Karnataka > British Rule
The advent of British rule brought about many changes in Karnataka, as elsewhere in India. The districts of Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Bijapur, Bagalkot and Belgaum taken from the Peshwa, were merged into Bombay Presidency in 1818. The Kanara District, now the districts of Uttara Kannada; Dakshina Kannada and Udupi; and Bellary taken from Tipu, were added on to the Madras Presidency. In 1862, the Kanara District was divided into two, and North Kanara (Uttara Kannada} was tagged on to Bombay Presidency. In 1834 the feudatory monarchy in Kodagu (Coorg) was ended and the State was handed over to a commissioner under the supervision of the Madras Governor. Sullya region belonging to Kodagu was transferred to Kanara.
Mysore was retained as a separate principality; the prince of the Odeyar dynasty, Krishnaraja III, was yet a boy when he became the ruler in 1799. The areas in the modern districts of Gulbarga, Raichur, Koppal and Bidar were handed over to the Nizam of Hyderabad. In addition to the Nawab of Savanur, there were over 15 other princes, ruling over small Kannada principalities. Most of them were Maratha rulers who included the princes of Jamkhandi, Ramdurg, Mudhol, Sandur, Kurundawad, Jath etc.
Mysore, as a nucleus of Karnataka, grew to be a progressive State. It nurtured Kannada culture and encouraged Kannada literature and scholarship. But for the Mysore State, Karnataka would have lost its identity. Purnayya was made the Chief Administrator (Diwan) during the minority of Krishnaraja III, and later in 1810, Krishnaraja himself assumed administration. But the Nagar Uprising of 1831, resulted in the East India Company assuming the Mysore administration in 1831, and Mysore came to be ruled by the British Commissioners for 50 years.
The prince, who was a great scholar and lover of literature, spent the rest of his life in literary and artistic pursuits. The Mysore court became a major centre of Rennaisance in Karnataka. He founded the Raja School for teaching English in 1833, which became the nucleus of the Maharaja's high school and later upgraded as Maharaja's College (1879). He also started a lithographic press called Ambavilasa (1841) and started printing books in Kannada.
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