Chamaraja Wodeyar IV (25 July 1507 – 9 November 1576) was the seventh
maharaja
Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...
of the
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in 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 substantially ...
. He was the youngest son of
Chamaraja Wodeyar III
Chamaraja Wodeyar III (29 September 1492 – 17 February 1553) was fifth raja of the Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of My ...
, the fifth raja of Mysore. He took over the kingdom at the age of 65 after his older brother's death in 1572 and ruled for four years until 1576.
Reign
He was struck by lightning and was reduced to baldness; thereafter he was nicknamed ''Bola'' (the bald).
In 1572, he succeeded on the death of his elder brother
Timmaraja Wodeyar II
Timmaraja Wodeyar II (reigned 7 February 1533 – 1572), was the sixth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, who ruled between 7 February 1553 and 1572. He was eldest son of Chamaraja Wodeyar III, the fifth raja of Mysore. On 17 February 1553, he ...
. Although Timmaraja Wodeyar II had declared Mysore Kingdom independent of the Vijayanagara Empire, it was not ratified. Chamaraja Wodeyar IV strongly opposed Vijayanagara. He immediately expelled the Vijayanagar envoys and revenue collectors from Mysore Kingdom. Although he had to retain a small delegation of Vijayanagara in
Srirangapattana
Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the British ...
, he had all other traces of Vijayanagara high command removed throughout his kingdom.
Acquisition of Bangalore
Kempe Gowda I
Kempe Gowda I (27 June 1510 – 1569) locally venerated as Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda, or commonly known as Kempe Gowda, was a governor under the Vijayanagara Empire in History of India, early-modern India. He is famous for the development of Beng ...
built a town out of an uninhabited mass of land around the time Chamaraja Wodeyar IV was born. He grew up listening to the valorous stories of Kempe Gowda I and his
Bangalore
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
town. The Mysore Kingdom expanded quite considerably in the last 173 years and had grown into a formidable kingdom. Chamaraja Wodeyar IV led an expedition after Kempe Gowda's death in 1569 and acquired Bangalore.
On 9 November 1576, he died, and his nephew
Chamaraja Wodeyar V succeeded him.
See also
*
Bangalore town
*
Wodeyar dynasty
The Wadiyar dynasty,() also referred to as the Wadiyars of Mysore (also spelt Wodeyer, Odeyer, and Wadeyar), is a late-medieval Indian royal family of former maharajas of Mysore from the Urs clan originally based in Mysore city. The Wadiya ...
External links
Mysore Palace and the Wodeyar Dynasty
1507 births
1576 deaths
Kings of Mysore
Chamaraja IV
16th-century Indian monarchs
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