A quick look at history..

A look at history is usually a good place to start.  The land of Karnataka has a long and checkered history as is testified to by the rich architectural heritage. More importantly, some of these  events of the distant past still find echo’s in the politics of the present.

Quiet a few great dynasties have  had their regal capitals in the area we now call Karnataka and patronized Kannada language and literature. The Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas were the earliest of them.. The Chalukyas of Badami built grand architectural temples in Badami and in Pattadakal.  The rulers of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta ( present day Malkhed in Gulbarga district) who ruled between the 8^th and the 10^th century ruled large parts of the Indai from the gangetic  plains to the Malabar coast and  are credited with making the Kannada language nearly as important as Sanskrit during that time.

Art architecture and the kannada language flourished again under the Hoysalas of Belur-Halebidu during the turn of the Millenium(11^th to 14^th century). Muhammad bin Tuglaq sacked Halebidu in 1327 marking the end of the Hoysalas.

Halebidu was annexed back by the Hindu empire of Vijaynagara in 1346. The Vijaynagara dynasty was at its peak between the 14^th to the 16^th century with Hampi being the seat of their power.

During  this period the hegemony  of the Vijayanagara kings was constantly challenged by the Deccan sultanates of Bidar (Bahmani sultans) , Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Golconda and Berar. The confederacy of sultanates defeated Vijaynagara in the Battle of Talikota in 1565. The sultanate armies later plundered Hampi and reduced it to a ruinous state in which it remains. 

After the eventual conquest by the sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda, the main feudatories of the Vijaynagara empire, chief among which were the Wadiyars of Mysore declared independence and went on to play important role in the history of the region.

The Sultanates themselves were later conquered by the Mughal empire.  Bijapur and Golconda fell to Aurangzeb in 1687.

As the British were starting to sow the seeds of empire in India, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan were the key protagonist of another brief but important history of the state when they briefly controlled Mysore State between 1761 -1799. Tipu  faught four Anglo-Mysore, his defeat and death in defence of Srirangapatna, being  milestones in the establishment of the British Empire in India. Post Tipu, The British reinstalled the Wadiyars as titular heads of a  reduced kingdom. Other parts were divided between between the British presidencies of Bombay and Madras and the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Krishna Raja Wadiyar III, now a British subsidiary was deposed on a specious case of non-payment of subsidy in 1831 and British appointed commissioners were in charge of the kingdom between 1831 and 1881. Cubbon and Bowring are 2 well commissioners that people of Bangalore will be familiar with.

The governance of Mysore went back to the Wadiyars in 1881 when the British Parliament upheld the Kings plea to transfer the kingdom back to his adopted son  Chamaraj Wadiyar IX. This marked the beginning of an important phase for modern Mysore. Under British hegemony, and free from security concerns Mysore flourished. The Wadiyars were great patrons of kannada and arts in general and under their patronage Mysore became the cultural center of Karnataka. Their rule was even hailed as Ram-Rajya by  Mahatma Gandhi.

As India was at the throes of independence, about 2/3 of present day Karnataka was still outside the rule of the Wadiyar kings, under diverse administrative units of Kodagu, Madras, Bombay and Nizam of Hyderabad.  What this meant was that the Kannadigas in these regions despite their large numbers did not enjoy linguistic privileges in administration. Hubli for example was in Bombay presidency and Marathi was the official language, similarly for Hyderabad Karnataka where Urdu ruled and South Canara where Tamil was the main language. A feeling of discontent, of another language being thrust, began to brew among Kannadigas outside Mysore.  Even economically, these areas remained neglected and undeveloped in stark contrast to Mysore. It is in this backdrop that a movement started against linguistic suppression and then morphed into a movement for  a separate state for Kannada speaking people. Spearheaded by poets, journalists and writers this movement was called Ekikarana. Not surprisingly, the seeds of the Ekikarana movement and all its most important protagonists including Aluru Venkata Rao were from northern parts of Karnataka. Congress leaders like Kengal Hanumanthaiah and S. Nijalingappa also joined in the ekikarana movement.

The Ekikarana movement mirrored similar struggles across other parts of the country for linguistic reorganization. India got independent in 1947 with Kannada speaking population still distributed across six administrative units. Technically,  The districts of Hyderabad Karnataka (Gulbarga, Bidar and Raichur) joined the Indian union with the rest of Hyderabad only after the Nizam was forcefully overthrown ON 17^TH September 1948. As multiple commissions formed by the government  came up with conflicting recommendations, the multiple movements for linguistic reorganization reached a crescendo with the death of Potti Shriramulu while on hunger strike for creation of Andhra Pradesh. The states reorganization committee (Fazal Ali Committee) was formed by Nehru . The States Reorganization Committee eventually recommended reorganization on linguistic lines and this was ratified by Parliament soon. The State of Mysore formed on November 1^st 1956 incorporating kannada speaking parts of Coorg, Madras, Hyderabad and Bombay.  This day is since celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava. Mysore was renamed as Karnataka in 1973 by the government of Devaraj Urs.

The non-inclusion of Kasargod into Mysore was still a disappointment for people who fought for Ekikarana,  and it is an issue that still rankles in quarters.

Meanwhile , after India attained independence, the Wadiyar king,  acceded his kingdom to the dominion of India, but continued as the Maharaja until India became a Republic in 1950. After the re-organization of Indian States on linguistic basis, he was appointed as the Governor of the integrated Mysore State (present Karnataka state) in 1956, which post he held until 1964.

Lots has happened in the last 60 years of integration and democratic politics. The 'post-modern' history of the state (which deserves a deeper look) has been shaped by riverine conflicts, liquor barons and Linguistic agitations. Through all of this the political divide between the northern and southern regions of the state has remained, in terms of issues, and preferences.