History of the Wodeyars of Mysore (1500 to 1956)

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The Kingdom of Mysore (1399-1947 CE) 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 Karnatakaregion until Indian independence in 1947, when the kingdom was merged with the Union of India. The historical origins of the kingdom are obscure. The kingdom is first mentioned in early 16th-century Kannada literature from the time of the Vijayanagara King Achyuta Deva Raya, while the kingdom's own earliest available inscriptions date from the rule of a petty chieftain, Timmaraja II, in 1551. It is known that the kingdom originated as a small state based in the modern city of Mysore and that it was established by two brothers, Yaduraya (also known as Vijaya) and Krishnaraya. In 1763, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan established their first Navy fleet on the Malabar Coast, Ali Raja Kunhi Amsa II had established a large and well armed fleet consisting of 10 dhows and 30 largerketches in the Indian Ocean, in his attempts to conquer islands that had withstood the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. In 1763 his fleet sailed from Lakshadweep and Cannanore carrying on board sepoys and on its pennons the colours and emblems of Hyder Ali, and captured the Maldives.

The Kingdom of Mysore (1399-1947 C.E.) was a kingdom of southern India founded in 1399 by Yaduraya in the region of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, ruled by the Wodeyar family, served as a feudatory of the Vijayanagara Empire until the empire's decline in 1565. Later, during a period when multiple feudatory rulers claimed independence in southern India, the Kingdom of Mysore consolidated.

The historical origins of the kingdom are obscure. The kingdom is first mentioned in early 16th-century Kannada literature from the time of the Vijayanagara King Achyuta Deva Raya, while the kingdom's own earliest available inscriptions date from the rule of a petty chieftain, Timmaraja II, in 1551. It is known that the kingdom originated as a small state based in the modern city of Mysore and that it was established by two brothers, Yaduraya (also known as Vijaya) and Krishnaraya.

Under the rule of kings Narasaraja Wodeyar and Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, the kingdom annexed large parts of what is now southern Karnataka and became one of the powerful ruling families in the region. the kingdom reached the peak of its military power in the late eighteenth century under de-facto rulers Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, when it came into conflict with the Maratha Empire, the British Empire, the Nizam of Golconda and the rulers of Travancore and Malabar.

Tipu Sultan's defeat in the fourth Anglo-Mysore war resulted in the British taking over large parts of the kingdom, and ended Mysorean hegemony over the southern Deccan. The British, however, restored the kingdom to the Wodeyars whom they saw as the rightful heirs to the throne, and it became a 'princely state under the British Raj until Indian independence in 1947, when the kingdom was merged with the Union of India.

Under the Mysore Kingdom, the fine arts flourished in southern India. The Mysore court, which patronized such famous artists and musicians as Veena Sheshanna and T.Chowdiah, became a center of Carnatic music. During this period, Mysore painting, Indo-European architecture and Kannada literature, including writings on both traditional religious themes and topics such as musical treatises, drama and theatre, developed significantly. Many Mysore kings were acclaimed writers and composers, and both the kings themselves and the classical artists they patronized had a lasting effect on the culture of southern India.

Ever since Hyder had seized the control, Rani Lakshmi Ammanni, the widow of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, had been striving for the restoration of her family. In early 1770 itself, she had contacted Pigot, the Governor of Madras, through her emissaries seeking support of the British in the event of Hyder Ali's overthrow. A secret treaty was signed between Tirumala Rao, a confidante of the Rani and Lord Macartney, then Governor of Madras, in 1782, called the Rana Treaty for the Restoration of the Hindu Dynasty of Mysore.