Friday, January 21, 2011

The Kingdom of Mysore

Kingdom of Mysore/Princely State of Mysore
Kingdom (Subordinate to Vijayanagara Empireuntil 1565).
Princely state under the paramountcy of theBritish Raj after 1799

Kayou Sri Gowri
Extent of Kingdom of Mysore, 1784 AD
Kannada, English
Monarchy until 1799,Principality thereafter
 - 1399–1423 (first)
 - 1940–1947 (last)
Jaya Chamaraja Wodeyar
 - Established
 - Earliest records
 - Disestablished

Early history
Autonomy: advances and reversals
Consequently, by 1612–13, the Wodeyars exercised a great deal of autonomy and even though they acknowledged the nominal overlordship of the Aravidus, tributes and transfers of revenue to Chandragiri stopped. This was in marked contrast to the major chiefs (Nayakas) of Tamil country who continued to pay off Chandragiri well into the 1630s.Chamaraja V and Kanthirava Narasaraja I attempted to expand further northward but were thwarted by the Bijapur Sultanate and its Maratha subordinates, though the Bijapur armies under Ranadullah Khan were effectively repelled in their 1638 siege of Srirangapatna Expansionist ambitions then turned southward into Tamil country where Narasaraja Wodeyar acquired Satyamangalam (in modern northern Coimbatore district) while his successor Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar expanded further to capture western Tamil regions of Erode and Dharmapuri, after successfully repulsing the chiefs of Madurai. The invasion of the Keladi Nayakas of Malnad was also dealt with successfully. This period was followed by one of complex geo-political changes, when in the 1670s, the Marathas and the Mughals pressed into the Deccan. Chikka Devaraja (r. 1672–1704), the most notable of Mysore's early kings, who ruled during much of this period, managed to not only survive the exigencies but further expanded territory. He achieved this by forging strategic alliances with the Marathas and the Mughals The kingdom soon grew to includeSalem and Bangalore to the east, Hassan to the west, Chikkamagaluru and Tumkur to the north and the rest of Coimbatore to the south Despite this expansion, the kingdom, which now accounted for a fair share of land in the southern Indian heartland, extending from the Western Ghats to the western boundaries of the Coromandel plain, remained landlocked without direct coastal access. Chikka Devaraja's attempts to remedy this brought Mysore into conflict with the Nayaka chiefs of Ikkeri and the kings (Rajas) of Kodagu (modern Coorg); who between them controlled the Kanara coast (coastal areas of modern Karnataka) and the intervening hill region respectively. The conflict brought mixed results with Mysore annexing Periyapatna but suffering a reversal at Palupare.

, a captain in the army, rose to prominence. His victory against the Marathas at Bangalore in 1758, resulting in the annexation of their territory, made him an iconic figure. In honour of his achievements, the king gave him the title "Nawab Haider Ali Khan Bahadur".
Under Haider and Tipu

Chamaraja Wodeyar I
Timmaraja Wodeyar I
Chamaraja Wodeyar II
Chamaraja Wodeyar III
Independent Wodeyar Kings
Timmaraja II
Chamaraja Wodeyar IV
Bettada Wodeyar
Raja Wodeyar I
Chamaraja Wodeyar V
Raja Wodeyar II
Krishnaraja Wodeyar I
Chamaraja Wodeyar VI
Under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan
Nanjaraja Wodeyar
Chamaraja Wodeyar VII
Chamaraja Wodeyar VIII

Princely State

The years that followed witnessed cordial relations between Mysore and the British until things began to sour in the 1820s. Even though the Governor of Madras, Thomas Munro determined after a personal investigation in 1825 that there was no substance to the allegations of financial impropriety made by A. H. Cole, the incumbent Resident of Mysore, the civil insurrection which broke out towards the end of the decade changed things considerably. In 1831, close on the heels of the insurrection and citing mal-administration, the British took direct control of the princely state. For the next fifty years, Mysore passed under the rule of successive British Commissioners; Sir Mark Cubbon, renowned for his statesmanship, served from 1834 until 1861 and put into place an efficient and successful administrative system which left Mysore a well developed state. In 1876–77, however, towards the end of the direct British rule, Mysore was struck by a devastating famine with estimated mortality figures which ranged between 700,000 and 1,100,000, or nearly a fifth of the population. Shortly thereafter, Maharaja Chamaraja IX, educated in the British system, took over the rule of Mysore in 1881, following the success of a lobby set up by the Wodeyar dynasty that was in favour of rendition. Accordingly, a resident British officer was appointed at the Mysore court and a Diwan was to handle the administration. From then onwards, until Indian independence in 1947, Mysore remained a Princely State under the British Raj with the Wodeyars continuing their rule.

Mysore: the shrinking of dominion, 1792–1799
When the princely state came under direct British rule in 1831, early commissioners Lushington, Briggs and Morrison were followed by Mark Cubbon, who took charge in 1834. He made Bangalore the capital and divided the princely state into four divisions, each under a British superintendent. The state was further divided into 120 taluks with 85 taluk courts, with all lower level administration in the Kannada language. The office of the commissioner had eight departments; revenue, post, police, cavalry, public works, medical, animal husbandry, judiciary and education. The judiciary was hierarchical with the commissioners' court at the apex, followed by the Huzur Adalat, four superintending courts and eight Sadar Munsiff courts at the lowest level.  Lewin Bowring became the chief commissioner in 1862 and held the position until 1870. During his tenure, the property "Registration Act", the "Indian Penal code" and "Code of Criminal Procedure" came into effect and the judiciary was separated from the executive branch of the administration. After rendition, Rangacharlu, a native of Chennai, was made the Diwan. Under him, the first Representative Assembly of British India, with 144 members, was formed in 1881.[64] He was followed by Sheshadri Iyer in 1883 during whose tenure gold mining at the Kolar Gold Fields began, the Shivanasamudra hydroelectric project was initiated in 1899 (the first such major attempt in India) and electricity and drinking water (the latter through pipes) was supplied to Bangalore. Sheshadri Iyer was followed by P.N. Krishna Murthy, who founded The Secretariat Manual to maintain records and the Co-operative Department in 1905, V.P. Madhava Rao who focussed on conservation of forests and T. Ananda Rao, who finalised the Kannambadi Dam project.[
Sir M. Visveshwarayya, popularly known as the "Maker of Modern Mysore", holds a key place in the history of Karnataka. An engineer by education, he became the Diwan in 1909. Under his tenure, membership of the Mysore Legislative Assembly was increased from 18 to 24, and it was given the power to discuss the state budget The Mysore Economic Conference was expanded into three committees; industry and commerce, education, and agriculture, with publications in English and Kannada. Important projects commissioned during his time included the construction of theKannambadi Dam, the founding of the Mysore Iron Works at Bhadravathi, founding of the Mysore University in 1916, the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in Bangalore, establishment of the Mysore state railway department and numerous industries in Mysore. In 1955, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor. Sir Mirza Ismail took office as Diwan in 1926 and built on the foundation laid by his predecessor. Amongst his contributions were the expansion of the Bhadravathi Iron Works, the founding of a cement and paper factory in Bhadravathi and the launch of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. A man with a penchant for gardens, he founded the Brindavan Gardens (Krishnaraja Sagar) and built the Kaveri Riverhigh-level canal to irrigate 120,000 acres (490 km2) in modern Mandya district.
The vast majority of the people lived in villages and agriculture was their main occupation. The economy of the kingdom was based on agriculture. Grains, pulses, vegetables and flowers were cultivated. Commercial crops included sugarcane and cotton. The agrarian population consisted of landlords (gavunda,zamindarheggadde) who tilled the land by employing a number of landless labourers, usually paying them in grain. Minor cultivators were also willing to hire themselves out as labourers if the need arose It was due to the availability of these landless labourers that kings and landlords were able to execute major projects such as palaces, temples, mosques, anicuts (dams) and tanks. Because land was abundant and the population relatively sparse, no rent was charged on land ownership. Instead, landowners paid tax for cultivation, which amounted to up to one-half of all harvested produce.
Tipu Sultan is credited to have founded state trading depots in various locations of his kingdom. In addition, he founded depots in foreign locations such asKarachiJeddah and Muscat, where Mysore products were sold. During Tipu's rule French technology was used for the first time in carpentry and smithy,Chinese technology was used for sugar production, and technology from Bengal helped improve the sericulture industry. State factories were established in Kanakapura and Taramandelpeth for producing cannons and gunpowder respectively. The state held the monopoly in the production of essentials such as sugar, salt, iron, pepper, cardamom, betel nut, tobacco and sandalwood, as well as the extraction of incense oil from sandalwood and the mining of silver, gold and precious stones. Sandalwood was exported to China and the Persian Gulf countries and sericulture was developed in twenty-one centres within the kingdom.
This system changed under the British, when tax payments were made in cash, and were used for the maintenance of the army, police and other civil and public establishments. A portion of the tax was transferred to England as the "Indian tribute Unhappy with the loss of their traditional revenue system and the problems they faced, peasants rose in rebellion in many parts of south India. After 1800, the Cornwallis land reforms came into effect. Reade, Munro, Graham and Thackeray were some administrators who improved the economic conditions of the masses. However, the homespun textile industry suffered during British rule, with the exception of the producers of the finest cloth and the coarse cloth which was popular with the rural masses. This was due to the manufacturing mills of ManchesterLiverpool and Scotland being more than a match for the traditional handweaving industry, especially in spinning and weaving. The economic revolution in England and the tariff policies of the British also caused massive de-industrialization in other sectors throughout India and Mysore. For example, the gunny bag weaving business had been a monopoly of the Goniga people, which they lost when the British began ruling the area. The import of a chemical substitute for saltpetre (potassium nitrate) affected the Uppar community, the traditional makers of saltpetre for use in gunpowder. The import of kerosene affected the Ganiga community which supplied oils. Foreign enamel and crockery industries had an impact on the native pottery business and mill-made blankets replaced the country-made blankets called kambli This economic fallout led to the formation of community-based social welfare organisations to help those within the community to cope better with their new economic situation, including youth hostels for students seeking education and shelterHowever, the British economic policies created a class structure consisting of a newly established middle class comprising various blue and white-collared occupational groups, including agents, brokers, lawyers, teachers, civil servants and physicians. Due to a more flexible caste hierarchy, the middle class contained a heterogeneous mix of people from different castes.
The early kings of the Wodeyar dynasty worshipped the Hindu god Shiva. The later kings, starting from the 17th century, took to Vaishnavism, the worship of the Hindu god Vishnu According to musicologist Meera Rajaram Pranesh, King Raja Wodeyar I was a devotee of the god Vishnu, King Dodda Devaraja was honoured with the title "Protector of Brahmins" (Deva Brahmana Paripalaka) for his support to Brahmins, and Maharaja Krishnaraja III was devoted to the goddess Chamundeshwari (a form of Hindu goddess Durga). Wilks ("History of Mysore", 1800) wrote about a Jangama (Veerashaiva saint-devotee of Shiva) uprising, related to excessive taxation, which was put down firmly by Chikka Devaraja. Historian D.R. Nagaraj claims that four hundred Jangamaswere murdered in the process but clarifies that Veerashiava literature itself is silent about the issue. Historian Suryanath Kamath claims King Chikka Devaraja was a Srivaishnava (follower of Sri Vaishnavism, a sect of Vaishnavism) but was not anti-Veerashaiva. Historian Aiyangar concurs that some of the kings including the celebrated Narasaraja I and Chikka Devaraja were Vaishnavas, but suggests this may not have been the case with all Wodeyar rulers.] The rise of the modern day Mysore city as a centre of south Indian culture has been traced from the period of their sovereignty.[  Raja Wodeyar I initiated the celebration of the Dasara festival in Mysore, a proud tradition of the erstwhile Vijayanagara royal family. Jainism, though in decline during the late medieval period, also enjoyed the patronage of the Mysore kings, who made munificent endowments to the Jainmonastic order at the town of Shravanabelagola. Records indicate that some Wodeyar kings not only presided over the Mahamastakabhishekaceremony, an important Jain religious event at Shravanabelagola, but also personally offered prayers (puja) during the years 1659, 1677, 1800, 1825, 1910, 1925, 1940, and 1953. The contact between South India and Islam goes back to the 7th century, when trade between Hindu kingdoms and Islamic caliphates thrived. These Muslim traders settled on the Malabar coast and married local Hindu women, and their descendants came to be known as Mappillas By the 14th century, Muslims had become a significant minority in the south, though the advent of Portuguese missionaries checked their growth Haider Ali, though a devout Muslim, did not allow his faith to interfere with the administration of the predominantly Hindu kingdom. Historians are, however, divided on the intentions of Haider Ali's son, Tipu Sultan. It has been claimed that Tipu raised Hindus to prominent positions in his administration, made generous grants to Hindu temples and brahmins, and generally respected other faiths, and that any religious conversions that Tipu undertook were as punishment to those who rebelled against his authority However, this has been countered by other historians who claim that Tipu Sultan treated the non-Muslims of Mysore far better than those of the Malabar, Raichur and Kodagu regions. They opine that Tipu was responsible for mass conversions of Christians and Hindus in these regions, either by force or by offering them tax incentives and revenue benefits to convert.

Prior to the 18th century, the society of the kingdom followed age-old and deeply established norms of social interaction between people. Accounts by contemporaneous travellers indicate the widespread practice of the Hindu caste system and of animal sacrifices during the nine day celebrations (calledMahanavami). Later, fundamental changes occurred due to the struggle between native and foreign powers. Though wars between the Hindu kingdoms and the Sultanates continued, the battles between native rulers (including Muslims) and the newly arrived British took centre stage. The spread of English education, the introduction of the printing press and the criticism of the prevailing social system by Christian missionaries helped make the society more open and flexible. The rise of modern nationalism throughout India also had its impact on Mysore. With the advent of British power, English education gained prominence in addition to traditional education in local languages. These changes were orchestrated by Lord Elphinstone, the governor of the Madras Presidency. His plan became the constitution of the central collegiate institution or University Board in 1841. Accordingly, a high school department of the university was established. For imparting education in the interior regions, schools were raised in principal towns which eventually were elevated to college level, with each college becoming central to many local schools (zilla schools). The earliest English-medium schools appeared in 1833 in Mysore and spread across the region. In 1858, the department of education was founded in Mysore and by 1881, there were an estimated 2,087 English-medium schools in the state of Mysore. Higher education became available with the formation of Bangalore Central College in Bangalore (1870), Maharaja's college (1879), Maharani's college (1901) and the Mysore University (1916) in Mysore and the St. Agnes college in Mangalore (1921). Social reforms aimed at removing practices such as sati and social discrimination based upon untouchability, as well as demands for the emancipation of the lower classes, swept across India and influenced Mysore territory.  In 1894, the kingdom passed laws to abolish the marriage of girls below the age of eight. Remarriage of widowed women and marriage of destitute women was encouraged, and in 1923, women were granted the permission to exercise their franchise in elections. There were, however, uprisings against British authority in the Mysore territory, notably the Kodagu uprising in 1835 (after the British dethroned the local ruler Chikkaviraraja) and the Kanara uprising of 1837. The era of printing heralded by Christian missionaries resulted in the founding of printing presses across the kingdom. The publication of ancient and contemporary Kannada books (such as the Pampa Bharata and the Jaimini Bharata), a Kannada-language Bible, a bilingual dictionary and a Kannada newspaper called Kannada Samachara began in the early 19th century. Aluru Venkata Rao published a consolidated Kannada history glorifying the achievements of Kannadigas in his book Karnataka Gatha Vaibhava.
Classical English and Sanskrit plays, and native Yakshagana plays influenced the Kannada stage and produced famous dramatists like Gubbi Veeranna. The public began to enjoy Carnatic music through its broadcast via public address systems set up on the palace grounds. Mysore paintings, which were inspired by the Bengal Renaissance, were created by artists such as Sundarayya, Ala Singarayya, and B. Venkatappa.
The era of the Kingdom of Mysore is considered an important age in the development of Kannada literature. Not only was the Mysore court adorned by famous Brahmin and Veerashaiva writers and composers, the kings themselves were accomplished in the fine arts. While conventional literature in philosophy and religion remained popular, writings in new genres such as chronicle, biography, history, encyclopedia, novel, drama, and musical treatise became popular A native form of folk literature with dramatic representation called Yakshagana gained popularity. A remarkable development of the later period was the influence of English literature and classical Sanskrit literature on Kannada. Govinda Vaidya, a native of Srirangapatna, wrote Kanthirava Narasaraja Vijaya, a eulogy of his patron King Narasaraja I. Written in sangatya metre (a composition meant to be rendered to the accompaniment of a musical instrument), the book describes the king's court, popular music and the types of musical compositions of the age in twenty-six chapters. King Chikka Devaraja was the earliest composer of the dynasty. To him is ascribed the famous treatise on music called Geetha Gopala. Though inspired by Jayadeva's Sanskrit writing Geetha Govinda, it had an originality of its own and was written in saptapadi metre. Contemporary poets who left their mark on the entire Kannada-speaking region include the brahmin poet Lakshmisa and theitinerant Veerashaiva poet Sarvajna. Female poets also played a role in literary developments, with Cheluvambe (the queen of Krishnaraja Wodeyar I), Helavanakatte Giriyamma, Sri Rangamma (1685) and Sanchi Honnamma (Hadibadeya Dharma, late 17th century) writing notable works.
A polyglot, King Narasaraja II authored fourteen Yakshaganas in various languages, though all are written in Kannada script. Maharaja Krishnaraja III was a prolific writer in Kannada for which he earned the honorific Abhinava Bhoja (a comparison to the medieval King Bhoja). Over forty writings are attributed to him, of which the musical treatise Sri Tatwanidhi and a poetical romance called Saugandika Parinaya written in two versions, a sangatya and a drama, are most well-known. Under the patronage of the Maharaja, Kannada literature began its slow and gradual change towards modernity. Kempu Narayana's Mudramanjusha("The Seal Casket", 1823) is the earliest work that has touches of modern prose. However, the turning point came with the historically important Adbhuta Ramayana (1895) and Ramaswamedham (1898) by Muddanna, whom the Kannada scholar Narasimha Murthy considers "a Janus like figure" of modern Kannada literature. Muddanna has deftly handled an ancient epic from an entirely modern viewpoint. Basavappa Shastry, a native of Mysore and a luminary in the court of Maharaja Krishnaraja III and Maharaja Chamaraja IX, is known as the "Father of Kannada theatre" (Kannada Nataka Pitamaha). He authored dramas in Kannada and translated William Shakespeare's "Othello" to Shurasena Charite. His well-known translations from Sanskrit to Kannada are many and include Kalidasa, Abhignyana Shakuntala.
Under Maharaja Krishnaraja III and his successors – Chamaraja IX, Krishnaraja IV and the last ruler, Jayachamaraja, the Mysore court came to be the largest and most renowned patron of music.[134] While the Tanjore and Travancore courts also extended great patronage and emphasised preservation of the art, the unique combination of royal patronage of individual musicians, founding of music schools to kindle public interest and a patronage of European music publishers and producers set Mysore apart Maharaja Krishnaraja III, himself a musician and musicologist of merit, composed a number of javalis (light lyrics) and devotional songs in Kannada under the title Anubhava pancharatna. His compositions bear the nom de plume (mudra) "Chamundi'" or '"Chamundeshwari'", in honour of the Wodeyar family deity His successor Chamaraja IX founded the Oriental Library in 1891 to house music books and also commissioned phonograph recordings of several musicians for the palace library.
Under Krishnaraja IV, art received further patronage. A distinct school of music which gave importance to raga and bhava evolved. The Royal School of Music founded at the palace helped institutionalise teaching of the art. Carnatic compositions were printed and the European staff notation came to be employed by royal musicians. Western music was also encouraged – Margaret Cousins' piano concerto with the Palace Orchestra marked the celebrations of Beethoven's centenary in Bangalore. Maharaja Jayachamaraja, also a renowned composer of Carnatic kritis (a musical composition), sponsored a series of recordings of Russian composer Nikolas Medtner and others. The court ensured that Carnatic music also kept up with the times.Gramophone recordings of the palace band were made and sold commercially Attention was paid to "technology of the concert". Lavish sums were spent on acquiring various instruments including the unconventional horn violin, theremin and calliaphone, a mechanical music player. The Mysore court was home to several renowned experts (vidwan) of the time. Veena Sheshanna, a court musician during the rule of Maharaja Chamaraja IX, is considered one of the greatest exponents of the veena. His achievements in classical music won Mysore a premier place in the art of instrumental Carnatic music and he was given the honorific Vainika Shikhamani by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. Mysore Vasudevacharya was a noted musician and composer in Sanskrit and Telugu from Mysore. He holds the unique distinction of being patronised by four generations of Mysore kings and rulers and for being court musician to three of them. H.L. Muthiah Bhagavatar was another musician-composer who adorned the Mysore court. Considered one of the most important composers of the post-Tyagaraja period, he is credited with about 400 compositions in Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil under the pen name "Harikesha". Among violinistsT. Chowdiah emerged as one of the most accomplished exponents of the time. He is known to have mastered the seven-stringed violin. Chowdiah was appointed court musician by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV in 1939 and received such titles as "Sangeeta Ratna" and "Sangeeta Kalanidhi". He is credited with compositions in Kannada, Telugu and Sanskrit under the pen name "Trimakuta".
The Lalitha Mahal Palace was built in 1921 by E.W. Fritchley under the commission of Maharaja Krishnaraja IV. The architectural style is called "Renaissance" and exhibits concepts from English manor houses and Italian palazzosThe central dome is believed to be modelled on St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Other important features are the Italian marble staircase, the polished wooden flooring in the banquet and dance halls, and the Belgian cut glass lamps.[155] TheJaganmohan Palace was commissioned in 1861 and was completed in 1910. The three storeyed building with attractivedomesfinials and cupolas was the venue of many a royal celebration. It is now called the Chamarajendra Art Gallery and houses a rich collection of artifacts.
The Mysore University campus, also called "Manasa Gangotri", is home to several architecturally interesting buildings. Some of them are in European style and were completed in late 19th century. They include the Jayalakshmi Vilasmansion, the Crawford Hall, the Oriental Research Institute (built between 1887 and 1891) with its Ionic and Corinthian columns, and the district offices (Athara Kutchery, 1887). The Athara Kutchery, which initially served as the office of the British commissioner, has an octagonal dome and a finial that adds to its beauty. The maharaja's summer palace, built in 1880, is called the Lokaranjan Mahal, and initially served as a school for royalty. The Rajendra Vilas Palace, built in the Indo-British style atop the Chamundi Hill, was commissioned in 1922 and completed in 1938 by Maharaja Krishnaraja IV. Other royal mansions built by the Mysore rulers were the Chittaranjan Mahal in Mysore and the Bangalore Palace in Bangalore, a structure built on the lines of England'sWindsor Castle. The Central Food Technical Research Institute (Cheluvamba Mansion), built in baroque European renaissance style, was once the residence of princess Cheluvambaamani Avaru, a sister of Maharaja Krishnaraja IV. Its extensive pilaster work and mosaic flooring are noteworthy.[
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