The Amrit Mahal (

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

:ಅಮೃತ ಮಹಲ್) is a breed of cattle that originated from the erstwhile state of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. They originated from the Hallikar and closely related breeds, ''Hagalavadi'' and ''Chithradurg''. Originally developed for use in war for transporting equipage, the bullocks are notable for their great endurance and speed. Their head is elongated with a ridge in the middle and a bulging forehead. The cows in contrast are poor milk-yielders and hence, are classified to be a draught breed. The Amrit Mahal is one of the two breeds, along with Hallikar, which have received the royal patronage and care from the erstwhile

Vijayanagara Kingdom The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belonging to t ...

sultans Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

and

princely state of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in South India, southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted su ...

through conservation and development. Amrit Mahal was originally bred by the Hallikar community traditionally known for cattle rearing and animal husbandry. During Chikka Devaraja Wadiyar's reign a department was created within his administration known as "''Benne chavadi''" literally "butter department" which maintained cows and bulls, branded (with his initial ದೇ /Dē/) and maintained for supplying butter and milk to the royal household. This was taken over by

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...

and he renamed the administrative unit as "Amrit Mahal". The British took an interest in these cattle when Hyder Ali used them to move guns 100 miles in two days to Chelambram during the

Battle of Porto Novo The Battle of Porto Novo was fought on 1 July 1781 between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore and British East India Company in the place called Porto Novo (now known as Parangipettai) on the Indian subcontinent, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War ...

and when

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

used them to march across south India in a month. They were then adopted for use in the army by the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, the British allowed them to be maintained by the Maharaja of Mysore but in thirteen years they were found to have regressed. In 1813, the pasture lands known as ''kaval'' or ''Kaaval'' (

:''ಕಾವಲ್'') and the cattle were placed under a Captain Harvey of the Madras Commissariat for management of the breed. In 1842, a report stated that the English Army was served efficiently by 230 Mysore bullocks in Afghanistan. In 1860, Charles Trevelyan closed down this unit as being uneconomical but it was re-established in 1867 with the assistance of the Mysore Maharaja and by 1870 about 4000 cows and 100 bulls were under government care. The charge moved back to the Maharaja of Mysore in 1883. The ''kaval''s were classified for use in wet, dry and cold weather. The cows would not come into season in the wet

malnad Malnad (or Malenadu) is a region in the state of Karnataka, India. Malenadu covers the western and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats mountain range and is roughly 100 kilometers in width. It includes the districts of Uttara Kannada, Shivam ...

regions but had to be taken into the dry plains where they bred. Beginning in the 20th century, the kavals were increasingly diverted for other uses. File:Amruthamahal 02.JPG, Amrit Mahal cow File:Amruthamahal 01.JPG, Amrit Mahal Bull File:Commissariat farm Hunsur 1889.jpg, The Amrit Mahal farm in Hunsur c. 1889 File:Hunsur_Map.png, Map of the Hunsur commissariat farm

References

{{Cattle breeds of India Cattle breeds Cattle breeds originating in India Economy of Karnataka

See also

References