Chamarajendra Wadiyar X

Reign

Krishnaraja Wadiyar III died on 27 March 1868, and Chamarajendra Wadiyar X ascended the throne at the Mysore Palace on 23 September 1868. However, since 1831, the Kingdom of Mysore had been under the direct administration of the British Raj via Mysore Commission, which had earlier deposed Krishnaraja Wodeyar III on allegations of misrule. Later, the Privy Council of the United Kingdom ordered the reversal of the Company's decision, and the princely state of Mysore was reconstituted and restored to the Wadiyar dynasty by an instrument of rendition in 1881. Chamarajendra Wadiyar X, who was groomed to take charge of the administration, and was officially handed the reins in the same year.

During his brief reign, he was aided by dewans C. V. Rungacharlu (1881–1883) and K. Seshadri Iyer (1883–1901). He instituted the Mysore Representative Assembly in 1881, one of the earliest legislative institutions in princely India. He sponsored the journey of Swami Vivekananda to Chicago in 1893. He founded the Kannada Bashojjivini School and instituted several industrial schools. The annual Dasara Industrial Exhibition was established, and he facilitated the founding of agricultural banks to help finance farmers, and life insurance for government employees.

Death and succession

Chamarajndra Wadiyar died of diphtheria, in Calcutta, on 28 December 1894, aged 31. He was succeeded by his ten-year-old son, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV. His wife, Kempananjammanni Devi, served as regent of Mysore till their son came of age.

Family

In May 1878, Chamarajendra Wadiyar married Kempananjammani Devi, the daughter of an arasu (royalty) of Kalale, a prominent nobleman of Mysore state. They had four sons and three daughters, of whom the following survived to adulthood:

1. Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, succeeded his father as Maharaja of Mysore.
2. Prince Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar, father of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar.
3. Princess Jayalakshammani, (1881–1924), married her youngest maternal uncle, M. Kantaraj Urs, who was the Diwan of Mysore between 1919 and 1922, in 1897.
4. Princess Krishnajammani, (1883–1904), married Desaraja Urs, Commander of the Mysore Armed Forces, from the Bagle family of Mogur in Mysore State, in 1896. They had a son and three daughters. She and her three daughters died of tuberculosis, and the Krishnajammanni Sanitorium was built in her memory.
5. Princess Cheluvajammani (1886–1936), married M. Lakshmikanta Raj Urs, a nobleman of Mysore State, in 1900. A maternity hospital and park are named after her.

Patronage

Chamarajendra Wadiyar X was a great patron of arts and music; his court boasted of artists like Veene Subbanna, Veene Sheshanna, Mysore Vasudevachar, Veena Padmanabhaiah, Mysore Karigiri Rao, and Bidaram Krishnappa, among others. The maharaja was a violin virtuoso himself and used to daily provide accompaniment to Veena Subbanna's vocal and Veena Sheshanna's veena performances. His favourite kriti's included Sujana Jeevana and Lavanya Rama. He was also a connaisseur of Javali's Kritis (Javalis are a genre of Carnatic music).

Places in honour

Several landmarks in Mysore and Bangalore were built during his reign including the Bangalore Palace and Lalbagh Glass House in Bangalore. He established the Maharaja's College, Mysore (1889), Oriental Research Institute Mysore (1891), Dufferin Clock Tower, and Mysore Zoo, in Mysore, and the Fernhills Palace in Ooty. Places and roads named after him include the Chamaraja Road, Vadodara, Chamaraja (Vidhana Sabha constituency), Chamaraja Road, Mysore, Chamarajpet in Bangalore, and Chamarajapuram in Mysore.