Wodeyar
The Wodeyar dynasty( also spelt as Wadiyar-by the Royal family members themselves and also as odeyar by some) was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 to 1947, until the independence of India from British rule and the subsequent unification of British dominions and princely states into the Republic of India.
Table of contents |
Early History
The dynasty was established by Vijaya, who came to Mysore from Dwaraka in Gujarat, India. Vijaya took on the name Yaduraya and ruled Mysore, then a small town, from 1399 to 1423.
The Mysore kingdom was ruled by a succession of rulers of the Wodeyar dynasty for the next couple of centuries. However, the kingdom remained fairly small during this period and was not independent, being a subsidiary of the Vijayanagara empire.
Expansion
The Vijayanagara Empire disintegrated in 1565. The power vacuum created soon after was utilized by Raja Wodeyar, who ruled Mysore from 1578 to 1617. He expanded the borders of the Mysore kingdom and also shifted the capital from the city of Mysore in 1610 to Srirangapatna, a rare island formed by the river Cauvery , which provided natural protection against military attacks.
Subsequent famous rulers of the dynasty include Ranadheera Kanteerava Narasaraja Wodeyar (ruled 1638–1659) who expanded the frontiers of the Mysore Kingdom to Trichy in Tamil Nadu. The dynasty reached its peak under Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (ruled 1673–1704), who widely reformed the administration of the empire by dividing it into 18 departments (called Chavadis) and also introduced a coherent system of taxation.
Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan
The rule of the Wodeyar dynasty was disrupted during the 18th century by the ascent of Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan. Hyder Ali was an ordinary soldier who rose through the ranks to become the head of the army. He virtually took control of the Mysore Kingdom, the Wodeyars being sidelined to mere figureheads. Hyder Ali, however, never officially ascended the throne himself, believing in a religious maxim to not betray his king. His son, Tipu Sultan, also known as Sher-E-Mysore (The Tiger of Mysore), ascended the throne himself and ruled from 1782 until he died fighting the British in 1799.
Under British Rule
The British re-installed the Wodeyars into the throne of Mysore and shifted the capital back to the city of Mysore from Srirangapatna. Four year old boy Mummudi Krishna Raja Wodeyar son of the last Wodeyar King – Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar, who was rescued by the British in a miserable hovel in Srirangapatna and was anointed as the King of Mysore. Wodeyars were now subsidiaries of the British Raj and had to pay annual subsidy to the British. However British took over the administration of the Kingdom on a specious plea of non-payment of subsidy amount from Mummudi Krishna Raja Wodeyar in 1931 and British appointed commissioners were in charge of the Kingdom.
British Commissioners administered Mysore from 1831 to 1881. Mark Cubbon (1834–1861) and L.B.Bowring (1861–1870) are among the well-known Commissioners of the period.
But in 1868, the British Parliament upheld the King's plea and decided to restore the Kingdom back to his adopted son Chamaraja Wodeyar IX. In 1881, transfer of power back to the Wodeyars heralded an important phase in the making of modern Mysore. For the first time in India, democratic experiments were introduced by the constitution of the representative assembly. His son Nalvadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar earned great fame as a saintly King-Rajarishi and his Kingdom was hailed as Ramarajya by Mahatma Gandhi – an ideal kingdom comparable to the one ruled by the mythological hero Lord Rama – by Mahatma Gandhi.
Under British hegemony, the Wodeyars, freed from security concerns, shifted attention to the patronage of the fine arts. Under their patronage, Mysore became a cultural center of Karnataka, fostering a number of famous musicians, writers and painters.
The last king of the Wodeyar dynasty was Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, who ruled from 1940 until the Indian independence movement liberated Indian sub-continent from British rule. In the year 1947, after India attained independence, he acceded his Kingdom to the dominion of India, but continued as the Maharaja till India became a Republic in 1950. He became the Raja Pramukh – a constitutional position – as the head of Mysore State within the Republic of India from 1950–1956. After the re-organization of Indian States on linguistic basis, he was appointed as the Governor of the integrated Mysore State (present Karnataka state) in 1956, which post he held till 1964. But the Indian Constitution continued to recognize him as the Maharaja of Mysore till 1971, when Mrs. Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India abolished the titles and Privy Purse of well over 560 Maharajas spread over different parts of India. The Maharaja died in 1974, and his only son Srikanta Datta Narasimha Raja Wodeyar (b-1953) was a member of the Indian Parliament for many years.
Wodeyar Rulers of Mysore
- Yaduraya (1399 – 1423)
- Hiriya Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar I(1423 – 1459)
- Thimmaraja Wodeyar I (1459 – 1478)
- Hiriya Chamaraja Wodeyar II(1478 – 1513)
- Hiriya bettada Chamaraja III Wodeyar (1513 – 1553)
- Thimmaraja Wodeyar II (1553-1572)
- Bola Chamaraja Wodeyar IV(1572 – 1576)
- Bettada Devaraja Wodeyar (1576 – 1578)
- Raja Wodeyar I(1578 – 1617)
- Chamaraja Wodeyar V (1617 – 1637).
- Raja II Wodeyar (1637 – 1638)
- (Ranadhira) Kantheerava Narasaraja Wodeyar I (1638 – 1659)
- Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar (1659 – 1673)
- Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (1673 – 1704)
- Kantheerava Narasaraja Wodeyar II(1704 – 1714)
- Dodda Krishnaraja Wodeyar (1714 – 1732)
- Chamaraja Wodeyar VI (1732-1734)
- (Immadi)Krishnaraja II Wodeyar (1734 – 1766)
- Nanajaraja Wodeyar (1766-1770)
- Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar VII(1770 – 1776)
- Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar VIII(1766 – 1796)
- (Mummudi)Krishnaraja III Wodeyar (1799 – 1868)
- Chamaraja Wodeyar IX (1868 – 1894)
- H.H. Vani Vilas Sannidhana, queen of Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, was the Regent from 1894 to 1902.
- (Nalvadi)Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV (1894 – 1940)
- Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1940 – 1950)
- Rajpramukh of Mysore state, (1950 – 1956)
- Governor of Mysore state (present-day Karnataka), (1956 – 1964)
- Governor of Madras state (present-day Tamil Nadu), (1964-1966)