Wadiyar Dynasty - British Rule

British Rule

After restoring the Wadiyars to the throne of Mysore the British shifted the capital back to the city of Mysore from Srirangapatna. The four year old boy (Mummudi) Krishna Raja Wadiyar III, son of the last Wadiyar King Khasa Chamaraja Wadiyar VIII, was anointed as the King of Mysore. Wadiyars 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 Wadiyar in 1831 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 Wadiyar IX. In 1881, transfer of power back to the Wadiyars 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 Wadiyar 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 historical hero Lord Rama.

Under British hegemony, the Wadiyars, freed from security concerns, shifted attention to the patronage of the fine arts. Under their patronage, Mysore became a cultural centre of Karnataka, fostering a number of famous musicians, writers and painters.

The last king of the Wadiyar dynasty was Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, who ruled from 1940 until Indian independence 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 until 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 until 1964. After that he was Governor of Madras state (now Tamil Nadu) for two years. But the Indian Constitution continued to recognize him as the Maharaja of Mysore until 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. His only son Srikanta Datta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar (b. 1953) was a member of the Indian Parliament for many years.