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Chikka
Veerarajendra - The Last King
of Coorg with the princess Gowramma
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The
majority of the early accounts of
Coorg(Kodagu) are fundamentally eminent
and the genuine record of history
in Coorg is available only following
the ninth century. On the word of
inscriptions, Coorg was under the
rule of many dynasties of South India
such as Changalvas, Cholas, Gangas,
Hoysalas, Kadambas and Pandyas.
It
is believed that early on the northern
part of Kodagu was under the Kadambas
and the south under the Gangas. The
Cholas were a powerful force in the
eleventh century they defeated the
Gangas. However, the Changalva Arasus
continued o rule the south Kodagu
when Raja Chola was ruling in Tanjavur.
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The
northern parts of Kodagu were ruled by the
Kongalvas who were a vassal of the Cholas.
The situation more or less remained the same
till the invasion under Alauddin Khilji. In
the fourteenth century the Changalvas became
prominent rulers of Kodagu. For most of the
period the influence of the Changalvas or
the Kongalvas never reached beyond the borders
of Kodagu.
The period between the eleventh and sixteenth
centuries were tumultuous and rulers changed
faster than the seasons. However, Kodagu continued
to cling on to its independent stature. The
fall of the Vijayanagara empire signaled a
change and in this period Keladi Nayaks of
Ikkeri took over Kodagu and established the
Paleri(Haleri) Kingdom. Paleri kings, who
were Lingayats of Veerashaiva faith, ruled
the region for more than 200 years (1580 -
1834). The first ruler of Paleri dynasty was
Vira Raja. His grandson Muddu Raja I was a
popular ruler and ruled for more than 50 years.
He moved his headquarters to current day Madikeri
in 1681. It was called Muddu Raja Keri and
later shortened to Madikeri. Under the Paleri
dynasty Kodagu attained a status as an Independent
kingdom.
Dodda Vira Raja ruled from 1687 - 1736. Under
his rule the administration of the region
was streamlined into villages and districts.
Other notable figures in the history of Kodagu
are Dodda Vira Rajendra (1780 - 1809) and
Linga Raja II (1811 - 1820).
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Natives
of the country of Coorg, from
the French magazine 'L'Illustration'.
c.1866
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The
Coorgs(Kodavas) saw the first successful
invasion when Hyder Ali took over
their land in 1763. However, it was
not long before Hyder's army was defeated
and Kodagu reverted back to Kodavas
in 1765. In 1768 Lingaraja, the younger
brother of the Haleri King Muddayya
attacked Hyder's troops near the boundary
with Mysore and defeated them. A treaty
was effected and the boundaries of
Mysore and Coorg, fixed. Once again,
due to internal squabbling among the
ruling kings, Hyder Ali sided with
Linga Raja I and suceeded in installing
him on the throne, finally taking
direct control of the Kodavas in 1775.
Lingaraja I died in 1780, leaving
behind
his two children to claim the throne.
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Hyder
Ali took custody of the minor princes and
appointed one of his minister to rule Coorg.
An open rebellion broke out in June, 1782
and the Kodavas drove out Hyder's troops and
dignitaries. Hyder Ali died and his son Tippu
Sultan took over.
In
1783, Tippu Sultan marched through Kodagu,
while returning from Mangalore to Srirangapatana.
He retained control of Coorg and strengthened
the garrison at Mercara Fort. He called
a meeting of Coorg chiefs and delivered
to their hands written mandate accusing
them of polyandry, plundering his armies
& rebelling against Hyder and himself
seven times. He warned the Kodavas with
dire consequences, if they would rebel
again. Enraged by the diktat, the Kodavas
again rose up in rebellion, sacked and
plundered Madikeri. The same year Tippu
sent a force of 2,000 men against Kodavas,
which was defeated. In 1784 Tippu entered
Coorg with a 32,000 strong army, along
with a French battalion commanded by
General Monsieur Lally and defeated
the Coorgs. In 1788, Kodavas rescued
their king Dodda Vira Rajendra, the
eldest of the princes, who had been
taken prisoner by Tippu and held in
Periyapatna fort. Once back in Coorg,
the 20 year old Prince quickly organized
an army and and kept on engaging Tippu's
forces in the battlefield. By 1790 Dodda
Vira Rajendra had successfully attacked
and sacked most of the forts garissoned
by Tippu Sultan's forces, except Mercara
Fort.
The same year Dodda Vira Rajendra came
in contact with the British.
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Coorg
Warrior. c 1850
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In October 25, 1790 Dodda Vira Rajendra
signed a treaty with the British, who promised
to protect his kingdom against Tippu's onslaught
and offer him independence in running the
affairs of his kingdom. In return, the Raja
would have to assist and fight along the
British forces in their war with Tippu Sultan.
In 1971, after a prolonged siege, Tippu's
forces evacuated Mercara Fort and Dodda
Vira Rajendra regained his entire kingdom.
Eventually, the Kodavas backed the British
troops and Tippu fell in the year 1799.
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The
Princess Victoria Gouramma of
Coorg. A steel engraving by
Winterhalter and Grave by James
S. Virtue Co. London. c.1835
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The
Paleri rulers continued to rule until
1834, when the British exiled the last
of the rajas, Chikka Vira Raja, and
took full control of the region. Following
Coorg's British annexation in 1834,
the last King of Coorg, Chikka Veerarajendra
was taken to Vellore in Tamil Nadu by
the British and then to Varanasi in
the year 1835. In 1852, Chikka Veerarajendra
sailed with his two wives and beloved
daughter, Gowramma to England. Veerarajendra
died in 1859 in London. Queen Victoria,
Princess Gowramma's godmother, was present
for the baptism of the princess on 30
June 1852 by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The princess acquired a new name, which
was Victoria Gowramma.
The
Queen was eager to build an alliance
in matrimony between the princess
and the Maharaja Duleep Singh, who
was the son of the Maharaja Ranjit
Singh from Punjab. However, the alliance
was not to be. Gowramma, at only eighteen-years-old
and a princess fell in love with Colonel
John Campbell, a 48-year-old widower
and the two were wed in 1860. In just
a few years, however, the marriage
failed and the disconsolate princess
lost a fight with tuberculosis and
died in 1864. Princess Gowramma and
the colonel had one child, a daughter
whom they gave the name Edith Victoria
Gowramma Campbell.
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Following
Coorg's British annexation in the early
1830s, the town was directly under British
rule until the Indian Independence in the
late 1940s. Coorg was recognized by the
Indian Constitution as part "C" state and
elected a government to assume office in
the early 1950s with a chief minister of
its own.
In November of 1956, the town of Coorg united
with the onetime state of Mysore, as part
of a state reorganization. Now, the district
of Coorg is part of the state of Karnataka.
Throughout the history of Kodagu, no ruler
has held direct sway over the region. Kodagu
has always been under the influence of local
chieftains and maybe because of this reason,
their culture has never been assimilated
with the neighbors and they have always
maintained their unique identity
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