Maharaja of Mysore

Maharaja of Mysore was the principal title of the ruler of the Mysore State during the British Raj in India and earlier of the Kingdom of Mysore. After India’s independence in 1947, the ruler lost his kingdom, but he and his successors were allowed an annual payment (the privy purse), certain privileges, and the use of the title “Maharaja of Mysore.” However, all were ended in 1971 by the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India.

Although their own histories date the origins of the Wodeyars of Mysore (also “Odeyar”, “Udaiyar”, “Wodiyar”, “Wadiyar”, or “Wadiar”, and, literally, “chief”) to 1399, records of them go back no earlier than the early 16th century. These poligars are first mentioned in a Kannada language literary work from the early 16th century. A petty chieftain, Chamaraja (now Chamaraja III), who ruled from 1513 to 1553 over a few villages not far from the Kaveri river, is said to have constructed a small fort and named it, Mahisuranagara (“Buffalo Town”), from which Mysore gets its name.

Mysore was a feudatory of the Vijayanagara Empire until 1644 and an independent kingdom thereafter until 1760 when Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan became the Sultans of Mysore. Reinstated in 1798 during East India Company rule the Wodeyars agreed to a subsidiary alliance with the Company as suzerain. However, from 1831 and for the next 50 years, the British took direct control of Mysore. Thereafter, until 1947, the Wodeyars ruled a princely state in the British Raj with the British again as their suzerains.

Vassals of the Vijayanagara Empire (1399–1565)

• Yaduraya Wodeyar (1399–1423)
• Hiriya Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar I (1423–1459)
• Timmaraja Wodeyar I (1459–1478)
• Hiriya Chamaraja Wodeyar II (1478–1513)
• Hiriya Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar III (1513–1553)

Independent rulers (1565–1761)

• Timmaraja Wodeyar II (1553–1572)
• Bola Chamaraja Wodeyar IV (1572–1576)
• Chamaraja Wodeyar V (1576–1578)
• Raja Wodeyar I (1578–1617)
• Chamaraja Wodeyar VI (1617–1637)
• Raja Wodeyar II (1637–1638)
• (Ranadhira) Kantheerava Narasaraja Wodeyar I (1638–1659)
• Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar (1659–1673)
• Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (1673–1704)
• Kantheerava Narasaraja Wodeyar II (1704–1714)
• Dodda Krishnaraja Wodeyar I (1714–1732). With him, Yaduraya’s direct lineage came to an end. What followed was a succession of nominal rulers adopted by the surviving queens to continue the tradition.
• Chamaraja Wodeyar VII (1732–1734)
• (Immadi) Krishnaraja Wodeyar II (1734–1766), puppet ruler under Hyder Ali from 1761
• (Mummudi) Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (1799–1831)

Puppet rulers under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan (1766–1796)

• Nanjaraja Wodeyar (1766–1772), puppet ruler under Hyder Ali
• Bettada Chamaraja Wodeyar VIII (1772–1776), puppet ruler under Hyder Ali
• Khasa Chamaraja Wodeyar IX (1776–1796), puppet ruler under Hyder Ali until 1782, then under Tipu Sultan until his deposition in 1796.

Regents of the Sultanate of Mysore (1761–1799)

• Hyder Ali (1761–1782)
• Tipu Sultan (1782–1799)

Under British suzerainty until the abolishment of the monarchy (1799–1950)

• (Mummudi) Krishnaraja Wodeyar III under British Crown, (1831-1868)
• Chamarajendra Wodeyar X (1868–1894)
• H.H. Vani Vilasa Sannidhana, queen of Chamaraja Wodeyar IX served as regent from 1894 to 1902
• Rajarshi (Nalvadi) Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV (1894–1940)
• Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1940–1950)

Titular maharajas (1950–Present)

• Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1950–1971), serving as Rajpramukh of Mysore until 1956, Governor of the State of Mysore until 1964, and Governor of the State of Madras (modern Tamil Nadu) until 1966
• Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar (1974-2013)
• Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar XI (2015- Present)

Family tree of the Royal Family