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Coorg Province was a
province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
from 1834 to 1947 and the
Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, * * was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its Indian independence movement, independence, India had be ...
from 1947 to 1950. Mercara was the capital of the province. It was administered by a Commissioner and later, Chief Commissioner appointed by the Government of India. The Chief Commissioner, was usually based in
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 ...
. From 1834 to 1881, the Chief Commissioner, was also the Commissioner of Mysore. From 1881 to 1940, the Chief Commissioner was usually the British Resident to the
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 ...
. The province of Coorg was established in May 1834, when the
Kingdom of Coorg The Kingdom of Coorg (or Kingdom of Kodagu) was an independent kingdom that existed in India from the 16th century until 1834. It was ruled by a branch of the Ikkeri Nayaka. From 1780 to 1788, the kingdom was occupied by neighbouring Mysore ...
was abolished and its territories annexed to British India in the aftermath of the
Coorg War The Coorg War was fought between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Coorg in 1834. Defiance of the Raja of Coorg ( Chikka Virarajendra), a small state in South India, led to a short but bloody campaign in 1834. In February 183 ...
. Coorg Province was largely inhabited by the
Kodava people The Kodavas (Codavas or Kodagas) also called Coorgs are an endogamous Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group from the region of Kodagu district, Kodagu in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, who natively speak the Kodava langu ...
who spoke the
Kodava language The Kodava (, natively: ''Koḍava takkï'', , meaning 'speech of Kodavas', Angloid name: Codava, Coorgi) is a Dravidian language spoken in Kodagu district (Coorg) in Southern Karnataka, India. It is an endangered language. The term Kodav ...
. During the 19th century, a number of coffee plantations were established in Coorg with the result that Coorg became one of the largest producers of coffee in the British Empire. The Kodava people of Coorg were renowned for their bravery and supplied a vast proportion of recruits to the British Indian army. A Legislative council was established in 1924 comprising 15 elected and five nominated members. Coorg Province became a Part-C state of the Indian Union when the
Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...
was inaugurated on 26 January 1950. In 1956, the state was merged with the neighbouring Mysore State was per the
States Reorganisation Act, 1956 The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States ...
.


History

Coorg Province was established in June 1834 following the capitulation of the last
Maharajah Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India ...
of the
Kingdom of Coorg The Kingdom of Coorg (or Kingdom of Kodagu) was an independent kingdom that existed in India from the 16th century until 1834. It was ruled by a branch of the Ikkeri Nayaka. From 1780 to 1788, the kingdom was occupied by neighbouring Mysore ...
,
Chikka Virarajendra Chikavira Rajendra or Chikka Vira Rajendra (Kannada: , ''cika/cikka vīrarājendra'') (also in other variations, including Chikkaveera Rajendra) was the last ruler of the Kodagu (Coorg) kingdom in South India. His actual name was Vira Rajendra, ...
on 24 April 1834 culminating the
Coorg War The Coorg War was fought between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Coorg in 1834. Defiance of the Raja of Coorg ( Chikka Virarajendra), a small state in South India, led to a short but bloody campaign in 1834. In February 183 ...
. General James Stuart Fraser, the Commander-in-chief of the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
forces in the war was appointed military administrator and served as the first Commissioner of Coorg Province. Fraser left in October 1834 when he was appointed Resident to the Kingdom of Mysore and Capt Le Hardy was appointed to succeed him. Le Hardy was succeeded by Sir Mark Cubbon who also took charge as Commissioner of Mysore in 1834 when the king Krishnaraja Wadiyar III was deposed. In 1837, a major insurrection broke out in the western part of the province instigated by the Tulu-speaking Gowda farmers which was finally quelled after a lengthy drawn-out operation. The Kodava chieftains who had largely remained impervious to nationalist sentiment and assisted the British with men, money and logistics, were rewarded with land grants, titles and the Coorg medal. Cubbon ruled till 1859 reforming all branches of provincial administration and strictly imposing law and order. He also set up a model civil service made of native Indians. Cubbon was succeeded by L. B. Bowring who ruled till 1870. Bowring was succeeded by R. J. Meade, C. B. Saunders and J. D. Gordon. From 1834 to 1869, the administrator was styled "Commissioner of Mysore and Coorg" and from 1869 to 1881, Chief Commissioner of Mysore and Coorg. When the kingdom of Mysore was restored in 1881, the Commissioner of Coorg ceased to be the administrator of Mysore and post was replaced with that of a Resident who continued to direct affairs from Bangalore. On 1 July 1940, Coorg was made practically independent of Mysore and a separate Chief Commissioner,
J. W. Pritchard Joseph William Pritchard (5 August 1903 – 13 January 1963) was a British civil servant of the Indian Civil Service and an administrator who served as the Chief Commissioner of Coorg Province from 1940 to 1943. Early life Pritchard was edu ...
was appointed to administer the province. Pritchard was succeeded by Ketoli Chengappa, the first Indian to hold the post. Coorg became independent of British rule on 15 August 1947 when Chengappa was the Chief Commissioner. It remained a province until 26 January 1950, when the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...
replaced provinces with states.


Administration

When the East India Company took over the state at the end of the Coorg War, the taluks of Amara-Sulya and Puttur were separated from Coorg and attached to
Kanara Kanara or Canara, also known as Karāvali, is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern Konkan coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The subregion comprises thr ...
. In October 1834, direct rule of the Company was established with the formation of the province of Coorg. From then on, Coorg was ruled by a Commissioner and from 1869, a Chief Commissioner based in Bangalore. From 1881, the Chief Commissioner was usually the Resident to the princely state of Mysore. He directed his affairs through a Superintendent stationed at Fraserpet during the monsoon season and at Mercara throughout the rest of the year. The Superintendent was usually a European officer of the Mysore Civil Service. On 1 July 1940, the Chief Commission was separated from the Mysore Residency and a separate Chief Commissioner was appointed with his seat in Mercara. The province of Coorg was divided into six taluks - Kiggatnad, Mercara, Nanjarajapatna, Padinalkad, Yedenalkad and Yelusaviraseeme. The taluks were further sub-divided into ''nad''s or ''hobli''s. In 1878, Coorg had a total of 508 villages and six towns - Mercara,
Virajpet The town of Virajpet also spelled as Virajapete () is township of the district of Kodagu, in India's southern States and union territories of India, State of Karnataka. It is the main town of the ''Virajpet taluka'', south of the district, and b ...
, Fraserpet,
Somwarpet Somwarpet (''somavārapēte'', also written ''Somvarpet'') is a panchayat town in Kodagu district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Karnataka. It is the main town of the Somwarpet taluk, in the north-east of the district. ...
, Kodlipet and
Ponnampet Ponnampet or Ponnampēte () is a taluk headquarters in the southern part of the district of Kodagu in the state of Karnataka.Ponnampet taluk came into existence on 29 November 2020. It was originally named after Diwan Cheppudira Ponnappa as Pon ...
. The revenue system of Coorg was based on the "Rules for the conduct of district functionaries in Coorg", a document issued by Colonel Fraser on 30 August 1834. Till 1924, Coorg did not have a legislature of its own. By a notification dated 22 February 1875, Coorg was included in the Scheduled Districts Act IV of 1874 which empowered the provincial government to exempt Coorg Province from certain pan-Indian legislations. In 1920, the Coorg Landholders' Association was formed to campaign for more rights for landholders. On 28 January 1924, a 20-member legislative assembly was established comprising 15 elected and 5 nominated members. This assembly survived with minor changes even after the independence. In 1949, the number of members was reduced by two when the European constituency was abolished. A judicial system on part with the rest of British India was constituted as per the Coorg Courts' Act XXV of 1868. As per this act, from 1 December 1868 onwards, a Subedar's court, a Daryaft Kacheri, an Assistant Superintendents' Court, a Superintendents' Court, a Sessions' Court and a Judicial Commissioners' Court were created. There was one Subedars' Court for every taluk each of which was presided over by the Subedar of the taluk. The Daryaft Kacheri was presided over by a Moktasir who was a native judge assisted by four Panchayatdars. The Assistant Superintendents' Court was presided over by an Englishman and an Indian each holding the powers of a magistrate and sub-magistrate respectively. The Superintendents' Court was presided over by the Superintendent of Coorg who exercised original jurisdiction. The Sessions' Court was presided over the Superintendent of the adjacent Ashtagrama Division of Mysore of which Coorg was a part of, from November 1862 to July 1863. The Judicial Commissioner of Coorg was the highest appellate authority in the province. This office was created in 1856.


Demographics

According to the 1871 census, Coorg had a population of 168,312 with Hindus making up 154,474 or 91.6 percent of the total population and Muslims (11,304; 6.7 percent), Christians (2,410; 1.4 percent) and Jains (112 individuals) making up the rest. There were also 10 Parsis and 2 Chinese. Among the adherents of Hinduism, the Kodavas numbered 26,389 individuals (17 percent), the rest being non-Kodavas. Tribal Hindus numbered 14,783 (9 percent) and nomadic tribes and gypsies numbered 1,344 (0.8 percent). The Amma Kodavas are believed to have comprised the priestly class of the Kodavas prior to the arrival of Brahmins. Muslims were largely concentrated in Mercara, Padinelkad and Yedinalkad taluks and belonged to the Labbai, Mappilai, Pathan and Pindari communities. Muslims in Coorg were predominantly Sunni. Of the 2,410 Christians, 181 were European and 229 were Anglo-Indian. The official language in Coorg province was Kannada but the mother tongue of the native Kodava people was the Kodava takk. Kodava takk was often considered to be nothing more than a dialect of Kannada and the linguist
Robert Caldwell Robert Caldwell (7 May 1814 – 28 August 1891) was a British missionary and linguist. A missionary for the London Missionary Society, he arrived in Company Raj, British India at age 24, and studied the local language to spread the word of the ...
concluded that Kodava "stood midway between Old Canarese ( Hale Kannada) and Tulu". Other important languages spoken in Coorg included Tulu,
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
, English and various tribal languages.


Economy

The total estimated revenue of the province in 1949-50 was Rs. 62.98 lakhs and the estimated expenditure stood at Rs. 87.69 lakhs. The main products of Coorg include
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
,
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...
and
rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...
. Coorg was one of India's largest producers of tea with a total of 415 acres under tea cultivation. During the rule of the Coorg Rajahs,
rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
was the most important crop cultivated. It was replaced by coffee when the state passed into British rule. The first coffee plantation was established near Mercara in 1854. From 1854 to 1870, coffee cultivation in Coorg expanded rapidly as exports increased from 579 tons in 1857 to 3,000 tons in 1867 and 4,880 tons in 1876. Coffee production slowed down due to a blight in 1870 in 1871 but recovered quickly reaching the peak of production between 1878 and 1883. Coffee prices fell by 40 percent between 1879 and 1889 due to the competition of imported Brazilian coffee on the local market but recovered in 1890 when there was a shortage of supply from Brazil. With fluctuating fortunes, coffee continues to be Coorg's most important source of revenue. Rice is Coorg's principal food crop. In 1948-49, Coorg exported about 11,800 tons of rice to Mysore state and the Malabar district of Madras Presidency. About 240 tons of wheat were, in return, imported every year from Mysore as per an allotment made by the Central government. Other major food crops grown in Coorg were orange, cardamom and pepper. As of 1950, there were 41,182 acres under coffee cultivation, 88,105 acres under paddy, 17,924 acres under orange, 4,370 acres under cardamom, 3,180 acres under rubber and 258 acres under pepper.


Transport and communication

There have been roads in existence in Coorg for many centuries but these roads were not suitable enough for bullock carts and carriages. The first tractable roads in Coorg were built by the British. The two main roads in Coorg constructed in the 19th century were the Eastern Trunk Road and the Northern Trunk Road both meeting at Mercara. The road from Mysore enters Coorg at Fraserpet and runs for nineteen and a half miles to Mercara. Construction was commenced in January 1835 by the Sappers and Mines company and completed in 1837. The road traverses the Cauvery by a 516 feet long masonry bridge with 7 arches completed between 1846 and 1848. The Sampaji Ghat road which connects Mercara with Mangalore was commenced after the monsoons in 1837 and was completed after enduring much practical difficulties and fever. The road from Cannanore to Mercara was completed in 1849 and extended to Kodlipet in 1862. The road was opened for traffic in 1868. The Northern Trunk Road connects Mercara with Manjarabad through Somwarpet and Kodlipet and was completed in 1869. A Public Works Department for Coorg Province was inaugurated in 1862. The department was headed by an Executive Engineer. There were no railways in Coorg though various suggestions have been mooted from time to time. In 1902, Coorg planters petitioned the Viceroy Lord Curzon for the construction of a railway connecting Coorg with
Tellicherry Thalassery () (also called Tellicherry) is a city and municipality on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahe and Kozhikode. Thalassery municipality has a population of just under ...
on west coast. A survey was carried out to build a line from
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 ...
to Tellicherry but the proposal was subsequently shelved.


Education

In 1834, the first schools teaching English and Kanarese were opened at Mercara and Virajpet. This was followed by a Canarese medium school at Kiggatnad. A total of Rs. 90 was allotted towards establishment of an education department. However, the Kiggatnad school closed down in 1842 due to lack of funds. In 1855, Dr. Moegling, the first Protestant missionary in Coorg established an English school at Mercara. By 1870, there were a total of 25 vernacular schools, most of them affiliated to the Central School at Mercara. There were Anglo-Vernacular schools in all taluk headquarters.


References


List of Chief Commissioners of Coorg
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Further reading

* {{Presidencies and provinces of British India Geography of Kodagu district Tourist attractions in Kodagu district History of Kodagu district