Krishnaraja Wadiyar III (14 July 1794 – 27 March 1868) was the twenty-second

maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

of the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in 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 alliance with Brit ...

. Also known as Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, the maharaja belonged to the Wadiyar dynasty and ruled the kingdom for nearly seventy years, from 30 June 1799 to 27 March 1868. He is known for his contribution and patronage to different arts and music during his reign. He was succeeded by his adopted son,

Chamarajendra Wadiyar X Chamarajendra Wadiyar X (22 February 1863 – 28 December 1894) was the twenty-third Maharaja of Mysore between 1868 and 1894. Adoption and accession Chamarajendra Wadiyar X was born in the old palace in Mysore on 22 February 1863, as the thir ...

Early years

Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, who was born at

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city w ...

, was the son of Khasa Chamaraja Wadiyar IX (who was born at Arikottara, now

Chamarajanagar Chamarajanagar or Chamarajanagara is a town in the southern part of Karnataka, India. Named after Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the erstwhile king of Mysore, previously known as 'Arikottara'. Chamarajanagara is the headquarters of Chamarajanagar dist ...

) and his first wife, Maharani Kempananjammani Avaru.Annals of The Mysore Royal Family Part-1: A publication by the Royal Family of Mysore: 1916 Maharani Lakshmi Ammani Devi, his adoptive grandmother, played a major role in the education and upbringing of her adopted grandson, Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, and was instrumental in his ascendancy to the Mysore throne.Rajakaryaprasakta Rao Bahadur (1936), p265 Maharani Lakshmi Ammani Devi was awaiting a chance to unseat Hyder Ali (who died) and later his son

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 int ...

, and had sent numerous feelers to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

to unseat him and hand over the kingdom to the Wadiyars. She also informed the British about the treaty between

and the French.Rajakaryaprasakta Rao Bahadur (1936), p271 When Tipu Sultan died at the hands of the British in 1799, she discussed about the handover of the Mysore throne, which finally led to the installation of the five-year-old Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, as the Maharaja of Mysore on 30 June 1799.Rajakaryaprasakta Rao Bahadur (1936), p266 The ceremony took place in a special pavilion constructed near the Lakshmiramana Swamy temple in Mysore. Being led to it by

Sir Arthur Wellesley Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

on his right, Tipu Sultan's prime minister Dewan

Purnaiah Purnaiah (Purniya) (1746 – 27 March 1812), aka Krishnacharya Purniya or Mir Miran Purniya was an Indian Administrator and statesman and the 1st Diwan of Mysore. He has the rare distinction of governing under a sultan and a maharaja, Ti ...

was formally selected as the Dewan of Mysore with an indication that he should be loyal to the king till the king himself attains an age of discretion.

Ruler of Mysore State

Krishnaraja Wadiyar III attained the age of 16 in early 1810 and hence attained the age of discretion. After discussing with the British Resident, A. H. Cole, the reins of the state were transferred from Dewan

to the king.Rajakaryaprasakta Rao Bahadur (1936), p383 But the king lost the services of his grandmother, who died in 1810, and also of Purnaiah, who died in 1812. The years that followed witnessed cordial relations between Mysore and the British until things began to sour in the 1820s. Even though the

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized ...

, Thomas Munro, determined after a personal investigation in 1825 that there was no substance to the allegations of financial impropriety made by A. H. Cole, the incumbent Resident of Mysore, the civil insurrection (commonly known as

Nagar revolt The Nagar Revolt, also known as the ''Nagara peasant rebellion'', was an uprising in the Nagar region (present day Shimoga district) of the Mysore kingdom, which began in August and September 1830. Primarily comprising farmers and minor officials ...

) which broke out towards the end of the decade changed things considerably. In 1831, close on the heels of the insurrection and citing maladministration, the British took direct control of the princely state. For the next fifty years, Mysore passed under the rule of successive British Commissioners; Lieutenant-General Mark Cubbon, renowned for his statesmanship, served from 1834 until 1861 and put into place an efficient and successful administrative system which left Mysore a well-developed state.

Contribution to culture

Krishnaraja Wadiyar III was responsible for the cultural growth of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was himself a writer, having written Kannada books like ''

Sritattvanidhi The ''Sritattvanidhi'' (, "The Illustrious Treasure of Realities") is a treatise written in the 19th century in Karnataka on the iconography and iconometry of divine figures in South India. One of its sections includes instructions for, and ill ...

'' and ''Sougandhikaparinaya''. He also has a number of writers in his court who together contributed to the development of modern Kannada prose, which had a style different from the ''Champu'' style of prose which was followed till then.K. M. George (1994), p167 Other important writings that emerged during his rule include ''Mudramanjusha'' by Kempu Narayana, ''Kalavati Parinaya'' by Yadava, and ''Vachana Kadamabari''. The king was well versed in many languages, including Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil, English, Telugu, and Urdu. He even played the musical instrument,

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

. He was an expert player of board games and is credited to have revived the

Ganjifa Ganjifa, Ganjapa or Gânjaphâ, is a card game and type of playing cards that are most associated with Persia and India. After Ganjifa cards fell out of use in Iran before the twentieth century, India became the last country to produce them. The f ...

game. He was also a collector and an inventor of board games. Krishnaraja Wadiyar III was a ruler who gave a lot of importance to the development of art during his period. He patronised many scholars in his court and he himself was a great Kannada and Sanskrit Scholar, and has composed more than 50 works. The

Yakshagana Yakshagaana is a traditional theatre, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines dance, music, dialogue, ...

form of literature, its growth, and survival are all due to his efforts. Parti Subba from South Canara, a famous Yakshagana writer, flourished during his period. Devachandra, Venkatarama Shastri, Basavappa Shastri, Aliya Lingaraja, Kempu Narayana, Srinivasa Kavisarvabhouma, Thammaya Kavi, Nanjunda Kavi, Shantaraja Pandita were all patronised by him. Devachandra wrote ''Rajavali Katha'' which is of great historical importance and also ''Ramakathavathara'', a work in Champu style. Kempu Narayana wrote ''Mudra Manjusha'', which is a Kannada prose. Asthana Vidwan Basavappa Shastri has written various works. He composed Kannada poems such as ''Shakuntala'', ''Vikramorvasiya'', ''Rathnavali'', ''Chandakousika'', and ''Uttara Ramacharita''. He has also translated the famous work of Shakespeare, ''Othello'', into Kannada and it is known as ''Shurasena Charita''. He has also written ''Damayanti'' in Champu style, ''Savitri Charita'' in Shatpadi, ''Sri Raghavendra Swamy Ashtottara Stotram'', and numerous other works in Sanskrit. Krishnaraja Wadiyar III has composed many works like ''Dasharatha Nandana Charita'', ''Grahana Darpana'', ''Sankya Ratna Kosha'', ''Chaturanga Sara Sarvasva'', ''Sri Tatvanidhi'', ''Saugandhika Parinaya'', ''Sri Krishna Katha Sangraha'', ''Ramayana'', ''Mahabharata'', ''Surya Chandra Vamsavali'', ''etc''. He was called Bhoja Raja of Kannada. The Wadiyar's ''Surya Chandra Vamsavali'' narrates a hundred episodes from the Ramyana and the Mahabharata, and the adventures of Yaduraya and Krishnaraya, the founders of the Wadiyar Dynasty. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III also sponsored a number of art pieces and invited a large number of artists to the royal workshop, where a number of ambitious projects including

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

s and

illustrated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

s were commissioned. These included illustrated volumes of the

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in S ...

and a splendid

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

featuring

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bei ...

shooting a flaming arrow exploding on the page.

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References

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