MYSORE

MYSORE, properly MAISOOR, a large province of the south of India, principally situated between the 11th and 15th degrees of northern latitude, and now surrounded by the British territories, subject to the presidency of Madras. This province consists of a high table land, elevated 3000 feet above the level of the sea, from which rise a number of lofty hills, containing the sources of many rivers, the principal of which are the Cavery, Toombuddra, Vedawati, Bhadri, Penar, &c. The climate of this elevated region is temperate and healthy to a degree unknown in any other track of similar extent within the tropics. The rainy season is here more moderate than on either of the sea coasts, but of much longer duration; and during other seasons of the year the verdure is frequently refreshed by enlivening showers. Its soil produces not only all the grains and vegetables of other parts of India, but also many of the fruits of Europe. The cultivation is also much aided by means of reservoirs and wells, from whence the farmers irrigate their fields and gardens. The inhabitants are in general Hindoos; but the country having been so often the scene of warfare, it is not nearly so populous as Bengal, and some other of the British provinces. It produces horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, but none of them of a good size. This province is divided into three districts, named Fatan, Nagara, and Chatrakal: each district is managed by an Amildar, who is an officer of justice, police, and revenue, and who is accountable for his conduct to the ministers of the Rajah, who are kept to their duty by the presence of the British resident.

As this province is now particularly connected with the British interests, and, from a rival state, is become one of our staunchest allies, it is requisite to enter at some length into its political history. The ancestor of the reigning family is said to have been the chief of a band of herdsmen, who emigrated with their flocks and cattle from the province of Gujerat, and were allowed to settle in Mysore. The first person of this tribe who distinguished himself was named Vijeya, in consequence of an act of bravery. He married the heiress of the Wadiar, or chief of the town of Caroogully and its dependencies, and succeeded his father-in-law. His immediate successors are not known; but, in the year 1507, Cham Raj took possession of the government, but still acknowledging himself as a subject of the Maha Rajah of Annagoondy, who was a descendant of the ancient Hindoo monarchs of Bijanagur. Tim Raj succeeded in 1548, and annexed some other districts to his government. Heere Cham Raj ruled from 1571 to 1576, and was succeeded by his cousin Raj Wadeyar, who appears to have taken advantage of the declining power of his lord paramount, not only to annex to his own estates those of the Rajah of Chickrapatam, but to take possession of the city and fortress of Seringapatam. This event occurred in the year 1610, and may be considered as the era of their sovereignty. After this event, he subdued several of the neighbouring Wadeyars, and kept them in con-

finement at Seringapatam. He died in the year 1617, and was succeeded by his grandson Cham Raj, who added considerably to the Mysore territories, and died in 1637. He was succeeded by a posthumous son of the former Rajah, named Immadee Raj, who, in the course of a short time, was poisoned by his prime minister. Canty Revy Narsa Raj, second cousin of the deceased, was the next sovereign of Mysore. He made various conquests, and reigned till 1659. He was the first prince who established a mint, and coined the fanams and pagodas, still current, which go by his name. Dud Deo Raj was his successor; he made several conquests, and died in 1672. Chick Deo Raj mounted the throne in 1672, and died in 1704. This prince completed the subjugation of the turbulent landholders, made a number of prudent regulations which still exist; and, among other accessions, acquired by purchase the town and fortress of Bangalore. He also sent an embassy to the Mogul Emperor Aurungzebe, who conferred on him a splendid title, and granted him permission to sit on an ivory throne, which is still in existence, and was used on the late installation. Canty Raj, son of the last sovereign, mounted the throne in 1704. Having been born deaf and dumb, he was called the Dumb Rajah. It was in this reign that the great influence of the Dulwoy, or prime minister, commenced, which ever after rendered the Rajah a mere pageant. After a nominal reign of ten years, the Dumb Rajah died, and was succeeded by Dud Kishen Raj, who left the management of affairs entirely to his ministers, and died, after an inglorious reign, in the year 1731. He was succeeded by Cham Raj, who, not having been found of a sufficiently pliable disposition, was deposed and imprisoned by his ministers, in the year 1734. On this event, the Mysore ministers deviated from the regular line of succession, and chose a boy of five years old, of another branch of the royal family, named Chick Kishen Raj, to be the pageant of their government. The division of public business was at that period distributed in the offices of, 1st, Dulwoy, or commander-in-chief; 2dly, Serv Adikar, or comptroller of the revenue; and, 3dly, Purdhan, or privy counsellor. The first of these offices was held by Deo Raj, the second by Nunjeraje; but they subsequently exchanged appointments, and the influence of the latter was much increased by the marriage of his daughter to the young Rajah, in the year 1746. It was under the command of Nunjeraje Dulwoy, that a large Mysorean army marched to the assistance of the British, and their ally the Nabob Mohammed Aly, in the year 1753; but as the promised bribe, held out for his assistance (the cession of the fortress of Trichinopoly), was not complied with, he shortly after became their enemy, and for nearly two years laid siege to Trichinopoly; but, in the end, was compelled to abandon it, in consequence of the invasion of Mysore by an army of Mahrattas. From this period may be dated the decline of the minister's power, the downfall of the Hindoo dynasty, and the succession of a Mahometan usurper, whose history being not generally known, it is deemed requisite to insert an abridgment of it here.

The great-grandfather and grandfather of Hyder

Aly were both named Mohammed; they were religious persons, who emigrated from the Punjab, and settled in the vicinity of the tomb of Geeso Deraz, the famous saint of Kalberga. The son of the younger Mohammed was named Futteh Aly, who, having entered the army as a private soldier, rose by degrees to the rank of commander of a regiment, with the title of Naick. This person improved his fortune by marriage, but was killed in an engagement about the year 1729. Some time previous to his death, he had raised a mausoleum over his father and his wife, in the vicinity of the town of Colar, and was buried there. After the battle in which Futteh Aly was killed, his family were taken prisoners, and plundered of every thing they possessed. The widow, accompanied by her two sons, Shabaz-Saheb and Hyder, boys, took refuge with her brother Ibrahim, who commanded a small body of peons or infantry, in the service of the governor of Bangalore. When the elder brother Shabaz had attained a sufficient age, his uncle procured for him a recommendation to an officer of rank in Seringapatam; and he was received into the service as a subordinate officer of infantry, in which situation he distinguished himself, and gradually rose to the command of 200 cavalry and 1000 infantry. It is probable, that Hyder profited by the good fortune of his brother, and was employed by him in a subordinate situation; but he does not appear to have distinguished himself till the year 1749, when, during the siege of Deonhally, by his intrepidity and zeal, he attracted the attention of the Dulwoy Nunneraje; and, upon the capitulation of the place, was promoted to the command of it, with a garrison of 200 infantry and 50 cavalry. Permission was also granted him to augment the number of troops, if he found it requisite. During the contest between the Nizam Nasir Jung, and his rival Muzuffir Jung, in the year 1750, Hyder Aly commanded part of the quota of Mysore troops, and distinguished himself in resisting the French column; but as soon as Nasir Jung was killed, he employed his followers in plundering the camp of his late master; and, amongst a number of other valuables, carried off two camels laden with gold, 300 horses, and 500 stand of arms, all of which he conveyed safely to Deonhally.

Hyder Aly was again employed at the siege of Trichinopoly; and during the battle of the 17th of August 1754, between the British and the French armies, with their allies on both sides, Hyder seeing the baggage of the British left without protection, ordered some of his troops to amuse the Tanjore cavalry in front, whilst he with another body galloped round, and fell upon the rear of the convoy, amongst which he created great confusion, and seized 35 carts laden with ammunition and stores. On the retreat of the Mysoreans in 1755, Hyder was detached in the command of an army, consisting of 5000 infantry, 2500 cavalry, six guns, and a number of irregular troops, to secure the district of Dindigul. During the three years he continued in the government of Dindigul, he very considerably increased the number of his troops, disciplined his battalions, and took into his service several French artificers, under whose superintendence he formed a laboratory, arsenal, &c.

In the year 1758, a serious mutiny having broken out amongst the troops at Seringapatam, Hyder Aly was ordered to march thither with all his regular corps. Partly by fair means, and partly by force, he succeeded in quelling the mutiny, and in disbanding the army; in reward for which service, he was gratified with the fortress and adjoining district of Bangalore, as a fief or personal estate. In the following year, Hyder was invested with the command of all the troops employed against the Mahrattas, and was at the same time authorized to conclude a peace with them; but as this object could not be obtained without a large sum of money, and the government could not advance above half the amount, he was directed to borrow the remainder from the bankers; and in order to effect this, certain districts were assigned to him, to be held in pledge till the bankers should be reimbursed. Having appointed his own collectors to the districts, he borrowed the money, satisfied the Mahrattas, and returned in triumph to Seringapatam. His reception by the Dulwoy and young rajah was most gracious; by the former he was distinguished by the epithet of son, and by the latter honoured with the title of Behauder (the champion), which he ever after retained. In this sketch of the history of Hyder Aly, it is impossible to describe the various intrigues by which he subverted the authority of the Dulwoy (minister), and got the rajah completely into his own power. But his overweening confidence had nearly ruined him. In the month of May 1760, Hyder Aly was induced, by the intrigues of the French, to detach to their assistance almost the whole of the regular army then at Seringapatam; whilst he continued to reside in a garden a short distance from the city, with a guard of only 100 horse, and a battalion of infantry. The rajah and his mother, a woman of considerable talent, weary of the tyranny of their oppressor, entered into a secret treaty with a Mahratta chief, who was encamped on the frontiers, and who agreed to send, on an appointed day, 6000 chosen horse to their assistance; but owing to the procrastination of the Mahrattas, and an ill-timed attack from the foot on the cantonment of Hyder, he effected his escape with his hundred cavalry, attended by some camels laden with treasure, and succeeded in reaching the fortress of Bangalore, which was garrisoned by his own troops. This event took place on the 13th of August 1760. Immediately on Hyder's entering Bangalore, he sent off an express to recall the army from the Carnatic, under the command of his brother-in-law Mukhdum Sahib; and dispatched orders to the various detachments of his troops, dispersed over the country, to join him without loss of time. By degrees he was joined by his detachments, by new levies, by the Carnatic army, and by what was of great consequence, 200 French European cavalry, and 100 infantry, with some light artillery. With these forces, aided by intrigue, he defeated the Mysore troops in several engagements, and in the month of May 1761, again got possession of the person of the rajah. Hyder Aly, although now possessing all the real power of a sovereign, was still desirous of legalising his usurpation; he

Mysore therefore, by means of presents or concessions, received from the Nizam of the Dekhan a grant of the zemindary of Mysore, with a patent constituting him a Hefi Hazary, commander of 7000 horse in the imperial service, and the title of Nabob Hyder Aly Khan Behauder.

In the year 1763, he conquered the countries of Bednoor, Soonda, and Canara; and in the three succeeding years, Calicut, and the greater part of Malabar. In 1766, the rajah Chick Kishen Deo died. When this circumstance was reported to Hyder, who was then at Coimbatore, he ordered the funeral rites to be performed with all the usual ceremonies, and directed that the eldest son of the deceased, named Nunje Raj, should be placed on the throne, with the same parade and pomp as had formerly been used for his ancestors. Nunje Raj died, or was murdered, after a nominal reign of five years, and was succeeded by his younger brother Cham or Syama Raj, who, by the indulgence or policy of Hyder, was installed in the same manner as his predecessor.

In 1767, the Mahrattas and the Nizam, aided by a British auxiliary force, entered into an alliance against Hyder Aly. They in consequence invaded Mysore, and after having taken several of the fortresses, advanced towards Seringapatam. In this dilemma, Hyder ordered all the forage to be destroyed, and took post on the banks of the river Cavery, in an entrenched camp. After some days skirmishing, Hyder contrived, by his wonderful skill in politics, not only to make peace with the Mahrattas, but to conclude an alliance with the Nizam against the British. In virtue of this treaty, the allied forces invaded the Carnatic in September; and on the 26th of that month a general engagement took place in the vicinity of Eroor. The British gained the victory, by which the Nizam, being intimidated, was glad to make peace, leaving his ally to extricate himself in the best manner he could. Hyder, much mortified by this event, commenced a regular retreat to his own country, and was pursued by the British forces under General Smith. When both armies had advanced nearly to Seringapatam, Hyder leaving his infantry and artillery to continue the retreat, wheeled off with all his cavalry, turned the rear of the British army, re-entered the Carnatic, and in a few days was at the walls of Madras. By this manœuvre, he so intimidated the Madras government, that they were glad to make peace with him. The terms of the treaty were short and simple. All prisoners and places taken during the war were to be restored, freedom of trade was stipulated, and an offensive and defensive league concluded.

In the year 1771, Mysore was invaded by a powerful army of Mahrattas, who, after defeating Hyder, advanced to, and blockaded his capital; but fortune again favoured him, by the indisposition and death of the young Peishwa, by which event dissension was sown amongst the Mahratta chiefs, and enabled Hyder to bribe them to retreat. The years 1773, 1774, 1775, and 1776, were devoted to the disciplining of his army, and to the gradual extension of his territories to the north and west. This he was en-

abled to do by the dissensions of the Mahratta chiefs and the Nair princes.

In 1777, Cham, or Syama, the young Mysore Rajah, died without issue. Upon this occasion, Hyder ordered eight or ten boys, lineally related to the royal family, to be brought before him, and made choice of one of them, nearly in the same manner that Ulysses discovered Achilles. This boy, whose name was also Cham or Syama Raj, was the father of the present Rajah.

By the treaty made with Hyder in 1769, the British had agreed to assist him against all his enemies; but when called upon to act against the Mahrattas in 1771, they had declined, and from that period Hyder harboured the most bitter hatred against them. The year 1779, when the British had quarrelled with the Mahrattas, and given offence to the Nizam, seemed a favourable opportunity of satiating his revenge; he therefore, by means of his emissaries, concluded an alliance with the above mentioned powers, and invited every other sovereign in Hindostan to join the confederacy, and to make a simultaneous attack on the British territories in their respective vicinities. In conformity with this plan, Hyder Aly entered the Carnatic in the month of July 1780, at the head of an army consisting of 30,000 cavalry, and 40,000 infantry, with a numerous train of artillery, aided by a corps of Europeans, and a number of French officers. Hyder commanded in person the centre or main body. The left wing was under the orders of his son Tippoo Sahib, and was destined to attack the northern Circars; while the right wing, under one of his most esteemed generals, penetrated into Madura and the southern districts. During Hyder's former invasion of the Carnatic, in 1767, he had caused his army to refrain from atrocities, and to treat the prisoners with gentleness; but on this occasion he boasted, "that he was the engine of God's wrath, for the punishment of the people of the Carnatic." His army was, therefore, guilty of the greatest cruelties, laying waste the whole of the country with fire and sword; not only the military who were taken prisoners, but the peaceable inhabitants of the villages, were driven off like flocks of sheep to Mysore. The boys were made Mahometans, and the girls disposed of as slaves.

Notwithstanding Hyder was frequently defeated by the British forces under Sir Eyre Coote, his numerous cavalry and well equipped artillery enabled him to overrun the country at pleasure, and left no part of it in the possession of his enemies, except Madras, and some other fortresses. This system of warfare continued till the death of Hyder, which took place in the city of Arcot, on the morning of the 7th December 1782, at the age of 64 years. At the period of Hyder's decease, his dominions, exclusive of his conquests in the Carnatic, comprehended nearly 80,000 square miles; his territorial revenue amounted to two millions sterling. Although his army consisted of 150,000 men, his treasure contained several millions in bullion and specie.

Tippoo Sultan, the eldest son of Hyder, having joined the army on the 2d January 1783, quietly

Mysore. succeeded to the empire of his father. A feeble attempt had been made in favour of the second son, called Abd al Kereem, now a state prisoner in Calcutta, but was considered of so little consequence, that the tyrant never attempted the life of his brother, who either was, or pretended to be deranged, and always wore the dress of a fakeer, or hermit.

The invasion of the western or Malabar coast by the British, and the capture of Bedenoor, compelled Tippoo to relinquish the views of his father on the Carnatic, and to proceed with all expedition to the defence of his own territory. He left Arcot early in March; and having, in the course of the month of April, reached Bedenoor, he compelled General Matthews to capitulate. The principal articles of the capitulation were, that the garrison were to pile their arms on the glacis, but to retain all their private property; they were then to be marched, by the shortest route, to the sea side, and thence to be embarked for Bombay. But Tippoo, under pretence that the public treasure had been made away with, caused all the prisoners to be plundered. They were afterwards fettered, and then dispatched to different fortresses, where most of them died through hard treatment; the general and several of the principal officers were beheaded.

After this event Tippoo marched to the seaport of Mangalore, but was baffled in the siege of that place, till, in consequence of the peace between England and France, the French auxiliaries having declined any further co-operation with him, and the recent successes of the British in other parts of the country, compelled him to make peace. On the 11th of March 1784, a treaty was concluded between Tippoo and the British, the principal articles of which were, that all the places taken by either party during the war were to be restored, and that all the prisoners on both sides were to be released.

Tippoo being now at liberty, employed the remainder of 1784 in the complete subjugation of the Nairs of Malabar, and the conquest of the Coorg country. Having thus vanquished or made peace with his enemies, he returned in triumph to Seringapatam; when, feeling himself perfectly established, and his authority acknowledged, both by his subjects and the neighbouring powers, he ostentatiously mounted the throne, and assumed the title of Sultan, thereby throwing off all allegiance to or dependence on the Rajah of Mysore or the Emperor of Hindostan; for although the name Sultan may have been given him at his birth, it certainly was never used as a title during his father's lifetime.

During the years 1785, 1786, and 1787, Tippoo was engaged in hostilities against the Mahrattas and the Nizam, in which victories were gained and defeats sustained by both parties; but the general result was in favour of the Sultan. The year 1788 was occupied by Tippoo in reforming the province of Malabar, and the forcible conversion of the inha-

bitants to the Mahometan religion. In the following year he invaded the territories of the Rajah of Travancore, who being one of the British allies, applied to them for assistance, which circumstance brought on the subsequent war, at the conclusion of which, in March 1792, Earl Cornwallis, at the head of the allied forces, compelled Tippoo Sultan to pay the sum of four millions of money, and to relinquish the half of his dominions.

In the year 1796, the Mysore Rajah Cham Raj died, leaving an only son, then two or three years old, to inherit the dignity of his ancestors; but the haughty Sultan would not condescend to acknowledge even a nominal superior; and so far from exalting the boy to the throne of his forefathers, he barely allowed him to exist, in squalid poverty and humiliating contempt. From this period till the year 1799, Tippoo was engaged in constant intrigues with the French, and all the powers of Hindostan, in order to raise a confederacy against the British nation. His correspondence was detected by the Governor-general, Lord Mornington, now Marquis Wellesley. War was determined on; the British forces, with their allies, under the command of General Harris, marched to Seringapatam, and on the 4th of May 1799 put an end to the empire and life of Tippoo Sultan.

It would have been no less unjust than impolitic for the British either to have taken possession of the whole of the conquered territory for themselves, or to have restored the family of Tippoo to power. It was therefore determined to place on the throne Krishna Odiaver, the son of the last Rajah, a boy of five years old; to put him in possession of the ancient capital of Mysore, with a territory surrounding it equal to that possessed by any of his ancestors, and yielding a revenue of L. 1,030,000 sterling, with the entire management of the country by his own officers; but subject to the general superintendence of a British resident.

On the 30th day of June 1799 the ceremony of installing the young Rajah took place, in a temporary building erected for the purpose in the old fortress of Mysore. It was attended by the British Commander-in-chief, by many of the principal officers of the allied forces, and by an innumerable multitude of Hindoos, who testified their most unfeigned delight on beholding a person of their own religion, the orphan of a much injured family, restored to the possessions of his ancestors. Previous to the installation pensions had been granted to most of Tippoo's officers, and the family of the Sultan were sent as state prisoners to Vellore, whence they were subsequently removed to Calcutta, where they now reside upon liberal allowances, and enjoy a degree of freedom much greater than would have been their lot, had these events not taken place.—(Edinburgh Gazetteer, or Geographical Dictionary, Vol. IV. Part II.)

TO

THE primary division of animals into VERTEBRAL and INVERTEBRAL, indicated in the writings of the ancients, by the terms sanguineous and exanguineous, possesses many advantages, and now appears to be universally adopted by zoologists. Among the vertebral animals, the brain is collected into one mass at the anterior extremity of the body, and sends out a nervous cord, termed the spinal marrow, to the posterior extremity. These nervous portions are protected by a cranium and vertebral column.

The invertebral animals occupy a lower station than those belonging to the vertebral group. Their nervous system, in particular, is less fully developed, and their organs of perception are greatly reduced in number. They may be distinguished readily by the following negative character:

ANIMALS DESTITUTE OF A SKULL AND VERTEBRAL COLUMN FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE BRAIN AND SPINAL MARROW.

The invertebral animals have few characters of a positive kind, which they possess in common. The skin, in general, consists only of a corium and cuticle, both of which, according to circumstances, are furnished with appendices, in the form of shells, crusts, scales, or hairs. These, in general, supply the place of the osseous system, serving as a protec-

tion to the viscera, and as supports to the muscles. The blood, in those cases where a circulating fluid can be detected, is usually of a white or grey colour, seldom inclining to red. When there are both systemic and pulmonic ventricles, they are not united as in the vertebral animals. With the exception of the genuine viviparous mode of reproduction, the invertebral animals exhibit all the other modifications of that function.

In attempting the division of invertebral animals into subordinate groups, the condition of the nervous system furnishes characters of importance. In one extensive class, which, from their starry form, have been termed RADIATA, the nervous matter appears to be disseminated among the different organs, and never appears in the form of a brain, with its connected filaments. In another class, equally extensive, and which, with propriety, may be denominated GANGLIATA, the brain appears in the form of a collar, surrounding the gullet, near its entrance into the stomach, and sending out filaments, which, in their course, expand into ganglia. In this last group are included the classes Annulosa and Mollusca. The classification of the Annulose animals has been already communicated to our readers. The Molluscos tribes now claim our attention. The essential characters, by which these two classes may be distinguished, depend on the condition of the nervous filaments proceeding from the brain; the principal of which, in the former, constitute a knotted cord proceeding to the extremity, while, in the latter, they separate irregularly.

Independent of this internal character, molluscous animals are distinguished from those of the annulose division by the absence of articulated feet, or the cuticular processes which supply their place, and by the body not being divided into joints or rings.

Under the article CONCHOLGY, a variety of details were given regarding the shells of molluscous animals, the characters furnished by these appendages of the skin which have been employed in their classification, the relative value of the different popular systems which have been proposed, together with some remarks on the physical distribution of the species, and the revolutions which, in former ages, they have experienced. The present article may, therefore, be regarded as a continuation of the one dedicated to Conchology, and as having more immediately in view the exposition of those characters which are now employed in the most approved systems of zoology.

Molluscous animals divide themselves into two great divisions, which are distinguished from each other by well defined characters. In the first the presence of a head may be recognised, together with eyes and even ears, in some of the groups. In the other, containing animals much less perfect in their organization, there is no head, nor vestiges of eyes or ears in any of the groups. The former have been termed Mollusca cephalata, the latter Mollusca accephala. This arrangement was first employed by the celebrated M. Cuvier, and afterwards by Lamarck and other modern systematical writers. In the last work of the former naturalist, this method is departed from, and six orders are now constituted of equal rank, instead of being placed subordinate to the two primary divisions, under which, notwithstanding, they can be suitably distributed.