Mysore

“ Mysore (4,900) , a native State, half the size of England, embedded in the Madras Presidency, occupies a lofty, broken, but fertile tableland; the upper waters of the Kistna and Kaveri are used for irrigation purposes; betel-nut, coffee, cotton, rice, and silk are exported; cloth, wheat, and precious metals are imported; the climate is healthy and pleasant; under British government from 1831, it was restored to its prince in 1881, under British protection; the capital is Mysore (74) , a prosperous, well-built town. ”

“ Warren Hastings was the next Englishman who from the position of a clerk in an office at Calcutta rose to be the governor-general of British India.
The kingdom of Mysore, whose lofty table-lands are swept by the cool breezes of the Indian Ocean, has always been inhabited by a more hardy and manly race than that which occupied the lower plains of Hindostan. Hyder Alee, an illiterate common soldier, impelled by a daring spirit of adventure, seized this kingdom of Mysore and seated himself on the throne of Seringapatam. ”

“ Mysore town is a place of wide roads and trees, fields intended to be parks some day, and light and air. Many houses of European origin, somewhat suggestive of Italian or Spanish villas, are shuttered and closed in, so as to give a sense of their being deserted. You drive past these silent houses and their gardens and come to the native town, which is anything but silent or deserted, and then to the new palace; the modern sight of southern India. It is brimming with life ”

“ There is also occasion for much tact, firmness, and temper, in dealing with the labourers and overseers on the estates, and also the native population with which nearly all the estates in Mysore are surrounded. Then much tact and judgment is required in dealing with the Government officials. Other points might also be added, but I have probably said enough to caution those who may be inclined to embark in coffee planting in Mysore, against assuming, as has hitherto been too often done, that it is a business which may be managed by people of inferior capacity. ”

“ The domed building for the public offices in Gordon Park, the Maharaja's College, the Victoria Jubilee Institute, and the law courts are conspicuous. Mysore, though the dynastic capital of the state, was superseded by Seringapatam as the seat of the court from 1610 to 1799, and in 1831, on the British occupation, the seat of administration was removed to Bangalore. ”

“ With this caution, I may then observe that, from information I have received, I have ample reason to believe that in the interior of Mysore there are many families of Pariahs who are as well off, in point of cattle, cash and land, as the average of the farmer caste, notwithstanding that the forefathers of these Pariahs were merely the servants of the farmer tribe. ”

“ Finally, I may observe that in Mysore we have the great advantage of being out of reach of the faddists of the House of Commons, who, for the sake of their votes, have to be humoured, whether the interests of India suffer or not. ”

“ There is scarce a man here that is not, like myself, a Hindoo, for when we were brought here from Mysore, the piece of ground on which the street stands was assigned to us, and we were directed to build houses here. ”

“ In 1868 he was transferred to Mysore under Runga Charlu; and for thirteen years filled various offices in that state; but when Mysore was restored to native rule in 1881, he became personal assistant to Runga Charlu, whom he succeeded as diwan in 1885. For the next seventeen years he laboured assiduously to promote the economic and industrial development of the state, and proved an able assistant to the Maharaja Chamarajendra. By means of railway, irrigation and mining works, he added greatly to the wealth of the state, and put it on a sound financial footing. ”

“ The average produce per acre in Mysore is probably not half that of Ceylon. Some attempts have been made to cultivate coffee in the open country, but without success; it seems to require forest land and considerable elevation and moisture. “Cannon’s Mysore” is grown on a range of hills from 3500 to 4000 feet above the sea, having the benefit of the south-west monsoon, which very seldom fails at all, never entirely, and of the tail-end of the north-east monsoon. This elevation gives a pleasant climate, well suited to Europeans. ”

“ Lord Wellesley had acquired Mysore by the conquest of Tippu in 1799. He incorporated some provinces into the Madras Presidency, but formed the remaining territory into a little Hindu state, and placed a Hindu boy, a kinsman of the Raja who had been supplanted by Hyder, on the throne of Mysore. The boy grew to be a man, and turned out a worthless, extravagant, and oppressive ruler, deaf to all remonstrances and warnings. ”

“ The important kingdom of Mysore, the ruler of which had been long pressed by the rival combatants, declared now in favour of Muhammad Alí, and sent an army under its Dalwai (Prime Minister) to assist him. The native chiefs who ruled the territories which connected the beleaguered town with the eastern coast followed the example of Mysore;—an enormous gain, for it ensured the safety of the English convoys from the coast. Greatly impressed with these defections, Chánda Sáhib at once despatched 3000 of his best troops to join the forces which his son, Rájá Sáhib, was commanding in North Arcot. ”

“ Our two carriages are in a siding at this Mysore station, and the servants are outside with breakfast. The robes of the natives coming towards the station in the twilight under said shaft of light are greenish in contrast; they are wrapped up in their white mantles to keep off what they appear to think dangerous morning air. Only a few of them are astir, and the dew runs steadily from the roof of our carriage and makes a hole in the sandy track, and an early crow is round for anything that may be going. ”

“ These, the most famous falls in India, are situated on the Siruvatti (or Sharavati) river, which at that part of its course forms the boundary between the north-west corner of the native state of Mysore and the Bombay Presidency. The source of the river is in Mysore, half-way up Koda Chadri, a hill about five thousand feet high, near the famous old town of Nuggur, once the seat of the Rajahs of Mysore, where are still to be seen the ruins of an old fort and palace, and the walls of the town, eight miles in circumference. ”

“ Mucchi.—The Mucchis or Mōchis are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being a Marāthi caste of painters and leather-workers. In the Mysore Census Report it is noted that “to the leather-working caste may be added a small body of Mōchis, shoemakers and saddlers. They are immigrant Mahrātās, who, it is said, came into Mysore with Khasim Khān, the general of Aurangzib. They claim to be Kshatriyas and Rājputs—pretensions which are not generally admitted. They are shoemakers and saddlers by trade, and are all Saivas by faith.” ”

“ I should like to dwell on the architectural wonders of Tanjore and the Caves of Ellora; the magnificent entertainments and Princely hospitality accorded to us by the Nizam of Hyderabad, the late Maharajas of Mysore and Travancore, the Maharaja of Vizianagram, the Raja of Cochin, and many other Rulers of Native States; the delights of a trip along the west coast by the beautiful 'back-water,' and the return journey through the glorious forests of Cannara and Mysore ”

“ It is notorious that the very best Government in India to-day is not that carried on by the British, but that of several of the Native States, notably Baroda and Mysore. In these States, particularly Baroda, the people are more free, more prosperous, more contented, and are making more progress, than in any other part of India. Note the superiority of both these States in the important matter of popular education{xvii}. Mysore is spending on education more than three times as much per capita as is British India, while Baroda has made her education free and compulsory. ”

“ To this, the first elected Assembly that ever sat in India, I was returned as representative of the South Mysore Planters' Association. On the 11th I proceeded to the city of Mysore, and on the 12th of October, 1891, attended the preliminary meeting of members, which was held in the Rungacharlu Memorial Hall—a fine building with a large hall, which has a wide daïs at one end, and a, very wide gallery running along three sides of the hall. ”

“ The maharaja's first minister was Ranga Charlu, who had been trained in the British administration of Mysore. He signalized the restoration of native rule by creating the representative assembly. In 1883 Sheshadri Aiyar succeeded Ranga Charlu, and to him Mysore is indebted for the extension of railways and schemes of irrigation, the development of the Kolar goldfields, and the maintenance of the high standard of its administration. The maharaja died at Calcutta on the 28th of December 1894. ”

“ Mysore is still a native State, but, in spite of this, European settlement is increasing year by year, and there, as in the Neilgherries proper, there is room for many coffee-planters, though fever is not unknown; but when India is carefully surveyed, the only district that appears to be thoroughly suited to English settlement, as contrasted with mere planting or land-holding, is the valley of Cashmere, where the race would probably not suffer deterioration. With the exception of Cashmere, none of the deep mountain valleys are cool enough for permanent European settlement. ”

“ He had been constrained to sign the peace of Mangalore by the withdrawal of the French alliance, and the coalition of the British and Mahrattas against him. But the war had been a triumph for Mysore arms. South of the Kistna river, Mysore was the most powerful state in India, and no single power could hold its own against the son of Hyder Ali. But Tippoo failed to realize the increase of power of the English Company, due to five years of peace. In 1785, a quarrel broke out between him and the Mahrattas, who allied themselves with the Nizam, and invaded Mysore territory. ”

“ But at length the news of peace between England and France reached India, and peace was concluded between the Company and the Mysore on the 11th of March 1784.
Some conception of the resources of India may be formed from the military means which the single state of Mysore was able to accumulate, under all the pressure of a long war. At the peace, the treasure of Tippoo was calculated at eighty millions sterling; he had six hundred thousand stand of arms, two thousand cannons, with a regular force of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, of little less than one hundred thousand men! ”

“ During his minority Hyderabad was wisely administered by Sir Salar Jung, who initiated a form of government which was most beneficial to his State.
The Maharaja of Mysore is the ruler of a State in southern India of a total area of 80,000 square miles, containing a population of 5,500,000, and yielding a revenue of about £1,500,000. It is an ancient Hindu dynasty which has undergone strange vicissitudes. ”

“ But nature proved to be too strong for Mr. Stewart and those who followed his example, and whole estates in the Bamboo district were practically exterminated by the Borer insect. At last the planters, warned by a long and bitter experience, gave way all along the line, and began to imitate the shade planters of Mysore, and shade is now as universal in Coorg as in Mysore, and under its protection the coffee in both countries thrives equally well. ”

“ And one of the oldest planters in Mysore told me that, some thirty years ago, when his land was, comparatively speaking, unexhausted, if the blossom showers were favourable he got a good crop all over the estate, but that if they were unfavourable, the best situated coffee on the best land still gave a fair crop, while the rest of the plantation produced very little. The maximum of high and safe profits, then, will be obtained where the land kept up is all good, well situated, and well manured. ”

“ The more I have seen and studied coffee the more am I struck with the value of aspect, and this is of enormous importance in such a climate as Mysore, which is liable to suffer so often from prolonged droughts, and as it is quite a common thing to have five months without a drop of rain, and also during part of that time to have either dry winds or hot desiccating blasts of air coming in from the heated plains of the interior, it can easily be understood that in valuing lands, much consequence should be attached to forest which contains a large proportion of north and north-western aspects. ”

“ I have previously pointed out that there is no income-tax in Mysore. I have also alluded to the fact that, as the finances are in a flourishing condition, and, beyond the subsidy annually levied, are free from any obligation to contribute to the general expenditure of British India, there are ample and certain means available for developing the resources of the country. ”

“ In the woodland tracts the cold weather and the monsoon months have a very pleasant temperature, and then flannel shirts and light tweeds—in short, English summer clothing—are used, and a blanket is always welcome at night. The climate of Mysore is considered to be a healthy one for Europeans of temperate habits, and who take reasonable care of themselves. ”

“ The next day, October 3, 1979, Mahesh Bhatt and Parveen Babi arrived from Bombay. That same evening they all went with U.G. and Valentine to Mysore in a car. My friends and I also went and everyone stayed in the University Guest House arranged by Professor Ramakrishna Rao of Mysore University. We all ate at Prof. Rao's house. As Brahmachariji hails from Mysore, he stayed in his own large house built by his father, the ownership of which was a source of dispute between himself and his brothers. ”