VirgilioBrereton at 03:35, 25 March 2026

2026-03-25T03:35:56Z

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{{Short description|Prime minister of the Kingdom of Mysore}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Dewan
| body = the Kingdom of Mysore
| native_name = ದಿವಾನರು
| style = The Honourable [[Dewan Bahadur]]
| reports_to = [[Maharaja of Mysore]]
| status = Abolished
| appointer = [[Maharaja of Mysore]]
| termlength = 4 years or at the pleasure of the Maharaja
| precursor = Dalvoy
| abolished = 1950
| first = [[Purnaiah|K. Purnaiah]]
| last = [[Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar|Sir A.R. Mudaliar]]
| succession = [[Chief Minister of Karnataka|Chief Minister of Mysore]]
| seat = [[Mysore]], [[Kingdom of Mysore]]
| formation = 1782
}}

The '''dewan of Mysore''' (sometimes spelled '''diwan''') was the ''de facto'' chief executive officer of the Government of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]] (now [[Government of Karnataka]]), ''ex officio'' chairman of the Dewan's Council (now [[Government of Karnataka#Cabinet|Cabinet]]), and the prime minister and royal adviser to the [[maharaja of Mysore]]. The role evolved in title and duties since the foundation of the fiefdom of Mysore in 1350 and its proper reformation into a kingdom in the following centuries until the kingdom's full abolishment in 1950. With the [[Republic Day (India)|constitution of India into a republic]] in 1950, the position was replaced by [[Chief Minister of Karnataka|Chief Minister of Mysore]] (later renamed Chief Minister of [[Karnataka]]).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The statesman's year-book : statistical and historical annual of the states of the world for the year 1957 |date=1957 |publisher=Macmillan |others=S. H. Steinberg, Palgrave Connect |isbn=978-0-230-27086-2 |edition=94th annual publication, rev. after official returns |location=London |pages=186 |oclc=609408233}}</ref>

From offering minor political advice to the monarch as ''amatya'' ([[Sanskrit]] for minister) like in the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] to later acting as a major military chieftain as ''dalvoy''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dallapiccola |first=A. L. |date=July 1997 |title=Mysore royal Dasara. By Swami Sivapriyananda, photographs by Gajendra Singh Auwa pp. 160, 137 col. illus. New Delhi, Abhinav Publications, 1995. Rs 1800. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1356186300009044 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=306–307 |doi=10.1017/s1356186300009044 |s2cid=162104644 |issn=1356-1863|url-access=subscription }}</ref> ([[Kannada]] for military chief) like in other [[South India|southern]] kingdoms to being the head of the government as ''[[dewan]]'' ([[Persian language|Persian]]/[[Urdu]] for accountant or chief adviser) like in the [[Ottoman Empire]], the role has transmuted in powers over time.

From being handpicked by the monarch to being elected through popular suffrage, the mode of appointment and appointer also changed.{{Mysore Kingdom series}}

== Formation and abolishment ==

=== Dalvoy ===
Until the mid-18th century, the role of the monarch's adviser was known as dalvoy, also spelled as dalavay or dalvi, under the [[Kingdom of Mysore|Wadiyars]]. The word dalvoy is a vernacular form of the [[Sanskrit]] word ''dalapati'' (commander-in-chief).

Owing to the deposition of Maharaja [[Krishnaraja Wadiyar II]] by his own dalvoy [[Hyder Ali]] and his assumption as the supreme leader in 1761, until after Ali's son [[Tipu Sultan|Tipu]] was briefly in that position, the role of dalvoy became abandoned.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sivramkrishna |first=Sashi |title=The curse of Talakad : resituating and recontextualizing a legend in history |date=2005 |publisher=Rupa & Co |isbn=81-291-0836-4 |location=New Delhi |pages=42 |oclc=63164586}}</ref>
=== Dewan ===
After Ali's death in 1782, Tipu assumed absolute over Mysore and officially created the office of the Dewan of Mysore when he made his longtime childhood friend and his father's aide [[Purnaiah|K. Purnaiah]] his adviser and a military strategist. Tipu considerably de-recognised the maharajas and the role of dewan was gradually ever more codified into government. The role as dewan became so popular under Tipu that later on, [[Princely state|Princely India]] created the role and the title in their governments, such as Dewan of Kashmir, [[List of Diwans of Travancore|Travancore]], [[List of prime ministers of Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]], [[Baroda State|Baroda]], [[Diwan of Indore|Indore]], ''etc''.

After Tipu's death in 1799, [[British Raj|British India]] installed [[Krishnaraja Wadiyar III]] as the maharaja.<ref>{{Cite book |last=SARMAH |first=DIPAK |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9o7ODwAAQBAJ |title=FORESTRY IN INDIA DURING BRITISH ERA: KARNATAKA CASE-STUDY |date=2020-02-05 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=978-1-64783-681-8 |language=en |chapter=4}}</ref> The Wadiyars continued appointing to the role of dewan after resumption of power, starting with Purnaiah himself being continued.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhargava |first=Moti Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwEhAAAAMAAJ |title=History of Modern India |date=1970 |publisher=Upper India Publishing House |pages=261 |language=en}}</ref> Under the maharajas, it became one of the most venerable, esteemed, and celebrated leadership roles in princely India.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=H S Gururaja |title=My Life, My Profession |date=2014 |publisher=Lulu Publishing Services |isbn=978-1-4834-1065-4 |location=S.l. |oclc=1152239695}}</ref>

=== Chief minister ===
In 1950, after the accession of the Kingdom of Mysore into the Republic of India, all titles and positions ascribed to the kingdom were abolished, including that of the dewan. It was replaced by Chief Minister of Mysore State, now renamed Chief Minister of Karnataka.<ref name=":0" />

The role as dewan remained active in Mysore through one sultan and four maharajas. There have been a total of 24 dewans and two acting dewans. Most dewans during the latter years were civil servants in the [[Indian Civil Service|Indian Imperial Service]] or Mysore Police Service.

== Dewans ==
{{Further|List of Dewans of Mysore}}
The first Dewan of Mysore was K. Purnaiah selected by Tipu, who served almost three decades from 1782 to 1811 and two rulers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Others |first=Muzaffar H. Syed & |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=US5gEAAAQBAJ |title=History of Indian Nation : Medieval India |date=2022-02-20 |publisher=K. K. Publications |pages=352 |language=en}}</ref> The last dewan was [[Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar|A. R. Mudaliar]] under Maharaja [[Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar|Jayachamaraja Wadiyar]], who served from 1946 to 1949. Other popular dewans of Mysore include [[C. V. Rungacharlu]], [[K. Seshadri Iyer]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Office |first=Great Britain India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VD46AQAAMAAJ |title=East India [Progress and Condition] Statement Exhibiting the Moral and Material Progress and Condition of India |date=1913 |language=en}}</ref> [[M. Visvesvaraya]], [[M. Kantharaj Urs]], and [[Mirza Ismail]].<gallery mode="nolines">
File:Purniya, Chief Minister of Mysore.tif|alt=|K. Purnaiah, the first dewan of Mysore
File:C. V. Rungacharlu.jpg|alt=|C. V. Rungacharlu, the 14th dewan of Mysore, who was instrumental in the Rendition of Mysore Act<ref>{{Cite book |last=D'Souza |first=Radha |title=Interstate disputes over Krishna waters : law, science and imperialism |date=2006 |publisher=Orient Longman |isbn=81-250-2910-9 |location=New Delhi |pages=147 |oclc=71801074}}</ref>
File:K.Sheshadri Iyer Statue, Cubbon Park, Bangalore.JPG|alt=|A statue of K Sheshadri Iyer in Bangalore. He was the 15th dewan of Mysore and was instrumental in Bangalore's public infrastructure development<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bharadwaj |first=Arun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtxxDAAAQBAJ |title=Seen & Unseen Bangalore |date=2016-06-20 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=978-93-86073-18-1 |language=en}}</ref>
File:Mokshagundam Visvesvaraiah 1960 stamp of India.jpg|alt=|M Visvesvaraya's centenary postage stamp. He was the 19th dewan of Mysore and was key to making Mysore a modern state<ref>{{Cite news |year=1917 |title=In the Public Eye |volume=35 |pages=68–76 |work=The Hindustan Review |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_OpAAQAAMAAJ}}</ref>
File:Diwan Sir Mirza Ismail.jpg|alt=|[[Mirza Ismail]], the 22nd dewan of Mysore, mentored by Dewan [[M. Visvesvaraya]]. He was a close confidant of Maharaja [[Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV|Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV]] and helped thrive industries
File:Ramaswamy Mudaliar.jpg|alt=|[[Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar]], the 24th and last dewan of Mysore
</gallery>Many of the dewans are associated with several industrial, financial, public infrastructure, and educational initiatives undertaken during their terms. These initiatives include almost all works assigned by the king or undertaken by the dewans themselves. This includes activities like setting up and maintaining industries like dams for irrigation like hydroelectric power plants on the [[Shivanasamudra Falls]] and the [[Jog Falls]] in 1902, [[Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant]] in 1923, [[Krishna Raja Sagara]] in 1924, [[Hindustan Aeronautics Limited]] in 1940, Mysore Lamps, Mysore Chemical and Fertilisers Factory, Mysore Paper Mills, [[Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited]], among others. [[Bangalore]] was the first city in [[India]] to get electric streetlights in 1905 under [[P. N. Krishnamurti]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Bengaluru, Bangalore, Bengaluru : imaginations and their times |date=2010 |publisher=SAGE |others=Narendar Pani, Sindhu Radhakrishna, Kishor G. Bhat |isbn=978-81-321-0543-5 |location=Los Angeles |pages=117 |oclc=646068509}}</ref> The [[State Bank of Mysore]] was established in 1913 at M. Visvesvaraya's initiative.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=V. S. Narayana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0cvnUHRN-m4C |title=Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya: His Life and Work |date=1973 |publisher=Geetha Book House |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of Diwans of Mysore|List of dewans of Mysore]]
* [[Chief Minister of Karnataka]]
* [[List of chief ministers of Karnataka]]
* [[List of Diwans of Travancore|List of dewans of Travancore]]
* [[List of prime ministers of Hyderabad State|List of dewans of Hyderabad]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Mysore topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dewans of Mysore| ]]

Dewan of Mysore - Revision history

VirgilioBrereton at 03:35, 25 March 2026