Najjaraj Yashobhushanam

Author(s): Embar Krishnamacharya
Publisher: Oriental Institute

Page 8

This Sarvadhikârî Nañjarâja is the object of glorification in the present work.
A detailed history of Nañjarāja regarding the main incidents in his life, is given below, as summarised from the Mysore Gazetteerl by Lewis Rice. A perusal of the pages in this book is sufficient to acquaint us with the glorious rule of Nañjarâja for a period of twenty years beginning with the year 1739, when Nañjarâja was first appointed the Sarvadhikârî of the Mysore kingdom. This was in the time of Krsņa Râja II, also known as Chikka Krsna Râja or Immadi Krsņa Râja, who ruled Mysore from 1734 to 1766. Devarâja was then the Dalavâyî or the Commander-in-Chief and his brother, the hero of our work, was the Sarvadhikarî or the minister of finance and revenue. The King was only a nominal figure ; and the entire administration was controlled by Nañjarâja, who had also the surname Karachuri. After his return from a successful expedition against Dhârâpuram in 1746, Nañjarâja gave his daughter in marriage to the king. Three years later, he besieged Devanhalli which was one of the frontier fortresses for the Mysore territory and conquered it after a siege of eight months. He marched against Arcot with a huge army in accordance with an alliance made by him in 1748 to secure for Muhammad Ali the Nawabship of Carnatic. When Muhammad Ali succeeded, Nañjarâja claimed the cession of Trichinopoly and the surrounding possessions upto Cape Comorin according to the terms of the treaty. But as Muhammad Ali was not prepared to hand over the territory, Nanjarâja assisted by the French tried to take it by force. In this he
1. Vido vol. I. p. 362 .
It requires to be said here how the princes of Kalale continued to enjoy the Dalavayi and Sarvadhikâri posts in the Mysore Raj from one generation to another. As the Ummattor chief cherished a sort of hatred towards both the Mysore Rajas and the Kalale princes, the latter (the Mysore Rajas and the Kalale Princes) developed a growing friendship towards each other. Thus, when in 1610 Seringapatam was conquered and incorporated in the Mysore kingdom, due to the weakness of the Vijayanagara Viceroy, the Mysore Raj entered into a permanent agreement with the Kalale chiefs that the Dalavayî and Sarvadhikari posts in the Mysore Raj should be hereditarily filled in by the members of the Kalale family, It was in this manner that Devaråja and his brother Nanjarâja held the posts of the Commander-in-Chief and the Prime Minister respectively in the time of Ohikka Krishna Raja. (Vide Mysore Gazetteer vol. II. p. 313.)