Devaraja Wodeyar I (25 May 1627 – 1673) was the thirteenth
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 from 1659 until 1673.
Early years
Devaraja Wodeyar I was born on 25 May 1627, the fourth son of Prince Devarajendra Wodeyar, by his second wife, Kempamamba Ammani Avaru. He was imprisoned along with his father at Hengul Fort in 1638, the year of incumbency of his cousin
Kanthirava Narasaraja I. He was adopted and appointed
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
, with title ''Yuvaraja'' on 28 July 1659. He succeeded his cousin on the latter's death on 31 July 1659, and was installed on the Mysore ''throne'' on 19 August 1659.
Rule
During his rule, the last of the Vijayanagara rulers,
Sriranga III, sought refuge in Bednur in
Seringapatam
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 wa ...
.
[ Soon afterwards, Sivappa Nayaka of Kelladi attacked Seringapatam with a large force and with the ostensible intention of restoring Vijayanagara rule at Seringapatam.][ However, the Mysore forces, led by Devaraja Wodeyar I, repulsed the attack and thereafter pursued the attackers into the ]malnad
Malnad (; Malēnādu) is a region in the state of Karnataka in India. Malenadu covers the western and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountain range, and is roughly 100 kilometers in width.
Malnadis a region of Karnataka ...
region to the west, where they captured more territory.[ Devaraja Wodeyar also abrogated his nominal allegiance to Vijayanagar and declared his kingdom to be independent of all connexions.][ Soon, the Naiks of Madura invaded Mysore as well; they too were repulsed and chased back into their own dominions, where ]Erode
Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the ...
and Dharapuram
Dharapuram (;) is a town situated along the banks of Amaravati River in Tiruppur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Dharapuram is one of the oldest towns in South India and was the capital of Kongu Nadu under the Cheras, Western ...
were annexed to Mysore, and Trichonopoly was forced to pay tribute to Mysore.[
Devaraja Wodeyar I died in Chiknayakanhalli on 11 February 1673. At the time of his death, the northernmost outpost of his territories had considerably expanded.]Dharapuram
Dharapuram (;) is a town situated along the banks of Amaravati River in Tiruppur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Dharapuram is one of the oldest towns in South India and was the capital of Kongu Nadu under the Cheras, Western ...
in Coimbatore in the south, Sakrepatna to the west, and Salem to the east.
See also
* History of Mysore and Coorg, 1565–1760
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kempadevaraja, Dodda
17th-century Indian monarchs
Kings of Mysore