06-03-2004, 01:35 AM
Karnataka
Karnataka's illustrious Rajput connection
By A. Jayaram
BANGALORE, MAY 30. The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, is the first head of the Government who can trace his origins to a different State in the country.
<b>He belongs to a Rajput family that migrated to the old Nizam State (Hyderabad) from Rajasthan. </b>
The Rajput connection with Karnataka is a long one and can be traced to the 18th Century. There were Rajput soldiers in the armies of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, and later those of the maharajas of Mysore.
There were Rajput officers and men in the Mysore Infantry and Mysore Lancers which were merged with the Indian Army in 1953.
However, it was also the former royal family of Mysore which forged marriage alliances with the Rajput royalty of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in the 20th Century. In fact, there is also a claim to the Rajput ancestry of the Mysore royal family which belongs to the Arasu caste. The founder of the dynasty, Yaduraya, was said to be a Rajput from Kathiawar.
The consort of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, Pratapkumari Devi, was a Rajput princess from the principality of Bansda in Gujarat. The marriage which took place in 1900 was arranged by the Maharani Regent at that time, Vanivilas Sannidhi. Pratapkumari Devi died at the Bangalore Palace in 1953 and she had no children.
The first wife of Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, Sathyapremakumari was a Rajput princess from Charkhari State in Madhya Pradesh. Krishnaraja Wadiyar had arranged the marriage which took place in 1938.
All the three daughters of Kanteerava Narasimharaja Waidyar (the former Yuvaraja of Mysore) and sisters of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar had been married off to royal families outside the State. Princess Sujayadevi and Princess Vijayadevi had been married into the royal houses of the principalities of Sanand and Kotdasanghani respectively in Gujarat. However, the third sister, Jayachamundeshwari, who died young, had married the Maharaja of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, who was a Jat and head of a leading royal family in the North.
One of the sons-in-law of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar is from the former Rajput royal family of Wadhwan in Gujarat.
One of the Rajput settlers in the State to rise high in the State's civil service was C.M.H. Ranajodh Singh who retired as the Inspector-General of Police in Mysore (1947-50). He was also a leading landlord in the Mysore Road area of Bangalore.
Another senior civil servant in princely Mysore was Ramachandrasinhji. Rana Lakshman Singh who settled down in Mysore was a noble in the Mysore court.
Pandit Chandrabhan Singh of Mysore was a leading practitioner of Ayurveda. M.E. Bharatraj Singh, who was Professor of English in Mysore and Bangalore universities, was Principal of Central College in Bangalore.
Shankar Singh was a prominent Kannada film director and producer. So is his son, Rajendra Singh Babu. In the field of Kannada journalism it is M.D. Singh.
In the field of politics was Sathyanarayan Singh of Bellary who was a Congress MLA and also a mine owner.
Karnataka's illustrious Rajput connection
By A. Jayaram
BANGALORE, MAY 30. The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, is the first head of the Government who can trace his origins to a different State in the country.
<b>He belongs to a Rajput family that migrated to the old Nizam State (Hyderabad) from Rajasthan. </b>
The Rajput connection with Karnataka is a long one and can be traced to the 18th Century. There were Rajput soldiers in the armies of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, and later those of the maharajas of Mysore.
There were Rajput officers and men in the Mysore Infantry and Mysore Lancers which were merged with the Indian Army in 1953.
However, it was also the former royal family of Mysore which forged marriage alliances with the Rajput royalty of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in the 20th Century. In fact, there is also a claim to the Rajput ancestry of the Mysore royal family which belongs to the Arasu caste. The founder of the dynasty, Yaduraya, was said to be a Rajput from Kathiawar.
The consort of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, Pratapkumari Devi, was a Rajput princess from the principality of Bansda in Gujarat. The marriage which took place in 1900 was arranged by the Maharani Regent at that time, Vanivilas Sannidhi. Pratapkumari Devi died at the Bangalore Palace in 1953 and she had no children.
The first wife of Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, Sathyapremakumari was a Rajput princess from Charkhari State in Madhya Pradesh. Krishnaraja Wadiyar had arranged the marriage which took place in 1938.
All the three daughters of Kanteerava Narasimharaja Waidyar (the former Yuvaraja of Mysore) and sisters of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar had been married off to royal families outside the State. Princess Sujayadevi and Princess Vijayadevi had been married into the royal houses of the principalities of Sanand and Kotdasanghani respectively in Gujarat. However, the third sister, Jayachamundeshwari, who died young, had married the Maharaja of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, who was a Jat and head of a leading royal family in the North.
One of the sons-in-law of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar is from the former Rajput royal family of Wadhwan in Gujarat.
One of the Rajput settlers in the State to rise high in the State's civil service was C.M.H. Ranajodh Singh who retired as the Inspector-General of Police in Mysore (1947-50). He was also a leading landlord in the Mysore Road area of Bangalore.
Another senior civil servant in princely Mysore was Ramachandrasinhji. Rana Lakshman Singh who settled down in Mysore was a noble in the Mysore court.
Pandit Chandrabhan Singh of Mysore was a leading practitioner of Ayurveda. M.E. Bharatraj Singh, who was Professor of English in Mysore and Bangalore universities, was Principal of Central College in Bangalore.
Shankar Singh was a prominent Kannada film director and producer. So is his son, Rajendra Singh Babu. In the field of Kannada journalism it is M.D. Singh.
In the field of politics was Sathyanarayan Singh of Bellary who was a Congress MLA and also a mine owner.