Maharaja of Mysore | |
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![]() Royal coat of arms (1893) | |
Details | |
Style | His Highness |
First monarch | Yaduraya Wodeyar |
Last monarch | Jayachamaraja Wodeyar |
Formation | 1399 |
Abolition | 26 January 1950 |
Residence | Mysore Palace |
The maharaja of Mysore was the king and principal ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and briefly of Mysore State in the Indian Dominion roughly between the mid- to late-1300s and 1950. The maharaja's consort was called the maharani of Mysore.
In title, the role has been known by different names over time, from poleygar (Kannada, pāLegāra, for 'chieftain' [1] [2] ) during the early days of the fiefdom to raja (Sanskrit and Kannada, king–of especially a small region) during its early days as a kingdom to maharaja (Sanskrit and Kannada, [great] king–of a formidable kingdom [3] ) for the rest of its period. In terms of succession, the successor was either a hereditary inheritor or, in case of no issue, handpicked by the reigning monarch or his privy council. All rulers under the Sanskrit-Kannada titles of raja or maharaja were exclusively from the house of Wadiyar.
As India gained independence from British Crown in 1947, Crown allies, most of which were princely India, ceded into the Dominion of India by 1950. With that, the title and the role of maharaja was replaced with that of rajpramukh and soon governor.
While becoming more occupied with major fights in the late 1300s, the Vijayanagara emperor Harihara II started delegating protection of regions on the flanks of the empire to their respective local chieftains. Protection of the regions in and around present-day Mysore city fell on Yaduraya's shoulders, the Vijayanagara soldier stationed as a chieftain in the region at that time.
Raja Chamaraja Wodeyar III, who ruled from 1513 to 1553 over a few villages not far from the Kaveri river, [4] [5] is said to have constructed a small fort and named it Mahisuranagara (Kannada for buffalo town), from which Mysore gets its name. [1] [4] [6] However, earlier references to the region as mahishaka dating back to mythology and the Vedic period exist. [7] [8]
With the fall and decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, Raja Chamaraja Wodeyar III's son and successor Maharaja Timmaraja Wodeyar II declared independence and assumed the title maharaja of Mysore. [9] During the reigns of kings Kanthirava Narasaraja I and Devaraja Wodeyar I, the kingdom saw great territorial expansion. [10] In the latter half of the 18th century, during the sultanate of the Hyder Ali-Tipu father-son duo dictating the kingdom in succession, [11] the maharajas went largely unrecognised or merely remained nominal rulers. [12] After the fall of Tipu, British Crown restored the kingdom to the Wadiyars as maharajas. [13]
After India's constitution into a republic in 1950, the last ruling Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar ceded the kingdom into the republic. However, like most kings in India at that time, the maharaja and his successors were allowed an annual payment (the privy purse), certain privileges, and the use of the title "Maharaja of Mysore." [lower-alpha 1] [14] Nevertheless, with the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India, [15] [16] [17] titles and privy purse all ended. With this, the role was replaced with Rajpramukh of Mysore, later renamed Governor of Mysore (now Governor of Karnataka). The role was thus incorporated into the democratic system, the governor being recommended by the Government of India and appointed by the President. [18]
The first raja (and poleygar) of Mysore was Yaduraya. The last ruling king was Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar. The current head of the Wadiyar family is Yaduveera Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar. The reputation of the maharajas of Mysore has varied historically, ending, however with great reputation. Whereas for example Maharaja Kanthirava Narasaraja I was famous as a reckoning force, [19] [20] his nephew's great-great-grandson Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar I was seen as weak and capricious. [21] Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III both actively and monetarily contributed to arts and culture; [22] [23] [24] while Maharaja Chamaraja Wadiyar X spawned democratic practices, [25] Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV is praised for modernising Mysore Kingdom's economy and industries.
... Literally Maharaja means 'a great king' or Jinder Mahal ...
Although the Indian states were alternately requested or forced into union with either India or Pakistan, the real death of princely India came when the Twenty-sixth Amendment Act (1971) abolished the princes' titles, privileges, and privy purses.
The Wadiyar dynasty, also referred to as the Wadiyars of Mysore, is a late-medieval Indian royal family of former maharajas of Mysore from the Urs clan originally based in Mysore city.
The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed 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 British India from 1799 to 1947, marked in-between by major political changes.
Chamarajendra Wadiyar X was the twenty-third Maharaja of Mysore between 1868 and 1894.
Mysore district, officially Mysuru district, is an administrative district located in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Mysore division. Chamarajanagar District was carved out of the original larger Mysore District in the year 1998. The district is bounded by Chamrajanagar district to the southeast, Mandya district to the east and northeast, Kerala state to the south, Kodagu district to the west, and Hassan district to the north.
Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1902 until his death in 1940.
Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, sometimes simply Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, was the twenty-fifth and last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1940 to 1950, who later served as the governor of Mysore until 1964 and as governor of Madras from 1964 to 1966.
The Kingdom of Mysore (1399–1950) was founded by Yaduraya in 1399 as a feudatory of the Vijayanagara Empire and became an independent kingdom in the early 17th century, after the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire. Many musicians and composers have presumably adorned the courts of the Mysore kings from Yaduraya's time, furthering the Dakshinadi school of music that had developed in earlier centuries. However, records are only available from the time of King Ranadheera Kanteerava Narasaraja Wodeyar (1638). Musical treatises surviving from this time, though, provide ample information on the music, musical instruments, the types of compositions, the raga (melodies) and the tala (rhythms) used. Though all the Mysore kings patronised music, the golden age of Carnatic music was considered to be during the reigns of Kings Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (1794–1868), Chamaraja Wodeyar IX (1862–1894), Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV (1884–1940) and Jaya Chamaraja Wodeyar (1919–1974). The reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV is regarded as particularly important in musical terms.
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III was an Indian king who was the twenty-second Maharaja of Mysore. He ruled the kingdom for nearly seventy years, from 30 June 1799 to 27 March 1868, for a good portion of the latter period of which he was merely a nominal ruler. He is known for his contribution and patronage to different arts and music during his reign. He was succeeded by his biological grandson and adopted son, Chamarajendra Wadiyar X.
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India founded in 1399 by Yaduraya in the region of the modern city of Mysore. The Wodeyar dynasty, as the ruling family is known, ruled the southern Karnataka region until Indian independence in 1947, when the kingdom was merged with the Union of India.
The political history of the region on the Deccan Plateau in west-central peninsular India that was later divided into Mysore state and Coorg province saw many changes after the fall of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire in 1565. The rise of Sultan Haidar Ali in 1761 introduced a new period.
Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar I was the twelfth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1638 to 1659.
Krishnaraja Wodeyar I was the sixteenth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore. His reign lasted for 18 years, from 1714 to 1732.
The Mysore Commission, also known as Commissioners' Rule or simply the Commission Rule, was a period and form of government in the history of the Kingdom of Mysore and the neighbouring province of Coorg from 1831 to 1881 when British commissioners administered the kingdom due to the deposition of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III and later during the minority of Yuvaraja Chamaraja Wadiyar X. A board of commissioners constituted the chief executive body and provincial head of the kingdom's government. The commission began with uninstallation of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III as King in 1831 and ended with investing Chamaraja Wadiyar X as the new maharaja in 1881.
The group of temples at the Amba Vilas Palace in Mysore were constructed during various periods by the kings of the Wodeyar dynasty who ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from about 1399 to 1947 A.D. These temples are protected monuments under the Karnataka state division of the Archaeological Survey of India.
Chamaraja Wodeyar III was fifth raja of the Kingdom of Mysore and the last one to rule as feudal king under the Vijayanagara Empire. He reigned after his father's demise in 1513 until his death in 1553.
Raja Wodeyar I was the ninth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was eldest son of Chamaraja Wodeyar IV, the seventh maharaja of Mysore. He ruled from 1578, after his cousin Chamaraja Wodeyar V's death, until his death in 1617.
The dewan of Mysore was the de facto chief executive officer of the Government of Mysore, ex officio chairman of the Dewan's Council, and the prime minister and royal adviser to the maharaja of Mysore. The role evolved in title and duties since the foundation of the fiefdom of Mysore in 1350 and its proper reformation into a kingdom in the following centuries until the kingdom's full abolishment in 1950. With the constitution of India into a republic in 1950, the position was replaced by Chief Minister of Mysore.
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar is an Indian politician and a royal from the Wadiyar dynasty, currently serving as a Member of Parliament for Mysore since 2024. The great-grandson of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, Yaduveer Wadiyar was adopted on 10 December 2013 by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar after the demise of her husband Srikantadatta Wadiyar. He was installed as the "Maharaja of Mysore" in a private ceremony in 2015.
Chamaraja may refer to names of many kings from Kingdom of Mysore.