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{{Short description|Maharaja of Mysore from 1638 to 1659}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{For|the 1960 fim|Ranadheera Kanteerava}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Kanthirava Narasaraja I
| image = Kanthirava.jpg
| caption = Kanthirava Naurasaraja I, ruler of the principality of Mysore, 1638–1659.
| succession = [[Maharaja of Mysore]]
| reign = 8 October 1638 – 31 July 1659
| predecessor = [[Raja Wodeyar II]]
| successor = [[Dodda Kempadevaraja]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1615|05|02|df=yes}}<ref name="k918">{{cite web | last=Rao | first=C. Hayavadana | title=History of Mysore (1399-1799 A.D.) | url=https://dn721600.ca.archive.org/0/items/HistoryOfMysore13991799AD/218417_History_Of_Mysore_1399-1799_A_D.pdf | access-date=6 January 2026}}</ref>
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1659|07|31|1615|05|02|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| spouse =
| issue =
| full name = Ranadhira Kanteerava Narasa Raja Wodeyar
| father = Bettada Chamaraja
| mother =
| religion = [[Hindu]]
| royal house = [[Wodeyar]]
| image_size = 200px
}}

'''Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar I''' (2 May 1615 – 31 July 1659) was the twelfth [[Maharaja of Mysore|maharaja]] of the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] from 1638 until his death in 1659.

==Accession==
The previous ruler, [[Raja Wodeyar II]], Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar's cousin, was poisoned on the orders of his ''dalvoy'' (commander-in-chief), Vikramaraya, within a year of becoming the maharaja.<ref name=igimc-20>{{Harvnb|Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series|1908|p=20}}</ref> The 23-year-old Kanthirava Narasaraja I, who had earlier been adopted by the widow of [[Raja Wodeyar I]], became, in 1638, the new ''maharaja'' of Mysore. Before becoming the king of Mysore, he lived in Terakanambi near Gundalpet, Chamarajanagar District.<ref name=igimc-20/>

== Reign ==
Soon after his accession, he was called on to defend [[Srirangapatna]] against the invasions of the [[Adil Shahi]]s of [[Bijapur district, Karnataka|Bijapur]], a defence which he mounted with great loss for the enemy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series|1908|p=20}}, {{Harvnb|Michell|1995|p=20}}</ref> In the fashion of the two ''wodeyars'' before him, he continued to expand the Mysore dominions.<ref name="igimc-20" /> This included taking [[Satyamangalam]] from the [[Madurai Nayak Dynasty|Nayaks of Madurai]] in the south, unseating the Chingalvas from their base in [[Piriyapatna]] in the west, gaining possession of [[Hosur]] (near [[Salem, Tamil Nadu|Salem]]) to the north, and delivering a major blow to the remnant rule of [[Kempe Gowda]] of [[Magadi]]'s henchmen at [[Yelahanka]], from whom a large tribute was exacted.<ref name="igimc-20" /> Kanthirava Narasaraja I was also the first ''wodeyar'' of Mysore to create the symbols associated with royalty, such as the royal coats of arms, establishing mints, and issuing coins named Kanthiraya (corrupted to "Canteroy") after him.<ref name="igimc-20" /> These were to remain part of Mysore's 'current national money' for well over a century.<ref name="igimc-20" />

== Dissolution of the Vijayanagara Empire ==
Although the Vijayanagara Empire had succumbed to rampages and forages of the Bahamani and Deccan Sultanates, Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar, continued to recognise the Vijayanagara Empire and its namesake emperor [[Sriranga III]]. But by then, Sriranga III had completely lost power and control over the empire.

Kanthirava Narasaraja I had ten wives. He died on 31 July 1659, at the age of 44.
[[File:JoppenMarathaMid17CSouthIndia.jpg|right|thumb|261x261px|South India during the time of Kanthirava Narasaraja I.]]

==Early Christianity in Mysore==
[[Catholic]] [[missionaries]], which had arrived in the coastal areas of [[southern India]]—the [[Malabar coast]], the [[Kanara|Kanara coast]], and the [[Coromandel coast]]—starting early in the sixteenth century, did not begin work in land-locked Mysore until halfway through the seventeenth century.<ref name=subrahmanyam1989-208-209>{{Harvnb|Subrahmanyam|1989|pp=208–209}}</ref> The Mysore mission was established in [[Srirangapatna]] in 1649 by Leonardo Cinnami, an Italian [[Jesuit]] from [[Goa]].<ref name=subrahmanyam1989-208-209/> Although a few years later Cinnami was expelled from Mysore on account of opposition in Kanthirava's court, towards the end of Kanthirava's rule, Cinnami returned to establish missions in half a dozen locations.<ref name=subrahmanyam1989-208-209/> During his second stay, Cinnami obtained permission to convert Kanthirava's subjects to [[Christianity]]; however, he was successful mostly in the eastern regions of Kanthirava's dominions, regions that later became part of the [[Madras Presidency]] of [[British India]].<ref name=subrahmanyam1989-208-209/> {{Harv|Subrahmanyam|1989|p=209}} notes, "...Of a reported 1700 converts in the Mysore mission in the mid-1660s, a mere quarter were ''Kannadigas'' ([[Kannada language]] speakers), the rest being Tamil speakers from the western districts of modern-day [[Tamil Nadu]]...".<ref name=subrahmanyam1989-208-209/>
==In popular culture==
His life story was adapted into the 1960 Kannada movie ''[[Ranadheera Kanteerava]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.kshvid.com/team-daredevil-musthafa-to-release-a-special-animation-song-tribute-to-dr-rajkumar/|title = Team 'Daredevil Musthafa' to Release a Special Animation Song Tribute to Dr. Rajkumar — KSHVID|date = 4 October 2021|access-date = 15 October 2021|archive-date = 11 May 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230511150549/https://www.kshvid.com/team-daredevil-musthafa-to-release-a-special-animation-song-tribute-to-dr-rajkumar/|url-status = dead}}</ref>

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

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{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=Michell|first=George|title=Architecture and Art of Southern India: Vijayanagara and the successor states: 1350–1750|publisher=Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 250|year =1995|isbn=0-521-44110-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W6bphUvvPf4C}}
*{{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}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Kanthirava Narasaraja I}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanthirava Narasaraja, I}}

[[Category:People from the Kingdom of Mysore]]
[[Category:Wadiyar dynasty]]
[[Category:1610s births]]
[[Category:1659 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Indian monarchs]]

Kanthirava Narasaraja I - Revision history

Omhospital at 03:53, 6 January 2026