Administrative and Social History of Mysore Under The Wodeyars (1600-1800 CE)

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In Administrative and Social History of Mysore Under the Wodeyars (1600-1800 CE), Prof D S Achuta Rao presets an engaging account of the period. Believed to be the lineal descendants of the Vijayanagara, the kings of Mysore were described as ruling the earth seated on the jewelled throne of Karnataka. Tracing the earliest descent of Raja Wodeyar, the first remarkable vividly draws before us a portrait of the political, military, law, social, religious, education, art and culture, and administrative construct of two centuries of the Wodeyar rule in Mysore. Capturing the significant features of the governance of the day, the book in the history of Mysore, Karnataka, India. Scholarly and impressive, the book is a formidable achievement in terms of coverage and content.

Prof D S Achuta Rao (1917-1965) had his education in Mysore University and was on MA in History. He devoted 25 years of his career teaching his teaching History to the First Grade colleges in Bangalore, Tumkur, and Mysore and taught graduate students at the Maharaja's Colleges and Manasagangotri in Mysore University. He was a keen researcher and had a brilliant academic career. He closely followed Indian National Movement and sports. He travelled widely, studied exclusively and had many documents, scripts, and articles to his name. He was an exceptional lecturer and was very popular among his systematic teaching and a father.

In the 50s of the last century, when I was studying history in the Maharaja's college at Mysore, not many of any teachers had Doctoral degrees, though nearly all of them were sincere teachers and sound scholars. Teaching over-load and lack of incentives for research probably accounted for this. Nonetheless, the history faculty was blessed with stalwarts like K A Nilakanta Sastri, S Sreekanthe Sastri, M V Krishna Rao, M Seshari and such others.

Sri Achuta Rao was my teacher between 1957, and 1959, and senior colleague for about a year after I joined the Maharaja College as a lecturer in 1960. When a separate Post-graduate centre was planned at the Manasagangotri, I had an opportunity to walk with my teachers, along the banks of Kukkarahalli tank, to witness the foundation-laying event of the new campus by Sir C V Raman. The year was significant for all of us, but more for Achuta Rao, who had begun his research on the Administrative Rao as his supervisor. By then he had published some papers on Hyder and Tippu and made Mysore History his special field of research interest.

Very little of the political and social history o the post-Vijayaranagara period had been explored by then, and not many had evinced interest in its administrative and social history. As such, the phase of the Wodeyar rule had remained a lean period of Karnataka history, though it marked a transition from the late medieval to the early modern. The tools of investigation of this period were different from those of earlier periods of history, as their sources were different. For example, the post-Vijayanagara history could not be reconstructed with inscriptions, coins, archaeological remains, and such other conventional sources, because they had been replaced by new sources such as textual sources and administrative records. Interest in this period of history not only made his explore the records hitherto little known, but also evolve distinct methodogical tools to make meaning out of them. In other words, he was required to negotiate a field in which not much work has been done till then.

Retirement of his supervison, Dr M V Krishna Rao, from the chair, and prolonged ill-heath of Dr. Srikantha Sastri, who had succeeded him, (the two events to which I was also an eye-witness), made Achuta Rao sail all by himself, negotiating a rudderless ship on an unchartered sea. He could expect nothing from his senior colleagues most of whom had very little research experience, save some envy. Facing all odds, he pursued his goal with single-minded determination and produced a thesis in the early 60's. Unfortunately he died in 1965 at a very young age without seeing his work in print. His thesis was lost in the records of the University and almost forgotten for over six decades.

When it was brought to my attention, I was transported back to my college days. I read the remains of the thesis with great curiosity, because I was interested in knowing more about the nature of the scholarship of the time. I felt, that the present generation would also be interested in comparing itself with their predecessors. My role as the editor of this volume hardly deserves credit, for all that I have done is to help preserve its original character.

This is the birth centenary year of Sir Achuta Rao and it is fittingly observed by his celebrated children under the leadership of his son D A Prasanna, who held high positions in reputed enterprises and had been a successful entrepreneur. In fact it was he who unearthed Achuta Rao's badly deteriorated manuscript and restored it to the present shape.

Those who would read this should not forget that it was a pioneering attempt made in the field and has to be judged bearing the cont3ext of the time in which it was written. I am sure the present generation of scholars interested in Mysore history in general and in that of early Wodeyars in particular would welcome this book.