Dodda Vira Rajendra was the ruler of the

Kingdom of Coorg The Kingdom of Coorg (or Kingdom of Kodagu) was an independent kingdom that existed in India from the 16th century until 1834. It was ruled by a branch of the Ikkeri Nayaka. From 1780 to 1788, the kingdom was occupied by neighbouring Mysore b ...

from 1780 to 1809. He is considered a hero of Coorg history for having freed the kingdom from the occupation of

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...

, the

king of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

. He later aided the British in their fight against Tipu Sultan.

Early life and exile

Not much is known of Dodda Vira Rajendra's childhood. In 1780, Linga Raja, his father and ruler of the Coorg Kingdom died while Dodda Vira Rajendra was still young.

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the at ...

, the king of Mysore saw this as an opportunity and took possession of the Coorg Kingdom until, as he said "the princes (Dodda Vira Rajendra and his brother) would come of age". In September 1782, the princes were deported to Garuru. Enraged at the deportation of their princes, the Coorgs revolted and proclaimed independence. Soon after in December 1782, Hyder Ali died due to a cancerous growth in his back and his son Tipu became the King. Tipu dispatched the Coorg royal family to

Periyapatna Periyapatna is a Town located in Peiriyapatna taluka of Mysore district. The town is divided into 23 wards in which elections are held every 5 years. Location Periyapatna is located at . It has an average elevation of 849 metres (2769& ...

and proceeded to annex Coorg and other areas. In December 1788, Dodda Vira Rajendra escaped from Periyapatna and by 1790 had regained power in Coorg.

Battles against the Kingdom of Mysore

Dodda Vira Rajendra ousted the occupying army of Mysore from Bisli Ghat to Manantody and led plundering expeditions into the territories of the Mysore Kingdom. In retaliation, Tipu Sultan sent armies against him, led by Tipu Sultan's Generals Golam Ali and Buran-ud-Din, but were defeated by Dodda Vira Rajendra. In June 1789, he sacked and burnt the fort of

Kushalanagar Kushalanagara or Kushalnagar is a city located in the Kodagu district of the Indian state of Karnataka. Surrounded by Kaveri river, it is the gateway to Kodagu district. It also serves as the headquarters of Kushalanagar Taluk. By population, ...

and in August he destroyed the fort of Beppunad. This was followed by the capture of the fort of

Bhagamandala Bhagamandala is a pilgrimage place in Kodagu district of the Indian state of Karnataka. Location Bhagamandala is situated on the river Kaveri in its upstream stretches. At this place, the Kaveri is joined by two tributaries, the Kannike and ...

. Thereafter, he captured Amara Sulya. Noticing the successes of Dodda Vira Rajendra, the Government of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

offered him an alliance against Tipu Sultan in October 1790. Faced with a powerful opponent in the Kingdom of Mysore, Dodda Vira Rajendra accepted the offer and allied with the British. Alarmed, Tipu dispatched another army led by General Khadar Khan, which was also defeated. Thereafter, the fort of

Mercara Madikeri is a hill station town in Madikeri taluk and headquarters of Kodagu district in Karnataka, India. Etymology Madikeri was known as ''Muddu Raja Keri'', which meant Mudduraja's town, was named after the prominent Haleri king Muddu ...

capitulated to Dodda Vira Rajendra without a fight. Dodda Vira Rajendra allowed the British Bombay Army to pass through Coorg, on its way to Srirangapatna, Tipu Sultan's capital. He also aided the British in their fight against Tipu Sultan, until the latter's death on 4 May 1799.

Death

Dodda Vira Rajendra died in 1809. His tomb is located in

(Madikeri). He is deified and his tomb is worshipped to this day.

Works

Dodda Vira Rajendra compiled a literary work ''Rajendraname'', which records the history of the Coorg rulers from 1633 to 1807. He established the town of

Virajpet The town of Virajpet also spelled as Virajapete is the second town of the district of Kodagu (Coorg), in Karnataka. It is the main town of the ''Virajpet taluka'', south of the district, in the Kerala-Karnataka border. The name is an abbreviati ...

in 1792.

References

{{Karnataka topics 18th-century Indian monarchs History of Kodagu district History of Karnataka Coorg