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Founding
Founding of Kingdom of Mysore
Monarchy in India (1399–1947)
- 1399
- Mysore
- South Asia
Founding
Monarchy in India (1399–1947)
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The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysuru. Existing until 1950, the territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially throughout the kingdom's lifetime. While originally a feudal vassal under the Vijayanagara Empire, it became a princely state in the British Raj from 1799 to 1947, marked in-between by major political changes.
The kingdom, which was founded and ruled for the most part by the Wadiyars, initially served as a feudal vassal under the Vijayanagara Empire. With the gradual decline of the Empire, the 16th-century Timmaraja Wodeyar II declared independence from it. The 17th century saw a steady expansion of its territory and, during the rules of Narasaraja Wodeyar I and Devaraja Wodeyar II, the kingdom annexed large expanses of what is now southern Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu, becoming a formidable power in the Deccan.
During the Muslim rule from 1761 to 1799, the kingdom became a sultanate under Hyder Ali and Tipu, often referring to it as Sultanat-e-Khudadad (transl. God gifted empire). During this time, it came into conflict with the Maratha Confederacy, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Kingdom of Travancore, and the British, culminating in four Anglo-Mysore Wars. Mysore's success in the First Anglo-Mysore war and a stalemate in the Second were followed by defeats in the Third and the Fourth. Following Tipu's death in the Fourth War during the Siege of Seringapatam, large parts of his kingdom were annexed by the British, which signalled the end of a period of Mysorean hegemony over South India. Power returned absolutely to the Wadiyars when Krishnaraja Wodeyar III became king.
In 1831, the British took direct control of the kingdom and a commission administered it until 1881. Through an instrument of rendition, power was once again transferred to the Wadiyars in 1881, when Chamaraja Wadiyar X was made king. In 1913, in lieu of the instrument, a proper subsidiary alliance was struck with the kingdom during Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV.
Upon India's independence from the Crown rule in 1947, the Kingdom of Mysore acceded to the Union of India. Upon accession, it became Mysore State, later uniting with other Kannada speaking regions to form the present-day Karnataka state. Soon after Independence, Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar was made Rajapramukh until 1956, when he became the first governor of the enlarged state.
Even as a princely state, Mysore came to be counted among the more developed and urbanised regions of South Asia. The period since the penultimate restoration (1799–1947) also saw Mysore emerge as one of the important centres of art and culture in India. The maharajas of Mysore were not only accomplished exponents of the fine arts and men of letters, they were enthusiastic patrons as well. Their legacies continue to influence music and the arts even today, as well as rocket science with the use of Mysorean rockets.
Sources for the history of the kingdom include numerous extant lithic and copper plate inscriptions, records from the Mysore palace and contemporary literary sources in Kannada, Persian and other languages. According to traditional accounts, the kingdom originated as a small state based in the modern city of Mysore and was founded by two brothers, Yaduraya (also known as Vijaya) and Krishnaraya. Their origins are mired in legend and are still a matter of debate; while some historians posit a northern origin at Dwarka, others locate it in Karnataka. Yaduraya is said to have married Chikkadevarasi, the local princess and assumed the feudal title "Wodeyar" (Kannada: ಒಡೆಯರ್, romanized: Oḍeyar, lit. 'lord'), which the ensuing dynasty retained. The first unambiguous mention of the Wodeyar family is in 16th century Kannada literature from the reign of the Vijayanagara king Achyuta Deva Raya (1529–1542); the earliest available inscription, issued by the Wodeyars themselves, dates to the rule of the petty chief Timmaraja II in 1551.
The kings who followed ruled as vassals of the Vijayanagara Empire until the decline of the latter in 1565. By this time, the kingdom had expanded to thirty-three villages protected by a force of 300 soldiers. King Timmaraja II conquered some surrounding chiefdoms, and King Bola Chamaraja IV (lit, "Bald"), the first ruler of any political significance among them, withheld tribute to the nominal Vijayanagara monarch Aravidu Ramaraya. After the death of Aravidu Ramaraya, the Wodeyars began to assert themselves further and King Raja Wodeyar I wrested control of Srirangapatna from the Vijayanagara governor (Mahamandaleshvara) Aravidu Tirumalla – a development which elicited, if only ex post facto, the tacit approval of Venkatapati Raya, the incumbent king of the diminished Vijayanagar Empire ruling from Chandragiri. Raja Wodeyar I's reign also saw territorial expansion with the annexation of Channapatna to the north from Jaggadeva Raya – a development which made Mysore a regional political factor to reckon with.
Consequently, by 1612–13, the Wodeyars exercised a great deal of autonomy and even though they acknowledged the nominal overlordship of the Aravidu dynasty, tributes and transfers of revenue to Chandragiri stopped. This was in marked contrast to other major chiefs, the Nayaks of Tamil country who continued to pay off Chandragiri emperors well into the 1630s. Chamaraja VI 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 Erode 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 the 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 expand territory. He achieved this by forging strategic alliances with the Marathas and the Mughals. The kingdom soon grew to include Salem 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.
Nevertheless, from around 1704, when the kingdom passed on to the "Mute king" (Mukarasu) Kanthirava Narasaraja II, the survival and expansion of the kingdom was achieved by playing a delicate game of alliance, negotiation, subordination on occasion, and annexation of territory in all directions. According to historians Sanjay Subrahmanyam and Sethu Madhava Rao, Mysore was now formally a tributary of the Mughal Empire. Mughul records claim a regular tribute (peshkash) was paid by Mysore. However, historian Suryanath U. Kamath feels the Mughals may have considered Mysore an ally, a situation brought about by Mughal–Maratha competition for supremacy in southern India. By the 1720s, with the Mughal empire in decline, further complications arose with the Mughal residents at both Arcot and Sira claiming tribute. The years that followed saw Krishnaraja Wodeyar I tread cautiously on the matter while keeping the Kodagu chiefs and the Marathas at bay. He was followed by Chamaraja Wodeyar VII during whose reign power fell into the hands of prime minister (Dalwai or Dalavoy) Nanjarajiah (or Nanjaraja) and chief minister (Sarvadhikari) Devarajiah (or Devaraja), the influential brothers from Kalale town near Nanjangud who would rule for the next three decades with the Wodeyars relegated to being the titular heads. The latter part of the rule of Krishnaraja II saw the Deccan Sultanates being eclipsed by the Mughals and in the confusion that ensued, Hyder Ali, 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".
Hyder Ali has earned an important place in the history of Karnataka for his fighting skills and administrative acumen. The rise of Hyder came at a time of important political developments in the sub-continent. While the European powers were busy transforming themselves from trading companies to political powers, the Nizam as the Subahdar of the Mughals pursued his ambitions in the Deccan, and the Marathas, following their defeat at Panipat, sought safe havens in the south. The period also saw the French vie with the British for control of the Carnatic—a contest in which the British would eventually prevail as British commander Sir Eyre Coote decisively defeated the French under the Comte de Lally at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760, a watershed in Indian history as it cemented British supremacy in South Asia. Though the Wodeyars remained the nominal heads of Mysore during this period, real power lay in the hands of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu.
By 1761, Maratha power had diminished and by 1763, Hyder Ali had captured the Keladi kingdom, defeated the rulers of Bilgi, Bednur and Gutti, invaded the Malabar Coast in the south and conquered the Zamorin's capital Calicut with ease in 1766 and extended the Mysore kingdom up to Dharwad and Bellary in the north. Mysore was now a major political power in the subcontinent and Haider's meteoric rise from relative obscurity and his defiance formed one of the last remaining challenges to complete British hegemony over the Indian subcontinent—a challenge which would take them more than three decades to overcome.
In a bid to stem Hyder's rise, the British allied with the Marathas and the Nizam of Golconda, culminating in the First Anglo-Mysore War in 1767. Despite numerical superiority, Hyder Ali suffered defeats at the battles of Chengham and Tiruvannamalai. The British ignored his overtures for peace until Hyder Ali had strategically moved his armies to within five miles of Madras (modern Chennai) and was able to successfully sue for peace. Three wars were fought from 1764 and 1772 between the Maratha armies of Peshwa Madhavrao I against Hyder, in which Hyder was severely defeated and had to pay 36 lacs of tribute as war expenses along with an annual tribute of 14 lacs every year to the peshwa. In these wars Hyder had expected British support as per the 1769 treaty but the British stayed out of the conflict. British neutrality and Hyder's subsequent defeat reinforced his deep distrust of the British—a sentiment that would be shared by his son and one that would inform Anglo-Mysore rivalries of the next three decades. In 1777, Haider Ali recovered the previously lost territories of Coorg and parts of what would later become Malabar District from the Marathas. Haider Ali's army advanced towards the Marathas and fought them at the Battle of Saunshi and came out victorious during the same year.
By 1779, Hyder Ali had captured parts of modern Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south, extending the kingdom's area to about 80,000 mi2 (205,000 km2). In 1780, he befriended the French and made peace with the Marathas and the Nizam. However, Hyder Ali was betrayed by the Marathas and the Nizam, who made treaties with the British as well. In July 1779, Hyder Ali headed an army of 80,000, mostly cavalry, descending through the passes of the Ghats amid burning villages, before laying siege to British forts in northern Arcot starting the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Hyder Ali had some initial successes against the British notably at Pollilur, where Mysorean troops made effective use of rocket artillery, and Arcot, until the arrival of Sir Eyre Coote, when the fortunes of the British began to change. On 1 June 1781 Coote struck the first heavy blow against Hyder Ali in the decisive Battle of Porto Novo. The battle was won by Coote against odds of five to one and is regarded as one of the greatest feats of the British in India. It was followed up by another hard-fought battle at Pollilur (the scene of an earlier triumph of Hyder Ali over a British force) on 27 August, in which the British won another success, and by the rout of the Mysore troops at Sholinghur a month later. Hyder Ali died on 7 December 1782, even as fighting continued with the British. He was succeeded by his son Tipu Sultan who continued hostilities against the British by recapturing Baidanur and Mangalore.
By 1783 neither the British nor Mysore were able to obtain a clear overall victory. The French withdrew their support of Mysore following the peace settlement in Europe. Undaunted, Tipu, popularly known as the "Tiger of Mysore", continued the war against the British but lost some regions in modern coastal Karnataka to them. The Maratha–Mysore War occurred between 1785 and 1787 and consisted of a series of conflicts between the Sultanate of Mysore and the Maratha Empire. Following Tipu Sultan's victory against the Marathas at the siege of Bahadur Benda, a peace agreement was signed between the two kingdoms with mutual gains and losses. Similarly, the treaty of Mangalore was signed in 1784 bringing hostilities with the British to a temporary and uneasy halt and restoring the others' lands to the status quo ante bellum. The treaty is an important document in the history of India because it was the last occasion when an Indian power dictated terms to the British, who were made to play the role of humble supplicants for peace. A start of fresh hostilities between the British and French in Europe would have been sufficient reason for Tipu to abrogate his treaty and further his ambition of striking at the British. His attempts to lure the Nizam, the Marathas, the French and the Sultan of Turkey failed to bring direct military aid.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Kingdom of Mysore”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.