Narasaraja Wodeyar II
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| Narasaraja Wodeyar II | |
| Maharaja of Mysore | |
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| Reign | 1704 - 1714 |
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| Born | 1673 |
| Died | 1714 |
| Predecessor | Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar |
| Royal House | Wodeyar |
| Father | Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar |
| Mother | Devajammanni |
Narasaraja Wodeyar II (1673 - 1714 CE), also known as Kanteerava Narasaraja Wodeyar II, ruled the Indian Kingdom of Mysore from 1704 to 1714 CE. Through out his rule, he remained silent and preferred to communicate with his council of ministers in sign language and written communication. Contemporary records called him Mukarasu or mute king. This issue has caused a debate among historians whether the king was really mute or simply preferred not to speak.[1] [2]
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[edit] Early life
Narasaraja Wodeyar II was born to the King Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, the most famous among the early rulers of the Mysore Kingdom, and his first queen Devajammanni in 1673. Seeing that the prince had not spoken even by the age of five, the worried king proclaimed that whoever made the prince speak would be rewarded handsomely. Gopala Bhatta, a devotee of the sun god Surya, came forward to make the prince speak. Gopala Bhatta performed many rituals and meditation to his deity, the sun, and asked the prince to speak. To everyone's surprise, not only did the prince begin to speak, he also had revelations of his past life.[2]
The prince narrated that in his previous birth, he was a potter who attended the daily discourse on the Bhagavad Gita by an ascetic called Krishna Bhatta in the city of Kashi. One day, after the discourse, the ascetic left the book on the Bhagavad Gita behind, and the potter sold the book and bought milk for the ascetic with the proceeds of the sale.[2] When the ascetic came to know how the potter had purchased the milk, he cursed the potter that he would be reborn as a mute prince and that he would later become a king. The ascetic also stated that he himself would be reborn as the mute king's son, as an atonement for trying to enlighten a low class person like the potter with the teachings in the Bhagavad Gita.[3] After having narrated this story, the prince became silent and never spoke again.
[edit] King and poet
| Mysore Kings and Rulers (1399–1947) | |
| Yaduraya | (1399–1423) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar I | (1423–1459) |
| Timmaraja Wodeyar I | (1459–1478) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar II | (1478–1513) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar III | (1513–1553) |
| Timmaraja II | (1553–1572) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar IV | (1572–1576) |
| Bettada Wodeyar | (1576–1578) |
| Raja Wodeyar I | (1578–1617) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar V | (1617–1637) |
| Raja Wodeyar II | (1637–1638) |
| Narasaraja Wodeyar | (1637–1659) |
| Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar | (1659–1673) |
| Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar | (1673–1704) |
| Narasaraja Wodeyar II | (1704–1714) |
| Krishnaraja Wodeyar I | (1714–1732) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar VI | (1732–1734) |
| Krishnaraja Wodeyar II | (1734–1766) |
| Nanjaraja Wodeyar | (1766–1772) |
| (Haider Ali) | (1766–1772) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar VII | (1772–1776) |
| (Haider Ali) | (1772–1776) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar VIII | (1776–1796) |
| (Haider Ali /Tipu Sultan) | (1776–1796) |
| (Tipu Sultan) | (1796–1799) |
| Krishnaraja Wodeyar III | (1799–1868) |
| Chamaraja Wodeyar IX | (1881–1901) |
| Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV | (1901–1940) |
| Jayachamaraja Wodeyar | (1940–1947) |
| C Rajagopalachari (Governor-General - Republic of India) |
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Whatever the truth behind the king's silence, it did not hinder his daily administrative duties. Narasaraja Wodeyar II was a polyglot and was adept in writing in Kannada, Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil and Prakrit. His rule was a golden age of Yakshagana writings in Mysore (literature that includes sangita - music, nataka - drama, and natya - dance).[4] The king himself authored fourteen books on Yakshagana in various languages, all of which were written in the Kannada script.[3] His writings were discovered at the Government Oriental manuscript library in Chennai and later transferred to the Adhyayana Samasthe in Mysore. The writings consist of songs, Sanskrit slokas, Kannada Vachana, Telugu padya, dvipadi (two liners) and Sangatya (compositions meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument) etc.[5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kamath (2001), p230
- ^ a b c Pranesh (2003), p36
- ^ a b Pranesh (2003), p37
- ^ Pranesh (2003), p37
- ^ Pranesh (2003), p38
[edit] References
- Suryanath U. Kamat, A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present, Jupiter books, MCC, Bangalore, 2001 (Reprinted 2002) OCLC: 7796041
- Pranesh, Meera Rajaram (2003), Musical Composers during Wodeyar Dynasty (1638-1947 A.D.), Vee Emm Publications, Bangalore
