94 MYSORE called pålegárs, asserted their independence, of whom the most important were the Wodeyar of Mysore in the south, the Náyak of in the north, the Náyak of Balam (Manjarábád) in the west, and the Bedar chiefs of Chitaldrúg and Tarikere. Wodeyar is a plural or honorific form of odeya, a Kánarese word meaning 'lord' or 'master.' In 1610, Ráj Wodeyar of Mysore, emboldened by the weakness of Tirumal, the viceroy of the decaying Narsinha dynasty, seized the fortress of Seringapatam, and thus laid the foundation of the present Mysore State. - See also MYSORE DISTRICT. Ráj Wodeyar was the ninth in succession from Vijaya Ráj, who is said to have been a Yadava Kshattriya, and to have come with his brother Krishna Ráj froin Dwarká in Suráshtra or Kathiáwár in 1399, in the palmy days of the Vijayanagar monarchy, and to have obtained possession of the chiefship of Hadarnáru, near Mysore. Prior to the seizure of Seringapatam by Ráj Wodeyar, it is said that a fort had been erected at Puragere, to which had been given the name of Mysore—or, more correctly, Mahesh - úru, 'buffalo town,' from Mahesh -ásura, a buffalo-headed monster destroyed by Kálí or Chámundi, who under the latter name is the tutelary deity of the Mysore family. Although Seringapatam became the capital, the Rájás have always been known in history as the Rájás of Mysore. The capture of Seringapatam by Ráj Wodeyar was the prelude to further acquisitions by two of his successors, Cháma Ráj and Kanthi Ráj. The latter, who reigned from 1638 to 1658, was noted as an efficient administrator. During the intervals of his warlike expeditions, he introduced a tolerably suc revenue settlement, fortified his capital, and established a mint wherein huns or pagodas were struck in his name, which continued to be the current national money until the Muhammadan usurpation (1761), The next ruler but one, Chikka Deva Ráj, during a long reign of thirty-four years, made his kingdom one of the most powerful in Southern India, and in his time, in 1687, the State religion reverted to Vishnuism from the worship of the lingam or emblem of the god Siva, which had hitherto been in vogue from the times of Krishna Ráj. At the death of Chikka Deva Ráj in 1704, the Mysore State comprised the present Districts of Mysore, the south of Kadúr, and Túmkúr, with part of Bangalore, besides Coimbatore and Salem Districts in the Madras Presidency; that is, a territory now producing a revenue of about f.1,000,000. After two more princes, the direct line failed in 1731. The next Rájá, a collateral relative named Chámaráj, was imprisoned by the Dalavai (or Commander-in-Chief) and the Diwan in the pestilential fortress of Kabáldrúg, where he soon died ; and a distant relative named Chikka Krishna Ráj was put on the throne in 1734. It was during the reign of this chief that the famous Haidar Ali
