Published : April 08, 2018
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COLONIAL KARNATAKA
Introduction
Following the death and defeat of Tippu Sultan the British occupied Mysore in 1799. The British divided the kingdom of Mysore into 4 parts- each part shared by the British, the Marathas and the Nizam and the last part was restored to the Wodeyars Krishna Raja Wodeyar III was placed on the throne of Mysore.
Krishna Raja Wodeyar III (1799-1831)
The British signed the treaty of Sri Rangapatna with Krishna Raja Wodeyar III according the Wodeyars signed the subsidiary alliances with the British. The Wodeyar even agreed to pay yearly tributes. A British contingent was also to be stationed at the royal court. The treaty also mentioned that the kingdom of Mysore would be occupied by the British if the Wodeyar was guilty of mis-governance. As Krishna Raja Wodeyar III was a young child the administration of the kingdom was entrusted to a new office called “Diwan”, Who was also to function as a regent.
Diwan Purnaiah (1800-1810)
Purnaiah became the Diwan regent of Krishna Raja Wodeyar III earlier he had rendered services as a minister to Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan. On becoming the Diwan his first and foremost task was to provide for the education of the young king. The king was also well trained in the field of administration. As a experienced administrator Purnaiah organized the administration of Mysore on a firm footing.
Firstly Purnaiah shifted the capital from Sri Rangapatna to Mysore. Secondly the kingdom of Mysore was divided into 3 regions
1. Patana Ashta Grama
2. Chitraduraga
3. Bidanur
Thirdly Purnaiah established a departments to look after the administration civil, Revenue and miscellaneous. The sources of revenue were land Revenue, Customs duties, excise and plantations.
Fourthly Purnaiah worked towards development of agriculture. Irrigation projects like tank and canals were constructed. He also constructed a dam across the River Lakshmana Tritha. He spent 50,000 pagodas for the development of agriculture. Even agriculture loans were issued called “Taccavi loans”.
Fifthly the judiciary was established judges were appointed. The village panchayat came to be established.
Sixthly the military was re-organized and it was called Kandachar. Thus under Purnaiah Mysore experienced administrative efficiency for the first time after years of warfare.
On retiring in 1810 purnaiah was rewarded with Yalandur as a Jagir.
In 1810 A.D Krishna Raja Wodeyar III assumes the reigns of administration on the attainment of the age of majority. Krishna Raja Wodeyar III wanted to increase the collection of land revenue and hence introduced the contract system accordingly revenue collection was entrusted to officials called the Amuldhar who in turn entrusted the task to their agents who collected more than the stipulated amount. Hence the peasants had to bare the burden of high revenue & were thoroughly exploited. They rose in revolt against the king. This is called as the “Nagar Insurection” (1830-31) which began at a place called Nagar in the Shimoga district. It was led by Budi Basaappa very soon the revolt spread to the regions of Chitra Durga, Chikka Nayakanahalli and Doddaballapur. The rebellion was however severely suppressed by the Wodeyar but he lost the kingdom as the British governor general Lord William Bentick annexed Mysore to the English East India Company. The king Krishna Raja Wodeyar III was thus forced to retire & spent the rest of his life in scholarly and literary pursuits. He encouraged Kannada language and literature. He patronized scholars like Deva Chandra- the author of Raja Vali Katha & Kempu Narayana the author of Mudra Manjusha.
Aliya Linga Raja who was patronized by the king wrote several works called Narapati Charithe, Basavappa Shastri called as Abhinava Kalidasa was author of Surya Sena Charithe- A transtation of Shakespeares Othello- Krishna Raja Wodeyar III wrote as many as 50 books Sankaya Ratna Kosha, Surya Chandra Vamshavatarane and Sri Krishna Katha Sangraha, Ramayana & Bharata
The king was also a patron of music. Musicians like Mysore Sadashiva Rao, Veena Sheshanna, Venkata Subbiah, and Chika Ramappa were patronized by him. He also started the Raja school where English was the medium of instruction. Hence he is rightly called as “The Morning star of renaissance in Karnataka”.
The Commissioners Rule (1831-18881)
Following the annexation of Mysore to English East India Company the British began to administer the state of Mysore from 1831-1881 by creating a new office called the office of commissioners. Initially the office had two commissioners-colonels Briggs as the senior commissioner and Lushington as the junior commissioner. In 1833 Morrison became the sole commissioner. The two most important commissioners are Sir Mark Cubbon and Bowring.
Sir Mark Cubbon (1834-1861)
Sir Mark Cubbon began his career in the English East India Company. In 1834 he was appointed as the commissioner of Mysore as he was known for his honesty and integrity. As the commissioner of Mysore Mark Cubbon worked for its development.
The first work of Mark Cubbon is that he shifted the capital from Mysore to Bangalore. The state of Mysore under him comprised of four administrative divisions Patana Ashtagrama, Chitra Durga, Nagar and Bangalore. Each of these divisions was headed by a European super intendent Mark Cubbon shifted the secretariat to Tippu’s palace in Bangalore. The secretariat comprised of a departments like Revenue, Military, agriculture, post and soon. The judicial administration was recognized. A hierarchy of courts was established. Munsiff court at the local level, above which were superintending courts and the Huzur adalat, the commissioner’s court was the highest court. There was a judicial commissioner who assisted Mark Cubbon the Mysore state comprised of 120 Taluks called Amils each of which functioned under an official called Amildar. Below the Amils were groups of villages called Hoblis which functioned under a Hoblidar. Revenue collection was entrusted to an official called Shirastedar. Mark Cubbon used the native language in the administrative sphere.
Mark Cubbon constructed roads to the length of more than 1,600 miles. The capital city Bangalore was linked with important places. Telegraphic wires were strung. The first railway line was laid in Karnataka which linked Bangalore with Jolarpet (1859). He also encouraged the starting of English medium schools. Mark Cubbon collected revenue efficiently. In 1834-35 the revenue collection was 68 Lakhs and led to 84 lakhs. In 1854-55 he also settled Rs.80 lakhs which was unpaid tributes to the British and the yearly tribute was also regularly paid. Thus Mark Cubbon developed Mysore by leaps and bounds. During his tenure as a commissioner he laid the first step for developing Mysore into a Modern state. An efficient administrator he was known for his honesty and hard work. When he retired from office he had saved a large amount of Rs.40 lakhs. The government of Karnataka has honored Mark Cubbon by naming a park after him in Bangalore namely the Cubbon Park.
Louis Bentham Bowring (1861-1870)
Bowring Succeeded Mark Cubbon.
Bowring is the other commissioner of Mysore who occupies the pride of place along with Sri Mark Cubbon. Bowring divided the state of Mysore into 3 administrative regions namely Patana Ashtagrama, Nandi Durga and Nagar. These regions comprised of 108 Taluks each of which functioned under a Deputy Commissioner. The commissioner’s were in charge of the three main divisions and Bowring became the chief commissioner. The department of land survey and settlement was established. The registration act of 1864 required all property transactions to be registered. The police department came to be established on the lives of the Madras police. New designations like inspector General of police and Deputy Inspector of police were created. Bowring established the central educational agency which set up schools in English and vernacular language’s. Accordingly the Bangalore high school and the central college were established in Bangalore. The high court building constructed during his days became the secretariat. The Bangalore museum was constructed by him. Famine conditions in Bangalore made him construct the miller tank. Hospitals were also constructed. The lady Curzon Bowring hospital reminds one of the services rendered by Bowring.
Bowring was succeeded by Sir Richard Meade, Saunders and Gordon who occupied office from 1870-1881. They are the last Commissioners of Mysore.
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