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{{Short description|Maharaja of Mysore from 1673 to 1704}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Chikka Devaraja
| image = Chikkadevaraja.jpg
| succession = [[Maharaja of Mysore]]
| reign = 28 February 1673 – 16 November 1704
| coronation =
| predecessor = [[Dodda Kempadevaraja]] (paternal uncle)
| successor = [[Kanthirava Narasaraja II]] (son)
| spouse =
| royal house = [[Wodeyar]]
| father = Dodda Devaraja
| mother =
| birth_date = 22 September 1645
| birth_place =
| death_date = 16 November 1704
| death_place =
| buried =
| issue = [[Kanthirava Narasaraja II]]
| full name = Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar
}}

'''Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar II''' (22 September 1645 – 16 November 1704) was the fourteenth [[Maharaja of Mysore|maharaja]] of the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] from 1673 to 1704.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bandyopadhyay|2004|p=33}}</ref> During this time, Mysore saw further significant expansion after his predecessors. During his rule, centralised military power increased to an unprecedented degree for the region.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bandyopadhyay|2004|p=33}}, {{Harvnb|Stein|1985b|pp=400–401}}</ref> He also fought battles against maratha king Sambhaji. Aurangzeb made him ally to counter Marathas. Earlier in battle Chikka devraja was winning because of venom arrows but later Sambhaji develop leather suit for his soldiers which lead to victory of Marathas. After losing the war Chikka devraja paid huge amount to Marathas.

==Early years==
Chikka Devaraja was born on 22 September 1645, the eldest son of Maharani Amrit Ammani and Dodda Deva Raja ([[Dodda Kempadevaraja|Devaraja Wodeyar I]]'s elder brother), who had been the governor of a Mysore Kingdom town. He succeeded his uncle, [[Dodda Kempadevaraja|Devaraja Wodeyar I]] upon the latter's death on 11 February 1673. He was installed on the Mysore throne on 28 February 1673. He continued his predecessor's expansion by conquering Maddagiri, thereby making Mysore contiguous to the Carnatic-Bijapur-Balaghat province administered by [[Venkoji]], the [[Thanjavur Maratha kingdom|Raja of Tanjore]], and [[Shivaji]]'s half-brother.

==Taxation and the Jangama massacre==
In the first decade of his rule, Chikka Devaraja introduced various petty taxes that were mandatory for the peasants, but those from which his soldiers were exempted.<ref name="stein85b-400-401">{{Harvnb|Stein|1985b|pp=400–401}}</ref> The unusually high taxes and the intrusive nature of his regime created wide protests in the [[ryot]]s which had the support of the Jangama priests in the Virasaiva monasteries.<ref>{{Harvnb|Stein|1985b|pp=400–401}}, {{Harvnb|Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series|1908|pp=20–21}}</ref> According to {{Harv|Nagaraj|2003}}, a slogan of the protests was: <blockquote>"Basavanna the Bull tills the forest land; Devendra [[Indra]] gives the rains;<br>Why should we, the ones who grow crops through hard labour, pay taxes to the king?"<ref name="nagaraj378-379">{{Harvnb|Nagaraj|2003|pp=378–379}}</ref></blockquote>

According to sources, the king, resolving upon a ''treacherous massacre'',<ref name="igimc-20-21">{{Harvnb|Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series|1908|pp=20–21}}</ref> used the stratagem of inviting over 400 priests to a grand feast at the famous [[Shaivite]] centre of ''[[Nanjangud|Nanjanagudu]]'', and upon its conclusion having them first receive gifts and then exit one at a time through a narrow lane, whereupon his royal wrestlers strangled each exiting priest.<ref name="nagaraj378-379" /> This 'sanguinary measure' had the effect of stopping all protests to the new taxes.<ref name="igimc-20-21" /> Around this time, in 1687, Devaraja Wodeyar II also made an agreement with [[Venkoji]] to formally purchase [[Bengaluru Pete|Bangalore]] town for Rs. 3 lakhs. The Maratha king opened negotiations with Wadiyar and agreed to transfer the city for three lakh rupees. While the transaction was in progress, the Mughal army under Khasim Khan came, occupied the city, and hoisted the Mughal flag on its rampart on July 10, 1687. When the Marathas tried to retaliate, Chikka Devaraja Wadiyar stood before the walls of Bangalore and fought for the Mughals hoping that this would help him earn the favours of Aurangzeb. The deal that he negotiated with the Marathas was then sealed by the Mughals.<ref>Muddacharia, B, Mysore Mughal Relations (1686-87)</ref><ref name="igimc-20-21" />[[File:Mysore1617to1799b.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Map comparing the boundaries of Chikka Devaraja's realms to other boundaries of Mysore from 1617 to 1799.]]

==Relations with the Mughal empire==
The Mughals, under Aurangzeb, invaded the Vijayanagara region and, having conquered the Maratha-Bijapur province of Carnatic-Bijapur-Balaghat (of which Bangalore was a part), made it a part of the Mughal province of Sira. The payment for Bangalore was consequently made to Qasim Khan, the Mughal ''Faujdar Diwan'' of Sira and, through him, Devaraja Wodeyar II "assiduously cultivated an alliance" with Aurangzeb.<ref name=igimc-20-21/> He also soon turned his attention to the regions to his south which were less the objects of Moghul interest.<ref name=igimc-20-21/> The regions around Baramahal and Salem below the Eastern Ghats were now annexed by Mysore, and in 1694, were extended by the addition of regions to the west up to the Baba Budan Mountains.<ref name=igimc-20-21/> Two years later, Devaraja Wodeyar II attacked the lands of the Naiks of Madura and laid a siege of [[Tiruchirapalli|Trichinopoly]].<ref name=igimc-20-21/> Soon, however, Qasim Khan, his Mughal liaison, died. With the intention of either renewing his Mughal connexions or seeking Mughal recognition of his southern conquests, Devaraja Wodeyar II sent an embassy to [[Aurangzeb]], at Ahmadnagar.<ref name=igimc-20-21/> In response, in 1700, the Mughal emperor sent the Mysore maharaja a signet ring seal bearing the title "''Jug Deo Raj''" (literally, "lord and king of the world"), and permission to sit on an ivory throne, and also a sword from Aurangzeb's personal regalia, a [[Firangi (sword)|firangi]], with gold etching on the hilt, to be used as a sword of the State by the Mysore maharajas, while seated on the ivory throne.<ref name=igimc-20-21/> Devaraja Wodeyar II, at this time, also reorganised his administration into eighteen departments, which, even today, is famous as the 'athaara kacheri' (eighteen departments), in "imitation of what the envoys had seen at the Mughal court."<ref name=igimc-20-21/> When the maharaja died on 16 November 1704, his dominions extended from [[Tumkur district|Medigeshi]] in the north to [[Palni Hills|Palni]] and [[Anaimalai]] in the south, and from [[Kodagu]] and Balam in the west to [[Dharmapuri district|Baramahals]] in the east.<ref name=igimc-20-21/>[[File:Joppen1907MysoreChickDeoWadiyar1704.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Mysore at the end of the seventeenth century.]]

==Massacre of Lingayats==
It has been reported that mass murders of [[Jangama]] took place in an extensive area over this period, during which Lingayat monasteries (mathas) and sacred sites were destroyed as well. This murder was alleged to have been enacted as revenge for the murder of one of the many well known [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]] scholars. While the scholar was dying, the ruling king visited the scholar and was advised that, if he wished to prevent more attacks, he should find Tirumala Ayyangar, who was both a Vaishnavite and associated closely with the ruler as his court scholar, and make him the Chief Minister. The king then made the appointment as recommended by the dying scholar.<ref>{{Cite book |last=B. Muddachari |url=https://archive.org/details/mysore-maratha-relations-under-shahji-shivaji-sambhaji-and-rajaram-as-revealed-in-kannada-sources/page/n83/mode/1up?view=theater |title=Mysore-Maratha Relations Under Shahji, Shivaji, Sambhaji And Rajaram (As Revealed In Kannada Sources)}}</ref>

==Legacy==
According to {{Harvnb|Subrahmanyam|1989}}, the state that Devaraja Wodeyar II left for his son was "at one and the same time a strong and a weak state."<ref>{{Harvnb|Subrahmanyam|1989|p=212}}</ref> Although it had uniformly expanded in size from the mid-seventeenth century to the early eighteenth, it had done so as a result of alliances that tended to hinder the very stability of the expansions.<ref name=subra1989-213>{{Harvnb|Subrahmanyam|1989|p=213}}</ref> Some of the southeastern conquests described above (such as of [[Salem, Tamil Nadu|Salem]]), although involving regions that were not of direct interest to the Mughals, were nonetheless the result of alliances with Mughal ''Faujdar Diwan'' of Sira and with [[Venkoji]], the Maratha ruler of Tanjore.<ref name=subra1989-213/> For example, the siege of [[Tiruchirapalli|Trichnopoly]] had to be abandoned because the alliance had begun to rupture.<ref name=subra1989-213/> Similarly, in addition to receiving a signet ring and a sword described above, a consequence of the embassy sent to Aurangzeb in the Deccan in 1700 was a formal subordination to Mughal authority and a requirement to pay annual tribute.<ref name=subra1989-213/> There is evidence, too, that the administrative reforms mentioned above might have been a direct result of Mughal influence.<ref name=subra1989-213/>

Chikka Devaraya was a devout and learned Śrīvaiṣṇava, evidenced in his two surviving works of poetry: the ''Gītagōpālam'' and ''Cikadēvarāya Binnapaṃ''. The ''Gītagōpālam'' is a musical work revolving around the life and glories of Kṛṣṇa, composed as "celebration of Hari, conducive to the final liberation."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=N/A |first=Cikkadēvarāya |title=Śrī Gītagōpālam |publisher=GTA Press |year=1915 |edition=1st |location=Mysore |publication-date=1915 |pages=ii |language=kn}}</ref> S.G. Narasiṃhācāryar and M.A. Rāmānujaiyaṅgār speculate that Chikka Devaraya may have had the work organized by [[Tirumalarya|Tirumalārya]],<ref name=":0" /> his court poet who composed his ''vaṃśāvali'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=N/A |first=Tirumalārya |title=Cikkadēvarāya Vaṃśāvaḷi |publisher=Kannada Sahitya Parishat |year=1999 |edition=2nd |location=Bangalore, IN |language=kn |trans-title=The Lineage of Cikkadēvarāya}}</ref> among other writings about the king. The ''Binnapaṃ'' is a versified theological work, dealing with many key issues of Śrīvaiṣṇava teaching.

==See also==
*[[History of Mysore and Coorg, 1565–1760]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
*{{Citation |last1=Bandyopadhyay |first1=Sekhar |year=2004 |title=From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India |location=New Delhi and London |publisher=Orient Longmans |isbn=978-81-250-2596-2}}
*{{Citation|last=Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series|title = Mysore and Coorg|year=1908|publisher=Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. Pp. xvii, 365, 1 map.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgO2AAAAIAAJ}}
*{{Citation |last=Nagaraj |first=D. R.|chapter=Critical Tensions in the History of Kannada Literary Culture|pages=323–383|editor-last=Pollock|editor-first=Sheldon |title=Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia |year=2003|publisher=Berkeley and London: University of California Press. Pp. 1066|isbn=9780520228214|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xowUxYhv0QgC}}
*{{Citation|last = Stein|first=Burton|authorlink=Burton Stein|title=State Formation and Economy Reconsidered: Part One|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=19|issue = 3, Special Issue: Papers Presented at the Conference on Indian Economic and Social History, Cambridge University, April 1984|year = 1985b|pages=387–413|jstor=312446|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00007678|s2cid=154665616 }}
*{{Citation|last=Subrahmanyam|first=Sanjay|title=Warfare and state finance in Wodeyar Mysore, 1724–25: A missionary perspective|year=1989|journal=Indian Economic and Social History Review|volume=26|issue=2|pages=203–233|doi=10.1177/001946468902600203|s2cid=145180609}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devaraja, Chikka}}
[[Category:Kings of Mysore]]
[[Category:Wadiyar dynasty]]
[[Category:1645 births]]
[[Category:1704 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Indian monarchs]]

Chikka Devaraja - Revision history

IndiaTurney9471 at 00:49, 4 March 2026