. The fertility of the soil is conducive to
the formation of gardens which yield betel-leaf, areca and coconut. Mulberry is extensively
grown and silk is produced in large quantities.
The yearly yield of Yelandur was about the equivalent of Rs 30,000.
purnaiya had embezzled large amounts of money over and above this
exorbitant official annual salary. At the time of his retirement, he owed
14,15,729 Canteroi Pagodas to the state. When asked to repay the debts, he
paid cash worth 6,69,750 CP and jewellery worth 1,14,000 CP. The deficit
of 6,31,978 remained unpaid. The amount he had amassed was nearly what
the kingdom of Mysore paid as its annual tribute to the Company. Yet
Murthy records this amusing spectacle of the sannad being issued by John
Malcolm, the Resident, on the Maharaja’s behalf and on his
recommendation:
Since the uprightness, rectitude and honesty of the Noble Purniah had been observed, and
his ability and sagacity proved and tested, therefore the office of the Minister, which is at all
times a trusted and honorable post was conferred to the Nobleman aforesaid...and since it is
the intention of our Illustrious Mind that the remembrance of our worthy services and
befitting actions performed by the Nobleman should not be totally erased and obliterated
from the pages of the record of Time, and more over that the children of this Nobleman
shall while contemplating the result of his diligent services, dwell in comfortable and easy
circumstances exalted and distinguished for ever and ever; therefore with the advice and the
approval of the Government of the Honourable English Company, we have conferred the
taluk of Yelandur on the aforesaid Nobleman as an hereditary Freehold (Inam) as long as
the course of the Sun and Moon, which are the illumination of the World...
Thus, no effort was spared to pamper and mollify the avaricious dewan.
But these only planted more desires in his ambitious heart.
In 1808, an accurate map and survey of Mysore state under Marquess of
Wellesley’s orders was conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie. This
was a milestone, as it was the first map of Mysore. In 1809, subsequent to
the abolition of an allowance called tentage to the officers in the Madras
army, the garrison at Srirangapatna rebelled. After driving the Mysore
troops out of the fort, they seized the treasury, blew up the bridges, loaded
the guns, formed a committee of safety and sent out a detachment that
captured some money on its way to the paymaster. The rebels also got
reinforcements of troops from Chitradurga and Bednaur. The resident
thereupon called for purnaiya’s assistance to hold them in check till he made
haste from Bangalore. The dewan sent 3,000 cavalry for the purpose. The
Chitradurga regiment was stopped at Nagamangala by which time the troops
arrived from Bangalore and forced the rebels to submit. Srirangapatna was
abandoned as a military station and a British cantonment was set up at
Bangalore.
Apart from managing the administration of the kingdom, purnaiya also
had the task of tackling armed rebellions that seemed to spring up in
different parts of the kingdom and its neighbourhood. The transition of
power was something that the different players were yet to get used to and
they decided to exploit the flux in the system to assert themselves more
effectively. purnaiya was in charge, and he squashed the rebellions deftly.
The Revolt of Dhondoji Wagh
As early as 1799, Purnaiya was faced with the revolt by Dhondoji Wagh—a
Maratha sardar who was born in Chennagiri and joined Haidar’s army in
1780. He fled the army during Cornwallis’s attack on Mysore and re-entered
the army in 1794. It is believed that Tipu tried forcing Islam on him and,
when he resisted, imprisoned him and even renamed him Sheikh Ahmed
and later Malik Jehan Khan. He left Srirangapatna on 20 August 1799 for
Aigur in Hassan’s Malnad and thereafter joined the Maratha camp. He

opened correspondences with the sardars formerly in Tipu’s service and
gathered an army of 5,000 cavalry from the remnants of the Mysore army.
He occupied Shimoga and proclaimed himself the ‘king of the two worlds’.
This was followed by the occupation of Nagar and Bednaur as also Gutti in
the Nizam’s territories. Dhondoji planned to kidnap Colonel Wellesley, who
commanded the British troops in Mysore, and to murder Dewan Purnaiya.
In the span of a couple of months Dhondoji held possession of a territory
spanning Shimoga, Chitradurga, Dharwad and Bellary. From a slender force
of 200 cavalrymen he managed to muster a cavalry force of 5,000 men and
an army of 80,000 men, enlisting support from the princes of Ramdurg,
Sholapur, Kolhapur, Anegundi and Gwalior. Many of the vanquished
soldiers of Srirangapatna rallied under Dhondoji.
On Dhondoji’s taking of Chitradruga on 14 July 1799, the British forces
under Darlimple faced the troops of Wagh, who, according to Shama Rao,
were immediately attacked, defeated and dispersed...of the 40 prisoners taken 39 were
hanged and one man was released after he had witnessed the execution of his comrades to
create fear in the country by relating the terrible fate that had overtaken some of Dhondoji’s
men...
Despite these repeated defeats and the recapture of some of his annexed
forts like Honnalli, Shikaripura and Chennagiri, Dhondoji’s revolt never
seemed to be quashed. He quickly escaped from one place to the other,
eluding his enemies and pursuers and avoiding a full-fledged battle. His
prime concern seemed to be to conserve the army he had built rather than
lose them in reckless pitched wars. Since he was well-acquainted with the
terrain, he managed to give his enemies the slip and then prepare for the
next ‘mobile’ attack. But as his army grew steadily in strength it became
easier to identify him. Thus, the guerrilla war he had been conducting in
typical Maratha style could not be sustained for long. Wellesley’s forces
pushed him to the banks of the swift-flowing Krishna River. After over a
year of armed guerrilla war, Dhondoji finally met his end on 10 September
1800 fighting the combined forces of Colonel Wellesley, Purnaiya and the
Dewan at Konagal in Raichur district. Munro now wrote to Wellesley stating
that ‘Dhondia (Dhondoji) would undoubtedly have become an independent

and powerful prince and the founder of a new dynasty of cruel and
treacherous sultans,’ had he been allowed to roam free.
Between 1799 and 1802 unrest marked the western frontiers of Mysore
which were under Company jurisdiction. The feudal lords of the Kanara
region—Rajas in their own small way—Vittla, Ravivarma Narasimha
Domba Hegde, Nileshwar and Kumbla had been deprived of their lands and
fiefs by Haidar and Tipu’s anti-feudal drive. Many of these lords escaped to
neighbouring Travancore, which was under British suzerainty, and waited
for the fall of Tipu. To think that the Company would deliver these scions to
their old glory after the fall of Srirangapatna was to expect too much. Many
of these disgruntled lords decided that they had nothing left to lose other
than their own worthless lives. The British were aware of the discontent
fanning the frontiers of Mysore. Speaking about them Burton Stein writes:
There were ample grounds for Munro’s concern about resistance to Company rule over
Kanara in 1800. The coastal tract was in a high state of political chaos when he began his
work there. A number of armed local chieftains had re-entrenched themselves in territories
from which they had been driven by Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan partly with the aid of
firearms obtained from the Company...but above all it was the martial character of the
dominant landholding population of Kanara, those private proprietors of small estates,
about whom he talked, that had to be appeased, in part by a low level of revenue
demand...most of these small estate holders of Kanara were Bunts, a caste of warriors
indistinguishable from the Nayars of Malabar, except in language.
Domba Hegde of Vittla openly defied British authority and assumed
independent charge on 15 December 1799. He was assisted by Timma Naik,
an officer in the Mysore army at Kasargod who formed an alliance for
Hegde with Subba Rao—the former shirastedar of Coimbatore. Rao had
served in Tipu’s army for years and was well-versed in warfare. Subba Rao’s
contact, Mahtab Khan, the former treasury officer under Haidar and Tipu,
could impersonate Fateh Haidar, Tipu’s.eldest son. The idea was to
galvanise the soldiers by showing that the entire movement had royal
sanction from Tipu’s family. This confederacy was formed at Puttur, from
where on 7 May 1800, they marched to occupy Jamalabad, raided
Uppinangadi and Buntwal which was a commercial hub of South Kanara.
The regions were plundered and the loot transferred to their headquarters at
Puttur. The British used devious methods to crush this hill revolt. The
chieftain of Bekal, Raman Nair, who knew Timma Naik well, was offered
all kinds of incentives to coax the latter into a hunting expedition. In the
deep jungles of the region, Timma Naik was hunted down, his head chopped
off and personally handed over as a mark of gallantry by Nair to his British
masters. Jamalabad, a stronghold of Timma Naik, fell to the British assault.
With one of the most experienced of the rebel, dead, the others fell like a
pack of cards. On 15 July 1800, Subba Rao and the impostor were also
killed. By 18 July Domba Hegde was captured. Writing to Close, the
Resident of Mysore, Munro stated:
We may now by making an example of him and his associates secure Canara from internal
disturbances in the future...it is the mistaken notion of observing on this coast toward every
petty chief of a district all the ceremony and attention that is due to a sovereign which keeps
alive dead and dangerous pretensions which it ought rather to be our aim to extinguish.
Accordingly, Hegde, his two nephews, brother-in-law, a shanbhogue and
jamadar were executed in full public view on 25 August 1800.
This was followed by a string of revolts by the ruler of Balam (present-
day Aigur, around Sakleshapura) in 1800–02, the Wynad revolt in 1802, the
Munkasira revolt in 1804, the revolt of the Palegar of Chitradurga in 1805
and the European officers’ revolt in 1809—all of which were mercilessly
quashed by the dewan and the British forces. In the past, Dhondoji Wagh
had fled to Aigur before reaching out to the Marathas. The Palegar
Venkatadri Naik, who had pledged his support to Wagh’s cause, was
preparing to attack the British. He had fortified himself at Arakere. After
Wagh’s death, when the British realised the Palegar had been helping Wagh,
the British and Mysorean troops pursued Naik till he was captured on 19
February 1802 by the Mysore forces and executed ten days later. purnaiya
ensured that the fortifications in different parts of Naik’s territory were
destroyed. Nearly 300 families suspected of being sympathetic to the
Palegar’s cause were detained and Amildars instructed not to allow trees and
hedges to grow in so dense a manner that they might facilitate escape routes
for potential rebels.
In 1806, the descendants of Tipu raised their banner of rebellion against
the British at Vellore, where they had been posted after Tipu’s fall. Writing
about the Vellor uprising, Chopra, et al., say:

In order to make the sepoys appear smart, a new form of turban resembling an European hat
was introduced and ear rings and caste marks on the forehead were prohibited...but the
sepoys refused to accept the new turban and openly stood against the order even though
they were threatened with imprisonment. Consequently some were arrested. On 7th May
1806 when the sepoys were asked to put on the new turban during their morning parade,
they disobeyed the command by putting handkerchiefs on their bare heads and abusively
calling the English officers ‘dogs’...not long after this incident at Vellore there started at
Wallajabad in North Arcot a similar agitation among the sepoys stationed there. In this case
the initiative came from the public; they taunted those sepoys who wore the European
fashioned ‘topis.’ Consequently the sepoys threw them away and ridiculed those who
continued to wear them...this opportunity was fully exploited by the sons of Tipu Sultan
who were living at Vellore in captivity...they tried to attribute a political objective to the
revolt...and made clandestine contacts with sepoys and channelled the latter’s discontent
against the English to violent resistance with the definite object of their expulsion from
South India...the sepoys were told that Moinuddin, the fourth son of Tipu would lead the
rebellion with support and reinforcement from different parts of South India. It was decided
secretly that they should launch their rebellion with violence and 10 July 1806 was fixed for
its formal beginning. By night, the sepoys plunged into action; they killed the English
sentinels in the main gateway and took possession of the magazine. This was followed by a
wanton massacre of the European troops and officers though women and children were
spared...There was a scramble for booty and treasure. The unprotected possessions of the
English were plundered and there was confusion everywhere.
In all, 14 British officers and soldiers were killed and over 76 wounded.
Notably, the rebels received active support from the people of Vellore. As
the group chalked out plans to spread the fire to other garrisons and forts in
Southern India, the British encircled the fort of Vellore. What followed was
a bloody conflict that killed more than 800 people. Philip Haythornwaite
describes it as follows:
...about 100 sepoys who had sought refuge in the palace were dragged out, placed against a
wall and blasted with canister shot until all were dead. John Blakinston, the engineer who
had blown in the gates, recalled that although such punishment was revolting to all civilized
beliefs, Gillespie writes that ‘this appalling sight I could look upon, I may almost say, with
composure. It was an act of summary justice, and in every respect a most proper one.’ Such
was the nature of combat in India where the ‘civilized’ conventions of European warfare
did not apply.
South India was a prized possession for the British, given that they had
spent over three-fourths of a century annexing the region—something they

never had to do in their other conquests across India. After the bitter and
decisive Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the death of their enemy Tipu
Sultan, the last thing the British wanted was a situation where some captive
descendants of Tipu stirred up disturbances in the region they had so
carefully secured for themselves through several treaties. Hence, they went
into overdrive to ensure that the revolt was fully crushed and also sent out a
strong signal to prevent anyone even entertaining such hopes. Tipu’s family
was packed off to Calcutta, then the seat of British imperialism, to ensure
that they stirred up no trouble in the Mysore region.
Writing about the importance and implications of the Vellore uprising to
Thomas Munro in August 1806, William Bentinck, then governor of Madras

*
says:
We have every reason to believe, indeed undoubtedly to know, that the emissaries and
adherents of the sons of Tipu Sultan have been most active below the Ghauts, and it is said
that the same intrigues have been carried on above the Ghauts. Great reliance is said to have
been placed upon the Gurrumcondah poligars, by the princes. I recommend you to use the
utmost vigilance and precaution; and you are hereby authorized, upon any symptom or
appearance of insurrection, to take such measures, as you deem necessary. Let me advise
you not to place too much dependence on any of the native troops. It is impossible at this
moment to say how far both native infantry and cavalry may stand by us in case of need. It
has been ingeniously worked up into a question of religion. The minds of the soldiery have
been inflamed to the highest state of discontent and disaffection and upon this feeling has
been built the reestablishment of the Mussalman government, under one of the sons of Tipu
Sultan: It is hardly credible that such progress could have been made in so short a time, and
without the knowledge of any of us. But, believe me, the conspiracy has extended beyond
all belief, and has reached the most remote parts of our Army; and the intrigue has
appeared to have been everywhere most successfully carried on. The capture of Vellore,
and other decided measures in contemplation, accompanied by extreme vigilance on all
parts will, I trust, still prevent a great explosion.

Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (1799–1831)
Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar hosting the Europeans and his
subjects at a Dasara durbar

An ageing Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar
Portrait of Sir Mark Cubbon

Young princess Kempananjammanni
Young prince Chamarajendra Wodeyar

The bust of Dewan Sheshadri Iyer, Bangalore
The Rangacharlu Memorial Hall, Mysore keeping the Dewan’s
memories alive
Chamarajendra Wodeyar with his children
A painting of Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar
Empress of India: Queen Victoria
Young prince Krishnaraja ascends the throne

Regent Queen Kempa Nanjammanni Vanivilasa Sannidhana avaru
A model of the old palace that succumbed to fire

The magnificent new palace of Mysore
A life-size statue of Nalwadi Krishnaraja in the Mysore palace

Maharani Pratapa Rudra Kutnari Lakshmi Vilasa Sannidhana avaru
The Maharaja on one of his foreign trips, with Dewan Mirza Ismail to
his immediate left

Brilliance personified: Sir M.Vishweswaraiya
Yuvarani Kempucheluvajammanni
Yuvaraja Kanthirava Narasimharaja Wodeyar
The Yuvaraja on a trip to Rome

The Yuvaraja with his daughters, Princesses Vijaya, Sujaya and
Srijaya
Princess Krishnajammanni
An ageing statesman—Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (his autograph in
the background)
Young prince jayachamaraja

The lifeline of farmers: the KRS Dam
The imposing building of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Aesthetic delight: the Brindavan Gardens
His Royal splendour: a painting of Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar
The princesses at the Royal School
Prince Charming: Jayachamaraja in his youth

Jayachamaraja in Western attire
Thus many of the early uprisings purnaiya faced in Karnataka against
British hegemony were one-off incidents of armed struggle by army retinues
or by remnants of the former feudal hierarchy. The movement was yet to
assume a mass nature, one that captured popular public and peasant
imagination. But the countdown to the final showdown had begun.
Meanwhile, far removed from the hurly-burly of politics, wars and
intrigues, the family of the maharaja of Mysore revelled in their new status
after decades of oblivion. The infant maharaja could not in any case be
expected to dabble in affairs of state. The role of Maharani
Lakshmammanni, however, was reduced merely to ceremonial niceties. Her
advancing age and the long years of struggle and captivity she had endured
seemed to have dampened her famed sagacity and she hardly took any
interest in affairs of state. Two travellers who visited Mysore during this
period, Francis Buchanan and Lord Valentia, have left behind graphic
accounts of the state of the kingdom and the maharaja. Buchanan found the
reconstruction of the old palace at Mysore, ‘so far progressed as to have
made it a comfortable residence for the young Maharajah.’ He found the
Maharaja very much recovered in health, and though he was between six
and seven years of age, he spoke and behaved with great propriety and
decorum. ‘On account of etiquette the Rajah endeavoured in public to
preserve a dignified gravity of countenance, but when his countenance
relaxed, he was very lively and interesting,’ Buchanan wrote.
Lord Valentia, a nephew of Lord Mornington, visited Mysore in 1804.
He met the maharaja seated on his heavily-carved, ivory masnad. Dressed in
gold tissue with some pearls round his neck, the maharaja returned Lord
Valentia’s bow. Chairs were placed to the left of the throne for the eminent
guest and his friends. Shama Rao quotes Valentia as saying:
I paid the usual compliments through Major Symons and Narasinga Rao assuring the Rajah
of the satisfaction I felt at seeing him onthe throne of his ancestors, and the confidence the
British Nation had in his friendship. The Rajah replied that he owed everything to the
British and that his gratitude was unbounded. I turned the conversation to the new town of
Mysore, and several indifferent subjects to try if the Rajah’s replies would be ready. He
never hesitated, spoke sensibly, and I was assured by Major Symons that he was not
prompted. He is about 11 years old, of middle size, neither tall nor short for his age, not
handsome but of an intelligent countenance. He seemed lively. But on such a public
occasion it would have been indecorous even to have smiled. He did so once but was
immediately checked by a person who stood by him. I enquired of his pursuits and was
informed that he was fond of riding and sports of the field. These were considered as
becoming his dignity. But when I observed that he seemed playful, I was instantly assured
that he was not so. I therefore ceased my questions as I found that I should not have his
doing anything that was not according to rule. I strongly recommended his learning English,
and pointed out the advantage it was to the Rajah of Tanjore in his communications with
the British Government to be able to write and speak in their language. They assured me
that it should certainly be done. I regretted that his youth prevented my having the honour
of a visit from him at Seringapatam, and therefore requested that he would oblige me by
accepting a sabre as a small memorial. Having procured one for the purpose which had a
handle of agate ornamented with rubies after the Asiatic fashion, I delivered it into his own
hand and he immediately placed it beside him, assuring me that that it was particularly a
valuable present to him as he was a Kshatriya by caste. He in return put round my neck a
handsome string of pearls from which was suspended a jewel of flat diamonds and uncut
rubies. He also presented me in trays which were as usual laid at my feet, two beautiful
chowries, two punkhas and two walking sticks of sandalwood with two bottles of oil which
he requested me to accept. Immediately, a salute was fired from the walls of the fort, and
the strings of pearls were put round our necks. His mother sent her compliments with
inquiries after my health and expressions of satisfaction at my having honoured her son
with a visit. Immediately afterwards a paan and atthar were distributed and we took our
leave.
In February 1810 the maharani, who had almost single-handedly
ensured the restoration of the kingdom to the family, died. That very same
year the maharaja turned sixteen and wished to take over the reins of the
kingdom from Purnaiya, who readily offered to resign, though he did not
follow up his words with actions. A.H. Cole, through whom Purnaiya was
pushing his case, mentions in his memoirs:
It is here requisite for me to mention that great caution was necessary for the security of the
public money in the Dewan’s house, as two of his family, absolutely took out of the public
Toshikhana, whilst His Highness the Rajah was at Nanjangud, jewels etc to the amount of
one lakh and fourteen thousand Pagodas (or about Rs 4 1/2 Lakhs), which they have
acknowledged and offered to restore, and that, after the scene of violence which I had the
honour to detail, an attempt was made, and partly succeeded, in the night to remove some
of the Sircar property from the house of Purniah which has always been situated in the
heart of the Public Treasury forming the Principal part of it.
When a government party of finance officers from the palace reached his
house to classify the accounts and arrive at a settlement, Purnaiya became
abusive and flung the foulest of invectives against the maharaja. When the
final accounting showed a balance of about Rs 43 lakhs due from him, the
raja said that despite the insults heaped on him by the dewan, he would
forego Rs 19 lakhs and receive Rs 24 lakhs from purnaiya as full and final
settlement. He also agreed to pay him an annual pension of 6,000 Canteroi
Pagodas even after his retirement, which would happen in purnaiya’s 65th
year.
But on 27 March 1812, purnaiya died at his house in Srirangapatna. The
maharaja sent in his condolences and prepared for the funeral. A monthly
pension of 500 Canteroi Pagodas was assigned to his eldest son. Thus ended
the story of the ambitious, shrewd and tactful Dewan purnaiya, who had
ably steered the affairs of the kingdom in the troubled times. It also marked
the takeover of the maharaja in independent charge, bereft of the two people
who had guided him all along—Maharani Lakshmammanni and Dewan
Purnaiya.
It was a challenge that he unfortunately could not handle.
———————————
*
This letter appears in Josyer’s 1929 book, History of Mysore and the Yadava Dynasty
*
This letter is quoted in Gleig’s 1830 book, The Life of Major General Sir Thomas Munro.
16
THE BECKONING OF DOOM AD 1812–
30
THE REIGN OF MUMMADI KRISHNARAJA
WODEYAR
he young maharaja took independent charge of the kingdom in 1811.
Rama Rao was the first dewan to work under him between 1812 and
1814. The other dewans who followed during his reign were Siddharaja,
Baburao, Lingaraja Urs and Venkataraje Urs (between 1818 and 1831). He
took measures to revitalise the administrative set-up.
Eighteen kacheris were set up to look into different matters of
administration—Dewan, Kille, Katte, Bargir, Sandal, Sawaar, Toshikhane,
Piriyad, Modikhane, Kandachar, Barr, Barigath, Duyyambar, Jinasi, Anche,
Amrita Mahal, Shagird Pesh and Jillo. Six tukudis or fouzdaries or
administrative units of the kingdom were made—Ashtagram, Bangalore,
Chitradurga, Manjarabad, Nagar and Maddagiri with 28, 28, 13, 13, 24 and
19 taluks respectively. A sadar court with two bakshis was set up in Mysore
along with three other courts with two presidents called hakims. The fourth
court was a magisterial one. Separatsepoye courts were set up to try
criminal cases. The police system was the same as under purnaiya with Barr
sepoys for assistance. The army had seven major divisions under the joint
command of the Silledar at Sindhughat, Katte, Huliyurdurga, Nagamangala,

Chennarayapatna, Kunigal and Chennapatna, each under a Tukdidar. A 500-
strong infantry, called bargir, was also employed.
The people who managed state affairs after purnaiya were continuously
caught up in internal ego clashes. Rama Rao had been a commander of
cavalry under Haidar and Tipu and came from Badami. Bhima Rao of
Annigere and Krishna Rao of Hanagal accompanied him. He was made
Fouzdar of Nagar in 1799 by purnaiya. He was the virtual dewan after
purnaiya’s exit and filled up most public offices of influence with his friends
and family members. Speaking of Rama Rao and his clan, historian Shama
Rao states:
Rama Rao’s successors in the office of Foujdar from 1805 to 1825 with only an interruption
of a few months were persons nearly allied to him by blood or marriage, namely Survotham
Rao, twice Foujdar, whose son was married to Rama Rao’s niece Pompiah, Rama Rao’s
nephew, Balakrishna Rao, his grand nephew and Krishna Rao, another nephew.
Babu Rao, his successor, was also a remnant of the interregnum era. He
was shirastedar in the dewan’s office and stayed on till his son took over that
post in 1818 and he himself rose to the post of dewan. The royal court also
had a few persons called moosahebs who were consulted on matters of
public interest. Bakshi Rama Rao was a moosaheb for a while. Veene
Venkatasubbaiyya—a corrupt official and a great veena player—was
regarded as a wicked and unprincipled man who had won the favour of the
maharaja. He ensured plum posts for his relatives in the Nagar division
Amildari and the Customs office at Kavaledurga. He had been removed by
Resident Cole once, but using the influence of one Ramaswamy Mudaliar
who was close to Cole, Venkatasubbaiyya made a comeback. In fact, all
defaulting and corrupt officials knew just where to go to shield their
misdeeds—Ramaswamy Mudaliar, who expected huge favours in return for
his help. A minor officer under Major Wilks, Cole’s predecessor as
Resident, Mudaliar had later served Cole as dubash or an interpreter. He
soon became anche bakshi or post master general to the maharaja. When
Casmaijor became the Resident after Cole, Mudaliar’s influence over the
palace and the Residency grew phenomenally. The rising clout of this new
Brahmin bureaucracy becomes clearer in the case of Mothikhane Narasinga
Rao about whom Shama Rao states:

He had seven brothers in service and he himself was in secret charge of 10 taluks. Veene
Venkatasubbiah’s relations became Amildars of 7 Taluks in the Nagar Division. Survotham
Rao who was Foujdar of Nagar from 1816–26 employed many of his own relations in
government service of that division during the long period of more than 10 years he held
office as Foujdar.
Chowdaiyya, Venkatasubbaiyya and Hanagal Krishna Rao became
Mudaliar’s partners in sin. Other moosahabs who were complicit in the
nefarious designs of this famous trio were Gangadhara Rao (son of
purnaiya’s deputy Batche Rao), Vyasa Rao and Toshikhane Nanjappa. They
pulled the strings from behind the scenes, ensuring that the Resident and
maharaja acted according to their convenience. They also poisoned the
Resident against the maharaja. Cole was now a different man with his
opinion of the maharaja much changed since the time of purnaiya’s exit.
THE FISCAL MESS
Revenue exaction and oppressive taxation became the only solution to the
fiscal mess. In 1792, the princely state of Mysore enjoyed a gross revenue of
14,12,553 Canteroi Pagodas. By 1802–03, when the economy was fractured
and there was a drastic decline in agriculture and production, this figure had
almost doubled to 25,41,571 Canteroi Pagodas. How did Mysore achieve
this? Why did the state have to cough up such high revenues? The answer
lies in the Subsidiary Treaty of 1799, which dictated that the state had to
pay its British masters an equivalent of Rs 24.5 lakh. By 1881, this figure
increased by another 10.5 lakhs, and it was only in 1928 that the figure
reverted to that specified by the 1799 treaty. It was said that Mysore’s
tributes formed almost half the total contributions of all the 198 tribute-
paying vassal states of princely India.
But did the state have the resources and the revenue to do the same? A
look at the revenue figures clarifies the point. In 1809–10, net revenue
receipts were an equivalent of Rs 28,24,646, peaking to a gross revenue
figure of 60.25 lakhs and net revenues of about Rs 37,18,633 in 1811–12,
gradually registering a fall in 1825–26 to about Rs 28,64,950. However, that
very year the state incurred the expense of the Maratha wars. To top things,
along came a crash in agricultural prices caused by the withdrawal of
British garrisons and subsequent fall in demand, and a disastrous drought
that hit different parts of the state. By 1818–19, there was a huge fiscal
deficit, for the first time, of 7,83,749 Canteroi Pagodas.
Lewis Rice describes the dismal state of affairs:
purnaiya’s system of government was no doubt absolute; and as a financier, the
accumulation of surplus revenue presented itself to him, as a prime end to be attained. It
may be questioned, therefore, whether he did not to some extent enrich the treasury at the
expense of the State, by narrowing the resources of the people; for by 1811 he had amassed
in the public coffers upwards of two crores of rupees.
In fact, Josyer writes that the maharaja himself described the avaricious
intentions of his dewan after the latter passed away in 1815.
The late Divan purniya, whose talents lay only in the collection of revenues, directed his
attention to the accumulation of money merely for the purpose of displaying his industry
and zeal in this branch of the administration and in the course of 12 years he created a
separate fund. But he was inattentive to the interests of the people and the inhabitants of the
provinces were consequently reduced to great straits and difficulties.
Pinning the blame entirely on purnaiya ensures that we miss the bigger
picture. He was indeed a zealot and despot when it came to revenue
exaction. But were there too many options in front of the impoverished
state? The annual subsidies had to be paid irrespective of droughts or floods.
The state had to play second fiddle to all the British conquests and political
ambitions by sending in men, materials and cash during the continuous
battles that the Company waged with other Indian states. Agriculture, the
mainstay of the people, had been devastated as we saw earlier. The local
industries were stripped of the position of eminence that they enjoyed under
Tipu. There were natural calamities galore and the economy was under
heavy strain. The only option that the administrators found fit to salvage the
position of the state was taxation and more taxation. Rice talks about the
ridiculous extents to which this theory led, where more than 769 petty items
came under the taxman’s net.

Among these were such whimsical taxes on marriage, on incontinency, on a child being
born, on its being given a name and on its head being shaved. In one village the inhabitants
had to pay a tax because their ancestors had failed to find the stray horse of a palegar and
anyone passing a particular spot in Nagar without keeping his hands close to his sides had
to pay a tax. All these taxes were formally entered in the Government records as part of the
resources of the State.
Consequently, from an equivalent of Rs 42 lakh in 1791, the tax
revenues of Mysore rose to 93 lakhs by 1809. In 1811 the state revenues
stood at 60.25 lakhs and by 1816–17 it stood at 71.25 lakhs.
The continuous dip in revenues set off alarm bells in Madras. On 16
September 1826, Sir Thomas Munro, governor of Madras visited Mysore.
He held a high-powered meeting with the maharaja and the state officials on
the dwindling revenue scenario. He warned the maharaja that if things were
not corrected soon, they would be forced to take recourse to the fourth
article of the Treaty of 1799, which authorised the British to take over the
state’s administration in these circumstances. He suggested that the
maharaja must furnish annual accounts to the British government, which
would help the latter assess the situation accurately. The maharaja on his
part sheepishly agreed with Munro but tried to explain how part of the
problem was due to the misconduct of a dewan appointed against his
wishes. The Resident jumped in to defend this appointment, claiming that
the appointment was made strictly with the maharaja’s agreement. Sensing
that the situation was getting volatile, Munro reiterated that, notwithstanding
political or natural calamities, the continuous dip in revenue was a serious
cause of concern. He also turned down the maharaja’s suggestion to
discontinue the office of the dewan for a while and let him take up the
administration independently, on the premise that the administration of a
state as large as Mysore was inconceivable without a dewan. Munro thus left
Mysore convinced that here was a man who knew nothing about running a
state. Thanks to regular exaggerations by the likes of Krishna Rao and
Venkatasubbaiyya, the opinion slowly turned to belief even at Madras.
Peasantry in Trouble
The general lot of peasants all over India under Company rule was
unenviable and one of abject misery. The country faced a series of famines
in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, nature alone was not to blame for
these famines; there were political factors as well. First, India’s indigenous
textile industries were destroyed by London’s high tariffs and the import of
cheap British-manufactured products, impoverishing thousands of town-
dwellers who were forced into the countryside to compete for dwindling
land. Second, India’s traditional granary reserve system, designed to offset
the impact of bad harvests, was dismantled. Third, India’s peasants were
pressured into growing crops for exports, making them dependent on
fluctuating world-market prices for their means of subsistence. As a result,
tens of millions of people died of starvation. These famines were not caused
by a shortage of food. They took place at the very same time that annual
grain exports from India were on the rise. India actually began importing
food under British rule, because Indians were growing cash crops like
cotton and tea to be sent to Britain.
Ryots who failed to pay their arrears for four or five years had to auction
their properties at the government’s behest to repay the dues. If the payable
amount was a small figure, the dues would get written off. But these
remissions were not allowed for the tenants and therefore added up to the
landlord’s receipts. The government gave remissions to the landlords though
they used to lease their lands for cultivation by their tenants. Thus the
benefits of the remission did not reach the man ploughing the fields. The
year 1809–10 saw the most impoverished harvests in South Kanara districts.
The ryots naturally clamoured for a remission of revenues. This pulled down
the net revenues of the state, and they hit rock bottom by 1830–31. Bhat
records that the then district collector of South Kanara writes:
It is now the third year of low price of its staples, and in the last of the three, that price had
sunk extremely below the former rates as to have thrown many of the farmers into a state of
ruin irretrievable; whilst in many more also amongst those above that class even their kists
have not been sent in without a considerable sacrifice of lands or in mortgages.
The happiest in this situation were the moneylenders and sowcars. A
new class of middlemen who had sprung up under colonial rule, and mainly
belonged to the Gowda Saraswat Brahmin and Bunt communities, they
ensured that they doled out loans to the helpless farmers at rates that defied
repayment. In no time at all, a state that had a rich and teeming agricultural
and industrial economy was seen reeling under the severest economic crisis
it had ever witnessed. Exploiting the situation were the colonial masters,
who cared only about the annual figures. And as a silent witness to all this,
sat the maharaja of Mysore. Bound by the terms of the Treaty of
Srirangapatna, the maharaja of Mysore sat quiet through all this. Stung by
British criticism for lacking financial acumen, he introduced the Sharat
System in a desperate attempt to cough up revenues.
According to the Sharat or Contract system, an annual stipulation was
made with each amildar that a certain amount of revenue would be realised
for the state, and if the collections fell short of that amount, the amildar
would be held responsible for the deficit. Safeguards were established to
ensure that the peasants were not unduly harassed. The idea seemed to work
in its initial years. But for prolonged success of such a mechanism a strong
central force—such as the Palegar used to be—was essential. The declining
agricultural produce only meant that the amildars would transfer the burden
on to the peasant. As arrears began to mount, the system was virtually
transformed into an auction of land revenue to the highest bidder for one or
two years at a time. The amildars began to subcontract collection of rents
and these contractors were ruthless in their task of exaction of revenues.
Writing about the Sharat System Rice states:
All remonstrances failed to check the Raja’s downward course. High offices of State were
sold to the highest bidder while the people were oppressed by the system of sharti, which
had its origin under purniya’s regency. Sharti was a contract made by the Amildar that he
would realise for the government a certain amount of revenue; that if his collections should
fall short of that amount he would make good the deficiency and that if they exceeded it the
surplus should be paid to the government. The amount which the Amildar thus engaged to
realise was generally an increase on what had been obtained the year preceding. In the
Muchalika or agreement, the Amildar usually bound himself not to oppress the ryots, nor
impose any new taxes, or compel the ryots to purchase the government share of garden but
this provision was merely formal; for any violation of the contractors in any of these points
when represented to the government was taken no notice of. The consequence was that the
ryots became impoverished...the distress arising from this state of things...fell heavily on the
ryots, who groaned upon the oppression of every tyrannical Sharti Foujdar and Amildar.
In The Finances of the Mysore State, 1799–1831 historian M.H. Gopal
details the manner in which the Sharat system worked:

In the Nagar Division, the cultivator did not pay the revenue directly to the state. In some
taluks (such as Simoga, Tarikere, Holi Honnur, Ajjampura, Honnali, Chandgere,
Shikaripur, Basawapatna, Kumsi, Lukkavalli, Muntagatti and Anawatti) the rent was paid
through the Patels of the villages who adjusted their accounts with the Amildars, in others
(such as Nagar, Anantpur, Kavalidurg, Koppa, Sagara, Chandragutti and Soraba) the rent
was paid through a class of people called guttigedars. In other parts of the country the
practice of paying through the patels as well as the direct dealing between the ryot and the
Amildar prevailed. The latter after arbitrarily fixing the assessment of a village according to
his own idea of its ability to pay, compelled the patel or the contractor to collect the
amount. In his turn the patel or contractor shifted the burden onto the ryots. Sometimes the
patel and the amildar conspired together to squeeze the ryot. Where there was direct contact
with the ryot, an arbitrary assessment was fixed directly on the holdings. Further, in waram
lands while dividing the crops between the state and the cultivator, an unduly large share of
grain appears to have been taken for the State. The amildars also forced the ryots to buy the
government share of the grain at prices above the market rates. These grains, of course, did
not go into the public treasury but into the amildar’s pocket...if the cultivator did not pay,
perhaps on account of his inability, his goods and cattle were seized and sold, and his wife
and children confined. The result was that the ryot was ruined and cultivation decreased.
Defaulting peasants usually faced severe torture. Historian Shama Rao
notes:
Sometimes heavy stones were placed on the heads of the defaulters and they were forced to
stand in the sun with these weights and it was also not unusual to inflict corporal
punishments with a cane or a whip.
The amildar emerged as the new power in this sordid and corrupt
scheme of things. He exercised authority over both the village as well as
town levels and acted as an executive head and as the highest judicial
authority at the local level. He was the interface between the state and the
peasants. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and so the
office of the amildar degenerated into one infamous for the oppression of
ryots and the embezzlements of state resources. They even colluded with
thugs and bandits to rob peasants and merchants and fill their coffers. The
officials of the kingdom under the cronies mentioned earlier continued to
revel in their corrupt and reckless practices. Local officials at the taluk or
village level related mostly to these influential persons at the court and the
residency and, being secure in their protection, indulged in large-scale
extortions and misuse of public money. Some officials in Shimoga and
Kadur districts were in league with robber bands and committed heinous
crimes against the rural population; all going to prove that corruption in the
bureaucracy and criminalisation of politics in India is an ancient malaise.
Nature also played its part in this entire mess. Another terrible famine
broke out in 1823–24 and a cholera epidemic raged across the kingdom.
Natural disaster, such as plague and the pox, raged over the countryside. The
ill-prepared, illiterate masses resorted to prayer, propitiating Amma or the
Mother Goddess, and her various avatars such as Plague-amma, Pattalamma
and the rest of the pantheon.
The peasant was thus severely crippled, physically and financially, which
made it all the easier for the amildar to control him entirely. The Sharat
System—envisaged to enable the amildars to collect revenues from farmers
without exploitation—was a bane for the peasantry. Munro writes about the
many reasons for this tragic collapse of the rural peasantry in the years
following 1799:
However unfavourable the season may have been in the Carnatic, the produce will probably
be found to be very equal to its consumption; a total failure of the crops is unknown, except
in single villages or very small districts. In the very worst years when the crops are
everywhere poor, and in particular villages totally destroyed, the produce is always equal to
8 or 9 months consumption, and the deficiency is made up by the grain of former years
remaining on hand, and by importation from the neighbouring provinces where the season
may have been more favourable. The seed time in India continues so long, it is so easy
when one kind of grain fails, to plough up the land and substitute a second; the produce is
in general, so abundant and there is usually so much grain laid up in plentiful years by the
farmers and merchants that it may be safely observed that no famine is ever produced in this
country by the operation of seasons alone. The scarcity which arises from the seasons is
converted into famine in the territories of the native powers by war, by the rapacity of the
government in anticipating the revenue by absurd though well meant, regulations for
keeping down the price and supplying the great towns, and above all by the endless
exactions and robberies by petty zamindars.
Oblivious to these sufferings, the maharaja continued to splurge what
little money there was on royal indulgences and pastimes. A light rap on the
knuckles or even a stem warning from Company officials—these made no
difference. One such letter by the governor of Madras, Lushington,

*
admonishes the maharaja for his reckless spending habits thus:
The sources of Your Highness’ difficulties are a lavish expenditure of the treasures which
you possess ... in the adjustment of Your Highness’ debts to sowcars, I learn that your
revenues have been in many instances diverted from their proper objects, the payment of
your troops and Hoozoor establishments, to your personal expenses, that when your ready-
money funds have been insufficient for this purpose you have either substituted donations in
lands granted to Sowcars or some particular privileges of collection and that you have
alienated a large portion of your revenues, by extensive grants of Enams, in many cases, to
persons utterly undeserving of your bounty...Your Highness’ extensive grants of Enam
lands are another cause of your financial distress, the more alarming because they form a
drain upon your resources which is annually increasing. In the Dewan Purneah’s time the
Enamtee amounted to 1,84,766, 3.14 3/4 Canteroi Pagodas. In 1828 it was 3,53,165, there
being an increase of 1,68,998, 3.9 since the time of Purneah. But between 1828 and 1830 a
further increase took place, making together the immense sum of 4,34,346, 5.4 Canteroi
Pagodas, withdrawn from the resources of the State.
It is my painful duty to inform Your Highness that an alienation of your
revenues by grants of land, in a measure disproportionate to your means, is
totally irreconcilable with the mutual engagements existing between your
Highness’ and the Company’s Governments and I recommend your Highness...
to refrain from making such grants in future...it is absolutely necessary that you
constantly devote a daily portion of your time to the duties of your high station,
and then your finances will soon be restored to a proper state...
Constantly funding the British army in its Indian conquests further
drained Mysore’s dwindling resources. Rupees 20.7 lakh were spent in
1809–10 and 10.5 lakhs in 1824–25 for the Sowar Kacheri and Bargir. The
maharaja also organised lavish parties for European guests and spent huge
amounts on buying them princely gifts. With so little disposable income
left, the arrears for the army’s salaries started piling up. Nearly seven lakhs
were due to the Kandachar peons during 1824–25. This led to a natural and
growing discontent among the civil and military officials owing to non-
payment of their salaries because of the constraints on the treasury. Thus,
the royal family’s careless spending resulted in widespread debt, diminution
of revenue from adverse trade and seasonal conditions, growing discontent
among the ryots due to the abuse of the Sharat system—all in all the perfect
recipe for disaster. Mysore was in for a new round of turmoil.
The kingdom that was born out of blood and war was in the doldrums
again. Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was entirely to blame for throwing
away the second chance the Wodeyars had at running the kingdom. He had
frittered away his fortune. The tide, as always, turned in favour of the
English East India Company.

II
SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF PROXY BRITISH
RULE
A titular Wodeyar on the throne of a much-diminished Mysore, the British
as the all-powerful onlookers—colonialism had arrived in state polity. For
the first time, the kingdom’s administrative apparatus came under foreign
supervision. Colonialism brought with it its cousin, feudalism, something
Haidar and Tipu had consciously attempted to wipe out. Feudalism served
as the base over which colonial powers could exert their jurisdiction. And
so, among the innumerable changes Mysore underwent after the fall of Tipu
was the re-establishment of the feudal set-up. The large number of Palegars
who were stripped of their hereditary authority in the Interregnum period
saw this as the time when their fortunes, like that of the Wodeyars, might
rise. The British were wary of giving these old remnants of feudalism the
complete power and autonomy that they enjoyed previously. At the same
time, they saw them as an important link to keep the feudal system alive.
Palegars who fell in line with this ideology were pensioned off and made
Patels of their villages. Those who revolted (and many did) were ruthlessly
massacred. In the border regions of Mysore, in present-day Tamil Nadu and
Andhra Pradesh, many of these Palegars were made zamindars—they not
only paid but also collected taxes from the peasantry. Hayavadana Rao
quotes historian Kirmani to illustrate this social flux:
Colonel Read, the Darogah of the Intelligence Department, who was appointed to the
command of Amboor Gurh, with great address, and by the liberal distribution of money,
sweet words and kind actions, brought over to his side the whole of the Poligars of the
Balaghaut, who from the oppression and cruelty of the late Nawab, and the tyrannical
character of the Sultan, had abandoned their own country, and had sought refuge in the
towns of the Karnatic Payanghaut; such as the Poligar of Gungoondi Pala, the sons of Byreh
Kor, the Poligar of Chuk Balapoor; Pud Nair, the Poligar of Vinkut Giri Kote, who was
residing at Charkul; Shunk Rayel, or Rawul, the Chief of Punganoor, and besides these, the
Poligars of Khut Koomir, Mudunpalli, Anikul, Oonkus Giri, Cheel Naik etc, all being
dispossessed of their lands, received written assurances of protection, and were dispatched
to their own districts on condition they should collect and forward supplies of forage and
provisions to the English army; and they also received authority to retake or recover (by any
means) their own districts and talookas...
The sort of ryot Munro’s system began to cultivate was a zamindar who
possessed thousands of acres of land and remained an absentee landlord.
This Ryotwari system was introduced in all parts of Mysore. The Karavali
region of South Kanara had assessments made on those who held a
proprietary right or Mulwarge title over the land irrespective of whether or
not they took to actual cultivation. Gleig has reported Munro’s description
of the way he implemented the task at Kanara:
After dividing the country into great estates, each of these estates ought to be made over to
the potail or principal propreitor of the small estates of which they were respectively
composed, in perpetuity. As he has no property in any of the lands composing the great
estates, except those which were before his own, he can only be constituted a kind of lord of
the manor; but as he must be responsible for all failures, he ought to have the following
advantages in order to enable him to perform his engagement: 1st, he ought to have an
allowance of 2 1/2 per cent on the jama to be included in the reduction which I have already
proposed, leaving the remaining per cent, to go as an abatement to the mass of inferior
proprietors and farmers. 2nd, he ought to be vested with proprietary of all waste lands to
which they are the owners, on condition of his paying the Bidnore assessment the second
year after they are brought into cultivation. 3rd, all inferior castes which, on failure of heirs,
have heretofore been accustomed to revert to the Sircar, must now revert to him, and
become in every respect, as much his respective property as his own original estates...
British motives were as clear as daylight: the reinstatement of the old
order in a new form beneficial to their continual survival and hold over the
people. The Brahmins were the other pillar in this set-up. In Kanara for
example, the Chitrapur Brahmins emerged as the newly appointed
shanbhogues of villages. In fact, members of the Saraswat Brahmin and
Bunt communities, who were intelligent and qualified, started filling most of
the revenue administration posts. In a clear instruction, recorded by Gleig,
the governor general tells the Madras government during the takeover of
Mysore that ‘the existing native institutions should be carefully maintained’
and in a memorandum in 1812–13, Munro states: ‘The Potails and Curnums
of every village, as political instruments holding together the internal frame,
are of the highest use to the Government.’ The reference here is to Patels
and Shanbhogues. Quoting further from Munro’s memorandum on the
same:
In the infancy of our power, when the great zemindars could afford a formidable resistance,
the division of their domains might have been desirable; but in the present state of our
power it ought rather to be our object to maintain them as entire as possible. If the whole of
the zemindars were swept away...we should have nothing of native rank left in the country.
All rank and power would be vested in a few Europeans. Such a state of things could not be
but dangerous to the stability of our Government; because the natives could not fail to make
the comparison between the high situation of their foreign rulers and their own abject
condition; and in the event of any discontent arising, it would be more likely to spread and
become general when they were reduced to one level, and consequently more liable to be
actuated by feeling. They have no common sympathy with us, and but little attachment to
our Government, with the exception of a portion of those who depend upon it for their
maintenance; and nothing can tend more effectually to shake what they have, than to behold
the destruction of every ancient family and its domains passing into the hands of a set of
low retainers of the courts and other dependents of Europeans.
Our power is now too great to have anything to apprehend from our
zemindars. They know that they cannot oppose it, they also know that it is not
our wish to turn it against them, in order to deprive them of any right which
they now enjoy; and that they are as secure in the possession of their
zemindaries with a small as with a large armed force. They will all by degrees
gather confidence from this safety, abandon their military habits, and attend to
the improvements of their possessions; and they will, for their own sakes, be
more disposed than any other class of our subjects to support our Government
in all times of disturbance...
Not only zemindaries, but the official lands of the village servants have
been divided and parceled out among different claimants and, unless measures
are adopted to stop this evil, every landowner will in time be reduced to the
state of a common cultivator. With this fall of all the upper classes the
character of the people sinks; they become less attached to our Government,
they lose the principal instruments by which we can act upon and improve
them, and the task of conducting the internal Government becomes everyday
more difficult. I am therefore of the opinion that we ought by every expedient
in our power to maintain the ancient zemindaries; and official landed estates
unbroken. This will keep up a class of native nobility and gentry, and preserve
those gradations in society through which alone it can be improved in its
condition.
The period also saw the rise of the first set of comprador merchants and
bureaucrats. Since the British did not deal with the Kannada, Tuluva and
Kodava regions directly, these compradors emerged as agents for their

counterparts in Bornbay and Madras. The Marwaris settled down in large
numbers, coming in mainly from Bornbay. They entrenched themselves in
remotest villages and ousted the local moneylenders. The British
government favoured this class as opposed to the Mysorean local merchant.
It was ensured, for example, that the Civil and Military Station in Bangalore
was composed of people of non-Mysorean origin. The cantonment area of
Bangalore remained an isolated piece of British territory segregated from
the rest of Mysore and the Pettah of Bangalore in particular. The objective
was to limit the economic interaction between the city and the cantonment.
The traders of the Pettah were consciously kept out of the station, prevented
from setting up shops in the cantonment and only allowed to sell their goods
wholesale to the merchants of the general or regimental bazaars within the
station. Gowda Saraswat Brahmins and Konkanis also emerged as rich and
powerful shopkeepers or powerful bureaucrats in urban areas and as wealthy
landlords in villages.
This large-scale churning of the socio-economic order had its own set of
implications for the state, some of which had far-reaching consequences.
The first impact was certainly on the famed Mysorean army. Tipu’s army
had had about 1,40,000 men and about 1,80,000 kandachar militia. This
army was completely liquidated and the raja’s army left with a nominal
12,000 men and 20,000 Kandachars. Hayavadana Rao writes that the man
who ensured this was Lieutenant Close, who proudly boasts:
That Tippu loaded the departments of his Government with dronish Mussalmans cannot be
denied, but the characteristic of his domination was to reserve all power to himself and
allow no hereditary claims or fixed offices...individuals holding the principal offices of the
state doubtless exercised authority and from such cause possessed some influence, but of
these how many remain? Burhanuddin was killed at Seringapatam. The Benki Nawab fell at
Siddeswar, and Syed Sahib, Mir Sadak and Syed Gaffar at the storming of Seringapatam.
purnaiya is forthcoming and rests upon our will. Kamruddin rests upon our generosity and
is perfectly at our devotion...Where then is the Mahomedan influence to embarrass us or to
give a turn to our politics? Tippu’s infantry are discharged, his Silledar horse are dissolved,
his Killedars pay us obeisance, his Asophs if so disposed have not the means to resist us,
the stable horse remain and look to our pleasure for subsistence and at best they are but so
many loose individuals connected by no head and kept apart by separate interests. They are
ours for actual service at a nod.

The Muslims of Mysore felt acutely the impact of Tipu’s death. For over
forty years they had revelled in the fact that men from their community had
risen from such humble origins and taken over a vast kingdom ruled by an
ancient ruling dynasty. Suddenly, the spell was broken and they had to
grapple with a vastly different reality. Unable to adapt to the change they
sought a false sense of security by retreating among themselves. Buchanan
noticed this trend of increased ghettoisation among the Muslims:
The Mussulmans who were in Tipoo’s service are daily coming to this part of the country.
Those who have any means carry on a small trade in grain; those who are poor hire
themselves to the farmers, either as servants or day labourers. Being unacquainted with
agriculture, they are only hired when others cannot be procured. Their wages are, of course
low, and their monthly allowance is 30 seers of grain (worth three Fanams) and one Fanam
in cash...they however prefer this to enlisting in the service of the Company along with the
infidels who killed their royal martyr.
Agriculture and industry were two other pillars that faced most of the
brunt of this new reality. The re-establishment of the feudal system, as
mentioned before, had its own set of consequences in these two areas. The
very system of taxation changed—from taxation based on yield to taxation
based on land. This meant that even dry lands of the state paid a fixed rent
in cash, amounting to about one-third of the crop. The fixed rent tenure or
kayamgutta regime severely impacted the agrarian economy. Irrigation,
something at which Mysore had excelled, became another casualty of the
flux. The total irrigated area fell drastically after 1799. In terms of budgetary
allocations and expenditures on the management and repair of tanks and
canals, the figures fell from Rs 3,98,754 in 1800 to Rs 1,96,800 in 1804.
Thus, the return of the Wodeyars to power, albeit under British control,
saw a feudalisation of the socio-economic set up, the general collapse of
urban production and rural migration coupled with no specific incentives for
agriculture—all of which contributed to a crisis in the sector. Cultivation of
cotton, paddy, sugarcane, oil seeds or arecanut, was hit. The transition from
commercial crops to cereals recreated the hand-to-mouth, inward-looking
and cloistered feudal village.
On the industrial front, as mentioned before, the new merchant classes
displaced the local traders and merchants from their usual thriving
businesses. Some of the local factories were shut down, affecting the export
of silk cloth, sandalwood, etc., much of which came in from the industrial
hub of Bangalore. Buchanan talks about the weavers of Bangalore who had
been a thriving and pampered class for long:
The weavers of Bangalore seem to be a very ingenious class of men, and with
encouragement, to be capable of making very rich, fine elegant cloths of any kind that may
be in demand but having been chiefly accustomed to work goods for the use of the court at
Seringapatam, they must now labour under great disadvantages; for it never can be
expected, that the court of Mysore should equal that of Seringapatam nor will the English
officers ever demand the native goods as the Mussulman Sardars did. The manufactures of
this place can never therefore be expected to equal what they were in Hyder’s reign, unless
some foreign market can be found for their goods.
Import duties imposed on foreign silks entering Mysore were left
unchanged but superior quality silks exported from the state to England
were charged duty according to colonial tariffs. This dealt a serious blow to
the once-thriving silk industry for which Mysore had been famous. The
local cotton industry was also hit by the abolition of sayer on imported
European cotton thread that entered Bangalore, coupled with the
introduction of Bourbon cotton that the weavers were unfamiliar with, and
therefore hesitant to experiment with. The destruction of local industry
continued unabated ever since the British took over the reins of the state
indirectly. The situation deteriorated further with time. To quote Shama
Rao:
In 1843...to the great detriment of the revenues of Mysore the prohibition of Acts XV of
1839 and XI of 1842 of the importation of foreign sugars into the Madras territories was
enforced against Mysore on the ground that it was foreign territory, it was in fact ruled that
no sugar which was the growth of Mysore could be admitted to the adjacent district of
Canara even for local consumption... in like manner, on the same ground, the importation
of tobacco from Mysore into Malabar was prohibited altogether and coffee was subjected to
a high differential duty and this notwithstanding the fact that Mysore admitted all British
produce free and levied on the produce of the Company’s districts no higher duty than upon
its own.
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III was thus a complete failure in administration
and management. But can one entirely blame him? He was bound by a
treaty signed when he was still an infant. Each clause spelt destruction for
the state. But to remain in power even as the titular head, Krishnaraja had to
turn a blind eye to the decadence. It was not long before public ire broke all
barriers.
Socially, the re-alignment of feudal powers put many erstwhile powers
of the social order back in the driver’s seat. The Brahmins, who had long
lost their authority in the Muslim regime, began occupying all major posts
and public offices. In addition, many groups emerged that challenged
Brahmin supremacy. The Devangas belonged to the supposed lower castes
but assumed Brahminical Sri Vaishnavite traditions, surnames and practices
and declared themselves no less than Brahmins. The State and Dewan
Purnaiya were inimical to such groups. Quoting Sebastian Joseph:
In the circular issued by Diwan Pumaiah in 1807–08 he strongly reprimands the Devangas
for violating their respective caste rules and emulating Brahminical practices. It was
reported to Pumaiah that a self proclaimed Guru of the Devangas attempted to introduce
sacred thread for the Devangas and to provide religious instruction to them. Pumaiah
writes: ‘One unknown sudra, claiming to be the so-called Guru of the Devangas has been
creating unwanted troubles by insisting that the Devangas should wear sacred thread and
receive religious teaching. Where is the sacred thread for the sudras? What do they mean by
religious teaching? This is not the work that sudras can do. He should be punished. Those
Devangas are supposed to be the disciples of the Sringeri Mutt. Therefore the people from
the Mutt should warn the Devangas against such acts and take necessary steps. If the newly
arrived Sudra is still adamant to create the troubles, then he should be sent out of the
country.’
The kaditas or manuscripts of the Sringeri Muth speak of the practice of
selling and auctioning of women who had committed adultery. This was
testified to by the state and was called samayachara. The Dharmasamsthana
of the muth seemed to hold the right to openly sell these women like
commodities in fairs and markets. In 1818, for instance, the documents
speak of the sale of a widow—accused of licentious behaviour—for three
Varahas to one Ahobala Somayyaji by the Parupathyagara of the Sringeri
Muth, Venkatachala Sastri. Vindicating such a shameful practice was a royal
order issued in 1826–27 that instructed all amils and killedars to hand over
to the Muth all ‘fallen’ women they found. The practice thus got
institutionalised. The old practice continued even during commissioner’s
rale in Mysore, with the difference being the soliciting of prior permission
before any sale of women by the muth. Rice narrates many such gory
practices that existed and were perpetuated by the inefficient regime of the
time. He speaks of women among Brahmins and Komtis not only being sold
but also expelled from their caste and branded on the arm as prostitutes.
Wives and families of thieves were also imprisoned with their husbands for
the purpose of satisfying the desires of the corrupt police force. This was
done openly, without stealth or fear or justice catching up. In Bangalore, for
example, there was supposedly a large building that was meant for this very
purpose. Rice further states:
A peculiar custom is prevalent among one branch of Morasu Vollaigas by which the women
suffer amputation of the ring and little fingers of the right hand. Every woman of the sect
previous to piercing the ears of her eldest daughter, preparatory to her bring betrothed in
marriage, must necessarily undergo this mutilation, which is performed by the blacksmith
of the village for a regulated fee for a surgical process sufficiently rude. The finger to be
amputated is placed on a block, the blacksmith places a chisel over the articulation of the
joint and chops it off in a single blow. If the girl to be betrothed is motherless, and the boy
has not been subjected to this operation, it is incumbent on her to perform the sacrifice.
In this dismal scenario—politically, economically and socially bleak—it
was perhaps almost inevitable that public anger should erupt somewhere.
That somewhere was a place called Nagar.
———————————
*
This letter appears in Shama Rao’s 1936 book, Modern Mysore.
17
A COUNTRY ON THE BOIL
THE NAGAR REVOLT
23 August 1830
Hosanthe village, Nagar District (now Shimoga)
he sleepy village of Hosanthe near Anandapura of Nagar district
seemed abuzz with sudden activity. Sitting under the village peepal
tree, octogenarian Thimmappa, a tenth-generation peasant, strained his eyes
to see what was raising huge clouds of dust—a noisy advance of a multitude
of cattle towards the place where he was sitting. A war was the last thing
they needed at this time. Tidings were bad enough for Thimmappa and
many of his clan; a bad monsoon, a disastrous epidemic and the continual
oppression by the sharat officers had reduced them to a state of abject
penury. The very thought that the approaching convoy might spell war
caused Thimmappa to tremble in fright. He signalled to his little grandson
who was playing marbles with his friends:
‘Lo! Putta! Come here! What is this huge noise I hear? Is it the white
man’s army or the Khavind’s forces from Mysore? I can hear a million oxen
marching hither. These wretched eyes can’t even see what is in front of me.
Come, climb this tree and tell me what this commotion is all about.’
The little boys were equally alarmed and stopped their game. Putta
climbed the tree and offered a stream of commentary to his near-blind

grandfather:
‘Ajja! This is no army. They are all like us. I can see some known
people too. They are all coming in a huge mass, with sticks in their hands.’
‘What? What has come over them? Is it some new trouble we have to
face? Oh! Shiva! Don’t we have enough on our plate as it is?’
His laments were interrupted by the well-built village headman who
asked him to move and make room for the congregation. Thimmappa and
his grandson squatted on the ground, anxiety writ large on their faces. Soon,
the entire field in front of the peepal tree—the venue for frequent late-night
*
entertainment shows of Yakshagana for the village folk—was filled with
livid peasants from different neighbouring villages. The Patel or head of this
koota (gathering) stood on the stone slab near the tree and requested the
attention of all those assembled.
‘Brothers! We have assembled here for a momentous act. The past few
years have been the worst in our lives as peasants. We have been oppressed
and treated as grime by the white man and his stooge, that spineless
Maharaja of Mysore. Fie upon them! How can they hope to revel in luxury
when getting a square meal a day has become a distant reality for all of us?
The hand that ploughs the field and gives food grains to the rest of the
kingdom has not a morsel to feed this stomach with! Is this justice? We are
anyway on the path to death, why not put up a fight as we die and shake the
foundations of Mysore?’
The crowd burst into thunderous applause.
‘As you all know, over the past many months,’ the Patel continued,
‘headmen, like myself, from several groups of nearby villages have been
holding secret council meetings and the deliberations of these have been
promptly and transparently passed on to all of you, because this is your
fight! We have had many such kootas where ideas have been debated and
anonymous pamphlets distributed to spread the word amongst our ryot
brethren. Just months back our brothers in nearby Kundapura refused to pay
the kists to the government officers and were bold enough to even attack
some of the public servants whom we hitherto greatly feared. Not any
more!’
There was again deafening applause coupled with jeering and hooting,
even as young men raised slogans of ‘Long live our rebellion! Death to the
Maharaja of Mysore!’ With a smug smile, the Patel requested them all to
keep silent and listen to him.
‘Friends! Today we have gathered here from different parts of the
kingdom to pass a unique resolution. We will tell the man sitting on the
Throne of Mysore that his kingdom runs because of us, not the Resident and
the Madras Company. Our struggle will intensify till all our demands are
met. We will prevent all government officials from entering villages. If they
refuse to listen, they do so at their own risk. No one can blame us or say we
did not warn them. From this day, all revenue payments to the Treasury of
Mysore will stop. The government has to recognise that the tiller of the land
is its owner and all lands snatched away from the tenant farmers must be
returned forthwith. Along with Nagar Khavind and our leader Sriman Budi
Basavappa, who would be here shortly, to address all of you, we shall lead a
delegation to Mysore and hand over a copy of these demands to the
maharaja. Alongside, we also will send copies of our historic resolution to
the foujdars of Nagar, Chitradurga and Ashtagram. Come on brothers! This
is the time to do or die. Express your solidarity towards this movement
which will ensure that the tears are wiped from the eyes of our wives and
children and that we do not have to go to bed hungry anymore!’
Chants of ‘Long live the Revolution!’ filled the skies. Putta was as lost
as his grandfather who had heard the proceedings in a state of complete
shock.
‘Ajja! What is a revolution?’ he nudged his grandfather and asked.
‘I don’t know what it is my son, but I do know these Patels, and they
often have something else at the back of their minds. But one thing is for
sure. Our kingdom is in for another blood-bath. After Tipu Saib’s fall 35
years ago, this is the worst crisis that has hit us all. The coming days portend
great disaster, mark my words!’ he said wiping his brow.
‘Disaster? Does that mean I cannot play marbles with my friends
anymore?’
The growing discontent among the ryots found its expression in the form of
several mutinies and revolts across the country, of which most were
ruthlessly suppressed by those in power. The old, rarely-used weapons of

these peasants were no match for the superior arms and ammunition of their
masters. In Mysore, the agrarian discontent showed itself in Nagar and
Tarikere first and spread across the kingdom like wildfire. In both these
places, the farmers, under their erstwhile local leaders—the Palegars, who
had been hitherto dispossessed of their privileges—began to revolt against
the Sharat system. The Palegars saw this as a brilliant comeback
opportunity. Mobilisation of the peasantry was based on force and threat of
force, the latter being required due to the use of superstition, curse theories
and caste differences. To quote historian Shama Rao:
As a result of the incitement which emanated from the Palegars and the appeal to caste
superstitions by the Nagar ryots by threats of calling down curses of heaven on the members
of the caste by the throwing into their houses of bones, horns and margosa leaves combined
with the approach of the season for the collection of Government dues, a number of
disturbances in several parts of the State broke out...
Though the insurgency had its centre in the Nagar Foujdari comprising
the districts of Shimoga and Chikamagalur, it spread to most parts of the
state quickly. Uttara Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Hassan, Mysore,
Mandya and Bangalore were rocked by the rebellion, making it one of the
most widespread peasant uprisings in British India. The initial spark that
ignited the trouble came from the infighting among the different power
centres that came into existence under the new colonial order. Shama Rao
details the factors that contributed to the revolt:
Through Bhakshi Rama Rao’s influence both when he was Foujdar of Nagar as well as after
he became attached to the court of Krishnaraja Wodeyar in various capacities all the
important situations in the Foujdari had come to be occupied, as we have seen, by his
relations belonging both to his own family as well as the Annigere and Hangal families and
a family party was thus formed with powerful interests of their own and this party
continued to maintain its position till the beginning of the insurrection in 1830. Many of
the members of this party were, it is believed, given to commit embezzlement and frauds of
various kinds and were also suspected of being in league with gangs of robbers who had
sought asylum in jungles in that part of the country. In the village of Chetnahalli in the
Honnali taluk some families of thugs or Phasegars, as they were locally called, had settled
for several years and about the year 1820 a great number more came from the Southern
Mahratta country and also settled in the neighbourhood. Another still more numerous gang
from North Arcot and the neighbourhood of Bangalore settled at Luckwalli situated at some
distance from Tarikere. Among these people were found some of the most notorious
robbers who were suspected of receiving encouragement from the members of the above
powerful family. As an instance it may be stated that in January 1827 a rich merchant’s
house in the town of Yedehalli (now called Narasimharajapura) was broken into, several
persons were killed, and property was carried off to the amount of about three lakhs and a
half of rupees and at the time the belief prevailed throughout the country that the gang of
robbers employed on this occasion was directed by Aunnigere Venkata Rao, Amildar of
Chennagiri, supported by his relative Hangal Krishna Rao, the Foujdar of Nagar. This belief
among the people as well as the frequent gang robberies that occurred in various parts of
the country accelerated the occurrence of the agrarian revolt on a wider scale than it could
have been otherwise possible.
The initial character of the uprising had little to do with the masses or
peasants. It was the typical struggle of the displaced Palegars who tried in
vain, time and again, to reassert their supremacy. The notorious Nagar
Foujdar Hangal Krishna Rao incited the people in the region to revolt
against Viraraja Urs who had been nominated in his place. The protests that
followed ensured that Krishna Rao retained his position. But the stooges he
had paid to carry out these stage-managed protests continued to wander
unleashed and carried on the agitation for personal gain.
Two men are associated with the start of the rebellion: Budi Basavappa
and Rangappa Nayak. Both men were frauds, fighting for selfish reasons.
‘Budi Basavappa’ was actually Hygamalla, a resident of the Chennikatte
village, who pretended to be Basavappa, the ruler of Nagar, appropriating
the identity of the previous ruler’s adopted son. Hyga had always been a
trouble-maker and went to prison for his misdeeds. On his release he needed
some method to re-enter his old village. He befriended an old Jangama saint
who had been the spiritual guide of the last Palegar of Nagar and also
possessed his seal rings. Stealing those, Hyga made his way to the zilla
court, where he had his name inscribed as ‘Budi Basavappa: Nagar
Khavind’ (the King of Nagar). He was then led to Nagar where opportunity
was ripe—the ruler was dead. He took over the seal of the raja, posing as
the adopted son of the late raja of Nagar (Dodda Basavappa), and claimed
the throne of Nagar. Enlisting the support of the masses, many of whom
considered him as a hero, he became all the more popular and was placed
on the masnad of Nagar in April 1830 as Srimantha Nagar Khavind. He
appointed Manappa as his commander-in-chief. Many of these proceedings
had the secret support of people in government at Mysore who were the
adherents of former Dewan Rama Rao and opposed Viraraja Urs (who had
displaced Krishna Rao, Rama Rao’s nephew). Taking advantage of the
confusion, Basavappa proudly proclaimed himself a friend of the ryots and
promised them full remission of all balances and a reduction in government
demand on their lands to only one Rupee for each Pagoda they then paid, if
they espoused his cause. The already impoverished and suffering peasants
had nothing but their wretched lives to lose by supporting a man who
claimed to be their friend and confidante. Many of them readily entered the
armed gangs Basavappa had started mobilising.
Rangappa Nayak, the other leader of the rebellion who stayed on in
Mysore, was a descendant of the Tarikere Palegar dynasty. He played a
pivotal role in mobilising the peasants by declaring that the Wodeyar had
sold their state to the avaricious British. He, however, went back to his
ancestral territories and proclaimed in the villages that the maharaja of
Mysore with the consent of the Company had restored his ancestral throne
to him in order to establish law and order in the region and that if the people
cooperated with him, he would remit a part of the taxes.
What emerged out of this strange potpourri of deception is interesting.
Both the men had nothing but their own petty interests to serve. But in the
process of masterminding an insurrection they ended up articulating the
burning issues of the people. The masses, especially the peasants, needed a
voice to express their oppression and suffering. They rallied behind these
two men and later, the movement assumed a mass character, bereft of the
leaders who pioneered the whole show.
The struggle took place in three waves: The first wave was that of mass
struggles; the second, of mass action, and, the third, when armed struggle
predominated. The mass struggle started in early 1830 and assumed many
forms. The most important of these was the koota, or simply ‘gathering’.
The koota was a broad forum to organise the peasant masses. The kootas
spread from Nagar to Bellary, and even as far as Mysore. Writing about the
koota rebellion in South Kanara, Shyam Bhat states:
The peasant uprising of 1830–31 is also popular as the ‘Koot rebellion’. In the context of
South Kanara, koots refer to unions or assemblages of peasants expressing their grievances
against and seeking redress from the Company Government. The vital factor involved in
this peasant uprising was that of land revenue which was a matter of conflict between the
peasants and the Company Government. The signs of the peasant unrest could be seen in
the closing months of 1830, when the ryots gave general petitions complaining of their
losses. But they developed and came to the fore in the early months of 1831. The ryots of
Kasargod, Kumbla, Morgal, Manjeshwar, Bungra-Manjeshwar and Talapady sent general
arzees (petitions) and complaints of their losses to Dickinson the Collector of South
Kanara. In their petitions, the ryots not only complained about the harsh revenue
assessment of November 1830, but they also demanded remission to them all at a uniform
rate.
In the second stage, around the beginning of January 1831, the ryots started
their Koots or assemblages...it was in Bekal that the Koots started in the first
week of January 1831 and within a few days it spread to the northern parts of
Kanara. Narkur, Brahmavar, Buntwal, Madhur, Manjeshwar, Mulki, Kadri,
Kumbla, Malluly, Wamanjoor, Mogral, Udyawar, Uppinangadi and Vittal were
some of the important places where the ryots of the respective regions had
assembled in Koots...the Manjunatha temple at Kadri was the center of these
peasant uprisings, where the Maha Koot or Grand Koot was organised towards
the end of January 1831...
In order to organise these Koots the ryots maintained one Patel and two
head ryots in each of the villages. There were separate Headmen for the
Maganes. When any aspect was discussed and plan or action was proposed in
the Koots, these leaders disseminated them to the ryots in the villages. Further,
each of the Koots had its own leaders and all of them met and spoke at the
Grand Koot in Kadri. The organisers of these Koots also made use of a Secret
Council. It comprised two or three Muktesars (head ryots) of each Magane.
The object of this council was to maintain the secrecy of the whole
organisational affair of the Koots. However, the result of the deliberations of
this Council was communicated to the various assemblies or Koots. Thus the
Secret Council played the role of a linking and organizing body in these
peasant uprisings. It in fact acted as a think-tank of the rebellion. Further,
anonymous pamphlets were made use of by the leaders to spread their ideas
and programmes among the ryots. Such papers were circulated in the various
Koots.
The participants in these Koots at times made bold to attack the
Government servants. Before Dickinson left Kundapura for Mangalore at the
end of January 1831 he received reports from the Tahsildar of Barkur that the
ryots of that Taluk had assembled in Koot and had assaulted some of the public
servants...the ryots were thus determined to refuse the kists to the Government,
until a fresh settlement was made, and their mood was so defiant that they
unhesitatingly attacked those public servants whom they feared not long back.
The growing sense of unity among themselves and faith in their organizational
strength had emboldened them to take such postures of defiance. The peasant
intransigence, which surfaced in the month of November 1830, continued up to
the end of March 1831. It was after Cameron’s promise to the ryots that their
petitions would be considered and remissions would be made...that they
dispersed and stopped organizing the Koots. Thus by April 1831 the rumblings
of the Koot rebellions died down.

As the movement built up, on 23 August 1830, at a huge rally organised
by Basavappa at Hosanthe village near Ananadapura in Shimoga district, a
peasant charter was passed and signed by those assembled. It said:
The peasant organisation must be built everywhere.
The struggle must be advanced till the demands are accomplished.
Government officials must be prevented from entering the village.
Revenue payment to the government must stop.
The government must recognise that the ‘tiller is the owner’ of the
land.
Land must be returned to those tenants who had forfeited it.
The congregation also decided to draft a letter to the maharaja of
Mysore articulating these demands and seeking prompt action. Similar
copies were made for the fouzdars of all the three divisions—Nagar,
Chitradurga and Ashtagram. A ten-member executive council of ryot leaders
was formed to tour the state and see the problems of the people with
Manappa in command. Manappa, Budi Basavappa’s commander, also led a
delegation to Mysore that met Krishnaraja Wodeyar. They presented a list of
demands to the Sannad which included the restoration of cultivated lands to
the ryots, the cessation of the tenancy system, return of auctioned lands to
their rightful owners, waiver of revenue arrears, distribution of fallow lands
to farmers, issuance of takkavi loans, abolition of Sharat, grants of
additional cultivable lands to be made to peasants keeping in view their
family size and a termination of revenue collection for a period of ten years
by which time the economic conditions would hopefully limp back to
normalcy. The maharaja was exasperated by these preposterous demands
and, flying into a rage, refused to consider the case. The delegation left
Mysore in anger and on its way back, mobilised further support in the
villages of Mysore, Mandya, Tumkur, Hassan and Chikamagalur districts.
With assemblies and petitions serving no purpose, the movement
graduated to its next logical step. The second stage of the movement was
mass action when the rebels built up their armies and attacked officials and
bureaucrats of the government. Manappa built up a fighting force of 200
men. These mass actions were directed against the Amildars, corrupt
bureaucrats and reactionaries in the villages. Amildars who feared the wrath
of the people either fled or surrendered to the groundswell. By the end of
1830, as the phase of mass action began to conclude, the amildar’s offices
were often seized by the insurgent peasants and collection of revenue was
annulled by the new authority in power. Shama Rao writes that on 23
August 1830, Manappa gave a clarion call to his comrades in all districts of
the Bangalore and Chitradurga Fouzdaries in particular and across the
princely state of Mysore in general:
You must positively come to us at the rate of one man per house... set out taking with you
the Shanbhogues, the Jamindars and the other inhabitants with due respect without leaving
them behind. You must also bring Amildars, Killedars, Shirastedars with as much
disrespect as respect is shown to the former class of people. These officials should be kept
in custody and made to walk.
Violent incidents followed across the state of Mysore. Shama Rao
describes them:
In the month of September 1830 on a demand being made in the village of Basavanahalli in
the Chennagiri taluk for the annual land assessment, the ryots insolently inquired for whose
benefit the assessments were to be paid whether for the benefit of the Raja of Mysore or of
the Nagar Raja. The ryots shut the outer gate of the village against the amildar who was
thereupon compelled to break them open to effect an entry...the Foujdar not only sent
reports of these excesses to the Maharaja of Mysore but also referred in his reports to the
general attitude of the inhabitants... where he said that bodies of people blowing horns and
beating drums were moving from village to village inciting residents to join them, or in the
alternative, threatening them with curses of bones and horns and that attempts at
conciliation had met with failure...
The movement then spread to Chitradurga, Bangalore and Chennagiri.
The ryots tried to forcibly take charge of the Chennagiri fort while its
Amildar sent messages for help, all in vain, to the Fouzdar of Shimoga to
help him. Meanwhile, one Ranga Rao and the farmers at Batterahally were
ordered to reach Honnali to reconcile. But they refused and demanded an
explanation for the unfair land tenures and the Sharat system. The farmers at
Holalakere and Mavinahalli protested and prevented the sale of provisions
to the fouzdar. The Chitradurga Fouzdar Sheshagiri Rao and brother of
Motikhane Narasinga Rao tried to pacify the mob of 600–700 people at

Chitterahalli, but in vain. The group ensured that the bazaars of
Chitterahalli shut down. Their power was further augmented by a 500-
strong body of ryots joining them from Holalakere. Finally, Sheshagiri Rao
surrendered.
The blaze then caught Bangalore as the ryots pursued
Venkatakrishnayya, the amildar of Doddaballapur who secretly fled to
Bangalore when the ryots came to attack him. The remittances from
Bangalore treasury to Mysore, called irsal, were cut off. The Bangalore
Fouzdar Timmapparaja Urs fled to Hulyar in Tumkur district and invited the
ryots for a discussion there. None of the members of the group responded to
this invitation but congregated in a show of strength a few miles away from
his hide-out in a 6,000–7,000 strong battalion. The terrified fouzdar who
had just 8 sowcars and 80 Kandachar peons with him was completely at a
loss. The group ensured that they secured the release of people arrested by
the fouzdar for inciting pandemonium. A letter of the British Resident,
Casmaijor dated 5 January 1831 sums up the turmoil:*
Instances of contumacy were daily increasing. The Raja’s Tappal was stopped, his Neroops
tom and destroyed. Amildars were generally placed in restraint. Their seals of office taken
from them, beat and ill-used the Sircar treasuries seized by the Potails. Merchants and
travelers arrested by the several gangs of insurgents and money forcibly levied from them...
The mass action succeeded to the extent that it helped vanquish its target
—the corrupt and inefficient amildars, who either fled in fright or were
captured by the armed mobs.
The ryots in Nagar sent a letter directly to the governor general
highlighting the excesses of Krishna Rao:
The humble petition of the poor kind ryots of the Talooks or Gaudies belonging to the
Nuggur country which produces nine lakhs of pagodas...while we were under the dominion
of the family of Caladi Sivappa Naik who governed this country for many years, and also in
the days of Nawab Bahadoor Tippoo, we were in a state of happiness. When the Company
took possession of this country, instead of giving it up to the family of the Rajah of Nuggur
who had formerly held dominion over it, joined it to the possessions of the Rajah of
Mysore, and without making the least enquiry into the state of our country has appointed a
Foujdar to govern us. This Foujdar, not understanding revenue affairs, has merely looked to
supporting himself and has been in the habit of forcibly obeying us to sign an agreement for
this Sircar revenue, and then collecting the money. If we delayed to pay for one or two days
after the fixed time, he used to torture us to extort bribes...being dreadfully distressed from
this tyranny of the Foujdar, we from the end of September to the end of December in this
year addressed many petitions to the Rajah, praying that he should enquire into these
matters, but he paid us no attention. Afterwards the Foujdar Crishna Roy having sent for
some ryots to the village of Hole Honour, under the pretext of giving them satisfaction,
having assured them that they might put their confidence in him, took them into the fort,
where he killed 500 of them outright, and wounded some others, whom he afterwards
ordered to be tied in comlies with large stones attached to them and thrown alive into a
deep pool...Crishna Roy and his son-in-law Sreenivasa Roy having assembled some cavalry
and sepoys...seized and hung the ryots, ravished the women and cut off their and their
childrens’ ears and noses, and plundered and burnt down all their houses...Crishna Roy
having collected some forces in Anantapur treacherously plundered and burnt down the
ryots houses thence. We have no means of preserving our lives against this treachery – from
the time that the Company gave our country to the Rajah of Mysore; he has never made any
enquiry into our circumstances, but acted as we have written above. The ryots who live in
this country...have nothing but death before us, therefore we cannot in any way, remain as
subjects of the Rajah of Mysore. Your charitable Government must take into consideration
all that we have stated, and quickly give us relief and protection.
Little did they realise they were petitioning the very powers responsible
for their condition. Casmaijor advised the Wodeyar to take stem action
against the rebellion, which had severely affected the revenues of the state.
He advised the maharaja to tour the ‘angry state’ and to coax the peasants to
give up their arms. On 14 December 1830, the maharaja left for
Chennarayapatna with Bakshi Rama Rao, Bakshi Dasappa Urs, Baburaya,
Bakshi Bhima Rao, Annappa, 1,000 sowcars, 200 bodyguards and 4,000
horses. Casmaijor joined him at Kickery. Shama Rao states that at
Chennarayapatna
...a tom-tom was sent around to proclaim that two men were hanged at Chennarayapatna
and two at Kickery and these executions were accordingly carried out on the same day. It
had been settled likewise that two persons had to be hanged at Hole Narasipur. But one of
them was reprieved at the instance of the Resident and the other was hanged. In all eight or
nine persons were hanged at different places as a warning to the inhabitants against joining
the cootum or seditious gatherings.
The talks, however, broke down and the apparent show of strength and
terror trails didn’t yield any constructive results. The peasant movement now
took on the form of guerrilla warfare. A guerrilla army was built, with
detachments varying in size from twenty to two hundred. The norm was
forty. They beat back the maharaja’s offensive. They captured the Nagar
fort; but retreated into the forests the night before British troops entered. As
a major section of enemy forces moved to other areas of combat, they
attacked the fort, killed its occupiers and re-took it. In this way the Nagar
fort changed hands six times. Each time, they appealed to the town’s people
who joined them in large numbers. The guerrilla army was given secret
training in Brahmagiri, Ulavi, Chennagiri, Chandragutti, Sonale and
Sasehwalli. As the battles intensified, enemy troops mutinied and joined the
guerrillas. Enemy officers were targeted. The British Government too
stepped up its offensive against the rebels and in a series of bloody
campaigns—January-June 1831; October 1831 to June 1832 and September
1832 to mid 1833—ensured that the movement was violently and cruelly
suppressed. In the first campaign, along with two regiments from Mysore
led by Anappa and Lieutenant Colonel Rochfort, a regiment of the
Company’s army stationed at Harihara led by Lieutenant Colonel Wolfe was
deployed. In April another segment from Bangalore under Colonel Evans
joined in to make it a 4,000-strong troop. The first campaign was to
‘cleanse’ Kamanadurga, Masur, Harihara, Nagar, Fathehpet, Anandapura,
Sagar, Chandragutti, Mandagadde and so on. By the time of the second
campaign, 15,000 soldiers had been mobilised under Anappa.
In many places like Sampige, Kadada, Hebbur, Tumkur, Mallaghatta and
Gubbi revolts were suppressed. Rani Bennur became the next spot of riots.
Anche Ramayya was sent to Rani Bennur to negotiate with the rebels and
was successful. The Regimentdar Srinivasa Rao successfully crushed the
revolt at Holehonnur; Venkataraja Urs captured Kaladurga and Kamandurga.
Meanwhile Casmaijor sent his troops to Mysore, though with a selfish
motive. The principality of Canara was the British dominion of Mysore and
when the rumour of a possible outbreak of riots there reached Casmaijor’s
ears, he chose to react. Till now the British had maintained a comfortable
distance from the happenings at Mysore and left the maharaja to his fate.
Captain Rochfort and Lieutenant Colonel Wolfe were dispatched to curb the
menace at Kamandurga and Kaladurga. The British were, however, unable
to stem the growth of the armed struggle. Finally they resorted to infiltration
and killing of the leadership.

The ryots meanwhile occupied Honnahalli. The place was looted. A
segment of rebels took possession of the fort while the other took shelter in
a temple, after a suitable division of their booty was made. Chandra Rao
Ranore attacked the fort and Rochfort laid siege to the temple. The rebels
managed to escape via the Tungabhadra River. Honnahalli was restored from
the rebel’s hold. Thousands of ryots were executed, the toll being more than
hundred per day on charges of sedition and mutiny. At Honnali, Anappa’s
forces and those of Rochfort engaged in a pitched battle that saw, by 16
March 1831, the execution of fifty-one ryots around the temple and all the
rest hung the next day on the road from Honnahali upto Shikaripura. Shama
Rao states that
...the callousness with which these executions were carried out may be understood when it
stated that on the first day when one of the officers who was passing by at the time wishing
to witness how prisoners were hanged and how they died, though the gruesome work had
closed for the day, two more men were immediately brought out and hanged in his
presence...
The British troops captured Harihar, Shimoga, Anantapur, Sagar and
Chandragutti. Colonel Evans took possession of Bangalore. Casmaijor
visited the state and toured the troubled areas. Subsidiary troops were
stationed at Nagar—the epicentre of the revolt in May 1831. By 1833 the
bulk of the leadership were captured and killed and the movement died
down.
Interestingly, Budi Basavappa, the kingpin of the whole movement,
remained conspicuous by his absence during the entire struggle. By the end
of 1830, he moved away to Rani Bennur in Dharwad district and when a
search was launched for him, he slipped into the Nizam’s territories in
Raichur. It is said that he was seen in battle only once. On 27 March 1833
he was captured at Sunda Taluk in Uttara Kannada district. The partners in
the whole movement—the Tarikere Palegar family led by one Nanjappa
Naik now along with Kengappa Naik and his son Hanumappa Naik—met
with Briggs, the Senior Commissioner of Bangalore, in 1832 and
surrendered themselves to the Company’s mercies. Bragging about his
achievements in ensuring the surrender of the Tarikere family, Briggs stated
on his return to Bangalore:

The Commission has received repeated communications from the Palegar of Terrykerrry
offering to come in if his life is spared... it appears the desperation arising out of ill-
treatment and the execution of several of his clan and kindred by the late government as
well as the sympathy for the suffering of his countrymen placed him at the head of a party
in opposition to it. Rungappah Naik the chief of the family has paid the debt of nature, his
eldest son Annappah was taken prisoner and hanged by the late Dewan and his retainers are
now under the command of his nephew who is after all but one of his uncle’s followers as a
clansman and sues for mercy from the British Government.
The movement, the first of its kind where the oppressed peasants of the
state raised the cry of revolt, was ruthlessly squashed no doubt, but it had
larger political ramifications for the kingdom. It saw the oppressed souls of
the state find a voice. The guerrilla tactics adopted by these mobs terrified
the disciplined British troops, who had long forgotten such combats after
the times of Haidar and Tipu. Some of the letters that these harassed British
Commanders wrote to Casmaijor drive home this point clearly. Rochfort
wrote on 4 March 1831:*
I left Avinahally on the morning of 23 and after driving the insurgents from the opposite
bank of the Sherwutty encamped at a small village called Husselmacky where there was
sufficient plain for the camp to pitch that night. From thence I determined to push on for
Nagger about 20 miles, but in consequence of the insurgents having cut down a number of
the largest trees laid them across the road which was this rendered impracticable to even
infantry and their having also placed at different distances parties of matchlock men whose
fire was very galling, this march was rendered most arduous and trying to the troops and at
every 300 or 400 yards it was necessary to detach parties right and left.
It thus took Rochfort three days to traverse just twenty miles.
The Resident Casmaijor and the dewan held a series of interviews with
some of the ryot groups in Nagar and came to a settlement that taxes should
be collected only on cultivated land while remissions were to be allowed on
all waste lands and bitti or unpaid work was not to be exacted by the
officials for their private purposes.
Thus, the mass movement of the peasants and masses of the state of
Mysore was crushed. But it did have its long-term impact on the state and
the sacrifices did not go in vain.

THE AFTERMATH OF NAGAR
There were rumblings in the Company’s corridors of power about the
effectiveness of the maharaja in maintaining order in his kingdom. After
much deliberation, a formal letter from the Company authorities, dated 7
September 1831, reached the maharaja while he was in the midst of the
annual Dasara festivities. The maharaja’s heart sank on reading its contents.
The letter berated him for being singularly incapable of managing the affairs
of the state and mopping up the budgeted revenues for his kingdom and the
upkeep of the British army. It also held him guilty for the complete
breakdown of law and order in his kingdom resulting in widespread
destruction of peace and tranquility.
However, it was the last paragraph that was a bolt from the blue. Citing
the above cases of maladministration and incapability, the Company had
decided to depose him and take over direct rule of the state till such time
that they felt the situation had returned to normalcy. That being up to the
Company’s subjective assessment, it was anyone’s guess how long this
‘transfer of power’ would last. The letter concluded with a suggestion for the
appointment of commissioners who would take over the complete
administration of Mysore.
Given below are the excerpts of that letter addressed to the maharaja, as
recorded by Shama Rao:
It is now thirty years since the British Government, having defeated the armies and
captured the Forts and overrun the territory of Tippu Sultan, laid siege to Seringapatam,
and that city being taken the dynasty and the power of Tippu was brought to an end. Your
Highness is well aware of the generosity displayed by the conquerors upon that occasion.
Instead of availing themselves of the right of conquest and of annexing the Territory of
Mysore to those of the Honourable Company and of the Nizam, the sovereignty was
restored to the family of the ancient Raja of the country, who had taken no part in the
conquest, and Your Highness was placed on the Musnud. But Your Highness being then a
child of three years old, Pumiah was appointed Dewan of the State with full powers, and
with the aid and countenance of the officers of the British Government he conducted all
affairs with exemplary wisdom and success. Up to the period when Your Highness
approached the years of maturity, through his good management and as the consequence of
his measures, the country prospered, and the State of Mysore attained splendor and
exaltation, and the population of all ranks were contented and happy. Further at the time of
his resigning the Government to Your Highness, after having conducted its affairs for 10
years, he gave proof of the wisdom and integrity of his management by leaving in the
Treasuries of Your Highness’ use, no less than 70 Lakhs of Pagodas in cash, which is a sum
exceeding two crores of rupees.
From that time which is now more than 20 years, Your Highness has been
vested with all the powers and authorities of the Raja of Mysore, and still
exercise the rights of sovereignty in the Territory of the State. But I am sorry to
be compelled to say that the former state of things no longer exists, and that the
duties and obligations of Your Highness’ position appear to have been greatly
neglected; for it seems that, besides the current revenue of the State, the
treasure above stated to have been accumulated by Purniah has been dissipated
on personal expenses and disreputable extravagances. An immense debt has
been incurred, and the finance of the State has been involved in inextricable
embarrassment and although Sir Thomas Munro, the late Governor as well as
Hon’ble S.R. Lushington, the present Governor of Madras, frequently
remonstrated with Your Highness on the subject, and obtained promises of
amendment and of efforts to reduce your expenditure within your income, it
does not appear that the least attention has been paid to their remonstrances or
advice. The subsidy due to the British Government has not been paid
according to the Treaty of 6th July 1799. The troops and soldiers of the state
are unpaid and are compelled for their subsistence to live at free quarters upon
the ryots. The debt is represented to be greater than ever, and so far from its
being possible to entertain, from past experience, the smallest hope that these
evils will be corrected under Your Highness’ management, more extensive
deterioration and confusion alone can be anticipated.
I have in consequence felt it to be indispensable, as well with reference to
the stipulations of the Treaty, as from a regard to the obligations of the
protective character, which the British Government holds towards the State of
Mysore, to interfere for its preservation, and to save the various interests at
stake from further ruin. It has occurred to me that in order to do this
effectually, it will be necessary to transfer the entire administration of the
country into the hands of British officers; and I have accordingly determined to
nominate two Commissioners for the purpose who will proceed immediately to
Mysore. Your Highness may be assured of the extreme reluctance under which
I find myself compelled to have recourse to a measure that must be so painful
to Your Highness’ feelings, but I act under the conviction that an imperative
obligation of a great public duty leaves me no alternative.
This was a ploy the British had repeatedly employed in other princely
states of India as well which were under their protection. Using the excuse
of maladministration, they had annexed states like Bharatpur, Kachar and
Manipur and now it was Mysore’s turn to follow suit. The British—who
stationed themselves in these princely states to ‘guard’ the kings of those
states against external aggression—conveniently shirked their duties and

offered no help to the rulers when their own flawed and exploitative
economic policies led to widespread internal rebellion. Then, citing
maladministration, they deposed the helpless kings and took over the
management of the troubled states.
Thus, on 19 October 1831, Krishnaraja Wodeyar was formally deposed
and Colonel Briggs became the first commissioner of Mysore. By this time
the British East India Company was at the pinnacle of success in India. The
first Burmese War (1824–26) had been a great success. Assam, Kachar,
Jaintia, Arakan, Tennasserim, Martaban, Lower Burma and Rangoon were
annexed. The Lion of Punjab, Ranjit Singh, was one force who tried to halt
British expansion. But he was stopped by the Treaty of Amritsar (1809) and
compelled to agree that the Satluj would be the eastern boundary of his
empire. After his death in 1839, his three sons were killed in a royal
intrigue. His infant Daleep Singh became king with his mother Rani Jhindan
as regent. But in the First Sikh War (1846), the Sikhs were defeated at
Mudki, Ferozepur, Aizwal and Sobraon. The British annexed Jammu and
Kashmir and handed it over to Raja Gulab Singh Dogra. In the Second Sikh
War (1848) the Punjab was annexed, Daleep Singh was pensioned off to
London and his father’s famous diamond, the Kohinoor, was handed over as
a gift to Queen Victoria. Thus, in the 100 years since they first began their
armed expeditions to India in the Carnatic, the British, who came as traders
seeking concessions, had become the permanent rulers of India.
Back in Mysore, from 1831 to 1832, Colonel J. Briggs was the senior
commissioner and C.M. Lushington the junior commisioner. Lushington
took charge about three months before his senior and in haste tried to bring
about radical changes in the system, which further confused the chaotic
administration. He attempted to introduce stamp duty and to establish a
Huzur Adalat (final court of appeal). These ideas found little favour with the
government at Madras. Colonel Briggs reversed these changes after taking
charge. He clashed with Lushington—who resigned in a huff—and with
Lushington’s successors, G.M. Drurry and J.M. Macleod. He also rubbed
the wrong way the Dewan of Mysore and the government at Madras. He
therefore resigned in November 1832, strongly recommending that a single
commissioner rather than two be appointed to Mysore. The suggestion was
implemented with the succession of Morrison as the sole commissioner of

Mysore. Morrison reduced the number of fouzdaries in the state from the
existing six to four in order to prune the administration.
The Company had meanwhile set up a committee to look into the pros
and cons of thé Nagar Revolt, called the ‘Insurrection Enquiry Committee’.
The report gave the maharaja a clean chit, exonerating him of all charges.
Lord William Bentinck, the governor general, advocated the maharaja’s
cause even to the court of the Directors in London, asking for the restoration
of at least three-quarters of his erstwhile territories. Bentinck visited Mysore
in April 1834 and doubted even the legality of the takeover by the Company.
Diwakar, et al., write that Bentinck also found that the Company’s allegation
—that the raja was not paying his subsidies regularly and was thus
dishonouring the Treaty of 1799—was completely fabricated and believed
that the maharaja would ‘make a good ruler in the future’.
But Bentick’s proposal to hand over three-quarters of the territory back
to the maharaja was turned down by the home government. The maharaja
waited patiently, certain that the British would some day judge his claim
favourably He kept a close watch on all the political developments in
Mysore, Madras and London in the hope that the tide might miraculously
turn in his favour some day.
II
Although the British traders became the political masters of India by the
close of the eighteenth century, they could not enjoy their supremacy in
complete peace. Even in the immediate aftermath of Tipu’s fall, revolts
sprang up which they dealt with in their customary ruthless fashion.
Pumaiya, whom the British appointed the dewan of Mysore, had to be both
administrator as well as British ally in quelling several uprisings: the
rebellions of Dhondoji Wagh, the Kanara rajas and the Balam ruler, the
Wynad revolt in 1802, the Munkasira revolt in 1804, the revolt of the
Palegar of Chitradurga in 1805, the European officers’ revolt in 1809, and
the Vellore uprising, centred around the sons of Tipu, for which reason they
were packed off to Calcutta immediately afterwards.

Interestingly, all these uprisings and disturbances in and around Mysore
in the first half of the nineteenth century had political overtones. Usually,
such unrest was a struggle for survival led by some disgruntled satrap or
displaced ruler. The revolts mentioned above fall into this category. But
slowly and steadily, these metamorphosed into a larger expression of the
common man’s frustration over various socio-economic aspects and
religious grounds. The resentment at being commanded by a foreign power
simmered constantly and showed itself in numerous small-scale mutinies
and uprisings across India. The British were confronted with uprisings by
peasants, tribal communities and princely states. Amongst the most
significant were the Kol uprising of 1831, the Santhal uprising of 1855, and
the Kutch rebellion, which lasted from 1816 until 1832. Some were
sustained; others sporadic; a few were isolated acts of revolutionary
resistance—but nevertheless they all challenged colonial rule. This period
saw a tremendous rise in rural poverty, precipitated by the colonial policy of
unchecked extraction of agricultural and forest wealth from various regions,
and the masses were reduced to a state of utter deprivation. Added to this
was the ever-increasing British sense of cultural superiority, using the
‘natives’ for their own agendas while despising them, their culture and
religion.
Nothing illustrates this as clearly as the life of the Indian sepoy, who
worked for the British armies, mostly at the behest of his territory’s
feudatory king. This led to the growth of unofficial political committees of
soldiers who had several grievances against their British overlords. For
instance, the 140,000 Indians who were employed as sepoys in the Bengal
Army were completely subordinate to the roughly 26,000 British officers.
These sepoys bore the brunt of the First British-Afghan War (1838–42), the
two closely contested Punjab Wars (1845-46, 1848–49) and the Second
Anglo-Burmese War. They were shipped across the seas to fight the Opium
Wars against China (1840-42,1856-60) and the Crimean War against Russia
(1854). Although risking death constantly, they had extremely limited
opportunities for advancement since the Europeans monopolised all
positions of authority. They were paid abysmally low salaries—sometimes
as low as Rs 7 per month, expected to work from dawn to dusk, posted at
many dangerous locations in India and overseas, often beaten up and
manhandled and constantly ridiculed for their religious beliefs.

Despite being smothered by the superior colonial force, Indian political
consciousness was by no means totally dead. In fact, even under the white
man’s heel, it grew and slowly matured, moving towards its first expression
as an Indian protest as opposed to disconnected regional flare-ups. The
dissatisfaction against the British was not confined to the agricultural
communities alone. Every section of society had an axe to grind with the
British masters. By rendering the nobility and urban middle class bankrupt,
demand for many local goods was almost eliminated. At the same time,
local producers faced unfair competition from British imports. Nilakanta
Sastri writes that the consequences of this were summarised by the rebel
Prince Feroz Shah in his August 1857 proclamation:
The Europeans by the introduction of English articles into India have thrown the weavers,
the cotton dressers, the carpenters, the blacksmiths and the shoe-makers and others out of
employ and have engrossed their occupations, so that every description of native artisan has
been reduced to beggary.
The Indians also resented the Company’s attempts to force Christianity
down their throats. The hallmark of European colonialism was that
wherever the colonial masters and armies went, the missionaries followed.
While the former were ruthless, aggressive and cunning while expanding
their territories and maximising their incomes, the latter were that and more
while spreading the holy word. Driven by this militant zeal to proselytise,
Christian missionaries travelled all over the country to harvest souls for
Christ. The tenets of Hinduism and Islam were openly ridiculed and
Christianity was advocated as the only gospel capable of deliverance of the
soul. The jagirs of temples and mosques were confiscated while bishops and
clergymen were highly paid. According to Malleson, Mr Mangles, the
chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company had openly proclaimed
that his mission was ordained by providence to make every Indian a
Christian. Hindu laws were scrapped in many parts of India. Converts to
Christianity were given rich incentives and managed to inherit property and
receive preferential treatment in the government services. There was thus an
intense feeling of insecurity among the Hindus and Muslims of India.
Amidst all this confusion, Lord Dalhousie became the governor general
in 1846. He made numerous annexations on the basis of the Doctrine of

Lapse, according to which a subsidiary kingdom automatically passed into
the hands of the Company when a ruler died without leaving a direct heir to
the throne. Adopted heirs were unacceptable to the doctrine. On this pretext
he annexed Satara (1848), Jhansi (1853), Nagpur (1854) and the states of
Jaipur, Sambhal, and Baghat Mysore was equally threatened as Krishnaraja
Wodeyar was growing older and did not yet have a son. With respect to
Mysore, Shama Rao records that Dalhousie had in fact observed:
I trust therefore that when the decease of the present Rajah shall come to pass without son
or grandson, or legitimate male heir of any description, the territory of Mysore which will
then have lapsed to the Government will be resumed, and that the good work which has
been so well begun will be completed.
The deposed rulers were deprived of all their titles and pensions as well.
The Mughal ruler was still acclaimed by one and all. In the beginning the
Company chose to be servile to the Mughal, calling itself ‘Badshah-La-
Fidwi-Khaus’ or His Highness’s most faithful servant. But once it had
established its supremacy across India, the attitude changed. The Mughal
ruler was humiliated. In fact, Lord Dalhousie’s successor, Lord Canning
announced that the successors of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar
would lose their title and be known merely as princes. Similarly when Baji
Rao II, the symbolic head of the Maratha confederacy, died in 1852, his son
Dhondupanth alias Nana Saheb was deprived of his father’s position and
pension. The annexation of Jhansi by Dalhousie when King Gangadhar died
childless is well known.
The situation was ripe for a backlash. Prince to peasant, rich to poor,
Pundit to Maulvi—all faced the same common enemy, the British. Only a
spark was needed to set the scene ablaze. That spark came in the form of the
greased cartridges.
As Barrackpore burnt and Mangal Pandey made history on 29 March 1857,
the countdown began for the final unfurling of the national tricolour ninety
years later. A nation which had slept for so long, which had accepted
invasions and plunders with fatalism, whose sad story told less of bravery
than of the treachery that had brought her under foreign occupation and
made her vulnerable to external attacks right from the times of Alexander,
had finally woken. This was the glorious year of 1857—the year of the
‘Sepoy Mutiny’ as the British historians call it and which Indian historians
term the ‘First War of Indian Independence’. While heroes like Haidar and
Tipu had engaged the British in bloody wars in the past, this was the first
time the struggle took a broader, pan-Indian approach. This was also
perhaps the first time that a spirit of nationhood, of being part of a larger
cause called India was at least kindled among the people who never thought
beyond the boundaries of their own kingdoms and principalities. It was this
valuable sense of Tndianness’ that took birth in 1857, which continues to
pervade the minds and souls of all Indians, regardless of millions of
divisions of religion, caste, class, creed, language and so on.
The seeds of the 1857 uprising had been sown across the country by the end
of the eighteenth century, and Mysore had not been left out. The Nagar
uprising was far more significant than a mere pocket of insurgency, not only
because of its scale but because economic issues were articulated by the
rebels. That a revolt so widespread and organised could be triggered by an
impostor, like Budi Basavappa, proves how volatile the situation was. This
was a wake-up call for the British and their feudatory kings, signifying the
arousal of the common man’s conscience and his readiness to raise his voice
against blatant injustice and exploitation.
It was a significant morale-booster and milestone for the people of
Mysore that a peasant force could topple the kingdom of the Company’s
blue-eyed boy. But for the British it was an opportunity to weaken the ruler
further. Of course, the British were the cause of the problem but blamed the
poor puppet ruler, using this as an excuse to usurp what little power he had
left. This is strangely similar to today’s Indian politics, where several central
governments have tried to dismiss a state government of another political
party on unsubstantiated charges of breakdown of law and order, and
imposed President’s rule.
If Mysore was an early host of a peasant-based revolt, Kittur, its
neighboui, did not lag behind where militant political resistance was
concerned. As early as 1824, Kittur led an armed struggle against the

British when the ruler Shivalingarudra, son of Mallasarja Desai, died. His
adopted son was his heir. But Thackeray, the commissioner and political
agent of the British at Dharwad misreported to the Madras government that
the adoption took place after the demise of the ruler under his forged
signature, thus compelling the government to reject the adoption. The
British decided to annex Kittur. However, the brave Rani, Chennamma,
protested against the move. She wrote a letter to the governor of Bombay to
approve the adoption. But when the plea was rejected she resorted to arms.
In October 1824 a war broke out. In a spirited address to members of her
court on 18 October 1824, she articulated thoughts and feelings that were at
the centre of the 1857 uprising:*
The Britishers have come to our land on the pretext of carrying on trade and now seeing
that we are quarrelling amongst ourselves, they want to grab our land and rule over us. They
want us to pay huge sums of nuzrana. They might have vanquished other rulers in this part
of the country by their cunning and wicked manoeuvres. If the Peshwas have done some
wrong to us, let us not forget that they are our own kith and kin. Some day they may realise
their follies and join hands with us to drive away these foreigners from our sacred land.
Interestingly, Kittur had been a vassal of the British on the lines of
Mysore after Shivalingarudra signed the Subsidiary Treaty with the
Company. Had the rani’s plea not been accepted, Kittur would perhaps have
gone the Mysore way in remaining a loyal ally of the British masters.
But things turned out otherwise, and the rani fought fiercely. Thackeray
was killed in the battle. The British were routed and two of their leading
commanders were taken prisoner. The defeat rattled the British.
Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay, ensured that in future plans were more
meticulous than ever before. They realigned themselves and re-attacked
Kittur in December 1824 with nearly 25,000 troops. Mysore supposedly
sent in two guns, 700 infantry and 2,000 cavalry to aid the British.
Unfortunately, the treachery of some of her husband’s trusted officers
caused Chennamma’s defeat. The entire Kittur army retreated to the fort
after being pounded to a pulp by the British forces. The town was looted,
the palace razed and its wooden decorations auctioned. Rani Chennamma
lost the most decisive battle of her life. She was taken prisoner and kept at
the Balihongal prison, where she died. Kittur was annexed but continued to
haunt British nightmares. Despite her death, Chennamma inspired a series
of freedom fighters who led their small armies against the British from
Kittur. Sangolli Rayanna, Shankaranna, Narappa Gajapathi, Sheik Sulaiman,
Nagappa Beda, Savay Shetty and Rudrappa Kotagi, all led their banners of
revolt against colonial hegemony.
In the Kittur battle of 1824, Sangolli Rayanna—one of Chennamma’s
soldiers—had fought bravely on behalf of the Kittur army. Rayanna now
made a small army of his own, looted government treasuries and burnt
down post offices. However, he was caught and hanged at Nandagad. Stories
of Rayanna’s bravery are now part of folklore, local patriotic songs and
inspirational stories. Thus, Karnataka had been at the forefront of the
struggle, pioneering the fight against the British with the likes of Haidar,
Tipu, Chennamma, Rayanna and others leading their armed struggle against
the Company forces. Although unsuccessful, these struggles stirred up
public conscience and instilled in them the desire to be masters of their own
destinies. Though separated by decades in time, it links them in spirit of the
heroes and heroines of the 1857 uprising.
In complete contrast to all this was the stance of the royalty of Mysore in
1857. Krishnaraja Wodeyar had the best reason to join the uprising
wholeheartedly. He had been, as he always claimed, unlawfully dispossessed
of his ancestral possessions and all his efforts in the past twenty-odd years
to build a case for himself through pleas, threats and the like had failed. He
had nothing to lose. But he actively sided with the British. His opportunism
and inability to understand the pulse of the people at large is truly
condemnable. He is rumoured to have distributed sweets on the streets of
Mysore after news trickled in that the 1857 uprising had failed. He was
desperate to demonstrate to the British that despite the unjust treatment
meted out to him by the Company, he remained steadfastly loyal. It was as
though he was still a terrified five-year-old on the throne of Mysore,
propped up and protected by the British. Or perhaps he had a reputation to
build and maintain—his failure to control the ryot upsurge at Nagar had
gone against his image as a ruler; this was his chance to demonstrate that he
could have a grip over things if he so wished.
Whatever the reasons, the British were only too pleased to have his
support. Josyer records Commissioner Cubbon’s words:

To no one was the Government more indebted for the preservation of tranquility than to His
Highness the Rajah of Mysore, who displayed the most steadfast loyalty, throughout the
crisis, discountenancing everything in the shape of disaffection, and took every opportunity
to proclaim his perfect confidence in the stability of the English rule. When a small party of
Europeans came to Mysore he made manifest his satisfaction by giving them a feast. He
offered one of his palaces for their accommodation, and as a stronghold for the security of
their treasure; and even gave up his own personal establishments of elephants etc, to assist
the 74th Highlanders in their forced march from the Nilgiris to Bellary for the protection of
the Ceded districts, a proceeding which, although of no great magnitude in itself, produced
great moral effect throughout the country. In fact there was nothing in his power which he
did not do to manifest his fidelity to the British Government, and to discourage the
unfriendly.
Viceroy Lord Canning mirrors these thoughts in a letter to the maharaja,
reproduced in Josyer’s book:
I was well aware that from the very beginning of those troubles the fidelity and attachment
to the British Government which have long marked Your Highness’ acts had been
conspicuous upon every opportunity. Your Highness’ wise confidence in the power of
England and your open manifestation of it, the consideration and kindness which you
showed to British subjects, and to the ready and useful assistance which you rendered to the
Queen’s troops have been mentioned by the Commissioner in terms of the highest praise. I
beg Your Highness to accept the expression of my warm thanks for those fresh proofs of the
spirit by which Your Highness is animated in your relations with the Government of India.
True to typical British double-speak, the gesture ended with the ‘warm
thanks’ and no efforts made to even consider the maharaja’s old demand of
transferring power to him.
———————————
*
Yakshagana is a folk art-form of Karnataka—a heady combination of music, dance and
drama. It would usually be performed in open fields and was an all-night affair.
*
Casmaijor’s and the ryots’ letters are taken from the New Delhi National Archives:
‘Copies of secret correspondence relating to the state of the Mysore government, 1831.’
*
From the New Delhi National Archives.
*
Her speech is taken from Saki’s 2004 book, Making History—Karnataka’s People and
Their Past, Vol. 2. Saki is the pseudonym for Saket Raman, an author and Naxal leader.
18
COMMISSIONERS’ RULE AND THE
ISSUE OF RENDITION AD 1831–68
ADMINISTRATION UNDER SIR MARK CUBBON
fter Briggs resigned in 1832, Morrison took over till, in June 1834, the
celebrated Colonel Sir Mark Cubbon became the senior commisioner
of Mysore at the age of forty-nine. He had entered the English East India
Company’s services as a junior officer and risen to positions of eminence
through sheer hard work and sincerity. The thirty long years of his
administration helped Mysore improve its machinery completely, reforming
the flagrant abuse prevalent in several departments. He also put an end to
unnecessary expenditures in administration. Fascinated by the city of
Bangalore, Cubbon shifted the capital from Mysore to Bangalore with
Tipu’s palace at Bangalore serving as the new secretariat.
The period from 1831 to 1881, which marked the Commissioners’ Rule
era in Mysore, saw great progress and prosperity being ushered into the
state. There are three distinct phases of the Commissioners’ Rule into which
historians categorise the fifty-year period. The first phase (1831–55) is
called the ‘Non-regulation’ or ‘Patriarchal System’ phase, when the main
objective was not to make any radical changes in the administration but to
consolidate the existing system. The immediate concern was the
establishment of law and order following widespread rebellion, redressai of
peasants’ concerns, prevention of flagrant abuses of power and corruption
that had led to the mass uprising and purification of the native system of
judicial jurisprudence. The period from 1856 to 1862 is called the
‘Transition Phase’, and from 1863 to 1881, the ‘Regulation System’ phase.
To revitalise the administrative set-up, Cubbon reorganised the
administrative divisions into four zones: Bangalore, Chitradurga, Ashtagram
and Nagar. Each was placed under a European superintendent. There were
120 taluks in the state, each under one of these four divisions. Every taluk
was placed under an amildar and divided into hoblis that came under the
jurisdiction of a hoblidar or shekdar. The hobli comprised many villages
that were headed by a Patel or Gowda. The powers of the superintendents in
the divisions were enhanced. The amildars could communicate directly with
the commissioner and report any problems they faced. The commissioner’s
secretariat consisted of the first assistant who, as personal secretary to the
commissioner, perfomed the duties of the secretary in all branches; the
military assistant who also looked after local militia; three junior assistants
in charge of different departments and a junior assistant kept as standby.
The amildar collected revenue from villages and hoblis and looked after
the taluk administration. Cubbon also created a secretariat at Bangalore with
nine departments: Revenue, Posts, Police, Sawar, Maramat, Medical, Amrita
Mahal, Education and Justice, each under a shirastedar. Ten personal
assistants were appointed to these shirastedars as personal secretaries.
Government proceedings were made known to people at large through
circulars, notifications and proclamations. Rules and regulations were
publicised in conspicuous places in Kannada, the language of the masses.
The Double Daftar system was abolished and the official language was
either Kannada or Marathi.
Land revenue was the main source of state income and the land was held
by two main systems—the Ryotwari and the Batayi. Under the Ryotwari
system the cultivator was recognised as the real owner of the land as long as
he paid his revenues (half of the produce, and the poor cultivators were
forced to pay even if their crops were destroyed partially or wholly). Under
the Batayi system, the government and the ryot shared the produce and the
assessment was made in kind. Every effort was made to convert the Batayi
to payment of money and to remove irksome procedures where they existed.
The establishment of new industries and the improvement effected in the
quality of commodities like cotton, wool and silk greatly helped improve the
economy.
The judiciary was also improved: eighty-five taluka courts were created
with eight principal Sadar Munshi courts, four Superintendent Courts, one
Huzur Adalat court with three judges and the Commissioner’s court. The
Huzur Adalat and the Commissioner’s courts were courts of appeal.
Between 1855 and 1856 Governor General Lord Dalhousie visited Mysore.
This was followed by the appointment of a judicial commissioner who
would relieve the commissioner of some of his judicial duties. Panchayats at
village level for criminal and civil cases continued. While the judicial
system was completely overhauled during the commissioners’ rule with the
areas of jurisdiction of the different courts clearly laid out, there were
several cases of delay in dispensing justice that led to uncertainty and
discomfort for the parties concerned.
The police force was revitalised. Taluk amildars were assisted by
killedars, hoblidars, daffedars and kandachar peons. Villagers were
authorised to use arms in self-defence. Additional establishments of the
police forces were stationed in Mysore, Tumkur, Shimoga and Bangalore.
Between 1856 and 1862, steps were taken to form separate departments for
important activities, like public works, education, audit, accounts and
forests. In order to incorporate engineering skills into the system, the public
works or Maramat department was staffed with one chief engineer and
eleven upper- and nineteen lower-level engineers. Construction of roads was
top priority, with more than 1,600 miles of roads constructed to connect all
the district headquarters within the state. Five bridges were built at Maddur,
Bhadravati, Hosakote, Shimoga and Hiriyur. About 336 miles of telegraph

*
lines and a railway line from Bangalore to Jolarpet starting early in 1859
can be credited to Cubbon’s vision.
A separate Forests Department was set up to promote forests and to
safeguard in particular the pride of Mysore—sandalwood. An individual
department to preserve forest wealth was set up under a Conservator of
Forests. Hospitals were opened in all major towns. Anglo-vernacular
schools aided by Christian missionaries sprang up in the state and
particularly in cities, like Bangalore and Mysore. Many present-day schools
of repute in Bangalore, like the Bishop Cotton Boys’ and Girls’ schools and
the Baldwins schools, were established in the latter half of the nineteenth
century under the commissioners’ rule.

Cubbon also gave an impetus to the coffee industry with 1,60,000 acres
of coffee plantations in the state by the end of his rule. His most laudable
achievement, however, was a complete reorganisation of the finances of the
state. In 1834–35 the state’s revenues were at Rs 68 lakh and rose to Rs 84
lakh by 1855–56. Income from other sources like panchabab and sayer
(customs duties) also increased markedly. The state had a public debt of Rs
85 lakh when Cubbon assumed office, but all of it was repaid by 1857 and
when he left office there were accumulated savings of Rs 40 lakh in the
treasury. Cubbon continued to pay the annual subsidy of Rs 24.5 lakh to the
Madras government as stipulated in the Treaty of 1799. He abolished
unremunerative taxes and octroi, which in the long run helped improve the
state’s economy.
ADMINISTRATION UNDER LEWIN BOWRING
Mark Cubbon resigned in 1861. He died near Suez, on his way back to
England. He was succeeded by Lewin Bentham Bowring as commissioner
in 1862. From 1863 onwards Mysore became a ‘Regulation Province’ and a
series of reorganisations were effected in the system.
Bowring was another famed character in Mysore’s history, and like his
predecessor, continued the reform process to make Mysore a modern and
progressive state. He had much administrative experience in the provinces of
Bengal and Punjab. He created a wide network of roads all over the
kingdom and took steps to connect Bangalore with Jalarpet through
railways, in order to reach Madras, the seat of British power in southern
India. Bowring divided Mysore into three administrative zones: Nandidurga,
Ashtagram and Nagar, each under a commissioner. The state commissioner
came to be known as the chief commissioner. Eight districts were created,
each headed by a superintendent or deputy commissioner. Taluks had
amildars and shekdars and hoblis the hoblidar as their administrative head.
The Revenue Survey and settlement departments were reorganised.
Lands were accurately measured and revenue determined accordingly. In
1863 an officer was appointed as the ‘Commissioner for Survey Settlement’.
Surveyors were brought in from Bombay Presidency and they completed
their assignment by 1888. In 1864, he got the Registration Act passed, by

which all property transactions had to be registered. This was intended to
curb corruption and benami transactions in properties. He set up the Inam
Commission which commenced its work in 1863. A comprehensive
Revenue circular was issued in 1864 to systematise revenue cases and
records. Committees on the survey system and irrigation matters were
formed to deal with important aspects concerning their respective subjects.
The Bombay Acts I (1865) and IV (1868) were promulgated, the Survey and
Settlement rules framed along those lines, and a uniform set of returns and
registers adopted in 1863.
The judicial and police departments received further attention from
Bowring. A Judicial Commission was appointed for the whole state. This
would be the chief court of all civil and criminal cases. Divisional
commissioners, assistant commissioners and amildars came to assume
judicial powers. 125 Munsiff courts were set up. Civil and criminal cases
were clearly separated. The Indian Penal Code or the Code of Criminal
Procedure Act X of 1872 was introduced in Mysore. It defined offences and
specified the measures of punishment, abolished the system of fees in lieu of
which the stamp rules and stamp papers were issued. In 1873 the separation
of civil and criminal functions was attempted, along with the formation of
Munsiff courts in the Nandidurga division. Under the revised system, the
number of courts went up from 103 to 125.
The police system, on the other hand, was reorganised along the lines of
the Madras Presidency. An inspector general and deputy inspector general
of police were appointed at district levels and the old Kandachar peons were
retrenched. District superintendents of police were appointed to maintain
law and order at the district levels.
To Bowring goes the credit of encouraging education on a large scale.
Education in Kannada and English ranked high on Bowring’s agenda. In
1868 he established the Central Education Agency to set up schools in
towns and colleges. Louis Rice, the director of Public Instruction in 1868
started the Hobli School System. The Bangalore Central College building
(started in 1860 as Bangalore High School) and the Bangalore Museum
building were built during this time. He shifted the Secretariat from Tipu’s
Bangalore Palace to the Attara Kacheri building. He set up new hospitals
and expanded the engineering and horticultural departments. Following the
famine of 1866 a reservoir was constructed near the Miller Tank to provide
drinking water to Bangalore. Thus, it was the pioneering work done by
administrators, like Mark Cubbon and Lewin Bowring, that laid the
foundations of a progressive, modem Karnataka.
After rendering such invaluable services to the state, Bowring resigned
in 1870. Between 1870 and 1881, Mysore was placed under the command
of three chief commissioners—Colonel Richard Meade until 1875, C.B.
Saunders for two years and J.D. Gordon from April 1878 to 1881. This fifty-
year Commissioners’ Rule saw a gradual transformation from the existing
Hindu and feudal system of governance to one based on the British model—
modern and progressive in its outlook. While all the old institutions of the
state, which were worth their name and had stood the test of time, were
continued, the defunct and disadvantageous elements were pruned out.
The British rule of this period in Mysore was generally considered
benign and helpful, unlike the extremely exploitative role it had played in
other parts of the country. Better systems of law-and-order enforcement
were put in place under the commissioners, outdated social evils were
abolished, as was corporal punishment. Modem amenities like railways,
telegraph and roads were introduced, education became more accessible and
the revenue system was remodelled in a more reasonable manner. The
process of Mysore’s modernisation would have lagged by a few decades had
it not been for the commissioners and their foresight.
This was perhaps one reason why mass uprisings of the kind that
erupted in the North and Bengal never broke out in Mysore after the Nagar
revolt. By 1881, Mysore had emerged as an orderly, peaceful, well-
administered and progressive state of British India.
But we must remember that behind all these progressive measures lay
imperialist designs. It was neither philanthropy nor public welfare that
motivated the British. Transport and communication were improved to help
carry locally available raw materials to the ports and to England and bring
back British goods to local markets across the state. When a proposal was
sent to the British government in 1870 to improve the irrigation tank system
in the state, the commissioner was promptly instructed that the laying of
railway lines and not improvement of tanks needed to take priority. In fact
the Mysore Tank Code of 1878 reduced state expenditure on many irrigation
tanks. Thus it was incidental, rather than intentional, that the measures
adopted seemed to propel Mysore into the realm of modernism and
progressiveness.
FRICTION BETWEEN THE COMMISSIONERS
AND THE MAHARAJA
The differences between the maharaja and the commissioners were public
knowledge. While the maharaja saw the commissioner as a usurper, the
latter considered the maharaja an unnecessary obstacle in matters of state
that had no locus standi under the new dispensation. Ultimately, the
maharaja wrote a long letter to the governor general, Lord Ellenborough, in
1846, complaining about the situation where even the payment of one lakh
Star Pagodas and one-fifth of the state’s net revenue as per Bentinck’s
formula was denied to him on different grounds. Some excerpts from the
letter appear here, taken from Josyer’s account:*
As regards myself I deem it fit to declare that I am perfectly unconscious of ever having in
the remotest degree merited anything unfriendly from the Commissioner. But what can be
the cause of the Commissioner’s past hostilities and continued opposition towards me is an
enigma which I am unable to solve....
My Lord, I must candidly confess that I have no confidence in him as a
friend of my interest or dignity; and I cannot consequently feel assured that in
his communications with your Lordship regarding myself or my State he acts
an impartial part. I have therefore determined to appeal to your Lordship
myself. Your Lordship will deem it no exaggeration when I declare that I feel
myself entirely at the mercy of the Commissioner, who as he has by offering
me every species of annoyance and hostility in his power, proved himself not to
be my friend, neither can I safely calculate upon my security while directly
placed under his absolute power as the sole Commissioner of Mysore and also
Resident at my Durbar. I feel myself unprotected, and I dread to contemplate
the consequence of my defenceless situation. The feeling of opposition and
hostility which has so strongly marked the Commissioner’s conduct towards
me for the last eight years, but especially the undisguised character it has
recently assumed is become matter of public observation. I shall therefore, my
Lord, only add that, after all what I have said, and respectfully urged upon your
Lordship’s consideration, if your Lordship could possibly consent to leave me
even for a moment exposed to the dangers of my present extremely painful
situation, I would willingly prefer death to disgrace, and if Your Lordship
cannot immediately interpose to rescue me from the latter, implore most

earnestly that your Lordship will inflict upon me yourself anything you like,
but do not abandon me to the sport of my inferiors.
The war of words continued. When an adversary of the maharaja,
Timmarajaiya, was appointed judge of the Adawalat or High Court, a baffled
maharaja directly wrote to the commissioner, seeking an explanation:
You are of course aware that this is the first instance in which I have addressed you
regarding the distribution of native officers or any other arrangement connected with the
public administration of my country since the appointment of the Commission. It may
therefore be needless to assure you that I should not have now deviated from the uniform
conduct I have hitherto observed, were I not impelled by weighty considerations of what is
due to my feelings as sovereign of Mysore, for in the event of the consummation of this
appointment in the Government of my own country and before my own eyes, I cannot but
regard it as a direct insult offered to my person, and which will doubtless be manifest to
yourself on a little consideration, knowing as you do the treacherous misconduct of these
men and the fact of my having in consequence ultimately discharged them.
In reply, Cubbon wrote placidly:
It is impossible I can regard Your Highness’ communication so much in the light of a
remonstrance against an act in contemplation as a deliberate impeachment of the
Government of this country for having actually conferred an office of high trust and
responsibility upon an unworthy person, whose treacherous and traitorous misconduct,
Your Highness declares, I am acquainted with. As your Highness’ letter under either
interpretation, and more especially when taken in conjunction with the defamatory
imputations recently cast by Your Highness upon the highest authorities in this country,
imputations calculated, if they could possibly be believed by the people, to destroy their
confidence in the administration of justice appears to me to be a clear departure from the
course of conduct expected from Your Highness. I consider it my duty to recall to Your
Highness’ recollection the views and intentions of the Government of India upon this point
as first communicated to the Commissioners in 1831 and again in 1836, and to express my
most anxious desire that no occasion may arise to impose upon me the painful obligation of
representing to the Right Honourable Governor General that Your Highness’ interference
has a tendency to obstruct and weaken the course of administration, and, in the words of the
Government, to frustrate the successful efforts which have been made for the amelioration
of the country.
Not one to be cowed down, the maharaja sent another passionate letter
to the governor general pleading that he take cognisance of the growing
animosity between him and the commissioner:

I had it in contemplation, my Lord, in the absence of a Resident and friend to lay before
Your Lordship myself in a formal manner a respectful solicitation for restoration to me of
the Government of my country. At this critical juncture the efforts made by the
Commissioner to oppose my views have already been submitted to your Lordship, and now,
my Lord, after 12 years, he insults me with a threat of expulsion from my own country, by
th
quoting a para of a letter dated 6 September 1831 for the first time for my information.
What have I done, my Lord, to merit these insults from the Commissioner? My Lord, in the
ordinary obligations of life, according to ancient saying, it becomes part of the maternal
duty to cherish her offspring with the sustenance of her own breast, and while I look upon
the British Government as my parent for every support, what could have induced the
Commissioner to lead me to apprehend that the breast which hitherto nourished me with
milk might eventually feed me with poison? I respectfully leave it to Your Lordship’s
superior judgment to determine. Is it because I venture to say that the rumoured
appointment of Thimmapparajiah, one of my ‘worst enemies’, one of those unprincipled
favourites who profited by the past misrule, and one of those treacherous and traitorous
men who consummated the ruin of my affairs, if true, could prove a great outrage to my
feelings that the Commissioner has thought proper to treat me in this manner? Your
Lordship is aware that whatever I may communicate to Your Lordship the Commissioner
has the opportunity of knowing, whereas I, my Lord, know not what he writes to your
Lordship regarding me. I have no friend to represent any case of mine. I have no support,
my Lord, save that of yourself, and in your Lordship’s just and generous hands I have
unreservedly committed my present welfare and future happiness in full certainty that the
exalted nobleman at the head of the British Government in India has not only the power to
avenge the grievous indignities unmeritedly inflicted upon me in this my humbled situation,
but also the heart to administer to my lacerated feelings the unction of his friendly
sympathy.
The war of words continued this way and the maharaja gave spirited
replies to the accusations levelled against him. In one of his most vocal pleas
he addressed Governor General Lord Henry Hardinge in June 1845:
With reference to my Kareetha of the 7th September 1844, to which I have not as yet had
the honour of a reply, I am compelled again to appeal to Your Excellency and to the well
known justice of the British Government in reference to my position and my just rights,
which the confidence that I feel in British justice persuades me will not be longer refused to
me, on a clear and distinct appeal to the Government. It is not unknown to me that my
character has been misrepresented and that not only in confidential political
communications, but publicly in evidence before the House of Commons in England. I am
also aware that it may be the interest and object of others still to keep up this belief in the
minds of those who (not knowing me personally themselves) alone have the power to do me
justice. But I can with the utmost confidence challenge those who villify me, whether
through ignorance or enmity, to the proof, and call on those who best know me and have
had the best means of knowing me, the Residents and other European gentlemen who have
been at my Court for the last 16 years, to say, whether such terms as my being ‘utterly
demoralized,’ ‘fit for nothing,’ ‘can never show proof of competence to govern,’ etc. are not
a base and foul slander; these may seem strong terms, but not too strong when the calumny
has reference to my character and dearest interests in life, though I donot impute evil
motives to the asserter. It may have been said in ignorance or through misinformation. I can
call on those who now last know me to say whether at this moment I am not as to mental
and physical vigour as capable of governing my country as any man of 50 years of age in
India. I am not aware that it has been attempted to show that any reason exists sufficient to
render null the Hon’ble Company’s treaty with me, or to justify the withholding from me
now the Government of my country. That I have been extravagant as to pecuniary matters in
my younger days, and have unfortunately in some instances had as confidential advisers,
persons who afterwards proved themselves unworthy of such confidence I freely avow, but I
will not mock common sense or justice to suppose that any person could assert or believe
that because either Prince or private individual had been at one time of his life wasteful in
his pecuniary arrangements, or had managed his affairs in some respects but indifferently,
he should therefore be disinherited forever. Even now, I confess I have no wish to hoard my
income or bury it in the earth, but to spend it in my country and amongst my people from
whose industry I derive it.
I believe I could make it plain that the assumption of the Government of
my country by Lord William Bentinck was a measure both unnecessary and
uncalled for by the exigencies of the time, not to speak of its being unjustified
by the Treaty existing between the Hon’ble Company and myself. Disturbances
there were in some Districts of my country; but do not disturbances occur in
portions of the Company’s country without any blame being imputed to the
Government’s authority? I had contracted debts, it is true; but what were they
in proportion to the revenue of my country, and have not the best and most
upright Governments in the world debts? But I am willing to let the past rest in
oblivion and to draw Your Excellency’s attention to the present and ask you
and the British Government, with all due deference and respect, what just
ground there is now for withholding from me my true, I may say, my
unalienable rights? I appeal to the Treaty existing between the Government and
myself, that treaty which I have never violated in the slightest particular or
degree and which I am sure Your Excellency will consider the Government
bound in honour to abide by.
Interestingly all the replies from the side of the Company were highly
reassuring; they all began with the addressing mode of ‘My Friend’ and
hoped that very soon the transfer of power could happen and that the
Commissioner’s Rule was only a temporary and stop-gap arrangement. But
nothing ever changed; these were plain and empty words of succour that
meant little in reality. The actual verdict had been passed by the Board of
Directors in England in a short and crisp judgment:

We would not willingly, after having assumed the powers of • Government, place the
inhabitants of any portion of the territory, however small, under the absolute domain of
such a Ruler. We are desirous of adhering as far as can be done, to the native usages, and
not to introduce a system which cannot be worked hereafter by native agency if and when
the country shall be restored to the Rajah or his successors. The real hindrance (of the
transfer) is the hazard, which would be incurred to the prosperity and good Government
which the country now enjoys, by replacing it under a Ruler known by experience to be
thoroughly incompetent.
But the deposed Maharaja Mummadi Krishnararaja Wodeyar was not
one to sit quiet. He was the grandson of Maharani Lakshmammanni, who
had personified grit and determination. He tried to build a rapport with
Governor General Lord William Bentinck, who openly advocated his cause.
The maharaja used to hold horse races on his birthdays. A big party of
European guests would be invited and there would be three banquets—one
on the first day of the race, the second on his birthday and the last at the end
of the festivities. He used all these occasions to build a case for himself and
the restoration of the throne to the Wodeyars. He kept reminding the British
of the long-lasting ties they had enjoyed, right from the times of Maharani
Lakshmammanni to the recent times when he had silently supported them in
all their tribulations, such as the 1857 upsurge. On their part, the British
kept acknowledging his loyalty but postponed the transfer of power on the
grounds that the situation was not yet ripe, confirming at the same time that
the Commissioners’ Rule was only a temporary arrangement and not a
permanent feature that he needed to be afraid of. Queen Victoria on her
birthday even granted him the title of GCSI or ‘The Knight Commander of
the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India’. The maharaja waited for eight
years for his reinstatement, urging Lord Ellenborough and his successor Sir
Henry Hardinge to help him. A committee was formed in November 1845 to
investigate the Nagar episode but its report on 14 June 1847 disqualified
him.
In 1861, with the concurrence of the viceroy and the secretary of state,
the maharaja sent some gem-set necklaces and other jewellery along with
some Mysore-bred horses, cows and bulls under the care of the Durbar
surgeon Dr Campbell to be presented to Queen Victoria. Commanded by
her to acknowledge the same, the secretary of state wrote back:

The assurances of Your Highness’ friendship are very welcome to Her Majesty, who can
receive no such precious gifts from the Princes and Chiefs of India as the good words
which they send to her from their distant homes. From Your Highness these good wishes
are especially gratifying. For more than 60 years you have been the faithful ally of the
British Government who felt assured, when trouble recently overtook them, that as Your
Highness was the oldest so would you be the staunchest of their friends, if evil and
misguided men should seek to sow sedition in Your Highness’ country. By the blessing of
God the Southern peninsula of India remained undisturbed, but Your Highness nevertheless
was enabled to contribute to the success of British arms by the assistance which you
rendered to the passage of Her Majesty’s troops towards disturbed Districts, whilst by your
personal bearing in this critical juncture, you encouraged and sustained the loyalty of your
subjects and helped to preserve the tranquility of the country. I am commanded by Her
Majesty to send to Your Highness, under charge of Dr Campbell, a few specimens of the
manufactures of Great Britain and other articles of which Her Majesty requests your
acceptance as token of Her friendship and esteem.
This was followed by a series of high-powered meetings at the Secretary
of State’s Council to decide on the future course of action with respect to
Mysore. The majority held the view that it was not binding on the British
government to restore the kingdom to the maharaja, though dissenting
voices to the same came through from Sir Henry Montgomery, Sir Frederick
Currie and Sir John Willoughby. The final decision was communicated to
the Maharaja in the following personal interview:
On the 3rd February 1864 precisely at 1 P.M. the Commissioner and his Secretary visited
the Maharaja, and after mutual enquiries, the Commissioner was silent for a minute or two
when it was easy to read in his countenance all that could aggravate the pangs of the blows
already sustained once by the heart of His Highness. Conversation was commenced by the
Commissioner as follows: ‘A Khareetha has been received from the Viceroy to Your
Highness’ address containing the final decision passed against Your Highness’ appeal to the
Secretary of State for India.’ So saying Mr Bowring handed the Khareetha to His Highness.
The Maharaja received it and placing it in his right hand, remained a while silent, grief and
horror struck. In the meantime Mr Bowring urged His Highness to unfold the Khareetha.
Finding His Highness somewhat slow in untying the strings of the bag, which had
contained it, Mr Bowring took it from His Highness’ hand, cut the strings with his sword
and rehanded it to His Highness. The Maharaja having opened the Khareetha desired Mr
Bowring to explain it to him. The purport was made known in a few words. This was
enough to disturb the tender emotions of His Highness. Grief and disappointment preyed
upon his heart and made him almost distracted. His Highness was a while absorbed on the
one hand in endeavouring to compose himself and on the other contemplating what future
measures he should adopt. In the meantime Mr Bowring hurried the Maharaja for his reply
to the decision. His Highness replied—’ I bow to the decision: but I cannot help declaring
that in fact justice is denied to me totally by Home Authorities. It is wonderful that the
same British government who to secure lasting fame and good faith did justice to my
hereditary rights by placing me while a helpless boy of 5 years of age on my ancestral
Throne, have now scrupled not to commit breach of faith and subject themselves to infamy
by forcing such an unjust decision upon me. If they are to cut down the very tree they
themselves nurtured, what can I do?So long as justice sides my cause there is little fear of
losing my rights. If one authority refuses me my claims I shall never cease to importune
another higher authority for a better treatment. Once more I assure you that it is my desire
that this State, which from time immemorial has been possessed by my house should be
ever continued native and uninterruptedly enjoyed by my posterity.
Composers during Mummadi Krishnaraja’s reign: Veene sambayya

Veene Shamanna and Veene Subrahmanya Iyer
Composers during Mummadi Krishnaraja’s reign: Veene
Ananthasubbayya
Venkatasubbaya
The trinity of Carnatic music-Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Thyagaraja and
Shyama Shastry
Doddasubbaraya
Composers during Mummadi Krishnaraja’s reign: Aliya Lingaraja Urs

Pioneer of the Mysore Bani of Veena: Veene Sheshanna
Basappa Shastry
Veene Subbanna
The grand old man of classical music in Mysore: Mysore
Vasudevacharya
Bidaram Krishnappa
Vasudevacharya in a musical discourse with his students

Vasudevacharya with Yoganarasimham and Lakshminarasimhacharya
Vasudevacharya in concert
Muthaiah Bhagavathar in the court of Mysore
The innovator and musical genius: Muthaiah Bhagavathar
Muthaiah Bhagavathar, the consummate musician
Veene Venkatagiriappa
Chintalapalli Venkata Rao of the famed Chintalapalli family of
musicians who found patronage in Mysore
Mysore T.Chowdaiah
Bangalore Nagaratnamma
Musicians enthrall young Prince Jayachamaraja in a private musical
session
The maharaja on his part had two allies to stand by him—Dr Campbell,
who espoused his cause in the British media and power circles, and Bakshi
Narasappa, who stood by the maharaja in his domestic endeavours, though
the British tried to use the services of Major Elliot and Major Martin to
work on Narasappa to urge the maharaja to give up his claims. In an
interview with him, Major Elliot was greatly inflamed:
Both yourself and His Highness are seated on a box of gunpowder and you cannot avoid its
taking fire. But you should bear it in mind that sooner or later, it is sure you both will be
blown up to the wind. Besides this I quite apprehend that you are giving His Highness every
day bad counsels not to accept the present proposition of the Commissioner and to be more
firm and steady against the Government who are this moment too powerful and very strong,
and that your counsels make deep impression upon His Highness, spoil the business and
ruin His Highness and family altogether. Take care you both will ever be in hazard of
incurring the displeasure of the Commissioner. His Highness might be put into a cage like a
parrot and shown to the world; as to your fate I need hardly say that it will be one similar to
the late Venkappaji’s, the Vakeel of His Highness.
Despite these threats, Narasappa stood resolute. They sought to create
public opinion through mass signature campaigns by the people of Mysore
that would be submitted to the viceroy insisting on the reinstatement of their
ruler. The maharaja’s age, 62, was another minus point for him. Moreover
*
he was childless, the usual occurrence in the Wodeyar family. Bakshi
Narasappa, Kolar Krishnaiyyangar and S. Venkatavarada Iyengar—the
maharaja’s confidantes—set up an adoption plan. But this was not accepted
by the British till the maharaja turned seventy-one. The wait for the throne
continued. The maharaja awaited British permission to ascend the throne.
He was like a leafless tree in the autumn with none to succeed him. Finally
at the ripe old age of seventy-one, with no hopes of fathering a male heir, he
decided to adopt one instead. The lot fell on the son of his daughter
Devajammanni and Krishne Urs. On 22 February 1863, a son was born to
Devajammanni. He was christened Chamarajendra. He had two brothers and
one siste—Gopalaraje Urs, Subrahmanyaraje Urs and Puttalakshmammanni.
The boy belonged to the same family of Bettadakote as Katti Gopalaraje Urs
and his daughter Maharani Lakshmammanni. On 17 June 1865, the raja
formally adopted the two-year-old. The child was brought behind the
purdah. The traditional function began and at about half past eleven the
royal salute was given. Mantras were chanted. The maharaja sat at the centre
of the Amba Vilasa Pavilion of the palace with Brahmin priests surrounding
him. The family priest of the Wodeyars, the Parakala Muth Swami, was also
present. Amid pomp and grandeur the child was adopted and the adoption
legally recognised by the British.
Shama Rao writes that after the ceremony, the maharaja sent a telegram
to the viceroy and secretary of state:
The boy I have selected is a child of two and a half years of age, of the purest Raja-Bindy or
Royal blood. He is the 3rd son of the late Chikka Krishne Urs and grandson of Gopalaraje
Urs, the brother of Lakshmammanni Rani (the Rani who signed the treaty between my
family and the East India Company in 1799), who is the daughter of Katti Gopalaraj Urs of
Bettada Kotey House, one of the 13 families with which mine is most nearly related. It only
remains for me to solicit the protection of the Government of India and England to the heir
whom I have adopted, and to request that Your Excellency will do me the favour to issue
instructions to the Commissioner for Government of my Territories for the careful
observance of all the honors and privileges due to the boy as my heir.
Quite uncharacteristically, a speedy reply arrived from the
commissioner:
In reply to Your Highness’ telegram, I have the honour to point out that an adoption by
Your Highness will not be recognised unless it has received the assent, and is in accordance
with the orders of the Government of India.
But by now the maharaja knew how to play his cards. Gone were the
long letters he wrote earlier beseeching mercy and grace. He decided to take
the battle straight into the court at England. He knew the soft corner that
some members of the Council of the Secretary of State and also the press in
England had for his cause. He decided to utilise the same to his advantage.
Sir John Willoughby, Sir Frederick Currie, Sir Henry Montgomery, Sir
George Clerk and Dr Eastwick of the Council had strictly opposed any
move towards permanent annexation. Sir John Low, member of the Supreme
Council, General Fraser, Briggs and Jacob, Secretary Bayley of the Madras
government and Colonel Haines, excommissioner of Mysore and others sent
a joint petition to the House of Commons to preserve the sovereignty of the
princely state of Mysore and its ancestral throne. At this time, Lord
Cranboume took over as the new secretary of state from Sir Charles Wood.
On 23 July 1866, the ‘Mysore Caucus’, along with Sir Henry Rawlinson
and Sir Edward Colebrook, a Member of Parliament, impressed upon the
new incumbent the need to recognise the adoption made by the maharaja
and slowly divest power from the commissioner to the royal family. They
were supported by Lord Willian Hay, Member of Parliament who
vociferously vouched that any hasty action by the British Government would
scar the very reputation of fair play and justice of Her Majesty Queen
Victoria. To give credence to their claims, they took along General Briggs,
the first commissioner of Mysore, who reported that the cases of
maladministration were grossly misrepresented and exaggerated.
Overwhelmed by this huge contingent making common cause for a princely
state of India, Lord Cranboume asked them pointedly what they expected
him to do. The team requested him to immediately maintain the native state,
consent to the adoption and make way for the transition of power. The
secretary of state said he would look into the matter deeply and give it active
consideration.
The Press of England, known for its free views and thoughts, lashed out
at the British government’s motives and actions. Josyer tells us that one
daily wrote, ‘For every shame let us hear no more of Mysore annexation.’
Another detailed:
A fertile and pleasant Province like Mysore, providing a cool summer retreat for
Government, and snug berths for sons and nephews, may seem a rich prize for Indian
Officials; but it is marvellous that any English Statesman, taking from a distance a
comprehensive survey of the vast Empire of India and mindful of the giant career that, for
good or evil, lies before it, should have failed to see that twenty such Provinces as Mysore
would be dearly purchased if their possession crippled the influence which it is our high
mission to exercise upon the future of India, by shaking the confidence of our native
subjects and allies in our moderation and even our good faith.
The candid recollections of John Morley, who became secretary of state
forty years later, can be found in Josyer’s book:
And there can be no doubt that viewed from the point of higher international morality,
measured by the purer standard of the political duty of the superior to the inferior race,
which prevails in the present decade of the century—the policy of the Indian government,
prompted by men of the old school like Sir Thomas Munro and Sir Mark Cubbon was in
the last degree selfish, grasping and hollow—we shall be accused of acting hypocritically
from first to last. Lord Wellesley established a Kingdom, which he never meant to be
maintained. He made a treaty with the Nizam to last while sun and moon should endure,
but he only meant while it should suit English policy. We assumed the administration of
Mysore under the pretext of securing a subsidy, but all the time we never intended to give it
back again. We declared that we recognized the right of adoption, and on the first
opportunity we decline to do any such thing. We declared that we had given up the evil
policy of annexation and then we annex the first territory on which we can lay our hands. It
is not difficult to see how ugly our conduct can thus, without much forcing be made to look.
And all India is said, on creditable authority, to be watching the case. We have abandoned
our legitimate influence in the West in order to annex in the East. We preach moral suasion
in Europe, so that we may be free to practise material repression in Asia. We make
ourselves despised in one continent in order to make ourselves hated in another. It would be
paying many of our Cabinet ministers of either party much too high a compliment to say
this is their deliberate policy. They have replaced our old, and in many points our bad
system of ‘Thorough’ by the new and in all points, the worse principle of ‘Drift’. The story
of Mysore illustrates only too perfectly the perils in which the Drift system may involve us
in matters not immediately under the public eye. The only consolatory reflection is that in
this instance Public opinion may even now come into operation and reverse a policy which
is opposed alike to principles of justice, and to the expediency of the hour.
In early 1867, the question was taken for a full-dress debate in the
British Parliament and tempers ran high. Dr Campbell, who witnessed the
proceedings of the House, sent in a cable to the maharaja on 24 February
1867: ‘I heartily congratulate Your Highness. House of Commons decided
last night. Mysore Kingdom safe. Prince succeeds Your Highness.
Campbell.’ The cable was music for the ears of the old and ailing maharaja,
who had fought an unrelenting and life-long battle against the powers-that-
be for the restoration of his ancestral throne.
The secretary of state, Northcote wrote to the maharaja on 16 April
1867:
Having regard to the antiquity of the Maharaja’s family, its long connection with Mysore,
and the personal loyalty and attachment to the British Government which His Highness has
so conspicuously manifested, Her Majesty desires to maintain that family on the Throne in
the person of His Highness’ adopted son upon terms corresponding with those made in
1799, so far as the altered circumstances of the present time will allow.
The adopted son was to be educated under the superintendence of the
Indian government. And as though to clear the old maharaja’s name of any
stigma that might have attached to it by the British government’s previous

course of action, Her Majesty Queen Victoria in May 1867 conferred on
him the title of Knight Grand Commander of the Star of India with these
words:
We are desirous of conferring upon you such mark of our Royal favour as will evince the
esteem in which we hold your person and the service you have rendered to our Indian
Empire. We have thought fit to nominate and appoint you to be a Knight Grand Commander
of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India.
Thus, towards the end of his life, through his sheer perseverance and
grit, Krishnaraja Wodeyar managed to redeem his name and the throne for
his family. That he could never again ascend the throne was not such a sore
point since he saw it restored to a successor of his clan. Shortly thereafter,
Krishnaraja’s health deteriorated. By 23 March 1868, his health worsened.
Finally on the right of 27 March 1868, Krishnaraja Wodeyar breathed his
last. Bakshi Narasappa informed Elliot about his death. The palace and
properties, almirahs, treasury and records were sealed. On 28 March 1868
the funeral was held below the Doddakere bund. People flocked to catch a
last glimpse of their maharaja. Despite having been deposed, he enjoyed a
lot of goodwill and affection among his subjects. Prince Chamarajendra was
kept away from the sight of mourning and the dead body. The sandalwood-
and-camphor cremation went off smoothly. Thus ended the story of
Krishnaraja Wodeyar—the man handpicked by the British after Tipu’s fall.
He lost his kingdom to revolts encouraged by his own lack of foresight and
British opportunism.
It must, however, be said that he was a great patron of literature and the
arts. A man of great intellect and memory, he was proficient in Kannada,
Hindustani, Marathi and Sanskrit. He enriched the Yakshagana folk art of
Karnataka. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata were translated into
Kannada. He wrote several literary works, which include Devatanama
Kusumamanjari, Sritattva nidhi (an illustrated encyclopaedia), Sri Krishna
Kathasangraha, Ramayana, Bharata, Dasharathanandana Charitre,
Grahana Darpana (on 82 eclipses that would take place from 1841–1902)
and Suryachandra Vamshavali.
His court was full of authors and artists whom he patronised.
Devachandra, the court poet, wrote Rajavali Kathe. The Mudra Manjusha
by Kempu Narayana was a literary masterpiece of the time.
Asthana Vidwan Basavappa Shastri (1843–91) prepared Kannada
versions of Abhigyana Shakuntala, Vikramorvashiyam, Ratnavali, Uttara
Rama Charite and so on. The other books of the period were: Shurasena
Charite—the Indian version of Shakespeare’s Othello, Damayanti in

*
Champu style and Savitri Charite in Shatpadi style. Ramakrishna Shastri
wrote Bhuvana Pradeepika, about the history and geography of South India,
while Srinivasa Kavi Sarvabhauma’s Krishnaraja Prabhavodayam and
Krishnaraja Jayotkarsha Champu are biographies of the King. Aliya
Lingaraja, Srinivasa Kavi and Mahanto Shivayogi were famous poets of the
time. Carnatic classical music was given great impetus by the Maharaja.
Haridasa Vijayadasa, Gopaladasa and Prasanna Venkatadasa were the
acclaimed music composers while Veena Sheshanna, Bakshi Subbanna,
Mysore Sadashiva Rao and other great musicians adorned his court.
Singarayya records the viceroy’s proclamation, sent with his
condolences to the bereaved family on 23 September 1868.
His Excellency the Right Honourable, the Viceroy and the Governor General in Council
announces to the chiefs and people of Mysore the death of His Highness the Maharajah
Krishnaraja Wadiyar Bahaddur—Knight Grand Commander of the Most Exalted Order of
the Star of India. This event is regarded in sorrow by the Government of India with which
the Maharajah had preserved the relations of friendship for more than half a century.
His Highness Chamrajendra Wodeyar, at present a minor, the adopted son
of the late Maharajah is acknowledged by the Government of India as the
successor and as Maharajah of Mysore territories.
During the minority of His Highness the said territories will be
administered in His Highness’ name by the British Government on the same
principles and under the same regulations as heretofore.
When His Highness shall attain the period of majority, viz. the age of 18,
and if he shall be found qualified for the discharge of the duties of his exalted
position, the Government of the country will be entrusted to him, subject to
such conditions as may be determined at that time.
Meanwhile, rumours were spread that the British had negated the
adoption and had planned a permanent annexation of Mysore. This horrified
Krishnaraja’s widows, who wrote a letter to the commissioner, dated 10
August 1868:*
To The Commissioner of Mysore, L.B. Bowring Saib, Cheluvajammanni and
Devajammani’s humble salutes. As per the customs of our Family, after the demise of one
ruler and his last rites, his legal heir is invested with all powers. This has been the custom
since time immemorial. Therefore, just as your goodselves favoured us and helped us in
adopting our son, Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar, it would be befitting to place him on the
Masnad of Mysore after our King’s demise. We regret for the actions dissimilar to these
customs. Through you we would like to quench our inquisitiveness about the matter and
humbly submit to your goodselves to inform the foreign authorities and receive their orders
regarding the same. We have been waiting for the Hukm from the British Bahaddars’ office.
Our annual Dasara festivities are just a stone’s throw away from now and if a new king is
not nominated by then the festivities would get marred. This would not augur well for our
state and it would also be a big blow to our heritage and culture of bygone ages and an
affront to out glorious family and kingdom. We hence plead with you to send us the Hukm
of coronation by October, before the commencement of the Dasara and thus save our family
from disgrace. Kindly send this message through telegram to the State Secretary Saib
Bahaddur of England and oblige.
—Queens of Ramavilasa Sannidhana and Seetavilasa
Sannidhana
But Dasara arrived and the hukm was not yet delivered. The two queens
were in a dilemma. On the one hand was grief at their husband’s death and
on the other the fear of British deceit. They secretly placed Chamarajendra
on the Bhadrasana throne and carried on the customs of yesteryears. But on
the third day of the festivities, Colonel Elliot came to the palace and
delivered the viceroy’s Hukumnama on Prince Chamarajendra’s coronation.
Almanacs were hurriedly looked up to hunt for an auspicious date.
That date was 23 September 1868, when the coronation was held in an
exquisitely decorated pandal. Preparations were on in full swing. The
maharanis bathed the maharaja, dressed him up and the bakshis and
Sarvadhikaris led him to the court by 10 am. The throne was worshipped.
Bowring held the maharaja’s right hand and Elliot his left and led the infant
maharaja to the throne. To his right sat the European officers and ladies
while the Mysoreans occupied the left. The Arasus and Palegars squatted on
the ground on a big, richly embroidered carpet. Near the thotti were
stationed the state elephant, state horse, state cow, state knife, the chariot,
and symbols of Shankha, Chakrankusha, Kuthara were brought in. The
sepoys and bharjis guarded the venue. The gallery was filled by a large
turnout of the citizens of Mysore who had assembled to witness the

ceremony—music, the chanting of mantras, a twenty-one-gun salute and a
reading from the History of the Wodeyars since 1399 by Mallarajayya. A
poet described the event in Halegannada—the older version of literary
Kannada. The royal scribe then read out the list of titles to the king:
Srimatsamasta Bhoomandala Mandanaaya Mana Nikhila Deshaavatamsa Karnataka
Janapada SampadhishTana Vikalakalanidhi Kulakramagatha Rajakshitipala Pramukha
Nikhila Rajadhiraja Maharaja ChakravarthigaL Mandalaanubhootam Divyaratna
SimhasanaarooDha Srimad Rajadhiraja Raja Parameshwara ProuDha Pratapa
Apratimaveera Narapati Birudentembara GanDa, Lokaikaveera Yadukula Payaha
Paaravaara Kalanidhi Shankhachakrankusha KuThara Makara Matsya SharabhaSaLva
Gandaberunda Dharaneevaraha Hanumagaruda Kantheerava Dayanekabirudaankita Sri
Chamarajendrar Wodeyar Bahaddur, Sri Chamundamba Varaprasadodbhava Sri Mummadi
Krishnarajendrar Wodeyar Bahhadaravara Sweekruta putrar Srimad Mahamaheshwarar
Chamarajendrar Wodeyar BahaddaravargaLige Jayavaagali Jayavaagali Jayavaagali!
This ended the festivities for a family starved of joyous occasions and
celebrations. Bowring detailed the events of the day in his diary:*
The young chief was conducted up the steps and when he took his seat was pelted from
every comer of the courtyard by a storm of flowers, which lay several inches deep at the
foot of the Throne, while a Royal Salute was fired, and the Troops presented arms. The
officiating Brahmins then pronounced some benedictory prayers and offered to the young
Rajah water of the sacred streams with consecrated coconuts and rice. After this the
genealogy of the Mysore Family was read aloud, and at its conclusion where the young
Chief’s name and titles were recited, the building resounded with the applause of the
people. The next step was to present him with a Khillath of 21 trays of shawls, cloths and
jewellery on the part of the Viceroy, while all the Rajabundus and high officials of the court
came forward in turn, made their obeisance and tendered their offerings, the ceremony
being terminated by a distribution of pan, betelnut and garlands of flowers. During the
whole time the little Rajah behaved with the utmost decorum, neither allowing himself to
be moved by the storm of bouquets, nor by the vociferous adulations of his courtiers. In the
afternoon he held a Durbar in the great balcony fronting the courtyard of the Palace, having
first walked around the Throne and scattering at its foot flowers in token of taking
possession. On his ascending his seat he was again pelted with flowers by the bystanders,
while tumultuous shouts of applause rose up from the dense crowds below!
Lady Bowring, who was also present at this occasion, joyfully recounts:
My husband and Major Elliot took the little man by hand and leading him up the silver
steps lifted him on his throne. Then you should have heard the row! The lances were
clanged, the English hurrahed, the natives shouted and the bands and tomtoms played. I
never was in such a din and the crowd surged up and there came a perfect shower of
flowers. We were pelted on all sides and Lewin had to protect the little Rajah with his
cocked hat, while Major Elliot did his best for me, but it was hopeless and there was
nothing for it but to endure. I looked up expecting to see the little Rajah terrified and in
tears, but like a high-born oriental, he sat as cool as a cucumber!
The next day Lady Bowring visited the maharanis and recalled the
meeting thus:
The Queen is very pretty and her eyes are like her son’s. She came with her son to meet me.
She placed him on my lap and said ‘He is yours from now and not my son!’ Then the
Guadis offered flowers, sprinkled atthar, granted a rose and gave me betelnuts. The king
escorted her downstairs, holding her hand with his tiny ones.
She visited them again on 28 November 1868, when he wished her in
perfect English: ‘Good Morning!’ Thus began a new chapter in the history
of Mysore and the Wodeyars.
———————————
*
Actual rail traffic began in 1864, connecting the state of Mysore with Madras.
*
All the historical correspondence excerpted in this chapter, unless otherwise indicated, is
taken from Josyer’s 1929 book, History of Mysore and the Yadava Dynasty,
*
Incidentally, Krishnaraja did have a son, Deva Parthiva Bahaddur, in whose name there is
even today a street in the city of Mysore. However, since he was not the son of the principal
queen, he was denied any right to succession. He filed a case against the British when
Chamarajendra was crowned king but this petition was dismissed by the British courts.
*
Champu and Shatpadi are literary styles of varying metres. Champu was a mixture of
prose and poetry while Shatpadi was a six-line stanzaic metrical form unique to Kannada
literature.
*
This letter appears in Singarayya’s book.
*
While his diary has been excerpted in Josyer’s book, Lady Bowring’s recollections have
been quoted in Singarayya’s book, Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyaravara Charitre.

19
TOWARDS RENDITION
THE EDUCATION OF AN INDIAN PRINCE
hamarajendra’s first tutor was Bhaskar Pant, who taught him the
fundamentals of language, arithmetic, slokas from the epics and
mythological tales. Singarayya records that on 24 April 1867, the late
Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar had written a letter to the British
government regarding his son, for whom he desired quality education:
I am very desirous that my son Chamarajendra Wodeyar, who by the blessing of God has
now entered his fifth years should receive greater advantage of education and training than I
myself enjoyed in my childhood and youth. Although there may be a difference of opinion
between Your Excellency and myself as to the actual position and rights of this dear child, I
feel that there will be no difference of opinion between us as to the value of education to
the princes and nobles of India. I am equally sure that whatever may be the destiny of my
son and heir and whatever duties may devolve on him, Your Excellency’s successors will
never forget that he is by birth a member of this Ancient Royal Family and that he is by
Hindu Law the son of the Raja of Mysore,the oldest and staunchest, although the humblest
ally of Her Majesty, the Queen Empress of Great Britain and India.
After 1868, the British government deployed Gregorie Hains to tutor the
maharaja in politics, English, native languages, swimming, cricket, horse
riding, polo, shooting, etc. But he resigned and returned to England halfway
through. That very year, the famous historian, Colonel J.B. Malleson, was
appointed tutor for the seven-year old maharaja. Malleson decided to put the
maharaja in the ‘Royal School’ or ‘Khas Bungalow’ where he would study
with the royal children of the Arasu and dewan’s families. Jayarama Rao,
V.R Madhava Rao, and Ambil Narasimha Iyengar were the English teachers;
Basavappa Shastri, Garalapuri Shastri, and Mir Abbas Hussain taught
Kannada, Sanskrit and Hindustani respectively. The young maharaja also
learnt cricket, swimming, wrestling, horse riding and polo at this school.
Malleson tried to inculcate the habit of punctuality in the young
maharaja, something that later became a part of his personality. Once, when
the maharaja reached school late, he found the door of the classroom closed
on purpose by Malleson. The young student, aware he was guilty of coming
late, did not knock but silently stood outside. Suddenly, Malleson came out
of the classroom and warned him that this had been his last chance and he
should never be late again. Once, during the festivities of his brother
Gopalaraje Urs’s marriage, the maharaja tried to miss school. An enraged
Malleson barged into the Kalyana Mandap (where the wedding was taking
place) and dragged the truant back to school!
Malleson knew the value of educational tours in a student’s life. He once
planned to take the maharaja to the Nilgiris. Singarayya quotes an attendant
of the maharaja as saying:
The Maharaja was 9 years old when he left for Nilgiris. This was the first time he left the
capital. Last summer, Malleson wanted to take him to Nandi Hills to meet the Europeans.
But since they had not arrived, the idea was dropped. The Queen Mother resented; with
tears in her eyes she pleaded the Raja not to leave her and go to an alien land. But the
adamant Malleson would have none of such emotional melodramas! So they left the
following day. Not many people accompanied. Only the Raja’s brother, Bakshi Basappaji
Urs and Rangacharlu accompanied him. Since I was the bodyguard, I too followed. On the
way we had food in a mantap near Paigere. The roads were very bad and we had to cross
forests. After dusk, things became dark and dangerous in the densely forested areas. Wild
animals roared. The Raja inquisitively asked, ‘Don’t these animals sleep at night?’
Basappaji replied ‘No Mahaswami, these cruel animals don’t sleep but attack nearby
villages, kill cattle and sheep.’ ‘Then we shall hunt them down,’ came the pat reply! For
night, I had brought dry grasses and prepared a bed for him. We all stayed awake and
guarded the young Raja.
In 1872 the maharaja underwent the Upanayanam ritual, where the
sacred thread was granted to him and he then became eligible to study the
Holy Scriptures. Malleson took the maharaja to the Jog Falls in Shimoga
district in 1874. The maharaja was reportedly thrilled to see this paradise on
earth. They then visited Malnad and Bangalore. After his invaluable help to
the royal family and after playing a pivotal role in shaping the maharaja’s
character, Malleson retired in 1876. By then the maharaja had become
proficient in all the areas of study that he had undertaken. Expressing
satisfaction on the progress made by the king, Malleson wrote before he
left:*
From 1868 to 1876 the Rajah has gained a lot of knowledge. He has been taught everything
that has to be taught in English schools, other than Latin and Greek. He is capable of horse
riding, hunting, playing cricket etc. He is also very punctual, honest and duty loving. He is
capable of ruling this land.
The maharaja was, incidentally, a prolific speaker and writer of the
English language. Some of the letters he wrote to his friends during this
time give us a glimpse of his thought processes and manner of articulation.
One such letter, reproduced in Shama Rao’s book, appears here:
Wednesday 28th April 1875
Ooty
To
MY DEAR FRIEND MAHMAD IBRAHIM;
We are quite well by the good grace of our creator. I received your kind letter on the 28th of
April. I am very glad to see that letter. We are spending time in reading, walking, running
and everyday cricket playing. In Physical Geography of India, we finished three chapters.
We are also going hunting twice a week and we killed one tiger, twenty porcupines and
some jackals...convey my best compliments to Abbas Khan, Bhima Rao and C. Subbaraja
Urs. Here all the boys give their compliments to you.
I am yours
Chamarajendra Wadiyar
23rd December 1875
Mysore
MY DEAR SIR RICHARD MEADE
th
Colonel Malleson delivered to me this morning your letter on the 18 instant, at the same
time that he explained to me the reasons of duty which had caused you to accede to the
wishes of His Excellency the Viceroy and to leave Mysore for Haidarabad. I can easily
understand your preference for a place which you know, when the other is comparatively
unknown. I used to experience a similar feeling when it was proposed to take me from
Mysore to Bangalore. But I trust the results in both cases may be the same. At all events
you have given me the example of sacrificing inclination to duty; though I must admit, since
my journey to Bombay, my previous prejudices against change have been removed.
My best wishes will go with you and it will always be a pleasure to me to hear that you and
Lady Meade are happy.
I am yours
Chamarajendra Wadiyar
After Malleson, one Wilson and later William Porter served as tutors
and Sir James Gordon as Guardian. Porter taught the Raja physics, physical
geography, political economy and constitutional history. By January 1880,
his education was complete and he was declared a scholar. Shama Rao notes
that Gordon wrote to the Indian government as follows:
From the time of Porter, the Rajah’s knowledge and etiquette has greatly improved. He can
read books, epics, newspapers etc. and write letters with a practised hand. He now
discriminates between good and bad and has acquired the judging ability.
When the maharaja turned 16, the Maharani of Seetavilasa Sannidhana
decided he should get married. The wedding was fixed for 26 May 1878.
The bride was Kempananjammanni, the daughter of Kalale Narase Urs who
had served as dewan for some time after Pumaiya retired from public life.
She was born in 1866. Her education had begun at the age of five. Everyone
praised her beauty, simplicity and honesty. On 23 May 1878, the rituals of
Nischitartha and Kankanadharane were carried out. The next day, Nandi,
Kashiyatra, the installation of the Gods, Udakashanti, etc., continued. The
city was decorated for the grand event. Dressed in golden robes, riding an
elephant, flanked by his brothers, army officers, jesters, dancers, etc., the
maharaja led the procession to the bride’s house. There he was led to a
gorgeously decorated mantap with the enchanting music of the nadaswara
and thevil and Vedic hymns resounding everywhere. Bakshi Basappaji did
the kanyadana as Narase Urs was dead. With the tying of the sacred
mangalasutra, Kempananjammanni became the maharani and wife of
Chamarajendra Wodeyar X.
THE RENDITION
As per the previous Indian state secretary Northcote’s promise to the
deceased Krishnaraja Wodeyar, Chamarajendra was invested with ruling
powers when he turned eighteen at the ‘Rendition of Mysore’ on 1 March
1881. ‘Rendition’ was the term used for the events of 1881 that marked the
transition of power from the commissioners back to the Wodeyars. On 25
March 1881, the Palace witnessed a durbar whose main objective was to
restore power to the maharaja. The Viceroy Lord Ripon was absent due to
personal reasons but the Rt. Hon. W.P. Adams, governor of Madras,
represented the viceroy. He placed the instrument of transfer in the
maharaja’s hands and read out the following message:*
Your Highness, the Queen and the Viceroy are well aware of the high and responsible trust
which the British Government this day commits to Your Highness’ charge. But happily they
also know that you have endeavoured to render yourself fit for the great duty that devolves
upon you and that under the guidance of Mr Gordon, the Chief Commissioner of Mysore,
you have studied the principles of Government and by the interest you have shown therein
and also by your own manly life and conduct, you have given every indication of becoming
a wise, liberal and enlightened ruler...
The maharaja then spoke:
I beg your Excellency to convey to Her Royal Majesty an expression of my deep, grateful
loyalty and attachment to the British crown and my assurance of the welfare of the people
to prove myself worthy of the confidence reposed in me...
A group of Indian officers with a dewan as head of executive
administration, and a council of three members as presidents under him,
was appointed. Sriyutha Settipalyam Veeravalli Rangacharlu became the
dewan of the state. A proclamation was read out on behalf of the Viceroy
Lord Ripon stating the terms of the Rendition and it had the following
clauses:
1. Maharaja Chamarajendra Wodeyar Bahaddur will be given ruling
power on the 25th of March 1881.
2. The above Maharaja and his successors can rule independently until
and unless they strictly follow the following conditions.

3. For the kingdom of Mysore, Chamarajendra Wodeyar’s son or adopted
son is the rightful heir of the throne. But if the successors are
worthless, the right will be withdrawn. The Governor General in
Council’s decision is final. If this king has no son or adopted son, the
Governor General in Council has the right to nominate the future king.
4. Maharaja Chamarajendra Wodeyar and his successors will be
recognised as Maharaja of Mysore if they are loyal and faithful to the
Empress of India and Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. They must
render help to Her Majesty when the need so arose.
5. The permanent stationing of British troops within the Mysore territory
for its protection from all internal and external threats should be
gracefully accepted. For this favour the Maharaja should pay for a year
Rs 35 lakh in two instalments to the British Government.
6. From the day the king assumes office, the British control on
Seringapatam ceases. The king should act according to those
conditions which help him in ruling this land.
7. Without the permission of the Governor General in Council no old fort
can be repaired or new forts built anywhere in Mysore territories.
8. No weapons or guns can be bought or stationed without the permission
nor should they be illegally manufactured.
9. The king should grant the British government land for cantonments.
His authority ceases in these cantonments. He must provide all
facilities to the army. No customs or taxes can be put forth by him on
the goods bought by the British.
10. The military should have a cap on the number of soldiers. The
procedures for the personnel will be put forth by us.
11. The Maharaja should not enter into negotiations with other kingdoms
or kings without permission from the British government.
12. He can not employ or retrench civil workers from the service without
permission.
13. The same currency should circulate in Mysore as in the rest of British
India. The traditional Mysorean currency should be discontinued.
14. For telegraph services the British Government’s decision is final when
it comes to laying of wires. The Mysore government should readily
provide labour for the same.

15. Lands to be provided to build railway lines which come under British
jurisdiction.
16. All criminals of British India must be caught and produced to the
Government if found in the state.
17. The right of judging criminals of Europe in Mysore must be handed
over to the Governor General. The Maharaja must not interfere in
British laws.
18. The Maharaja should act according to the British Government’s wishes
in either reducing or stopping the growth of opium, salt, production of
drugs, tobacco, etc. These must not be exported or imported directly by
him.
19. No administrative changes can be effected by him.
20. The same revenue settlements of previous years would hold.
The revenue should be paid correctly and on time.
21. If the Maharaja does not act as per these conditions the Governor
General reserves the right to terminate his rule, seize all powers,
property and territories and award him a nominal pension for the
upkeep for his family and himself.
22. The previous borders stand cancelled. The right of nominating an heir
and capable ruler to the Masnad of Mysore goes to the Governor
General.
Ft. William
RIPON
1st March 1881 The Viceroy and Governor General of India
The details of a proclamation that was issued the same day by the
maharaja, as recorded by Shama Rao, are as under:
Whereas the Government of the territories of Mysore heretofore administered on our behalf
by the British Government, has this day been transferred to us by the Proclamation of His
Excellency the Viceroy and Governor General of India in Council, we do hereby notify and
declare that we have this day assumed charge of the said government; and we call upon all
our subjects within the said territories to be faithful and to bear true allegiance to us, our
heirs and successors. We do hereby further declare that all laws and rules having the force
of law now in force in the said territories shall continue to be in force in the said territories.
We hereby accept as binding upon us all grants and settlements heretofore made by the
British Government within the said territories, in accordance with the respective terms
thereof, except in so far as they may be rescinded or modified either by a competent Court
of Law, or with the consent of the Governor General in Council.
We hereby confirm all existing courts of judicature within the said
territories in the respective jurisdiction now vested in them, and we further
confirm in their respective appointments, the judges and all other officers, Civil
and Military, now holding office within the said territories. For the conduct of
the executive administration of the said territories under our command and
control, we have resolved to appoint a Dewan, and we, placing trust and
confidence in the loyalty, ability and judgement of C.V. Rangacharlu, C.I.E,
appoint him to be our Dewan for the conduct of the executive administration of
the said territories. His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor General in
Council having complied with our request to lend us the services of the present
Judicial Commissioner, J.D. Sandford, M.A, Bar-at-Law to aid us in the
administration of justice in our territories, we hereby confirm the said Mr J.D.
Sandford in his appointment under the designation of Chief Judge of Mysore.
We have further resolved that a Council shall be formed to be styled ‘The
Council of His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore’ which shall consist of the
Dewan for the time being as Ex-Officio President, and two or more members
specially appointed by us from time to time. It shall be the duty of the
members of the said Council to submit for our consideration their opinions on
all questions relating to legislation and taxation, and on all other important
measures connected with the good administration of our territories and the
well-being of our subjects. We are accordingly pleased to appoint C.V.
Rangacharlu C.I.E, Dewan, Ex-Officio President, T.R.A. Thumboo Chetty,
Judge, Ex-Officio member, P.A. Krishna Rao, R.A. Sabhapathy Mudaliar,
Members, to be Members of the said council and to hold office as such
Councillors for the term of 3 years or during our pleasure. Given under our
hand and seal this 25th day of March 1881.
With so many strictures and prohibitions the maharaja became a mere
titular sovereign, spineless and unable to make independent decisions—a
mere tool in the hands of the British.
THE RAJ PERIOD
During the Raj, as it was called after the 1858 proclamation, British rule
had incapacitated not just the maharaja of Mysore, but rulers across all the
princely states of India. During this period, a tiny number of British officials
and troops (about 20,000 in all) ruled over 300 million Indians. This was
often seen as evidence that most Indians accepted and even approved of
British rule. There is no doubt that Britain could not have controlled India
without the cooperation of Indian princes and local leaders, as well as huge
numbers of Indian troops, police officers, civil servants, etc.
Other historians point out that British rule continued because Indian
society was so divided, it could not unite against the British. In fact, the
British encouraged these divisions. The slightly well-to-do classes were
educated in English schools. They served in the British army or in the civil
service. They effectively joined the British in ruling their poorer fellow
Indians. There are huge arguments about whether the British created or
enlarged these divisions in Indian society or whether they simply took
advantage of divisions that were already present in Indian society. For much
of the 1800s the average Indian peasant had no more say in the way he or
she was ruled than did the average worker in the United Kingdom.
The British view tended to portray British rule as a charitable exercise
—they suffered India’s environment (unfavourable climate, diseases) in
order to bring to India good government and economic development
(railways, irrigation, medicine, modem education, etc.). Modern-day
admirers of British rule also note these benefits.
Other historians point out that ruling India brought huge benefits to
Britain. India’s huge population made it an attractive market for British
industry. In the 1880s, for example, about twenty per cent of Britain’s total
exports went to India. By 1910 these exports were worth £ 137 million.
India also exported huge quantities of goods to Britain, especially tea, which
was drunk in Britain or exported to other countries from here. Then there
were the human resources. The Indian army was probably Britain’s single
greatest resource. Around forty per cent of India’s wealth was spent on the
army. This army was used by Britain all over the world, including the wars
in South Africa in 1899–1902 and the First and Second World Wars. It was
the backbone of the power of the British Empire. Shama Rao writes that in
1901 the British viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, said, ‘As long as we rule
India, we are the greatest power in the world. If we lose it we shall
straightway drop to a third rate power.’
Britain gained hugely from ruling India, but most of the wealth created
was not invested back into the country For example, from 1860 to about
1920, economic growth in India was very slow—much slower than in
Britain or America. The Industrial Revolution in England and the
imposition of tariffs on goods imported from India completely ruined
flourishing Indian textiles, jute, metal and other industries. Millions of
craftsmen starved to death. India, which was the industrial workshop of the
world, was reduced to merely an agricultural country and a provider of raw
material for British industries.
India’s population only grew by about one percent per year, which also
suggests there was not much economic growth. India actually started
importing food under British rule, because Indians were growing cash crops,
such as cotton and tea, for export to Britain.
From 1870 to 1930 Britain took about one percent of India’s wealth per
year. This was much less than the French, Dutch and Germans took from
their lands. The British invested about £ 400 million in the same period.
They brought in an irrigation programme, which increased eightfold the
amount of land available for farming. They developed a coal industry, which
had not existed before. Public health and life expectancy increased under
British rule, mainly due to improved water supplies and the introduction of
quinine treatment against malaria. Big landowners, Indian princes and the
Indian middle classes all gained in terms of job opportunities, business
opportunities and careers in areas like the law. Ordinary Indians gained
little, but the argument continues as to whether British rule made much
difference to their lives.
———————————
*
Malleson’s account appears in Shama Rao’s 1936 book, Modern Mysore.
*
The words spoken by Adams and the King are taken from Shama Rao’s 1936 book,
Modern Mysore.
Section 5
Modern Mysore (AD 1881–1950)
Four Generations of the Wodeyars: Mummadi Krishnaraja,
Chamarajendra, Natwadi Krishnaraja, Kanthirava Narasimharaja and
Jayachamaraja
20
THE REFORMER KING
CHAMARAJENDRA WODEYAR X
rom the achievement of Rendition onwards, the history of Mysore
evolves somewhat differently than before. There are three strands along
which one can follow its history from this point onwards, but these are not
completely separate; they weave in and out of each other, creating patterns
as time goes by. However, it is necessary to separate them in this narrative in
order to appreciate each of these individually, and to see how their interplay
ultimately created the modem identity of Karnataka, a state hailed today as
the hub of the IT revolution in India anda leading industrial destination of
the country.
Our three strands are as follows: firstly, the rule of the Wodeyars,
especially Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, (also known as the Rajarishi);
secondly, the administration of the dewans of Mysore, especially the
outstanding quartet of Rangacharlu, Sheshadri Iyer, Sir M.
Vishweshwarayya and Sir Mirza Ismail, and the impact this administration
had on the political institutions, economic development and society of
Mysore, and finally, India’s freedom movement under Mahatma Gandhi and
the role Karnataka played in it. The context in which all this took place,
namely, nineteenth-century India, also needs to be briefly reviewed.
NINETEENTH CENTURY INDIA
The later half of the nineteenth century saw the country ravaged by
innumerable famines. Large parts of the country, especially Bengal, reeled

under the effects of the devastating Zamindari system and the Permanent
Settlement that Lord Cornwallis had introduced. The Collector was
converted into a zamindar or landlord and the peasants were mere tenants.
The Company received a fixed revenue on a regular basis at the due time,
thus was saved the bother of making frequent changes in the revenue system.
In 1875–76 famine struck Mysore as well and millions lost their lives
and properties. Epidemics spread like wildfire. Bangalore alone had railway
service in the entire state and so transportation of relief material to far flung
areas was difficult. More than 500 tons of food grain were imported into
Mysore from Rangoon and Madras. Almost one-fifth of the population of
Mysore succumbed to the famine and related diseases. The Viceroy Lord
Lytton made a survey of the state and appointed Sir Charles Elliot as famine
commissioner and Sir Collin Scott Moncrieff as Chief Engineer. The
maharaja personally spent over a crore of rupees for the relief operations. A
special commissioner, Sir Richard Temple, was deputed by the Indian
government to superintend the campaign against famine and Lord Lytton
visited the affected areas.
By September 1878 it rained and the famine seemed to abate. But
mortality was high, with epidemics and sickness ruling the roost. A
Mansion House Fund was raised in London to help reinstate agriculturists
who had been left destitute. The famine severely hit state revenues. The
surplus of Rs 63 lakh dwindled and a debt of Rs 80 lakh mounted. The
revenue collections, which had been Rs 109 lakh in 1875, fell to Rs 82 lakh
in 1876 and to Rs 69 lakh the next year. A retrenchment committee was
appointed to meet the fiscal deficit and on its advice the government was
‘right-sized’ through the abolition of unnecessary posts.
The second half of the nineteenth century was also marked by a
widespread churning in Indian society in the social and religious spheres.
An exposure to modem education led Indians to question age-old
superstitions and practices, such as Sati, human sacrifice, caste system and
so on. Maharashtra and Bengal were the main breeding grounds for such
revolutionary ideas, perhaps because they had borne the brunt of the ill-
effects of the Raj and also of social ills. Social reformers, such as Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, Jyotiba Phule and others, took it upon
themselves to transform society. There were several thinkers and spiritual

leaders on the philosophical front as well—Ramakrishna Paramahamsa,
Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghose, Ramana Maharshi, to name a few.
Amidst all this flux were the pompous princes of regal India—
nonchalant and indifferent—throwing lavish parties and pandering to their
white masters. They had little to lose as long as the British looked
favourably on them. Administration or reforms were not a priority for them
since it was not so for their British masters. The treaties they had signed
with the Raj forbade them any firm decision-making whatsoever. So they
lived luxurious lives, oblivious to the suffering around them.
But what set Mysore apart from the stereotypical princely state under
the Raj was that alongside the pomp, splendour and wasteful expenditure,
serious and sincere efforts were made to bring about reforms in areas over
which the maharaja had jurisdiction. It was a state with a heart, and it felt
the pulse of its people. The situation was helped more by a succession of
extraordinary dewans—from Rangacharlu to Sheshadri Iyer to the celebrated
Sir M. Vishweshwarayya and Sir Mirza Ismail, all these dewans strove hard
to put Mysore on the rails of uninterrupted progress, a determination
hitherto absent in other Indian princely states.
CHAMARAJENDRA WODEYAR (1868–94)
Lady Bowring’s little man’ grew into a capable ruler, and one of the best
things he did for Mysore was to appoint Rangacharlu as its dewan.
The two councillors—Rangacharlu and Thumboo Chetty—were
exceptional statesmen. Thumboo Chetty came to Mysore as judicial
shirastedar in 1867, just before Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s death. He
in fact recalled his interview with the late maharaja:*
As I stood up and made my obeisance and craved leave to depart, His Highness gave a
gentle tap on my shoulder and with a majestic look and powerful voice said: ‘Young as you
are, you have a long career of usefulness before you. You are new to Mysore, but I am sure
you will be kind and sympathetic to the Mysoreans, always treating them as your own
countrymen.’
Rangacharlu also joined the year after the late king’s demise. Born in
Madras, Dewan C. Rangacharlu had served as deputy collector in the

English East India Company for eighteen years. He was sent to Mysore as
revenue secretary. As palace comptroller, he ended many malpractices
prevalent in the palace. Earlier, as Head Shirastedar in Nellore, he had
published several articles on that and used this new post as a means to
implement those ideas. In 1874, he published in England an article on ‘The
British Administration of Mysore’, which brought him into the limelight and
also earned him the title of C.I.E. (Companion of the Indian Empire) in
1877 and the post of revenue secretary in 1878.
Coming into office at this difficult time, after the famine and when the
state’s finances needed expert management, Rangacharlu came up with a
formula that worked—downsizing the administration and opening up the
state’s economic potential by connecting its area through the railways. The
posts of native secretary and revenue commissioner substituted for the three
commissioners. The salary of the deputy commissioners was reduced from
Rs 1000–1500 to Rs 700–1000. Eight of the twenty-seven assistant
commissionerships were abolished. Within a year, his financial management
yielded to the treasury a surplus of Rs 2.5 lakh. Hassan and Chitradurga
were discontinued as separate districts for civil and criminal administration,
nine taluks were reduced to deputy amildars’ stations, four munisff courts
and three sub-courts were abolished as also travellers’ bungalows meant for
European officials.
Rangacharlu was a strict disciplinarian and encouraged honesty and
efficiency. An interesting anecdote involving him is as follows: Music had
been introduced into the curriculum in government-run institutions. Some
wild gossip about the music teacher and the wastefulness of the subject as a
part of the curriculum reached the ears of Mrs Rangacharlu, who took her
husband to task. An angry dewan rushed to the school and fell like a ton of
bricks on the hapless music teacher. As the latter was turned out of the
room, Rai Bahadur Narasimha Iyengar entered. He writes:*
I then asked him to go in notwithstanding and found Mr Rangacharlu quite furious against
me. I begged him to have patience for an hour, and see what kind of music was being taught
and then judge for himself. He very kindly agreed to it, and the cause of music won the day!
He was very sorry he had been misled, said that he was convinced that not only was there
no harm in music, but that it was essential to the education of girls. He further advised me
to invite his wife to see the school. I waited upon her that very afternoon, and her visit to
the school the next morning completely changed her opinion! She was thoroughly pleased
with all that she saw of the school and herself being a lady of some education and
accomplishments gave several valuable suggestions, and from that day sent two of her
daughters to the school!
Rangacharlu weeded out all corrupt officials from the government.
Unfortunately, his excellent administration ground to halt when he died in
Madras on 21 December 1883, within two years of his tenure.
The maharaja then appointed as Dewan Sheshadri Iyer—who had
entered the state services in 1868 along with Thumboo Chetty and
Rangacharlu—and the good work continued in this and other areas of
economic and social importance. Sir William Hunter described Iyer as ‘a
statesman who had given his head to Herbert Spencer and his heart to
Parabrahma’.
One of the pioneering projects to which the king lent his wholehearted
support was women’s education. He encouraged the dewan, who in turn—
with the aid of academics like Durbar Bakshi and Rai Bahadur Ambil
Narasimha Iyengar—established a Kannada-medium girls’ school with
twenty-eight students in Mysore in 1881. In 1889, a new building was
commissioned for this school. Josyer records the King’s words on the
occasion of its inauguration:
You are all aware that this school, which was started only a few years ago, is now one of the
most popular institutions in Mysore. I have watched its progress with great attention, and
have hitherto accommodated it in a part of the Jaganmohan Palace premises. I believe that
it has now acquired those dimensions, which make it desirable that it should have a proper,
separate school house. The importance of female education to the well-being and progress
of Hindu society has long been recognized. But the difficulty has hitherto been, how to
interest the conservative classes in the movement and secure their active sympathy. The
revival of female education in this country, after a long period of neglect, had come to be
looked upon with the suspicion which innovation always rouses in the Hindu mind. Taking
therefore a just estimate of the forces they had to deal with, the leaders of the movement in
Mysore established this school, upon principles, which while aiming at imparting useful
knowledge, avoided all unnecessary shock to longstanding prejudices, and by that means
enlisted the active cooperation of even the most conservative classes. The result they have
achieved has been pronounced by native gentlemen from all parts of India as a grand
solution of one of our great social problems. It is this concurrence of opinion from persons
of different nationalities and religions that has encouraged me and my officers to persevere
with the institution and to endeavour to place it on a stable footing.

He also supported the opening of a college for the study of the ancient
classical language of Sanskrit in 1882 at Mysore as well as the Oriental
Library, which housed a prized collection of books and manuscripts.
It was not long before the British government began contemplating
conferring on the Maharaja the title of G.C.S.I. (or Knight Grand
Commander Star of India), about which Sheshadri Iyer wrote to M.

*
Thumboo Chetty in 1884.
FERNHILL PALACE
OOTACAMUND
April 16th 1884
My Dear Sir
We are all enjoying Ootacamund very well this year. It is much drier than usual and there
are no unpleasant chills to fear. It is very probable that His Highness’ stay here will be a
very short one this year. Mr Layall will be here on the 23rd and may return to Bangalore
after a fortnight’s stay. As His Highness likes to receive the Insignia of G.C.S.I. from his
hands, and as Mr Layall is on furlough about the end of May, His Highness will probably
return to Mysore about the 10th of May after which arrangements will be made for a little
ceremony, for the investiture which may perhaps better take place at Mysore, the historical
capital of 50 years standing. This seems to be His Highness’ present idea, and if it is finally
decided that the ceremonial is to take place at Mysore we must arrange for the principal
officers of the State coming there for the occasion. If you think of coming to Ooty, this is
the best time for it. A Tonga from Mettapolyam will bring you in 6 hours. I have a small
separate house here and you are quite welcome to occupy a part of it. Probably Dr
Dhanakoti Raju will be here for a short time, also Ramachandra Iyer and a few other
friends.
Yours sincerely,
K. Sheshadri Iyer
Accordingly, on 10 May 1884, the Resident, Layall, came over to
Mysore and conferred the title of G.C.S.I. on the king.
On 27 November 1885, the raja embarked on an extensive tour of the
entire state. He visited a number of places, Chunchunahalli, Malnad,
Sringeri, Agumbe, Kolar, Sagar, Ikkeri, Sorab, Belgaum, Shimoga,
Benkipura, Kallatagiri, Galikere, Chickmagalur, Belur, Halebid, Hassan,
Chennarayapatna, Shravanbelagola, Kunigal and Bangalore, finally reaching
Mysore on 19 January 1886.

Back home, the raja’s family had been growing since 1881, when his
wife, Maharani Kempananjammanni Vanivilasa Sannidhana gave birth to a
daughter, who was named Jayalakshmammanni. On 8 June 1883, another
girl was born to the couple and named Krishnajammanni. They were
blessed with the much-awaited male child and heir on 4 June 1884. He was
named Krishnaraja Wodeyar. Between 1888 and 1892, the royal couple were
blessed with three sons—Kanthirava Maharaja Wodeyar was born on 5 June
1888, Raja Wodeyar III on 7 July 1890 and Devaraja Wodeyar in July 1892.
On 20 June 1887, Queen Victoria completed fifty years of her rule as
queen of England. The message sent out by Chamarajendra Wodeyar,
recorded by Singarayya in his book, was read out at the jubilee function by
Colonel E. Bowen, the chief engineer of Mysore:
Ladies and Gentlemen—It gives me sincere pleasure to be able today to take the first step
towards the fulfilment of a promise I made in February last to establish in my capital a
Victoria Jubilee Institute—an institute designed to commemorate a special occasion and to
promote a special object.
The occasion is the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the accession
to the throne of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Empress of India, and I
need scarcely add that on this day, all English speaking races and their fellow
subjects of other races scattered over every part of the earth’s surface unite
with one voice to give expression to those sentiments of loyalty and devotion
which half a century of affectionate and beneficent rule has fostered and
strengthened to a degree without parallel in the history of the world. To India,
it was given to anticipate by a few months the rejoicings peculiar to this most
auspicious day for, on the 16th of February last, the princes and people of this
country joined together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty’s
regime and to submit to the foot of her throne the homage of their heartfelt
gratitude for the complete fulfilment of that gracious message she sent when
assuming the direct administration of India, so full of goodwill and generous
assurance that ‘in your prosperity is our strength, in your contentment our
security and in your gratitude our best reward.’
On that day, we in Mysore, I may be permitted to say were not behind the
other nations of India in doing honour to the occasion but for this day which
terminates the half century of the most beneficent reign in the history of
modem times, I reserved the foundation of a special and permanent memorial
which will do fitting honour to whom it is dedicated. This memorial will be
devoted to the study and promotion of the Arts, Industries and the Literature of
Mysore. It will from its character be indicative of peace and prosperity and I
am sure there could be erected no more fitting edifice to Her Most Gracious
Majesty, the first aim and object of whose reign has been the promotion of
peace and goodwill amongst all states and peoples. I may add that as the
Victoria Jubilee Institute will be a temple of peace and prosperity, so the
occasion for its dedication is an appropriate one also for laying, in close
proximity, the foundation stone of another building, which will in the future be
intimately connected with the prosperity of this province.
I allude to the new Public Offices of Mysore. As the end of all good
government is the preservation and promotion of peace and prosperity of its
subjects the time and labour of those for whose official accommodation these
offices are about to be erected, will, I feel certain, be always directed to that
subject. So I may say in conclusion that these two buildings, although diverse
in immediate design, are destined for the same ultimate purpose and that
therefore the ceremonial attendant of their foundations are most appropriately
linked together on this most auspicious day which in the Annals of Mysore, as
in those of other parts of Her Majesty’s Empire serves to mark the period of
special material progress and social advancement.
Chamarajendra’s appreciation was not directed wholly towards his
British sovereign. He is credited with having lent support to one of India’s
most illustrious sons, Swami Vivekananda, who faced financial constraints
while planning to attend the Parliament of Religions at Chicago where he
was invited to represent India and the Hindu religion. Despite the vast
geographical distance that separated them (the Swami hailed from
Dakshineshwar in Calcutta), the maharaja decided to help him reach
America. On reaching American shores, Swami Vivekananda wrote a long
letter to the king which reads as below:*
June 23rd 1894
Sri Narayana bless you and yours! Through your Highness’ kind help it has been possible
for me to come to this country. Since then I have become well known here and the
hospitable people of this country have supplied all my wants. It’s a wonderful country and
this is a wonderful nation in many respects. No other nation applies so much machinery in
their every day work as do the people of this country. Everything is machine. Then again,
they are only one-twentieth of the whole population of the world. Yet they have fully one-
sixth of all the wealth of the world. There is no limit to their wealth and luxuries. The
wages of labour arethe highest in the world; yet the fight between labour and capital is
constant.
Nowhere on earth have women so many privileges as in America. They are
slowly taking everything into their hands, and strange to say, the number of
cultured women is much greater than that of cultured men. Of course the
higher order of geniuses are mostly from the rank of males. With all the
criticism of the Westerners against our caste, they have a worse one, that of
money! The almighty dollar, as the Americans say, can do anything here!
The theories of creation out of nothing, of a created soul, and of a big
tyrant God sitting on a throne in a place called Heaven, and of the eternal hell
fires have disgusted all the educated, and the noble thoughts of the Vedas about
Eternity, of creation and the Soul, about the God in one’s own soul, they are
imbibing fast in one shape or other. Within fifty years the educated of the
world will come to believe in the eternity of both soul and creation, and in God
as our highest and perfect nature as taught in our holy Vedas. Even now the
learned priests are interpreting the Bible in that way. My conclusion is, that
they require more spiritual civilisation, and we, more material!
One thing that is at the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor.
The poor in the west are devils; compared to them ours are angels, and it is
therefore so much the easier to raise our poor. The only service to be done for
our lower classes is to give them education, to develop their lost individuality.
That is the great task between our people and the princes. Up to now nothing
has been done in that direction. Priest power and foreign conquest have trodden
them down for centuries and at last the poor of India have forgotten that they
are human beings. They are to be given ideas, their eyes are to be opened to
what is going on in the world around them, and they will work out their own
salvation. Every nation, every man and every woman must work out their own
salvation. Give them ideas, that is the only help they require, and then the rest
must follow as the effect. Ours is to put the chemicals together, the
crystallization comes on the Law of nature.
This is what has to be done in India. It is this idea that has been in my mind
for a long time, I could not accomplish it in India and that was the reason of
my coming to this country. The great difficulty in the way of educating the
poor, is this. Supposing even Your Highness opens a free school in every
village, still it would do no good, for the poverty of India is such that the poor
boys would rather go to help their fathers in the fields, or otherwise try to make
a living than come to school. Now if the mountain does not come to
Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. If the poor boy does not
come to education, education must go to him. There are thousands of single
minded self-sacrificing sanyasins in our own country going from village to
village teaching religion. If some of them can be organised as teachers of
secular things also, they will go from place to place, from door to door, not
only preaching, but teaching also. Suppose two of these men go to a village in
the evening with a camera, a globe, some maps, etc., they can teach a great
deal of Astronomy and Geography to the ignorant. By telling stories about
different nations, they can give the poor a hundred times more information
through the ear than they can get in a life-time through books. This requires an
organisation, which again means money. Men enough there are in India to
work out this plan, but alas! They have no money. It is very difficult to set a
wheel in motion but when once set, it goes on with increasing velocity. After
seeking help in my own rich country, and failing to get any sympathy from the
rich Bengalis, I came to this country through Your Highness’ aid. The
Americans do not care whether the poor in India die or live. And why should
they, our own people never think of anything but their own selfish ends!
My noble Prince, this life is short, the vanities of the world are transient,
but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive. One
such high, noble-minded and Royal son of India as Your Highness, can do
much towards raising India on her feet again, and thus leave a name to
posterity, which shall be worshipped. That the Lord may make your noble
heart feel intensity for the suffering millions of India sunk in ignorance, is the
prayer of Vivekananda!
Such a noble and inspiring letter from a man, veritably acclaimed as a
hero of his times. But sadly, while the letter made a profound impact on the
maharaja, he didn’t have an opportunity to put these ideas into practice. The
last paragraph of the Swami’s letter of life being short was prophetic.
The maharaja embarked on an extensive tour of northern India,
returning only in 1893. On 9 December 1894, he left Mysore for Calcutta,
where he stayed at the Sealdah House. By 23 December, the king was down
with high fever. Chamarajendra was a tall, well-built and extremely
handsome man, but his smile and bright eyes were dimmed by the fever that
oppressed him for about fourteen days. By 26 December, his condition
worsened, affecting his hearing as well. Doctor McConnel examined him the
next day and concluded that he was suffering from diphtheria.
The King insisted on his daily bath even in his sickness. He would
stagger to the Puja room and offer his prayers to Goddess Chamundeshwari.
But soon that became almost impossible for him. Unable to leave the bed,
he prayed lying down and sought forgiveness for a less elaborate prayer. By
nightfall on 27 December, he could barely speak. He was placed on an easy
chair by attendants but soon a grave discomfiture pulled him back to bed.
Stimulants were fed to him, which, after much resistance, he was forced to
consume. Around dawn, he softly stammered ‘Mother Chamundeshwari’,
closed and opened his eyes thrice in reverence and breathed his last.
Darbar Baksni Narasimha Iyengar informed Kempananjammanni of her
husband’s death. Grief-stricken and hysterical, she rushed to the room
where the cold, lifeless body lay. The baffled dewan rushed to the spot and
tried consoling her. She cried and lamented loudly, cursing her fate and the
will of Destiny, finally falling unconscious. The dewan informed Foreign

Secretary Cunningham, who in turn informed the viceroy about the tragedy.
Mysoreans could hardly believe the news when it began trickling in. The
young and dashing ruler was no more! It was decided to carry out the
cremation at Calcutta itself. The bed on which the body lay was used as the
palanquin for the final procession. The body was dressed in royal garments
for the last time. The Bengal army arrived to attend the procession. It started
around 2 pm, passing through Lower Circular road and Rusa road and
reached its destination in Kalighat by 6 pm. Prince Krishnaraja was just ten
years old and so Bakshi Basappaji Urs performed the final rites.
The next day the Government of India sent a telegram informing the
bereaved family that the government of Britain had granted permission for
the accession of Prince Krishnaraja as the future King of Mysore with the
*
maharani and the dewan as regents.
Pending the issue of orders on the form of administration to be finally approved as that best
suited for the period of minority, the administration of the state will continue for the
immediate future in the manner in which it is now conducted under the Dewan, Sir.
K.Seshadri Iyer, K.C.S.I. The Dewan will ask for, and follow the advice of the Resident on
all matters of importance, and as it is practicable and desirable, he will consult the wishes
of Her Highness the Maharani Vani Vilas Sannidhana, C.I.
On 30 December the family left Calcutta for Mysore in a pall of gloom.
In moving a resolution, the president of the Congress, Alfred Webb, MP,
spoke thus:**
Friends and fellow subjects, you all feel the heavy and dark clouds under which we meet
today. The bright sunshine and the blue sky outside are in accord with the feeling of
depression and sadness which reign in our hearts. There is no need for me to mention the
reason for the fact that we all know and feel since last night when we heard of the death of
the Maharajah of Mysore, that this Congress could not end in the joyful manner in which it
commenced. There is no need that I should say anything relating to the character, the
services, the patriotism and the life of the deceased Maharajah. That of course will be
properly spoken on other occasions by men who have known him and who are fully aware
of his services to his country and his race. It remains for me to propose the resolutions
which of course will be received by you standing in solemn silence.
Thus ended the life and rule of the twenty-third ruler of the Mysore
royal family, a man remembered for his strength of character and all he did
for his kingdom.
The Times of London published a long article in its obituary column,
praising the maharaja. Written by Sir William Lee-Wamer, KCSI, it
appeared on 29 December 1894. The text of the article is as follows:
A Reuters telegram from Calcutta states that the Maharajah of Mysore died there on Friday
morning of diphtheria. The sudden death of the Maharajah of Mysore cuts short the career
of one of the most promising and prominent princes of India. In his brief life, little more
than 30 summers, he had done much in the cause of good government, but it was only
regarded as the earnest of the greater achievements that would follow during what seemed
likely to be a lengthy reign. These hopes are nipped in the bud by his having fallen victim to
the fell disease diphtheria during the annual visit he regularly paid to the Viceroy’s court at
Calcutta; but still be accomplished enough to mark out his tenure of authority as a distinct
epoch in the modem history of his state.
The relations of the British Government with Mysore have been of a
peculiar kind, and might fill a volume, but it must suffice here to say that the
Mohammedan conquerors, Hyder Ali and his son Tippo Sahib, dispossessed
the old Rajput family which had established itself as Wodeyars or Lords, of
Mysore at the end of the 14th century. On the final overthrow and death of
Tippoo at Srirangapatam in 1799, we restored the old ruling Hindu family in
the person of Krishnaraj; who retained the style and state of Maharajah until
his death in 1868. During the early years of this prince’s rule the
administration was well conducted by the Dewan Pumiah but during the 15
years that followed his retirement in 1811, matters were so mismanaged that
the British Government assumed charge of affairs in 1831, and retained it
during the last 37 years of the life of Krishnaraj. On the death of that prince,
the lately deceased Maharajah, a scion of the house who had been adopted as
his heir by Krishnaraj some years before was proclaimed ruler, but the
responsible authority remained in our hands. But it was not until 1881 that the
famous Rendition of Mysore to its natural prince was carried out. By that time
the young Maharaja Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar who was born on February
22,1863, had given promise of such ability and good sense that it was deemed
possible to entrust to his hands the control of a Government that had been
British for fifty years. It is only just to the late prince to say that the confidence
was not misplaced and that he discharged his task to the complete satisfaction
of the Viceroy and the benefit of his own people. The statement has been made
that in all ordinary duties of an India Government such as the dispensation of
justice, the collection and expenditure of revenue, the protection of life and
property, the promotion of public works, sanitation etc, Mysore was well
abreast of British India, and that in some matters, especially female education
and schemes for developing latent resources it was ahead of it.
Mysore is one of the parts of India that have been most visited by the
ravages of famine and the Maharaja’s Government earned special distinction in
coping with the terrible visitation and in devising a permanent remedy for it. In
the year 1892 precautions on a most elaborate scale were taken. The private
forests and plantations of the prince were thrown open for free grazing and half
a million of the ryots’ cattle found sustenance which was unobtainable
elsewhere. Large sums were expended on public works, principally tanks and
ten lakhs of revenue were either remitted or held in suspense. The result of
these efforts and precautions was that no lives were lost and that the famine
was averted. The Maharajah’s wishes in this and other directions have been
ably carried out by his Chief Minister Sri K. Seshadri Iyer, who has earned a
reputation in Southern India equal to that of the late Sir Madhava Rao. Among
other points it should be mentioned that the Maharajah was a strong supporter
of female education and that he was the first Hindu prince to found a school for
girls. This step was rendered more remarkable by the school being intended for
only the children of high caste families and it numbered as many as 500
scholars. The mining laws and regulations passed in consequence of the
extensive discovery of gold during the last 15 years in Mysore have been
frequently praised for their simplicity and have given the state a large and
increasing revenue. The Maharajah who was a Knight Grand Commander of
the Star of India leaves several sons and daughters. It is unnecessary to assure
the officials and people of Mysore that nothing will be done to disturb the
order of succession and that every assistance will be given by the Supreme
government to those who may have to administer the affairs until the new
Maharajah can govern for himself.
Not a few Englishmen who have lived in India must feel that by the death
of this young prince they have lost a true friend of singularly sympathetic and
amiable character. From his natural shyness of disposition which was increased
by a slight impediment in his speech and which he never entirely overcame he
did not always make a favourable impression on strangers; but any impression
of this kind soon disappeared on better acquaintance, and it may be said to his
credit that those who knew him best were those who were most warmly
attached to him. Certainly he was fortunate in finding such an able, upright and
conscientious Dewan as Sir K. Seshadri Iyer; but on the other hand it is equally
true that this remarkable native administrator was fortunate in finding such an
enlightened, high principled, benevolent master as the late Maharajah.
———————————
*
His words are recorded in Josyer’s 1929 book, History of Mysore and the Yadava
Dynasty.
*
His recollections are recorded in Josyer’s 1929 book, History of Mysore and the Yadava
Dynasty.
*
This letter appears in Singarayya’s book, Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyaravara Charitre.
*
This letter appears in Josyer’s 1929 book, History of Mysore and the Yadava Dynasty.
*
The text of the telegram is taken from Singarayya’s book, Sri Chamarajendra
Wodeyaravara Charitre
**
This speech is taken from Singarayya’s book, Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyaravara Charitre.
21
THE RAJARISHI
aharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV also known popularly as Nalwadi
Krishnaraja Wodeyar was one of the most celebrated rulers among
those of the Indian States. He was a philosopher-king and had been
compared to the Emperor Ashoka by the English statesman Lord Samuel.
Mahatma Gandhi called him ‘Rajarishi’—a saint among kings—a tag that
remained with him all his life.
Paul Brunton, a Western philosopher who came to India seeking oriental
wisdom, saw the raja as living the ideal expressed in Plato’s Republic. His
impression of Krishnaraja Wodeyar is analysed by Annie Cahn Fung as
follows:
In the philosopher-king Brunton not only met a benefactor who so generously gave him
residence, servants, various material resources, and even the company of his Rajaguru; he
also met the supreme embodiment of his ideal of the sage as philosophic man of action.
Later Brunton would contrast this ideal to what he considered a lesser type: the reclusive,
solitary mystic. The Maharaja, open to science and modern technology, had founded the
great iron and steel industry of Bhadravati, one of the most important in the British Empire.
His strong example was both a source of inspiration for the English author and a reassuring
confirmation of the latter’s belief that philosophy and the active life are not incompatible.
The Maharaja’s life, which unfolded before Brunton’s eyes during those years, was proof of
the point:
You have rescued philosophy from those who would make it a mere refuge from
disappointment, and converted it into a dynamic inspiration to higher action for
service,
wrote Brunton in his dedication to The Quest of the Overself.

The circumstances under which young Krishnaraja ascended the throne
of Mysore as its twenty-fourth ruler were anything but pleasant. The
untimely death of a young, charismatic, popular and reformist maharaja had
jolted the public of Mysore. It was all the more shocking for the young
maharani and her little children. She had to cope with her loss and assume a
new responsibility—regent to her infant son, who would be placed on the
musnud of Mysore.
The British were forthright in anointing young Krishnaraja as the
successor. In a kharita (official letter) addressed to the young king-
designate, the Viceroy Lord Elgin said:*
My Honoured and Valued friend, at the time when the melancholy death of His Highness
Sri Chamaraja Wodayar Bahadur, G.C.S.I., Your Highness’ father, occurred in Calcutta, I
conveyed at once to Her Highness, your mother, as well as to yourself, the sincere sympathy
which was felt both her and in England with Her Highness’ family in consequence of so
untoward a catastrophe. I have already made known the approval given by the Government
of India to your succession to the Chiefship of Mysore State. I now formally confirm that
approval and assure you that if you are fitted by character and ability when you are qualified
by age to assume so high and honorable a position, you will be entrusted with the ruling
powers so well discharged by your father. A grave responsibility devolves meanwhile upon
the British Government in supervising your own education and the Provincial Government
of the Mysore State, and this is a matter to which I have devoted anxious thought. Happily
the present circumstances are auspicious. A fitting central authority must be provided
during Your Highness’ minority. The Government of India by conferring upon Her
Highness Maharani Vani Vilas, C.I., the dignity and position of the Regent of the Mysore
State, mark in a special manner their confidence that they will find in Her Highness, in the
Minister who has ably filled the difficult post of Dewan, and in the experienced officials
who may be associated with him, the means of continuing under their own special care a
system of administration which has stood with success the test of time. I will, in conclusion,
assure Your Highness and, through you, Her Highness, the Maharani, that the Government
of India will continue to watch over your interests and those of the Mysore state with
jealous regard for the welfare of both. My endeavor will be to secure the continued
prosperity of the State. I sincerely trust that Your Highness may prove worthy to fill the
place of your lamented father, whose untimely removal I cannot cease to deplore. I desire to
express the high consideration, which I entertain for Your Highness and to subscribe myself
Your Highness’ sincere friend.
Elgin
Viceroy and Governor General of India.
Fort William, the 25th January 1895.

After the tragic circumstances following the sudden and untimely death
of his father, young Krishnaraja, barely ten years old then, was crowned
King on 1 February 1895 with his mother Maharani Kempananjammanni
Vanivilasa Sannidhana and Dewan K. Sheshadri Iyer as regents.
With a statesman as senior as Sir K.C. Sheshadri Iyer by her side, the
young maharani was quick to rise to the occasion and soon learnt the art of
administration and realpolitik. She had a dual role to play—caring and
concerned mother to her children and a loving and efficient administrator for
the state and its people. She rose to the occasion and fulfilled both these
tasks to the fullest of her abilities.
In February 1897, during the festivities for the marriage of Princess
Jayalakshmammanni with her maternal uncle Kantharaje Urs, the existing
wooden palace at Mysore succumbed to an accidental fire. Maharani
Kempananjammanni decided to get the new palace built on the model and
foundations of the older one. She met Mr Henry Irwin, architect of the
Viceregal Lodge of Shimla and inaugurated the construction of the new
palace in October 1897. The palace was completed in 1912 at an expense of
Rs 41,47,913. It has a 145-foot high tower with a golden flag on its summit.
The façade has seven big arches flanking the central arch supported by all
the pillars. Above this is a statue of Gajalakshmi. The star attractions of the
palace are the Kalyana Mandapa, Diwan-i-Aam or Darbar Hall, which is
forty-two feet wide, Amba Vilasa or Diwan-i-Khas and so on. It continues
to remain a major tourist attraction in Mysore today.
Displaying courage, wisdom and dedication, the maharani steered the
affairs of the state with the able help of Sheshadri Iyer from 1894 to 1902.
In the words of a contemporary historian quoted by Josyer:
She rose to the occasion with great courage and aided by her able Dewan and Councillors,
she succeeded in her task magnificently, commending herself to Her Imperial Majesty the
Queen Empress and the British Government, while the people all over the State were loud
in her praise. If she found the State prosperous and its people contented when her consort
died, she left the State still more contented when she laid down the reins of her Regency on
the accession of her son to the throne.
During the regency of the maharani, the young maharaja was being
groomed into the skills of kingship. In his sixth year he began his education.
Sri Pumaraghavendra Rao was his tutor between 1890 and 1892 and Sri
Sosale Ayya Shastry was his Kannada tutor. In June 1892, he was sent to the
Royal School and in the course of his study here he befriended a boy called
Mirza Ismail. The two became the best of friends and Ismail was to become
the dewan of the state later. For 18 months, M.J.J. Whitely taught the King
English, mathematics, history, geography and science and the Indian
teachers taught him Sanskrit, Kannada and Urdu. He was also trained in
sports, such as swimming, horse riding, cricket, polo and so on. In his
twelfth year, 1896, the British government appointed Sir M. Stuart Fraser as
his tutor, and what Malleson was to the late Chamarajendra Wodeyar, Fraser
was to Krishnaraja Wodeyar. At the age of sixteen, in June 1900, the king
was married to the daughter of the Rana of Kathiawad Vanavar Sri Pratapa
Kumari Bai. She was named the maharani of the Lakshmi Vilasa
Sannidhana.
Meanwhile, several members of the Representative Assembly under Mr
Venkatakrishnayya, popularly called ‘Tataiah’ or Grand Old Man of
Mysore, put forth virulent pleas against the dewan and his schemes. Tataiah
was an enlightened school master, who later became the king’s adviser. He
held that Sheshadri Iyer being an ‘outsider’ who came into the Mysore
service from Madras Presidency, displayed regional bias by employing many
people from there. They complained that he did not allow sufficient
representation and scope to the local Mysoreans and their talent. This group
always maintained their opposition to the views of the Dewan. Iyer was very
upset with these allegations levelled against him. He retired from the post of
dewan in 1901, and passed away a year later.
Acknowledging his services upon his death, the maharani said: ‘The
many reforms, which have brought the Mysore administration to a high level
of efficiency, are attributable in great part to his talents, forethought and
resourcefulness.’*
Even Dinsha Wacha, president of the Indian National Congress,
expressed his condolences, which were recorded by Josyer:
In him the administration loses an administrator of the highest capacity and most matured
experience. He was the latest instance of the Indian statesman who had shown himself
capable of governing fully an indigenous State with as much skill and capacity, judgement
and discrimination, tact and sympathy, as some of the greatest English administrators, who
have left their mark on British Indian History. Sir K.C. Sheshadri Iyer has now gone to
swell the roll of honour of Modem Indian Statesmen!

The dewan’s progressive initiatives won him the title of
‘Rajadurandhara’ (adept administrator) from the regent queen. Lord Curzon
spoke of him as one who, for eighteen years, wielded an authority that left
its mark on every branch of the administration, and indicated that the deeds
and services of such great men need to be honoured by public
commemoration, not merely as a posthumous compliment to them, but to
inspire others and set an example. In Bangalore, the Sheshadri Iyer
Memorial Hall with the statue of the dewan, unveiled by Viceroy Lord
Hardinge himself, reminds us of this able leader even today.
The year the king attained majority, Maharani Kempananjammanni laid
down the regency of the state she had so ably handled over the past eight
years. Describing her sagacity, Rajadharmapraveena T.R.A. Thumboo
Chetty, who was a judge and senior councillor from 1881 to 1901 and a
close friend of Dewan Sheshadri Iyer says:*
In my repeated official visits I was really struck with Her Highness, the Maharani’s capacity
for business, fair knowledge of things and amiable character. She listened to everything
with exemplary patience. Her mind was bold and acute, and whatever be the subject of
discussion, she came directly to the point and brought it to a happy completion. Sometimes
her enlightened suggestions and direction most agreeably surprised me and afforded ready
solution of many difficulties. Her anxiety to promote the highest and best interests of the
country was always perceptible. I invariably retired from the interviews I had with a strong
sentiment of devotion, as well as admiration and respect, for Her Highness’ high character
and intellectual qualities.
On 8 August 1902, the young maharaja was installed on the throne with
ruling powers. The function was held in the Darbar Hall Mandapa of the
palace. A twenty-one-gun salute followed the entry of Lord Curzon, the
Viceroy who had come to preside over and conduct the proceedings on
behalf of the British government. The stage was well decorated with two
silver chairs beneath it, occupied by Lord Curzon and to his left, the
Resident. The viceroy led the maharaja to the platform and made him sit on
the masnad and reaffirmed his commitment to the throne of Mysore.
Speaking on the occasion Lord Curzon said:**
The young Maharaja whom I am about to install has recently attained his 18th birthday. He
has passed through a minority of nearly 8 years. They have not been idle or vapid years
spent in enjoyment or dissipated in idleness. They have been years of careful preparation for
the duties that lay before him, and of laborious training for his exalted state. It is no light
thing to assume charge of 5 millions of people, and it is no perfunctory training that is
required for such a task. He has studied their wants and needs at first hand. He has thereby
acquired the knowledge, which will enable him to understand the problems with which he
will be confronted. Fortified by this knowledge, his naturally businesslike habits and
instinctive self-reliance should enable him to steer a straight course. Youth is his, and health
and strength. He enters upon a splendid heritage at an early age. May God guide him in his
undertaking and speed him on the straight path!
In reply to the viceroy’s address King Krishnaraja said:
How important are the responsibilities, which now devolve upon me I fully realise, and it is
my intention to prove by performance rather than by words. The inheritance to which I
succeed is no ordinary one, and I appreciate what Mysore owes to the administration of
wise statesmen, and the care of the British government under the Regency of my revered
mother. But at the same time, I know fully well that I cannot rest on the laurels won by
others, and that my utmost efforts are needed, not only to maintain for my subjects the
benefits they already enjoy, but to press onwards to a yet higher standard of efficiency. How
far I may be granted the ability to cope with the problems before me, the future can only
show, but it is a comfort to me to feel that I shall for sometime at any rate, enjoy the
assistance of my well proved friend, the Hon’ble Col. Donald Robertson, as the Resident of
the State. And speaking with all deference, I am able to say that I begin my task with some
knowledge of its difficulties, thanks to the education I have received from Mr Fraser, to
whom I have to prove that his labours for the past six years have not been without fruit.
This much at any rate can confidently be affirmed that the desire and the effort to succeed
shall not be lacking. I have now seen a great deal of my State, with its beautiful scenery and
its loyal people, and it would be a poor heart indeed that was not filled with pride and love
for such an inheritance. May Heaven grant me the ability as well the ambition to make a
full and wise use of the great opportunities of my position, and to govern, without fear or
favour for the lasting happiness of my people.
Sir P.N. Krishnamurthy, great grandson of the late Dewan Pumaiya, was
appointed the new dewan of the state. He was assisted by a Council
consisting of two able and trustworthy statesmen, V.P. Madhava Rao and T.
Ananda Rao. Inaugurating this council a week after the installation
ceremony, the maharaja said:*
We are once again at the beginning of a new experiment in Mysore. Whether that
experiment is a success or the reverse, will depend greatly on you. Of your devotion to
myself personally I am well aware. In your devotion to the interests of the State, I have full
confidence. No human institution can be perfect and the new scheme of administration will
no doubt disclose defects of one kind or another. As the fruit of the labours of my Dewan,
aided by the advice of my good friend, the Resident, I myself hope and expect much. This
object can only be attained by single hearted and unselfish cooperation between Members
of Council of the State. It cannot be expected that you will always agree with one another or
that I shall always agree with you. It may be that, at times, you may feel soreness
individually or even collectively at being overruled. At such times I ask you to give credit to
those who disagree with you for being actuated by the same sense of public duty as
yourselves, and reflect that, in giving your honest opinion and urging it to the utmost of
your power, you have done your duty and retained your self respect. I ask you to banish all
sense of resentment and to address yourselves to the next question before you with
undiminished courage and goodwill. If this is the spirit that animates our labors, I can,
relying on your mature experience and proven abilities, look forward with confidence to the
future.
The Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria’s heir, visited Mysore in 1906.
Expressing delight at the rapid strides made by the state he said:**
If any proof were required of the wisdom of the policy of 1881, which restored to your
father the Province of Mysore after 50 years of British Administration, it is surely to be
found in the contentment and prosperity which the people of Mysore enjoy under the
Government of Your Highness. It is interesting to hear of the many enterprises, notably that
of’ the Cauvery Electric Works, and the general policy of irrigation and public works.
Under the lead which we may expect from such a capable and enlightened Ruler as our kind
host, with the assistance of statesmen of the type of the late Sir. K.G. Sheshadri Iyer, your
Province may look forward with confidence to making still greater strides.
The same year the maharaja was given the title of G.C.S.I. from the
British government. The Mysoreans organised a congratulatory gathering to
felicitate the maharaja. Speaking on the occasion the maharaja said:
You allude in your address to this honour as being a fitting recognition of my four years’
personal rule. Though I appreciate the depth of feeling, which has prompted you to express
this opinion, yet, I must candidly confess that I cannot altogether endorse it. I feel that there
is a very great deal to be done, and that very little has yet been achieved. My responsibility
is a heavy one, but I fully realise it, and as it has pleased providence to call upon me to
discharge it, I can only submit to the Divine will. It shall ever be my aim and ambition in
life to do all that lies in me to promote the progress and prosperity of my beautiful State
and the happiness of my beloved people. I can assure you that I shall not spare myself in the
endeavour to accomplish this. Neither perseverance nor effort will, I trust, be found wanting
in me in fulfilling this aim.
On 30 March 1906, Sir P.N. Krishnamurthy resigned from the post of
dewan and was succeeded by V.P. Madhava Rao as dewan. He was earlier
dewan of Travancore and entered the service of Mysore. He was known for
the wide range of administrative reforms he brought about in the system.
But Rao became unpopular because he forbade the elections of M.
Venkatakrishnaiya and D. Venkataramanaiya to the Legislative Council. By
doing this he created a second legislative chamber. He got the Mysore
Newspapers Regulations Act passed in 1908, imposing regulations and
restrictions on the Press. This was perhaps the most repressive action by any
statesman of Mysore. This also earned him public wrath and unpopularity.
Many newspapers in the state stopped publication as a mark of protest
against this Act. The seeds of democracy might have been sown in Mysore
through the establishment of the Representative Assembly and the extension
of franchise, but the fact remained that it was still a centrally controlled
monarchy, a nascent and immature democracy that was on the path of
evolution. The newspapers of Mysore were known for their free and frank
espousal of causes of national and public interest, many of which were
tangential to the Dewan’s purposes. This forced him to undertake this
draconian measure. Due to rising public opinion against him, Madhava Rao
was forced to retire in early 1909.
He was succeeded by T. Ananda Rao, the son of the great statesman
Raja Sir T. Madhava Rao. He had entered the Mysore Civil Service in 1873
and had been revenue commissioner and council member. On the advice of
his Chief Engineer, M. Vishweswaraiya, the dewan gave shape to the
Kannambadi irrigation project. He also organised an Economic Conference
for the purpose of achieving the economic development of the state.
Addressing the conference, the maharaja declared:
Here is an opportunity for public work, as to the necessity of which all parties and interests
in the State are agreed. The political element, which has caused so much bitterness
elsewhere, has been entirely eliminated from the peaceful work of this organisation. ‘We
want earnest workers. It is our object to reach all people who desire to cooperate. Those
who have brains must organise, those who have money might contribute to the expenses of
the movement the aim we have in view, namely, the economic security and vital efficiency
of the people, must appeal to every right thinking person. We want no ornamental
members. I hope everyone associated with you will work earnestly and persistently, and that
your combined efforts will achieve some measure of progress calculated to be of lasting
good to the State. This movement will be what your activities and wisdom make of it. I
appeal to you, and through you, to every citizen of the State, to become skilled and capable,
and to train your children and children’s children in some skilled calling. There is no royal
road to success. I hope I shall not appeal in vain if I ask everyone, official or private citizen,
to actively promote the objects of this movement.
By 1910, the Mysore Palace had been completed and lavishly decorated
with the paintings of celebrated artist Raja Ravi Verma and others. A
railway line was laid from Bangalore to Chikkaballapur via Kolar.
Pradhanashiromani Ananda Rao was a man of rigid sense of duty and
discipline of conduct. He was the son of a dewan, had married the daughter
of a dewan and was himself a dewan, which prompted his wife (herself the
daughter of Dewan Rama Rao of Baroda) to exclaim that she was perhaps
the only Indian woman to be daughter, daughter-in-law and wife to dewans!
Ananda Rao retired in 1912.
Ananda Rao was succeeded by one of the most illustrious men of
modem Mysore—Sir M. Vishweswaraiya. He was the first ‘local’ Mysorean
to become dewan. Even decades after his death, he was voted the most
popular Kannadiga in a recently conducted television poll.
Sir M.V. as he was fondly called, was born to Srinivasa Sastry and
Venkachamma at Muddenahalli village in the Kolar district. His father was
a Sanskrit scholar and an authority on the Hindu scriptures, besides being
an Ayurvedic practitioner. The family was a pious Telugu-speaking Smartha
Brahmin family belonging to the Vaidiki Mulukanadu sub-caste. Sir M.V.’s
ancestors actually hailed from the village of Mokshagundam near Giddalur
in the Prakasam district of present-day Andhra Pradesh; they had migrated
to Mysore perhaps three centuries earlier. The family name,
‘Mokshagundam’, preserves the memory of this distant association.
The young Vishweswaraiya lost his father at the age of fifteen, when the
family lived at Kumool; they moved back to Muddenahalli immediately. Sir
M.V. attended primary school at Chikballapur and high school at Bangalore.
He earned his B.A. from Madras University in 1881 and later studied civil
engineering at the College of Science, Pune, now known as the College of
Engineering, Pune (COEP).
Upon graduating as an engineer, Vishweswaraiya took up a job with the
Public Works Department (PWD) of Bombay, and was later invited to join
the Indian Irrigation Commission. He implemented an extremely intricate
system of irrigation in the Deccan area. He also designed and patented a

system of automatic weir water floodgates, which were first installed in
1903, at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune. These gates were employed
to raise the flood-supply level of storage in the reservoir to the highest level
likely to be attained in a flood, without causing any damage to the dam.
Based on the success of these gates, the same system was installed at the
Tigra dam in Gwalior and later at the celebrated Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS)
dam in Mysore. Vishweswaraiya achieved celebrity status when he designed
a flood protection system to protect the city of Hyderabad from floods. He
was also instrumental in developing a system to protect Visakhapatnam port
from sea erosion. In 1909, as chief engineer of the state, he made significant
contributions to the construction of the Kannambadi Dam across the
Cauvery, irrigating 1.5 lakh acres of dry land in the regions of Mandya and
Malavally. This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia at the time it was
built.
During his period of service with the government of Mysore state as its
dewan (1912–18), Vishweswaraiya was responsible for founding, under the
aegis of that government, the Mysore Soap factory, the Parasitoide
Laboratory, the Bhadravati Iron Works, Sandal Oil Factory, spun silk works,
the SJP polytechnic, a school at Hebbal, which grew into the University of
Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore decades later, the State Bank of Mysore,
the Mysore Sugar Mills and numerous other industrial ventures. He also
encouraged private investment in industry during his tenure as dewan. He
was known for his sincerity, time management and dedication—a true
Kannadiga.
When public gatherings were organised to felicitate him on assumption
of office, he modestly remarked:*
It will, I hope, not be regarded an affectation of modesty on my part if I say that all I have
wanted is opportunity for work, and that thoughts of personal advancement have not
influenced my action in recent years. With the important duties now graciously entrusted to
me by His Highness the Maharaja, I have all the scope for work that I may have ever longed
for. I seek no further reward. The pleasure of working for a few more years, of serving my
Sovereign and my country, is enough for me. Their interests will be my constant thought
and their appreciation, if I am able to secure it, will be my best reward.
Fiercely conscientious and dutiful, Vishweswaraiya was constantly
seeking to improve himself and all he encountered, to serve better and to

learn more. All these ennobling qualities, honed through contact with the
stalwarts of the Indian Nationalist movement like Ranade, Gokhale and
Wacha—with whom he was associated during his engineering days at
Bombay—made him a perfectionist and workaholic. His panacea for the ills
facing the state and the country was simple—cut slackness, and work. As
early as 1907 he wrote A Vision of Prosperous Mysore, in which he outlined
his plans for economic development of the state. The book stressed the need
for the spread of education, technical knowledge and proposals for
irrigation, industrialisation and commercial progress. He firmly believed
that the investment of the state’s finances in income-yielding projects would
completely preclude the need for maintaining reserves out of its income.
Josyer records his words:
Slackness is the worst curse of the country. At first sight, everybody seems to be taking part
in some common toil; as a matter of fact several persons are looking at the labour of one.
The Public works department is not altogether free from this taint of slackness. We are too
much accustomed to soft conditions. The number of working hours is fewer here than in
Europe. There are more government holidays in the State than even in British India. Official
employment is sought for because once a man gets into service whether efficient or weak,
wise or imprudent, he is practically sure of a competence for the rest of his life. Closely
associated with slackness is lack of initiative. ‘The more energy we put forth,’ said an
eminent German to me, ‘and the more we use our intelligence, the greater the pleasure
provided we do not overdo it to the point of fatigue.’ With industry, and by studying
technical books and papers, even men of mediocre talent can excel. But unless people
consider slackness a disgrace, there is no hope of improvement.
Our efficiency as a country depends not on our better position compared
with our past but on our progress in relation to the other civilized countries of
the world, to the other members of the family of nations. For instance the
percentage of the entire population actually attending school is as high as 21 in
some of the advanced countries. In Mysore it is less than 2 ½. The expenditure
on education in advanced countries like the United States is as high as Rs 12
per head. Our expenditure is less than Rs 6 per head. We should dismiss from
our mind the idea that any great work can be accomplished, that any reputation
in the profession can be made, without drill, discipline and iron labour!
The far-sighted Sir M.V. seems to hold up quite a mirror to the slack
bureaucratic machinery of governments in modem India.
Economic progress became the mantra of the dewan. He made his
vision amply clear in the address to the Mysore Economic Conference in

1913, which was expanded with three committees, one each for industry and
commerce, education and agriculture:*
The great bulk of our people are uneducated, and agriculture is their chief occupation. They
have no industries or trade on modem lines worth mentioning. No country so largely
dependent as ours on agriculture can be said to be prosperous. The margin between the
ordinary standard of living and distribution among our people is very narrow. Out of 57
lakhs of people in Mysore, only 3 ½ Lakhs can read and write, that is, only 6 persons out of
every 100. In advanced countries it is 85 to 95 persons per 100. In the USA, the expenditure
on education is Rs 14 per head of population. In Mysore it is 6 annas per head! In
progressive countries 1/5th of the population are at school. In Mysore 1/50th! Although we
have a population of nearly 6 millions, we have no Universities in Mysore. In Canada, with
a population scarcely 25% more than in Mysore there are 20 Universities!
The value of manufactured produce in the United Kingdom is Rs 326 per
head or about 30 times that produced in Mysore. The earning power of an
average Mysorean is about Rs 30 per head per annum, an average European
earns about Rs 400 per head per annum and an average Englishman Rs 600 to
Rs 700. Hitherto thinking work was left chiefly to Government officials. In
future it will be shared by both officials and non-officials. Eventually the work
should be transferred largely to non-officials.
No country can prosper unless the agricultural and manufacturing
industries were equally fostered. When all the world around is making
marvellous progress, the 200 million people in this country cannot much
longer continue in their long sleep, simply following the traditions of their
ancestors of 2000 years ago and earning a miserable subsistence, ready to be
crushed on the first occurrence of a famine or other calamity. When nations so
incomparably richer than ourselves who already possess a connected scheme of
national life, are thinking of reconstruction, are we, who have no prosperity at
all worth mentioning, to sit still? Shall we remain content with our low
standard of life and work, or adopt a policy of development and progress? If the
latter, are the standards I have indicated too ambitious in the present
circumstances of the country, or are they reasonable and practicable? If the
answer to the question be also in the affirmative, you will agree that the present
drift and traditional inaction should give place to a reasoned policy and a
courageous initiative. We must begin work at once with a changed outlook and
new ideals. In these days of open door, free communication and world
competition, it would be unpardonable neglect on our part to omit to organise
the resources and working power of our people in every walk of life.
The greatness of a man, they say, lies in the timelessness of his thoughts.
If one were to sit back and just go through the thoughts expressed in this
stirring speech, how many of us would deny that the thoughts remain as
germane and as relevant to the India of today as it was about a hundred

years ago when Sir M.V. first articulated his thoughts. He was thus a man far
ahead of his times in terms of his vision, his dedication and single-minded
devotion to work for the all-round development of the state. The reign of
Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar under whom dewans as illustrious as these
served, has rightly been called the Golden Era of Mysore’s history and if
Karnataka today boasts of industrial, technological and social progress vis-
à-vis its other counterparts, the credit lies largely with the robust foundation
laid by these illustrious statesmen and thinkers—for whom public service
was not a chance to fatten one’s purse, but to serve the people in the truest
sense of the word.
The good work that was going on in Mysore compelled the British
government to rethirik the status they had so far accorded the vassal
kingdom and its chief. During a visit to the state in 1913, Lord Hardinge
observed:*
I have now the pleasant duty of making an announcement, which it is as gratifying to me to
deliver, as I trust it will be to Your Highness to receive. Some four months ago Your
Highness wrote me a letter in which you took exception to certain features in the
Instrument of Transfer of 1881 under which the Government of Mysore was restored to
Your Highness’ father, and you urged that the document should be revised both in substance
and in form, in such a manner as to indicate more appropriately the relation subsisting
between the British Government and the State of Mysore. After a very careful consideration
of the question, I have decided with the concurrence of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for
India, to substitute for the Instrument of Transfer a new Treaty which will place the
relations between us on a footing more in consonance with Your Highness’ actual position
among the Feudatory Chiefs of India. His Majesty’s Government in accepting my proposal
has observed that Your Highness’ views on this question were stated with much force and
moderation, and that they derive additional weight from the high character and reputation
which Your Highness has always borne.
In 1914, war broke out in Europe and soon engulfed the entire world.
The damage caused by the war was unprecedented in history. In earlier
wars, civilian populations were generally not involved and casualties were
confined to the warring armies. But this war affected the economy of the
entire world—the casualties suffered by the civilian population from the
bombing of residential areas and the famines and epidemics in its aftermath
far exceeded losses suffered by the armies. No wonder, then, that it is called
the First World War. It was a turning point in the history of the entire world.
Besides conflicts resulting from rivalries over colonies and trade, the
major European powers clashed over certain developments within Europe.
There were six powers in Europe at this time—Britain, Germany, Austria-
Hungary, Russia, France and Italy. The two major camps were the Triple
Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy and the Triple Entente
comprising France, Russia and Britain. The USA also joined the war in
1917 along with Russia, though Russia withdrew after the Bolshevik
Revolution in 1917.
The First World War ended on 28 June 1919 with the signing of the
Treaty of Versailles. Mysore placed its imperial service troops under British
command, granted Rs 50 lakh to the war fund and Rs 2 lakh to the Imperial
India Relief fund. Mysoreans donated Rs 30 lakh and the maharaja an
additional sum of Rs 20 lakh between 1918 and 1919. The Mysore army
fought in Palestine, Egypt and Mesopotamia. The dewan appointed a food
controller, prevented the export of food grains and established fair price
shops to counter the outbreak of epidemics, influenza, food scarcity and also
financial malpractices like hoarding.
The dewan made it clear to the people that the government intended to
foster economic development despite these global hiccups and fallouts. As
recorded by Josyer, the dewan declared:
Government is prepared to render State aid to the extent such aid is given in other countries.
It may be rendered in various ways, by experimenting and starting industries, and when
successful handing them over to private bodies, by guaranteeing interest for a term of years
on private capital invested in new or infant industries, by offering Takavi loans, by granting
subsidies to enable companies to declare a dividend in the first few years, by giving
bounties to stimulate production, starting workshops for experimental work and training
artisans, by providing experts at Government cost, by employing foreign skilled workmen to
instruct the people in minor industries, by providing expert advice in forming joint stock
companies, by purchasing articles required for the Government’s use from local
manufacturers as far as possible, by collecting and publishing correct statistics and
circulating foreign publications containing useful information, by means of Exhibitions,
Conferences etc., by carrying on as State concerns some of the larger industries such as the
manufacture of iron and steel, and sandalwood oil, and by exempting new industries from
octroi duties and other taxes for a term of years. Had it not been for this terrible war, we
might have made much more rapid progress. The times are out of joint, machinery is hard
to produce and the money market is tight. But we hope that with the close of the war better
times will come for the Empire and for ourselves.
You will be glad to hear that His Highness’ Government has made all
reasonable financial provision for State aid required. His Highness the
Maharaja has been pleased to authorise us to announce that a sum of Rs 5
Lakhs per annum will be available for the next five years for loans and
encouragement of industries generally. His Highness has also been very
particular that funds should be provided for education to the fullest extent
permitted by resources. As I was leaving for Ootacamund to attend a Council
meeting at Bangalore, for the preparation of our budget for the coming year His
Highness said to me ‘be sure that you do not stint money for education.’ His
Highness watches over your interests with an unceasing vigilance and
solicitude, and I know His Highness’ dearest wish is that the Government and
the people should cooperate on a basis of common ideals and aspirations, and
work with mutual goodwill, confidence, and hope for the future.
Meanwhile, the social churning in Mysore resulted in demands for
greater representation for the traditionally backward and oppressed sections
of society. The Praja Mitra Mandali that was founded in 1917 for the
espousal of this cause put forth vociferous demands for reservations in
government jobs for backward classes. The Justice Miller Committee was
appointed to look into this demand. Sir M.V., however, firmly believed that
merit alone ought to be the criteria for government jobs. When his voice
was lost in the clamour of populist demands, he resigned from the post of
dewan in 1918—an act that brought him much criticism from the social-
justice lobbies of society.
While his resignation severed his ties with the state’s political class, it
didn’t prevent him from continuing to participate in economic and
developmental activities. He became the chairman of the Board of
Management Bhadravati Iron Works in 1923. He established a model
institute for Polytechnics—Jayachamarajendra Occupational Institute. He
served as chairman of the Cauvery Canal Committee, guided the
Thippagondanahally water supply system that supplies water to Bangalore
city. The establishment of the Hindustan Aircraft Factory (later HAL) in
1941 goes to his credit. In 1949, at the ripe old age of 88, he forwarded a
scheme for rural industrialisation and financial corporation. For all his
pioneering services, the master brain was awarded the highest civilian
honour of Independent India—the Bharat Ratna in 1955. This great son of
Mysore died on 14 April 1962 at the ripe age of 101. The then Maharaja
Jayachamaraja Wodeyar said in a condolence message:

I am deeply grieved to hear the sad news of the demise of Dr Mokshagundam
Vishweswaraiya...indeed he was the first to think of a master plan for the industrialisation
of India, which we are happily realising through our five year plans. In his demise, we have
lost a great statesman, economist and engineer...
Sardar M. Kantharaje Urs, brother of Maharani Kempananjammanni and
brother-in-law of the maharaja succeeded Sir M. Vishweswaraiya as dewan.
The Miller Committee gave its recommendations during this time, favouring
reservation for backward castes in government jobs.
Kantharaje Urs retired in 1922 due to ill-health. He was succeeded by
Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerji, a retired officer of the Indian Civil Service
and formerly the dewan of Cochin who was taken into the State Executive
Council under Sir M. Vishweswaraiya.
Banerji faced two major challenges on assuming the post: managing the
finances of the state, which suddenly seemed to spin out of control with
mounting debts, and tackling the increasing demand for popular reforms
triggered by the Montford Reforms of British India. An able administrator,
Sir Albion Banerji decided to meet these challenges head-on. The abolition
of extravagant state expenditure and tapping neglected sources of revenue
tilted the balance in favour of a surplus budget. In 1923, the income was Rs
331 lakh and expenditure was Rs 313 lakh; in 1924 it was Rs 333 and Rs
319 lakh respectively and by 1925 the same figures stood at Rs 345 and Rs
321 lakh respectively; while 1926 saw a further improvement of Rs 346 and
Rs 323 lakh respectively.
Sir Albion Banerji was succeeded by another illustrious dewan, Sir
Mirza Ismail, in 1926. His grandfather Ali Askar had migrated to Bangalore
from Persia and gained the favours of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. His
father Aga Jaan was the personal bodyguard of Chamarajendra Wodeyar. To
this Aga Jaan was bom, in 1883, the illustrious Mirza Ismail. He studied at
Bangalore’s St. Patrick School, Weslin Mission and Central College. When
Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV was a student at the Royal High School, Mirza was
his classmate. The friendship strengthened over the years and in 1926,
Mirza Ismail was invited to occupy the post of the dewan of Mysore. He can
rightly be called one of the makers of modem Mysore and his 15-year tenure
marked tremendous progress in the history of the state.

The year 1927 was one of joyous celebration all over Mysore—it had
been 25 years since the king’s ascent to the throne. Governor General Lord
Irwin, visiting Mysore around this time, observed:*
On the eve of a most auspicious occasion, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Your
Highness’ accession to power, I take the liberty of offering Your Highness on behalf of
Lady Irwin and myself, the most sincere congratulations on Your Highness’ Silver Jubilee. I
was naturally attracted by the prospect of visiting a State, which had played so large a part
in the history of Southern India from remote times. For many years we have watched and
admired the maintenance and development of those high standards of administration, which
you have inherited from the great British administration who nursed your State. We have
not forgotten the noble services you have rendered to the British Government when the
need for service was the greatest, and we are not blind to what Your Highness personally
has done to set an example of the fashion in which the Government of a great State should
be conducted. Mysore has perhaps a longer tradition of progressive Government than any
other State in India, and the Government of India can feel assured that any relief, which
they may feel it in their power to give, will endure to the benefit of the people of your state.
The Government of India have accordingly decided to remit in perpetuity with effect from
next Financial year, Rs 10 1/2 Lakhs out of the annual subsidy you now pay, thus reducing
the amount to the sum originally fixed by the Treaty of 1799.
Many illustrious Indians sent their congratulatory messages as well.
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, founder of the Benaras Hindu University of
which the maharaja was the first chancellor, said:
The purity of life of His Highness, his solicitude for the welfare of his
people, his desire to see that there was no oppression and injustice, but on
the other hand development and progress, his impartiality for all his
subjects, his appreciation of whatever was good and noble, rightly entitle
him to the loyalty and love of his subjects.
C.R. Reddy, vice-chancellor of the Andhra University notes:*
What a transformation Mysore has undergone under him! Life everywhere, activity, hope,
and aspiration in the entire rural masses, who have till now been sleeping partners in the
State’s concern merely paying their taxes and helplessly dependent on the powers that be,
slaves of the bureaucracy, the women awake to their rights and interests; modern industries
installed and encouraged; local banks to finance and sustain those industries; railways,
irrigation projects, electrical power plants; the most forward and systematic educational
policy; the mere narration of all of which sounds like the poetry of administration, a lyric in
statesmanship!
Swami Rao records in his book a message from the maharaja to all his
subjects on 8 August 1927:
On this day when I complete the twenty-fifth year of my reign, I send my loving greetings
to each one of my dear people, with a full heart of solicitude for their happiness. With
unceasing effort I shall, while life lasts, endeavor to promote their welfare and prosperity,
and I pray that God may give us light and strength to achieve this—the supreme object of
my life and rule.
Travelling was Krishnaraja’s passion. He especially had a penchant for
pilgrimages. He had visited Amamath in 1918 and Badrinath in 1925,
where he walked 150 miles of hilly tract from Nainital in thirteen days!On
18 June 1931, the king left for a tour of Northern India. He visited
Manasarovar and after bathing in the holy Ganga, the entourage reached the
camp 15,000 feet above sea level. After some days, they went on to Mount
Kailash, the mythological abode of Lord Shiva. After visiting a number of
towns and cities of the north, they returned to Bombay and then Bangalore
to meet Maharani Kempananjammanni. On 16 September 1931, the king
returned to Mysore.
The dewan however went through a rough patch around this time. Mirza
Ismail had to face a lot of criticism and unpopularity on the charge that
recruitment to public services and justice to backward classes was biased.
This led to widespread agitations. The year 1928 was marred by ugly
communal riots due to the government’s removal of a Ganesha idol from the
open quadrangle of a middle school in the heart of Bangalore. The
atmosphere was deeply communalised, and people began to suspect the
Muslim dewan’s hands in the whole affair. The Hindu leaders staged an
unprecedented walkout of the Mysore Council and Assembly protesting the
insult to the idol of Lord Ganesha. Widespread disturbances and Hindu-
Muslim clashes broke out in Sultanpet in 1928, which had to be forcefully
suppressed by the government. Arrests on charges of sedition followed. The
government refused to allow the Congress to hold its flag-hoisting ceremony
in 1929 and this led to further clashes between the state and the public.
Several new establishments were inaugurated in this time. These include
the Sir K.P. Puttanna Chetty Hall in Bangalore, the Town Hall or Pura Sabhe
of Bangalore, the Bangalore City Corporation building and the Professional
Training College at Bangalore set up by Sir M. Vishweswaraiya, which
taught mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, agricultural
technology, chemistry, mathematics, physics and so on. The
Thippagondanahally Dam, again a brainchild of Sir M.V., was inaugurated
on 15 March 1933.
The Maharaja was aware of the enormous progress the state witnessed in
the past few decades and made it a point to impress the same upon visiting
dignitaries, though a lot of it was there for all to see. When Viceroy Lord
Willingdon visited Mysore in 1933, the maharaja hosted a banquet. Before
the toast, he addressed the gathering and spoke about the material progress
that Mysore had achieved in the decade:*
We have much to show Your Excellency since you last visited us in 1922. We have carried
through the project that you had then so much at heart, of a division of the waters of the
Cauvery with Madras, and while the Mettur Project is almost complete, the Irwin Canal
with a 9,000 feet tunnel is in active working. We have added nearly 50 miles to our railways,
though we still cry in vain for the 14-mile link from Chamarajanagara to Satyamangalam.
The whole generating station at Sivasamudram has been remodeled to a capacity of 36,000
kilowatts; the addition of another 6,000 kilowatts is in progress; and lights and power have
been supplied to nearly 250 villages and towns. We have built immense new water-works at
a cost of nearly 60 Lakhs for the City and Cantonment of Bangalore. Our Silk and Soap and
porcelain industries have all made good progress, and our Bhadravathi Works continue to
make splendid iron, though alas!We find it hard to transmute it into gold. We have great
hopes of doing that, however, with the production of the sugar factory, which is rapidly
approaching completion.
The sharing of waters between Mysore and Madras, which the maharaja
refers to in his speech, would soon become a bone of contention between
the two states—the Cauvery water dispute which haunts the governments of
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, as well as the central government to this day.
The history of this dispute dates back to 1892, when the agreement was first
signed. An award was given by Sir H.D. Griffin in 1914 but rejected by the
then Madras Presidency. Josyer records Griffin’s words:
The resolution we have arrived at recognises the paramount importance of the existing
Madras interests, has for its primary object the safeguarding of those interests and does, we
believe, safeguard them effectually.

This was, more or less, the basis of the agreement arrived at in 1924
between the then Madras Presidency under British rule and the princely
state of Mysore.
On 7 July 1934, Queen Mother Kempananjammanni Vanivilasa
Sannidhana, who had so ably headed the state during her regency years,
passed away at the age of sixty-nine. The maharaja—deeply attached to his
mother—was terribly upset. In her memory, he inaugurated in Bangalore the
Vanivilas Hospital and the Parvati Chandrashekara Clinic on 8 June 1935.
This maternity hospital serves women and children to this day.
The loss of his mother and the political unrest in the state in the wake of
the freedom movement seemed to take a toll on the king’s health as well. On
medical advice, he took a trip to Europe in 1936. Leaving Mysore in the last
week of June, he sailed from Bombay in a steamer in which separate
accommodation was provided for the royal party to allow for their orthodox
lifestyle. He visited Paris, London, Scotland, Turkey, Berlin, Budapest,
Australia, and Zurich and returned to Bombay on 29 September.
Unfortunately, as he was still coming to terms with his mother’s loss, his
younger brother Yuvaraja Kanthirava Narasimharaja Wodeyar died. This
grief turned the king into a complete recluse. He only attended two public
events after that—the lavish anointment and ablution of the Gomateshwara
Statue at Sravanabelagola—an event that happens once every twelve years
called the Mahamastakabhisheka—and the silver jubilee of the Kannada
Sahitya Parishat in June 1940. But the loss of his dearly loved ones ate away
at him from within.
Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar breathed his last in the
Bangalore Palace on 3 August 1940. With that came to an end the ‘Golden
Era’ and ‘Ramarajya’ of Mysore.
YUVARAJA KANTHIRAVA NARASIMHARAJA
It would be worthwhile to turn our attention to the life and times of
Yuvaraja Kanthirava Narasimharaja Wodeyar who, like a devoted
Lakshmana, stayed in the shadow and guidance of his illustrious brother.
Born in 1888, his early education commenced at the Royal School, after
which he was sent to the Rajkumar College at Ajmer. Within a few months
of getting there, he fell very sick and was brought back to Mysore and
educated at the Royal School. In 1910, he married the daughter of Dalavoy
Devaraja Urs—Kempucheluvajammanni. In fact, his was the first marriage
ceremony to be celebrated at the Kalyana Mandapa of the Mysore Palace.
He was sent on a trip to Europe in 1913, speaking of which Sir M.V., the
then dewan says:
The Yuvaraja who has been traveling abroad for the past 6 months, with a staff of three
officers and a young gentleman of the Ursu community, has just been welcomed home with
great warmth and enthusiasm. In his travels in Europe, the Yuvaraja spent a life of ceaseless
toil, visiting numerous institutions and studying the varied activities of the countries he
passed through. From all sources we learn that he met with a cordial reception wherever he
went and he has come back to us, leaving pleasant memories of his visit behind him, rich
with experience and an ardent desire to help in the uplift of the people.
An ageing danseuse: Padmabhushan Dr K.Venkatalaskhamma

The Dashavatara Ganjifa card of Mysore
Mysore Ganjifa
The Dasara procession at the old palace in Mysore
The European durbar hosted by the Maharaja during Dasara
Galaxy of Mysore dancers at the Mysore Sangeet Natak Academy
conference of 1964 (from left)-Jejamma, Venkatalakshamma,
Balasaraswati, Sundaramma Nanjangud and Nagaratnamma.

Jetti Thayamma
Venkatalakshamma in performance
Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar and Jayachamaraja at the Dasara
Durbar
Prince Jayachamaraja offering his respects to his uncle, Maharaja
Nalwadi Krishnaraja during Dasara

Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar and Jayachamaraja atop horses during
the Dasara procession
Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar takes a salute from a horse cart

The Jambu Saivari—the Maharaja, Yuvaraja and the Prince atop the
elephant in procession to the Banni Mantap on Vijayadashami day
The Dasara procession through the streets of Mysore

Dasara parade near the Chamaraja Circle
Galaxy of durbarees at Jayachamaraja Wodeyar’s Dasara

Jayachamaraja Wodeyar worships the state palanquin during Ayudha
Puja
Jayachamaraja Wodeyar atop the Chamundi Hills during Dasara

A riot of colour, theatre, music and dance: the Yakshagana folk art
Mural painting of the Dasara procession, on the walls of the Mysore
palace, by artist Y.Subramanya Raju

The Jambu Sawari immortalised in paint, by Keshavayya (1941)
The private Dasara Durbar of present scion of the Wodeyar dynasty
Sri Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar
A mix of tradition of modernity: the state festival in current times with
the goddess in the Ambari

An illuminated Mysore palace—a sight for sore eyes!
‘The Glow of Hope’: the masterpiece of Haldenkar

Artist beyond comparison: Raja Ravi Verma
The Mysore School of painting

The gold Kanthirava fanams of Ranadhira with an image of Lord
Narasimha in a yogic posture
Half pagoda gold coins of Chikkadevaraja with the image of child
Krishna atop the serpent Kaliya
Bahaduri pagodas of Haidar Ali retaining the Hindu figurines of Shiva
and Parvati and ‘He’ inscribed in Persian on the reverse side
Ahmadi pagodas issued by Tipu Sultan, with verses in Persian

Shiva and Parvati on the gold coins issued by Mummadi Krishnaraja
Wodeyar
Picture perfect: a breathtaking full shot of the Mysore palace
The Golden Howdah or Ambari in the Gombe Thotti

The Kalyana Mantapa
The intricate paintings on the roof of the Kalyana Mantapa

Painting of baby Nalwadi Krishnaraja, by Raja Ravi Verma
Painting of Nalwadi Krishnaraja with his sisters, by Raja Ravi Verma

The armoury
The magnificent Durbar Hall

The expansive courtyard of the Durbar Hall
The Amba Vilasa

Silver doors in the Amba Vilasa
The fort walls of the Mysore palace

Silver Jubilee Tower erected in Mysore to commemorate the silver
jubilee of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar
He was soon appointed extraordinary member of the Executive Council.
He had worked as military secretary to the maharaja earlier and was also the
Chief Scout. In 1915, the British government conferred the title of G.C.S.I.
on him. On 18 July 1919, Princess Kempucheluvajammanni gave birth to a
baby boy who was christened Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, the prefix ‘Jaya’
being added to indicate the victory of the allied forces in the First World
War. He was also blessed with two daughters, Princess
Sujayakanthammanni and Princess Vijayalakshmammanni. The Yuvaraja
established a number of organisations across the state relating to
cooperation, scouting, the Red Cross, child welfare, and the welfare of the
depressed classes. He also served as the president of the Karnataka Sahitya
Parishad and was pro-chancellor of Mysore University.
The London press referring to him as a conversationalist said that ‘He
often contributed words, which if spoken in the House of Lords, would have
been front page news!’ An African prince was struck by his intolerance of
snobbery and said, ‘His Highness seemed to symbolise the union of what
was best in East and West.’
One can glimpse the depth of knowledge and power his speech
possessed in his address to the Eighth All India Oriental Conference, where
he traced the past of Mysore in a beautiful manner:
A fair country, like a fair lady, generally has a more eventful history than her less favoured
sisters. And Mysore is no exception to the rule. We have cromlechs, dolmens and rude
stone implements belonging to the Paleolithic age. There are many beautiful spots
associated with great Sanskrit epics. It was Rama’s arrow that made a great fissure in the
Yadugiri hill. The waterfall at Chunchanakatte enshrines the bath of Sita. Tradition tells us
that the Bababudan Hills were formed from a portion of the Sanjiva Mountain, which fell
from the hands of Hanuman as he was flying to restore Lakshmana to consciousness.
Bhima, the terrible tore Bakasura in twain on the French-Rocks hills and slew Hidimba on
the Chitradurga. The sage Gowthama performed penance on a rock in the sacred Cauvery
near Seringapatam, while Agastya had a hermitage at Kalasa, Parashurama at Nanjangud,
Jamadagni at Chandragutti and Rishyashringa at Shringeri.
In the historical period, we have records of the Mauryan and Satavahana
Empires, of the wars between the Pallavas and the Chalukyas, between the
Hoysalas and the Yadavas. It was a minister of the Ganga Empire that gave us
the largest monolithic statue in the world, the Gomata image. We have relics
too, of the Vijayanagara Empire, of the rule of Bijapur and Golconda, of the
Mughal Governorship at Sira, and of the Mahratta Jagirs at Bangalore and
Kolar. The city of Seringapatam has a history stretching back through the ages,
and under the Mysore Kingdom it became a centre of learning.
We can show you also the premier monastery of the great Shankaracharya
at Sringeri; the place where the large-hearted Ramanuja found asylum from the
persecution of his king, the many Muths founded in pursuance of the tenets of
the devout Madhwa, and many relics of the reformer Basaveswara. Our
Oriental Library can show you over 11,000 valuable manuscripts and our
Archaeological Department has published more than 10,000 inscriptions and is
conserving some 200 ancient monuments.
Nor are we altogether neglectful of the modem arts. Here you will find
master musicians like Vidwan Subbanna, Vasudevacharya and
Venkatagiriappa, who have won the admiration of Southern India, while the
Indian styles of painting and sculpture have also their honoured representatives
in artists of fame, like M. Venkatappa and Mr Siddalinga Swami, and technical
institutions are doing what they can to revive the ancient craftsmanship and to
develop in modem work an ancient simplicity of form and design.
In our Mysore we have mosques, temples, churches and viharas erected for
devotion and consecration of man to the service of God. Sacred spots like
Dattatreya Peetha in Bababudan mountain ranges show that Hindu and
Mussalman can worship with equal fervour and devotion at one and the same
shrine. Let us therefore work for mutual understanding between the two great
sister communities, the Hindus and Mussalmans, which is so essential for
India’s political and economic regeneration. Let us try to remember that these
and other religions are alike in all fundamentals, and that the differences, if
any, pertain only to matters of external form, such as rituals and ceremonies,
which are comparatively of little consequence in enabling an individual to lead
a pure, devotional and spiritual life.
Thus ended the lives and times of the two illustrious and worthy sons of
Chamarajendra Wodeyar, each brilliant in his own way. The Maharaja’s
forty-year reign marked an era of all-round progress never before seen in
Mysore.
Education had received the highest priority. In 1915, when the Kashi
University was set up, the maharaja became its first Chancellor. In 1916 the
Mysore University was set up and all colleges in Mysore and Bangalore
were affiliated to it. In a far-sighted speech recorded by Josyer, the maharaja,
addressing the University’s senate, said:
I feel that I ought to say a few words as to what I think should be the aim of our University.
In the first place we should spare no efforts to gain for the Mysore University the respect of
the educational world. This end can only be achieved by maintaining a really high standard
of teaching and examination, and also by never allowing that standard to be lowered,
however strongly you may be tempted by the lure of numerical results.
The king evinced keen interest in the spread of Sanskrit and Kannada. In
fact, the expenses of the Sanskrit college at Mysore were met out of his own
purse. He also contributed Rs 60 lakh annually for spastic children. On 28
December 1937, the Benaras University conferred him with an honorary
doctorate. Mysore became a seat of learning, music and fine arts. Many
kings passed out of Mysore University, such as the Maharajas of Akkalkot,
Bannira, Nagod, Janjira, Gwalior, Narasinghpur, Travancore, etc.
Gandhiji’s epithet of Rajarishi for this King was extremely apt—
simplicity and dedication were his forte. He was a reservoir of goodwill and
affection for all fellow beings. He was also a great connoisseur and
composer of music and wrote his own compositions or kritis in the Carnatic
classical music style. He was also an expert of the Western classical music
styles and the piano and patronised Hindustani classical music in the
kingdom. As Lord Sankey said: ‘His State is not only a pattern to India, but
a pattern to the world!’ The concept of the mythical Ramarajya or ideal
government was translated into reality by the series of progressive steps
initiated under his benevolent rule—guided by the best dewans any
maharaja could ever ask for. The golden period in the history of Mysore
came to an end with the passing away of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar.
The trademarks of the way he lived his life can be summed up through
his own address to the graduates of the Benaras University in the Annual
Convocation in 1919:*
I would impress on you that you should endeavour to combine in your lives a real sense of
religion with true culture; to believe that you owe a duty to God and to your fellow
countrymen, and to aim at faith without fanaticism, deference without weakness, politeness
without insincerity and above all integrity of character in thought, word and deed.
———————————
*
This letter appears in Swami Rao’s Sn Nalwadi Krishnarajendra Wodeyaravara Charitre.
*
These words are taken from Josyer’s 1929 book, The History of Mysore and the Yadava
Dynasty.
*
These words are taken from Josyer’s 1929 book, The History of Mysore and the Yadava
Dynasty.
**
Curzon’s words and the Maharaja’s response are taken from Swami Rao’s book, Sri
Nalwadi Krishnarajendra Wodeyaravara Charitre
*
The Maharaja’s words are taken from Josyer’s 1929 book, Tfie History of Mysore and the
Yadava Dynasty.
**
His words are taken from Swami Rao’s book, Sri Nalwadi Krishnarajendra
Wodeyaravara Charitre.
*
These words are recorded in Josyer’s 1929 book, The History of Mysore and the Yadava
Dynasty.
*
This speech appears in Josyer’s 1929 book, The History of Mysore and the Yadava
Dynasty.
*
Taken from Swami Rao’s book, Sri Nalwadi Krishnarajendra Wodeyaravara Charitre.
*
Irwin’s remarks, and Malaviya’s which follow, are taken from Swami Rao’s book, Sri
Nalwadi Krishnarajendra Wodeyaravara Charitre.
*
Taken from Josyer’s 1929 book, The History of Mysore and the Yadava Dynasty.
*
Taken from Swami Rao’s book, Sri Nalwadi Krishnarajendra Wodeyaravara Charitre.
*
This address is taken from Swami Rao’s book, Sri Nalwadi Krishnarajendra
Wodeyaravara Charitre.
22
POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT OF MYSORE
he dewans of Mysore were a stark contrast to the avaricious dalavoys
who had held similar positions of eminence in politics in earlier
periods. Unlike the semi-literate, militarily trained, ambitious dalavoys, this
new genre of officers were suave, English-educated, well-read, exposed to
modem Western philosophies of freedom, liberty and justice and were
appointees of the Raj, rather than self-appointed dictators of the kingdom.
They knew that their professional performance would be the only way to
earn fame, rather than the tactics followed by the dalavoys, infamous for
storming palace doors with elephants and deposing the king
unceremoniously. Education and exposure ensured that the dewans had a
broader vision of development—one that included the welfare of the
common people and projects of public utility. These measures, carried out
successfully over decades of nurturing by the dewans, catapulted Mysore
into the forefront of successful states of imperial India.
In describing the successes and achievements of the dewans, we must
not forget to praise the foresight of the maharajas who made all this
possible. Rather than the autocratic maharajas of earlier centuries, who
appointed and dismissed dalavoys at whim, the later Wodeyars, especially
Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, gave their dewans the freedom and power to make
Mysore a better, a more modern kingdom. In an environment free of
interference, with a supportive and broad-minded maharaja, the dewans
could make full use of their powers to make a difference during their tenure.
So, while the planning and implementation of various developmental

projects is to the dewans’ credit, we must not neglect the significant role
played by their maharajas in this scenario.
AT THE THRESHOLD OF GLORY
By the turn of the nineteenth century, Mysore was poised to take off into the
skies of progress and development. Her fundamentals were all right—
politically stable, socially progressive and administered by a set of
remarkable men who called themselves her maharajas and dewans.
The Rendition of Mysore on 25 March 1881 followed fifty years of
progressive and efficient administration by the British commissioners. The
commissioners’ stint had, to a large extent, laid the foundations for a modem
Mysore. If one were to take stock of the financial health of the state in
1910–12 vis-à-vis the Rendition, most of the fiscal parameters point to a
surge, thereby bolstering the statement we set out to make about Mysore
*
being poised for a confident take-off.
On the downside, the period was marred by famines, with the one in
1875–78 the severest of its kind in the region in half a century. It cost the
state exchequer Rs 160 lakh and embroiled the government in debts of over
Rs 80 lakh. The province also lost one million people to the famine and
subsequent epidemics. From 50,55,402 in 1871, Mysore’s population fell to
41,86,188 by 1881—a fall of 17 per cent. The number stabilised, however,
to 58,06,193 by 1911.
The demographics of the state also saw interesting change during this
time. The population in the towns, which was about thirteen percent of the
state’s total population, fell to eleven percent in 1911. This could be
attributed to the lack of employment opportunities in towns and migration
to cities—a trend that caught up during this time. The agriculture-dependent
population in Mysore rose from thirty-three lakhs to forty-two lakhs
between 1881 and 1911. The same period also saw a healthy increase of 79
per cent in the area occupied for agriculture—mainly extensive and not
intensive agriculture—to about 74,38,463 acres in 1911–12.
These changing socio-economic dimensions had a natural impact on the
state’s revenues as well. From about 50 lakhs at the time of transfer of power
to the royal family after the fall of Tipu, the revenue rose to 101 lakhs by the
time of Rendition. Including the accidental income that was accrued due to
the gold mines at Kolar, the revenue figures jumped to a healthy 247 lakhs
by 1910–11. Between Rendition and the early decades of the twentieth
century, the land revenue also increased from 60 lakhs to 106.5 lakhs;
excise saw a hike from 10 to 67 lakhs and income from forests shot up to 21
lakhs from 7 lakhs. But along with the rise in revenues, the expenditure also
doubled from 101 lakhs to 223 lakhs in the said period. Law and justice,
jails, education, medical expenses and public works were the main expense
items that saw an increase. This was comforting, however, as the expense
was intended to create a sound socio-economic infrastructure for the state
and its people. Education in particular saw a healthy increase in fund
allocations from Rs 3,91,028 in 1881 to Rs 18,79,135 in 1911—a whopping
80 per cent increase, clearly demonstrating where the administration’s
priorities lay Consequently, the school-going population within the kingdom
of Mysore also increased from 53,872 in 1881 to 1,38,153 in 1911.
The railways was an area that was given primary importance by both,
the commissioners and the rulers of Mysore. It might have begun as a means
of transport for the British (especially between Mysore and their
headquarters at Madras) and as a facilitator of trade activities, but in the
long run it played a vital role in building a robust economy for the state. The
railways, which covered only 50 miles in 1880–81, rose to 411 miles in
1910–11 and the capital outlay on them in the same period from 25 to 250
lakhs—a sharp rise indeed! The mileage of the province’s road networks
were also doubled since the time of Rendition. Channel irrigation was
extended during this period in the Cauvery and Kapani valleys, numerous
tanks were restored and repaired, the two major works of public interest—
the Cauvery Power Scheme which was a pioneering electrical undertaking
in the whole of India and the Marikanave Reservoir, also one of its kind in
contemporary times—were completed. Urban development and planning,
especially in the cities of Bangalore and Mysore, received royal attention.
Industries like the gold mines of Kolar, the manganese mines of Shimoga
and a few cotton and other mills sprang up across the state.
The officials of the Madras Presidency would often remark that
Mysoreans resided in one of the most beautiful and picturesque provinces of
the country.
While the above description of the state’s financial health in the early
decades of the twentieth century sets a context for discussing the enormous
strides Mysore made on all fronts, it is important to delve deeper into the
various aspects of this growth saga.
THE CRADLE OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY
George Bernard Shaw had once famously commented, ‘Democracy is a
device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.’ That
Mysore and her people deserved the best in the country in those times
becomes amply clear when we see some of the pioneering experiments in
democracy in India being successfully tried in this small southern kingdom.
India was a blend of several contrasts back then. The presidencies that came
under direct British rule depicted a deceptive picture of modernism, while
feudal barons and kings continued to hold sway and preside over medieval
practices in many provinces.
Against such a backdrop, the first Representative Assembly or Praja
Pratinidhi Sabha, was set up in Mysore in 1881 under the stewardship of the
first dewan, Rangacharlu. It was truly the first of its kind in India and it was
indeed laudable that while parts of India, like Bengal, still reeled under the
old and antiquated feudal forms of government and zamindari, Mysore had
become a pioneer in sowing the seeds of people’s representation in
government affairs. A representative arrangement of this kind did not exist
even in the British Presidencies.
The Assembly had 144 members appointed by the deputy
commissioners of the districts and were chosen from among the leading
merchants, planters and agriculturists. A proclamation of Maharaja
Chamaraja Wodeyar X dated 25 August 1881 brought this assembly into
existence. It was during the time of the Dasara festivities that the assembly
was bom. The dewan served as its ex-officio president. The policies of the
government, measures it undertook, and its balance sheet were placed before
the assembly, which would then plan and budget for the coming year. It was
not a statutory body nor was it elected directly by the people—a concept
that gained momentum much later. Nonetheless, it was a bold and
innovative step in the direction of representative government and is said to

have paved the way for measures undertaken to extend the concept of local
self-government in British India during the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon.
In his inaugural speech, recorded by Josyer, Rangacharlu described the
main aim of the Sabha:
His Highness hopes that by this arrangement the actions of the government will be brought
into greater harmony with the wishes and interests of the people. Such an arrangement by
bringing the people in immediate communication with the Government would serve to
remove from their minds any misapprehension in regard to the views and actions of the
Government and would convince them that the interests of Government are identical with
those of the people.
The first assembly consisted of two cultivating landowners from each
taluk and three to four leading merchants from each district invited
officially. In all, 144 members attended, with the dewan presiding over the
sessions. The second session met the next year and Dewan Rangacharlu in
his address dwelt on the importance of local self-government and urged the
people to take active interest in administrative matters. He observed:
If the spread of any high degree of education among the great mass of the people were to be
insisted as a sine quo non, we may have to wait forever. Meanwhile every year under an
autocratic system of Government we find the people less fit for Representative Institutions.
The real education for self-government can only be acquired by the practical exercise of
administrative functions and responsibilities under the guidance of officers of
administrative tact and experience.
He also warned people against letting such representative institutions
‘fall into apathy or breed a factious spirit among the members’.
Dewan Sheshadri Iyer furthered the reforms process by effecting
changes to the Representative Assembly and thus making it truly
representative of the people—elections were held to elect the members in
1891. This happened in phases. In 1887, representation to agricultural
classes with property qualification was added to the Assembly Charter for
membership. It also included the nomination of eminent citizens and
nominations by the elite and enlightened sections of society. The objective
of the assembly was widely publicised to the masses as a forum to voice
their grievances. From 1887 onwards the names of the members of the
assembly were gazetted. Finally, by 1891 came the phase of complete
election of all members to the Assembly. The assembly had a term of three
years. Praising the work done by the assembly, the dewan said:*
The moderation, the intelligence and the practical good sense, which have characterised
your discussion in the past years, the material help that you have given the government in
discussion of important questions and the sustained interest you have evinced in public
affairs have convinced the Maharaja that the time has come when the wealthier and more
enlightened classes may, with safety, be left to themselves to choose the members of the
state.
A property qualification was imposed for the effective representation of
the varied interests in the state. In 1891, the people were given the right of
universal franchise. A land tax of Rs 100–300 a year or a municipal rate of
Rs 13–17 was fixed as the qualification to vote. This raised the number of
elected members to the Representative Assembly to 357. In 1894,the
property qualification was reduced and 78 minor municipalities were
disenfranchised, bringing down the number of members to 275. As before,
they were elected for a three-year term.
A system of Mysore Civil Services for which men of proficiency were
picked up was started. In November 1891, a competitive examination was
held to appoint young men to fill high posts in the executive and judicial
services of the state. The examination also helped in the recruitment of
probationary assistant commissioners.
The maharaja, and also his able dewans, understood the importance of
local self-government as the building blocks of a democracy; how the sum
of the parts makes the whole. The system of local self-government prevailed
in Mysore from the Commissioners’ Rule onwards. On 20 March 1862, a
municipal institution was formed in Bangalore with the amildar as executive
officer. It looked into the local issues, public works and infrastructural
problems of the city. The Bangalore Town Municipal Regulation was passed
in 1871 and in 1881 it was extended to all governing bodies prevailing in
municipalities. Sanitation and town planning received great attention, with
over Rs 28 lakh spent on sanitation and improved water supply for Mysore,
Bangalore and other mofussil towns.

The system of local self-government got a further boost under Dewan
P.N. Krishnamurthy who extended eight District Boards, seventy-seven
Taluk Boards and thirty-eight Unions constituted according to the rules
promulgated in September 1903. The British system of maintaining records
and files was introduced and a secretariat manual was prepared by the
dewan to guide the officers and bureaucrats.
The most remarkable work of Dewan V.P. Madhava Rao was the
founding of the Mysore Legislative Council in 1907, which commemorated
its centenary in the year 2007. It had ten to fifteen additional members
besides the existing three councillors. Previously, legislative measures
formed part of the duties of the Executive Council consisting of the dewan
and his two councillors. It was felt that the character and composition of the
council, the limited membership and want of communication of its
proceedings to the public at large, made its functioning rather unworthy of
attention. So the dewan envisaged the enlargement of the council in this
manner. These additional appointees to the council would bring their
political acumen, knowledge and experience to the table and facilitate the
smooth functioning of the council. Two-fifths of them were non-officials
nominated by the government. Two members were elected from the
Representative Assembly to the Council on Resolutions, while it was
customary in the assembly to take a consensus of opinion. The elective
principle was promised to be introduced soon. The council came into being
on 22 June 1907.
Under Sir M.V. the membership of the Mysore Legislative Council was
increased from eighteen to twenty-four in 1914. Three members were to be
elected from the Representative Assembly and four others from the eight
districts. The council was also given the powers to discuss the budget. The
assembly was to have a second session in April (from 1917 onwards) called
the budget session.
The Mysore Local Boards’ and Village Panchayats Regulation was
passed in 1918 and provided for an elected majority in District and Taluk
Boards, otherwise dominated only by officials. Municipalities came to be
provided with elected vice-presidents and panchayats with elected chairmen.
But the story of democracy in Mysore was not a perfect one throughout.
The same Madhava Rao—visionary enough to form the council—lost
support because of various unpopular measures he implemented, as

described in the previous chapter. The press, too, revolted against him.
Every democracy undergoes a process of churning and this was certainly the
emergency period in the history of Mysore’s democratic sojourn. But the
inherent strength of the idea ensures that such obstacles only help the system
emerge stronger, more robust and more vigilant against the perils of
autocracy, which rear their head from time to time.
Opportunities for this revitalisation came in the form of the Morley-
Minto reforms and then the Montford reforms propounded by Secretary of
State Edwin S. Montague and the Governor General Lord Chelmsford,
offering a mixed sort of responsible government to the elected public
representatives in British Indian provinces. The people of Mysore demanded
similar reforms. Dewan Sir Albion Banerji appointed a committee with the
vice-chancellor of Mysore University, Dr Sir Brajendranath Seal, as
chairman to look into the details and suggest changes. The Seal Committee’s
report submitted in March 1923 met with a mixed response. Krishnaraja
Wodeyar issued a proclamation on 27 October 1923 outlining the changes to
the assembly.
The assembly became a statutory body and had to be consulted on all
matters regarding taxes, general principles of all bills, etc. It could pass
resolutions regarding the budget and public administration. The assembly
strength was of 250–75 members. There was a widening of franchise with
voting powers allotted to people paying Rs 25 land revenue or Rs 5

*
municipal taxes. Women also got the power to vote.
Standing committees consisting of members of the Representative
Assembly and Legislative Council were to be constituted to advise the
government. Labour was represented, together with education, trade,
commerce, mining and planning in the two houses of legislature; 35 seats
were to be reserved for minorities in the assembly, while 150 members were
to be elected from rural areas. The strength of the Legislative Council
increased to 50 (excluding ex-officio members), of which 60 per cent were
non-officials and not more than one-third were to be nominated members;
eight were to be returned from the assembly, eight from districts, one each
from Bangalore and Mysore, four from the municipalities, two Muslims,
one Christian, and one backward caste member.

The assembly included veterans, like Tathaiya, G. Srinivasa Rao, Kamit
Krishnamurthy, B. Narsinga Rao, and younger ones, like Hosatoppa Krishna
Rao, G. Paramashivaiya, D.S. Mallappa, publicists like K.P. Puttanna
Chetty, B.K. Garudachar, D. Venkataramaiya, Rao Bahaddur N.S.
Nanjundaiya, S. Venkataiya and so on. On 17 March 1924, the maharaja
formally inaugurated the new Legislative Council and Representative
Assembly at a joint session.
Speaking on the occasion, he said:*
You, Gentlemen, represent an enlarged electorate, you have been returned under a wider
franchise and you start with increased powers and responsibilities. The changes, which I am
inaugurating today, are fundamental, providing as they do for a far closer association of the
people with the administration. I am aware that a section of my people were in favour of
further radical changes, including a wider franchise and increased powers. While fully
sympathising with the ideals, I may state that our decision was made after prolonged
consultations. Each State must evolve its own constitution, suited to its own needs and
conditions and the genius of its people. Without departing from the fundamental principles
of development common to all forms of polity, it has been deemed necessary to maintain
the character of the Representative Assembly as essentially a body for consultation and
reference, as well as representation, directly voicing the needs of the people, and with a
constitution sufficiently flexible to expand with the expanding political consciousness of the
people, leaving the Legislative Council the more formal work of legislation and other
functions usually associated with such bodies.
It is the ambition of my life to see the people of my state develop self-
sustaining qualities, exhibit initiative and enterprise, and take a front rank in all
progressive movements and activities in the country. In making our plans for
the future, we have got to take note of the tremendous changes of the recent
past. India, under the beneficent guidance of the British nation, is shaping into
a federation of Provinces and States. We in Mysore, form, as it were a nation
within a nation. While cooperating with both, the Government of India and the
rest of the Indian public in measures, which lead to the prosperity of the
country as a whole, we, in our local sphere should promote education and
economic growth to the fullest extent permitted by our resources, so that our
people may not fall behind other Provinces and States in the race of progress.
I would have you apprehend with mind and heart this vital fact that the
interests of Government and people are identical. The happiness of the people
is both the happiness and the vindication of Government. Any differences of
opinion between the Executive and yourselves, and such differences naturally
occur in all lands and all along the road of progress can refer only to the
means, never to the end. You can count upon responsiveness and goodwill in
government, as they certainly count upon them in you. This day, therefore,
marks the dawning of a new era in the history of Mysore. My faith in the power
and willingness of my people to render patriotic service is finally rooted in

experience and you may rely on my abiding sympathy in your aspirations. You
will help to build up the prosperity and reputation of our State and will become
custodians with me of its permanent interests.
How timeless and thought-provoking are these words of advice from a
man who undoubtedly deserved to be called Rajarishi.
Implementing the recommendations of the Local Self-Government
Conference of 1923, the maharaja’s government abolished Taluk Boards and
established Village Panchayats on a statutory basis. This had well-defined
powers for collection of taxes, functions relating to transition,
communication, extension of franchise to women, etc. A department of
industries and commerce came into being as also the Apex Bank. The year
1924 saw floods ravage Mysore and cause a lot of damage. Dewan Banerji
initiated a series of relief measures.
In January 1938, the Conference of the Legislative Council was held. Mr
D.V. Gundappa demanded the setting up of a committee in connection with
the problems and challenges facing the council and the Mysore Federation.
The government accordingly set up a standing committee called Rajyaanga
Vyavastha Samiti consisting of fifteen members. It had to also examine the
Government of India Act of 1935. The Act provided for a Federation at the
centre consisting of Indian states and provinces. In the states, the system of
dyarchy was abolished and provincial autonomy introduced. The Provincial
Executive consisted of the governor and his council of ministers—appointed
by him from among the members of the Provincial Legislature. The leader
of the majority party was called the chief minister. Only fourteen percent of
the population could vote. The committee had its first sitting on 27 April
1938, its first chief minister and president was Rajamantrapraveena S.P.
Rajagopalachari. A political reforms committee called Rajakeeya Sudharana
Samiti was set up and it began work on 28 April 1938, with Dewan
Bahaddur Rajasabha Bhushana K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar as president. It had
120 members, and 3 more members were later admitted. It scrutinised the
work of district boards, municipalities and gram panchayats.
Thus, by the time of India’s independence, the foundations of
democracy were well-entrenched in the soil of Mysore. Of course it was not
the perfect recipe and naturally had its own problems and prejudices. But
seen from a pan-Indian perspective it was undoubtedly a great inspiration
for the rest of the country.
FUELLING INDUSTRIAL GROWTH AND
ECONOMIC REVITALISATION
Every Dewan—right from the first, Rangacharlu—had his finger on the
pulse of the kingdom’s fiscal situation and strategised to vitalise a sagging
economy battered by repeated famines and droughts. When Rangacharlu
took charge of the dewani, the kingdom had undergone its worst natural
calamities. Land revenue could not be collected regularly and a debt of Rs
80 lakh was due to the British government. In charge of finance for the state,
Rangacharlu resorted to downsizing government machinery and the money
saved went to pay a major part of the debt, while the remaining was paid up
in instalments. Negotiating tactfully with the British government he got the
interest rate on the loan taken by Mysore during the famine years reduced
from five percent to four percent and extended the payment period to forty-
one annual instalments of Rs 4 lakh each. This, along with floating public
loans and undertaking public works to provide jobs to unemployed peasants,
gave the state financial scope to focus on socio-economic improvement.
Realising the importance of the Kolar gold fields in the state’s economy,
Rangacharlu signed a pact with the British firm, John Taylor and Company,
to start mining operations. Five percent of the Company’s profits in the
scheme were given to the Mysore treasury as royalty. These measures helped
raise funds through routes other than public taxation. The Anglo-Indian
community that had established itself in large numbers in Bangalore was
given 400 acres of land to utilise for farming. This area came to be known as
Whitefield.
The net liabilities of the State in 1881 exceeded the assets by over Rs 30
lakh and an annual fiscal deficit of 1.25 lakh. But after an initial stationary
period and the great slump following the drought, over ten years the
revenues increased steadily to Rs 180 lakh from 103 lakh in 1895. The net
assets rose to over 176 lakhs. The increase was not due to the introduction
of new taxes, but the impetus to overall economic development through the
building of new roads, laying of railway lines, irrigation works, industrial

growth, mining of gold, etc. There was also a stipulated increase in the taxes
from excise, mining and forests. In 1892, the financial year was changed so
as to end on 30 June instead of 31 March. The Land Revenue Code was
passed.
In 1907, during the annual Dussehra celebrations, an Industrial and
Agricultural Exhibition was held in Mysore to boost the climate of
industrial activity. This was the first such exhibition in Mysore’s history.
Industrial and agricultural products from Mysore and other parts of India
were on display. Inaugurating the exhibition, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar
said:*
It is not to be expected that exhibitions of this kind should have an immediate and
revolutionary influence on the Agriculture and Industries of the country. But they offer to
all classes an opportunity of seeing what their neighbors are producing; to craftsmen they
are of special use in indicating the directions in which their skill must be most usefully
directly, whilst distributors may learn from them of new markets on the one hand and on
the other of new sources of supply. Whatever disappointments may be in store for us, I have
no doubt whatever of their educational value and of their far-reaching influence in the cause
of progress. I attach great importance to the policy that we propose to follow of holding
these exhibitions annually. Experience shows that when they are held at long intervals, the
lessons learnt from the successes or failures of one year are forgotten when the opportunity
of profiting by then next occurs. Exhibitors are apt to remember their disappointments and
the trouble and expense incurred, rather than benefits gained, and the result is, inexperience
on the part of the executive and misdirected energy or apathy on that of the exhibitors. It is
our hope that an annual exhibition will produce continuity of effort and steady progress on
both sides.
Sir K.C. Sheshadri Iyer followed the footsteps of his predecessor. The
enhancement of subsidy by Rs 10.5 lakh had been waived till 1886. The
dewan’s vigorous pleas to waive the amount till 1896 were conceded by the
Indian government. With some relief on the liabilities front of the
kingdom’s balance sheet, he decided to boost the revenues by charging a
royalty of five per cent on gold mining, which resulted in revenue of Rs
47,000 in 1886–87. Extensive plantations were undertaken to increase the
forest cover of the state. Revenues rose from 180 lakhs to 191 lakhs by
1902; railway receipts rose from Rs 5.74 lakh to Rs 6.35 lakh; land revenue
from Rs 96 lakh to Rs 98.25 lakh in the period. The total expenditure on
public works from 1801 to 1901 exceeded Rs 5.5 crore, irrigation and major
water supply works alone consuming about Rs 2 crore.

Raichur Doab Gold mines, the Mysore Spinning and Manufacturing Co.
(set up in 1883 by a Bombay firm), the Bangalore Woollen-Cotton and Silk
mills Ltd., the Davanagere Cotton Ginning factory in 1884, the coffee works
(Bangalore, by M/s Binny and Company), M.S.K. Mills (in 1884 in
Gulbarga), Cauvery Hydroelectric Scheme (1900), Shimoga Manganese
Company and by 1914 oil mills, rice mills, saw mills, tile factories, printing
presses, cigarette factories, distilleries, iron and brass foundries were all set
up.
During the dewanship of Sir Krishnamurthy, the good work of the past
continued with added vigour. Steps were taken to train artisans in iron work,
carpentry, rattan work, lacquer work, weaving, etc., in Chennapatna and
other places by opening training colleges for the same. Scholarships were
awarded to meritorious students to pursue the arts in Madras and Bombay.
The Mysore City Improvement Trust for the beautification and development
of the city was established in 1903. An Ethnological Survey, consequent to
the 1901 census, was inaugurated and H.V. Nanjundayya, the then secretary
of government, was entrusted with this work.
In 1904, a cooperative movement began in India, and was adopted in
Mysore in 1905. This led to the spread of banks and cooperative societies all
over the state of Mysore. The Central Cooperative Bank was established at
Bangalore to finance the cooperative societies. Even the maharaja placed
large fixed deposits in the bank to patronise it.
The greatest impetus to industrial growth came about during the dewani
of Sir M.V. Between 1914 and 1924, the sandal oil factory at Mysore, the
soap factory (Bangalore, 1918), the chrome tanning factory, Central
Industrial Workshop (Bangalore), Mysore Iron Works, the Minerva, the
Krishnarajendra and Mahalakshmi Woollen and Silk Textile Mills, the
Mysore Premier Metal Factory, the Standard Tile and Clay Works Ltd., the
Bangalore Printing and Publishing Co., Kaolin Syndicate, Mysore asbestos,
Sindhuvalli Chromite, and wood distillation plants (Bhadravathi) were
established. The Government Central Industrial Workshop and a weaving
factory were set up with the objective of giving a special thrust to the
hallmark of Mysore: silk production. Sericulture and production of silk was
taken up under the auspices of the government and greatly encouraged.
The Mysore Economic Conference was expanded; it came to have three
committees for industry and commerce, education and agriculture. It started

publishing two journals, one in English and the other in Kannada. The
conference met periodically and generated popular interest in the economic
progress of the state.
In 1913–14 there were 72 factories in Mysore exclusive of mines
employing 4,451 people and earning profits of Rs 1.6 crore. The 15 gold
mining industries employed 24,300 men and 5 lakh ounces of gold worth Rs
19 lakh were annually extracted.
The year 1913 saw the emergence of the Mysore Bank, today’s State
Bank of Mysore and also the Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry
at Bangalore. An organisation was set up to collect statistics regarding trade;
commercial correspondents were appointed in Bombay and Madras and the
inputs helped the government to calibrate the industrial progress and
policies of Mysore with the rest of the country.
During this period, the number of factories for the manufacture of paper,
cement, agricultural implements, porcelain ware, electric goods, glass and
enamelware, bakelite products, matches, machine tools, lac, paints, pipes,
pottery, sugar, power alcohol, chemicals, fertilisers, chrome and leather were
established. Interestingly, many of these achievements occurred at the time
of the First World War when the state had to contribute substantial amounts
of money to the British war efforts.
These progressive measures of Sir M. Vishweswaraiya were enhanced
by the other star of the famous Mysore Dewan quartet—Sir Mirza Ismail.
His stint in office saw a rapid increase in the number of industries across
Mysore in both the public and private sectors. The steel plant, the paper
mills and cement works all at Bhadravathi, the Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited, the porcelain and glass factories at Bangalore, the chemicals and
fertilisers factory at Belagola (India’s first fertiliser factory), the sugar
factory at Mandya, the Shimoga Match factory, a khadi production centre at
Badanval—these were all due to his personal initiative. Efforts were made to
export Mysore Sandal Soap, agarbattis, sandal oil and Mysore silk—all
signature items of the state—abroad. A trade commission was set up in
London, to find lucrative incentives and markets for Mysorean products.
RAILWAYS—THE LIFELINE OF INDUSTRIAL
GROWTH
To achieve this kind of industrial growth, the kingdom’s infrastructure
needed to be strengthened. One of the biggest contributors to this growth
story was the railways. Lower costs of transportation, creation of a
beneficial circle of expansion and connecting people from villages and the
countryside to towns and cities—it was truly the lifeline for economic
resurgence and one of the greatest boons of the British Raj.
The dewans understood the importance of this mode of transport and
hence devoted considerable attention to its development in the budgetary
allocations of every fiscal year. Exhibiting tremendous far-sightedness,
Rangacharlu said:*
The urgent want of the Province is not irrigation, but life and enterprise in the cultivator and
what can evoke them as successfully as that great civiliser of modem days, the Railways?
With the increase of activity and intelligence which are sure to come in the train of these
quicker means of transport and communications, we may hope for a considerable increase
of private irrigation and garden cultivation for which the Province is peculiarly adapted.
For the railways project he borrowed a capital of Rs 20 lakh and planned
to set aside for the proposed lines Rs 5 lakh each year out of the revenues.
Railway lines were established throughout the state after 1881. The Mysore-
Bangalore section was opened in 1882 at an expenditure of Rs 4,56,690.
The Bangalore-Tumkur line was opened on 11 August 1884 and the
Tumkur-Gubbi section on 26 December 1889 at a combined cost of Rs
19,37,480. The Gubbi-Harihar section was constructed out of foreign
capital. From 58 miles of railway line in 1881, 315 miles of lines had been
laid by 1894.
Subsequently, railway lines were extended up to Harihar, Shimoga and
Nanjangud. By 1893, the railways were extended up to the Kolar gold fields.
The state transferred the Mysore railways to the Mysore Southern Maratha
Company for Rs 68 lakh.
In 1906, the Mysore-Chikkaballapur railway line was laid. Dewan
Madhava Rao entered into an agreement with the Madras and Southern
Maratha (M.S.M.) railways for the working of railways by Mysore.
Under Sir M.V. the Mysore-Arsikere railway line via Hassan was
opened. Bangarapet or Bowringpet was connected with Chikkaballapur via
Kolar by narrow gauge loop railway line. For the transportation of timber
from the Malnad forests, a narrow gauge railway line was started from
Tarikere to Narasimharajapura. The management of 327 miles of M.S.M.
railway line in the state was taken over by the dewan. Due to the treaty of
Srirangapatna in 1799, Mysore had no access to the sea. He negotiated with
the British Government to develop Bhatkal (in Bombay province) as a
seaport for the state, but met with little success. The interior of the state was
opened up through new road connections and also through several railway
lines to the extent of 231 miles at an outlay of Rs 85 lakh.
IRRIGATION AND POWER
Mysore, like any other state of India, was a largely agrarian economy. The
frequent famines and droughts necessitated an effective system of irrigation
and water conservation. Blessed with great natural resources, the challenge
before the state was a proper utilisation and harnessing of these bounties of
nature.
Among the earliest irrigation projects to begin in Mysore was the
Marihalla Project across the Vedavathi River, started by Sheshadri Iyer. It
created the Vanivilasa Sagar (or Marikanave Dam), which gave a big boost
to irrigation schemes in the riparian states. The dam project aimed at
bringing 25,000 acres in the dry areas of Chitradurga district under wet
cultivation. Water supply schemes were augmented for the cities of Mysore
and Bangalore. It was the biggest reservoir in India at the time of its
completion.
The Hessarghatta project, which provides water to Bangaloreans even
today, goes to the credit of Sheshadri Iyer. A sum of Rs 1 crore was spent on
original irrigation works during this time, adding 355 square miles to the
area under wet irrigation and mopping up additional revenue of Rs 8.25
lakh; 1078 irrigation wells were completed to protect against famines; Rs 67
lakh were spent on building road infrastructure and Rs 18 lakh for roads in
the Malnad district. Sheshadri Iyer initiated a series of other progressive
projects as well, such as the Cauvery Electricity Systems.
But one name that comes to mind in the context of irrigation measures is
undoubtedly Sir M. Vishweswaraiya. His vast experience as an integral part
of the Indian Irrigation Commission, his implementation of an intricate

system of irrigation in the Deccan area, design of automatic weir water
floodgates which were first installed in 1903 at the Khadakvasla reservoir
near Pune and later replicated at Gwalior’s Tigra Dam made him an
unequalled expert in the design of irrigation schemes. In 1909 as chief
engineer of the state, his expertise was utilised in the construction of the
Kannambadi Dam across the Cauvery, irrigating 1.5 lakh acres of dry land
in the regions of Mandya and Malvelly. This reservoir was Sir M.
Vishweswaraiya’s brainchild, and was a boon to the farmers of the riparian
state as it brought huge expanses of dry land under irrigation.
But the Kannambadi Dam had a long history of its own and many
eminent personalities contributed to its completion. It had been Tipu’s
dream to construct a dam at the site to harness the water and utilise it for
irrigation purposes. Interestingly, when the actual construction work of the
dam began in 1911 and the excavations were carried out by the engineers,
they recovered an inscription written in Persian, which dated back to Tipu’s
times.
AD 1794
YAFATTAH! IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE
COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL
On the 29th of month Taqi of the solar year Shadab 1221.
One thousand two hundred and twenty one. Dating from Mowlood of Muhammed (may his
soul rest in peace) on Monday at dawn before sunrise under the auspices of the planet
Venus, in the constellation Tanrus, Hazrath Tippoo Sultan the shadow of God, the Lord, the
bestower of gifts laid the foundation of the Mohyi Dam across the river Cauvery to the west
of the capital. By the grace of God and the assistance of the Holy Prophet the Caliph of the
worlds, and the Emperor of the Universe. The start is from me but its completion rests with
God.
On the day of commencement the planets, Moon, Sun, Venus, Neptune,
were in the sign Aries in a lucky conjunction. By the help of God, the most
high, may the above mentioned Dam remain till the day of resurrection like the
fixed Stars. The money amounting to several lakhs which the God-given
government have spent is solely in the service of God. Apart from the old
cultivations, any one desirous of newly cultivating the arable land, should in
the name of God be exempted from various kinds of production whether of
com or fruits, of the one fourth part levied generally from other subjects. He
will only have to pay 3/4 of it to the benign government. He who newly
cultivates the arable land, himself, his posterity and other relatives will be the
masters of the above as long as earth & heaven endure. If any persons were to
cause any obstruction or be a preventer of this perpetual benevolence, such an
inhuman being is to be regarded as the enemy of man-kind, as the accursed
Satan of those cultivators, nay of the entire creation.
Tipu’s plans were certainly grand, but he did not live to see them being
fulfilled.
The impetus for the KRS or Kannambadi Dam was driven by British
selfishness. It was not due to the altruistic motive of providing water to the
ryots of the region. The gold mines at Kolar were a pot of gold for the
British government. Frenzied mining was carried out there to excavate as
much gold as they could, using high-power dynamos and generators. The
electric power to run these came chiefly from the Sivanasamudram
hydroelectric project. This project was the first of its kind in India and was
implemented in 1899–1900. The burgeoning needs of the gold fields at
Kolar necessitated at least 32,000 HP of electric power—something that
Sivanasamudram could barely provide, especially in the dry months. If this
power was not made available by July 1914, John Taylor and Company
threatened to end the initial agreement. By 15 July 1908 the third phase of
the Sivanasamudram project was built—small check dams 8 feet high and
2,300 feet long—and this ensured a timely supply of the required power.
But the British government knew only too well that this was a temporary
measure. And so they began seeking permanent solutions to the power issue.
The chief engineer of Mysore, Captain W. McHutchin and his assistant
engineer, Captain Bernard drew up a plan to raise the height of the dam at
Sivanasamudram from its current 70 feet to about 115 feet. The excess water
so harnessed could generate up to 23,000 HP of electric power. Such a
scheme would however have turned the entire riparian area into a virtual
desert and deprived the region’s farmers of water for irrigation. Also, the
British planned to divert most of the power to the gold fields and the
remainder to Madras and Coimbatore. The kingdom of Mysore stood to lose
here as well. The maharaja, then barely in his teens, firmly rejected this
proposal.
In 1908, McHutchin retired and Bernard took over as the chief engineer.
Since the original proposal on the Sivanasamudram project was shot down
by the maharaja, alternative sources of power were being explored. It was
Bernard who envisaged and laid out the project plan for the Kannambadi
Dam. It was to be a 97-foot high dam that could store water up to 80 feet
and gradually increased to 124 feet (with water stored up to 118 feet). It
could store up to 37,100 million cubic feet of water. To please the maharaja,
the plan provided for irrigating the farmlands of the region through canals at
the northern end which would be about 100 miles long and carry water to
the regions of Mandya, Nagamangala, Malavally and Chennapatna taluks.
After the initial survey works were completed in 1909, it was estimated that
the yield from the dam would be about 46,000 HP power. The approximate
cost of the project was Rs 2.5 crore. The Government of Mysore was
shocked to see this hefty expenditure as it overshot the State Budget by a
great deal!
But the project would prove to be a boon for the state. Not only would it
help irrigation to a large extent, the government stood to gain revenue to the
tune of 10 dollars per horsepower of electricity. It was then that Maharani
Vanivilasa Sannidhana and the young maharaja came up with the most
ingenious and unparalleled solution to the problem. The jewels, costly
diamonds, ornaments and gold and silver plates of the royal family were
dispatched to Bombay and sold at competitive prices there. The money so
obtained was used as seed-capital for the project. How often in the history
of princely India do we have such instances of selflessness in the royal
family? The interests of the people were uppermost on the maharaja’s mind
—when the earlier project was considered detrimental to the state’s
interests, he opposed it tooth and nail, but when the new plan suggested
bounties for the people and farmers of the agricultural state, he was willing
to even pawn his personal wealth to see the project through! This kicked off
the dam project.
A tragic story accompanies the construction of the dam. On 30 July
1909, Chief Engineer Bernard was engrossed in work in the Kannambadi
village. The Cauvery was overflowing its banks that day after a nighttime
surge in water levels. Despite the turbulence of the river, the British
engineer and his seven local aides, who perhaps belonged to the fishermen
community, sat in a theppa or coracle and tried crossing the river. The
upsurge ensured that the fragile coracle capsized. Six of the seven aides
managed to swim to safety. But seeing the last man desperately calling for
help, Bernard risked his life and—though he himself could not swim—
managed to push the labourer towards the banks. But sadly, the turbulence
claimed Bernard’s life, sucking him into the gushing waters of the Cauvery.
His body was recovered some four days later a considerable distance away.
So moved were the villagers by the heroism of this white man that they
contributed and collected about Rs 600, which was deposited with the
government at an interest rate of about 6.5 per cent. An award was instituted
with this money in the name of the deceased chief engineer and presented to
any student of the Mysore University who demonstrated acts of courage and
bravery in rescuing others. What a humane and unexpected gesture from a
British officer towards an Indian labourer, and what a touching reciprocation
from the locals!
It was after this tragic incident that Sir M.V. took over as chief engineer.
His skill, experience and knowledge added great value to the Kannambadi
Project. The work continued even after his retirement from the post of
Dewan. The project’s iron and steel requirements were met by the
Bhadravathi Steel Plant. Successive dewans, like Kantharaje Urs, Sir Albion
Banerji and Sir Mirza Ismail, oversaw the progress of the project, which
finally saw its completion in 1931. Under Mirza Ismail, a 9183-foot-long
canal, called the Irwin Canal, was constructed to irrigate 1,20,000 acres and
the dry tracts of Mandya, Malavally and T. Naraseepura taluks.
This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia at the time it was built. It
was second only to the Aswan Dam across the Nile in Egypt. It remains the
biggest reservoir of its kind in India and stands as true testimony to the
foresight and progressiveness of the rulers of Mysore and their dewans.
Agricultural implements factories were started at Bangalore, Mysore and
Hassan. The Krishnarajendra Mills and Electrical Goods Factory were also
set up. The Vishweswaraiya canal for the Cauvery was created, as also
additional irrigation facilities for Mandya.
On 8 November 1935 the Minister for Industrial Development Sir Frank
Nauis inaugurated the completed Vanivilasa Bridge across the Kapila River
near Tirumakudlu and Naraseepura. The bridge was built under the
guidance of the Chief Engineer of Mysore Sir Dewan Bahaddur N.N.
Iyengar, at the confluence of the Cauvery and Kapila Rivers. Work began in
1928 and ended in 1932 at a cost of Rs 6,02,000

Closely linked to the issue of irrigation was the generation of
hydroelectric power to satisfy the burgeoning needs of a vibrant industrial
economy and social sector. The Sivanasamudram hydroelectric project, the
first of its kind in India, was implemented in 1899–1900. Electricity was
provided to the Kolar gold fields in 1902 and the city of Bangalore was
provided with power in 1905. In fact, Bangalore became the first city of
India to be electrified! This was also the first and remained the longest
transmission line in the world then.
Sir Mirza Ismail embarked upon an ambitious project of rural
electrification—the first of its kind in India. By 1940, about 180 villages all
over Mysore were electrified. Speaking of the advantages electrification had
brought to Mysore, the maharaja said:*
It was only in 1882 that electric light was first used on a commercial scale in London, and it
was another ten years before the possibility of utilising electric power at a distance from the
generating station was accepted as a safe and paying undertaking. In Mysore we are
exceptionally favoured in respect of sources of power to be put into harness, and in the
genius of our administrators, who have seized upon the opportunity to make this power of
the utmost value to the State. Compare with the dates that I have just given you the date of
1894, on which Sir K.C. Sheshadri Iyer first took up the question of the harnessing of the
Cauvery Falls at Sivasamudram, and you will see that Mysore was not behind the times. In
fact when in 1902 the transmission line from the Cauvery Falls to the Kolar Gold Fields, 93
miles long, and operating at 35,000 Volts, was put into service, it was the longest high
voltage transmission line in the whole of Asia and the second or third longest in the world!
The success of that undertaking is an eloquent testimony to the boldness of spirit, the
farsightedness and the statesmanship of those who were responsible for it. The work thus
auspiciously begun has never halted. Installation has followed installation, and the output of
power has increased from 6000 H.P. in 1902 to 67,000 H.P. in 1937! In the meanwhile the
uses of the power have been extended far beyond the original purpose of supply to the gold
mines, Electric power was supplied to the two cities of Bangalore and Mysore in 1905 and
1908 respectively, and now it is issued to nearly 150 towns and villages. Meanwhile the
demand for industry has also increased, and at the present time we have nearly 32,000
lighting installations and nearly 4000 power installations in operation!
URBAN AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Building an urban infrastructure to support this economic spurt was an
equally important task, as also creating social amenities that would benefit
the people of the state.

From 19 hospitals in 1881, the state had 114 in 1894; five being
maternity and childcare hospitals at district headquarters. The Victoria
Hospital was established in Bangalore in 1897 to commemorate the
diamond jubilee of the queen of England. Towards the end of the maharani’s
Regency period, the number of hospitals in the state increased to 134 from
116; 124 municipalities in place of 107; educational institutions increased to
4,009 from 3,897 with the outlay on education expenditure also seeing an
upward trend from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
The state and Bangalore in particular suffered the scourge of plague in
1897–98 and this led to the laying out of new extensions and settlements in
Bangalore like Malleswaram and Basavanagudi, which heralded the rapid
expansion of the city. Dewan Iyer pressed for the surplus revenue from the
Bangalore cantonment area to be transferred to the Mysore kitty to augment
the state’s treasury.
The maharaja was extremely fond of his elder sister, Princess
Krishnajammanni. On 22 November 1904, at the young age of twenty-one,
she succumbed to the dreaded disease of tuberculosis that was spreading its
tentacles across the state. Sadly three of her daughters, aged between
fourteen and sixteen, also died of the same disease. This tragedy completely
shook the maharaja and the regent queen mother. They were determined to
ensure speedy and timely treatment for this disease for the people of the
state at large. To this end, the Princess Krishnajammanni Tuberculosis
Hospital was started in April 1918. A sum of Rs 75,000 from the personal
wealth of the deceased princess was donated for the treatment and cure of
needy patients. On the inauguration of the hospital on 18 November 1921
the maharaja made an emotional and touching speech recalling fond
memories of his sister and her daughters and hoping that no one had to
endure such tragedies. He would also arrange to send the palace music band
on certain Sundays to entertain the patients in the hospital! Such was the
empathy of the benign ruler of Mysore.
A medical college in Mysore and the mental hospital and craft institute
at Bangalore were founded in the time of Dewan Mirza Ismail. To him goes
the credit for the establishment of the Cheluvamba Maternity Hospital,
railway offices, radio station—all at Mysore and MacGann hospital at
Shimoga and Narasimharaja hospital at Kolar. During Sir M.

Vishweswaraiya’s stint in office, the Minto Ophthalmic Hospital was set up
as a specialty hospital for eye ailments.
In 1889, the model Mysore Postal System was merged with the Indian
Postal System for Rs 50,000. The Bangalore Century Club and Mysore
Cosmopolitan Club were set up in the early decades of the twentieth
century.
The Bangalore cantonment area, which was under British control, was
purchased by Mirza. He had a great sense of aesthetics and beauty. The
general thrust was on the cleanliness, tidiness and elegance of towns and
cities. To inis end many measures, like the terrace gardens at
Krishnarajasagara dam called the Brindavan Gardens (inspired by the king’s
fascination for the Shalimar Gardens on a visit to Kashmir and his desire to
replicate it in Mysore), its illumination, as also that of the Mysore Palace on
festive occasions, lighting of the contours of the Chamundi Hills, well-laid
parks, boulevards, well-lit squares, the greening of Bangalore, which earned
it sobriquets of the ‘Garden City’ were undertaken. He toured the state
extensively and established an excellent rapport with eminent citizens and
philanthropists, using their help to build hospitals, maternity wards, schools
and the like. He had great affection for Gandhiji, though he was critical of
many policies of the Congress. Gandhiji visited Mysore on his invitation
and stayed at the Nandi Hills near Bangalore in 1927.
EDUCATION AND SOCIAL REFORM
One of the greatest indices of human resource development in any economy
is undoubtedly education. It is universally acknowledged that the maharajas
of Mysore and their dewans contributed significantly to the cause of
education, particularly for women. While practices like Sati were rampant in
other parts of India, here was a state where women’s education and social
reform received such a boost, thus creating a sound social infrastructure.
During the dewani of Rangacharlu and Sir K.C. Sheshadri Iyer,
elementary and secondary education to all classes of society was given
through the state and by private efforts, to promote the vernacular and
ancient classical languages. Efforts were made to encourage female
education, higher education among the masses, training young people in

professional and technical courses like engineering sciences and medical
sciences. By 1888 the number of pupils had increased by 20 per cent and by
1890 the total number of schools increased to 2,902, with 83,278 pupils
enrolled. In 1892, an industrial training school was set up.
Women’s education remained the primary area of attention. In 1889, the
Prince of Wales visited Mysore and was taken to the Girls’ School started
during Rangacharlu’s dewanship in 1881. He was awestruck by what he saw
there and promised to report the school’s progress to the queen. Many other
royal visitors—Their Highnesses Maharaja and Maharani Gaekwad of
Baroda, and Sir Robert Lethbridge (quoted by Josyer) who remarked that
the school stood ‘absolutely in the van of female education in India and
owing so much to the Maharaja’s enlightened care and interest, may be
regarded by His Highness as one of the brightest jewels in his crown!’
In 1894 a Department of Geology and in 1898 a Department of
Agriculture were started at the Mysore University. To the girls’ school
started in 1881 were added higher education courses as well. This led to the
founding of the Maharani’s college for women’s education in 1895, which
became the first of its kind upon its inauguration in Mysore. The course
curriculum, examination scheme and certification were done by Madras
University. The year 1906 was a golden one in the history of women’s
education: for the first time, three women students from Mysore—Smt K.D.
Rukminiamma, Srirangamma and Subbamma—obtained their B.A. degree
with meritorious results, awarded by the Madras University. By 1916, the
College was affiliated to the newly founded Mysore University.
An Archaeological Department was created with B.L. Rice as its head.
A library housing ancient texts, manuscripts, documents and historical
archives of immense value was thrown open to the public in 1891, during
the rule of Chamarajendra Wodeyar. This was named the Oriental Library.
Schools sprang up by the hundreds and special scholarships were given
to the needy and backward-caste students. An adult education scheme was
begun in the year 1912. That very year, the S.S.L.C., or Secondary School
Leaving Certificate examination system was adopted uniformly across the
state. Foreign travel for post-graduate male students was fostered and a
scholarship scheme instituted for promising students seeking to study
abroad. Many hostels were built for the benefit of students who were staying
away from home in order to study at a good school or college.

In 1894, the Mysore Infant Marriages Regulation was passed. The social
evil of child marriage was eating into the very vitals of society. This social
termite had to be eradicated. Young girls would be married off, pre-
pubescent and sometimes even in their cradles. If, to their misfortune, they
were widowed, they would be condemned to lead a life bereft of all
pleasures and abused and ridiculed by society as an evil omen. They would
be compelled to shave their heads, wear saffron and forget all worldly
pleasures, though they often fell prey to the intentions of lecherous men of
their own family. The Act aimed to stem this evil by forbidding the marriage
of girls below the age of eight—a major step in the right direction back then.
In 1909, the Devadasi system, which had slowly degenerated into
institutionalised prostitution over the years, was abolished by the
government. Smoking by minor boys was banned by an act passed in 1911.
At around the same time, there was a competitive bid by Roorkee for
their town as a possible location. But what clinched the deal in favour of
Bangalore was the vision of a lady who herself was not too highly educated.
The city would have lost the prestigious Indian Institute of Science but for
the timely initiative of the Recent Queen of Mysore—Vani Vilasa
Sannidhana. She immediately seized opportunity and quickly signed a
contract offering 371 acres or prime land in the city and a generous grant of
Rs 50,000 a year. The overjoyed Committee that was looking for an ideal
venue looked no further and Bangalore became the chosen city. The spin
offs that came with the establishment of the IISc in Bangalore were
amazing. It catapulted the city into a knowledge capital of India—and an
ideal destination for the Space Research, Aeronautics and Information
Technology industry to find its roots here, many decades later. The
institute’s first director was Morris Travers FRS, Ramsay’s coworker in the
discovery of the noble gases.
This institute is today well known as the Indian Institute of Science or
IISc, and acclaimed worldwide as a worthy institution in fields of scientific
research and post-graduate study. The institute has been able to make many
significant contributions, primarily because of its unique character. It is
neither a national laboratory which concentrates solely on research and
applied work, nor a conventional university which concerns itself mainly
with teaching. However, the institute is concerned with research in frontier
areas and education in current technologically important areas.

Under Dewan Madhava Rao, primary education was made free and
compulsory for all. A grant of Rs 5 lakh was made for the Indian Institute of
Science. A Veterinary Department was also set up in Mysore. Two students
were sent to Oxford and Dehradun for the study of forestry.
Being an academic and thinker himself, Sir M.V.’s natural thrust was on
education and on the increase in the number of primary and middle schools.
His pet project was female literacy and education for the backward classes
of society. The Mechanical Engineering College, Commercial and
Agricultural Schools, Chamarajendra Technical Institute (Bangalore),
Industrial Schools at the District headquarters, Bangalore Engineering
colleges (1917), Karnataka Sahitya Parishad at Bangalore (1916), libraries
in Bangalore and Mysore, the famed Mysore University (in 1916) were all
established by his zealous personal efforts. The maharaja was the chancellor
of the Benaras Hindu University of Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya. The dewan
contributed Rs 2 lakh and made an annual grant of Rs 12,000 to this
University. At the time of Nalwadi’s coronation in 1984, there were about
3884 schools in Mysore state and the same number stood quadrupled at a
staggering 12,869 by the time of his Silver Jubilee in 1927. Education also
formed almost a quarter of the State’s expenditure when one sees the annual
reports of administration. The presence of the benign Regent Queen also
ensured the spread of female literacy.
One of the hallmarks of the education revolution in Mysore was its all-
inclusive nature. It was never restricted to a particular class, group, gender
or community. In fact in the Maharaja’s own words, he had said that
education is not the reserve of a few privileged souls and that like hospitals,
courts and public utility services were open to all, so also were schools,
irrespective of any discrimination. Numerous schools came up for the
backward classes, tribals, communities like the Lambanis, Kurubas,
Kumbis, Vaddas, women of the backward castes and so on. Special schools
were set up to promote Urdu as well. In 1890 Urdu primary schools came up
in all the taluks of the State. Unlike now, the emphasis however was that
while the medium of instruction might be Urdu, the content needs to be
modem and secular. So fresh textbooks were created for this purpose on par
with the other schools of the State. Mysore was also perhaps the only
province in India to have a school for the physically challenged in 1906.
About 150 blind and deaf children were admitted into this residential school
that gave them vocational training. It attracted students slowly from
neighbouring Bombay and Madras Presidencies and the Nizam’s kindgdom.
Bu 1912, 7000 Saksharata Centres or night schools were set up all over
Mysore State for adult education, as also a chain of libraries. The
Government actively took part in the campaign of ‘Vayaskara Akshara
Prasara’ to spread adult education along with the Congress and many NGOs
like the Ramakrishna Mission. Technical and Occupational Institutes in
different parts of the State provided skills to the young workforce.
Josyer writes that a visiting minister from Orissa was very impressed
with what he saw. Referring to the progress of the state by 1947, the
minister stated:
The standard of education in Mysore is high. There are enough institutions and workshops
to give instruction to its young men in various arts and crafts and in machinery. The
Occupational and Technical Institutes, one at Bangalore and other at Mysore, are
institutions unique in kind. The prospect of an army of qualified young men in not less than
about 20 or 25 arts and crafts, spreading out into the world, thrills me. There are two
Polytechnical institutions to the credit of the Mysore State. How I wish that a few such
institutions in our Provinces had been established!
The progress of Mysore is due as much to its administrators as to its
officers, who are patriotic and whose aim and object is to improve the Mysore
State and the people. I find them to be sincere to the core. The several contacts
with many of their officers gave me this impression. By the time I reached
Mysore, another minister from the Central Provinces, was already in Mysore. It
is no wonder that such a progressive state like Mysore has been drawing to it
visitors of eminence from all parts of India. Mysore is a beautiful city. It is a
Garden city. I was struck by the methodical fashion that pervades every branch
of the administration of Mysore and the public life in Mysore state. It is an
achievement of no mean order.
Mysore is a premier State with a long-standing reputation for progressive
and modem outlook. It has also the reputation for embarking on big
development schemes and projects. The purpose of my visit to this premier
State is to imbibe and emulate as much as I can. I have fulfilled this object to
the maximum limit!
Thus we see at the end of this long and chequered saga that, despite
being surrounded by mediocrity and suppressed by colonialism, Mysore
achieved pioneering and stunning results and was deservingly acclaimed a
‘Model State’ by the time of India’s independence. These sound economic
and social fundamentals, so painstakingly laid over years of labour by the

benevolent maharajas and their able dewans, placed the state of Karnataka
on a unique growth trajectory.
———————————
*
The information presented as part of this stock-taking exercise is taken from Sir M.
Vishweswaraiya’s speech, recorded in Josyer’s 1929 book, The History of Mysore and the
Yadava Dynasty.
*
*
It is noteworthy that women in Mysore got the power to vote around the same time as
women in the USA and UK.
*
*
*
*
23
THE STRUGGLE FOR SWARAJ
THE INDIAN POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
he 1857 uprising had kindled a sense of nationalism among the Indian
masses, who, till then hardly envisaged themselves as fellow citizens of
the same country. India’s aspirations to remain as an independent entity had
always remained scattered till the second half of the nineteenth century. Due
to the lack of an organised effort against the well-organised British, these
murmurs of protest and assertions of independence were easily subdued.
The coming of the British brought Western influence, which inspired
Western education. The liberal and radical ideas of Europe influenced the
Indians and created a new educated class. The use of Western education and
English as a language for communication brought closer the populations of
various regions. Thus, it helped in an exchange of ideas and developing
aspirations for liberation from foreign rule. The socio-religious movements
initiated by various social reformers across India inspired national
consciousness to improve social conditions and invoked the spirit of
patriotism in the Indian masses. The promotion of vernacular languages and
their use in the Indian and vernacular papers infused a feeling of
nationalism in the people. Throughout British rule in India there was a
section of Indians who were discontented and exploited politically, socially,
economically and spiritually. They took up the mission of subduing the
British and reviving self-rule. The development of means of communication
and transport eased the exchange of ideas that inspired freedom.

Events like the passage of the Vernacular Press Act in 1878 and the
Ilbert Bill of 1882, as well as the reduction of the age limit for the Civil
Services Exams in 1876, resulted in a wave of opposition from middle-class
Indians. Consequently, some of them came together and formed a number of
small political parties that took to the streets for protests and rallies. The
British foresaw it quickly becoming another rebellion on the pattern of the
War of Independence of 1857.
To avoid such a situation, the British decided to offer an outlet to the
local people where they could discuss their political problems. In order to
achieve this goal, Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant, had a
series of meetings with Lord Dufferin, the viceroy. He also visited England
and met people like John Bright, Sir James Caird, Lord Ripon and other
members of the British Parliament. Hume also had the support of a large
number of Englishmen in India, including Sir William Wedderbun, George
Yule and Charles Bradlaugh. On his return from Britain, Hume consulted
the local Indian leaders and started working towards the establishment of an
Indian political organisation. He invited the convention of the Indian
National Union, an organisation he had already formed in 1884, to Bombay
in December 1885. Seventy delegates, most of whom were lawyers,
educationalists and journalists, attended the convention in which the Indian
National Congress was established. This first session of the Congress was
presided over by Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee and he was also elected the
first president of the organisation.
To begin with, Congress acted as a ‘King’s Party’. Its early aims and
objectives were:
To seek the cooperation of all Indians in its efforts.
To eradicate the concepts of race, creed and provincial prejudices and
try to form national unity.
To discuss and solve the social problems of the country.
To request the government for a greater share in administrative affairs
to the locals.
As time went by, the Congress changed its stance and became the
biggest opposition to the British government.

The turning point for the Congress was the partition of Bengal in 1905,
enforced on 16 October during the viceroyalty of Lord Curzon (1899-1905.)
It proved to be a momentous event in the history of modem India. Bengal,
which included modem day Bihar and Orissa since 1765, was admittedly
much too large to be a single province of British India. This premier
province grew too vast for efficient administration and required
reorganisation and intelligent division.
The lieutenant governor of Bengal had to administer an area of 189,000
square miles and by 1903 the population of the province had risen to 78.5
million. Consequently, many districts in eastern Bengal that were isolated
lay neglected, making good governance almost impossible. Calcutta and its
nearby districts attracted all the energy and attention of the government. The
condition of peasants was miserable under the exaction of absentee
landlords; and trade, commerce and education were heavily impaired. The
administrative machinery of the province taffed. Especially in the eastern
Bengal countryside—cut off by rivers and creeks—no special attention had
been paid to the peculiar difficulties of police work till the last decade of the
nineteenth century. Organised piracy in the waterways had existed for at
least a century. Along with administrative difficulties, the problems of
famine, of defence, or of language had at one time or other prompted the
government to consider the redrawing of administrative boundaries.
The publication of the original proposal of partition, towards the end of
1903, had aroused unprecedented opposition, especially among the
influential educated middle-class Hindus. The educated Bengali Hindus felt
that it was a deliberate blow inflicted by Curzon at the national
consciousness and growing solidarity of the Bengali-speaking population.
The partition evoked fierce protest in west Bengal, especially in Calcutta,
and gave a new fillip to Indian nationalism. Henceforth, the Indian National
Congress was destined to become the main platform of the Indian
nationalist movement. It exhibited unusual strength and vigour and shifted
from a middle-class pressure group to a nation-wide mass organisation.
The leadership of the Indian National Congress viewed the partition as
an attempt to ‘divide and rule’ and as proof of the government’s vindictive
antipathy towards the outspoken bhadralok intellectuals. Defeating the
partition became the nationalists’ immediate target. Agitation against the
partition manifested itself in the form of mass meetings; rural unrest and a
swadeshi movement to boycott the import of British manufactured goods.
Swadeshi and Boycott were the twin weapons of this nationalism and Swaraj
(self-government) its main objective. Swaraj was first mentioned as the
Congress goal in 1906, in the presidential address of Dadabhai Naoroji at
the Calcutta session of the Congress.
The new tide of national sentiment against the partition of Bengal
spilled over into different regions in India—Punjab, the Central Provinces,
Poona, Madras, Bombay and other cities. Instead of wearing foreign-made
outfits, the Indians vowed to use only swadeshi (indigenous) cottons and
other clothing materials made in India. Foreign garments were viewed as
hateful imports. The Swadeshi Movement soon stimulated local enterprise
in many areas; from Indian cotton mills to match factories, glassblowing
shops, iron and steel foundries. The agitation also generated increased
demands for national education. Bengali teachers and students extended
their boycott of British goods to English schools and college classrooms.
The movement for national education spread throughout Bengal and beyond,
reaching as far as Benaras, where Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya founded
his private Benaras Hindu University in 1910.
In 1907, the Indian National Congress at its annual session in Surat split
into two groups—one moderate, liberal, and evolutionary; and the other
extremist, militant and revolutionary. The young militants of Bal Gangadhar
Tilak’s extremist party supported the cult of the bomb and the gun while
moderate leaders like Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Surendranath Banerjea
cautioned against such extremist actions, fearing it might lead to anarchy
and uncontrollable violence. Surendranath Banerjea, though one of the
front-rank leaders of the anti-partition agitation, was not in favour of
terrorist activities.
The consequence of the agitation was the growth of communalism and a
deepened Hindu-Muslim divide. The economic aspect of the movement was
partly responsible for encouraging separatist forces within the Muslim
society. The superiority of the Hindus in the sphere of trade and industry
alarmed the Muslims. Fear of socio-economic domination by the Hindus
made them alert to their own interests, which they then needed to safeguard.
Muslim groups openly advocated partition and to give their voice a forum,
the All-India Muslim League came into being at Dacca on 30 December
1906.
Thus the partition of Bengal and the agitation against it had far-reaching
effects on Indian history and national life. Swadeshi and Boycott became a
creed with the Indian National Congress and were used more effectively in
future conflicts.
AND THEN CAME GANDHI...
The Indian political spectrum changed radically with the arrival of a short,
skinny man in the second decade of the twentieth century. He was
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer of Indian origin
from South Africa. He had won his political spurs organising the Indian
community there against the vicious system of apartheid. During this
struggle, he had developed the novel technique of non-violent agitation,
which he called satyagraha, loosely translated as moral domination. Gandhi,
himself a devout Hindu, also espoused a total moral philosophy of tolerance,
brotherhood of all religions, ahimsa and of simple living. He adopted an
austere traditional Indian lifestyle which won him wide popularity and
transformed him into the undisputed leader of the Congress. As Jawaharlal
Nehru, the Congress leader said, ‘He was a powerful current of fresh air that
made us stretch ourselves and take a deep breath,’ and revitalised the
freedom movement.
Gandhi returned to India in early 1915, and would never leave the
country again except for a short trip to Europe in 1931. Though he was not
completely unknown in India, Gandhi followed the advice of his political
mentor, Gokhale, and took it upon himself to acquire a familiarity with
Indian conditions. He travelled widely for one year. Over the next few years,
he was to become involved in numerous local struggles, such as those at
Champaran in Bihar, where workers on indigo plantations complained of
oppressive working conditions, and at Ahmedabad, where a dispute had
broken out between the management and workers at textile mills. His
interventions earned Gandhi a considerable reputation, and ensured his
rapid ascendance to the helm of nationalist politics. His saintliness—though
not uncommon in other walks of life—was unique in the world of politics.
He had earned from Rabindranath Tagore, India’s most well-known writer,
the title of ‘Mahatma’, or ‘Great Soul’.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919 was one of the
cruellest examples of British suppression in India. People had gathered on
the auspicious day of Baisakhi at Jallianwala Bagh, adjacent to the Golden
Temple (Amritsar), to lodge a peaceful protest against persecution by the
British Indian Government. General Dyer appeared suddenly with his armed
police force and fired indiscriminately at innocent, unarmed people, leaving
hundreds of people, including women and children, dead. The massacre
stirred the collective conscience of all Indians as thousands of unarmed
women, children, senior citizens and men were fired at amidst a peaceful
protest meet.
Over the next two years, Gandhi initiated the Non-Cooperation
movement, which called upon Indians to withdraw from British institutions,
to return honours conferred by the British, and to learn the art of self-
reliance. Though the British administration was at places paralysed, the
movement was suspended in February 1922 when a score of Indian
policemen were brutally killed by a large crowd at Chauri Chaura, a small
market town in the United Provinces. Gandhi himself was arrested shortly
thereafter, tried on charges of sedition, and sentenced to imprisonment for
six years. At The Great Trial, as it is known to his biographers, Gandhi
delivered a masterful indictment of British rule.
Meanwhile, the Civil Disobedience Movement launched in 1930 under
Gandhi’s leadership was one of the most important phases of India’s
freedom struggle. The Simon Commission, constituted in November 1927
by the British Government to prepare and finalise a constitution for India
and consisting of members of the British Parliament only, was boycotted by
all sections of the Indian social and political platforms as an ‘All-White
Commission’.
Following the Indian rejection of commission’s recommendations, an
All-Party Conference was held at Bombay in May 1928 under the
presidentship of Dr M.A. Ansari. The conference appointed a drafting
committee under Motilal Nehru to draw up a constitution for India. The
Calcutta Session of the Indian Congress (December 1928) virtually gave an
ultimatum to the British government, that if dominion status were not
conceded by December 1929, a countrywide Civil Disobedience Movement
would be launched. The British government, however, declared in May 1929
that India would get dominion status within the empire very soon.
Gandhi began a new campaign in 1930, the Salt Satyagraha. He and his
followers set off on a 200-mile journey from the ashram at Ahmedabad to
the Arabian Sea, where Gandhi wanted to pick up a few grains of salt. This
action formed the symbolic focal point of a campaign of civil disobedience
in which the state monopoly on salt was the first target. Prior to the
beginning of the action, Gandhi sent a letter to the Lord Lieutenant:
Dear Friend. Whilst, therefore, I hold the British rule to be a curse, I do not intend harm to
a single Englishman or to any legitimate interest he may have in India. My ambition is
nothing less than to bring round the English people through non-violence to recognise the
injustice they have done to India. I do not intend to be offensive to your people. Indeed, I
would like to serve your people as I would my own.
After a 24-hour march to the Indian Ocean, Gandhi picked up a few
pieces of salt—a signal to the rest of the subcontinent to do the same. This
raw material was carried inland before being processed on the roofs of
houses in pans and then sold. Over 50,000 Indians were imprisoned for
breaking the salt laws. The entire protest was carried out almost without
violence. It was this that annoyed the police.
Margaret Bourke White records a report by the English journalist Webb
Miller, who witnessed one of the clashes, has become a classic description
of the way in which satyagraha was carried out at the forefront of the battle
lines; 2,500 volunteers advanced on the salt works of Dharasana;
Gandhi’s men advanced in complete silence before stopping about one-hundred meters
before the cordon. A selected team broke away from the main group, waded through the
ditch and neared the barbed-wire fence. Receiving the signal, a large group of local police
officers suddenly moved towards the advancing protestors and subjected them to a hail of
blows to the head delivered from steel-covered Lathis (truncheons). None of the protesters
raised so much as an arm to protect themselves against the barrage of blows. They fell to
the ground like pins in a bowling alley. From where I was standing I could hear the
nauseating sound of truncheons impacting against unprotected skulls. The waiting main
group moaned and drew breath sharply at each blow. Those being subjected to the
onslaught fell to the ground quickly writhing unconsciously or with broken shoulders. The
main group, which had been spared until now, began to march in a quiet and determined
way forwards and were met with the same fate. They advanced in a uniform manner with
heads raised—without encouragement through music or battle cries and without being
given the opportunity to avoid serious injury or even death. The police attacked repeatedly
and the second group was also beaten to the ground. There was no fight, no violence; the
marchers simply advanced until they themselves were knocked down.

Following their action, the men in uniform, who obviously felt
unprotected with all their superior equipment of violence, could think of
nothing better to do than that which seems to overcome uniformed men in
similar situations as a sort of ‘natural’ impulse: unable to break the skulls of
all the protesters, they now set about kicking and aiming their blows at the
genitals of the helpless on the ground. ‘For hour upon hour endless numbers
of motionless, bloody bodies were carried away on stretchers,’ according to
Webb Miller.
THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE TAKES ROOT IN
MYSORE
The winds of nationalism, inspired by the Mahatma’s clarion call, blew over
Mysore as well, though the magnitude of the movement was much more
evident in the parts of today’s Karnataka, popularly known back then as
Bombay Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka. The people in these regions
were under the repressive rule of the Bombay presidency and the Nizam
respectively. Their counterparts in the kingdom of Mysore enjoyed a greater
degree of prosperity and did not feel the pinch of foreign rule.
Renaissance in Mysore
The freedom struggle in Mysore was preceded by a period of renaissance
that facilitated the spread of new ideas and technology. The spread of
education, the introduction of printing, the activities of the Christian
missionaries and their impact on Hindu society, and the spread of liberal
and democratic ideas widened people’s outlook towards their own lives and
their political consciousness. These invariably affected the fine arts, like
music, dance, drama, literature and painting. The birth of prose as a literary
form and the increasing popularity of secular literature occurred around this
time.
The emphasis on education by the Mysore Maharajas has been discussed
in depth. Supplementing the efforts of the kings and dewans were the
Christian missionaries who, despite their hidden agendas, contributed to the

spread of modem, English education. The missionaries who came to
Mangalore from Basel in 1834 had started two English schools in South
Kanara district and Dharwad. The London Mission was active in Bangalore,
Bellary and Belgaum and the Wesleyans in Mysore and Bangalore. All the
district headquarters across Mysore state came to have English schools
between 1840 and 1854. In 1858, the department of education was founded
in Mysore and the Bangalore High School (later christened Central College)
was established. By 1881 about 2,087 schools existed across the state. These
were important agents in awakening the consciousness of the masses.
Coupled with the spread of English education came the boon of printing.
Initially conceptualised by the missionaries to spread the gospel, the
technology made available to the masses books and journals from varied
thinkers and revolutionaries on Western political and philosophical ideas
from across the world. The first printed book in Kannada was released in
1817, followed by a Kannada Bible in 1820. To accelerate the
proselytisation drive, missionaries were zealous in learning Indian languages
so as to connect better with the masses. So we see a spurt of dictionaries
and grammar books in Indian languages. In 1824, the English-Kannada
dictionary was compiled by Rev Reeve. To belittle Indian mythology and
religion, the missionaries needed to understand them first. So a number of
Indian religious texts were also translated to English and Kannada.
Indirectly this helped in the classical revival of Kannada and interest in
ancient Kannada literature. The Mysore government initiated the
‘Bibliothica Camatica’ series from 1891 through the efforts of Louis Rice,
wherein works of celebrated Kannada poets of yore like Pampa were
printed.
Almost at the same time, the Backward Classes Movement began in
Mysore. The quest of backward castes of traditional Hindu society to seek
political and social participation could be termed a by-product of the spread
of modern ideas. The Lingayats, followed by the Vokkaligas, Kurubas and
other communities, spearheaded the movement in Mysore. The destruction
of local industries in the nineteenth century caused large-scale
unemployment among traditional craftsmen. This, coupled with the horrific
famines of that century, led to widespread starvation deaths. Bangalore had
been a hub of textile activity in the early nineteenth century, but the primacy
was lost to competition from the Manchester and Liverpool mills. The
Goniga castes were primarily involved in the flourishing gunny-bag weaving
trade. But this too faced severe competition from Dundy mills of Scotland.
Iron and steel units that the kingdom was famous for were also shut down in
the nineteenth century in the face of British competition. The Uppars of the
State were traditional producers of saltpetre or potassium nitrate, which is
used to manufacture gunpowder. The British introduction of a chemical
substitute for saltpetre caused thousands of Uppars to lose their livelihoods.
The two-rupee excise duty on salt made matters worse for salt miners inland
and salt-pan workers in the coastal areas. Similar misfortunes befell the
Ganigas who produced kerosene, local potters and braziers. Thus, a vast
section of society was keen to mobilise itself to educate its youth and help
them secure government jobs as the last resort for livelihood. The other
offshoot was their internal grouping to seek rights and privileges for their
communities.
The Miller Committee appointed to look into the demands of the
backward classes recommended reservations. The government took the
recommendations seriously and decided to include backward classes in
government jobs. The Praja Mitra Mandali however lost its focus. Many of
its members were elected to the Representative Assembly but their tone was
always one of support for the government and the Dewan.
Also the derisive attitude of the missionaries led Hindu society to look
inwards and introspect on existing social evils. The Karnataka chapter of the
Brahmo Samaj was formed in Bangalore in 1866, the Theosophical Society
in Bangalore in 1886 and the Arya Samaj in 1894 in the same city. By 1904
the Ramakrishna Mission too had established its base in Bangalore.
Influenced by all these groups, the Indian Progressive Union of Bangalore
was founded in 1903 as a local body to propagate social reforms. The
Mysore Social Progress Association was formed in 1915 and held its
conference at Bangalore in 1917 where the Ashakta Poshaka Sabha was
formed to empower weaker sections of society.
The maharaja’s government, as we have seen, was no less committed to
social reform. The 1894 law banning child marriage (girls below the age of
8), the first Indian state to enfranchise women (1923), pioneering strides in
female education—these were all significant milestones in Mysore’s social
history. R. Gopalaswamy Iyer in Mysore and Govindacharya Swamy in
Bangalore made significant efforts in the eradication of untouchability much

before even the Congress could take up the issue. In fact, Dewan K.C.
Sheshadri Iyer had founded separate schools for ‘untouchables’ and Sir M.V.
had instituted scholarships for them.
The time thus seemed ripe for a social movement that sought
representative and responsible governance for the state.
The Freedom Movement in Mysore
The freedom movement in Mysore needs to be viewed in two dimensions—
the general patriotic demand that the British quit the country and the
demand to provide to the people a responsible government. It was when
issues connected with native interests clashed with those of the Imperial
British government and when the unscrupulous way in which the latter was
run became evident, that the clamour began for a government that sought to
protect the interests of the people of the state. One such instance was the
agreement on the sharing of Cauvery waters between princely Mysore and
Madras Presidency. The British bulldozed the interests of their dominion,
Madras, over those of subservient Mysore. The rumblings of the British
government against the industrialisation drive of Sir M. Vishweswaraiya,
such as the opposition to a proposed automobile factory in Bangalore, made
the stepmotherly treatment all too obvious. The British, while heaping
encomiums on Mysore, were also wary of the pace at which it was
progressing. While the maharaja put his foot down frequently in protest
against British decisions, he could not always prevail over the British, given
his position. All he could do in such difficult situations was to hold his
ground and watch mutely. The people did not see his protests, only his meek
submission to British will. Gradually, they began to resent being slaves to a
slave maharaja.
If the discriminatory actions of the British government hurt Mysorean
pride, the advent of the modern age and easy access to newspapers and
information from across the country, alerted them to developments
elsewhere. Tilak’s Maratha, New India, Hindu and local newspapers, like
Karnataka Prakashika (1874), Suryodaya Prakashika (1888), and those of
the legendary Venkatakrishnaiya, like the Vrittantha Chinthamani, stirred
people’s political consciousness. Many of these local newspapers also

carried bold statements on national issues that helped the local Mysorean
connect to events occurring across India.
Coupled with the political angle was the religious one. The efforts of
Christian missionaries at evangelisation and the foul means employed for the
same stirred people, like Tagadur Ramachandra Rao, to begin a campaign
against the missionaries’ vilification of Hindu religion. The Swarajya
Mandira, an organisation he established at Tagadur in 1919, was set up for
this very cause. It also initiated a clean-up within Hindu society by
campaigning against casteism and untouchability.
Tilak’s death in 1920 saw huge mourning processions on the streets of
Mysore, even as shops remained shut as a mark of respect to the departed
leader. The students of the Maharaja College and boys of the Marimallappa
High School and other schools of Mysore ensured the closure of even the
District Court on this occasion. Venkatakrishnaiya, who was also the
principal of the Marimallappa High School, initiated leaders, like Tagadur
Ramachandra Rao, M.N. Jois, Palahalli Sitaramayya and Agaram Rangayya,
to the national cause. Swami Rao, G. Virupaksha, Rangaswamy Iyengar and
Narayana formed a Tilak National Union in Mysore to propagate the late
leader’s views and ideas on freedom.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) was established in
1920 by the ‘Lion of Karnataka’, Gangadhara Rao Deshpande, at the
Nagpur Congress Session. Deshpande became the committee’s first
president in 1920. It opened branches and District Congress Committees by
1921 at Mysore, Bangalore, Tumkur and Kadur and had Venkatakrishnaiya
as the first president of the Mysore city local committee. Vishweshwara
Gowda, T.S. Subbanna, T. Rama Rao, Siddhoji Rao, T.P. Boraiah, Advocate
M.A. Srinivasa Iyengar, G. Krishnamurthy, Ganapathi Sastry and others
were the early leaders of the KPCC. The Congress in Mysore demanded a
responsible government for the state—run by elected representatives under
the aegis of the maharaja. The government, they demanded, must be
responsible to the elected assembly.
But unlike the rest of India, the Congress in Mysore had a tough task
endearing itself to the masses. It was branded a band of Mysorean Brahmins
and this image changed only with a great deal of effort. The social
atmosphere was already charged by the categorisation of the dominant
Lingayat sect as Shudras in the 1891 Census Report—something that the

community saw as a Brahmin conspiracy to marginalise them. Lingayat
leaders protested widely against this move. Yajaman G. Veerasangappa of
the community even wrote fiery articles in the newly started journal, Mysore
Star, which initiated a long public debate on what status needed to be
accorded to the Lingayats. To counter Brahmin dominance in administration
and public life, the Praja Mitra Mandali was formed by non-Brahmin
groups. It opposed the demand for responsible government in Mysore,
pointing out that the non-Brahmins had a very small share in the
government service and demanded special privileges to amend this. Their
activities were encouraged by Yuvaraja Kanthirava Narasimharaja Wodeyar,
who believed in the concept of social justice.
Thus, the social friction translated itself into an opposition to the
Congress. In fact, the Mysore Star editor, G. Virupakshayya, opposed the
Congress, its Swadeshi movement and Savarkar and his ideology.
A lot of the disconnect between the masses and the Congress also had to
do with the way the Congress conceptualised its role. Gandhi wanted all
law-breaking activities to be strictly confined to the British Presidencies like
Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and so on. Princely states like Mysore were to
enrol members in the Congress but engage themselves in constructive
activities, like production of khadi, cow-protection, propagation of
Swadeshi, Hindi, etc.
It was the untiring efforts of people, like Tagadur Ramachandra Rao that
helped the Congress bridge this gap. As mentioned earlier, his efforts to
eradicate untouchability won him, and through him the Congress, public
acceptance. He struggled to ensure entry of untouchables to the Gunja
Narasimhaswamy Temple at T. Naraseepura, as also allowing them to use
public wells and tanks. His Khaddar Sahakara Sangha started in 1925 in
Tagadur helped the villagers earn a living. Rao’s efforts to uplift one of the
most backward communities, the Kanniyars, won him great praise from
national leaders, including Gandhi.
To further accentuate this growing acceptance for the Congress, Gandhi
toured Mysore in 1920–21 and visited Bangalore in 1927. At Gandhi’s
calling, many lawyers, like Mahali, Karaguppi, Joshi, Ajrekar, Kaujalagi,
Janvekar, Jayarao Deshpande and others from the Bombay Karnataka
region, gave up practising law. Gandhi visited Mysore and Krishnarajanagar

again in 1927 to propagate the use of khadi. The Government also opened a
khadi production centre at Badanwal.
The Mysore visit of the Prince of Wales in 1921 was opposed by
Congress leaders. The protest against the Simon Commission of 1927 had
its echoes in Mysore as well. Ramachandra Rao published a work titled,
Simon Commissionge Dhikkara, against the Simon Commission. His
subsequent address in Mysore led to his imprisonment for fifteen days—
making him the first political prisoner in Mysore.
The Second and Third Political Conferences of the Congress were held
at Mangalore and Gokama in 1922 and 1924. Santakavi’s Mathrubhoomi
Janani Ninna Charanaseve Maduva and Udayavagali Namma Cheluva
Kannada Nadu by Huligol Narayana Rao stirred patriotic fervour among the
masses. The Hindi Premi Mandali started by Jamuna Prasad and Siddhanath
Pant at Dharwad to propagate Hindi among the masses as a unifying
language brought many women into the freedom movement. The
organisation called Tuntara Thanda (literally meaning ‘band of mischief-
makers’) established by G.R. Swamy and others in Chamundipuram was
also a nucleus of nationalistic activity.
The first demand for responsible government in Mysore was made in the
journal Satyavadi in 1918. To project the demand further, the Mysore State
Congress was formed and in May 1928, its first session was held in Mysore
through the efforts of Venkatakrishnaiya and Hosakoppa Krishna Rao of
Chikkamagalur. The Congress held its next session in Bangalore the
following year.
The Ganesha idol events in Bangalore’s Sultanpet in 1928 vitiated the
communal atmosphere and generated anti-dewan feelings among the people.
These protests, along with the anti-Simon Commission disturbances, created
strong nationalist feelings in the minds of teenagers and youngsters of
Mysore.
Meanwhile, the completion of the Irwin Nala/Canal turned out to be
another focal point of mobilisation. The heavy betterment levies imposed on
the peasants of Mandya on completion of this canal propelled Congress
leader H.K. Veerana Gowda to espouse the cause of the peasants. Even here
the Praja Mitra Mandali, originally conceived to protect the rights of the
backward, was caught napping. Gowda led a huge agitation in 1930–31 and
brought a large group of about 4,000 peasants from the Maddur-Mandya

region, which bore the brunt of the canal’s levies, to Bangalore for protests.
He published Chitragupta, a popular daily that helped carry his message to
his readers.
Thus, in keeping with the national mood, the patriotic spirit was fast
catching up in Mysore as well.
Towards Conciliation
The Labour government returned to power in Britain in 1931, and a
glimmer of hope ran through Indian hearts. Labour leaders had always been
sympathetic to the Indian cause. The British government decided to hold a
Round Table Conference in London to consider new constitutional reforms.
All Indian politicians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians were
summoned to London for the conference.
Almost 89 members attended the conference, out of which 58 were
chosen from various communities and interests in British India, and the rest
from princely states and other political parties. Prominent among the
Muslim delegates invited by the British government were Sir Aga Khan,
Quaid-i-Azam, Maulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar, Sir Muhammad Shafi and
Maulvi Fazl-i-Haq. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Mr Jaikar and Dr Moonje were
among the Hindu leaders. Sir Mirza Ismail attended this conference as the
Representative of South Indian states and favoured a federation of Indian
states and British Indian provinces.
The Muslim-Hindu differences cast their shadow over the conference as
the Hindus pushed for a powerful central government while the Muslims
stood for a loose federation of completely autonomous provinces. The
Muslims demanded maintenance of weightage and separate electorates, the
Hindus their abolition. The Muslims claimed statutory majority in Punjab
and Bengal while Hindus resisted their imposition. In Punjab, the situation
was complicated by inflated Sikh claims.
The conference broke up on 19 January 1931, and what emerged from it
was a general agreement to write safeguards for minorities into the
constitution and a vague desire to devise a federal system for the country.
The Gandhi-Irwin Pact that was signed following the First Conference
made the parties agree that the Congress would give up its Civil
Disobedience Movement and return to the negotiating table and the

government would withdraw all ordinances issued to curb the Congress and
release all persons undergoing sentences of imprisonment for their activities
in the movement.
The second session of the conference opened in London on 7 September
1931. The main task of the conference was done through the two
committees on federal structure and minorities. The communal problem
represented the most difficult issue for the delegates. Gandhi again tabled
the Congress scheme for a settlement, a mere reproduction of the Nehru
Report, but all the minorities rejected it. As a counter to the Congress
scheme, the Muslims, the depressed classes, the Indian Christians, the
Anglo-Indians, and the Europeans presented a joint statement of claims
which they said must stand as an interdependent whole. As their main
demands were not acceptable to Gandhi, the communal issue was postponed
for future discussion. Three important committees drafted their reports; the
Franchise Committee, the Federal Finance Committee and the States
Inquiry Committee.
On the concluding day, the British prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald,
appealed to the Indian leaders to reach a communal settlement. Failing to do
so, he said, would force the British government to take a unilateral decision.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah of the Muslim League did not participate in this
session of the Second Round Table Conference.
Attending the Round Table Conference Sessions gave Sir Mirza Ismail
an opportunity to acquaint himself with the current political scenario of the
country and also to voice Mysore’s viewpoint, rather the viewpoint of all
South India, which he represented there.
The Agitation Intensifies
Over 300 volunteers from Mysore participated in the Civil Disobedience
Movement at Karwar and Dharwad districts as also in the Madras
Presidency. Many spent time in jail. In a way, these events propelled the
Responsible Government Movement in 1938, starting with the Shivapura
Congress.
In 1938, the leaders of Mysore set up a Mysore State Congress after
merging the existing Congress party in the state with the Praja Samyukta
Paksha and agitated against the maharaja’s government. It held its first
session at Shivapura near Maddur presided over by T. Siddhalingaiya and
attended by Congressmen of Mysore—S. Nijalingappa, Talakere
Subrahmanya, K.C. Reddy, H.C. Dasappa, M.N. Jois, K.T. Bhashyam, K.
Hanumanthaiya, Bellary Siddamma, Sahukar Chennaiya and so on.
The government had promulgated prohibitory orders against the hoisting
of the tricolour at Shivapura. It deployed hundreds of armed policemen to
enforce the order. But thousands of Congress workers and volunteers
gathered at Shivapura and, in violation of the prohibitory orders, the flag
was hoisted by T. Siddhalingaiya. Many Congress leaders were immediately
arrested. But flag-hoisting continued every day for a month at Shivapura and
the maharaja’s government could do precious little about it.
Buoyed by the success of the agitation, the Congress decided to conduct
a Flag Satyagraha in the whole state. Hundreds of Congress workers were
arrested for hoisting flags at important centres. On 25 April 1938, at
Vidurashwatha in Kolar District at a similar flag-hoisting ceremony, the
police deployed by the government seemed to go berserk. It resorted to
indiscriminate firing on a group of peaceful protesters who had gathered to
merely hoist the flag at the centre. Ten innocent people, including pregnant
women, were killed in the process. The event sent shock-waves across the
state and people were alarmed by the barbaric behaviour of a hitherto
benevolent government. This event was widely condemned by eminent
national leaders such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and J.B. Kriplani and
came to be known as the Vidurashwatha tragedy. It only helped intensify the
Congress agitation and its mass appeal. In the elections, the Mysore
Congress won 101 and 16 seats in the Assembly and Council respectively,
along with a thumping victory in local body elections.
In 1939 a satyagraha was organised, demanding responsible government
in the state. Labourers of Bangalore, Bhadravathi and other industrial
centres decided to organise themselves into unions affiliated to this new
Congress entity. Their strength was tested for the first time in the Binny
Mills strike in 1941, which carried on with great success for twenty-five
days. The Mysore Government was forced to accept the workers’ right to
organise unions as a result. The Congress had also organised the peasant
force and held peasants’ conferences at taluk levels in 1939 and 1940 across
the state of Mysore. Thousands of peasants participated in the 1939
Satyagraha of the Congress and over 1,700 of them courted arrest.

In 1940, the Government of Mysore introduced reforms based on the
recommendations of the K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar Committee. But the
Congress was not satisfied.
The intensity of these agitations at both the state and national levels
indicated that soon the desires of the people would be consummated. The
winds of change had begun to blow over the kingdom of a dynasty that had
seen so many transformations in its 600-year history.

24
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
t was a time of chaos and pandemonium—a fire spread across the whole
world; a moving cry of the injured and the wails of widows and orphans
of the dead. It was the time of the First World War. But a great beam of joy
and hope illuminated t of Mysore from which was heard a cry—the shrill
cry of a newborn boy. A ray of hope and satisfaction was to be seen,
especially on the face of the child’s heirless uncle, who could now rest
assured of a successor to the throne of his ancestors. That ray of hope was
Jayachamaraja, born on 18 July 1919 to the couple Yuvaraja Kanthirava
Narasimharaja Wodeyar and Kempucheluvajammanni.
THE EARLY YEARS OF PRINCE
JAYACHAMARAJA
Like all other members of his family, he too attended the Khas Bungalow or
royal school for his studies. As a contemporary historian notes, he was not
an aloof and stuck-up prince, but a Prince Charming, who treated his
schoolmates as equals, and conducted himself like a commoner in the midst
of commoners. He was at ease with himself, he set the professors at ease,
and he rendered the students delighted. He was as modest, shy and quiet as
the rest of them and as studious as the best of them.
My study of Mysore’s history introduced me to a plethora of people and
one such close family friend of ours, Mrs Lakshmi (who is fondly called
‘Paapu’) surprisingly had many secrets to reveal. The octogenarian was a
classmate of the royal princes and princesses between 1932 and 1935. It was
joy and a sense of a lost past that gripped her as she narrated to me
numerous anecdotes of those three wonderful years she spent as a child,
barely six, at the royal school. Her father, the late Sri Yoganarasimham, was
a musician and composer par excellence. She was chosen to be the
companion to the sisters of Prince Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, mainly the last
one Jayachamundammanni. She recalled the first meetings with the royals
when she was given a big banana and orange on the inaugural day and
introduced to them.
The venue was the royal school—the Chamundi Vihara, where the
prince and princesses studied with the children of the nobility. The schedule
there, as recounted, was never a rigorously academic one. It was more to do
with frolic and experiential learning, as also picking up skills, like
embroidery, painting, etc. Both boys and girls had to wear a compulsory
uniform of a coat and trousers. The older girls were allowed to wear saris.
Sports and games predominated in the evenings. Paapu proudly narrated
how she would manage to ‘defeat’ Prince Jayachamaraja Wodeyar in the
‘running and catching’ games—his weight a major disadvantage in such
games!
Paapu narrated how the princesses admitted to feeling stifled by the aura
of royalty around them and wished they could be more like ordinary
children, doing things that befitted their age, which they were often
forbidden due to the superficial garb of royalty and sophistication though
their inner selves continued to be wild. They would ask Paapu to get salt,
chilli powder and such ingredients stealthily from the kitchen, coax her to
climb mango trees, pluck the sour ones before the gardener could chase
them and add copious amounts of the stolen treasures for freshly-made
pickles—a real treat!
But children at an impressionable age, when treated like royalty usually,
develop certain airs. Paapu bitterly recalled being bullied, pinched and
bruised by the princesses, who thought it was their royal right to do so. She
complained to her father and refused to attend school any longer. When her
father complained, Prince Jayachamaraja, a teenager of about fifteen-sixteen
and a typical big brother, in a laudable step decided to discipline his erring
siblings. He tried all means—persuasion, then coercion, to make the guilty
apologise and seek forgiveness in public. It was an earnest effort to divest
them of the false airs of superiority. The very motive behind the royal
school would otherwise be defeated, since its purpose had been to allow the
royal children to mingle with the ‘commoners’ children’ and shed their
superiority complex. Finally his efforts bore fruit in the form of a not-so-
wholehearted apology in front of all the other students. It is this that helps
ease Paapu’s bitterness in these memories!
The prince’s sister, Vijaya Devi writes about his early education thus:
The humble prince was a studious student in school, bagging five gold medals for the
command over economics and political science. My brother was always a good student. He
went deeply into whatever he took up.
Prince Jayachamaraja was trained in this school for ten to twelve years;
he passed the S.S.L.C. examination with distinction and joined college like
any ordinary young man in 1938. He passed out of the Mysore University
with a B.A. degree—the first in his family to get a degree! He excelled,
winning five gold medals on graduation. Mr Elwin supervised his education
in political science and public administration. Academic stalwarts like Prof
Wadia, Prof Ralo, Dr Krishna, Dr Gopal, Prof Satyagirinathan, Prof Nagesh
Rao and others took him under their tutelage. He distinguished himself by
his robustness and modesty of deportment. He was the leader of the Cubs
and fulfilled all the sanguine executions of the role of the Chief of Boy
Scouts in his early teens.
Mr J. Turner superintended his education. Turner had predicted a bright
future for the young prince as he witnessed his remarkable understanding of
international affairs and knew that only knowledge could wipe out the evils
of factious strife, communal jealousies and all the other evils plaguing
society. He was very particular that he receive no preferential treatment vis-
à-vis the other students. The prince was soon proficient in swimming, horse-
riding, hunting, squash and tennis. On joining the Maharaja’s College at
Mysore, he developed an aptitude for history, economics and politics.
Contemporary problems fascinated him and his attention rose from the mere
study of parochial and national events to the evaluation of international
current affairs and events.
On 15 May 1938, the prince was married to Smt Satyaprema Kumari
Devi, the sister of Charakari Raj’s kingdom’s Maharajadhiraj Shifadarul-
mulk Arimardan Singh Judheo Bahaddur. His second wife was Smt
Tripurasundarammanni, whom he married on 30 April 1944. He had five
daughters—Maharajakumaris Smt Gayatri Devi, Smt Meenakshi Devi, Smt
Kamakshi Devi, Smt Indirakshi Devi and Smt Vishalakshi Devi and one
son, Sri Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar—the present scion of the
Wodeyar dynasty. After the demise of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar in
1940, Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar was crowned the twenty-fifth and last
ruler of Mysore on 8 September 1940.
In a proclamation issued to the people on the occasion of the coronation,
he said:*
My Beloved people, in succeeding to the throne of Mysore, I follow a great ruler who loved
you all, and who won your love by his love of God, by his wisdom, his graciousness, his
humility, his faithfulness to duty and his Kingly greatness. It is now for us to dedicate
ourselves to the fulfilment of his great task. And we shall succeed in fulfilling it if we so
consecrate ourselves in the spirit of unity and self-sacrifice that we can win through. In this
spirit, I look upon this ceremony of ascending the throne of my ancestors as a dedication of
myself, my life and all I have to the service of the people of Mysore. But I am fully
conscious that no effort of mine can succeed alone. I need your help and your cooperation,
your confidence and your love. May God grant me the light and strength in the discharge of
the sacred duty entrusted to me and His blessings in abundance rest on every hearth and
brighten every home in Mysore!
Sir Mirza Ismail did not wish to continue in the post he held after the
death of his beloved friend and king. He retired in 1941 and Nyapati
Madhava Rao became the dewan. He had been a member of the Council. He
implemented the Srinivasa Iyengar Committee recommendations based on
which the strength of the Representative Assembly was raised to 315 out of
which 26 seats were reserved for Muslims, 26 for depressed classes, five for
Indian Christians, one for Europeans, 28 for the special interest category, 11
for women and 10 for government nominees. The Legislative Council’s
strength was increased to 68, with four seats for Muslims, four for depressed
classes, one for Indian Christians, one for Europeans, 10 under the special
interests category and 24 nominees including 16 officers. The maharaja
would nominate the president of the council for the first term and thereafter
he would be nominated by the council’s non-official members. Three non-
official members were to be chosen as ministers from among both the
Houses. A vote of no-confidence against non-official councillors or
ministers was not guaranteed. This, however, was no fulfilment of the strong
demand for responsible government as the Council was not responsible to
the elected Assembly.
Addressing a joint session of the two Houses, the maharaja announced:
The reforms that are now to come into operation are thus a natural corollary to the
honourable record established by these bodies and a recognition of the experience they have
gained in Parliamentary methods of business. At the same time, I am sure that these
reforms will be recognised as a generous response to the desire of important sections of the
people for increased participation in the administration of the State. It will be useful to
recount a few of the special features of the reforms, which are being inaugurated today:
wider franchise in the case of both Houses; substantial increase in their strength; larger
representation for special interests and minorities and for women; representation of
minority communities by direct election; extension of the life of each House from three to
four years; provision of a statutory elected majority of nearly 2/3rds; in the Legislative
Council power to elect a non-official President and Deputy President for the body;
increased power for the Representative Assembly in the matter of Legislation and control of
state expenditure; and freedom of speech and immunity from arrest, under certain
conditions, for members of both Houses. Above all I am sure you will appreciate the
decision to give a place to the elected representatives of the people in my Executive Council
with regular portfolios of administration. For my part I am convinced that a variety of
experience on the part of my Ministers can only add weight and value to the advice that I
receive from my Council. It is now for us all, working together with the welfare of our state
as our united objective, to take steps to ensure that our future is worthy of our past.
The new maharaja spent the first two years of his reign touring the
districts of his state, acquainting himself with the needs and problems of the
people there. He announced a special grant of Rs 2 lakh for the development
of the Malnad area, construction of a new general hospital and a regulated
market at Davanagere and a water supply scheme for Chitradurga. The
establishment of an Occupational Institute or Polytechnic and an Institute of
Indian Medicine was taken up in Bangalore.
Government grants to education rose from Rs 54 lakh in 1940 to Rs 2
crore 75 lakh in 1948. The number of primary schools had risen from 6,400
to 9,800 and the number of pupils from 2,31,000 to 4,80,000. The number
of middle schools by 1948 was 319 with 59,000 students while there were
46 high schools with 31,700 pupils. In addition, 4,500 adult literacy classes
were started at a cost of Rs 5 lakh.
In 1942, the Benaras Hindu University conferred the honorary degree of
Doctor of Laws on the maharaja. In 1945 the British Government conferred
on him the title of G.C.S.I and in 1946, the G.C.B. or Grand Commander of
the Order of Bath. Several conferences and meetings were organised across
the state of Mysore during the king’s short rule: the All India Economic and
Political Science Conference in 1940, the Indian Historical Records’
Commission and Indian Academy of Sciences in 1942, the 91st District
Rotary International in 1942, the All India Olympic Games and the Indian
Central Advisory Board of Education in 1946 and the All India Educational
Conference in 1948. Big schemes could not be launched due to the volatile
political conditions prevailing in the country in the 1940s, except for the
launch of the Sharavathi Project to produce power and the Bhadra Project
Plans.
A TUMULTOUS WORLD—THE SECOND WORLD
WAR
The world had never known such intensity, turmoil and turbulence as in the
1940s. Both nationally and internationally, the situation was precarious. The
world was bracing itself for yet another bloody conflict that was to take a
huge toll of men and material. The humiliation mounted on Germany after
the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 led to a simmering discontent in that nation,
finding expression in the form of fascist leader Adolf Hitler, who made his
way to the corridors of power in Germany with his Nazi party. He led
Germany through a chain of events: rearmament, reoccupation of the
Rhineland, incorporation of Austria, dismemberment and occupation of
Czechoslovakia and finally the invasion of Poland. Hitler’s counterpart in
Italy, Benito Mussolini, helped brew the conflict. In Asia, Japan’s efforts to
become a world power and the rise of militarist leadership led to conflict
first with China and later the United States. Japan also sought to secure
additional natural resources, such as oil and iron ore, due in part to the lack
of natural resources on Japan’s own home islands.
The League of Nations that was formed after the First World War was
powerless and mostly silent in the face of many major events leading to the
Second World War, such as Hitler’s re-militarisation of the Rhineland,
annexation of Austria, and occupation of Czechoslovakia. The League
commissioner in Danzig was unable to deal with German claims on the city.
This was a significant contributing factor to the outbreak of the Second

World War—a large-scale military conflict that took place between 1939
and 1945. It engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and
deadliest war in human history.
The war was initially fought between Germany and the Allies—at first
consisting of the United Kingdom, France and Poland. Germany was later
joined by Italy, jointly known as the ‘Axis Powers’, and Japan. Some of the
nations Germany conquered also sent military forces, particularly to the
Eastern front, while others joined the Allies. The Soviet Union had signed a
non-aggression treaty with Germany, but on 22 June 1941 Germany invaded
the Soviet Union, pulling that country into the war as well.
On 7 December 1941 the USA entered the war on the Allies’ side after
first Japan and then Germany attacked and declared war on the US and
Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. China, which had been
engaged in war with Japan since the mid-1930s, also entered the Allies’
camp. Thus it ended up as a war that entangled almost all the nations of the
world in its web.
Initially, while the Axis powers seemed to be gaining the upper hand, a
series of reverses they suffered, especially Germany, weakened their
position. The Red Army (including 78,556 soldiers of the Polish Army)
began its final assault on Berlin on 16 April 1945. By now, the German
Army was in full retreat and Berlin had already been battered due to
preliminary air bombings. Most of the Nazi leaders had either been killed or
captured. Hitler, however, was still alive, and was said to be slowly getting
desperate. As a final resistance effort, he called for civilians, including
children, to fight the oncoming Red Army as part of the newly created
Volkssturm militia. When this failed, Hitler became increasingly paranoid
and delusional, believing that everyone was against him and that he still had
battalions of troops to send into battle. Hitler and his staff moved into the
Führerbunker, a concrete bunker beneath the Chancellery, where, on 30
April 1945, he committed suicide. Admiral Karl Dönitz became leader of
the German government, but the German war effort quickly disintegrated.
German forces in Italy surrendered on 2 May 1945; those in northern
Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands on 4 May; and the German High
Command under Generaloberst Alfred Jodi surrendered unconditionally all
remaining German forces on 7 May in Reims, France. The Western Allies

celebrated V-E Day on 8 May and the Soviet Union celebrated Victory Day
on 9 May.
EFFECTS OF THE WAR
But it was truly a Pyrrhic victory—humanity suffered and even the victors
were actually losers in some way or the other. Germany and Hitler might
have lost the war physically, but the world at large was tom apart by these
bloody years of organised carnage. The fascists had converted Europe into a
vast graveyard and a slave camp. Hitler, known for his unstinting hatred of
the Jews, had had them mercilessly butchered in gas chambers that were
opened all over Germany. They were fed to toxic gases or injected with
poison to meet traumatic deaths. New destructive weapons like the atom
bomb were used in this war. To avenge the attack on Peal Harbor, the US
committed the greatest sin in human history—bombing the two Japanese
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the deadly atom bomb, killing over
3,20,000 people. The effects of these bombs on the health of those who
survived and the genetic effects on subsequent generations are still visible.
The war ended in 1945 with the unconditional surrender of both Germany
and Japan.
Approximately sixty-two million people died due to the war. This figure
includes acts of genocide such as the Holocaust and General Ishii Shiro’s
Unit 731 experiments (conducting lethal tests on prisoners using bacillus
bombs) in Pingfan, incredibly bloody battles in Europe, North Africa and
the Pacific Ocean, and massive bombings of cities, including the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the firebombing of Dresden
and Pforzheim in Germany as well as Tokyo and other Japanese cities, and
the blitz on British cities such as Coventry and London. Few areas of the
world were unaffected; the war involved the ‘home front’ and bombing of
civilians to a greater degree than any previous conflict. Atomic weapons, jet
aircraft, rockets and radar, the blitzkrieg (or ‘lightning war’), the massive use
of tanks, submarines, torpedo bombers and destroyer/tanker formations, are
only a few of many wartime inventions and new tactics that changed the face
of conflict. It was the first time that a number of newly developed
technologies, including nuclear weapons, were used against either military

or civilian targets. It is estimated to have cost about 1 trillion US dollars in
1945, not including subsequent reconstruction. The vast outcomes of the
war, including new technology and changes to the world’s geopolitical,
cultural and economic arrangement, were unprecedented in human history.
While it might have won the War, Britain’s position as a colonial power
was severely weakened and her financial position severely impoverished.
The myth of the sun never setting for the mighty British Empire seemed to
have shattered. The peoples’ movements in different parts of her colonies
started gaining momentum. India could not be far behind.
INDIA AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Gandhiji’s call to ‘Quit India’, and ‘Do or Die’ in 1942 pushed the last phase
of the Indian freedom struggle following the failure of the talks between
him and Sir Stafford Cripps, the Cabinet minister deputed by the British
Parliament. The Cripps Mission, with its vague proposals of post-war
Dominion Status for India, a constitution-making body elected by provincial
legislatures and the native states, a provincial opt-out clause, the immediate
participation of Indian leaders in the war effort but the retention of control
over Indian defence by the British, satisfied none and threatened to fragment
the Indian subcontinent.
The second phase of the movement started around the middle of August.
Militant students fanned out from various centres, destroying
communications and leading peasant rebellion in northern and western
Bihar, eastern UP, Midnapore in Bengal, and pockets of Maharashtra,
Mysore and Orissa. A number of short-lived local national governments
were also set up.
The third phase of the movements began around the end of September
and was characterised by terrorist activities, sabotage and guerrilla warfare
by educated youths and peasant squads. Parallel national governments
functioned at Tamluk in Midnapore, Satara in Maharashtra, and Talcher in
Orissa. All the three phases of the movement were crushed by brutal
atrocities including the use of machine-guns from the air.

QUIT INDIA AND ITS IMPACT ON MYSORE
‘Quit India’ sparked off a series of mass protests in Mysore, as it did all over
the country. The workers in Bangalore, Bhadravathi and Kolar gold fields
called for a strike in protest against the imprisonment of national leaders.
Students did not attend school and college; railway stations were burnt, post
offices sacked, the Bangalore-Guntakal railway line was damaged,
disrupting traffic for over two weeks. Leaders, like Sardar K.A.
Venkataramaiya, A.G. Ramachandra Rao, N.D. Shankar, M.V. Krishnappa,
Maganlal Shah, Kotre Nanjappa, H.S. Doreswamy and others, directed
underground activities in Mysore as all the senior leaders had been arrested
in the initial stages of the movement itself. The agitation continued with
enhanced intensity for a whole year. Twenty-five railway stations were burnt
or damaged across the state. Post offices in Bangalore and Nippani were
among the many to be destroyed. At Nippani, a punitive fine of over Rs 2
lakh was levied for having burnt many government offices, including the
sub-registrar’s office.
Bangalore became the epicentre of the political agitations. The police
began lathicharging and firing on the mobs that had gathered there in 1942
even as news trickled in of the death of Gandhiji’s trusted confidante,
Mahadevbhai Desai, in jail. In Bangalore the police fired on an unruly mob
in the Mysore Bank Circle killing 11 and injuring over 450. Law and order
seemed to be spinning out of control. Five persons were killed at Davangere
and seven at Bailahongal as a result of police firing. Seven persons from
Nippani taluk died at Gargoti, Kolhapur State, while trying to loot the state
treasury. A school boy was killed at Nippani when police opened fire on
processions. In Hassan district, picketing of shandys or weekly fairs was
organised and people implored not to pay the shandy toll to the government.
There was police firing at Sravanabelagola on a shiny day, 6 October 1942.
The police, unable to control the large peasant gathering, resorted to firing
and killed seven people.
In a village called Isur in Shikaripura taluk of Shimoga district, villagers
hoisted the tricolour on the Veerbhadraswamy temple, burnt village records
and humiliated the Shanbhogue and Patel of the village. When the tehsildar
(police inspector) and his men visited the village, he was killed by the
village freedom fighters for walking over Gandhiji’s photograph and for
firing a shot at young boys who had requested him to wear a khadi cap to
express solidarity with the freedom struggle. Five people were later hanged
in March 1943 in this context. The police began firing; a number of arrests
followed and the fighters were lodged at the Bangalore Central Jail. Many
were executed or tortured in captivity. At least 15,000 people were jailed all
over Karnataka in 1942–43 at the height of the Quit India agitation and of
these more than 10,000 came from princely Mysore. Jails were full and
barracks were erected to house political prisoners. Many died in jails due to
lack of hygiene and the spread of dangerous epidemics.
Perceiving this as an isolated law-and-order problem, and also on British
urging, the dewan followed a ruthless repression policy. Firings took place
all over the state, leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead or wounded,
and 2,500 arrests in the state. The infantry and cavalry were perpetually on
the scene in Bangalore. Four villages in the state paid heavy collective fines
and a total amount of Rs 2,000 was levied on them. Railway stations at
Davanagere, Tiptur, Mayakonda, Banavar, Banasandra, Kodaganur,
Holalakere, Chikkajajur and Hosadurga were attacked. Thirteen railway
lines were derailed and eight removed. In about twenty-five major incidents,
culverts and bridges were either destroyed or partially damaged. About
thirty-five incidents of cutting of telegraph wires were reported. The
Bangalore Head Post Office and three other branch post offices of the city
were badly damaged. Letters were burnt in the Head Post Offices of
Siddhapura, Sirsi and other taluks. Eleven toddy and ganja shops were
damaged. There was toddy-shop picketing at four places in Mysore state.
About fifty toddy trees were cut down near Hassan. At Hebbal, Rs 3,000
worth of government revenue was looted. The agitation came to an end
when leaders, like Dr Diwakar, who were spearheading the underground
activities, were instructed by Gandhiji to call off the agitation.
In the 1945 elections, the Congress members won with a thumping
majority in both houses. In the Representative Assembly, K. Hanumanthaiya
became the party leader while K.C. Reddy was the one in the council.
Meanwhile in 1946, Nyapati Madhava Rao resigned and became a member
of the Constituent Assembly and Drafting Committee. Sir Arcot
Ramaswamy Mudaliar succeeded him as the last dewan of Mysore.

The national situation had gone completely out of control for the already
tottering British government, fresh from a war that had drained its resources
completely. It finally decided to form a Cabinet Mission that would discuss
the transfer of power.
THE FINAL MARCH TO FREEDOM AND THE
BIRTH OF TWO NATIONS
When the Cabinet Mission arrived in Delhi in March, it had three members
—Stafford Cripps, A.V. Alexander and Lord Pethick-Lawrence. They would
work in close conjunction with the viceroy to try to get the leaders of the
principal Indian political parties to agree on two matters: the method of
framing a constitution for a self-governing, independent India and the
setting up of a new Executive Council or interim government that would
hold office while the constitution was being hammered out.
After marathon meetings and teething problems with Jinnah’s Muslim
League, which wanted a separate Muslim state, the mission went about the
formation of a new executive council or interim government. The viceroy
announced that discussion with the parties would not be prolonged any
further and that he was issuing invitations to fourteen pre-determined names
to serve as members of an interim government—six were Hindu members
of Congress including one member of the Scheduled Castes, five were
members of the Muslim League, and the remaining three a Sikh, a Parsee
and an Indian Christian. But Gandhiji’s objection to the non-inclusion of a
Congress Muslim member to the government saying it was detrimental to
the secular interests of that party delayed the process.
Wavell wrote identical letters to Nehru and Jinnah on 22 July 1946
asking them whether the Congress and the Muslim League would be
prepared to enter an interim government on the basis that six members
(including one Scheduled Caste representative) would be nominated by the
Congress and five by the Muslim League. The viceroy would nominate three
representatives of the minorities. Jinnah replied that the proposal was not
acceptable to the Muslim League because it destroyed the principal of
parity.
The negotiations with the League reached a deadlock and the viceroy
decided to form an interim government with the Congress alone, leaving the
door open for the League to come in later. A communiqué was issued on 24
August, which announced that the existing members of the Governor
General’s Executive Council had resigned and that new persons had been
appointed in their place. It was stated that the interim government would be
installed on 2 September.
Jinnah declared two days later that the viceroy had struck a severe blow
to Indian Muslims and had added insult to injury by nominating three
Muslims who did not command the confidence of Indian Muslims. He
reiterated that the only solution to the Indian problem was the division of
India into Pakistan and Hindustan. The formation of an interim government
consisting only of the Congress nominees added further fuel to the
communal fire. The Muslims regarded the formation of the interim
government as an unconditional surrender of power to the Hindus, and
feared that the viceroy would be unable to prevent the Hindus from using
their newly acquired power to suppress Muslims all over India.
After the Congress had taken the reins at the Centre on 2 September,
Jinnah faced a desperate situation. The armed forces were predominantly
Hindu and Sikh and the Indian members of the other services were also
predominantly Hindu. The British were preparing to concede independence
to India. If they withdrew, the Congress was to be in undisputed control, and
was also to be free to deal with the Muslims as it wished.
Jinnah realised that the Congress would not give up the right to
nominate a nationalist Muslim and that he would have to accept the position
if he did not wish to leave the interim government solely in the hands of the
Congress. On 13 October, he wrote to Wavell that though the Muslim
League did not agree with much that had happened, ‘in the interests of the
Muslims and other communities it will be fatal to leave the entire field of
*
administration of the Central Government in the hands of the Congress.’
The League had therefore decided to nominate five members for the interim
government. On 15 October, he gave the viceroy the following five names:
Liaquat Ali Khan, I.I. Chundrigar, Abdur Rab Nishtar, Ghazanfar Ali Khan
and Jogindar Nath Mandai. The last name was a Scheduled Caste Hindu and
was obviously a tit-for-tat for the Congress insistence on including a
nationalist Muslim in its own quota.
The British government sent the Cabinet Mission to India in March
1946 to negotiate with Indian leaders and agree to the terms of the transfer
of power. After difficult negotiations, a federal solution was proposed.
Despite initial agreement, both the British and the Congress eventually
rejected the plan.
However, as leader of the Muslim League, Jinnah accepted the Cabinet
Mission’s proposal. However, when Nehru announced at his first press
conference as the re-elected president of Congress that ‘no constituent
assembly could be bound by any prearranged constitutional formula’, Jinnah
took this to be a repudiation of the plan, which was necessarily a case of all
or nothing. The Muslim League Working Committee withdrew its consent
and called upon the Muslim nation to launch direct action in mid-August
1946. A frenzy of rioting between Hindus and Muslims ensued. As Jinnah
thundered to his supporters about his attitude towards India and the
Congress: ‘If you want peace, we do not want war. If you want war we
accept your offer unhesitatingly. We will either have a divided India or a
destroyed India.’*
By the end of 1946 communal violence had escalated and the British
began to fear that India would descend into civil war. The British
government’s representative, Lord Wavell, put forward a breakdown plan as
a safeguard in the event of a political deadlock.
Lord Mountbatten replaced Lord Wavell as viceroy of India in 1947.
Mountbatten’s first proposed solution for the Indian subcontinent, known as
the May Plan, was rejected by Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru on the
grounds that it would cause the balkanisation of India. The following month
the May Plan was substituted for the June Plan, in which provinces would
have to choose between India and Pakistan. Bengal and Punjab both voted
for partition. By accepting the Mountbatten Plan/Partition, the Congress was
only accepting what had become inevitable because of the long-term failure
of the Congress to draw the Muslim masses into the national movement and
stem the surge of Muslim communalism which, especially since 1937, had
been gathering momentum and fury.
The Congress leaders felt by June 1947 that only an immediate transfer
of power could forestall the spread of Direct Action Day and other
communal disturbances. Sardar Patel rightly said: ‘A united India even if it
was smaller in size was better than a disorganised and troubled and weak
bigger India.’
Difficulties created by the obstructionist policies and tactics of the
League proved to the Congress that the League’s leaders were only
concerned about their own interests and that the future of India would not
be safe with them in the government—they would act as a stumbling block
in the path of India’s progress. The Congress leaders also felt that continued
British rule never was and never could be in the best interest of Indians. The
sooner they left India, the better it would be.
In July 1947, Britain’s Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act,
which set a deadline of midnight of 14–15 August 1947 for ‘demarcation of
the dominions of India’. As a result, at least 10 million Hindus, Muslims
and Sikhs fled their homes to seek sanctuary on whichever side of the line
was favourable to them. The ensuing communal massacres left at caught in
the middle—facing the brunt of the suffering.
Margaret Bourke White in her eyewitness account of the gory events of
1946–47 vividly portrayed in her book Halfway to Freedom says:
With the coming of Independence to India, the world had the chance to watch the most rare
event in the history of nations; the birth of twins. It was a birth accompanied by strife and
suffering... the roads connecting the Union of India with Pakistan looked as our Pulaski
Skyway or Sunset Boulevard looks during the rush hour. But instead of the two-way stream
of motorcars there were endless convoys of bullock carts, women on donkey back, and men
on foot carrying on their shoulders the very young or the very old. Babies were born along
the way. People died along the way. Some died of cholera, some from the attacks of hostile
religious communities. But many of them simply dropped out of line from sheer weariness
and sat by the roadside to wait patiently for death. The name ‘Pakistan’ means Land of the
Pure: many of the pure never got there. The way to the Promised Land was lined with
graves ... the division of India into two separate nations based on religious differences blew
fanaticism to such an extent that great caravans of desperate, terror stricken refugees began
to crawl along the inadequate roads, millions of them, Hindus and Sikhs to India, Muslims
to Pakistan.
Finally, amidst strife and blood, the severe backlash of communal riots
that raged all over the country, India and Pakistan emerged as two
independent nations on 15 and 14 August 1947 respectively. It was a
momentous occasion for India. Centuries of subjugation had come to an end
and she was now free to manage her affairs in the way she wanted.
Summing up the mood of the nation aptly on this occasion, Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru, the new prime minister of independent India made the
famous ‘tryst with destiny’ speech:
Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall
redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of
the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment
comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when
an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that
at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her
people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
CREATION OF A NEW INDIA—MERGER OF THE
PRINCELY STATES
Attaining freedom was no doubt an achievement in itself. But what haunted
the new rulers was a more daunting challenge—integration of pre-
Independence British India with its numerous kingdoms that were hitherto
British puppets. Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Sardar Patel
took it upon himself to integrate the warring kingdoms into a composite
nation. During the transition period before Independence, assisted by civil
servant V.P. Menon, Patel worked towards the integration of the numerous
Indian states into the Indian Union. Patel and Menon persuaded the princes
of 565 states of the impossibility of independence from the Indian republic,
especially in the presence of growing opposition from their subjects. He also
proposed favourable terms for the merger, including creation of privy purses
for the descendants of the rulers. While encouraging the rulers to act with
patriotism, Patel did not rule out force, setting a deadline of 15 August 1947
for them to sign the instrument of accession. All but three of the states
willingly merged into the Indian union leading to the popular perception
that Patel liquidated the princely states without liquidating the princes. Only
Jammu and Kashmir, Junagadh, and Hyderabad did not fall into his basket.
Junagadh was especially important to Patel, since it was in his home
state of Gujarat. The Nawab had, under pressure from Sir Shah Nawaz
Bhutto, acceded to Pakistan. It was, however, quite far from Pakistan and
eighty percent of its population was Hindu. Patel combined diplomacy with
force, demanding that Pakistan annul the accession, and that the Nawab
accede to India. To show his resolve, he sent the army to occupy three
principalities of Junagadh. Following wide-spread protests and the
formation of a civil government, or Arzi Hukumat, both Bhutto and the
Nawab fled to Karachi, and under Patel’s orders, the Indian Army and police
units marched into the state. A plebiscite later organised produced a 99.5
percent vote for merger with India.
Hyderabad was the largest of the princely states, and included parts of
present-day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Its Muslim ruler,
the Nizam, presided over a kingdom with over 80 percent Hindu subjects.
The Nizam sought independence or accession to Pakistan. Militant Muslims
called the Razakars, under Qasim Razvi, pressed the Nizam to hold out
against India, while organising attacks with militant Communists on the
Indians. Even though a Standstill Agreement was signed due to the
desperate efforts of Lord Mountbatten to avoid a war, the Nizam constantly
rejected deals and changed positions. Finally, in September 1948, Patel
reconciled Nehru and the Governor General, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari,
and sent in the Indian Army to integrate Hyderabad. After Operation Polo
commenced, thousands of Razakar militants were killed and Hyderabad was
comfortably secured into the Indian Union.
MYSORE AT THE TIME OF INDEPENDENCE
On his part, the dewan of Mysore, Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, announced
that seven Mysorean representatives would participate in the Constituent
Assembly of India as Mysore, unlike Hyderabad, had readily decided to
merge with the Indian Union. Of the seven, the Assembly and Council
would elect two each, and three would be nominated by the government. On
5 July the Assembly members staged a walkout in protest. As a preliminary
to the end of the British rule the Civil and Military Station area was
retroceded to the maharaja and on 26 July 1947 the Residency was wound
up.
The maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession to the Indian Union
on 9 August 1947, but never in reality considered establishing a responsible
government. All along, he was completely misguided by his council, headed

by the Dewan Arcot Mudaliar, who assured him that this was a mere storm
in a tea cup and would pass. They tried to make light of the brewing
clamour for self-governance that was manifesting itself in widespread public
outbursts.
The Mysore Congress continued to demand a responsible government in
the state. It launched a campaign called ‘Mysore Chalo’ from 1 September
1947. A Satyagraha called ‘Aramane Satyagraha’ or Palace Satyagraha was
launched on 14 September. Congress volunteers toured the entire state to
enlist people’s support in the agitation. Rallies were taken out in Mysore.
But the government remained indifferent, giving strict orders to the Press
not to publish news about the agitation or incite people. Yet the rebels,
armed with slogans like ‘Arcot Boycott’, ‘Thambu Chetty Chatta Katti’
(Death to Thambu Chetty) and ‘Mysore Chalo’, trooped into the palace. En
route, at Bangalore’s Banappa Park, K.C. Reddy declared the Congress
manifesto, which aimed at setting up a responsible government in the state,
forming an interim government till assembly elections took place, and
releasing all political prisoners.
There was unprecedented popular support for this movement. The
volunteers were openly welcomed and fed by common people en route to
Mysore. The government followed a policy of suppression of the planned 4
September march to Mysore. Many leaders were even arrested the previous
day. But what the government did not anticipate was the large-scale
participation of students, workers, officials and women all over the state.
They organised mass demonstrations and protest rallies. Labourers went on
strike in all industrial centres, like Bangalore, Mysore, Davanagere,
Bhadravathi and Kolar gold fields. The Press lent its full support to them.
As jails could not accommodate all these protesters, they were severely
beaten and taken away to remote places. To paralyse the administration,
government offices were picketed by thousands of agitators—men and
women alike. At places like Hosadurga, Tumkur, Tirthahalli, Challakere and
Sidlaghatta, the mob surrounding the taluk office had to face police bullets
in which many lost their lives—the toll being six at Hosadurga itself and
seven on Bangalore’s Sepping Road. Over twenty people, including a school
boy, were killed in police firing in the city of Mysore.
Camps were organised across the border in neighbouring Bombay and
Madras states in many centres and volunteers from the camps raided the
state of Mysore and organised sabotages to cripple the administration. A
journal called Pauravani was being printed from Hindupur in Anantapur
district of Andhra Pradesh and circulated in Mysore. The government had
absolutely no control over the hundreds of villages along the borders that
had got liberated. These acted as buffers to assist the main stock of agitators
of the state. The fear of police wielding lathis and firing guns at them
seemed to have disappeared.
The government could not prevent the mobs from marching to the city
of Mysore. As an immediate measure the maharaja declared curfew in the
city. However, post offices, railway stations and public buildings were burnt,
telephone and telegraph lines were cut off. Finally, the maharaja consented.
An understanding was reached between the dewan and the president of the
Mysore Congress as per which:*
The present Ministry shall be dissolved and a fresh ministry constituted. The Mysore
Congress will make recommendations for the Ministry after consultation with such other
parties as may be deemed appropriate regarding non-Congress ministers. The Ministry shall
consist of not less than nine members, and not less than three members chosen from parties
outside the Congress. The Ministry shall remain in office so long as it enjoys the confidence
of the Legislature. The Ministry shall function as a Cabinet with the Dewan, who will
continue in office, and act on the basis of joint responsibility in all matters. The decisions
of the Cabinet will be arrived at by a majority vote. One of the Ministers chosen from the
Congress will be appointed the Chief Minister. The new Ministers shall immediately set up
a Constituent Assembly composed of elected representatives of the people, for framing a
Constitution Bill for the State based on full responsible Government under the aegis of His
Highness. The new Constitution shall come into force on or before 1st July 1948.
In a proclamation dated 24 September 1947, the maharaja announced:
It is my earnest desire that my people, conscious of the great opportunity that has been
afforded to them, will work harmoniously, and I am confident that my Council of Ministers
will discharge their duties fairly and justly for the peace, progress and prosperity of the
State and its people.
In a telegram to the maharaja, Sardar Patel conveyed his thanks as
follows:
Please accept warm congratulations on the display of wisdom and statesmanship befitting
the dignity and responsibility of a Ruler in gracefully recognizing the strength of popular
will. I have no doubt this generous action will meet with full and appropriate loyalty and
cooperation and will raise the prestige and prosperity of the Mysore State.
By 7 October 1947, all arrested leaders were released. On 11 October
the KPCC President K.C. Reddy met Dewan Mudaliar, resulting in the
formal acceptance of the Maharaja’s government to grant a responsible
government to Mysoreans.
K.C. Reddy became the first chief minister of the independent state of
Mysore on 27 October 1947 with a team of nine—six Congressmen and
three others. Josyer records Reddy’s inaugural words at the new Assembly:
Mysore’s progress has been steady and has been a model to others. It is unnecessary for me
to narrate the course of Mysore’s political history. The first Representative Assembly was
constituted so far back as 1881, and the Legislative Council in 1907. There were
instalments of reforms in 1924 and then again in 1941. in the last one decade, however, the
people of Mysore urged for quick progress and I may say, paid the price for the same. It
may not be appropriate to lift the veil over the past, and apportion either blame or praise. It
is enough to record that there has been a happy ending for which every one deserves
congratulations and over which there is general joy. The decision to evolve a new
Constitution for Mysore on the basis of Responsible Government was magnanimously
taken by His Highness the Maharaja last year and it is in pursuance of that we are meeting
here today.
The constitution-making process of the Mysore government was
however halted by the Central Government, which decided to implement a
federal system of bicameral legislature on India and its Union of States. The
central Constituent Assembly was framing the world’s longest Constitution
for this purpose. These deliberations ended on 26 November 1949 and were
enforceable all over India. With it ended the jurisdiction of the State
Constituent Assembly and also the lives of the existing Representative
Assembly and Legislative Council. A single body, the Mysore Legislative
Assembly, was to be brought into being with newly elected members, a new
Cabinet and a single party leader as Chief Minister.
Accordingly, the old Assembly and Council were dissolved on 15
December 1949. On 26 January 1950, the new Indian Constitution came
into force. It guaranteed to all Indian citizens Justice, Liberty, Equality, and
Fraternity. India became a Sovereign Socialist Republic and a federal power
shared between the Central and State Governments.
The maharaja was appointed as the ‘Rajapramukh’ of the state of
Mysore. On 5 February 1950, the chief minister tendered the resignation of
the entire ministry announced earlier and on the same day, as leader of the
Congress Assembly Party, K.C. Reddy submitted the names of the new
ministry, consisting of himself and five of his old colleagues, dropping the
three non-Congressmen and taking in T. Siddhalingaiya, the president of the
State Congress. The new ministers were R. Chennigaramaiya, H. Siddaiya,
H.C. Dasappa, K.T. Bhashyam Iyengar and T. Mariappa. Preceding this
were agitations on the presence of the dewan and the very existence of that
post, which Congressmen saw as symbol of the ruthless suppression they
suffered during the satyagraha years. In August 1949, the post of dewan was
finally abolished. Jayachamaraja Wodeyar later became the governor of
Mysore state.
MYSORE IN 1947: AN ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
The earlier chapters have extensively documented Mysore’s material
progress in the twentieth century. Taking stock of the geographic and
economic conditions of the state at the time of transition of power, a
contemporary historian quoted by Josyer notes:
It has an area of 29,458 square miles, equal in size to Scotland, and two and half times
Belgium. It has a population of over 75 Lakhs. It has 2,665 major and 20,368 minor tanks,
and 2,135 miles of channels, 11,30,000 acres of land under irrigation and 61,34,000 acres
under cultivation. It has 49 Lakhs of cattle, 269 centers of cottage industries, 433 large
industrial establishments and 10 cotton mills. It has 81,200 acres under mulberry and
produces 3 lakh pounds of filature silk worth Rs 1 Â¼ crores. Its gold mines produce about
1,68,000 ounces of silver. It produces 17,500 tons of sugar, 2,500 tons of pig iron, 23,300
tons of steel, 1,23,700 tons of cement, 2,600 tons of paper, 5,000 tons of soaps, 2,900 tons
of fertilizers, 3,700 tons of sulphuric acid, 500 units of electric transformers and 3,200
gallons of varnishes. It generates 3,036 lakhs of units of electric power supplying electricity
to 225 cities and towns and to 822 irrigation pumps. It has 2,026 Cooperative Societies and
248 Joint Stock Companies. It has 409 Medical institutions and 9,372 educational
institutions with 21 Colleges, 90 High schools, 524 Middle schools and 8,572 Primary
Schools. It has 757 miles of Railways and 5,748 miles of Roads. It has a Broadcasting
Station of its own and 4,700 receiving sets.
Mysore has the highest waterfall and the tallest statue in the world, taller
than those of Rameses in Egypt. The Mysore Representative Assembly was the
most ancient democratic House in all India. Mysore was the first Indian State
to establish a University. It was the first to establish a hydro-electric station in
India. Its gold mines produce the entire output of gold in India. The
sandalwood of Mysore is the best anywhere and supplies the world market. Its
Iron and Steel Works are the second largest in the Commonwealth and contain
the only charcoal blast furnace in the East. The first spun-silk mill in India was
established in Mysore and its output of raw silk is the highest in India. Its sugar
factory is the biggest single-unit sugar manufactory in India. The electric
tunnel kiln in its porcelain factory is the biggest in the East. Its aircraft factory
is also the first of its kind in India. The flood-lit garden at Brindavan has no
rival in the East and is compared to the Versailles of the French Emperors. And
as the new Chief Minister recently testified—it is a matter of great joy, it is a
matter of gratification that today, whether it be in Jodhpur, whether it be in
Jaipur, whether it be in Kashmir, whether it be in any other major State, the
agencies that they are bringing into existence, the set up that they are deciding
upon, are on the lines indicated by Mysore.
Cottage industry thrived in Mysore at the time of Independence. Iron
smelting, steel and metal work, gold lace bangles, brass casting, copper
work, musical steel work, bidriware, nakki weaving, lac turnery, sandalwood
carving, musical instruments, scents, agarbattis, carpentry, mat weaving
were the major occupations. Sericulture was given great impetus in
Nanjangud, Chamarajanagar, Chennapatna, Devanahalli, Kankanahalli,
Kunigal, Magadi and Kolar. Modern industries were set up following the
effects of the Industrial Revolution in England.
In 1913–14 there were 72 factories in Mysore exclusive of mines
employing 4,451 people and earning profits of Rs 1.6 crore. The 15 gold
mining industries employed 24,300 men and 5 lakh ounces of gold worth Rs
19 lakh were annually extracted.
Between 1939 and 1945, the Hindustan Aircraft Limited and Indian
Telephone Industries (ITI), radio and electrical goods manufacturing
companies, Kirloskar Ltd, chemicals and fertilisers companies sprang up.
The joint stock companies increased from 117 with a capital of Rs 8 crore in
1921 to 315 with Rs 20 crore by 1947.
By 1939, railway lines extended 1,400 miles, nearly double what they
had been before. In the 1930s, a large network of roads was laid all over the
state. There was an average of 36 miles of road-length for every 100 square
miles in Mysore state. The number of motor cars, lorries and buses rose
from 2,972, 384 and 572 respectively in 1936 to 4,478, 1,175 and 794
respectively in 1947.
Pepper, betel nut, coconut and rice were exported through Honnavar,
Ankola and Kundapara. Salt, sulphur, tin, lead, zinc, copper, European steel,
paints, glue, nutmeg, cloves, camphor, raw silk, dates and almonds were
imported, while betelnut, sandalwood, pepper, cardamom, tamarind grain,
hides and horns were exported. The value of imports increased from about
Rs 175 lakh in 1880–81 to Rs 281 lakh in 1890–91 and Rs 673 lakh in
1913–14, while exports went from 92 lakhs to 253 lakhs and then to 547
lakhs in the same period. By 1947, the major exports were the products of
the iron and steel works, sugar factory, the textile mills and cigarette factory
while the imports were coal and coke, brass, copper, tin, mineral oils, petrol,
chemicals, manure, paper, matches, drugs, cycles, motorcars and leather
goods. Santhes and Jathres or trade fairs formed a part of the internal trade.
Between 1871–91 the rise in population was about 14.72 per cent and
the proportion of urban to total population was only 9.7 per cent. There
were 27 towns with a population of over 5,000. Bangalore and Mysore grew
into large cities with populations of 88,651 and 71,306 respectively. The
Mysore government also favoured the Khadi cottage industry. The first
khadi centre was set up in Badanaval with the help of the All India
Spinners’ Association and it rose to 23 centres in 1947, with the number of
spinners increasing from 1,052 in 1927 to 9,560 in 1947.
That Mysore was hailed at the time of Independence as India’s model
state—self-sufficient and progressive in all respects—has been stated before.
Diplomats, visiting dignitaries, rulers of other kingdoms, statesmen and
national leaders lavished praise on this well-administered and progressive
State. The most glorious encomiums came from none other than
Chakravarthy Rajagopalachari, the first Indian governor general, in his visit
to the state in 1948.
No wonder then that with such sound macroeconomic foundations and a
large pool of educated, English-speaking masses, Karnataka, (particularly
Bangalore) became the first choice of the information technology and
business process outsourcing industry, leading to the emergence of
Bangalore as the veritable knowledge hub and IT capital of India.
IN PASSING: AN UNFINISHED AGENDA—THE
*
FORMATION OF KARNATAKA
The attainment of freedom however did not consummate the aspirations of
the people in toto. It was a long-cherished dream that all the Kannada-
speaking areas be unified under one big state to be named ‘Akhanda
Karnataka’.
Historically, the concept of Kannada nationalism and statehood was
unknown. This could largely be attributed to political and geographical
reasons, arising out of a fragmented territory. In different time-spans of its
political history, the region was ruled by various dynasties of southern India
—the Satavahanas, Kadambas, Gangas, Chalukyas of Bad ami,
Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas, Yadavas, Vijayanagara and Bahamani Empires,
Wodeyars of Mysore and so on. Except during the reign of the Satavahanas,
Rashtrakutas, Rayas of Vijayanagara and Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan of
Mysore, most parts of present day Karnataka never came under a single
direct rule. The fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799 led to the restoration of the
Wodeyar dynasty. But it came at a heavy price. Erstwhile Mysore was
partitioned among the victorious parties—the Nizam of Hyderabad, the
Peshwas and the British. What remained was handed over as the princely
state of Mysore to the Wodeyars. The terms ‘Hyderabad Karnataka’ and
‘Bombay Karnataka’ that are used so frequently even today, testifies to this
historical tragedy of partition.
But partition on political grounds was not the only dividing factor. The
feeling of separatism and unique identity looms large among the Tulu,
Kodava and Konkani groups of the state. They have their own indigenous
culture, a language distinct from Kannada, customs and traditions that set
them apart. Coorg for example, had a long-standing agitation against the
hegemony of Haidar and Tipu’s Mysore. The stories of Coorgi valour and
their resistance against being politically and culturally subsumed are part of
folklore.
Despite all these political and cultural differences, the undercurrents of
‘One language-one province’ continued to subtly spur people into action.
The early years of the twentieth century saw a number of books and
publications that sought to inspire Kannadigas across the provinces about
the glory and heritage of their culture.
As early as 1903, people had begun envisaging this new state. Benegal
Rama Rao delivered a speech in Dharwad in 1903 urging the unification of
the people into a new state and so did Justice Setlur of Bangalore in 1906.
Driven by the patriotic fervour that the partition of Bengal had created, Alur
Venkata Rao wrote in his Vagbhushana magazine in 1907 propounding the
creation of a Karnataka state on the model of Bengal. He also organised an
All Karnataka Writers Conference at Dharwad and made a concrete demand
for a unified province for all Kannada-speaking people.
The Karnataka Sahitya Parishad established by the maharaja in 1915 at
Bangalore and the Karnataka Sabha at Dharwad in 1916 furthered this
cause. It also led to mass movements to encourage Kannada language and
literature. In 1920, the Karnataka Sabha organised the Akhila Karnataka
State Political Conference at Dharwad, presided over by Dewan V.P.
Madhava Rao. The conference unanimously passed a resolution demanding
the unification of all Kannada-speaking territories. The demand was put
forth at the Nagpur Congress Session that conceded to grant Karnataka a
separate Provincial Congress Committee that covered Kannada-speaking
areas including the Mysore state, Bombay, Madras and Hyderabad
Karnataka regions.
In 1924, the Belgaum Session of the Congr Gandhiji at a venue named
Vijayanagara—a subtle reminder of the glorious unified past. Veene
Sheshanna gave a scintillating veena recital at the Congress and Huligol
Narayana Rao sang his famous Udayavagali Namma Cheluva Kannada
Nadu poem for the first time here. The first Karnataka Unification
Conference was held after this session at Belgaum presided over by Sir
Siddappa Kambali. But the inaction on the part of the new Indian
government in 1947 disappointed the group. It strongly resented the
postponement of the creation of linguistic provinces by the Central
Government. The Conference at Kasargod decided to send a delegation
headed by S. Nijalingappa to impress upon the central leadership the urgent
need to satisfy the peoples’ long-standing demands. The government
appointed the Dhar Commission to study the formation of states on
linguistic lines; but the commission gave its verdict against such a move.
In 1948, the Jaipur session of the Congress was forced to reconsider the
demand and a committee was formed under Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai
Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramaiya (and therefore popularly called JVP) to
consider the case for Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The
committee propounded the cause of Andhra but, strangely enough, rejected
the demand of Karnataka and Kerala! All members of the KPCC resigned
in protest. Interestingly, though the JVP Report sanctioned the formation of

Andhra Pradesh, the Central Government chose to remain inert even on that
issue.
The Congress made this an issue in the first General Elections in 1951,
but conveniently went back on its promise after returning to power. The
Akhanda Karnataka Nirmana Parishad was formed and this led to a period
of mass agitations and violent protests all over the state. Potti Sriramulu
died in Andhra after a hunger strike undertaken for the cause of Andhra.
The whole of Andhra raged under fire.
Immediately taking cognisance of the situation going steadily out of
hand, the prime minister announced the immediate formation of the Andhra
state in 1953. The Wanchoo Committee recommended that the Bellary
District without the taluks of Alur, Adoni and Rayadurg be merged into the
old state of Mysore. The formation of Andhra Pradesh and the rejection of
their demand angered the KPCC, which issued a direct-action call that year.
It called on the Kannada members of the legislatures in the provinces and
the Centre to resign. Many leaders including Andanappa Doddameti
embarked on a fast-unto-death.
On 22 December 1953, the prime minister announced the appointment
of a high-power Fazal Ali Committee to examine the question of formation
of Karnataka. The Committee was headed by Fazal Ali, H.N. Kunzru and
K.M. Pannikkar. They issued a press note in 1954 and visited various parts
of the state after which, in 1955, they submitted their recommendations in
favour of the formation of a new state of Karnataka.
On 1 November 1956, the long cherished dream of millions of
Kannadigas was fulfilled through the integration and formation of the new
state of Karnataka—an event celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava. However,
the name ‘Mysore’ was retained for this state. It contained the whole of
Mysore state including Bellary district, Belgaum district except the
Chandgad taluk, entire Dharwad, Bijapur and North Kanara districts of the
Bombay state, South Kanara district except Kasargod taluk, Kollegal taluk
in Coimbatore district, whole of Coorg or Kodagu, the whole of Gulbarga
district without Kodagana and Tandur taluks from Hyderabad state, Raichur
district without Alampur and Gadwal taluks and from Bidar district the
entire taluks of Bidar, Bhalki, Ourad and Humnabad. Bangalore was made
the new capital of the State and S. Nijalingappa became the first chief
minister of the unified state.

On 1 November 1973, the then Chief Minister Devaraja Urs renamed the
state Karnataka. It is worth mentioning that a number of border agitations
with neighbouring states can still be seen, with Maharashtra clamouring for
Belgaum and Kasargod urging a reunion with Karnataka, even in this
‘Suvarna Rajyotsva’ or fiftieth year of the state’s formation.
Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, whose rule saw so many revolutionary
changes, died on 23 September 1974 of cardiac failure. Devaraja Urs
expressed shock and grief over his demise and referred to him as a ‘man of
the masses’. Crowds raised cries of ‘Jayachamaraja Wadiyar ki Jai’ as the
body draped in spotless white was brought out in a stretcher and placed in
an open car for the last procession.
Thus ended the life and times of the last ruler of the Wodeyar dynasty,
bringing to an end a 600-year regime—one of the longest reigning Indian
ruling houses. Like every end that heralds a new beginning, the demise of
Royal Mysore led to the formation of an independent and vibrant State of
Karnataka—one that could build on the sound foundations of its
predecessors.
———————————
*
This and the speech of the Maharaja’s are reproduced in Josyer’s 1929 book, The History
and the Yadava Dynasty.
*
Taken from Margaret Bourke White’s 1949 book, Halfway to Freedom.
*
Jinnah’s quote taken from Ayesha Jala’s 1994 book, The Sole Spokesman.
*
The text of this understanding, the Maharaja’s response are taken from josyer’s 1929
book, The History of Mysore and the Yadava Dynasty.
*
The history wodeyars ends with 1950. This section goes on to prepare the context for
present-day Karnataka.
Section 6
The Cultural Legacy
‘Galaxy of musicians’: Painting by Raja Ravi Verma, Mysore

25
DEFINING CULTURE
o history of a region is complete without an account of the people
inhabiting it—the people who ultimately shape the way of life and the
term we so loosely define as the culture of a place. Mysore, like any other
region, has, over the centuries evolved its own distinctive socio-cultural
identity and when I speak of Mysore here I refer to the Mysore state, a large
part of present day Karnataka. Its people mostly display a genial, cordial
and hospitable disposition and have, over the years, established a unique
cultural individuality for themselves. Known for the many characteristic and
traditional symbols of its identity—the sandalwood, the sandal oil and
perfumes, ivory, the world-famous Mysore silk, agarbattis, the Mysore
jasmine (Mysuru Mallige), the Mysore brinjal (Mysuru Badanekayi), the
bounties of nature in the form of waterfalls, greenlands and plateaus in the
rocky Deccan, foliage, varied horticulture, the avian and animal diversity in
its numerous sanctuaries, the rich cultural heritage bequeathed over the
generations—all collectively add a unique dimension to the state’s identity.
This is what I hope to document in brief in the coming pages.
DEFINING CULTURE
Before getting into the details of the various components of Mysore’s
cultural persona, it would be worthwhile to attempt a definition of the term
‘Culture’ itself, in a more pan-Indian context. The spirit of India has always
fascinated the world with its very mystique. A subcontinent with a 5,000-
year old history; a civilisation united by its diversity, the richness of its
culture, the glory of the past, the turbulences and triumphs, the landmarks
of each era, the achievements of each age, the legacy of its many rulers—as
you walk through history, through India’s geography, and her linguistic and
artistic contributions, your individual interpretation will be your very own
discovery. In a sense, each one of us who has made an attempt to ‘feel’ India
could well become a Jawaharlal Nehru and author our very own Discovery
of India’. Such is her enigma. India—she can move you to question what
you have taken for granted and touch you so deeply as to remain a memory
forever. Seers and savants for centuries have been trying to discover this
very soul of India—the soul that shows up in our traditional musical forms,
dance styles, in the rusticity of the myriad folk arts, in the linguistic
brilliance of the literary works, in theatre, in our philosophy and religions,
in paintings—yet this image is so transient; like lightning, that it disappears
even before we’ve caught full sight of it! It is like a nymphet trying to play a
game of hide and seek with you, for centuries now!
Going by the above, how are we then to define something as lofty as the
‘culture’ of a place—be it a Mysore or an India? Culture has always been
defined in numerous ways and the definition given by the British
anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Taylor seems to be one of the most
satisfactory. He defines it as ‘That complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society.’
A set of cultural traits adopted by a group to, as Taylor said, ‘meet its
needs and ensure its survival’ constitutes its culture. In this sense, culture
could be associated with a nation, town, village or a tribe. In terms of
Tylor’s definition, man acquires culture or becomes cultured by being a
member of a society or a group and there are various elements in that
complex whole called culture. Has India a culture of her own? It seems
difficult to arrive at a lowest common denominator by this definition for a
country like India with its diversities of race, religion, language, customs
and traditions. However Sardar K.M. Panicker states, ‘That India has a life
view of her own, a special outlook on essential problems, which has
persisted throughout her history, would hardly be denied by anyone.’
T.S. Eliot in Notes towards a Definition of Culture argues that the basis
of culture is religious belief. It is undeniably true that it is Christianity that
forms the basis of European culture. In the same way, the pre-eminence of
the Hindu shade in the many colours of India gives to its culture its special
characteristics. And this is not to be berated as any fundamentalist or
exigent political philosophy—it is a fact that needs to be gracefully
accepted! There is absolutely no need to be defensive or apologetic about
the Hindu-ness of India and its supreme contribution to the psyche of
Indians. Non-dogmatic and encouraging its followers to question and
commit ‘heresy’ in the quest for the truth, Hinduism does impart an all-
embracing and tolerant shade to the Indian way of life—one that has helped
her to assimilate the goodness of all points of view and religions and enrich
itself in the process by bringing out a unique and composite Indian culture,
so to say. Concepts of ‘heretics’ and ‘non-believers’ being condemned to
hellfire for challenging the might of the ‘gospel truth’ and ‘divinely ordained
laws’ which are the ‘only True revelation’ are Semitic ideas alien to Indian
way of life. Of course, the beauty of the Indian context, which cannot be
conceived by other mono-cultural civilisations, is the synthesis and
amalgamation of numerous other faiths and beliefs, which, even while
maintaining their identity in the midst of the larger framework, are
intertwined like the warp and weft of the same fabric.
ART AS A VISIBLE MANIFESTATION OF
CULTURE
Having attempted to define something as elusive as ‘culture’, I may now
descend to the individual components which I think define this complex
whole. Art, in its various forms, is the first thing that comes to our minds
when we talk of ‘culture’. But then art itself is such a complex organism! To
define it and its further sub-components is also an onerous task.
Art is one of those ideas that evade clear definition. Abstract in its
nature, it does not lend itself to being expressed and defined in concrete
terms that our logical mind can easily comprehend. Several definitions, have
no doubt, been attempted. Goethe called it ‘the magic of the soul’, Wagner
defines it as ‘the pleasure one takes in being what he is... the
accomplishment of our desire to find ourselves again among the phenomena
of the external world’ and defining an artist not as ‘one who makes, but one
who finds,’ while Brock says ‘when all the knowledge, skill and passion of
mankind are poured into an acknowledgement of something greater than
themselves, then that acknowledgement is Art.’ Of course, art is all this; but
much more. It is the essence of existence, a way of revelation of life and its
true meaning, an expression of the ‘soul of fact’.
In India, art has always been considered as a path of realisation of the
Ultimate Reality. It has always been spiritual in its outlook, idealistic in
expression and sublime in interpretation. It is not merely a matter of
sensuous enjoyment or amusement or a fiefdom of the rich and wealthy. It
might have been that too, in one of its numerous manifestations, but it
certainly had a deeper basis and a more exalted aim. It was considered as
vital for human progress as devotion, knowledge or love. God was
considered the fountain of all beauty and what an artist—a musician, a
dancer, a painter or a sculptor—attempted was to bring that Godhead and its
beauty nearer to us. So art is verily a path to the Supreme, it is a yoga,
soundarya yoga so to say and artists ought to be yogis in their own way.
In ancient India, art went hand in hand with religion; so much so that it
would not perhaps be wrong to say that art turned inward is religion and
religion turned outward is art. Our temples have long been repositories of all
types of art. Indian art has thus been idealistic and symbolic rather than
realistic. For an artist, a work of art is an expression of one’s experience, a
universal language of deep human emotions. Art is a great unifier and a real
artist is above all false division among humans, because a good work of art
is appreciated everywhere, as human experiences are fundamentally the
same—people weep everywhere, smile everywhere, love everywhere! These
unsophisticated expressions of one’s inner being have a universality about
them.
While culture itself is an abstract and complex idea to grasp and
assimilate, it manifests itself in different forms at different times. These
could be the complex and structured forms of classical music and dance or
the rustic and energetic folk art forms. Literature, architecture, painting and
theatre are other visible forms of this enigma that we loosely call culture. In
the coming chapters, let us explore the growth of culture in Mysore by
tracing the evolution of these visible facets of culture.

26
THE LIVES AND TIMES OF
MYSOREANS:CLASSICAL MUSIC
t was a lazy winter afternoon in Mysore. The nip in the air added a dash
of charm to the beauty of the place. The horse-driven vehicle of the

*
eminent court musician, Mysore Sadashiva Rao halted in front of his
palatial house. From within the cart emerged the man himself. Of medium
height, with a broad forehead and sparkling eyes, his persona and the quiet
humming of a melody that had occurred to him on the way back from the
palace clearly indicated that he was a man of music. He bade the obedient
driver a farewell and made way to his house.
Sundara Bai, his wife, waited for him at the doorstep. She hurried to
inform him of the sudden arrival of a musician from a neighbouring state.
She had received him with all due respect and told him about her husband’s
daily duties at the palace and that he would be back soon.
‘Has he had his lunch?’ quizzed Sadashiva.
‘Yes, he had a small nap too...he is currently in the study room waiting
for you.’
Sadashiva Rao hastened to welcome this unsolicited guest. On meeting
him he realised that the man was considered an expert when it came to the
rendition of the Raga Todi. The visitor stood up and folded his hands with
reverence, as the great musician, teacher and composer approached him.
‘Sorry to have kept you waiting Sir! I was not aware of your coming.
What, if I may ask, brings you to my humble abode?’ asked Sadashiva Rao
with characteristic humility.

Pat came the reply, ‘It is an honour to stand before you Sir. I have
wanted to meet you for long for music-related discussions. As you know, I
am a very reputed singer. I could only gain from the enormous knowledge
that you have and so willingly share!’
‘A very reputed singer!’ the words rang in Sadashiva’s ears. Music, he
thought, could teach one nothing but humility. The deeper one explored the
ocean of music, the more one realised how little one knew and how many
more lifetimes it would take to explore a fraction of this vast ocean. Rao
firmly believed that only by subsuming the ego of the ‘I’ did the birth of a
true musician become possible. But here was a man v ho unabashedly
proclaimed that he was a reputed singer. Of course he had heard stories of
the latter’s proficiency when it came to the Raga Todi, ‘But that gives him
no right to assume he is great!’ thought Sadashiva Rao.
Choosing to ignore the pompous statement, he sat down with the visitor
and the two spoke at length on a number of technical aspects related to
music. The visitor was indeed talented and had a sharp brain that absorbed
all that Sadashiva Rao spoke.
At the end of the discussion, Sadashiva Rao asked him
‘I have heard so much about your Todi. Can you sing something for me?
May be a little alapana that exposes this beautiful raga? I am desirous of
knowing what makes you renowned as a specialist of this raga.’
‘Oh! No! Sir! Anything but that! I am sorry I cannot sing for you,’ came
the unexpected refusal.
‘Why? You deem it below your dignity to sing in front of me?’ quizzed
Rao, amused.
‘Hell fire on me, Sir if I thought that way. But the matter is I have
pledged the raga to one of my patron zamindars. I cannot sing for anyone
but him. I would be guilty of misconduct and he would strip me of the
monthly allowances that he gives me if he learns that I have sung Todi for
you. Any other raga that you desire Sir, I shall oblige. Spare me the Todi.’
It was common practice those days for the rich and famous to gag the
voices of eminent musicians and make them pledge that the ragas they were
supremely good at would be sung in their presence alone and at no public
performances. It was a haughty practice of buying music by the sheer power
of money and popularity and many musicians capitulated to this practice for
the huge monetary benefits.

Sadashiva Rao was thoroughly vexed. The opening sentence of the
impudent visitor had already irked him. This angered him further. He was
the host and so chose not to pick a fight with this shallow musician—one for
whom music meant entertainment and money. Determined to teach the man
a lesson, Sadashiva Rao bade him farewell, requesting him to attend a
concert of his that night.
The news of this incident reached the ears of Maharaja Mummadi
Krishnaraja Wodeyar. He knew that Sadashiva Rao would come up with an
ingenious way of teaching the man a lesson. He wanted to witness this in
person and decided to attend the concert disguised as a commoner.
That night at the concert, after a couple of opening pieces, Sadashiva
Rao geared up to propitiate Todi. With a meditative smile he seemed to be
invoking the raga devatha, or the god of the raga.
As the first strains of the magnificent Todi emanated from Sadashiva’s
throat, the audience sat spellbound. The ghana raga that Todi is, it assumed
an other-worldly shape through the instrument of Sadashiva Rao’s
mellifluous voice. The majestic vibrations, the meandering of the gamakas
laden with bhava brought the characteristic of the melodic identity of Todi
to its fullest. With Ga and Dha acting as the nuclei of the melodic entity, the
Ma gliding as a swing in between, connecting the lower and higher ends of
the raga created a magical effect. Even as Sadashiva Rao meandered from
one note to the other with ample elaboration around the resting or nyasa
swaras of Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni, the audience was transported to an
ethereal world.
The exercise might have begun as one to teach an impudent young
musician a lesson. But once the exploration began, Sadashiva Rao lost
himself and forgot the agenda behind singing Todi. With closed eyes and a
voice steeped in emotion, he was exposing every contour of the glorious
raga. Someone in the audience recognised the maharaja sitting amidst them,
equally lost in the music. A small flurry and murmur ensued in the crowd.
The maharaja made a quick exit and returned, dressed in his royal robes. But
none of all this activity distracted the musician on stage. He was on a
journey, and the arrival and departure of listeners had absolutely no
relevance.
It was the chirping of birds that made the audience aware that a full
night had passed and they had heard nothing but Todi through those long
hours! Finally, as if reluctantly abandoning a deep, spiritual slumber,
Sadashiva Rao wound up the alapana. As he opened his eyes, he was
surprised to see the maharaja seated right in front of him.
But even before he could address the maharaja, the visiting musician
rushed to the stage and fell at his feet with tears rolling down his eyes.
‘Sir! Sir! Forgive me for my sins. How presumptuous of me to have
thought I was a great musician or that I was an expert at Todi. I have not
only sold my music to that zamindar, but my soul as well. In the last few
hours, I realised I knew nothing of this Raga. It seemed to take on a
different dimension through you. I don’t know what catastrophe beckons me
in the other world for making a commodity of this divine art. But if I can
atone for my sins, it can only be by serving you for the rest of my life as a
faithful and obedient student and hoping that at least by the time of my
death, I get a fraction of your expertise in Todi.’
INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC AND ITS
CONTEXT:A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW
The origin of Indian music is said to lie in the Vedas. It is said that God
himself is ‘musical sound’—the sound that pervades the whole universe—
Nadabrahma. It is said that the musician has to abandon himself in order to
fuse with the Supreme Reality, the Parabrahman.
Music has a pervasive influence on an Indian’s life—right from birth to
death, in religious rites and seasonal festivals. The rules of music as they
developed were originally passed on by word of mouth, in the guru-shishya
parampara—a system of a gurukula where knowledge was imparted to
deserving students. It took a long time for music to evolve to its present
state.
The most important advance in music was made between the-fourteenth
and eighteenth centuries, during which period the music of the North came
in contact with Persian music—through the Pathans and Mughals—and
assimilated with it. It is then that the two schools of Indian music—
Hindustani and Carnatic—came into existence. It would be an

oversimplification to classify them as merely the music of the North and
South of India, as they share several common features. The difference, if
any, lies in the style of presentation and raga exposition. Both have a distinct
personality and yet are so similar—something so reflective of the ‘unity in
diversity’ concept of Indian culture.

*
In the Carnatic tradition, the singing saints and famed Trinity had made
the art much safer to learn. God legitimately existed and no one disapproved
of His presence. But with the arrival of Sufi influence on Hindustani
musical tradition, religion went out and was substituted with the life of the
spirit. This made the raga an interior ocean for discovery and exploration
and made music more personal. Music took on the mantle of time and
seasons and of festivals and celebrations in all of which God remained
unnamed, yet always present. This was among the reasons why the best of
Hindustani musicians had to run away from home on a regular basis! This
journey needed privacy and inner silence and family was the worst place to
seek that! This was another reason why music was banished from middle-
class homes in the north. Western classical musician Leopold Stokowski had
this to say about Indian music:
One of the great characteristics of the music of India is its flexibility and freedom. While
giving due consideration to traditions stemming from the past, Indian music is free and
improvised so that all powers of imagination in the musician is brought into play. This way
the music of India is always creative and never a reproduction of what is written or played.
In India there has always been a subtle difference between a ‘musician’
and an ‘artist’—the former is one who knows music while the latter
improvises with the music he knows.
The period from the end of the eighteenth century to the beginning of
the nineteenth century was unique in the history of Indian music. In one
sense we may say that today’s Carnatic music is mainly the outcome of the
musical upheaval that resulted from the contributions of the great
composers of that period—Thyagaraja, Shyama Shastry and Muthuswamy
Dikshitar.
Although Thyagaraja shunned publicity all his life and even rejected the
king’s offer to join his court, he is hailed as the King of Carnatic music. He
renounced all worldly pleasures and devoted himself to God and this
submission finds expression in his compositions. He is credited with the
invention of sangatis and numerous other creative ideas in rhythm. A study
of his compositions clearly indicates that he was a mystic to the core and his
entire life was dedicated to the service of Lord Rama, who was a living
reality to him, a constant companion and a loving guru. The perpetual
source of pathos for him was that the people around him were not able to
enjoy the bliss of Ramabhakti and were making their own and others’ lives
miserable.
Shyama Shastry’s contribution to Carnatic music is unique. He had great
mastery over the technique of the art and commanded a polished diction.
His compositions are replete with ragabhava. He gave a special charm and
beauty to his favourite raga, Ananda Bhairavi and enriched it to a
remarkable degree. His compositions are dedicated to Goddess Kamakshi of
Kanchi.
Art is essentially considered a matter of personality; the artist can never
be divorced from his work and his personality gets stamped on or revealed
in every work of art he creates. But a striking feature of Muthuswamy
Dikshitar’s compositions is the remarkable absence of the personal element.
He sublimated his human personality and raised it to the level of the
impersonal. This is the only possible explanation for the magnificent
richness, all-embracing completeness, lyrical dazzle and vibrant perfection
of his kritis. He was also a veena player and expert astrologer. The texts of
his kritis were rich in symbolism, using a wide variety of terminologies
drawn from Indian mythology, philosophy and astrology. His kritis are
difficult to master due to the excellent lyrics, the strict adherence to the rules
of musical prosody, the appropriateness of the raga, tala and tempo used to
express an idea. He was more of an academic and spent considerable time in
the North studying Hindustani music, which influenced him deeply and he
adopted the Dhrupad system of Hindustani to double the pace of
compositions.
The Bhakti movement that ushered in a cultural and spiritual
renaissance in medieval India had a deep impact on Carnatic music too. The
period saw a spurt in the growth of the Vachana Sahitya of Basaveshwara,
Akka Mahadevi, Guheshwara and others, which later led to the growth of a
new sect in Hinduism—the Lingayat sect, and the Dasa Sahitya. The
Haridasas or nomadic bards brought the rich philosophy of the Indian

scriptures to the common man’s doorstep even as they sang in the local
language. Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Vijaya Vitthala Dasa, Vadiraja,
Kamalesha Dasa, Bhadrachala Ramadasa, Annamacharya and others are but
a few luminaries of the Dasa family.
Of these there is perhaps no figure in the history of Indian music more
unique and revered than Saint Purandara Dasa, hailed as the ‘Pitamaha’ or
Grandfather of Carnatic music. The present-day practice of Carnatic music
is entirely due to him. It is he who fixed the Mayamalavagowla raga scheme
of preliminary teaching and prescribed the elementary lessons in music like
Saralivarase, Jantivarase, Geeta, Alankara, etc. He was a prolific composer
and is believed to have composed more than 4,75,000 songs in Kannada. His
compositions cover a wide range from the simplest bhajans to highly
technical pieces. He used his songs as a medium for his work as God’s
messenger. His compositions abound in allegories, proverbs and epigrams.
He is viewed to this day as a divine mediator interpreting God and His joy
to humanity through the medium of music. It would not be an exaggeration
to say that the works of Purandara Dasa gave a stimulus to the Trinity and
also to Kshetrajna, an eighteenth-century musician.
Meanwhile, to systematise and coordinate the systems that existed in
North Indian music, Burhan Khan of Khandesh invited Pundarika Vitthala
(1562–99) to settle in the North. Vitthala was a native of Satanor, near
Sivaganga in Bangalore district and was proficient in both styles of music.
Many of the ragas of modem Hindustani music have retained the scale of
Pundarika Vitthala. Under the patronage of the king of Jaipur, he later
authored a revolutionary book in the history of Indian music called
Ragamala, or garland of ragas. This book classifies the ragas under six male
ragas of the Hindustani style—Bhairav, Malkauns, Deepak, Hindol, Shree
and Megh and five raginis to each. Vitthala also specified the time for
singing the ragas and authored books, like Ragamanjari and Nartana
Nirnaya, the former dealing with twenty melas or parent scales and
comparing 16 Persian ragas with the Northern melas being analogous.
It is interesting to note that music is so intrinsic to the Indian
imagination that miniature paintings are found in the North, inspired by the
Ragamala series, and are an ideal synthesis of music, poetry and painting.
The series of paintings visualises music as having a visible or bodily form

besides an auditory form. Depending on the moods they evoked, ragas were
classified as male or female.
What exactly is the raga, which forms the bedrock of Indian classical
music? In its primary sense, a raga is a musically sound and sensible
combination of the seven basic notes. But in its aesthetic definition, a raga
assumes a more sublime meaning. With deep spiritual undercurrents, a raga
and its study or exploration is akin to self-discovery and self-realisation. Of
course, on the surface it also entertains and soothes the mind. ‘Ranjayati ithi
raga’ or ‘that which pleases’ is the usual definition attempted for this
abstract concept.
Poetical forms have been woven around these ragas, raginis (female
ragas) and ragaputras in this work of Pundarika Vitthal, as mentioned
above. Different seasons, sounds and times of singing came to be associated
with the Hindustani style of music. The earliest reference to this is in the
Natyashastra of Bharata. Hanumana, a musicologist, had visualised ragas in
the personalised forms. Each raga or ragini denoted various aspects of life;
they varied technically, spiritually and emotionally. Hindustani music, with
its major thrust on improvisation—unlike Carnatic music that depicts a
delightful blend of both improvisatory and composed music—aims to bring
this very aspect of raga swaroopa or an introduction to the nature of the
raga just as one introduces one’s friends to a newcomer.
CLASSICAL MUSIC AND ITS GROWTH IN
MYSORE
Music, like all the arts, depends on royal patronage or the support of the
powers that be. The royal family of Mysore extended unbridled support to
music, so much so that Mysore and Tanjore emerged as musical centres of
southern India. Chamaraja Wodeyar V was a great patron of the arts. Vocal
and veena concerts were a daily affair. Ranadhira Kanthirava Narasaraja
Wodeyar was also a great patron of the arts. In his court were such great
musicians, as Bharati Naiya, Veena Narasayya and Veena Krishnayya.
Govinda Vaidya’s Kanthirava Narasaraja Vijayam has graphic accounts of
the ubiquitous role played by music in the king’s daily life. The fact that
Mysore had separate streets for vainikas, singers, percussionists, and so on,
speaks for itself. The role of music would be further highlighted during the
annual Dussehra festivities. The poetry of the times has verses which state
that the ladies sang melodiously to the tunes of ragas like Dhanyasi,
Bhupali, Gundakriya and Desakshi. Veena Krishnaiya’s recitals have also
been mentioned.
Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar had authored a musical treatise called
GeetaGopala containing compositions that dealt with the theme of Krishna
Leela akin to those of the famous composer Jaideva. Each piece has seven
padas or Saptapadi instead of the Ashtapadi or eight-stanza style of
Jaideva’s Geeta Govinda. It has its own specific melodic notes or raga and
rhythm or tala. The ragas employed range from Bhairavi, Kambodhi,
Kedaragowla, Asavari, and Mukhari to Nata, Pantuvarali, Ghantarava,
Kannadagowla, Narayani, Huseni, Kapi, and Kuranji and so on. Various
musical instruments were played in the recitals that took place in his court.
These have been named as thambura, veena, maddala, mukha
veena,sankha, bheri, thaala, jambaka, dindima, muraju, dakka, thambata
and venu(flute). In his court, dance performances were accompanied by
many musical instruments.
When Haidar Ali took over the Mysore throne, one of the
asthanavidwans (court musicians) was Pachimiriam Adiappayya, whose Ata
talavarnam in Bhairavi has remained an unsurpassed musical composition
popular on the Carnatic music concert stage till date. It is an authentic
example of the shape of the raga from the days of Purandara Dasa down to
the earlier years of the twentieth century. The sudden increase in the use of
Chatusruti dhaivata since then has changed the complexion of the raga
itself. Adiappayya migrated to Thanjavur and became a court musician
under King Sarabhoji. Adiappayya’s son Kuppiah had four children—three
sons: Kuppayya, Appayya and Sheshappa, and a daughter Narasamma,
whose son was Veena Chikkaramappa. His son was Veena Sheshanna. It
was this family that laid the foundations of the famous Mysore Bani or
Mysore style of music, especially with regard to the playing of the
veena.The very name of Mysore evokes memories of great vainikas.
‘Veeneya bedagidhu Mysooru’—this line from a popular Kannada poem
describes Mysore as the splendour of veena.
Music under Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar

Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was himself a great music composer and
his court glittered constantly with the presence of musicians. The courts of
Tanjore and the Peshwas having ceased to exist in the early half of the
nineteenth century, there was a mass exodus of scholars and musicians to
Mysore who received a warm welcome from the benevolent king. It is said
that the maharaja once ordered Dewan Pumaiya to invite one of the greatest
musicians of the time and a composer from Tanjore—Veene
Venkatasubbaiya, Adiappayya’s grandson. The maharaja presented him with
a golden veena studded with diamonds! He was appointed as the maharaja’s
guru. He is credited with composing a Saptataleshwari Githe in Raga
Rithigowla. The specialty of this composition is that seven singers are
supposed to start the composition simultaneously, each in one of the seven
suladi sapta talas of the Carnatic style. At the end of the composition, all
the singers would finish their respective talas simultaneously. It is believed
that only those extremely proficient in the art of laya or rhythm as well as
*
sahitya or poetry can attempt such a challenging task. Veene
Venkatasubbaiya was certainly one such gifted and learned musician.
The maharaja’s musical knowledge translated itself into other forms of
art, like painting. Krishnaraja Wodeyar is believed to have got two sets of
paintings done—one for the Sritatvanidhi and the other for
SivaraChudamani. In fact the main theme of Swara Chudamani is the
portrayal of the seven notes or sapta swaras as demi-gods. Each note has a
dhyanashloka or meditative verse considered essential to propitiate it. The
seven notes, believed to have arisen from the divine sound of Omkara, have
always caught the imagination and reverence of musicians. Thyagaraja in his
kriti Mokshmau Galada similarly eulogises the seven notes as having
emerged from the cosmic union of life and fire leading to the hallowed
Omkara. It is this very reverence to the divine sound that comes across in
Swara Chudamani. To make the notes less abstract and perceivable to the
human mind they were personified as demi-gods and contain detailed
descriptions of their being with the help of 32 characters or Dwaatrimsha
Lakshanaatmakaha.
From notes the progression naturally moves to combinations of these
notes, which are nothing but the ragas. The maharaja selected 36 ragas of
his choice, not following the traditional Batteesa Ragas then prevalent in
South India. These ragas were portrayed as human beings and depicted
different rasas or emotions among the nine classified ones or navarasas.
Saindhavi, Dhanyasi and Velavali depict Veer a Rasa or valour; Malavashri
and Megha portray Shringaara or romance; Asavari for Karuna or kindness;
Bhupali for Shantha or peace and so on. The ragas have also been given
genders. For example, Bhairavi, Malava Koushika, Hindola, Deepaka, Sri
and Megha have been classified as purusha ragas or male ragas; the first
four of which have five raginis or female ragas; Sri has six and Megha has
four raginis.
The raga lakshanas or features of each raga that he brings out are
equally marvellous. Raga Deepaka for example has been beautifully
described in the following picturisation:
A shy heroine waits for her hero in a reclining cot. When the hero enters, the maid moves
out with the lamps, thus making the room dark. But the shine of the jewel from the hero’s
crown is so bright that the entire room is illuminated, and the heroine posing shyness turns
to the other side, hiding her face from the hero.
Thus Deepaka, a classified male raga, brings with it the masculinity
associated with light and heat. It uses its inherent power to create a romantic
atmosphere. Similarly, talas too have pictures and stories associated with
them. Dhruva Tala for example has been described as
born on a Sunday; and of a goat; his birth sign is Karkataka; birth star Pushya; belongs to
the race of Devas; with large eyes; dressed in clean clothes. He wears a necklace of
precious stones and is under the power of Hrinkara, the Brahmi Shakti...he belongs to the
Brahmin caste and is seated on the Laksha Dwipa riding a single-wheeled chariot and
exuding Shringara Rasa. He has three angas like divya laghu and dual laghu.
This personification of ragas and talas made them identifiable beings
who could be invoked through sadhana or dedicated practice.
It was during the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III that such famous
musicians, as Veene Sambaiya, Veene Anantha Subbayya, Veene
Chikkaramappa, Veene Chikka Lakshmiramanappa, Veene Krishnappa,
Mugur Subbanna, Veene Dodda Subbaraya, the great vocalist ‘Janjaa
maaruta’ (cyclone) Subbayya, Shyama Shastry’s disciple Appukuttan
Nattuvanar, Thyagaraja’s disciple Lalgudi Rama Iyer, his sons Guruswami

Iyer and Radhakrishna Iyer, Mysore Sadashiva Rao, and Thatchur
Singarachar, were all asthana vidwans.
Shunti Venkataramanaiya, a friend of Veene Venkatasubbaiya, was
another eminent musician in the court. The prefix ‘shunti’, which means
ginger, has an interesting anecdote to it. It is said that while singing, he
would go into a trance. To revive him, someone would chew ginger and with
its juice in their mouth blow air into the ears of the rapt singer! And hence
the name. Aliya Lingaraje Urs (1823–74) is another eminent composer of
the times, whose composition Shringaara Lahiri in Raga Nilambari is
famous on concert stages to this day. Twenty-five kritis dedicated to the
Goddess and compositions for Yakshagana dance form are his other
achievements. Chinnaih, the eldest among the famous Tanjore Quartet of
dancers and musicians, was also a court musician at Mysore. He is said to
have composed many varnas, kritis, javalis and tillanas and created a
repertoire for dance lyrics also.
Music recitals were a regular feature of the Mysore court, especially
during festivals like Dussehra and Sivaratri. The court also invited famous
musicians from the neighbouring state of Tanjore, like Patnam Subramanya
Iyer, Tirukodikaval, Krishna Iyer and Mahavaidhyanatha Iyer for musical
recitals and discourses.
Mysore Sadashiva Rao (1790–1880)
Among the early musical luminaries of the Mysore court was the gifted
musician-composer Mysore Sadashiva Rao. Born in Chittoor District of
Andhra Pradesh, Sadashiva Rao was a child prodigy. An interesting
anecdote tells of him as a young child stretching his hand out for an extra
helping of ghee from his mother. She taunted him with sharp words,
suggesting that he had better earn for himself instead of reaching out for
ghee. So insulted did young Sadashiva feel, that he decided to leave home
and prove his mettle to his mother.
This self-imposed exile led to the discovery of music by the young man.
He decided to move to Walajapet and train under one of the three direct
disciples of Saint Thyagaraja—Venkataramana Bhagavathar and the
Umayalapuram Brothers—Krishna Bhagwathar and Tillaisthanam Rama
Iyengar. They had kept the saint’s tradition and compositions alive. The
years under Venkataramana Bhagavathar groomed Sadashiva’s technical and
aesthetic skills in the art. The exposure to katha kalakshepas or long
discourses intertwined with philosophy, music and poetry, so characteristic
of the Bhagavathar clan, honed his compositional skills as well. It is said
that he had the fortune of receiving the blessings of the holy Saint
Thyagaraja himself when the latter came to Walajapet to his student’s house.
Sadashiva’s extempore composition and rendition of Thyagaraja Swamy
Vedalina in Raga Todi won him the appreciation and blessings of the Saint.
During his trips to neighbouring states, it is said that he was so
overcome with emotion at the Prasanna Krishna Swamy temple at Mysore
and sang his own composition Dorakenu Nedu Sri Krishna in Raga
Devagandhari with such devotion that he mesmerised the other devotees.
Two traders, Pedda Muniswamy Shetty and his brother Chirvna Muniswamy
Shetty, who were present there, informed the maharaja about this young and
talented musician. A special concert was arranged at the maharaja’s durbar.
The beauty of Sadashiva Rao’s music floored the maharaja and the thirty
year old was appointed court musician at a monthly salary of Rs 30.
Many interesting anecdotes revolve around the life of this musician, who
was a mystic in his own right. A staunch devotee of Lord Narasimha, he had
composed several kritis in praise of his favourite deity. The worshippers of
this god needed to follow strict practices when it came to the rituals of
worship. Sadashiva is said to have followed these rules even with regard to
the kritis and their rendition. But on one occasion, intense public demand
made him forego these practices and render his Narasimhudu Dayinchenu in
Raga Kamalamanohari. It is said that as he progressed towards the
Anupallavi line Sarasijasanandamu Pagula, a portrait of Lord Narasimha
that hung on the wall beside the stage cracked and the glass smashed into
smithereens! It is believed that he immediately realised his folly, stopped the
concert and offered his sincerest apologies to the deity.
Sadashiva Rao is said to have named eminent musician-composer
Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer as Begade Subrahmanya Iyer for the latter’s
extraordinary rendition of the Raga Begade. He is also credited with having
given a new dimension to the Rama Navami celebrations in Mysore, making
it an occasion for religion and music to blend beautifully. He would
personally invite many musicians from all over the country to perform at
this occasion—a tradition that most parts of South Karnataka follow to this
day during Rama Navami.
Rao was a prolific composer and composed many forms prevalent in the
Carnatic style like swarajatis, tana, varnas, pada varnas, kritis and tillanas
in Sanskrit and Telugu. Currently we have about 90–100 compositions of his
available for use. They bear his nom de plume of ‘Sadashiva’. From standard
compositions centring on bhakti, like the famous Ramabhi Rama in Raga
Hamsadhwani, Devadideva in Raga Mayamalawagowla,
GangadharaTripuraharana in Raga Purvikalyani, Paramabhuta Maina in
Raga Khamas, Sita Lakshmana Sametha in Raga Kambodhi, Sri
Kamakotipeetha in Raga Saveri Saketa Nagara Natha in Raga
Harikambodhi, Sadashiva Rao has been an iconoclast and penned erotic
kritis, obviously in anonymity, like Ye Maguva Bodhinichine in Raga
Dhanyasi. Apart from using his nom deplume in the compositions, he has
also used the Dikshitar style of ragamudra, or incorporating the name of the
raga in the kriti, as also the Raja mudra or the name of the maharaja,
‘Krishnaraja’ in many of his compositions. Some of his compositions
cannot be handled unless one has a good grip over kala pramana or time
measures of tala and laya and also a rich and flexible voice.
Prominent among his disciples were the eminent Veene Sheshanna,
Veene Subbanna, Hanagal Chidambaraiah, Ganjam Surya Narayanappa,
Chikkanayakanahalli Venkateshaiya, Bettadapura Shamanna and others.
Music under Chamarajendra Wodeyar
Chamarajendra Wodeyar X followed his father’s footsteps when it came to
patronising the arts. Many noted musicians adorned his court. The greatest
musical change to occur during his reign and patronage was the clear
evolution of the distinctive style of playing the veena, known as the Mysore
Bani/Mysore Shaili. It gave Mysore a place of eminence in the Carnatic
music firmament along with other centres of excellence like Tanjore or
Travancore. Tanjore continued to maintain its supremacy in vocal music.
Veene Sheshanna (1852–1926)
Veene Sheshanna is perhaps the most renowned musician of the Mysore

*
royal court and proponent of the famous Mysore Bani. Hailed as the king
among veena players by Margaret Cousins in her book, Music of Orientand
Occident, Sheshanna brought grace, elegance, style, innovation and melody
of execution to the Mysore Bani.
Born into a family of musicians, he learnt music from his father Bakshi
Chikka Ramappa—the court musician for Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja
Wodeyar. He was a child prodigy and gained acceptance at the court at the
young age of ten. Later he learnt vocal music under the famous vocalist
Mysore Sadashiva Rao. Apart from veena, he was adept at playing various
other instruments, like piano, sitar and violin. He also learnt Hindustani and
western classical music and was a prolific composer.
His foray into the Mysore Court was an interesting incident in itself.
Mummadi Krishnaraja would invite several musicians during the Sivaratri
celebrations for night-long concerts. To add spice to the whole performance,
these concerts would be formatted as teaser contests between musicians.
The visiting musicians would throw up a musical challenge in the form of a
pallavi and the local musicians would have to elaborate on, improvise and
continue the same. On one such occasion, the musical challenge of the
visiting stalwart stumped all the court musicians. A six-year old Sheshanna,
who had accompanied his father, pestered him to be allowed to sing and
completed the pallavi in an aesthetic and perfect manner. The delighted king
presented him with a pair of shawls and his own pearl chain. He also
ensured that the young boy received the right training thereafter to develop
his innate talents.
Now there could be no looking back for Sheshanna’s musical journey.
Under able gurus, like Sadashiva Rao for vocal music and Dodda Sheshanna
for veena, his fertile manodharma or musical imagination blossomed fully.
Ragam Tanam Pallavi, the epitome of a musician’s mastery of the art, was
his forte. His sense of tala and laya was so immaculate that people swore by
it. Elaboration of ragas for hours on end without sounding repetitive came
naturally to him. His method of playing gave the Mysore veena a special
flavour. Speaking to veteran musician Mysore Vasudevacharya, which he
narrates in his book Naa Kanda Kalavidaru, he described the technique one
must employ while playing the veena:
The nada should be so melodious like a cuckoo’s voice. The pluck should be so soft, that
neither the sound of wood nor the string should be heard. All that one should hear is the
shuddha nada or pure melodic sound from the strings of the instrument.
Sheshanna was appointed court musician by Maharaja Chamarajendra
Wodeyar X. in 1882. Rulers from other kingdoms, such as Ramnad,
Travancore, Baroda, Tanjore, etc., invited him for performances and musical
discourses. The maharaja of Baroda is said to have arranged for him to be
carried around in a golden palanquin when he invited him to the court for
the music festival. On his return, when the maharaja of Mysore wanted to
carry him around the city in a similar fashion, he decided that the honour
should go to his instrument rather than him. So he placed his veena on the
palanquin and walked beside it! The maharaja conferred the title of ‘Vainika
Shikhamani’ or the crown jewel among vainikas on him.
The Raja of Ramnad organised a week-long concert by the maestro at
his durbar. At the National Congress convention at Belgaum in 1924, he had
the rare honour of playing before leading Congress leaders of the day. His
recital won him a standing ovation and the title of ‘Vainika Chakravarthi’,
and held leaders, like Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, spellbound at the
beauty of his music. It is said that even the British Emperor George V was
so impressed by his music that he requested a photograph with him, which
he later displayed in the art gallery of Buckingham Palace.
As a composer, he has to his credit 12 jati swaras, nine varnas in Telugu
and Kannada, one saptaragamalika githa, 17 tillanas and javali.He used the
names Shesha and Srinivasa. His varnas are in major and minor ragas and
are set to a variety of talas. Among his kritis too he has employed rarely-
used Melakartha ragas like Ganamurti, Dhenuka, Natakapriya,
Gamanashrama, Hemavathi, Dharmavathi, Rishabhapriya and Vachaspati.
Most of them are medium tempo or madhyamakala kritis. Many of his
tillanas were composed as reminders to the maharaja of his promised loan
of Rs 8,000 for him, which the maharaja seemed to have forgotten!
Despite the innumerable awards and titles bestowed on him, Sheshanna’s
heart lay inside the hidden beauty of ragas, to which he had surrendered his
soul. He had the humility to say that his fingers had still not captured the
inordinate grandeur of a Todi or Kambodhi in full. His greatest delight lay
in taking the veena lovingly in his hands and playing for hours.
Sheshanna’s eminent disciples include Veene Venkatagiriappa, the
brothers Srirangam Ramaswamy and Govinda Iyengar, Bhairavi,

Lakshminaranappa, Shermadevi Subrahmanya Shastry, Tirumale Rajamma,
M.S. Bheema Rao, painter K. Venkatappa, Narayana Iyer, Veene
Shivaramaiya, his adopted son Veene Ramanna, and grandsons A.S.
Chandrashekaraiya and Swaramurthy V.N. Rao.
Sheshanna passed away on 25 July 1926 at the age of seventy-four.
Other vainikas who shone with their musical brilliance were Veene
Shamanna (1832–1908), Veene Padmanabhaiya (1842–1900) and Veene
Subbanna (1861–1939). Shamanna, popularly called Tala Brahma, was as
proficient with the violin, ghatam and swarabath as he was with the veena.It
is interesting to note that great rivalry existed among some of these
musicians and their schools and styles of playing. The Mysore Bani is
supposed to have had two sub-styles—the Agrahara group of Shamanna and
the Kote group of Sheshanna. The two groups always indulged in one-
upmanship about whose style was the better one! Vasudevacharya recollects
that the Agrahara group, which excelled in tala and laya would openly
ridicule the ignorance of the same among the Kote group. Similarly, the
Kote group, which laid great emphasis on the melodic and bhava aspects of
music, derided their counterparts as the ‘Ta dhi gin a tom gang’, which
meant that their music was soulless and exhibited only skilful mathematics
and rhythmic jugglery.
Veene Subbanna, the other stalwart of the times, is credited with a
number of compositions. He is said to have been generosity personified.
During the visit of musician Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar to his house,
Subbanna, on coming to know that the latter was depressed at the loss of a
diamond ring presented to him by the maharaja of Ramnad, apparently
opened his complete treasure of rings and precious stones and asked him to
pick all he wanted!
Devottama Jois made valuable contributions through compositions in
Kannada. Sangeetavidya Kantheerava Karigiri Rao (1853–1927), who
composed under the pen name of ‘Narasimha’, was another celebrated
musician patronised by the maharaja and had illustrious disciples like
Bidaram Krishnappa and Chikka Rama Rao.
Court poet Basappa Shastri (1843–91) is credited with composing the
first Mysore anthem. When the British Resident fixed the coronation of
young Prince Chamarajendra, they were surprised to know that the kingdom
had no state anthem. Accordingly, Basappa was asked to pen the anthem:
Kayau Sri Gowri Karuna Lahari Toyajaakshi. It was rendered by both the
Carnatic and the Western bands in their respective styles.
Mysore Vasudevacharya (1865–1961)
Mysore Vasudevacharya was a musical genius beyond description and his
compositions adorn Carnatic music concerts to this day. They are noted for
their spontaneity of expression, easy flow and rich ragabhava. His
compositions were mainly in Sanskrit and Telugu and most, such as
Brochevarevarura, Bhajare Manasa, and Devadideva Sri Vasudeva, are
very popular with performing musicians. But very few know that he was a
writer too. In fact, he wrote two books in Kannada, Naa Kanda Kalavidaru
(The artistes I knew) and Nenapugalu (Memories). The first is a collection
of essays on fellow artistes, while the second describes his experiences as a
musician in the Mysore court. Vasudevacharya’s prose is laced with gentle
humour. He assesses the music of some of our greatest artistes without
being overwhelmed by their greatness. At the same time, he is generous in
praising their genius. His simple and lively style makes his essays interesting
reading even today.
Vasudevacharya was born in Mysore on 28 May 1865. Young Vasudeva
learnt music initially from Veene Padmanabhayya of Mysore. Having come
to know of his prodigious talent for music, the maharaja of Mysore arranged
for the teenaged Vasudeva to be sent to Tiruvaiyaru to learn music under
Patnam Subramania Iyer. There, Vasudeva started his gurukula training at
his mentor’s. After finishing this stint in Tiruvaiyaru, Vasudeva came back
to Mysore and was appointed an asthana vidwan of the royal court of
Mysore palace. Much later in his life, he came to Madras on the invitation of
Rukmini Arundale to join the faculty at the famed Kalakshetra School of
Music and Fine Arts. He eventually became the principal of the school. His
contemporaries at the Kalakshetra were stalwarts, like Tiger Varadachariar,
Veene Krishnamachariar and Mazhavaraya-nendal Subbarama Bhagavathar.
He was extremely close to Maharaja Chamarajendra and would
accompany him on many of his tours. In fact he even performed the
maharaja’s last rites in Kashi upon his untimely death in 1894. This perhaps
made him something of a father-figure for the young Prince Krishnaraja and
gave him referral power over the boy. He was also given the responsibility of
teaching Sanskrit to the young prince. It appears that Vasudevacharya took
his job a little too seriously and did not think twice before smacking the
knuckles of his own maharaja! So much so that the prince had to plead:
‘please be soft Gurugale, it pains!’ He was a prolific composer, creating
more than 200 compositions, which include pada varnas, thana varnas,
kritis, javalis, tillanas and ragamalikas.
Strangely enough, he began his career as a composer in 1905, when the
plague shuck Mysore. In those days around 3,000 families still lived inside
the Mysore Fort. Even some of the senior musicians like Veene Sheshanna,
Subbanna and Subba Rao had their houses inside the fort. Outside, on the
eastern side was a vast sheet of water known as Dodda kere. During the
Great Plague of 1905 most of the people were shifted to temporary tents in
what is known as Alanahalli. Vasudeva also found refuge there due to his
proximity to an old Urs gentleman called Gopala Raja—his father’s
contemporary—who liked young Vasu immensely and used to play dice
with him to kill time.
Sitting in front of the temporary tents outside the fort, with death staring
them all in the face, Gopala Raja coaxed Vasudevacharya to compose music
for posterity and beseech the Lord’s mercy. Thus was born the first kriti,
Chinthayeham Janaki Kantam in Raga Mayamalawagowla. After that, there
was no looking back.
He has used Telugu and Sanskrit as the media for his kritis. The lyrical
Telugu in his kritis is chaster than that of his contemporaries. He was not
too comfortable with the usage of Kannada in classical music compositions
and seems to have had many an argument with the maharaja in this regard.
For his compositions, he has used common ragas alongside several unusual
ragas, like Megharanjani, Sunadavinodini, Pushpalatika, Shudda Salavi, etc.
He has also employed several types of talas such as chaturasra rupaka,
tishra rupaka, adi, ata, tishra triputa, khanda triputa, mishratriputa,
mishra jhampa, etc., in his compositions.
Vasudevacharya has composed captivating chittaswaras for some of his
kritis. Two examples will suffice here: Ra-ra-rajeeva lochana in Raga
Mohana and Sri Chamundeshwari in Raga Bilahari. It is noteworthy that
Vasudevacharya has elevated the stature of minor ragas like Abheri
(Bhajarere manasa), Behag (Bhavayeham Raghuveeram) and Khamas
(Brochevarevarura) by composing major kritis in them. Note that these

kritis were composed at the turn of the century even before these ragas were
popularly rendered. He introduced kakali nishada for his Khamas instead of
the conventional kaishiki nishada as in Saint Thyagaraja’s Khamas.
Vasudevacharya’s Khamas is an equally appealing raga.
Around the 1930s, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer rendered
Vasudevacharya’s kriti, Brochevarevarura in Khamas with much polish in
his concert. Vasudevacharya, who happened to be at the concert remarked to
Vishwanatha Iyer: ‘My composition like a simple girl was metamorphosed
into a beautiful damsel. That is how well you beautified the composition
with your embellishments.’
His forte lay in the singing of Ragam Tanam Pallavi and Neraval
passages. Another distinct feature of his style was the singing of Sanskrit
shlokas in ragamalika or a garland of ragas with the appropriate bhava or
emotion. He was at ease with many Hindustani ragas as well. He always
stressed practice and mastery over the lower octaves to gain control over the
voice at higher reaches, explaining that only when one strikes a ball
forcefully on the ground does it bounce up with the same force! He
performed at Bhopal, Baroda, Bombay and other bastions of Hindustani
music and won the praise of the stalwarts, there like Abdul Karim Khan,
Faiz Khan and Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. Karim Khan supposedly
learnt a few kritis from him as well.
The Hindu of March 1912, gave a delightful ‘review’ of
Vasudevacharya:
A correspondent writes from Bombay under third instant; Vidwan Vasudevachar, the well-
known vocal musician of the Mysore Durbar is now here on his return journey from
Jallandhar where he had gone to attend the great Congress of Indian musicians which held
its sittings from the 26th to 29th of December last. He scored a brilliant success at
Jallandhar (being one of the fortunate four who carried away the highest awards), for his
originality in composing Sanskrit songs and setting to happy music even ordinary every day
Mantras such as Kayena Vacha. He was also awarded a gold medal at Bhopal. The public of
Bombay had the pleasure of hearing him yesterday when a concert and entertainment was
organised in his honour at Hira Bagh Hall by the South Indian residents of Bombay. He
kept the whole audience spellbound throughout those three hours of the entertainment and
especially the ‘coronation song’ which the vidwan has composed in Sanskrit and set to
three different kinds of music (Kamatic, Hindustani and English) won repeated applause....
Vasudevacharya was honoured with numerous awards and titles:
Sangeetha Shastra Ratna and Sangeetha Shastra Visharada by the maharaja
of Mysore; Sangeetha Kalanidhi by the Madras Music Academy in 1935,
Sangeetha Kala Kovida by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and so on. After
Independence he was also the recipient of the Central Sangeet Natak
Academi Award and the Padmabhushan from the Government of India.
Vasudevacharya trained a number of disciples while he was in Mysore
and later in Madras, like N. Chennakeshavaiya, H. Yoganarasimham, B.K.
Padmanabha Rao, Veene Shivaramaiya, D. Pashupati, his grandchildren S.
Krishnamurthy and S. Rajaram and so on. He published 150 of his
compositions himself.
On 17 May 1961, this celebrated musician died at the age of 96 in his
house at Kalakshetra, Madras.
Bidaram Krishnappa
Bidaram Krishnappa (1866–1931) was another famous and gifted musician
at the court of Mysore. His father, Vishwanathaiya Kini was a talented
Yakshagana artist who hailed from Nandalike village of South Kanara. He
excelled at enacting female roles. On attending a Yakshagana performance
specially arranged for him when he visited Dharmasthala, Mummadi
Krishnaraja Wodeyar was highly impressed by Viswanathaiya’s role and
invited him to join the royal theatre at Mysore.
Unfortunately, Vishwanathaiya’s early death orphaned his two gifted
sons Subba and Krishna at a young age. They began singing in Mysore’s
Anjaneya Temple for a living. Sahukar Timmayya, a great philanthropist
who happened to listen to young Krishna’s devotional songs, was so
impressed with his singing that he arranged music lessons for him under the
well-known music teacher Karur Ramaswamy. Later, Krishnappa trained
under court musicians Karigiri Rao and Veene Sheshanna.
At the age of 19, Krishnappa was recognised as the palace musician. He
started performing in public at well-known centres of music, such as
Bangalore, Madras, Tanjore, Tiruchinapalli, Madurai, etc. In an age before
microphones, he had a rumbling, resonant voice that could reach more than
a thousand people. This he would always attribute to the long hours of
practice he had put in during his early years, standing in waist-deep water.
His knowledge of tala, which is of prime importance in Carnatic music, was
extraordinary. That won him the title of ‘Tala Brahma’, or master of rhythm,
and ‘Shuddha Swaracharya’ for his tonal perfection and the adherence to
shruthi.
Later he became court musician and the title of ‘Ganavisharada’ (one
who excels in music) was bestowed upon him by the maharaja of Mysore.
He won several other titles, like ‘Gayaka Shikhamani’ and ‘Gana Kesari’. A
disciplinarian, he led a pious and virtuous life and expected similar
dedication from his disciples as well. T. Chowdaiah, the legendary violinist
who studied under Krishnappa for more than twenty years, worshipped him.
A whole band of good musicians, like B. Devendrappa, R.R.
Keshavamurthy, B. Naranappa, and musicologist, Sanskrit scholar and
Telugu and Kannada writer Rallapalli Anant Krishna Sharma as well as
Bangalore Nagaratnamma, trained under him.
His punctuality at concerts was legendary. Even if the accompanying
artists were late, as often happened, Krishnappa would be unfazed,
beginning his recital on the dot, with just two drone tamburas behind him!
The accompanists would be embarrassed when they arrived much later, and
sheepishly join in.
Bidaram Krishnappa left a permanent mark as a devotee of Anjaneya.
He built the famous Prasanna Seetharam Mandir at Mysore, spending his
entire savings and gold medals, and the mementos he had acquired. A
temple with an auditorium, it became a historical place where several
eminent musicians came and performed. The building is known today as
Krishnappa’s Temple. Krishnappa was the first musician who began singing
Purandara Dasa’s compositions in classical music concerts. He has
composed some kritis under the name Srikrishna.
On his death on 29 July 1931, the Madras Music Academy brought out
an obituary in its journal:
As a vocalist his rank is high. His stately appearance, his winning manners, his mellifluous
voice, his mastery over the intricacies of the science and art and his exuberant fancy
contributed not a little to the success and popularity of his performances. Of him it must be
said of few others, that he did full justice to the Sahitya of the pieces he sang and fully
conscious of their import. He was an authority on the proper rendering of Devaranamas and
the Kirtanas of Sadashiva Rao...his loss will be particularly felt by the Music Academy,
Madras with which he was ever ready to cooperate on all occasions. He was an ardent
member of its Advisory board of experts. He was present at its conferences, gave
performances and what is more, took part in the discussions...the world of music has lost a
notable savant and the Academy a staunch supporter.
Music under Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar
Along with material progress for Mysore, the reign of Nalwadi Krishnaraja
Wodeyar ushered in a grand era of cultural renaissance. Innumerable
vidwans from all over India were invited and honoured by the maharaja who
was himself a musician of repute. A good singer, he could play the veena,
flute, violin, mridangam, nagaswaram, sitar, saxophone, harmonium and
the piano! It is said that he would wake up at 5 am for his daily music
practice. He began the system of orchestras, which included instrumental
and vocal components. For the first time, microphones and speakers were
introduced in Mysore by him to allow a larger audience to enjoy the music,
especially on festive occasions.
Sheshanna composed innumerable swarajatis, varnas and tillanas in
this period. Sambaiya was another famous composer of swarajatis.Other
outstanding musicians of the time were Veene Subrahmanya Iyer,
Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar, Veene Shivaramaiya, Veene
Venkatagiriappa, Belakawadi Srinivasa Iyengar, Chikka Rama Rao, Mysore
T. Chowdaiah, Gotuvadyam Narayana Iyengar, Tiruvayyar Subrahmanya
Iyer, Anavati Rama Rao and others.
Dr Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar (1877–1945)
‘Where do you have your bath?’
‘There is the river, by God’s grace. Three dips in it and my bath is over. I
need neither a boiler nor any fuel!’
‘What about your food?’
‘It is enough if I get a few morsels of rice from a couple of houses. I am
a Brahmachari, my Upanayana having been already performed. If I ask for
alms, some kind-hearted woman gives me food. Each day I have a different
sort of food and a different relish!’
‘You bathe in the river, you get your alms, it need hardly be said that you
must be living in some choultry.’
‘Your guess is right. Right from my twelfth year, this dharma chatra has
been my home. What else do I need?’

Recollecting this first encounter with the genius, his contemporary and
another genius in his own right, Vasudevacharya writes:
This in brief was my very first conversation with Muthaiah Bhagavathar when we were
students at Thiruvayyar. Even when he was speaking of the misfortunes he had faced, he
maintained a cheerful countenance. One evening, when we were sitting in the front
verandah of his choultry, we talked about our younger days and thought the Creator had
made both of us sail in the same boat. Thereafter, we became fast friends.
Born on 15 November 1877, Dr Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar is
one of the most important post-Trinity composers and an important vocalist
as well. Muthaiah Bhagavathar was born to Lingam Iyer and Anandambal in
1877. After the early death of his father, he was brought up by his maternal
uncle Lakshmana Suri of Harikesanallur, who taught him Sanskrit and the
Vedas. The uncle was an orthodox Vedic scholar who believed that music
and dance were not respectable pursuits and tried very hard to turn his
nephew towards the study of Sanskrit. Muthaiah Bhagavathar studied
Sanskrit for about two years but his heart was not in it. Finally, he left
Tirunelveli for Tiruvayyar without telling anyone. He had resolved to learn
music even if it meant begging for a living.
Bhagavathar wandered about in search of an able gum. At last, a reputed
vidwan named Sambashiva Iyer, who belonged to the Thyagaraja shishya
parampara, agreed to teach him. Muthaiah Bhagavathar studied under him
for seven years and acquired proficiency in music. He got further musical
training from Sambasiva Iyer’s son T.S. Sabesa Iyer.
Muthaiah Bhagavathar was twenty when he returned to Harikesanallur.
He stayed in his hometown for about five years, and gave a few concerts. In
those days music concerts did not receive as much encouragement as
musical discourses did, and Muthaiah Bhagavathar decided to switch over to
that form for a career. He had good scholarship in Sanskrit; he had fluency
of speech, an excellent knowledge of music and a rich voice. No wonder his
discourses became popular within a short while. He was able to make ends
meet at last.
As a vocalist, his big break came when in 1887 he sang before Maharaja
Mulam Tirunal of Travancore who honoured him as a court musician. This
established him as one of the front-ranking musicians of the time. Later he
started giving Harikatha performances, for which he earned the name

Bhagavathar. This was when he began creating compositions for his
Harikathas.
At the age of 25, Muthaiah Bhagavathar settled in Madurai. He started a
small music school where he himself taught. Shortly after this, he went to
Kamr, where he befriended a wealthy landlord of Andipalli named Petta
Chettiyar. Fortune smiled on Muthaiah Bhagavathar now. The Chettiyar,
who admired his learning, honoured him. As suggested by Muthaiah
Bhagavathar, he celebrated the Skanda Sashti festival every year at Kamr.
He invited well-known vidwans from all over South India to give concerts,
and rewarded them liberally. This gave Bhagavathar an opportunity to come
into contact with the famous artistes of the time and to further his
scholarship. But the happy days came to an end when Petta Chettiyar passed
away. Dejected, Bhagavathar left Karur and after touring places, like
Calcutta and Rangoon, he settled in Madras.
The next phase of his life, at the age of 50, was from 1927 as a court
musician in Mysore. Most of his compositions were created in this period.
Bhagavathar composed over 108 kritis in an equal number of ragas in praise
of Goddess Chamundeshwari. Many derived ragas or janya ragas, which
were hitherto unused, were used in his compositions. Initially, he composed
mostly in madhya kala or medium tempo, like Shri Thyagaraja. After 1931,
he was influenced by Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s compositions and started
composing in vilambita kala or the slow tempo. His compositions of the
dhatu or notation for the Ashtottara shata namakritis in Kannada dedicated
to Goddess Chamundeshwari, the mathu or lyrics being composed by
Devottama Jois, are ample testimony of his devotion and knowledge.
The scholar in him was always ready to absorb other forms of music,
assimilate those aspects into the Carnatic style and innovate on his own. It is
said that on a visit to Benaras, he heard Rag Sohini of the Hindustani style
and was so captivated by its haunting beauty that he wished to adapt it to the
Carnatic System. On omitting the occasional panchama usage, he found its
lakshana agreed with that given in the South Indian music books. Thus was
born Raga Hamsanandi, in a beautiful song Needu Mahima PogadaNaa
Tarama Rama, an instant hit, which took South India by storm and was
rendered by all musicians of the south in their concerts. Similarly he created
popular ragas like Mohanakalyani, Valaji, Budha Manohari and Gauda
Malhar, to name a few. His musical brilliance comes to the fore in his
compositions in several similar sounding ragas, like Saranga Malhar,
Nagabhushani, Gowda Malhar and Pashupatipriya.
It is said that on one occasion Bhagavathar was so moved by the
Maharaja’s agony due to severe mouth ulcers that he went home and
composed the kriti Rajarajaraadhite in Raga Niroshtha (the name of the
raga literally meant ‘no contact with the lips’!) and prayed for the speedy
recovery of his benefactor.
In 1936, he was again invited by Maharani Sethu Parvathi Bai of
Travancore and spent several years there. During that time, one of his major
contributions was in popularising Travancore Maharaja Swati Timnal’s
compositions and systematising the notations of over 300 kritis of Swati
Tirunal. He was also the first principal of Travancore’s Swathi Tirunal
Academy of Music. He wrote and published a book in Tamil on the theory
of music, entitled Sangeeta Kalpadruma. In 1940, Bhagavathar composed
Srimat Thyagaraja Vijaya in Sanskrit, which sketches the life, achievements
and compositional characteristics of the saint. Consisting of 487 shlokas,
the work is divided into seven sargas or cantos—the number seven
reflecting the seven notes of music, even as the shloka of each sarga starts
with the letters sa ri ga ma and so on.
Apart from being a vocalist and composer, Muthaiah Bhagavathar was
also a learned musicologist. He was actively involved in the Annual
Conference of Experts conducted by the Music Academy of Madras. In
1930 he was awarded the Sangeetha Kalanidhi by the academy. He also
wrote a book on the science of music, Sangeetha Kalpadhruma, for which
he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1943 by the Travancore state.
Vasudevacharya fondly recollects:
Muthaiah Bhagavathar, who had endured several hardships in life, had great compassion for
the poor. No musician who visited him returned empty-handed. His was a small family: he,
his wife and his daughter. Even the daughter passed away shortly after his coming down to
Mysore. Though they were only two at home, husband and wife, they had to ensure food for
at least 15 people—morning, and evening. Friends and relatives always flocked around him
but Bhagavathar never encouraged idle talk; his life was dedicated to music and he spoke
only about music. Those who went to him rarely returned without learning something
valuable. Occasionally, if bored, he played cards. On many occasions, he invited me to join
him in the game.
Before he composed his kirtanas in Shankarabharana and Kharaharapriya,
he sent for me and made me sing half-a-dozen times the kirtanas I had
composed in those ragas, namely, Harini Bhajinche and Rara Yenipilichithe.
He then remarked: ‘Acharya, I now have a complete picture of the emotional
shades of ragas and I shall begin my composition.’
Apart from his varnas and kirtanas which are rich specimens of melody
and emotion, I had a great admiration and liking for his tillanas and darus.
Many a time, when I sang at the palace, he accompanied me on the mridanga.
No one could question his skill. After all, he had learnt under no less a vidwan
than Narayanasamappa of Tanjore. He possessed an accurate knowledge of
rhythm which explains the excellence of his tillanas and darus. He first sang his
compositions before vidwans and welcomed their suggestions and comments.
He accepted all the criticism he found valid, and incorporated the necessary
changes. Though he could render all ragas equally well, fully elucidating their
emotional content, Mukhari was his favourite and his rendering of that raga
was unique.
Veene Venkatagiriappa (1887–1952)
Along with the family of Adiappayya and his successors, including
Sheshanna, the other family that greatly contributed to the Mysore Bani was
that of Veene Ramakrishnaiya, the court musician in Haidar Ali’s time. In
his family were born many musicians, including his grandson Dodda Subba
Rao and his son Chikka Subba Rao. Venkatagiriappa was the maternal
grandson of this Dodda Subba Rao. He unfortunately lost his parents at a
young age and that brought him under the loving tutelage of his maternal
family. He also had the opportunity to learn under Veene Sheshanna.
His maiden concert was held at the Khas Bungalow in the presence of
Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. An interesting event occurred then. The
maharaja sat through the performance motionless, a stoic expression on his
face. The budding artist was nervous but continued playing with grit. At the
end of the concert the maharaja did not say a word. He merely gave him Rs
2 as a gift and left. Chikka Subba Rao was deeply disappointed at what he
thought was his nephew’s maiden failure. To make matters worse for him,
attendants from the court taunted him about the wholesome reward that he
had received. Subba Rao maintained his composure and told them that the
very fact that the maharaja heard his nephew play would remain a cherished
honour. But in reality all this was a ploy by the maharaja to test the true
mettle of the musician. He was actually greatly impressed with the young
man and this began Venkatagiriappa’s entry into the Mysore court.
He soon won the maharaja’s heart and was appointed to several
positions of eminence. He was the director of the Palace Band, headed the
supervisory committee that assessed upcoming musicians for palace
performances, taught the veena to Yuvaraja Kanthirava Narasimharaja’s
daughters and the students of the Government Training College and
Maharani’s High School. He learnt Western music and made some valuable
contributions to it at the behest of the maharaja. He gave performances at
many places in and outside the state and was honoured by the raja with the
title of ‘Vainika Pravina’.
Maharani Sethu Parvati Bai of Travancore was so overwhelmed by his
performance that she is said to have literally worshipped him by showering
him with a variety of flowers. He is also credited with composing the music
for the Travancore Anthem and for composing twenty-six kritis,five varnas,
three ragamalikas, four tillanas and three naghmas. This last was a new
genre in the Carnatic style that he created, resembling the gats prevalent in
the Hindustani style.
Among his celebrated disciples were the world-famous veena player
Mysore Dr V. Doreswamy Iyengar, Prof R.N. Doreswamy, M.J. Srinivasa
Iyengar, M. Cheluvaraya Swamy, N. Chennakeshaviah, Rajamma,
Rajalakshmi, V. Desikachar, Ranganayaki, C. Krishnamurthy and others.
His celebrated disciple Veene Doreswamy Iyengar recounts:
I did not undergo gurukulavasam. Our house was very near to Venkatagiriappa’s. I would
go to my guru’s house in the morning. He would teach and watch me as I played. If I
committed any mistake, I had to repeat the portion at least 15 to 20 times till I could play
perfectly. Unless he was satisfied he would not proceed further. He always said, ‘You must
get siddhi in playing.’ In this way he taught me Chitta Tânam that Veena Sheshanna had
specially composed for Vainikas to understand the method of playing Tânam. They are
studded with gamakas and that gave me excellent training in gamakaful Tânam and also
improvised Tânams. Muthaiah Bhagavathar was then the Asthana Vidwan. Chamundeswari
is the deity of the Royal house. Muthaiah Bhagavathar has composed many kirtanas on
Chamundeswari. Venkatagiriappa taught me several of those songs.
The Mysore Maharaja was very particular that the second line of Vainikas,
Vocalists and others were prepared. So one day he asked my guru whether he
had given training to young persons to take on his mantle. Then, along with
me, Ranganayaki Parthasarathy and Nallar Rajalakshmi were also learning
Veena.
The Maharaja asked my guru to bring his disciples one day to the Palace
so that he could hear them. I remember I played for half an hour. The
Maharaja heard me and asked my guru, ‘Who is that boy?’ pointing to me.
‘He is our orchestra Veena Vidwan, Venkatesa Iyengar’s son.’ The Maharaja
told my guru, ‘Train this boy well. He is full of promise.’ I was pleasantly
surprised when the Maharaja gave me Rs 50. In those days you can imagine
the value of Rs 50.
Mysore T. Chowdaiah (1894–1967)
Here was another towering musical personality who dazzled under the royal
patronage of the Wodeyars. It is said of him that
in the field of Karnatak music, Violin Chowdiah is a towering personality like that of a
delicately carved, rich and imposing Gopuram. His perfect knowledge of Shabda jala, his
innate ability to traverse the entire spectrum of raga with supreme ease and his capacity to
*
give perfect solace to his listeners are beyond the frail capacity of words.
Bom in T. Naraseepura district, Chowdaiah showed a natural inclination
for music right from childhood. Eighteen years of strenuous tutelage under
the strict disciplinarian, Bidaram Krishnappa, transformed him into an ace
violinist. His break came when he was barely seventeen. It came by chance
when he was honoured with a request to accompany his gum when the
violinist failed to turn up. After that there was no looking back for him. He
accompanied all the stalwarts of the then pantheon of Carnatic music—
Mysore Vasudevacharya, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Ariyakudi
Ramanuja Iyengar, Tiger Varadachariar, Musiri Subrahmanya Iyer, G.N.
Balasubramaniam, the Alattur brothers, T.R. Mahalingam, Semmangudi
Srinivasa Iyer—to name a few. His mastery of both the left- and right-hand
techniques and his unique bowing style earned him great accolades from
connoisseurs and artists alike. He is credited with over twenty-five kritis and
eight tillanas, one of which is a nadai tillana where the tempo or nadai
changes successively.
Few women entered the musical profession in those days. Among the
few women musicians of the times, mention must be made of Bangalore
Nagaratnamma, who was popular all over South India for her musical
brilliance. She was earlier an exponent of the Bharatanatyam form of

classical dance. In honour of the memory of Saint Thyagaraja she undertook
to renovate his samadhi or resting-place at Tiruvaiyur in Tanjore, where to
this day, Carnatic musicians assemble to pay tribute to the saint at the
famous Thyagaraja Aradhana conclave. Her recitals were marked by purity
of diction and style.
It was the tradition of the Mysore Court to honour prominent artists by
inviting them to perform in the royal presence and to accept the title of
asthana vidwan. It is said that in 1937 Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar
extended an invitation to Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar to perform.
Chembai accepted the invitation and gave a performance which was hailed
as excellent by the maharaja as well as by his courtiers. Next day Wodeyar
presented the vidwan with a shawl and other tokens of appreciation.
Muthaiah Bhagavathar also honoured Chembai and a photograph showing
the two Bhagavathars together is on display at the Mysore palace till this
day.
The maharaja then expressed his wish to have Chembai recognised as an
asthana vidwan. Though pleased to hear this, Chembai declined, saying that
he would be unable to discharge the obligations of a court musician, which
required his attendance at the court frequently and especially during Dasara.
The vidwan was already committed, for many years now, to perform
Navaratri puja privately at home and therefore he was not available for any
public engagements during that holiday period. His sense of priorities was
such that he did not wish to break this commitment. Far from being upset,
the maharaja appreciated Chembai’s sense of priorities. The courtiers too
were struck by his dedication. In subsequent years, Chembai is said to have
performed at the court several times at the Maharaja’s invitation.
Not only did the maharaja invite to Mysore famous Carnatic musicians
of his times, such as Tiger Varadachariar, Veene Dhanammal and Ariyakudi
Ramanuja Iyengar, he also patronised the Hindustani style. Maharaja
Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV invited the legendary Hindustani musician Ustad
Faiz Khan of the Agra gharana or style and also Ustad Abdul Karim Khan
of the Kirana gharana to Mysore. The legendary singer of her times, Gauhar
Jaan of Calcutta (1875–1930), who was among the first musicians of India
to be recorded on the gramophone, was patronized by the Maharaja in the
last days of her life when she was in great misery in her, home town of
Calcutta. She was appointed a court musicians with a monthly allowance of

Rs 500 and a bungalow in Mysore. Gauhar also breathed her last in Mysore
in 1930. Many Hindustani musicians were specially invited to perform
during the Dasara celebrations, and some of them settled in Mysore to teach
music. Abdul Karim Khan stayed in the city and was a guest of the
maharaja for six months while Aftab Barkatullah Khan of Calcutta a well-
known sitar artiste of his times was another visitor who stayed on in Mysore
at the behest of the maharaja.
The Cultural symbiosis that this interaction among musicians created
was immense and added to the cosmopolitan character of Mysore. It
facilitated an erudite Muthhaiah Bhagavathar to incorporate many
Hindustani ragas into Carnatic music; Ustad Abdul Karim Khan learnt
many Carnatic kritis from Vasudevacharya and in fact incorporated the
kalpana swara technique into the Hindustani sargams which are an integral
part of his Kirana Gharana. The short stay of about 2 years of Sarala Debi
Choudhrani, Rabindranath Tagore’s niece, in Mysore at the Maharani Girl’s
School, exposed her to Carnatic music and the Veena of Mysore. On her
return she sung these to her uncle Tagore, who was so impressed by the
Carnatic tunes and composed songs based on these. This in turn gave birth
to a new genre of Rabindra Sangeeth called the ‘Bhanga Gaan.’ So many of
the Carnatic kritis like Lavanya Rama, Meenakshi Me Mudam dehi etc have
their Bengali counterparts as well! Thus the idea of cultural exchange
among different genres was actively encouraged in Mysore.
Nalwadi’s reign also saw Mysore playing a very modernizing role in
musical development. The palace records have interesting details about
individual musicians who came forward to collaborate in musical reform
and education. The court took an active interest in developing a royal school
of music for teaching music and setting it to notation. The main features of
this project were scientific theory and systematization.
Instrumental orchestras in Carnatic, Hindustani and Western styles and
many times an amalgam of all the three was another prominent feature of
the music of Mysore. Otto Schmidt conducted the Western Orchestra.
Carnatic vidwans were commissioned the job of harmonizing. Carnatic
tunes and transcribing them in staff notation. In today’s democratic world
while many purists frown upon creative collaborations between genres, in
the early decades of the 20th century, Mysore encouraged a grand
instrumental ensemble of three varied musicians of varied nationalities-Otto

Schmidt on the violin, Dr Margaret Cousins on the Piano and Sheshanna on
the Veena!”
Krishnaraja Wodeyar also patronised Western music and founded a
European band with a German conductor to popularise Western classical
music. Artists selected for the European band of the Mysore Palace had to
train and clear the music examination of Trinity College of Music, London,
for which the examiners had to come from England to Mysore. They were
provided accommodation by the maharaja. Instrumental orchestras of
Carnatic and Hindustani music also received much attention during his
reign. He introduced the public address system (microphones) on the palace
premises, facilitating the enjoyment of music by the common people as well.
MUSIC UNDER JAYACHAMARAJA WODEYAR
The music of Mysore reached its zenith during the rule of Jayachamaraja
Wodeyar.
He was a prolific composer and a greatly talented musician himself. The
atmosphere of music and culture that existed in the Mysore Palace inspired
*
the young prince to take up music. His sister, Smt Vijaya Rani recounts:
I think the cultural atmosphere prevailing in the Mysore Palace at the time of our childhood
did undoubtedly have a profound influence on us...though we grew up steeped in Carnatic
music and dance, etc., we strangely enough were not taught Carnatic music until a later
stage. Our musical lessons commenced with piano for my brother and myself and violin for
my sister. Sister Ignatius was from the Good Shepherd Convent in Mysore. After basics we
went through the Annual Examinations held by the Trinity College of Music in London
starting with the grade examinations and on the diploma...Western music was a passion
with him. He devoted whatever little time he could get in to its study. He played and read
extensively, thereby enlarging his repertoire of piano music. This habit continued till the
end of his life.
In fact, an essay that he penned in his early years, titled ‘Aesthetic

*
Philosophy of India’, provides an insight into his views on music:
Music has been called the finest of fine arts. In a sense it is also the most elusive and
apparently unsubstantial of the fine arts. A musician builds a palace of sound which
vanishes into nothingness, even as it is being raised. But induces no feeling of frustration
since the musician builds his structure right in the heart of his listeners. We may well say
Wordsworth ‘The music in my heart I bore long after it was heard no more.’...in Indian
music, there is a clear emphasis on the resemblance between the joy of music and the joy of
spiritual experience. The final purpose of music is to create a deep joy, similar to the joy
that artists get out of the realisation of God...the release or the realisation of the latent
Ananda through the medium of musical sound is to help the ordinary man to attain moksha,
An aesthetic experience lasts only a short time, no doubt it is temporal. But it is nonetheless
worth having since it helps us, even though temporarily, to attain the highest plane.
His 94 compositions are an invaluable contribution to the treasure of
Carnatic music and have made their way into the repertoire of South India’s
reputed musicians. He used rare ragas such as Durvanki (GamGanapathe),
Prathapavarali (Bhooribhagyalahari) and Bhogavasantha (AmbaSri).
Composers have traditionally played a very important role in the
development of Carnatic music. It is they who through their compositions
established the grammar and bhava of the many hundreds of ragas that are
vogue in Carnatic music today.
As mentioned earlier, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar had a brilliant academic
track-record and was first taught Western music on the piano, along with his
sister Vijaya Devi, by Sister Ignatius. He received high honours in the
annual examinations conducted by Trinity College of Music, London.
Western classical music became a passion with him. He not only became a
good musician but also a composer. He was responsible for forming the
Medtner Society in honour of the Russian composer Nikolai Karlovich
Medtner. On hearing one of his compositions on the B.B.C, the Maharaja
made enquiries with his friends in London about the composer. When he
was told that Medtner was too poor to have his works recorded and
published, he graciously took it upon himself to sponsor the genius and
twelve of the composers’ best pieces were recorded and published under the
aegis of the ‘Maharaja of Mysore’s Medtner Society’ established in London
in 1949! Despite his failing health, Medtner recorded his three piano
concertos, as well as his sonatas, chamber music, numerous songs and
shorter works. Though he never got an opportunity to meet him in person,
Medtner conveyed his gratitude to the Maharaja by dedicating his third
Piano concerto to him!
The Medtner project brought the Maharaja in touch with Walter Legge,
an influential British classical record producer, who was invited to Mysore.
Legge recollects this as a fantastic experience, being totally astonished by

the royal library with over 20,000 rare records and a large range of loud
speakers and several grand pianos. Legge had nurtured dreams of founding a
new orchestra, the Philharmonia. His joy knew no bounds when the
Maharaja readily agreed to give him an annual subvention of £ 10,000 for
three years to enable him to establish the Philharmonia Orchestra and the
Philharmonia Concert Society in London on a firm basis. The Maharaja also
became the first President of the Philharmonia Concert Society in 1948.
One of the last wishes of German opera composer, Richard Strauss, was
that Kirsten Flagstad should be the soprano to introduce the four songs
which he finished in 1948. The Maharaja sponsored this even with a $ 4,800
guarantee for the performance. Strauss was overwhelmed by emotion to see
a packed royal albert Hall, with German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler in
the lead and Sopamo Flagstad singing his ‘Four Last songs’ (Going to sleep,
September, Spring and At Sunset) in 1950!
The Maharaja also sponsored Louis Kentner’s recording of Balakirev’s
Piano Sonata and Etudes d’execution transcendante Op 11—the series 12
compositions written for the piano by Sergei Lyapunov.
After 1940, when he came in contact with many eminent Carnatic
musicians, like Vasudevacharya, Ariyakudi, Tiger Varadachariar and others,
his interests gravitated more towards the Carnatic style. His knowledge of
music, Sanskrit and philosophy was the basis of his 94 kritis in Sanskrit. He
has followed the Muttuswamy Dikshitar style in composing pallavi and
anupallavi portions. The lyrical beauty and complexity of words are the
hallmarks of his kritis, many being set to the mishra jhampa tala. He was a
Srividya Upasaka or a devotee of the Goddess. His compositions therefore
use phrases like Sri Vidya Shodashakshari, Akaradi Khshakaranta in the
kriti Amba Sri Rajarajeswari (Raga Bhogavasanta),
Shodashaksharikundalamale and Navantaragata vasarathe in Bale brihat
shrishti mule (Raga Simhendra Madyama) which are rich in symbolism of
the divine feminine and tantric lore.
Apart from the usual ragas, he also composed in rare and new ragas, like
Bala Chandrika, Bhanu Chandrika, Hamsanatini, Hamsavinodini, Bhupala
Panchama, Suranandini, Jayasamvardhini, Neelaveni, and so on. Of the 94
kritis, 11 are in praise of Lord Ganesha, 13 for Lord Shiva, 4 for Lord
Vishnu, 2 for Goddess of whom the Maharaja was a great worshipper.

The royal insignia was the mythical bird Gandabherunda and the
bracelets given away as gifts to renowned musicians were embossed with
this symbol. Other eminent musicians at the royal court of Mysore during
this time were Tiger Varadachariar, Chennakeshavaiah, Titte Krishna
Iyengar, S.N. Mariappa, Chintalapalli Ramachandra Rao, R.N. Doreswamy,
H.M. Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and others.
By this time new and strange developments had caught up with the
world of Carnatic music. It had come a long way now from the temples and
puja rooms of the Trinity and singing bards to the houses of the devadasis
followed thereafter by lavish royal patronage in the courts of Mysore,
Tanjore, and Travancore, etc., as seen earlier. The freedom movement was
gathering momentum and it had an indelible impact on all walks of life.
Music—a part of society—could not remain untouched. Madras emerged as
the new centre for music around this time for strong political and social
reasons. As eminent author T.J.S. George puts it:
‘Madras’, the first city of Tamil, was also the political headquarters of the British
administration in the south. In fact the Madras Presidency covered virtually the entire
south, subsuming large chunks of present day Andhra, Karnataka and Malabar regions.
Madras was the pan-south seat of power from where all decisions flowed. That eminence
also elevated Madras to the status of the premier centre of cultural and intellectual activities
in the south. The Madras benchmarks set the pace in education, dance and painting. In
Carnatic music too, Madras developed into the hub of authority. By the end of the
nineteenth century, it was not enough for a musician to be established in Thanjavur or
Madurai or Mysore or Tirupati. For true recognition, he or she had to go to Madras and be
acknowledged there. After the Madras Music Academy was established in 1928 by leading
residents of Mylapore, the Brahmin citadel of Madras. Carnatic music acquired an instant
‘Vatican Council’ of its own, the ultimate symbol of establishmentarian power. The
academy’s approval could build careers and disapproval could destroy them.
Thus the seat of authority seemed to gravitate away from the places
where this musical form had actually taken birth and grown. With this came
numerous allegations of step-motherly treatment of musicians from other
states, be it Mysore or Travancore or Andhra. Ace violinist Dwaram
Venkataswamy Naidu or a Chowdaiah always felt the discrimination, not
feeling wholeheartedly ‘accepted’. It was a sad truth that strangely seems to
dog the Carnatic music world even in present times.

But it would be worthwhile to conclude this elaborate chapter, which
sketches the growth of classical music in Mysore, with the assertion that
Karnataka presents a rich synthesis that perhaps few other states would,
when it comes to musical tolerance. Sadly, musical forms in India have got
ghettoised in the citadels of their promotion. While Chennai and the
Cauvery belt remains the most distinctive proponent of Carnatic classical
music, places, like Pune, Kolkata, and Gwalior, etc., remain the citadels of
the Hindustani style. But there is very little tolerance for the other style or
even an acknowledgement of them in these places. However, in Karnataka,
while the old Mysore state was a rich citadel of Carnatic music and to an
extent Hindustani music, the northern parts of the State—known as Bombay
Karnataka—were centres of Hindustani music. No wonder then that the
veritable greats of contemporary Hindustani music, like Pandit Bhimsen
Joshi, Smt Gangubai Hangal, the late Mallikarjun Mansoor, the legendary
Kumar Gandharva and others, hail from Northern Karnataka; while the
Carnatic greats like Veena Doreswamy Iyengar, Violin Maestro Chowdaiya,
Vidwan R.K. Srikantan, Mysore Manjunath and Nagaraj, Flautist Shashank
and others hail from Mysore! A unique synthesis of styles here! And it
speaks of the Mysorean ethos of tolerance, acceptance, assimilation and
enrichment that I have tried to capture in this section.
THE MYSORE BANI OF VEENA—FOR THE
TECHNICALLYORIENTED
ani is nothing but a style that is cultivated carefully over a period of
time by a set of people or one person. This style or bani is then passed
over to the next generation of. shishyas or disciples who want to follow that
particular style of rendition. Its usage is similar to the word gharana in
Hindustani music. To the lay listener, all veena recitals my sound alike, but
the discerning ear can distinguish different styles of playing. The four
southern states evolved their own veena traditions and vied with each other
for excellence. Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer, Subbarama Iyer and Dhanammal
of Tamil Nadu, Venkataramana Das and Sangameswara Sastri of Andhra

Pradesh, Sheshanna and Subbanna of Mysore and Venkatadri Bhagavathar
(who belonged to Palghat Anantarama Bhagavathar’s family), of Kerala
were legends in their own lifetime. Each of these vainikas had their field of
specialty. If one excelled at speed, another mastered subtle nuances and
dynamics.
*
THE STRUCTURE OF THE MYSORE VEENAS
Not only the style, but also the structure of the veenas varied from one state
to the other. In the Mysore veenas, the main resonator (kudam) and the
dandi are manufactured with the best kind of jackwood, which has good
grains. These veenas are polished with colourless polish. In the old Mysore
veenas the birudais are made of ebony wood with ivory shikamani. The
wood used for the neck is a kind different from the one used for the main
body. The yali (head) is carved directly from the neckpiece of the veena.
The thickness of the wood used for the round kudam in the Mysore veena is
very little as compared to the Tanjore veena. It is only about 2.5 to 3 mm.
This increases the resonance of the instrument. The main resonator is
absolutely plain with no decorations whatsoever.
The top board or the soundboard of the main resonator plays a very
important part on the final quality of the timbre of the veena. In the Mysore
veena, this soundboard is made from good quality rosewood with parallel
grains. Following the craft tradition of the city, the soundboard is relatively
thin (around 4 mm) and its profile is completely flat. These characteristics,
which render it very flexible, bring about a low resistance to the vertical
pressure exerted on to its centre by the bridge. In fact, because of the
absence of any bar, there is a slight sinking at this spot. The flexibility of the
sound boards of the Mysore veenas favors the emission of the low register,
but forbids all excessive use of string deflection which, due to considerable
increase of pressure on the bridge, deforms the sound board and alters the
accuracy of the instrument, in particular the stability of the tâla strings. No
sound hole is visible on the surface of the soundboard and the instrument is
therefore a completely closed unit.
The absence of decorations could be because of the thinness of the
wood used on the main resonators. But it is said that the veenas of court
musicians were decorated in some places with silver and ivory.
The neck of the veena, also known as the dandi, is attached to the main
resonator with the help of pegs that go through these two parts. Five pegs go
through the dandi and the main resonator to attach it and three pegs go
through the dandi and the peg box to attach it. Fine strips of deer antler
conceal these two joints exteriorly with indented edges. This constitutes the
sole ornamentation of this part.
The dandi is made out of a different kind of jackwood. The dandi is
rather slender and thins greatly from one end to the other. It is hollow
inside. The hollow curvature of the elongated neck is covered on the top by
a dandi palakka, on which is fixed the fingerboard. The dandi palakka in the
Mysore veena is made of rosewood. This fingerboard is fixed on the dandi
by skin glue, and joined to the soundboard by a brass screw. Three small
knobs made out of antler, which are fixed to its side, serve as nuts for the
drone strings. The wax made out of beeswax, rosin and lamp black is
applied on the two ledges of the dandi palakka and the frets are placed on
this. The frets in the Mysore veena are of increasing length.
The peg box is made out of rosewood and is attached to the dandi by a
pegged tenon and as stated before, its yâli is carved at its extremity, from the
same block. Access to the pegs is largely open, without a cover, and no
storage space (for plectrums) has been arranged at the top. The tuning pegs
are arranged on both sides of the peg box in two groups: firstly those of the
two highest strings, sârini and panchama and secondly those of the two
lowest strings, mandhara and anumandhara. A fine decoration made from
strips of engraved antler, the only one on the entire instrument marks the
two exterior edges.
In Mysore, where there is a strong tradition of woodcarving, the making
of the yâli is realised with particular care. Each instrument maker has for
this piece his own canons which he reproduces with slight variations
depending on the instrument, and which forms a sort of signature. The yâli
in the Mysore veena is more of a lion than a dragon. The piece is both
voluminous yet slender and is made with extreme care. It forms just one
piece with the peg box and a petal-like finish, imitating fur extends itself
widely underneath it.
Regarding the strings, the first two strings are made of steel and the
lower octave strings are made of bronze. The bridge’s characteristics are
substantially responsible for the particular timbre of the veena. The bridge is
formed from a wooden base onto which is glued using lacquer, a plate of
brass or bronze with a slightly rounded profile that serves to support the four
melodic strings. The profile and the incline of this surface are of capital
importance in the quality of the timbre of the instrument and are subject to
very minute adjustments. The three tâla strings rest on another plate of
brass, curved, immobilised between a foot of the bridge and the soundboard
simply by the pressure of the strings. Two small bamboo or steel nails,
embedded into the soundboard hold in place the two feet-like extensions of
the bridge onto which a lateral push is exerted due to the tâla strings. The
bridges from Mysore have the characteristic of using a small independent
plate of steel to support the sârini string with the other strings normally
resting on brass. According to the musicians, the use of steel gives the tone a
slight ‘sharp’ colour, which no doubt favours its perception.
The meru is constructed from a small parallel fret-like structure made
from deer antlers, rounded on the upper side and equipped with four
notches. The four knobs on which the tâla strings pass though are made out
of antler and are fixed on the side of the dandi.
The tailpiece or the nagapasha is a rectangular outgrowth from the main
resonator and the soundboard, which is reinforced by a plate of the antler,
and pierced with nine holes. Each string is attached to the tailpiece by a
metal buckle (langar). This device called langar allows the string to be
easily tuned with precision. The Mysore veena uses a simple twist of brass
wire for a runner.
The tuning pegs are made out of rosewood and are made from one piece
and are decorated with small buttons of antler, which are fixed in the middle
of the handle. The secondary resonators, which now serve the purpose of
only providing the required height to play the instrument, were initially
made of scooped out gourd (sorakkais). It was said that this too
complemented in enhancing the quality of sound.
But now in the Mysore veena, since the beginning of the twentieth
century, metal resonators made from plates of welded steel, coloured either
green or black, are used.
The Style
Among all the styles, Mysore veena Bani with its meetu (style of plucking at
the strings) and presentation has a charm of its own. The style can be
described as basically instrumental, and seeks to retain the melodic purity
of the notes. Therefore, deep gamakas are generally not used. The Mysore
style exhibits the significance of veena-playing with gamakas and the
correct kalapramana with which they should be rendered. Shallow
gamakas, playing the notes on the frets, a pleasing meetu, use of
tribhinna(plucking the three strings simultaneously or successively) for a
pianoforte effect, use of janta swaras in phrases like sa-ni-ni-dha-dha-pa-
pa-ma and dhatu swaras such as ri-pa-ga-dha-ma-ni-pa-sa are typical of
this style. The fingers of the left hand are separated to facilitate fast
passages. The secret of producing a mature sound lies in the plucking of
strings. A special fingering technique was introduced whereby a fast musical
passage could smoothly be negotiated with a single stroke. Inflecting the
string produced certain nuances. The effect of ‘Pause’ while rendering
alapana and swaraprayogas is Mother important characteristic that
highlights this Bani.
The raga Alapana is presented on these lines, and the tanam typical of
Mysore is full of melodic effects achieved by the use of appropriate
plucking modes. According to veena exponent Doreswamy Iyengar, an
interesting feature used to be the chitta tana (preset tanam). These were
extensively used for practice to help the student gain speed and clarity.
Tanas are played in three degrees of speed that add colour and liveliness.
The employment of dhatu swara prayogas while rendering kalpana swaras
is another noteworthy feature of the Mysore school. Compositions like
darus and tillannas are well-known for representing the dhatu swara
prayogas.
The interpretation of a particular note in Mysore style can be well
portrayed by introducing special effects. There are various possible modes
with which a particular musical note can be presented in Mysore style.
Many ragas such as Behag, Jhenjooti or Khamas played by vainikas of
the Mysore school have a distinct North Indian touch, due to the proximity
of Karnataka’s northern districts to Maharashtra and the resulting influence.
It is very pleasing and reposeful. Playing veena in Mysore style is unique. It
is played with the nails of the right hand, without using the metal plectrums
usually required. This helps the strings to resonate more naturally. The
mellifluous touch comes the closest to soft vocal tones. ‘Veena as such is a
soft and melodious instrument and needs delicate handling,’ says
Doreswamy Iyengar, in whose hands the veena was never a loud instrument.
The structure of an instrument tends to affect the way it is played. The
top board of the Mysore veena is so thin that exerting pressure through
inflexion of strings or deep gamakas would dent it. So, unconsciously
perhaps, the Mysore vainikas play in a more fret-based style. The resulting
tone, sweetness and lilt are characteristic of the Mysore style. Finally,
mastering the technique is only a means to an end and the sensitivity of the
Mysore Bani can be appreciated more in a close and intimate gathering.
These are some of the characteristics of the Mysore Bani:
Preference for straight notes
Liberal usage of meetus
Tonal sweetness
Using natural finger nails instead of plectrums
Preference for sharp Veena tone
Less deflection of strings
Increased instrumental effects to bring out the beauty of veena as an
instrument
Split fingering techniques
———————————
*
It is common practice among South Indian musicians even today to be addressed by the
name of the place they represent. Thus we have Mysore Sadashiva Rao, Bangalore
Nagaratnamma, and so on.
*
The Trinity consisted of Thyagaraja (1767–1847), Shyama Shastry (1763–1827)and
Muthuswamy Dikshitar (1775–1835), three great composers of that period.
*
̀
In the case of music, the word sahity á always means a poem, unlike its usual meaning
encompassing all literature. The poem becomes the literary device or structure for the
music.
*
Details on the technical aspects of the Mysore Bani are given in the appendix to this
chapter.
*
Taken from the 1962 souvenir of the Rasika Ranjani Sabha, Calcutta.
*
Taken from the Mysore Association Silver Jubilee Souvenir, ‘A Tribute from a Sister–His
Highness Jayachamaraja Wodeyar’.
*
This essay can be found in Sukanya Prabhakar’s 2005 book, Karnataka Sangeetakke Sri
Jayachamarajendra Wodeyaravara Koduge.
*
This section of the appendix has been taken from the Ph.D. thesis of eminent veena artist
and teacher, Vidushi Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh.

27
MYSOREANS:CLASSICAL DANCE
he first rays of the sun had just touched the dew-soaked blades of grass.
The rest of the city was still curled up in bed. But at 5 am on that
auspicious day began a new chapter in the saga of dance. The house of Jetti
Thayamma was abuzz with activity. The ritual was the Sadhaka Puje—the
initiation of a new student to the fold. Today, little Venkatalakshmi, aged 9,
was entering the tutelage of the celebrated dancer of Mysore, Jetti
Thayamma.
The Ganapati and Saraswati pujas began the initiation process. Paddy
was spread on the ground and on that were placed a pair of spotless white
cloths. A swastika on the paddy heap signified all auspicious things. The
guru led her little student by her hand.
‘Venkatalakshmi! Place your right foot on the cloth there and take five
steps on it!’ she commanded.
The little girl complied, and there was much jubilation in the gathering.
A new student, after careful screening, had been chosen to follow the art of
classical dance and the few girls there now had a new companion.
Each day now began at 5 am for Venkatalakshmi. After an initial warm-
up exercise, the regimen began. From the poorvaranga to the jatiswaras and
the varnas, she was privileged to have the most intense coaching anyone
could aspire for.
‘Lakshmi! It isn’t enough for you to just learn dance. Go and tune the
tambura there! What is dance if you have no musical sense? Alignment with
the shruti is the most fundamental aspect of any fine art. It gives you a sense
of balance and grounds you to the earth,’ would be her guru’s constant
advice.
Three years later...
The girl was twelve and ready to perform publicly. The date of performance
was nearing and once again there was a flurry of activity like the day of her
initiation. The Vaddige Puje ritual involved her worship of all the
instruments and seeking the blessings of the musical accompaniments. This
was followed by the Gejje Puje (worshipping the anklets).
Young Venkatalakshmi bathed in fragrant and scented waters and put on
her nine-yard sari in a delightful twist. Her friends beautified her with some
fine jewels. With anxiety and nervousness written large on her face, the
young girl entered the courtyard of her guru’s house where her
Rangapravesha or debut in the world of dance was to happen.
The pushpanjali shloka and choornika were sung delightfully by the
musician ensemble. Thayamma then placed a pair of anklets, newly woven
in thread, in a brass plate and took it around the courtyard to seek the
blessings of all the assembled elders. She then went to Venkatalakshmi and
lovingly placed her arms around the girl.
‘Today is when your journey truly begins. What you do from now on
will show the world whether I was competent or not. Don’t bring me a bad
name, my dear!’ she whispered and herself tied the anklets around the
young girl’s ankles.
The dance that began on that auspicious day in Mysore carried on
ceaselessly for decades after that. It won the hearts of millions and
established the beauty of the special Mysore Shaili of Bharatanatyam. It
brought fame not only to the revered guru Thayamma, but also the
deserving student, Padmabhushana Dr K. Venkatalakshamma.
CLASSICAL DANCE IN INDIA
The Natyashastra of Bharata—an authoritative treatise on the music and
dance of India—attributes the origin of Indian classical dance to the

creation of a fifth Veda by the Creator, Lord Brahma, called Natyaveda on
the insistence of Sage Narada. It drew from the other four Vedas—the Word
came from the Rigveda, Music from the Samaveda, Histrionics from the
Yajurveda and Rasa or emotions from the Atharvaveda. The emotional
involvement in any dance performance transports the dancer and the
audience to a realm of beauty, binding them together in the thread of rasa.
Dance is an outward manifestation of expression and is deeply spiritual in
its outlook. Even the seemingly sensuous pieces have a deeper philosophical
import of the soul craving for the super soul—an imagery common in music
as well. All dance forms have the mechanical body and foot movements or
the nriita aspect as well as the abhinaya or histrionic representation. This in
itself is four-fold: angika (body language), vachika (speech), aharya
(ornamentation) and sattvika (aesthetic abstract). The seven classical dance
forms of India are Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Kathakali (all
from South India), Kathak from the Indo-Gangetic belt of northern India,
Odissi from the south-western region of Orissa and Manipuri from the
north-east.
The Bharatanatyam dance form is among the oldest of them all and
finds mention in the classic Tamil literary work, Silappadikaram. With a
spurt in temple-building activities after the sixth century AD,the dancers
were employed in temples to propitiate the gods. Thus began the practice of
the devadasis, literally meaning the servants of God. The literary content
came from medieval composers and later from the Carnatic music of the
South, with varnas, tillanas, padatns and javalis being the main items of
performance.
Classical dance, particularly Bharatanatyam, has been practised
professionally as well as academically from ancient times in Karnataka, as
is evident in Kannada literature, inscriptions, and paintings. All the
evidence points to a rich tradition of dance in Karnataka through the
centuries to the present day. The Chalukyan sculptures at Badami and
Aihole proclaim that the sculptors of Karnataka had a good knowledge of
the Natyashastra in the fifth century itself. In fact, the very first dancing
figurine of Shiva as Nataraja, sculpted in the chaturbhangi mudra, was
found in Karnataka’s Badami—the erstwhile capital of the Chalukyas.
Classical dance was studied as a regular course in the great universities of

Talakadu, Talagunda, and Bulligavi between the fourth to the thirteenth
centuries. Karnataka’s royalty not only patronised the art form, but also
learnt it, like the great danseuse, Queen Shantala, of the Hoysala Empire.
The madanika (shilabalike/sculptmes) figures representing dancing
figurines are found in the temples of Halebid and Belur. The Vijayanagara
empire patronised the various classical art forms. After the fall of the
empire, the art of dance was nurtured by the devadasis—temple dancers. It
was Mysore that took on the mantle of patronising the arts.
Classical dance in Mysore
Kanthirava Wodeyar set up a Bharatanatyam school in Srirangapatna while
Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar wrote two dance dramas, Gee ta Gopala and
Saptopadaki. The kings honoured local artists as well as those from other
kingdoms.
Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was a contemporary of the ‘Tanjore
Quartet’, consisting of the four brothers, Chinayya, Ponnayya, Shivanandan,
and Vadivelu, who gave a marga (format) to the Bharatanatyam solo recital.
He also patronised many dancers, among whom Jetti Thayamma was the
most famous. Daughter of the wrestler Dasappa, she trained under several
gurus, like Kavisvar Giriappa, Chandrashekara Shastry and Karibasappa
Shastry. Jetti Thayamma was not a devadasi, and due to some
misunderstanding, she did not dance at the royal court of Mysore for a long
time. She was very popular for her abhinaya both in the Bharatanatyam
style and Hindustani nautch—where she rendered thumris, ghazals, etc.
Chamarajendra Wodeyar felicitated her when she was eighty years old, and
she received the title of ‘Natya Saraswathi’ from Dr S. Radhakrishnan.
Other famous dancers of the Mysore school were Chandravadanamma,
Puttadevamma, her daughter Chikkadevamma, Kolar Kittappa of Bangalore
whose famous students were Nagaratna, Varaalu and Kolar Puttappa,
Konamara Deviamma, Ramamani, Mugaloor Tripurasundaramma and
others. These dancers and musicians had to pass a vigorous and painstaking
test held by the palace officers to choose artists whose art was worthy of
exhibiting before the king. One such fastidious officer who sent cold shivers
down the spine of many a budding artist was Ambil Narasimha Iyengar.
Chamarajendra Wodeyar continued the patronage and brought
Chinnayya to his court, where the latter not only composed several varnas
and tillanas suited to dance, but also influenced to a great extent the dance
teachers and musicians of the court. Hence, the indigenous tradition of
dance absorbed the other traditions and arrived at a continuous stream of
dance art in Mysore.
In the past two centuries, Mysore has produced many illustrious dance
teachers, such as Muguru Subanna, Amritappa, Dasappa, Bangalore
Kittappa, Kolar Puttappa, and great dancers like Amritamma, Coimbatore
Tayi, Nagaratnamma, the incomparable Jetti Thayamma, and her disciple—
the celebrated Venkatalakshamma. Alongside the palace dancers (the
asthana vidushis) existed the devadasis like Rangamma, and Jeejamma—a
veritable galaxy of dancers with high standards of excellence and profound
scholarship.
However, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV’s apathy towards what he
considered cheap performances during marriages and functions, called
taphe, discouraged the tradition to some extent. The banning of dance in
temples in 1909 also dealt a blow to the devadasi system, which had
nurtured the dance form for centuries.
The Mysore Style of Bharatanatyam
Though the Tanjore tradition and Kanchi tradition of Bharatanatyam had
mingled with the local modes of dance, the Mysore school encompassing all
the artistes of the state had a distinct flavour of its own. The Jetti Thayamma
School excelled in abhinaya, with an exceptional observance of the
poorvaranga vidhi. The performance used to be packed with shlokas,
asthapadis, padas and javalis from Geeta Govinda, Amarushataka, Niti
Shataka,Mukunda Mala and also many Kannada compositions of rare
beauty.
Other banis that existed within the Mysore school were those of Kittana,
Nanjangud Rajamma and the Mugoor School. Kittanna’s school was known
to observe palace traditions, temple traditions and social performances,
which included choornika, prabandha, ashtadhik paalaka aradhana,
swarajati,swara prabandha, saptataleshwari varnas, nava sandhi nritya,
ugabhoga, suladis, etc. This was a rich, relatively lesser-known repertoire.

The Nanjangud style of Rajamma carried on by the late Guru Kaushik
was replete with bhava or emotion and fascinating nritya. The Mugoor
School was famous for its strict adherence to nritta and various adavus,
jathis and also a regular string of jatiswara, varnas, tillanas, padas and
javalis.
The Jetti Thayamma school comprised a vast repertoire of abhinaya as
its forte. The poorvaranga vidhi was an elaborate ritual preceding the dance
performance—following the rules laid down in the Natyashastra— and had
a spiritual purport. The dancers at the court stood behind the musicians
before commencing the dance. They paid obeisance to their guru and
musicians and then came around to start their performance. Besides being
good singers, the dancers were also proficient in Sanskrit and sahitya
(literature). She would sing a choornika (a prelude) in Raga Arabhi in praise
of a Rangadhi devata (stage goddess) or natya (dance) itself in other sabhas
(gatherings). After the choornika, a sabhavandana shloka (salutation to the
audience), and a natyaprashamsa shloka from Kalidasa’s play
Malavikagnimitra were regularly sung and a pushpanjali shloka came at the
end of it all. Then they danced a Ganapathi shabda or other shabdas
instead of an allarippu as is common in the Tanjore style.
As the Mysore dancers were influenced by the presence of Chinnayya,
one of the brothers of the famed Tanjore Quartet, they used to perform
jatiswaras, shabdas, varnas, and tillanas, which were similar to any
Tanjore-style dancer. The whole performance would be danced without any
break. When it came to the abhinaya numbers—Geeta Govinda,
Kshetragna Padas, javalis in Kannada and Telugu, shlokas of Amara,
Krishnakarnamrita, Mukundamala, and Bharatahari’s Niti Shataka— were
the chosen ones. The artists danced to many poems by the Dasarakoota
*
composers and vachanas of various poetic works, like Rajeswara Vtlasa,
etc. Devaranamas, kritis of several well-known composers like Mutthaiah
Bhagavathar, Mysore Sadashiva Rao, and Mysore Vasudevacharya were also
added to their repertoire.
It is here in the abhinaya that the flavour of Mysore was evident. The
dancers nearly always rendered a shloka before a pada, which came as a
prelude in the same mood or a kandha padhya before a javali, which
suggested the mood of the particular nayika (the heroine) of the javali. The
jaru adavus (slide or rest steps), which embellished the javalis, were unique
and made the javali lively and crisp. Abhinaya while seated was also
common (unlike today, where the dancers stand throughout), with the
dancers themselves singing the lyrics.
THE LEGEND OF THE MYSORE SHAILI:DR K.
VENKATALAKSHAMMA
K. Venkatalakshamma was not a devadasi. She belonged to the
Lambani/Banjara/gypsy community. Born on 29 May 1906 at Tangali
Tandya in Kadur, the young girl migrated to Mysore along with her family
members. A kind tongawala suggested a shelter for the nomads. The girl
showed great promise in music and dance from a young age. She was taken
under the tutelage of the famous royal dancer, Jetti Thayamma. Besides
dance, equal importance was given to music and literature. Bidaram
Krishnappa and his disciples trained her in music; while Devottama Jois,
Shanta Shastry and Giri Bhatta guided her in Sanskrit and literature. She
made her mark in the field of dance from the time of her entry at the age of
twelve.
Thayamma, as a good teacher, accompanied her students wherever they
performed and in fact even provided vocal support on many occasions. The
troop would mingle with the public and dance at marriage parties as well.
They would reach the marriage venue a few days in advance and befriend
the family. So emotionally attached would they get that departing after the
function would be a tough proposition for both parties.
Her audition for the palace performance happened at the house of
Mysore Vasudevacharya. Many scholars and musicians had assembled.
Thayamma was on the natuvanga or vocal accompaniment. Young
Venkatalakshamma was made to sing a varna and a few kritis at the outset
and later asked to perform while sitting. This way the dancer’s expressions
acquire greater prominence as the body is still. Naturally, this makes things
harder for the dancer. Venkatalakshamma performed a shloka, Yuktakim
Thava followed by a pada in Bhairavi, a few javalis, Ganapati shabda,
Bhairavi jatiswara and a Kapi tillana. An elaborate viva-voce of sorts
followed where all the gathered scholars quizzed her on aspects of music,
dance and literature. Her brilliance convinced them of her capability to
perform in the maharaja’s presence and she was appointed a court dancer in
1939.
Dance formed an integral part of all festivities in the Mysore palace.
Apart from Dasara, Ganesha Chaturthi was another occasion where dancers
rendered their services. Ganesha idols would be placed at different locations
in the palace and the dancers would go in troops to each one of these and
display their talents. The special durbars of the maharaja also called for
dance. After the maharaja’s entry into the durbar hall and the requisite
formalities, the dancers would be summoned. If the maharaja was in a
mellow mood, the dance would carry on for a while. Otherwise an eye-
signal from the Darbar Bakshi would bring the performance to a quick halt.
Regular entertainment for Maharani Pratapa Kumari Bai was also a part of
the court dancers’ responsibilities.
Venkatalakshamma was at the royal court for thirty long years, dancing
in front of Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar and the last king
Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar. Later, she became a reader of dance at the fine
arts college founded by the University of Mysore. Many central and state
academy awards were conferred on her—Natya Shantala (the highest award
for a dancer in Karnataka), Padma Bhushan by the Government of India and
others. Among the other honours she received are Karnataka Sangitha
Nritya Academy Award, an honorary doctorate from the Mysore University
in 1977, Mumbai Mysore Association Award in 1986, Karnataka Rajyotsava
Award in 1988, Bangalore Gayana Samaja Award in 1989 and so on. She
had the rare privilege of performing at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in the
presence of the then President of India, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
THE FUTURE OF CLASSICAL DANCE AND THE
MYSORESTYLE
The art of dance declined steadily in the early twentieth century due to the
social boycott of dancers. The stigma attached to it and the abolition of the
devadasi system by law due to its gradual degeneration into prostitution,
ensured that women from ‘good’ families were prevented from learning the
art. However, important changes have taken place, bound to impact the art
form’s development. The most important is the shifting of the art from the
temple to the western type of theatre with a high stage bound by a
proscenium, and with the audience seated in the front. This has, naturally,
led to several changes in the choreography, lighting, make-up, costume, and
also to an all-round improvement of the supporting musical ensemble.
Patronage of the art and its exponents is no longer exercised by the
maharajas, who were great rasikas. This has now been taken over by the
representatives of the people in a democratic government. Thus, dance has
ceased to be elitist and under the monopoly of a particular community,
becoming instead the art of the people. The dancer has become an important
member of society and is educated, articulate and self-sufficient.
The Mysore School of Bharatanatyam survived in the temples in places,
like Moogur, Nelamangala and Kolar, Mulbagal and Kollegal. Sadly, none of
these places have dance in the temples anymore. The Mysore School, too,
has not survived in its original form, though there still are a few
practitioners. Only shades of the glorious style remain today and the rest of
it is merely reminiscent of those durbars of grandeur in royal Mysore where
the practitioners of this unique style, which was steeped in abhinaya,
demonstrated their art to a connoisseur maharaja.
———————————
*
The Dasarakoota composers were wandering saints who composed devotional music.
They were called the Haridasas and created a rich repertoire of devotional music called
Dasa Sahitya.
28
MYSOREANS: FOLK ARTS AND
POPULAR TRADITIONS
olklore and folk arts, they say, mirror our society and its history in a way
that few other art forms do. Mark Twain had commented:
India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of
history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most
valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured only in India.
Our folk arts are living repositories of the tradition to which Twain was
referring. They comprise a bookless world carrying messages to the present,
which likes to read about itself.
In an earlier chapter, we had assessed the importance of folklore in the
reconstruction of history. Here we seek to examine its relevance in the
comprehension of a region’s culture. The advent of folklore could be
attributed to the fact that man, faced with the wrath and vagaries of nature,
dedicated various rituals to Mother Nature in the hope of gaining her
benevolence. In folklore, music and dance blend beautifully with literature
and poetry—more in tune with the ‘spoken’ language of the masses—to
present a wonderful catharsis of emotions. The tale varies from teller to
teller, the performances change based on the audience and the song changes
from singer to singer.
What constitutes folklore and tradition? These are all-encompassing
words that represent the practices of a society and include myths, legends,
folktales, proverbs, folk beliefs, superstitions, customs, folk songs, folk
dances, ballads, folk cults with their own set of gods and goddesses, rituals,
festivals, magic, witchcraft, art and craft; in short, everything that binds the
society together in one cohesive unit.
As with other parts of India, the Mysore state has had a rich cultural
tradition in the folk arts. These unsophisticated expressions of the common
people mirror the nature of society, the turbulence of the times, the political
overtones and the psyche of its people at large.
Traditional clothing in Mysore was also unique. The men, especially the
learned ones or the ones in the nobility, loved to sport the elaborate turban
famous as the ‘Mysore peta’ in white silk with golden borders. They also
wore a long, black coat and a nine-yard dhoti neatly tucked up at the waist.
The coat usually sported a looking glass or a watch suspended by a golden
chain from within the pocket. Women of the upper classes and nobility
usually wore a nine-yard saree—though some preferred the six-yard saree—
tucked from underneath the legs to the back. The famous Mysore jasmine
had to adorn their hair. The beautiful paintings of Ravi Verma capture many
of these traditional forms of dress of the Mysoreans.
Mysore has contributed a great deal to India’s folk arts scenario: plays
performed on stage; epic episodes enacted through the Yakshagana form
and puppet shows.
Yakshagana
‘Yakshagana’—roughly translated as ‘Celebration of the Celestials’—is a
complete theatre form that includes song, dance and drama and is extremely
popular in Malnad, Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada districts of the
state. The three different styles of Yakshagana include Karavali Yakshagana
of coastal Karnataka, Doddata Yakshagana in northern Karnataka and the
Mysore Yakshagana of the old Mysore state. It is essentially a stage form
that entertains and educates rural folk. A team of fifteen to twenty actors,
mostly nomadic, performs its shows in an open place or field; hence the
name ‘Bayalaata’ or ‘open-place play’. In content and format it draws from
many regional performance traditions and art forms. Having a history of
more than 400 years, Yakshagana evolved into a complete theatrical form
during the reign of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. He revived and changed

many forms in this art and extended patronage to a great exponent, Parti
Subba.
Aliya Lingaraja Urs, who was a poet and composer at the court of
Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, has composed a number of Yakshaganas
with plenty of songs and dwipadas. His famous composition Girija
Kalyana, on the celestial marriage of Lord Shiva and Parvati, has been
composed in both sangatya metre as well as in the form of a Yakshagana.
The songs blend with the story of the birth of Girija, her youth, her penance,
her pining for Lord Shiva as a husband and the final wedding. Various poetic
forms, like padyas, kandas and shatpadis, which are broadly classified as
prabandhas have been utilised here. Classical ragas like Nata,
Shankarabharana, Kambodhi, Navroj, Jhunjooti, Surati, Desh, Kalyani, and
Punnaga Todi and so on have been used.
With its all-pervasive element of grandeur, the stage of Yakshagana is a
parade of colourfully attired heroic characters, with magnificent headgear,
costumes and elaborate make-up. The singing by the Bhagavathar and the
roaring of percussion instruments like chande, maddale and cymbals
heightens the overall impact. This art form embodies the richness and
plurality of music, dialogue, dance, action and colour. Performed in an
open-air theatre, a Yakshagana performance takes place at night. Generally,
stories from Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas are taken up for
performance. The show begins with Gatiesh Stuti—an invocation to Lord
Ganesh or the Vighna Vinashak (remover of obstacles. The Bhagavathar
offers prayers before taking up the dual role of a singer and of the sutradhar
or the master of ceremonies. He is a key figure on stage throughout the
performance. The invocation is followed by the appearance of the vidushaka
or jester. Also known as kodangi, he brings in the element of buffoonery to
the show. Kodangis enjoy great liberty and can get away with witty and
daring remarks.
The makeshift stage of Yakshagana, set in the open, is deceptively
simple. It contrasts with the magnitude of the heroic acts staged on it. As
the show progresses into the late hours of night, the story unfolds. There is a
lot of scope for heroism as the rasas of Roudra (anger) and Veera (heroism)
predominate in the performance. Though not devoid of other rasas, it
mainly portrays heroism.

During a Yakshagana performance, the Bhagavathar sings a verse and
the characters interpret it through expressional dance, following it up with
dialogues. The actors move majestically, portraying gods, goddesses, kiratas
or mischief-mongers, demons and other mythological figures. Heavy make-
up is used to depict the celestial characters. Heroes and kings are attired in
gilded crowns and colourful costumes. Noble kings have a sacred red mark
on their forehead and sport a large black moustache. Red and yellow
checked sarees tied as dhotis are the typical lower garment for the main
characters. The key characters display an air of refinement, elegance and
authority in their dialogue delivery, facial expressions and gait. The heroic
exploits of these characters reach epic proportions as the show progresses
into the night. Traditionally, women do not perform in Yakshagana and so
the male actors play the female roles as well. However, recent years have
seen women entering the field.
Puppetry
Puppetry—string and leather/shadow puppets have been another popular
folk form of the state. Many traditional Brahmin puppeteers are found even
today in and around Nelamangala near Bangalore. Some of the string
puppets in Hallare in Nanjangud taluk are more than 300 years old. They are
manipulated from above by strings invisible to the audience. The puppeteers
are called Gomberamas or Kille Kyatas.
The puppets of south Karnataka, i.e. Mysore are about three feet high at
an average and have no legs. Most of the puppets have two eyes in profile—a
rare combination of realism and the abstract. The technique of these artistic
creations reveals wonderful imagination and skill that breathes life into an
inanimate puppet.
In the past, village artists were supposedly given privileges to cut
whatever part of the animal hide they needed to make these puppets.
Generally, the skins of goats, cattle and hunted deer were used. The raw
leather is carefully cleaned and after being soaked in water and tanned well
to suit the purpose, the resultant hard and rough leather becomes almost
transparent. With their nails, the artists then carve out figures of men,
women, gods, goddesses, demons, and so on. Traditionally, indigenous herbs
and minerals were used to provide the much-needed dash of colour to these
lifeless leather figurines. They retained their innate lustre and brightness for
a long time. Red occupied a prime place in the hierarchy of colours,
followed by indigo or jungle green and black. Black was made from the soot
of a burning lamp. Lighter shades and combinations of these colours offered
a wider array of hues to choose from.
Leather puppetry is extensively found in Chitradurga, Bellary and Kolar
districts even today. Shadow puppetry—where the actual puppet is
concealed behind a screen and only the shadow is visible to the audience—
creates a magical world of fantasy and colour.
The themes were drawn from the epics. The motions of the puppets
were caused by dexterous manipulation from behind the curtain using
bamboo splints. The puppeteer performed the dual role of narrator of the
episode and manipulator of the puppets and his work demanded great
dexterity to combine these two actions effectively into one. Shrill music was
provided by a woman outside who rubbed a reed on the back of a flat dish
of bell-metal to accompany the recital. Frequently, musical instruments like
mridangam, maddale, mukhaveena, cymbals and harmonium were also
used, particularly by the richer and more affluent puppet troupes. These
shows, like those of Yakshagana, commenced late at night and continued till
daybreak. The oil lamp behind the curtain radiated its light, casting coloured
shadows of the puppets and making a delightful spectacle.
The puppets were held in profile to enable the audience to recognise
them. The size and colour combinations indicated the importance and
nature of the character. Contemporary themes were also chosen and the
stage would recreate the beauty of a queen’s inner apartments or a garden
with birds and animals. Besides being thoroughly entertained, the villagers
also believed that the staging of such a show would bring rain, good luck
and drive away epidemics and diseases.
The puppeteers would set up a simple stage for their performance. It
usually consisted of a thick black backdrop, two or three wooden poles, and
a curtain to conceal the puppeteers from the audience. A white screen
slanted across the stage slightly above the audience. Below the screen was a
thick carpet and the three sides and top of the stage were covered with rugs.
The puppeteers sat on the platform invisible to the audience.
Sitting in those open fields on a moonlit night and witnessing dancing
figures narrating tales from mythology and folklore would have been an
experience in itself, far more enriching than the multitude of TV channels
we surf today in the name of entertainment!
Harikatha
Harikatha is another folk art form popular all over Mysore state. It combines
literature and lilting lyrics to reflect a rich musical and literary content,
drawing heavily on Hindu mythology. Over 150–200 years old, this art form
has a principal protagonist called Dasa or Bhagavathar or Kirtankar. His
accompanists play the mridangam, tabla, violin and harmonium. He himself
holds a pair of castanets or chinking instruments made of wood. In a high-
pitched voice the Dasa conveys to an attentive audience messages related to
religion and social causes. The Bhagavathar tradition also finds a place in
the Carnatic music firmament with the likes of Muthaiah Bhagavathar. He
trained under Karandattangudi Govinda Bhagavathar at Tanjore and Krishna
Bhat of Maharashtra in this art and learnt the techniques of Harikatha, like
Nirupanas, rare and attractive varna mettus and so on. A mellifluous voice
that can reach and captivate a large gathering with an excellent narrative
style are the essential qualities of a Bhagavathar. The Kathakalakshepas
were regular all-night features at religious festivals and town fairs.
Nagamandala
Rural masses living mostly in villages, unprotected from serpents and
snakes, manifest their fear and reverence for this reptile by worshipping it
(the serpent or Nagaraja is worshipped as the son of Lord Shiva—
Subrahmanya) and portraying it in various art forms. Nagamandala is one
such form. It is a drawing created through rangoli where serpentine coils
numbering four, eight, twelve and sixteen represent the full mandala. Two
sets of priests are required for this art form—one set acting as the physicians
or vaidyas and the other as patris or participants. The vaidyas hold
instruments called dhakke and are accompanied by a musical chorus and
instrumentalists. While the vaidyas beat and sing, the patris face them,
dancing to their tunes just like a snake-charmer makes a cobra dance to his
tunes. Such a folk practice is quite like a physician healing a mental ailment,
as the performance is believed to exorcise ghosts possessing the victim. It is

a common practice in large parts of the state, especially the coastal areas, to
this day.
The Ganjifa Cards
Mysore is famous for yet another interesting artefact—the characteristic
Ganjifa cards. The Ganjifa cards have a history of more than 300 years.
‘Ganj’ is a Persian word meaning treasure, treasury or hoard. Mughal
Emperor Babur wrote in his memoirs: ‘The night we left Agra, Mir Ali the
armourer was sent to Shah Hasan in Tatta to take him playing cards (ganjifa)
he much liked and had asked for.’
Babur’s son Humayun also enjoyed playing these cards, which remained
popular even in Akbar’s time. A pack of ganjifa cards consists of ninety-six
cards with eight suits of twelve cards each (comprising the numerals one to
ten and two ‘court’ or trump cards). They are generally circular and made of
ivory, tortoise shell, thin wood or hard board material. Dancing, hunting,
worshipping, playing chaupar (gambling boardgame) and processions are
some of the subjects painted on the cards.
It was a game that people in Mysore took to, thanks to the revival of the
art by Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who was an ace at the game. A
specific branch of Mysore Ganjifa, distinct from the Mughal style, emerged
under his royal patronage. Ganjifa was a popular game among all sections
and age-groups of Mysore society. The cards used by the royals were of
course beautifully designed whereas the commoners used similar cards,
though they were neither as grandly designed nor based on specific themes.
The Mysore cards are distinct, their complicated structure using
numerous suits, up to six court cards and a number of loose cards
comparable to tarot cards and jokers in European games. Figures and suit
signs completely fill the card face. There is also an elaborate chapter in
Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s Sritatvanidhi titled ‘Kautuka Nidhi’ meaning
‘treasure book of sports and pastimes’ that lays down elaborate rules and
tricks of the game.
In the great audience hall of the Jagan Mohan Palace of Mysore, the
walls are covered with paintings of astrological charts and tables and an
endless series of board, dice and card games. The court artists produced
*
beautifully designed playing cards for him including the numerous Chad
cards for the games he must have invented. Some of his card games required
packs of 320 or 360 cards populated by the Hindu pantheon. The Chad
games were probably played mainly inside the palace. The structure of Chad
cards is derived from the normal Ganjifa, with the suits consisting of court
cards and numeral cards. These games are mainly built on religious or
astrological themes.
A list of the thirteen popular categories of Chads of Mysore appears
here. These Chads were part of the king’s collection and so were
particularly artistic and ornamented.
1) Chamundeshwari Chad: A set of 320 cards. It consists of an assembly of
the south Indian pantheon. The cards are made of layers of paper,
lacquered and painted by hand.
2) Jagad Mohan Chad: Means ‘conqueror of the world’, this is a name
given to Vishnu the Preserver. This Chad set is the largest listed. An
almost complete set of round, beautifully painted cards as well as
Chamundeshwari Chad in their wooden boxes are in the Leinfelden
Museum, Germany.
3) Navin Dashavatara: Navin Dashavatara or the 10 new incarnations of
Lord Vishnu is a set of 240 cards in 12 suits of 18 cards each plus extra
cards. The description of this Chad in ‘Kautuka Nidhi’ differs somewhat
from the actual composition of the above set. This Chad is an interesting
one as two of its suits of 12 cards feature only female divinities. The first
shows apsaras (divine mistresses in charming poses with birds and
trees) and the second shows various poses of Devi or Durga.
4) Nava Graha: or the nine planets. A complete set is in the Leinfelden
Museum, Germany. The Chad has 216 cards in a pack. The 12 suits are
three supreme divine powers: Durga, Shiva and Vishnu, plus the nine
planets.
5) Pancha Pandava Chad: The name signifies the five Pandavas, heroes of
the epic Mahabharata. An incomplete set of this Chad is in the
Leinfelden Museum, Germany and in the Jagan Mohan Palace in the
city of Mysore.
6) Devi Dasavatari Chad: The 10 incarnations of Devi with 10 suits of 18
cards each. Sadly, there are no known specimens of these cards in
existence.
7) Dikpala Chad: The name designates the guardians of the eight regions
of the world or compass. This Chad is supposed to have 10 suits of 16
cards each or 160 in all. There are two Dikpala sets from the Deccan but
they may not necessarily be from Mysore.
8) Manohar Chad: Captivator of the mind (Krishna).
9) Sarva Mangala Chad: Bringer of universal bliss (Durga).
10) Navaratna Chad: The nine jewels. Again, there is no longer any
specimen available and perhaps these cards have been lost forever.
11) Sadye Jyatadi Chad: No traces of these cards have survived and so
there is no description available either.
12) Krishnaraja Chad: Named after the royal inventor. This handy game of
72 cards in four suits must have enjoyed great popularity in and outside
the palace. It was a game of the quartet type. This Chad is considered
the most beautiful of all the Mysore Chads. One complete set is known
to exist, and we know of three incomplete sets and stray cards of five
further packs.
13) Navin Chad: This is an Indian adaptation of the four-suited piquet pack
with numerals from 6 to 10 and a king, queen, knave and ace. This must
have been popular among certain classes of South Indians who were at
the time strongly influenced by the French.
Thus, we see in these unsophisticated and rustic forms of art—so close
to the common man—a revelation of the socio-cultural history of the region
and how it evolved. It also brings to the fore the concerns, aspirations and
apprehensions of the common man, remote from the power games and
conspiracies of palaces and emperors. All over India, millions of such forms
are dying out for lack of encouragement and awareness. But as long as there
are people, and as long as they feel joy, sorrow and fear, folk forms will
continue to flourish in one way or another. The list above of the various folk
arts that came to prominence in the Mysore state is in no way exhaustive and
is only the tip of the iceberg. There are as many manifestations of folk art
forms as there are human emotions.
THE MYSORE DASARA
he culture of a place is intrinsically linked to the festivities that the
people there indulge in and the message it conveys to society at large.
This festival marks the triumph of good over evil. It also seeks to imply the
invincibility and power of the Divine feminine energy—one that sustains
and protects the Universe. The Dasara happens to be celebrated as ‘Nada
Habba’ or State Festival in Karnataka to this day—a reminiscent of the past
when it was the State festival of the erstwhile Wodeyar Royal Family. It was
started by Raja Wodeyar to seek continuity with the Vijayanagara traditions
and was fostered further by Ranadhira Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar and
successive kings. Even during the interregnum period, the lingering Royal
Family carried on the private celebration of the Dasara festival—one that
marks the victory of good over evil. Come September—October, Mysore
would be engulfed in a plethora of activities and merry—making.
Contemporary observers recount the details of the manner in which the
festival was celebrated during Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s times. On the
morning of the 1st day, the brighter half of the Hindu month of Ashvayuja,
the King worshipped Goddess Chamundeshwari, the family deity and
presiding Goddess of the State, after a ceremonial bath, prayed to Lord
Ganesha and tied the Kankana or the sacred thread around the wrist
signifying the inauguration of the 10-day festival. Reaching the Durbar Hall,
he would worship the Navagrahas or nine planets, the throne,
circumambulate it thrice and then ascend it. He would then worship the
State sword and receive the offerings and honours sent by pontiffs of
principal muths and temples of the State. A few Brahmin priests would offer
consecrated coconuts and coloured rice; muzre (homage) and nazar(tribute)
by officers, the dewan, citizens and merchants would follow. Then the state
horse and elephant would be worshipped.

Then the royal ladies would enter, bless the king and retire to their
harems. This mode of worship would follow for the Nine days or
Navaratras.On the eve of the 1st day by 7 pm a Durbar would be held. After
floral offerings, nazar and muzre, the king would enjoy the wrestling
matches at the courtyard below the Durbar Hall. These matches would turn
out to be bloody in the true sense of the word as the victor was the one who
could ensure that his opponent fell to the ground bleeding.
On the 7th day, Goddess Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of knowledge,
learning and the arts was propitiated. All the books in the palace and the
king’s musical instruments would be worshipped. On the 8th day, the
ceremony to mark the destruction of Demon king Mahishasura by the
Goddess Mahishasuramardini or Durga was conducted at night in the
palace. On the 9th day of ‘Ayudha Puja,’ arms, ammunitions, the State
horse, elephant, etc., would be worshipped; a Chandi Homa sacrifice
performed and the Kankana tied on the first day untied. That evening a
European Durbar would be held. The courtyard would be lit up. Wrestling
matches, musical and dance performances and other amusements would be
a part of this Durbar.
On the 10th day of ‘Vijayadasami,’ the king would take bath, worship
the State arms, place it in the State Palanquin, which would carry them to
Banni Mantap, the sacred place where the Sami tree (prosopis spicigera lin)
stood. It was believed that during the times of incognito, the Pandavas hid
their arms on the Sami tree and when they retrieved them after the one-year
incognito imposed on them by their cruel cousins, the Kauravas, they
achieved success in the ensuing Mahabharata War. So the tree was
considered a good omen and a harbinger of success. The procession to
Banni Mantap was the most spectacular part of the 10-day fest. The
function would begin by 4 pm in the noon after a 21-gun salute, a fanfare of
trumpets and the Mysore Anthem. The royal elephant would be bejewelled
with gold-embroidered robes, massive chains, anklets, bells, and ropes of
pearls, pendants, tassels, bosses of pure gold with paintings on its face,
trunk, legs and ears. It would carry the resplendent Golden Howdah or
Ambari in which would sit the maharaja, the yuvaraja and Prince
Jayachamaraja Wodeyar. The palace has illustrated mural painting gallery of
the order of this procession held in 1929, which gives us a flavour of the
kind of procession that would enthrall the citizens of Mysore city each year.
The gala procession would traverse a mile’s length making its way
through the fort’s north gate, through Doddapete to reach Banni
Mantap,where troops worshipped the sacred Sami tree. The procession
would be lit by electric bulbs and naphtha oil torches and firecrackers burnt
along the way. The troops would return by 9.30 pm to a small concluding
durbar. The palace and principal roads and squares would be fully
illuminated with electric bulbs after dusk—a real sight for sore eyes! This
would conclude the 10 day-long grand Dasara festivities of Mysore.
So synonymous this festival and the procession has become with the
cultural identity of the state, that the democratic government of Mysore
State and later unified Karnataka decided to continue this festival and the
procession with as much pomp and gaiety and celebrate it as a ‘People’s
festival’. The deity of Goddess Chamundeshwari replaces the king atop the
ambari or golden howdah, though the royal family continues its rituals and
celebrations, including the worship of Rani Alamelamma, in the private
recesses of the palace.
But the real heroes of the Dasara are truly the elephants who participate
in the procession, year-after-year, with utmost meticulousness. The stories
of the Dasara elephants itself is a matter of great fascination for the local
population. The participant elephants over the years, and especially the lead
elephants (the recent ones named Biligiriranga, Rajendra, Drona and
Balarama) have become part of history and folk legends.
Most of these Dasara-elephants were caught by the elephant trainers via
the Khedda operations. During the Wodeyar rule, the elephants thus caught
were inspected in an open field for strength, personality, and character. The
walking styles, weaknesses to seduction, and the facial charisma were some
of the factors considered for selection! Then the chosen elephants were
trained for the festival. It is said that the king himself would overlook the
training.
Biligiriranga was a majestic beast, about ten feet in height. The king
Jayachamaraja Wodeyar was known to be very fond of him. After the
festivities, Biligiriranga would return to the forest and live there till the next
Dasara. According to the forest officials, he was a virile bull and was
responsible for the increase in the elephant population in the area! There
would be no exaggeration to state that Biligiriranga enhanced the glory of
the festival in Mysore.

Rajendra was caught in the year 1971, and was the last to serve the
Wodeyar dynasty. Soon after Indira Gandhi annulled all royalty in India.
The idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari replaced the king during the
procession. Rajendra was the chosen one to have the privilege of carrying
the Goddess for the first time. He was a soft bull and was easily influenced
by presence of female elephants. His trainers felt that Rajendra never found
true love in his life and kept pining for a soul mate till his demise. The
Goddess somehow did not seem to be kind on this poor soul who carried
Her dutifully every year!
The elephant Drona was named so because of his amazing ability to
learn and correct himself. When the ambari shifted left or right during the
procession, Drona could move his muscles selectively and stabilise the
weight! Such was his dexterity. His trainers were very surprised because
they had not trained Drona in this skill. Drona was shrewd enough to fathom
for himself that walking slowly, early in the procession, was the best way he
could conserve his energy during the long ride. He was also supposedly
very particular about his diet and always ate in solitude. Drona led a durable
family life with his two wives Kokila and Shanti. Unfortunately, on one
fateful day in the jungle, Drona went grazing and pulled down a trunk of a
tree to eat the leaves. The falling trunk also brought down a high-tension
power cable and instantly electrocuted the celebrated bull. Drona was
mourned in the state just like any other celebrity.
Altogether 13 elephants participate in the festival. Each one of them has
to go through a rigid conditioning. At least two of them have to be female as
per the tradition. The chief elephant is followed by a row of five elephants.
There is one elephant dedicated to pull the chariot containing the Karnataka
police band. Thus, these mute but adorable creatures have become as much
a part of the state’s culture and legacy as the many celebrated and talented
personalities from various walks of life!
———————————
*
The Mysore Ganjifa cards were given this unique name, Chad. These cardswee distinct
from the Mughal and Persian cards by virtue of their complicated structures. Their themes
were also different, drawing on Hindu mythology.

29
MYSOREANS:PAINTING, COINAGE
AND ARCHITECTURE
TRADITIONAL MYSORE SCHOOL OF PAINTING
ainting as an art has been nurtured in Karnataka from ancient times.
The inscriptions and manuscripts of the Rashtrakutas bear testimony to
the existence of painting as an art form. The earliest murals, dating back to
the sixth century AD, were found in the Badami caves. The Vijayanagara
school of painting (1336–1665) was quite distinct from the earlier styles and
has made a great contribution to Indian art. The pupils of this school
specialised in drawing war and hunting scenes, folk dances, commercial
transactions and the everyday life of the common people. The Mysore and
Tanjore traditional paintings are offshoots of the Vijayanagara school.
After the disintegration of the Vijayanagara empire, there emerged a
distinct style of painting popularly known as Mysore painting. Raja Wodeyar
was known for his patronage and encouragement of artists. Painters were
engaged in creating eye-catching illustrations on the walls of temples and
palaces. He is also credited with the construction of two shrines, one at
Srirangapatna and the other at Ganjam, for Goddess Nimishamba Devi, who
is revered by artists. Mysore painting got its impetus during the reign of
Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. He was a great connoisseur of the
traditional paintings and commissioned more than a thousand portraits of
the royal family and important public men. The portraits of historic figures
can be seen even today on the walls of Jagan Mohan Palace in Mysore. The
murals can also be seen in the temples of Prasanna Krishnaswamy, Shwetha
Varaha Swamy and Prasanna Venkataramana Swamy in the palace
compound. They are refined and the colour scheme, with bright reds and
greens, enhances their spectacular quality.
Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar also coaxed the painters to prepare their
own portraits and that is why painters like Narayanappa and
Chinnakrishnappa can be seen immortalised in gesso art even today. The
Sritatvanidhi of the maharaja is a pictorial digest divided into nine sections
and contains 1,000 paintings. It is a compendium of illustrations of gods,
goddesses and mythological figures with general instructions to painters
regarding composition, placement and choice of colour, mood, etc. The
ragas, seasons, animals, and plant world are effectively depicted in these
paintings as co-themes or contexts. As stated earlier, it is also perhaps the
only pictorial representation of music in South India—a tradition that
existed widely in the North. Another work of the maharaja’s titled Sara
Sangraha Bharata, is dedicated to dance, illustrated with colourful paintings
depicting the various elements of the art form.
The artists used locally available material for their paintings. Goat,
camel or squirrel hair was used for brushes, tying the hair with a silken
thread and inserting it into the narrower end of a quill. The painting board
was made by pasting cloth or paper on wooden planks. They prepared a
paste of zinc oxide and Arabic gum, called the ‘gesso paste’, which was
applied to this base. In order to make the picture larger than life, a small
raised effect was made, on which the images of thrones and arches were
painted with a thin brush. The primary sketch was made on the canvas.
Burnt tamarind sticks were used as sketching charcoal. The motifs were
drawn with a crayon. The sky and river were painted, followed by animal
and human figures. The gold foil was pasted last and the paintings polished
only when perfectly dry. The foil used here was much thinner than that used
in the Tanjore style. Grass blades were used to give a sharp-edged effect to
the painting. These paintings were illustrated with water colours, using only
subtle colours. The artists of yore were skilled not only in the art of painting
but also in the process of preparing the required resources, like brushes,
colour paints, canvas and the gold foil. Paints were made from plant extracts
and minerals.
The stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata Purana and
the Jain epics are the primary basis of traditional Mysore paintings.
Individual deities, epic heroes, court scenes, and battlegrounds are also
depicted. The most popular themes are Goddess Rajarajeshwari, Shri Rama
Pattabhisheka, Kodanda Rama, Dashavatara, Tandaveshvara, Ambegalu
Krishna, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Chamundeswari, Visvarupadarsha and
Samudramanthana. Some of the well-preserved gesso paintings can be seen
in Mysore, Nanjangud and Bangalore. Sringeri, Melkote and other
pilgrimage centres also have many gesso paintings.
It is natural to wonder about the differences between the Mysore and
Tanjore styles of painting. At first glance, they appear similar in their layout,
design and decorations. But on closer scrutiny the differences in the
materials and technique used become clearer. The faces of the gods in the
Mysore school are rounder and the gesso work is also in low-relief
compared to the high-relief of the Tanjore style. The former uses pure gold
leaf, while the latter uses a silver leaf coated with gold. The usage of the
pure gold leaf gives the Mysore paintings lustre and permanence. Tanjore
School employs glass pieces or pearls in its ornamentation—a trait absent in
the Mysore style. Most Mysore paintings that feature a sitting deity portray
them as seated on the throne of Mysore with backgrounds and surroundings
similar to the palace. This made the figures seem more familiar. Some
paintings also use the makki safeda or gesso work without gold leaf, creating
an illusion of gold lustre with delicate lace-like ornamentation. Lustre and
line work seem to be the forte of Mysore painting.
MODERN MYSORE ART AND RAVI VERMA
Modern European art, Roman model art and the art of Raja Ravi Verma led
to a decline in the demand for traditional Mysore painting during the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The celebrated artist Raja Ravi Verma
was patronised by the maharajas of Mysore.
Raja Ravi Verma was born on 29 April 1848 at Kilimanoor, a small
town in Kerala. As a boy of five, he filled the walls of his house with
pictures of animals and illustrations from everyday life. His uncle, the artist
Raja Raja Verma, recognised his talents and gave him elementary art
lessons. He was taken to Thiruvananthapuram at the age of 14 to stay in the
royal palace and learn oil painting. During these formative years the young
Ravi Verma had many opportunities to discover and learn new techniques
and media in the field of painting. His later years spent in Mysore, Baroda
and other parts of the country enabled him to sharpen and expand his skills
and blossom into a mature and complete painter.
The glittering career of Raja Ravi Verma is a striking case study of
academic art in India. A year after his death on 2 October 1906, the Modern
Review described him as the greatest artist of modern India, a nation-builder
who showed moral courage by being a gifted ‘highborn’ who took up the so-
called ‘degrading’ profession of painting. He was courted assiduously by the
British empire as well as by the Indian maharajas. The less expensive prints
of his Hindu deities hung in every home.
Raja Ravi Verma owed his success to a systematic training, first in the
traditional art of Tanjore, and then in European art. His paintings can be
broadly classified into portraits, portrait-based compositions, and theatrical
compositions based on myths and legends. Though the artist’s immense
popularity stemmed from his work in the third category, the first two types
of work prove his merit as an exceedingly sensitive and competent artist. No
other painter has been able to supersede Ravi Verma in portraiture in the oil
medium.
Ravi Verma is considered modern among traditionalists and a rationalist
among modems. He provided a vital link between traditional and
contemporary Indian art, between the Tanjore school and Western academic
realism. He brought Indian painting to the attention of the larger world. His
paintings, including large life-size portraits of the kings, queens and
members of the royal family and nobility, adorn the Mysore palace to this
day
Many celebrated painters like, K. Keshavaiya, S.N. Swamy, Y. Nagaraju,
S. Shankararaju, S.R. Iyengar, Y. Subrahmanyaraju, Venkatappa and others
adorned Mysore and made valuable contributions in the beautification of the
palace. A brilliant painting titled Glow ofHope by S.N. Haldenkar can be
found at the Jagan Mohan Palace. The colour combinations and contrasts
used give the perfect ambience of radiating light in the midst of an envelope
of darkness—a testimony of the brilliance of the artist.

COINAGE IN MYSORE
Ranadhira Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar was the first to issue coins with
inscriptions. These coins or fanants became famous as Kanthirava Fanams.
They carried images of Lord Narasimha. The other series of fanams that
gained popularity were the Shiva-Parvathi (originally minted by Sadashiva
Naik of Ikkeri) and the Hoysalas’ stylised Lion/Boar fanam which was
called Viraraya Fanam.
There are two noted Kanthirava types of fanams. They both have the
Narasimha on the obverse. Narasimha is the fourth incarnation of Lord
Vishnu with a human body and a lion’s head. The ‘Yogabhanda’ pose is well
depicted in the earlier Kanthirava coinage. The meditation pose shows the
legs folded inward and the holy thread going around both his knees, which
virtually supports the posture. He holds in his upper hands the stylised
attributes of a flaming chakra and a conch, his lower arms resting on his
knees. The earlier dies seem to have been engraved with the superior
workmanship of the engraver, and the one or two legible characters lead us
to conclude that they are the prototypes.
The popularity of the Kanthirava Fanams influenced the coinage of
many other southern dynasties like the Nayakas of Sira, the British at
Madras and even the Dutch at Pulicat, Nagapattinam and Tuticorin. These
fanams eventually carried the name Kantheerva or were corrupted to
Canteroi. During his rule, Haidar Ali used the same obverse device on his
coinage but inscribed the letter ‘He’ in Persian to indicate his name. His
coins were renamed Bahaduri Pagodas.
Tipu changed the names of these coins to Sultani and Faruqi pagodas
and they were inscribed in Persian. Though partially Mughal in lineage,
Tipu’s coins are a unique series in themselves, showing evidence of French
influence especially in the copper variety where ancient Hindu devices are
found fairly intact. His was perhaps one of the most remarkable individual
coinages in the history of India, comparable in ways to that of Muhammad-
bin-Tughlaq, and these coins exist in greater variety and number than those
of his father. His mint towns were Puttun (Srirangapatna), Nagar (Bednaur),
Bengalur (Bangalore), Faiz Hissar (Gutti), Farrukhyah Hisar (Chitradurga),
Kalikut (Calicut), Farukhi (Feroke), Salamabad (Satyamangalam),

Khilayabad (Dindigul), Zafarabad (Gurramkonda), Khwurshed Sawad
(Dharwar) and Nazarabad (Mysore). These places were chosen as mint
towns for their military, strategic and political importance, though not all of
them were equally active during Tipu’s reign. With few exceptions most of
them are gold and silver issues and bear the name of the mint as well.
Hence, we also learn that while Srirangapatna and Nagar were the only
mints in the first few years of his reign, their spread and importance varied
with every passing year, more so after the Third Anglo-Mysore War when
Tipu lost a major part of his dominions to the British.
The coins issued in the first four years of his reign bear the Hijri date,
the numerals reading from left to right. From the fifth year onwards till the
end of his reign, they are dated in the special Mauludi era and the figures
read from right to left. Tipu followed the abjad and later the abtah system of
naming cyclical years—both of which are Islamic nomenclatures of years
where a certain numerical value is assigned to the letters of the Arabic
alphabet.
After the Mauludi system was adopted, he also invented names for his
coins, which appear on the reverse. The gold and silver coins are named
after Muslim saints, Khalifas in the earlier version and after Imams in the
latter version. Copper coins generally bore Persian or Arabic names of stars.
About fifteen types of these coins with their names are in existence. The
Ahmadi coins were struck in the Srirangapatna and Nagar mints and the
Pagodas in Dharwar as well. In addition to these three mints, fanams were
struck at Calicut, Feroke and Dindigul. His coins though largely unmilled
betray a distinct French influence as well, perhaps owing to some French
workmen who were hired to design and cast them.
With the restoration of the kingdom to the Wodeyars, Dewan Pumaiya
implemented the old coinage system with ‘Sri Krishna Raja’ inscribed on
the obverse.
ARCHITECTURE IN MODERN MYSORE
The architectural splendour and beauty of Mysorean monuments, especially
those of the modem era, speaks volumes about the aesthetic tastes of the
rulers who got them built. Foremost on this list of spectacular buildings is
the Mysore Palace in all its majestic beauty and characteristic elegance.
The early Wodeyars lived in a palace at Mysore. Ranadhira Kanthirava
Narasaraja Wodeyar had rebuilt the palace in 1630 after it was struck by
lightning. During Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s rule Haidar Ali invited
him to visit the new palace that was constructed for the royal family. Tipu
Sultan demolished all the old buildings at Mysore to rebuild the city as
Nazarabad and even the palace came under the bulldozer. As stated earlier,
there was no place worthy of the coronation of Mummadi Krishnaraja
Wodeyar in 1799. Maharani Lakshmammanni then hurriedly got a palace
constructed within two to three years and many parts of it were, by 1897,
crumbling and easily caught fire. Rice describes the old palace thus:
The Palace of the Maharaja, which is situated inside the fort facing nearly due East is built
in the Hindu style and with the exception of a few paintings executed by European painters
at various times in the Palace employment, contains little trace of the influence of European
art. The front, which is gaily painted and supported by 4 elaborately carved wooden pillars
comprises the Sejje or the Dasara Hall, an open gallery where the Maharaja is in the habit
of showing himself to the people on great occasions seated on his throne...its principal gate
opens on a passage under the Sejje, leading to an open yard. At the further or west side of
this courtyard is the door leading to the women’s apartments, which occupy most of the
western portion of the Palace. The northern side comprises various offices such as the
armoury, library etc and on the south are the rooms occupied by the Maharaja. Of these the
most interesting is the Ambavilasa, an upstairs room, 65 ft square and 10 ft high with a
raised ceiling in the center. It was here that the former Raja was receiving his European
guests and transacted ordinary business of the day. A wooden railing separated that portion
of the room in which the Raja’s seat was placed from the rest and the adjacent wall was
hung with pictures, principally of officers connected at different periods with Mysore,
which His Highness was accustomed to uncover and point out to his European visitors. The
floor was of chunam and with the exception of the doors, which were overlaid with richly
carved ivory or silver there was no attempt at magnificence or display. This hall has been
recently renewed in more modern style and the ceiling raised on handsome iron pillars.
The sleeping and eating apartments of the Raja, which are for the most part
small and confined all opened upon the Amba Vilasa and just outside it was
the stall in which was kept the cow worshipped by His Highness. The chapel is
adjacent. Although the Palace had been almost entirely built, since the year
1800, it was in very bad repair and many of the tenements attached to it were
crumbling to ruin. The only remaining portion of the Palace of the old Hindu
dynasty, which Tippoo Sultan had not demolished is a room in the interior
with mud walls of great thickness and stability. This is known as the Painted
Hall, owing to the decoration of its ceiling and is said to have been the state
room of the old palace, which was a much less pretentious building. As with
most oriental courts, there was no attempt at isolation and except in front,
where is an open space, the Palace was pressed closed on all sides by the
dwellings of the poorest inhabitants.
The Palace that we see today in Mysore was the result of the efforts of
the then Regent Maharani Kempananjammanni to erect a residence that
suited the status of their dynasty. With the aid of Mr Henry Irwin, architect
of the Viceregal Lodge of Shimla, the new palace was completed in 1912.
The Mysore Palace has a vast, sprawling fort with five entrances built in
the Indo-Saracenic style. The Jayamarthanda gate is the main gate and the
central archway is sixty feet tall and forty-five feet wide. The other gates are
the Balarama-Jayarama gates to the north, the Varaha on the south, the
Brahmapuri and Karikal Thotti on the west. The inside area of the fort is 55
acres. Lewis Rice reports:
The fort is quadrangular ground plain, three of the sides being about 450 yards in length
and the remaining on the North, South and the West; those on the North and South are
protected by outworks. Flanking towers command the curtain at frequent intervals. There is
a casemate to the South-Eastern and a parapeted cavalier at the North-Western gate...
To the east of the ground floor are the Gombe Thotti (dolls’ pavillion,)
Kalyana Mandap (marriage pavillion,) to the north are the Ayudhashala
(armoury) and Trophy room. On the first floor are the Diwan-e-Aam (public
durbar hall) and a Diwan-e-Khas (private durbar hall). The Gombe Thotti
has seven firing and four ammunition cannons, the firing ones used on
festive occasions. Four of the cannons are made of firths steel bearing the
*
Old French inscription Honi soit qui mal y pense while the other three are
made of bronze by A. Brome. The dolls were worshipped by the maharaja
during Dasara. The common people in southern India and Mysore usually
celebrate Dasara in their homes by making elaborate doll arrangements and
floral decorations, inviting neighbours for a friendly competition as to who
had the best dolls’ exhibition!
The Gombe Thotti contains figurines and Rajasthani marble sculptures
of Lord Rama, Hanuman, Lakshmana and Goddess Sita, wooden mandaps
with pillars and yalis with vimanas and housing a Ganesha idol, Krishna,
Lakshmi, Saraswati and Chamundeshwari. It also contains the royal emblem

of Mysore—the Gandabherunda with the slogan Satyamevoddharamyaham
or ÎŠ shall always uphold the Truth’. The Gandabherunda is a mythical
double-headed eagle and, according to ancient Indian literature, it
symbolises power and authority. One can find several examples of this bird
in the architecture, art and textiles of the city of Mysore. Similar mythical
two-headed birds can also be found in other ancient cultures, like those of
Egypt and Mesopotamia. The golden howdah or ambari made of
approximately 80 kilograms of gold is also found here.
The Kalyana Mandapa walls have been decorated with the paintings of
celebrated artists like K. Keshavaiya, S.N. Swamy, Y. Nagaraju, S.
Shankararaju, S.R. Iyengar, Y. Subrahmanyaraju and others who have
immortalised the world-famous Dasara procession of Mysore on canvas.
The Mandapa is octagonal and has a stained-glass ceiling with a peacock
motif, designed by Walter Macfarlane. English mosaic tiles adorn the floor
in a peacock design, giving the Mandapa its name: Peacock Hall. A balcony
for royal guests and ladies and murals depicting epics are also found here.
The Portrait Gallery houses the portraits of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV
with his brothers and sisters, Maharani Kempananjammanni (in 1897) (both
taken by Del Tufo and Co.), portraits of Krishnaraja IIΙ, Chamaraja X and so
on, the celebrated painter Raja Ravi Verma’s paintings of the child
Krishnaraja with his sisters and Harold Speed’s portraits of King Edward
VII and Queen Alexandra of Britain. The furniture room has two silver
chairs, one made by Bartonson and Company, Bangalore and the other by
T.R. Tawker and Sons, Madras. Two cutglass or crystal chairs of Belgium,
two marble flower vases and two dressing-tables and mirrors adorn the
room.
The ayudhashala houses many old weapons of the royal family. In 1575,
Bola Chamaraja Wodeyar founded the armoury at Mysore but it was
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III who got his name and serial number inscribed on
weapons. The Mysore Gazetteer says:
Several of them are of interest both from a historical and artistic point of view. An elastic
sword bearing the number 186 and named Nimchaa, which can be worn as a belt is said to
have belonged to the Mysore King Ranadhira Kanthirava.

This is one of the oldest weapons of the armoury. A knife bearing the
inscription ‘Chura De’ is said to have belonged to Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar.
A sword named Nimchaa bearing the number thirty-six and another heavy
one named Sanva are said to have been used by Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan
respectively.
From the inscription of a knife named Pesh Kabza we infer that the
weapon was used by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Another knife named Herige
Katthi or delivery knife bears the inscription ‘Khasa’ or the king’s very
own. This however was not actually used during delivery by midwives, but
merely worshipped to bring about speedy and safe delivery. Among the
names of the other weapons found here are Mudgara, Surayi, Buriya,
Jambaya, Baku, Pancha, Kathari, Sabdar, Birudangichura, Tabbar,
Bagunakha, Gaddara, Khandva, Abbari, Saipu, Madu, Sosan, Aleman,
Parang, Singoti and Bharji. Many of the weapons bear Persian inscriptions.
There are also several state gun models in the armoury. Three of them
bear the inscription that Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was placed on the
musnud of Mysore on 30 June 1799. The inscription on another names the
above king along with Haidar Ali Khan, Tippu Saib, Nandaraja, Devaraja,
Lally and Mir Muhammad Sadak. Another inscription tells us that the gun
on which it is engraved represents the ‘Moolke Maidan of Beejopore’—
captured by Arthur Wellesley in 1803. There are also two chauris, one of
which bears an inscription stating that they were sent as presents to
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III by Lord Dalhousie. Another object worthy of
notice is a tiny four-pillared mandapa of black stone surmounted by a turret
with a seated figure of Ganapati inside.
The Durbar Hall was the place where ceremonial Durbars were held
during Dasara. It has marble floors and rows of brick and mortar pillars
covered with plaster of Paris. Arches connecting pillars are in Mughal style,
with floral designs in bright hues. To the east of the hall is a large open
courtyard for the assembly of people during festive occasions. The beautiful
paintings of Ravi Verma adorn the walls.
There is a small shrine inside the Palace called the Atmavilasa Ganesha
which is inaccessible to the public. It was the private daily-worship hall of
the maharajas. The idol is over 250 years old and is made of 450 saligramas
—holy stones revered by Vaishnavas as remnants of Vishnu-brought from
over 300 pilgrim spots. This deity did not succumb to the 1897 fire that
destroyed most of the other items of the palace and so it holds a special
significance for the royal family.
The last part of the palace is the Amba Vilasa or Diwan-e-Khas having a
rosewood door inlaid with ivory motifs depicting baby Krishna on a peepal
leaf—the Vatapatrashayi Krishna. There are many doors, all depicting the
Dashavatara of Lord Vishnu and the Ashtadikpalas. The stained-glass
ceiling, chandeliers, the steel grillwork and carved wooden ceilings provide
a pleasing atmosphere.
The royal throne that was handed over to Raja Wodeyar is described thus
in the Devatanama Kusumamanjari composed in 1859 by Mummadi
Krishnaraja Wodeyar:
The throne is decorated with a golden pillar and mango leaves. The balustrades of the steps
leading to the seat are embellished with female figures. The golden umbrella has festoons.
The seat has the Kurmasana tortoise seat. The 4 sides of the throne are decorated with
Vyalas and creepers. Elephants on the east, horse on the south, soldiers to the west and
chariots at the north decorate the royal seat. Brahma to the South, Maheshwara on the
North and Vishnu in the center form the Trinity. In the corners are found Vijaya and 4 lions,
two of the mythical Shardulas, 2 horses and swans in the 4 comers. It is further adorned
with Naga nymphs and Ashtadikpalas.
The throne would earlier be placed in this hall for public viewing but
has now been removed, making its way back there only during Dussehra.
The credit for decorating the hall goes to the celebrated artist K. Venkatappa
who devoted his life to the work, about whom Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar
once said:
You have devoted your whole life for the study of fine arts, you have made name in your
life, you have brought credit to my state, I consider it a pride having you here. My only
ambition is to show you, through your art, to the distinguished visitors that come here, and
say to them proudly that it is my countryman’s work!
One cannot leave the Mysore palace without a sense of awe and
admiration for its magnificence coupled with innate simplicity and
aesthetics.
Some of the other architectural works of the later Wodeyars are
described here. Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who was known for his
zeal in renovating dilapidated temples, got the Shweta Varahaswamy temple

at Srirangapatna and Thrineshwara Swamy temple in Mysore renovated. The
Shweta Varaha Swamy temple was constructed by Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar
and the idol was brought from Srimushnam in Tamil Nadu. It is said that the
temple was destroyed by Tipu Sultan. Pumaiya got the idol from
Srirangapatna to Mysore and the maharaja donated a large sum of money to
consecrate the idol in the palace complex in a newly constructed temple.
The Chamundeshwari Temple atop the hills in Mysore was extended and the
spire that Raja Wodeyar had conceived was taken up and completed. He got
the numerous crevasses and potholes on the hilltop filled up and levelled,
making it safe and accessible. The Lakshmiramanaswamy Temple in the
palace complex was also renovated. The Krishnaswamy Temple in the
complex was constructed during his reign. The Srikantheswhara Temple at
Nanjangud was improved and provided with a new spire. The Gayatri Devi
and Bhuvaneshwari Temples in the complex were constructed during
Jayachamaraja Wodeyar’s reign.
During the mid-nineteenth century when the Mysore PWD building was
being constructed, European engineers were employed and they introduced
the Ionic, Doric, Corinthian and composite styles. Therefore, many of the
buildings built after this period exhibit a synthesis of all these styles. Some
of the noted buildings from this era onwards are the Attara Kacheri (1869),
the Museum (1879), the Daly Memorial Hall (all in Bangalore in European
style), while the Maharaja’s College (1894), the Jubilee Institute (1894),
Public offices (1895) and the Law court buildings (1889) in Mysore are
simpler structures. The Central College, Bangalore (1901) is in the Gothic
style.
The Victoria Hospital (1896), the Indian Institute of Science, the
Government High School, Minto Ophthalmic Hospital, the Sheshadri Iyer
Memorial Hall (all in Bangalore) and the Chamarajendra Technical Institute
in Mysore are other elegant and well-laid buildings of the era. The
Krishnarajendra Hospital of Mysore (1918) is built in the American
Rennaissance style. The Lalitha Mahal (now an ITDC Hotel) and Rajendra
Vilas Palace atop the Chamundi Hills in Mysore are magnificent
architectural pieces. The Sri Krishnarajendra S.J. Technological Institute
and the K.P. Puttanna Chetty Town Hall in Bangalore are other buildings
worth the mention.

Another integral aspect of the lives of times of common Mysoreans is
the Devaraja Market, with a century-old history behind it. It was one of the
oldest commercial establishments of Mysore and was built in memory of
Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar. It was built near the Sayyaji Rao Road, which in
turn was named to commemorate the visit of Sayyaji Rao Gaekwad to
Mysore in the 1900s. The Devaraja Market was very well planned, with
separate sections allocated for fruits, plantains and plantain leaves, betel
leaves, flowers, jaggery blocks or bella, condiments, coconuts, groceries,
onions, potatoes, and other vegetables. The cellar underneath the granite
stone of each shop was a small store-house for the shopkeeper to stock items
of sale. The stone slab was the place for him to sit and sell his item, while
the covered portion was the walk-through for the customers to walk in the
shade, protecting themselves from sun and rain. The hollowed cast iron
pillars and the metal domes facilitated the easy flow of rain water from the
roofs into the covered drains, leaving no trace of water even after a heavy
downpour. The office-rooms in surrounding areas provided accommodation
for advocates and other professionals. Interestingly, the century-old market
still serves a majority of Mysore’s population. What was built when the
population was less than a lakh continues to serve a population of over 10
lakhs, much like the Krishnaraja and Cheluvamba hospitals. This shows the
far-sightedness of the Mysore rulers in matters of town planning.
———————————
*
Shame upon him who thinks evil of it.
30
MYSOREANS:LITERATURE,
THEATRE AND JOURNALISM
ne of the greatest aspects of culture is the spurt in the growth of
language and literature, coupled with opportunities of freedom of
speech and expression manifesting itself in the journalistic endeavours of
the press. Let us briefly look into this aspect of Mysore’s glorious culture.
THE BACKGROUND OF KANNADA LITERATURE
The Kannada language belongs to the Dravidian family of languages and is
the oldest language (after Tamil) currently spoken in India. Kannada
literature is also one of the oldest literary traditions in India. It includes
early writing dating from 2,000 years ago to modern-day literature.
The first example of Kannada writing can be found in the Halmidi
inscription dated 150 CE. The famous Badami inscriptions from the seventh
century provide more examples of early Kannada writing. However, the first
available book in Kannada is the Kavirajamarga, written in the ninth
century by Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga. The book is a treatise of sorts on
Kannada poetry and language and Kannada-speaking people in general.
Based on its references to earlier Kannada works, historians estimate that
literature in Kannada must have begun a couple of centuries before, in the
sixth or seventh centuries CE. However, none of these earlier works have
been found.
The history of Kannada literature is usually studied under four phases:
Purva Hale Gannada (pre-old Kannada); Hale Gannada (old Kannada);
Nadu Gannada (middle Kannada); and Hosa Kannada (new Kannada).
The Old Kannada phase marks the period between tenth-twelfth
centuries. This period consists mainly of Jain religious literature. The
famous poet from this period is Pampa (902–75 CE ), one of the most
celebrated writers in the Kannada language. His Vikramarjuna Vijaya (also
called Pampa Bharatha) is hailed as a classic even today. With this and his
other important work, Adipurana, he set a trend of poetic excellence for
future Kannada poets. The former work is an adaptation of the celebrated
Mahabharata, and is the first such adaptation in Kannada. Noted for the
strong human angle and the dignified style of his writing, Pampa has been
one of the most influential writers in Kannada. He is identified as the adi
kavi or first poet of Kannada literature.
Ponna (939–66 CE )is also an important writer from the same period,
with Shanti-Purana as his magnum opus. Another major writer of the
period is Ranna (949–? CE ). His most famous works are the Jain religious
work Ajita-Tirthankara Purana and the Gada-Yuddham (The Mace Fight), a
birds’-eye view of the Mahabharata set in the last day of the Battle of
Kurukshetra and relating the story of the Mahabharata through a series of
flashbacks. Structurally, the poetry in this period is in the Champu style—
essentially poetry interspersed with lyrical prose.
The Middle Kannada period gave birth to several genres in Kannada
literature, with new forms of composition coming into use, including Ragale
(a form of blank verse) and metres like Sangatya and Desi. The works of
this period are based on Jain, Hindu and secular principles.
Two of the early writers (thirteenth century) of this period are Harihara
and Raghavanka, trailblazers in their own right. Harihara established the
Ragale form of composition, and most of his works are based on the Shaiva
and Veerashaiva traditions. Raghavanka popularised the Shatpadi (six-lined
stanza) metre through his six works, the most famous being Harishchandra
Charitre, based on the life of the Hindu mythological character
Harishchandra. The work is noted for its intense attention to human ideals.
Raghavanka also wrote Siddharama Charitha and Somanatha Charitha. Thr
former describes the story of Siddharama and his accomplishments in
building a sacred pond and a Shiva temple at Sonnalige.

A famous Jain writer of the same period is Janna, who expressed Jain
religious teachings through his works, Yashodhara Charite and
Ananthanatha Purana. A seminal work on Kannada grammar from the
same period is Shabda Mani Darpana by Keshi Raja.
Kannada had poetry similar to the Japanese haiku as far back as the
twelfth century! This form of poetry, called Vachanas, were three-lined
pithy comments on contemporary social, religious and economic conditions.
More importantly, they hold a mirror to the seed of a social revolution,
which caused a radical re-examination of the ideas of caste, creed and
religion. Some of the important writers of Vachana literature include
Basaveshvara (1131-67 CE ), Allama Prabhu and Akka Mahadevi, the first
woman writer in Kannada.
Arguably, Kumara Vyasa has been the most famous and most influential
Kannada writer of all time. His grand work, Karnata
BharataKathaManjari, is a sublime adaptation of the first ten parvas
(chapters) of the Mahabharata. A devotee of Krishna, Kumara Vyasa ends
his epic with the passing of Krishna in the 10th chapter of the Mahabharata.
The work is easily the most celebrated in Kannada literature. Its fame arises
from the fact that it has appealed to people of all strata of education and
intellect over the centuries, till today. The work is entirely composed in the
Bhamini Shatpadi metre, a form of six-lined stanza. The range of human
emotions Kumara Vyasa explores and the versatility of his vocabulary are
extensive. The work is particularly known for its use of sophisticated
metaphors, earning Kumara Vyasa the title ‘Rupaka Samrajya Chakravarti’
(Emperor of the Land of Metaphors).
Literature under the Wodeyars
Kannada literature assumed a new dimension with the coming of the
Wodeyar dynasty and the generous patronage they extended to its growth.
The literary works under early Wodeyars, like Raja Wodeyar, also indicate
the growing influence of Vaishnava philosophy on the polity. Sriranga
Mahatmya (1600) and Karnavrittantha Kathe (1615) are two major works
during Raja Wodeyar’s rule.
Chamaraja Wodeyar VI was a great patron of literary activities. He is
credited with writing the Brahmottara Khanda and Maniprakasha Vachana

(1630) in colloquial Kannada prose format dealing with the philosophy and
rituals of Shaivism. The Chamrajokti Vilasa is another prose work in Hosa
Gannada on the seven cantos of the Ramayana. Though the king is said to
have composed this work, differences exist on whether he actually got it
written by the scholar Virupaksha.
Lakshmisha, believed to be a native of Devanur in Kadur Taluk was a
shining poet of the times and is known for his masterpiece Jaimini Bharata.
He is adorned with such titles as ‘Upamalola’ and ‘Nadalola’—reveller in
similies and melody. His is a superb art of story telling in verse. His
contemporary was Virupaksha Pandita whose brilliant work Channabasava
Purana is another milestone in Kannada literature. In the History of
Kanarese Literature, E.P. Rice comments
Channabasava is regarded as an incarnation of Siva. The work relates his birth and his
greatness at Kalyana; but is mostly taken up with the instruction he gave to Siddharama of
Sonnalige on the entire body of Virasaiva lore, the creation, the wonderful deeds (lila) of
Siva, the marvelous efficacy of Saiva rites and stories of Saiva saints. It has, consequently
been very popular among Lingayat readers. It is also very useful to the historian of
Kanarese literature, because it gives much help in determining the approximate dates of the
early Virasaiva saints and poets.
It might be worth mentioning here that the Veerashaiva faith or the
Lingayat sect that developed from the teachings of the medieval saint and
reformer Basaveshwara, in opposition to the dogmatic practices of
traditional Brahminical Hindusim, became the state religion and had a huge
following. E.P. Rice writes that Lingayetism was the state religion of the
early Wodeyars of Mysore and Ummattur from 1399–1640 and of the
Nayakas of Keladi from AD 1550–1763. Their principal muth in the Mysore
country is at Chitaldoorg. The drift towards Sri Vaishnavism began with
Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar and its impact on the literature of the times is also
obvious.
The reign of Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar was truly the golden period in the
history of Kannada literature. Experts categorise the growth of the language
into the pre-Chikkadevaraja era and post-Chikkadevaraja era. In the former
era, writings were in the Shatpadi style.
Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar was himself a poet of great repute and wrote
works, like Geeta Gopala and Chikkadevaraja Binnapam. The latter is

written in prose form. It contains 30 binnapas or prayers addressed to Lord
Cheluvanarayana of Yadugiri. They contain the essence of the Dwaita and
Vishishtadwaita philosophies of Hinduism propounded by Saint
Madhawacharya and Saint Ramanujacharya respectively. Other works
credited to him are Bharata Vachana, Chikkadevaraja Sukti Vilasa and
Sacchoodraachara Nirnaya. The last among these is an important document
on the social conditions of the times. It details the maharaja’s prescriptions
and codifications on the dos and don’ts of a good Shudra. His court was
adorned with numerous poets and scholars.
Tirumalaraya (1646–1706) was a court poet and later minister. He
authored two historical works in Kannada, Chikkadevaraja Vijaya and
Chikkadevaraja Vamshavali. The former is considered the best in the
Champu style in Kannada literature. His Apratimavira Charita is a treatise
on rhetoric, drawing freely on ancient Sanskrit works on the subject. They
are all important sources of contemporary history, though one needs to take
the information provided therein with caution, as it abounds with
sycophantic superlatives. His undated works also include a series of hymns
or stavahas.
Chikkupadhyaya was another prolific author and has over 30 works in
the Champu, Sangatya and prose styles of Kannada literature to his credit.
Most of his works tend to propagate the faith of Sri Vaishnavism and also
narrate the heroic deeds of Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar. Vishnu Purana in two
volumes in the Champu and prose style, Divyasuri Charitre, considered as
the best among his Champu works and dealing with the 12 Alwar or
Vaishnavite saints, Arthapanchaka and Tiruvoymoli translated from Tamil
as also the many Mahatmyas describing the greatness of pilgrim centres like
Srirangam, Srirangapatna, Kanchi, Melukote, Tirupati, etc., are to his credit.
Singaraya, brother of Tirumalaraya, wrote the first drama extant in
Kannada literature entitled Mitravinda Govinda, adapted from the Sanskrit
drama Ratnavali by Sri Harsha. Giving a Vaishnavite touch to the play, he
has substituted the original lovers of the drama, Udayana and Ratnavali with
Krishna and Mitravinda.
Sanchiya Honnamma was among the few women writers of repute in
Kannada. The prefix to her name came on account of her occupation of
carrying the bag of betel leaves and nuts for the maharaja. An unlettered
Vokkaliga woman with inborn literary talent, she seems to have caught the
maharaja’s notice by her brilliance and was sent for literary education under
Singaraya by the king himself. She wrote the Hadibadeya Dharma in
Sangatya metre, which describes the duties of a faithful wife. It is a
masterpiece in the Sangatya style. She also wrote the Padmini Kalyana in
the same metre, describing the divine wedding of Lord Venkataramana and
Padmavathi.
The following timelines are drawn when analysing the growth of
Kannada literature under Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar’s reign:
1) 1673–76: Earliest Sangatya metre compositions in honour of Lord
Ranganatha, the presiding deity of Srirangapatna, were composed. Some
of the works of this era include Aksharamalika Sangatya, Paschima
Ranga Sangatya, Rangadhama Stuti Sangatya, Shringara Shataka
Sangatya, etc., most of which have been composed by Chikkupadhyaya.
2) 1676–77: Kamandaka Niti and Shuka Satpati were prose renderings at
Chikkadevaraja’s behest. While the former deals with the ancient
science of politics, the latter is a compilation of maxims in the form of
70 didactic stories narrated by Sage Shuka to King Vahniraja.
3) 1678: Completion of the Divyasuri Charitre of Chikkupadhyaya.
4) 1678–80: Creation of historic accounts/merits of holy places
(Mahatmyas), mostly done by Chikkupadhyaya. Kamalachala
Mahatmya, Hastagiri Mahatmya, Sriranga Mahatmya,
VenkatagiriMahatmya, Paschimaranga Mahatmya and Yadavagiri
Mahatmya— in both prose and poetry styles—are some of the works of
this genre.
5) 1680–91: Vaishnavite works composed by Chikkupadhyaya.
Sheshadharma, Satvika Brahmavidya Vilasa and Vishnu Purana.
The Hosa Gannada prose style evolved in Mysore towards the end of
Chikkadevaraja’s reign.
Around 1750 is when Helavanakatte Giriamma shot to brilliance. She
was a Brahmin writer who wrote Chandrahasana Kathe and UddalikaKathe
in Sangatya and Seeta Kalyana in the form of songs. Ranganatha or
Mahalinga Ranga of 1675 was another brilliant author/poet. He wrote the
Anubhavamrita where he speaks extensively of the Advaita philosophy of

Adi Shankaracharya. Simple, lucid and direct exposition of a philosophy as
abstract as Advaita in language so sweetly rendered is the hallmark of this
work. His follower Chidanandavadhoota wrote more extensively on his
teacher’s pet topic in Jnanasindhu.
The 1700s saw the pinnacle of Kannada literature with the advent of the
ace poet Sarvajna. Unconventional in every sense, he was a wandering
minstrel and his mission was to spread the spiritual message to the people.
His 2,000 verses in the Tripadi metre with his name Sarvajna, narrate no
stories or epics but deal with the philosophy of life and spirituality. He
pokes fun at the superstitions and dogmas of society in the most cynical way
and is most reflective in other verses. The stamp of Kavi Sarvajna on
Kannada literature and his impact on its growth is remarkable.
A few other Kannada writers and poets of the time were Chidananda
Kavi, Pandit Mallikarjuna, Venkataraya Shishya, Timmarasa, and Sarpa
Bhushana and so on. The growth of Kannada seemed to get stunted in the
Interregnum period between 1760 and 1799; it was revived by Mummadi
Krishnaraja Wodeyar. The maharaja was himself a man of letters and
translated the Ramayana and Mahabharata insto Kannada. He wrote
famous books, like Devatanama Kusumamanjari, Sritatvanidhi,
SrikrishnaKatha Sangraha, Ramayana, Bharata, Dasharathanandana
Charitre, GrahanaDarpana (predicting 82 eclipses from 1841–1902),
Suryachandra Vamshavali, etc. The masterpieces of his reign include
Ganita Sangraha, Swarachudamani, Sowgandhikaparinaya,
Sankhyaratnakosha, Chamundambalaghunighantu, Mahakoshasudhakara,
Chaturangasarasarwasva, Sankhyaa-malay, Dashavibhaga Padaka and so
on.
Asthana Vidwan Basavappa (1843–91) prepared Kannada versions of
Kalidasa’s Abhigyana Shakuntala, Vikramorvashiyam, Ratnavali, and
Uttara Ramacharitre, etc. The other books of this period were Shurasena
Charita (the Indian version of Shakespeare’s Othello) and Savitri Charitre
in Shatpadi Style. Ramakrishnashastry wrote Bhuvana Pradeepika on the
history and geography of South India, while Srinivasa Kavisarvabhauma’s
KrishnarajaPrabhavodayam and Krishnaraja Jayotkarsha Champu are
biographies of Krishnaraja Wodeyar. Aliya Lingaraja, Srinivasakavi,
Mahanto Shivayogi were other famous poets of his time.

Parti Subba, a Yakshagana exponent from South Kanara, received royal
patronage and this enriched the Yakshagana Kannada literature. In fact it
was under Mummadi Krishnaraja that the foundation of modem Kannada
prose literature was truly laid. The Mudra Manjusha of Kempu Narayana
(1823) was a landmark in Kannada prose literature. It was based on the
Sanskrit drama Mudra Rakshasa. He retold the story in a more elaborate
way and in his peculiarly individualistic prose style. It marks the beginning
of prose fiction in Kannada. Aliya Lingaraja has over 47 works to his credit
in different literary styles like Champu, Shatpadi, Saangatya, Yakshagana,
Shataka, song, ballad, etc. Muddanna, whose real name was Nandalike
Lakshminaranappa is the author of Adbhuta Ramayana, Rama
Pattabhisheka and Ramaswhwamedha and is considered the morning star
on the horizon of modem Kannada literature. Blending the old and new in
his delightful inimitable style, Muddanna used chaste old Kannada
language, but his prose was modem in idiom and style. His death at the
young age of 31 was a great loss to the world of Kannada literature.
The northern parts of Karnataka, coming as they did under the severe
influence of the Maratha regime, could not produce much fine literature in
Kannada due to the predominance of Marathi. However, painstaking efforts
by numerous luminaries dispelled this notion. William Russell and Deputy
Channabasappa started Kannada schools and introduced Kannada textbooks
in those regions. Christian missionaries like Rev. Kittel, Mr Ziegler, B.
Lewis Rice, Dr Caldwell, E.R Rice and others were fascinated by the
simplistic beauty of the Kannada language and did a lot to propagate it and
to prepare standard works in Kannada. Kittel is credited with creating the
first Kannada-English dictionary. Eminent people, like R. Narasimhachar,
recorded the historical growth of Kannada in a three-volume book spanning
10 centuries from 900–1900 AD. These Western influences greatly
revolutionised the Kannada literary forms both in style and content. Older
forms like Champu were discarded; prose was established as the principal
mode of literary expression, giving rise to diverse literary forms, like drama,
novels, short stories, biographies, essays, etc., and the writings became more
secular in nature.
The Navodaya (literally meaning new birth) phase of Kannada literature
was indeed the period of renaissance in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. This period saw greats, like Srikanthaiah, Kuvempu,
Bendre, Shivaram Karanth, and Betgeri Krishnasharma.
Many educated Kannadigas, especially those in the teaching profession,
realised that they needed to express themselves in their mother tongue and
started writing in Kannada. Modem Kannada literature is the outcome of
creative work, which was looked down upon by the traditionalists and was
more experimental in nature. Eminent figures like B.M. Srikantaiya (1894–
1946), Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, D.V.G., Govinda Pai, Panje Mangesha
Rao, Santa Kavi and others heralded this modern era, being influenced by
the English poets of the romantic era, like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron,
Shelly and Keats. Srikantaiya’s English Geetegalu set the tone for the
romantic school in Kannada literature. The era was made further
memorable by some of the greatest figures of Kannada literature, such as
Rashtrakavi ‘Kuvempu’ (Dr K.V. Puttappa) and ‘Ambikatanayadatta’ (D.R.
Bendre) who still hold sway over popular literary imagination. Numerous
other writers sprang up in this era—Sali Ramachandra Rao, V. Sitaramaiya,
P.T. Narasimhachar, Kadangolu Shankar Bhatta, Betageri Krishna Sharma,
V.K. Gokak, Madhura Chenna, R.S. Mugali and younger turks like G.P.
Rajaratnam, S.V. Parameshwara Bhatta, K.S. Narasimhaswami, B.H.
Sridhara, Pandeshwar Ganapati Rao, Gopalakrishna Adiga and others. G.P.
Rajaratnam’s Ratnana Padagalu and Narasimhaswami’s Mysuru Mallige
became very popular. And Gokak and Adiga, under the influence of the
English poet T.S. Eliot, tried to break fresh ground and have been
responsible for the emergence of yet another new, or navya, school of
poetry.
Early Kannada novels were merely translations of Bengali or Marathi
novels. But things changed with B. Venkatachar and Galaganatha who
pioneered independent novel writing. The first original novel in Kannada
was written in 1899 by Gulwadi Venkata Rao called Indira Bai, followed by
Vagdevi (1905) by Bolar Babu Rao and Kerur Vasudevachar’s Indira in
1908. Madiddunno Maharaya by M.S. Puttanna was the first and an
outstanding novel depicting socio-economic conditions during Mummadi
Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s reign. The themes of society and socialism crept in
with the works of A.N. Krishna Rao as also Kuvempu and Karanth. Marali
Mannige by Karanth and Kanuru Subbamma by Kuvempu are brilliant
pieces in the history of the Kannada novel. Many new popular novelists
sprang up, like Niranjana, Basavaraja, Kattimani, T.R. Subba Rao,
Krishnamurthi Puranik and women novelists, like ‘Triveni’, whose novels,
which deal with very contemporary and modern issues, have been made into
many old Kannada movie classics.
LITERATURE AND KANNADA THEATRE
The changes in the literary world greatly influenced the Kannada stage as
well. Traditionally a people who love telling stories, as amply displayed in
the Yakshagana Bayalaata art forms, theatre came naturally to the people of
the Mysore state. The earliest available Kannada play is the
MitravindaGovinda written in the last quarter of the seventeenth century by
Singaraya who was at the court of Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar. Scholars agree
that traditional Kannada theatre flourished in the region in two distinctive
styles, one nourished by the royal courts and providing entertainment to the
educated and elite sections of society, and the other that sprang from the soil
and literally mirrored the culture and aspirations of the commoners. The
latter is believed to have been more ancient than the court theatre. Court
theatre was more like a theme-dance with too many dialogues than a drama.
The Kannada stage claims to be older than any other regional theatre in the
country. The Yakshagana, Bhagavatara Aata, Doddaata, Sannaata and other
forms of dance-drama have always been a delightful blend of music, dance,
drama and poetry.
The commercial Kannada stage is about a hundred years old but in this
short period it has brought many eminent figures, like Basavappa Shastri
(Abhinava Kalidasa), Kerur Vasudevachar, Narayana Rao, Garud, B.
Puttaswamaiya, A.V. Varadachar, Mohammad Peer, K.V. Subbanna,
Handiganur and Master Hiranaiya. Many well-equipped troupes with bands
of talented artists frequently went around the state and created a taste for
dramas not only in Karnataka but the whole of South India.
When it comes to dramatic writing or scripts for plays it was perhaps the
translation of Shakuntala by Churamuri Sheshagiri Rao in 1870 that set the
ball rolling. Dhondo Narasimha Mulabagil, Subba Shastry, Anantanarayana
Shastry, Mysore Seetarama Shastry and others joined the bandwagon of
play-writing in Kannada. Many well-known plays by Shakespeare, Moliere,

Ibsen, Goldsmith, etc., have either been translated or adapted into Kannada
by scholars like D.V. Gundappa, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, A.N. Murti Rao,
Kuvempu, Parvatavani, S.G. Shastri, Devudu and others. The plays of T.P.
Kailasam, Sriranga and K.S. Karanth introduced new and experimental
methods in Kannada literature. Being social satirists they tried to lampoon
social evils. While Kailasam did so by making a joke of them, Sriranga took
it to the extremes of anger and retaliation. T.P. Kailasam’s legendary tongue-
in-cheek remarks were always a delight.
One-act plays by K.S. Karanth, D.R. Bendre, ‘Parvatavani’ Kaiwar Raja
Rao, N.K. Kulkami, ‘Ksheerasagara’ and others have been another
challenging and interesting aspect of the growth of this area of literature.
Essay writing under writers, like A.N. Murthi Rao, Goruru Ramaswamy
Iyengar, N. Kasturi, Sriranga, Karanth, ‘Nagemari’ and others has developed
into another form of literary expression.
From religious and epic descriptions, like in literature, theatre also
transformed itself into a vehicle of social statement. The trend began with
T.P. Kailasam whose satires were very popular among the masses and struck
at the root of many social evils. His famous remark in view of the mammoth
size of Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar: ‘Three chairs for the ruler of
Mysore!’ would send the audience into splits! A galaxy of old and young
writers, like K.T. Puranik, M.N. Babu, Kumara Venkanna, K. Gundanna,
Sadasivaiya and Dasharathi Dixit contributed to the new dramatic literature.
Kannada theatre also drew inspiration from similar forms in neighbouring
states, like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and in turn
influenced the forms there. It was said that a Yakshagana troupe that went
from North Kanara to Sangli in 1842 at the invitation of the Raja of Sangli,
Srimanth Appa Sahib Patwardhan, bowled the raja over so that he decided to
write Marathi plays on the lines of Yakshagana.
In the context of Yakshagana literature, mention must be made of the
immense contribution of Dr Kota Shivarama Karanth—a great litterateur,
novelist, researcher and linguist who continued writing throughout his
lifetime and contributed more than 100 books belonging to various
categories in Kannada literature. Loved by children as Karanthajja, Dr
Karanth was famous for his straight-forward nature and active involvement
in his fields of interest. There is no category in literature that Dr Karanth did
not touch. He has written novels, short stories, plays, music dramas, literary
criticism, and books for children, travelogues, books on nature, science, and
on folk culture. In addition, Dr Karanth was the exponent of Yakshagana,
the folk art of coastal Karnataka and had experimented a great deal with the
art form. Some of his famous novels include Bettada Jeeva,Mookajjiya
Kanasugalu, Chomana Dudi, Marali Mannige, Battada Tore, Alida Mele,
and many others. He wrote many plays including Kisa Gouthami, Savitri-
Sathyavan, Somiya Soubhagya, Katte Purana, Garbha Gudi, Geddavara
Samkhye. Tereya Mareyalli and Hasivu Maththu Havu are short shories.
Huchchu Manasina Haththu Mukhagalu (The Ramblings of a Lunatic) is his
autobiography.
Patronage to Sanskrit
It was not just Kannada that the maharajas of Mysore patronised. Sanskrit—
the classical and ancient language of the Aryan civilisation—was a close
contender for their attention. After the disintegration of the Vijayanagara
empire, Keladi and Mysore inherited the Hindu traditions and Sanskrit was
prime among them. Apart from royal patronage, religious institutions like
the three Vaishnava muths, the eight muths at Udupi, the Advaita Peethas at
Sringeri, Koodli, Sankeshwar and Kanchi were centres of learning for
Sanskrit and the Vedanta. It is difficult to categorise Sanskrit and its
scholars on a regional basis as they usually moved from one place to another
under the patronage of different kings. The language had no regionalistic
connotations attached to it and was viewed as the language of the
intellectuals. Some of the early Sanskrit scholars of Mysore include
Devaraja, Yaska, Narahari, Mysore Anantacharya, Shadaksharadeva, Surpur
Venkatacharya, Mysore Pradhana Venkata Bhoopati and others. The
infamous Dalavoy Nanjarajayya, known for his many political
misadventures and machinations in the time of Immadi Krishnaraja
Wodeyar, was a great Sanskrit scholar and translated many works from
Sanskrit to Kannada, even composing Sangeetha Gangadhara in Sanskrit. It
is in four cantos in the Gita Govinda style.
Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was a scholar of Sanskrit as well and
most of his earlier mentioned works were either in Kannada or Sanskrit.
Many poets and scholars of Sanskrit adorned his court—Ramakrishna
Shastry of Hassan, Srinivasa Kavisravabhauma, Tirumala Bukkapatnam

Venkatachar, Udeyendrapuram Anantacharya (who wrote the famous poem
Yadava-Raghava-Pandaviya), Chincholi Venkannachar
(Ashtadhyayadarpana) and others. This trend continued in the latter half of
the nineteenth and early half of the twentieth centuries with the maharajas
extending their benevolence and patronage to scores of Sanskrit vidwans
and scholars. Many books were written in Telugu, such as Vachana
Bharatamu, Halasya Mahatmyamu, Kundalakurki Chandrakavi’s
Krishnabhupaliyamu and Amble P. Laksminarasimha Shastri’s
BhanuShatakamu and Neethi Shatakamu.
Growth of Urdu
During the Interregnum period, Urdu was patronised in Mysore. Persian and
Kannada became the state languages. Zainul Abidin Shustary wrote the
Fathull Mujahideen. Kirmani, the historian, wrote a biography of Haidar
Ali called Haidar Nama and Bahadur Nama; Tarab’s Fatheh Nama on Tipu
Sultan and his achievements was another great piece of Urdu literature.
The Wodeyars too were great patrons of Urdu and Hindustani. Latiff
Arcoti, Shah Muhammad Arif, Mir Hayyat, Banke Nawab Nassim,
Ghamshad, Jadu, Salim Dil, Athar, Ah, Alwi, Barq, Tahshil, Muqbil and
others were the great Urdu poets patronised by the later Wodeyars. Nalwadi
Krishnaraja Wodeyar was himself proficient in Urdu and in fact he even
spoke in Urdu during the inauguration of the Jama Masjid in Mysore in
1929. In 1927, during the silver jubilee celebrations of his coronation, he
made his public announcements in Urdu for the Muslim brethren of Mysore
and also instituted a chair for Urdu and Persian at the Mysore University.
Thus we see a delightful blend of languages flourishing in Mysore, which
contributed a great deal to its largely cosmopolitan and tolerant social ethos.
THE FOURTH ESTATE
Besides propagating the language, the press acts a watchdog over democracy
and has the power to make or break rulers and kingdoms. We have all seen
the important role played by the newspapers in India’s freedom movement.

Mysore has the distinction of having an old and illustrious journalistic
history. In 1850, the first printing press came up in Mysore and the first
newspaper was the Bangalore Herald in 1859, edited by James. Other
papers that followed were Mysore Vritthanhta Bodhini edited by
Bhashyachari, Arunodaya (1862) edited by R. Rice, Qasim-ul-Akbar (1863)
edited by Janab Mohammad Qasim ‘Gham’ and the first monthly Kannada
journal Hitabodhini by Ramanuja Iyengar.
The first Kannada weekly newspaper Karnataka Prakashika was
published in 1865 and revived in 1874 as a Kannada-English bilingual
weekly by T.C. Srinivasachar, an eminent Sanskrit scholar. It championed
the cause of a pro-Mysorean political party that also had radical views about
non-Mysoreans infiltrating into the Mysore services and enjoying posts of
great privilege and authority, while not doing much to promote employment
for the locals. The Mysore Gazette, a government publication, began in 1866
in Kannada and English and continues to this day.
After the Rendition of Mysore in 1881, the press received a fresh
impetus. Kannada weekly Deshabhimani, started in 1894 by B. Srinivasa
Iyengar, ran into serious problems due to misunderstandings between Mr
Iyengar and Dewan Sheshadri Iyer. The Vrittanta Patrike was founded by
the Wesleyan mission, had a sober news service and furnished constructive
suggestions. It ceased to exist in 1942.
No treatise on journalism in Mysore would be complete without a
reference to M. Venkatakrishnaiya, fondly addressed as Tathaiya (1844-
1933). Called by many names, like Dayasagara and Bhishmacharya, he was
a veritable pillar for budding journalists. In his long career spanning over
sixty years he started many newspapers: Vrittantha Chintamani (1885),
Sampadabhyudaya, Vidyaadaayini and Saadhvi, so much so that he was
rightly considered the ‘Pitamaha’ of Kannada journalism in the then Mysore
state. A horde of newspapers entered with Hitabodhini, Udanta Chintamani
and Poorna Samajika Patrike, all in Kannada and Mysore Patriot,Wealth of
Mysore, Mysore Herald and Nature Cure in English, all owing to the
patronage and support of M. Venkatakrishnaiya.
Though he had great respect for the maharajas of his time, he acted as a
true watchdog and made it a point to protest any administrative lapse. This
cost him his headmastership of the Marimallappa High School in 1918, but
that was no deterrent to the outspoken man. The maharaja held him in high
regard, sanctioning a pension of Rs 50 for Tathaiya from the palace funds
after his forced retirement from the school. However, a supposedly seditious
article in the Sampadabhyudaya led to the closure of the newspaper by the
maharaja’s government in 1922 along with a quasi-judicial enquiry.
Resident Barton insisted that the paper be discontinued forever and his will
prevailed. He also ensured that the maharaja terminated the pension
sanctioned to the old man. Tathaiya did write many letters to the maharaja,
the dewan and Charles Toddhunter, the personal secretary of the maharaja,
seeking that the order for cancellation of pension be revoked, but in vain.
Tathaiya died a pauper in 1933.
Tathaiya firmly believed that newspapers would go a long way in
establishing democracy and that some of the repressive measures of the
dewans were stifling democracy by trying to gag the press. Though a course
in journalism had not yet begun in Mysore University, Tathaiya made an
endowment for a prize for the best journalism student that actually took
shape in 1951, thirty years after he had sponsored it. Tathaiya played a
pivotal role in Mysore’s history as a representative of the fourth estate with
his liberal and progressive outlook.
The students of Tathaiya, M. Gopala Iyengar and M. Srinivasa Iyengar,
started the Kannada Nadegannadi and Mysore Standard, a move that
severely displeased the dewans—P.N.Krishnamurthy and V.P. Madhava Rao.
In 1908, the council passed the infamous Newspaper Regulations Act,
earning the wrath of many journalists including Tathaiya. The editor of
Nadegannadi was ordered to be deported from the state.
Dr D.V. Gundappa started the English bi-weekly Karnataka, edited
Arthasadhaka Patrike and the English journal Indian Review of Reviews.
Other newspapers of the time were Vishwakarnataka (1921), a weekly
edition by Tirumala Tatacharya Sharman, Tainaadu (1926) by P.R.
Ramaiya, Janavani (1934) by B.N. Gupta, Chitragupta by H.K. Veeranna
Gowda, Veerakesari by Sitarama Shastry and Navajeevana, edited by
Ashwath Narayana Rao. Of these, the Vishwakarnataka served as the best
mouthpiece of the freedom struggle and Quit India Movement under its new
editor Siddhavanahalli Krishnasarma. The government banned its
publication in 1944 on charges of sedition when it carried an open letter to
the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow. It was revived in 1945, but could not last too
long due to financial problems and wound up in 1956. Prajamatha, started

in 1931, was very popular among the masses. These newspapers
strengthened democratic institutions in Mysore and also contributed a lot to
the freedom struggle by inspiring people to work towards an independent
India.
At the end of this elaborate treatise on the cultural story of Mysore, we
are struck by the all-round evolution and elevation of Mysore and its people.
Material progress was of course easy to define. But more important was the
evolution of the distinct way of life and social ethos of the ‘Mysorean’, that
revealed itself more often than not in the various forms of human expression
—music, dance, theatre, literature, folk forms, architecture, painting and the
press. This is just a humble sketch and a bird’s-eye view of the path of
socio-cultural development that Mysore followed under the long and
benevolent rule of its culturally conscious maharajas.

CONCLUSION
he beginning of one era stems from the end of another. Thus ended the
grandeur and splendour of the Yadu royal family of Mysore. As I walk
away from the Kodi Bhairava Temple, from where this whole story began,
the sun has set, birds are returning to their nests and quite symbolically, a
chapter in the history of the land is over.
But it goes to the spirit of Mysore that it has always had the fortune of
being ruled by some of the best minds of the country. Each time the person
at the helm dithered, a new force would emerge that took the land to greater
glory. The fall of Vijayanagara catapulted Raja Wodeyar to the fore. When
his successors rendered themselves unworthy of the throne, stalwarts, like
Ranadhira Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar and Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar,
led the kingdom to its zenith. With the state being milked by the
machinations of the dalavoys and the members of the royal family remaining
mute and powerless spectators, it was left to the valour of Haidar Ali and his
heroic son Tipu Sultan to steer the state in troubled times. The British
shivered at the very mention of Mysore, which was rightly the first Indian
state to take up arms against the foreign power. When Mummadi
Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s administration bungled in its duties, the state passed
on to the able hands of Commissioners, like Mark Cubbon and Lewin
Bowring, who only helped accelerate the pace of growth.
It must be admitted that the Mysore state after its Restoration in 1799
was geographically a weak reflection of its earlier might and that the later
maharajas were vassals of the British Crown. But it is to their credit that
unlike other contemporary Indian princes, they utilised the British technical
know-how and combined it with their own ingenuity and the statesmanship
of illustrious dewans, like Rangacharlu, Sheshadri Iyer, Vishweswaraiya and
Mirza Ismail, to help the state achieve unparalleled progress on all fronts.
The number of firsts that Mysore has had in the Indian context are truly
laudable.
Women played a prominent role in this extensive and chequered history
of the state, where female power has long been worshipped in the form of
the Goddess Chamundeshwari—the slayer of the mythical demon
Mahishasura. From an irate Rani Alamelamma who supposedly cursed the
Wodeyars to the unsophisticated and raw energy of an Onake Obavva of
Chitradurga; from the diplomatic and courageous Rani Lakshmammanni
who strove to salvage the fortunes of her family to the suave Rani Kempa
Nanjammanni Vanivilasa Sannidhana who steered the state ably during her
regency—women have always proved their mettle and played a pivotal role
in state polity.
At the end of this long saga of Mysore over six centuries, I return to the
theme with which I began—the objectives of history that one needs to keep
in mind while documenting it. If this work of mine has instilled a sense of
pride and achievement among even one reader, about the greatness of the
cultural heritage bequeathed to him/her and at the same time instilled a
feeling of responsibility and ownership towards the present and future of the
state, I would consider my work truly successful and worth the effort.
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INDEX
Alexander the Great
Ali, Haidar
Ali, Sheikh
Anglo-Mysorean Wars
Ashoka, Emperor
Atharvaveda
Baird, General
Balamuri
Banerji, Sir Albion
Barrackpore
Battle of Plassey
Battle of Porto Novo
Beg, Latif Ali
Begum, Majida
Bentinck, William
Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavathar, Dr Harikesanallur Muthaiah
Bhakti movement
Bharata
Bharatanatyam
Bhat, Shyam
Bonaparte, Napoleon
Bourchier, Charles
Brahmo Samaj
Brunton, Paul
Caliph, Ottoman
Canning, Lord
Chamaraja, Khasa
Chelmsford, Lord
Chowdaiah, Mysore T.
Clive, Robert
Cornwallis, Lord
Crimean War
Cripps, Sir Stafford
de Pradt, Abbe
Devarajayya, Dalavoy
Dikshitar, Muthuswamy
Doctrine of Lapse
Dow, Alexander
Dupleix
East India Company
Elphinstone
First British-Afghan War
First Sikh War
First War of Indian Independence
Gandhi, Mahatma
Ganjifa cards
Ghouse, Muhammad
Golconda
Gopal, M.H.
Haidar, Fateh
Hardinge, Lord Henry

Harikatha
Harris, General
Hastings, Warren
Hobli School System
Ilbert Bill
Iqbal, Mohammad
Ismail, Sir Mirza
Iyengar, Tirumala
Iyer, Sheshadri
Jung, Basalat
Jung, Muzaffar
Jung, Nasir
Kalam, A.P.J. Abdul
Karim
Khan, Abdul Rasool
Khan, Dost Ali
Khan, Ghazi
Khan, Malik Jehan
Khan, Qasim
Kirkpatrick, William
Krishnappa, Bidaram
Kunzru, H.N.
Lakshmammanni (Maharani of Mysore)
Lawrence, Major
Louis XVI
Mahabharata
Malabar Manual
Malcolm, John
Marathas
Marihalla Project
Meadows, Major General William
Michaud, Joseph
Mill, James
Mitravinda Govinda
Mohammad, Fateh
Mohammad, Prince Ghulam
Morley-Minto reforms
Momington, Lord
Mughals
Muhammad, Prince Ghulam
Munro, Thomas
Muthaiah Bhagavathar
Mysore Palace
Nadim, Mir
Nagamandala
Naik, Rangappa
Natakashala
Natyashastra
Nayak, Rangappa
Opium Wars
Pandey, Mangal
Pandit, Kala
Pannikkar, K.M.
Patel, Vallabhbhai
Pethick-Lawrence, Lord
Phadnavis, Nana
Pigot, Lord
Plato
Portuguese
Prince of Wales
Pumaiya
Raja of Malabar
Ramakrishna Mission
Ramayana
Rangacharlu
Rao, Appaji
Rao, Berki Srinivasa
Rao, Hayavadana
Rao, Khande
Rao, Mysore Sadashiva
Rao, Peshwa Madhava
Rao, Raghunath
Rao, Shama
Rao, Tirumala
Register of Tipu’s Dreams
Republic
Rice, Lewis
Rigveda
Sadik, Mir
Sahib, Chanda
Samaveda
Sastri, Venkatachala
Seal, Dr Sir Brajendranath
Second Anglo-Burmese War
Second Sikh War
Shamaiya, Anche
Sharat System
Shastri, Asthana Vidwan Basavappa
Shastri, Basappa
Shastry, Shyama
Shaw, George Bernard
Sheshanna, Veene
Simon Commission
Singh, Daleep
Singh, Hari
Singh, Ranjit
Siraj-ud-daulah, Nawab
Sitaramaiya, Pattabhi
Smith, Colonel Joseph
Srirangapatna
Subsidiary Treaty
Sufism
Sultan, Tipu
Swamy, Kille Venkataramana
Takkavi loans
Tanjore School
Tata, Jamsetji Nusserwanji
Thayamma, Jetti
Theosophical Society
Third Mysore War
Thyagaraja
Tiger of Mysore
Treaty of Alliance
Treaty of Amritsar
Treaty of Mangalore of 1784
Treaty of Salbai
Urs, Katti Gopalaraje
Vasudevacharya
Vasudevacharya, Mysore
Venkatagiriappa, Veene
Venkatalakshamma, K.
Verma, Raja Ravi
Victoria, Queen
Vijayanagara
Vishweshwarayya, Sir M.
Vivekananda, Swami
Wagh, Dhondoji
Wellesley, Richard
White, Margaret Bourke
Yajurveda
Yakshagana
Zamorins of Calicut

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SPLENDOURS

First Published 2008

First in Rupa Paperback 2009

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Hyderabad Jaipur Kathmandu

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the

The author asserts the moral right to be identified

as the author of this work.

Typeset in Palatino Linotype by

1410 Chiranjiv Tower

New Delhi 110 019

B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I,

New Delhi 110 020, India

the ever-lasting memory of

who, though not around in flesh and blood

to see this day, will continue to remain

a constant source of inspiration

in all my creative endeavours.

1. The Genesis AD 1399–1578

2. The Age of Glory AD 1578–1617

3. Peril At the Gates AD 1617–38

Looking Back: Section 1

4. The Golden Period—I (AD 1638–73)

5. India in the Seventeenth Century

6. The Golden Period-II (AD 1673–1704)

7. The Dalavoy Regime AD 1704–34

Looking Back: Section 2

8. The Early Years of Haidar Ali AD 1734–61

10. Haidar Ali: The Man and His Legacy

11. Sultanat-e-Khudadad Mysore AD 1782–91

12. The Sword of Tipu Sultan AD 1791–99

13. The Legacy of Tipu Sultan

Looking Back: Section 3

14. The Restoration and Thereafter 1799

15. The Survivor Statesman Dewan Purnaiya’s Life and Times

16. The Beckoning of Doom AD 1812–30

17. A Country on the Boil

18. Commissioners’ Rule and the Issue of Rendition AD 1831–68

19. Towards Rendition

20. The Reformer King Chamarajendra Wodeyar X

21. The Rajarishi

22. Political, Social and Economic Development of Mysore

23. The Struggle for Swaraj

24. The Beginning of the End

25. Defining Culture

26. The Lives and Times of Mysoreans: Classical Music

References and Bibliography

book. I owe my heartfelt gratitude to Shri H.D. Kumaraswamy, chief

minister of Karnataka, for agreeing to write the Foreword. I am also grateful

to eminent historian, Dr Suryanath Kamath, for having agreed to go through

Introduction. I offer a humble thanks to Maharajkumari Meenakshi Devi

Avaru, Princess of Mysore and daughter of Shri Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, for

help, support and encouragement.

My sincere thanks are also due to eminent author, Dr Shashi Deshpande,

who mentored me through the entire course of publication. A special note of