PREFACE
Mysore came Into contact with the Marathas in the
17th century.
The decline of the Vljayanagar empire created
a p o lit ic a l vacuun In the Karnatak.
The Mvsore Rajas and the
Marathas strove hard to f i l l up the vacuum.
They fought with
each other fo r more than h alf a century fo r power.
Mysore
stood as an ohstacle to the Maratha expansion in the Karnatak
and lik e wise the p rin cip ality of Bangalore which came under
Shahji in 163?^ resisted the Mysore expansion in the north and
north-east.
The resiilt was that both powers were Involved in
unending r iv a lr ie s and re len tless wars.
The problems of the Mysore-Maratha relsitlons in the
17th century have not received proper attention from the scholars.
Eminent Maratha historians such as Rajawade, O.S.Sardesai and
J.N.Sarkar who have dealt with the history of the Marathas, have
not f u lly u tilis e d the contemporary Kannada sources - lit e r a r y and
epigraphlc - which contain much useful data.
Scholars on JC^gore
history such as Wilks and Hayavadana ^ao who ha"/e examined the
p o lit ic a l and m ilitary aspects of Mysore history have not thrown
f u l l lig h t on the relation s of Mysore with the Marathas,
Wilks
was the B ritish resident at the court of Mysore f1 ^ 3 - 1808) and
h is work en title d , ”H lsto rlc al Sketches of South India In an
attempt to trace the History of Mysore" was w ritten In 1810,
His
Bain object was to trace the M story of Mysore in the 18th century
and as such his study on the problems of the 17th century Is very
11
sketchy.
Moreover, a lot of fresh material has been brought
to light since he wrote In 1810.
In the general histories of
South India written lay Krishnaswany Alyangar, Prof »K,A.Nllakanta
Sastrl and others, Mysore has not received sufficient attention.
Although Hayavadana Pao’s works are sufficiently copious on the
hlstoiy of MJ^sore, the ground he has covered Is too vast to bring
out the relations of Mysore \jlth the Marathas In their correct
perspective.
Therefore, this study Is an attempt to f i l l the gap*
This study Is c la s s ifie d Into fiv e chapters each dealing
with the relatio n s of the fiv e Maratha le a d e rs, Shah.11, E koji,
S h lv a jl, Sambhaji and Hajarara with the Rajas of MV'sore,
This
work is mainly based on the contemporary Kannada sources, l i t e *
rary and eplgraphic.
An attempt has been made to throw some new
lig h t on several problems pertaining to the r is e of Shahjl in
Bangalore, his constant c o n flic ts with the ru lers of Mysore, Ekojl*s
wars with Ml^sore, Sambhaji *s Governorship over the Karnatak t e r r i­
to r ie s , Shivaji »s Mvsore invasion, Sambhaji's invasions o f, and
Pajaram’s relatio n s with ^fy•sore.
The frequent Karnatak expedi­
tions organised by the Bljapur Sultans, the ro le of the Karnatak
c h ieftain s, the delicate position of Srlranga Raya( the la s t
vijayanagar emperor) In the 17th century p o lit ic a l set up, the
a b i li t i e s of the Mysore Rajas, the ambition of the Maratha generals
and the Mughal intervention in the a ff a ir s of the south wielded a
great influence on the
sore-Mar at ha re la tio n s.
are closely examined in the study.
These facto rs
Hi
The award of a scholarship In Humanities hy the Union
Ministry of Education has enabled me to urrfertake th is study,
f o r which I am highly thankful to them.
I am equally thankful
to the >fysore TTnlverslty who relieved me of teaching work fo r
two years to do research.
I am highly Indebted to T>r, B, Sheik
A ll, Professor and Head of the IPepartment of Post-graduate
Studies and Research In History, Manasa Gangothri, ff\rsore fo r
guiding me throughout the work.
His advice was of immense
value to me at everv stage in preparing th is th esis,
I thank
Dr.S.Srikanta S a stri, retired Professor of History, University of
Mvsore, fo r his encouragement to undertake the work.
My thanks
are due to the L ibrarian , University Library, Mysore and the
D irector, Oriental Research In stitu te , Mvsore fo r having provided
me with a ll the necessary f a c i l i t i e s f o r research work,
I thank
the authorities of the Deccan College, Post-graduate and Research
In s titu te , Poona, Bharata Ithihasa Samshodak Mandal, Poona,
Kannada FJesearch In stitu te , Dharwar fo r th eir permission to consult
the o rigin al records in their possession.