It
was in the summer of AD 1399 that disaster struck a small
principality of Southern India. Mahisuru, which later went on to
become Mysore, had lost its chieftain and was vulnerable to the
machinations of a cunning upstart.
At around the same time, two young aspirants left their
ancestral home in Dwaraka, Gujarat and proceeded southwards in
search of fame. Yaduraya, the elder of the two aspirants, was
destiny’s chosen man, to lead a valiant attack against the vile
upstart, rescue the family in distress, wed the princess and
assume the lordship of the place. This event marked the birth of
the Wodeyar Dynasty, which was among India’s longest reigning
royal houses.
Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars, by
Vikram Sampath is one of the most definitive accounts of the
Wodeyar Dynasty in recent times. It sketches this long and
fascinating regime, replete with wars, palace intrigues,
romance, valour and deceit.
From the genesis in 1399 to the age of glory under Raja Wodeyar,
Ranadhira Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar and Chikkadevaraja
Wodeyar, to the eclipse of the dynasty under kings who let the
reigns of the kingdom slip into the hands of the powerful
ministers, the book revisits the ups and downs of the Dynasty
over 600 years.
The brief interlude under Haidar Ali and his heroic son Tipu
Sultan saw Mysore emerge as a veritable nightmare for the
British East India Company.
With Tipu’s death in 1799, power was restored to the Wodeyars
and they continued to hold sway over the region till the time of
India’s Independence. The reign of enlightened rulers like
‘Rajarishi’ Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar saw Mysore achieve
progress on several fronts.
The growth of Mysore as a cultural capital of Southern India,
alongside Tanjore and Travancore, in areas of classical music,
dance, folk traditions, painting and literature, has also been
traced over these fascinating and delightful six-hundred years.
The book was launched by His Excellency the Governor of
Karnataka, Shri Rameshwar Thakur at the Raj Bhavan in Bangalore
on 4th March 2008. The launch at this historical venue was
attended by Maharajakumari Meenakshi Devi Avaru of the Mysore
Royal Family and Dr. Sudha Murthy of the Infosys Foundation,
among others.
Launch events and book readings also too place in several other
cities in India and abroad including Mysore, Chennai, Hyderabad,
Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, London and Chicago.
The book has been hailed by many eminent personalities like Shri
L. K. Advani, Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Shri T.N. Chaturvedi,
Dr. Vyjayanathimala Bali, Prof. U. R. Ananthamurthy, Smt. Shashi
Deshpande, Dr. Bharati Ray, Justice B. N. Srikrishna, Dr.
Ramachandra Guha and Dr. Suryanath Kamath among others.
