The scribe who built forts

He can be termed as one of the first, if not, the first statistician of  the world. He was also a scribe and he was born in a clan of scribes. A multi-talented man, he is best remembered for his revenue reforms which formed the basis for land reforms carried out by the British and subsequently by independent India.

An astute solider, he was also a well-known for building forts and it was he who built the imposing Rohtas fort, now in Pakistan. He was also the first Hindu to lead a full-fledged Mughal Army.

One of the nine gems of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar, he was also a highly skilled soldier. A little known fact about him is that he was responsible for providing internal security to Akbar.

A devout Hindu apart from being a man of literary tastes, he repaired, renovated and built several temples across India. He came to the help of the Tirumala temple of Srinivasa when the Nizam of Hyderabad tried to capture it.

He is even credited with having repaired a temple in Karnataka and contributed significantly to the Srinivasa Temple in Tirumala apart from the Kashi Vishwanatha temple in Benaras.

This man is none other than Raja Todar Mal (Todarmal), one of the Navaratnas or nine gems in the court of Akbar. He is remembered even today for his revenue reforms that were first adopted by the Afghan ruler, Sher Shah Suri and subsequently by the Mughals. Later, they formed the basis for Sir Thomas Munroe during the period of British India to introduce the ryotwari system in India.

Todarmal was born in Laharpur, Uttar Pradesh, in a Bhatnagar family. While one account says that he was a Kayastha Brahmin, others say he was a Khatri from the Punjab and that his place of birth was in the Punjab.

Whatever the history of his birth, we know that he first served under the renowned Afghan ruler, Sher Shah Suri. When Sher Shah died and Humanyun, the Mughal, managed to regain the Delhi throne, he imprisoned Todar Mal but released him after being told of his academic and scholastic qualifications.

After several years, Todarmal  joined in the service of Akbar as a clerk and rose in 1560 to become the Finance Minister of Mughal India. He held several other positions and was also in charge of the Mughal Mint.

He built the magnificent Rohtas fort under direction from Sher Shah Suri. The fort today is a UNESCO World Heritage monument, testifying to the engineering skill of Todar Mal.

He also built a fortress palace at Laharpur in Uttar Pradesh.

He was also actively involved in the construction of the Mughal forts at Fathepur Sikri and Lahore in 1583 and also the Allahabad fort which was originally built by Emperor Ashoka.

He also built the magnificent Moti Mahal palace in Allahabad which still exists today.  

Todar Mal rebuilt or renovated several temples cross India and in Karnataka, he rebuilt the Anjaneya temple in Mulabagal, Kolar.

This temple was built by Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, after the Kurukshetra war. There is a small statue of Todar Mal in the temple

Another temple that is associated with Todar Mal is that of Srinivasa in Tirumala. This temple too has a statue of Todar Mal. He also renovated the Kashi Vishwanatha temple in Kashi.

Todar Mal is also credited with having built the temple to Chitragupta in Patna, Bihar.

Members of the Kayastha community worship Chitragupta among other Gods. Chitragupta is a scribe for the Gods and Kayastha means scribe in Sanskrit and it goes without saying that Todar Mal was a renown scribe.

The Kayastha caste reflects its traditional role as record-keepers and administrators of the State. Kayasthas from historical times have occupied the highest government offices, serving as ministers and advisors during mediaeval Indian period and the Mughal Empire, and they also held important administrative positions during the British period.

Todar Mal, historians agree, was true to his caste and he was a scribe of the highest order. Not only was an excellent book keeper, he was also a competent accountant. He also managed the Mughal mint in Bengal. He also introduced standard weights and measures. He understood statecraft well and Emperor Akbar had high regard for him.

He became the Finance Minister of the Mughal Kingdom in 1575 and the Chief Finance Minister in 1582. He came up with a book on land records which then was known as Todar Mal’s Rentroll.

Very few know that Todar Mal was a man of letters. He translated the Bhagavatha Purana from Sanskrit  into Persian. He believed a single language could unify the people and its country and he, therefore, batted for Persian as the administrative language and sole language of the Mughal Kingdom..

According to the Puranas, Kayasthas are descended from Chitragupta. The Puranas invest Chitragupta with the task of recording the deeds of humanity, upholding the rule of law and judging whether human beings go to heaven or hell upon death

Raja Todar Mal also

The Mathurs also claim Todar Mal as their own. They are a sub-caste of Kayastha.

The  Mathurs are the only sect who are referred to as direct descendants of a Vedic God in the religious texts and the only ancestor worshipping sect of Hinduism also called Chitranshi/Devputra. Kayasth’s are said, in the Vedas and Puranas, to have a dual-caste as of Kshatriya and Brahmin. Mathurs today are  concentrated across North Indian states of  Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Rajasthan. They too were scribes.

Even in the ancient times, they were the people whose profession was writing.

The Mathurs trace their genealogy to Brahma. This is how it goes. When Brahma had created all the fourVarnas, he thought that there must be someone to keep records and account of each Varna. He then started meditating and closed his eyes.

When his meditation was over, he found a radiant figure holding a pen and an inkpot standing before him. Brahma then called him Chitragupta and asked him to be the keeper of  records. He said as he had been created from Brahma, he shall be called Kaya and his progeny Kayastha.

This is how the word Kayastha originated. Since then,  reading and writing has been the hereditary occupation of the Kayasthas.

As far as Mathurs go, they are one of the many sub-castes of the Kayasthas.

The Mathurs trace their ancestry to Charu, one of the twelve sons of  Chitragupta and Irawati. Incidentally, there are a class of Brahmins who call themselves Mathurs and they trace their ancestry to Mathura.

There are also a class of Vaishya who call themselves Mathur Vaishya and trace their ancestry to Mathura. There are also some Bengalis who are known as Mathur Babus. According to the Puranas, Charu resided at Mathura-and so his descendants came to be known as Mathurs.

The Mathurs served under the Hindu Kings of Mathura till Qutb-ud-din conquered it. Subsequently, some of them learned Arabic and served under the courts of Turkish and Mughal Emperors while others fled Mathura in search of work.

In the ancient times, the Mathurs worked in the posts of Dewan under the Surya Vanshi Kings who ruled Ayodhya. The Suryavanshi kings included Ikshvaku, Raghu, Dashrata and Rama and it is said that Mathurs have worked under them and served them. The Mathurs are subdivided into als and gotras. People belonging to the same al claim to have descended from the same immediate ancestor and share a common totem.

Gotra is a larger group being composed of a number of al.

According to tradition, there were only eighty-four big villages in Brij Bhoomi, the empire of Mathura. It is probably on that account that there are eighty-four further sub-sects called Als of the Mathurs.

Coming back to Todar Mal, he died in 1589.

Another Todarmal was Pandit Todarmal (1719–1766). He was a Jain and an eminent scholar and writer. He stayed in Jaipur. His son, Gumani Ram, founded Gumanpanth, a strict form of Jainism.

We also have a Todar Mal in the Punjab. He was called Diwan Todar Mal Jain and he was a businessman. He belonged to Kakra village, a few miles from Patiala. In Sikh history, he is remembered for buying a small piece of land for the cremation of the dead bodies of Mata Gurji, , the mother and Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, the two younger sons of 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh in 1704 A.D, by paying an exorbitant price to the owner of the land.

He had to cover the whole piece of land with gold coins (ashrafis) in a vertical position, as he was asked to vertically place gold coins on the land and only that much land was given to him which he could cover with gold coins. He later also made arrangements for their cremation.

The little-known brother of Shivaji

There are innumerable records, chronicles, annals and even letters  about the life and times of Chatrapathi Shivaji who spent two years in this city from 1640 to 1642. However, the very same records contain scanty or practically no information about Shivaji’s brother, Sambhaji.

When Shivaji came to Bangalore, Shahaji, his father, got him married a second time. He also ensured that Shivaji was trained in statecraft and warfare along with Sambhaji, and their half-brother Vyaknoji or Ekoji who later on went to found the Maratha line of rulers at Tanjore or Thanjavur, now in Tamil Nadu.

Both Shivaji and Sambhaji were the only surviving sons Shahaji and Jija Bai-four sons died in infancy. While Shivaji stayed on in Poona with his mother, Sambhaji was taken to the Deccan by Shahaji and he was with his father for several years. Shahaji had his second wife, Tuka bai Mohite, by his side and Venkoji was their son.  

When the Adil Shahis overran Bangalore in 1638 and defeated Kempe Gowda, the Adil Shahi commander Ranadulla Khan gave due credit to the victory for Shahaji, who was also a frontline  commander. Interestingly, the redoubtable Afzal Khan, who Shivaji later killed, was an understudy of Ranadullah Khan.

It was Ranadullah Khan who sent Afzal Khan to Sira, while he himself proceeded to Bangalore along with Shahaji.

The reason for the mighty Adil Shahi war machine to march towards south Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were many. The Adil Shahi Emperor, Ibrahim Adil Shah also called Jagadguru, had died in 1627 and he was succeeded by Muhammad Adil Shah (1627-1658). Muhammad never wanted to see the rise of Vijayanagar and he decided to take on Sriranga Raya, the Vijayanagar ruler who was making attempts to reassert his authority.

Sriranganga was in touch with the many erstwhile provincial governors or palegars of the once mighty Vijayanagar Kingdom. At the same time, the Wodeyars of Mysore were emerging as the powerhouse of the south Mysore region. Kempe Gowda in Bangalore was also a prominent figure as were Bidanur and Sira.

Muhammad then ordered Ranadullah Khan and Shahaji to take on the Hindu principalities. They were ably assisted by Afzal Khan and at times by Myustafa Khan and Asad Khan.

Ranadullah Khan first took on the Raja of Dharwar and Lakshmshwar in 1637 and defeated them. He then took on the Vijayanagar King and captured Penugonda, Chandragiri, Adoni or Adwani in Andhra Pradesh, Vellor and Ginge in Tamil Nadu, Ikkeri-Bedanur, Bangalore, Kanakanagiri and Sira in Karnataka.

Ranadulla Khan and Shahaji got on well with each other. Both respected each other’s bravery and the Khan knew that Shahaji was an excellent military strategist. Once the war was over, Ranadullah Khan left the terms of surrender and other aspects to Shahaji and he rarely interfered.

Thus, when Kempe Gowda, the third, surrendered to the Adil Shahi, Shahaji allowed him to leave to Magadi and set up court there. Impressed with Shahaji, the Adil Shah granted him the jagir of Bangalore, which also included the surrounding principalities of Kolar, Chikaballapur, Doddaballapur and Kakakagiri.

Shahaji stayed back at Bangalore and set up court. His headquarters was the present Chickpet where he had his palace called Gauri Mahal.

Shahaji then became extremely busy in wars and campaigns conducted by the Adil Shah. He rarely had time to go back to Pune and meet his first wife Jija Bai and his second son, Shivaji.

Shahaji could not even attend the first marriage of Shivaji. He then invited Jija Bai and Shivaji to Bangalore so that he could meet his daughter-in-law.

Once in Bangalore, Shivaji learnt statecraft and warfare and he stayed here for two years from 1640 to 1642.

In 1642, Shivaji returned to Pune with his mother and he began the task of building up the Maratha Empire. Simultaneously, Shahaji began a process of  Hindu revival in the south. He did not put to the sword the Palegars or Nayakas whose territory he conquered on the behalf of the Adi Shah. He took away the capital cities of these provincial rulers and sent them away to smaller cities and towns. Thus, he earned the gratitude and respect of  the Palegars.

The only exception to this was in Sira where Afzal Khan treacherously murdered Kasturirangan, the ruler, by calling him out of the fort on the pretext of holding negotiations.

Sambhaji slowly earned the respect of his father and soon, Shahaji made him the Governor of Kolar.

When Muhammad Adil Shah called Shahaji to Bijapur in 1648 and imprisoned him, Sambhaji stoutly defended Bangalore against the Adil Shah army led by Farhad Khan and Tanaji Dure and even defeated them. In the Pune region, Shivaji defied the Adil Shah. Both gave up their defiance only after Shahaji addressed a letter to them and pointed out that their resistance might lead to his losing his life.

However, the Adil Shah realised the folly of imprisoning Shahaji and released him and conferred several honors on him. He also restored the jagir of Bangalore to Shahaji who then came back to Bangalore.

Sambhaji then continued to govern from Kolar, while his father lorded over Bangalore. Sambhaji met an unfortunate death in 1654 when the Adli Shahis under Afzal Khan attacked Kanakagiri. The Palegar, Apakhan, had revolted against the Adilshahis.

Afzal Khan once again played the part of a traitor and this led to the death of Sambhaji who was wounded by a cannon ball fired from within the fort of  Kanakanagiri.

When Shahaji heard of his son’s death, he personally marched to Kanakagiri and conquered it. For Shivaji, the loss of his elder brother was devastating. When his mother told him about the complicity of Afzal Khan in the death of Sambhaji, the Maratha swore revenge.

Today, people know about Sambhaji, the son of Shivaji but very few know about Sambhaji, the brother.

Sambhaji was born at Verul or today’s Ellora near Aurangabad in 1619 in Maharashtra. He was married to Makai and they had two sons- Suratsingh and Umaji, who records say was an adopted son. Umaji was believed to be the son of Parsoji Raje Bhamberker
After the death of Sambhaji,  Kolar was continued as Jahagir to his son Suratsing. When Shivaji conquered Bangalore from his half-brother Vyankoji, he continued the jagir of Kolar to his brother’s children.

Kola remained in Maratha hands till Hyder Ali (1721-1781) claimed Kolar as his right. Hyder’s reason for his conquest of Kolar was because he was born at Budikote, a short distance away from Kolar.

The Tarik-i-Shivaji, Siva Digvijaya, Chitnis Bakhars, Sabhasad and Adil Shah records give us information about Shahaji, Shivaji and Sambhaji as does the excellent work by H.S. Sardesai.

The soldier who prospected for gold

He was one of the many British officers who fought in the fourth Anglo-Mysore war in May 1799 in which Tipu Sultan was killed and Srirangapatna stormed.

The death of Tipu led the British to hand back the Mysore Kingdom to the Wodeyars. The British placed a small army of theirs in Mysore, the capital of Wodeyars and headed back to Bangalore where they began constructing a Cantonment.

One such officer who came back to Bangalore from Srirangapatna was Michael F. Lavelle, an Irishman. He had learnt about Tipu mining gold from Kolar and in he set about discovering the area.

There were no trains then and no other public means of transport, save carriages, horses and elephants. He decided to use the most efficient native system of transport known then-the humble bullock cart.

Lavelle then set out to Kolar on a bullock cart and it took him almost two weeks to cover the distance from his house in Cantonment to Kolar. He came and saw the old machinery by which gold was being extracted. He then put in an application for mining, mentioning the availability of coal and gold. The then Mysore Government permitted him to mine for coal.

A trifle disappointed overt the failure to wrest the rights to mine for gold, he submitted yet another application and this time he cleared mentioned the possibility of mining gold. The application was approved and Lavelle once again headed back to Kolar.

He set about prospecting for gold but his recourses were limited and far too fragile to drill for gold. The lack of continuous power too was a major hindrance. However, the licence he was given in  1873 was valid for 20 years.

He had began mining operations by sinking a shaft near Urigaum (Oorgaum). This shaft exists even today.
However, even though Lavelle extracted gold, it was not enough to cover his costs. He also did not have enough finance to mine deeper and engage more men and machinery.

He then decided to sell his mining rights. The news spread like wildlife and as the Mysore Government had okayed the sale, several people flocked to him, seeking the rights.

A group of British Armymen who had constituted a company called Kolar Concessionaires Soft Corporation and Arbuthnot Company of Madras sought Lavelle out in 1877 and made him an offer that he could not refuse.
The new company soon bought the mining rights and its chairman and founder was Major General G. de la Poer Beresford. On his part, Lavelle returned to his house in Cantonment. His exploits soon became the talk of Bangalore and he was a popular man.

The Commandant of Cantonment honoured Lavelle by naming a road after him. This is the Lavelle Road of today. Lavelle renamed his house in Cantonment as Oorgaum House.

The British syndicate then sold the mining rights to John Taylor which mined gold in what is today known as Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) till 1956. That year, the then Mysore Government took over the mine and the centre took it over in 1962.

The gold mines were closed in 2001 and even today sporadic efforts are being made to revive it.

Gold has been mined from KGF since ancient ages and even from the period of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. The Champion reef here was operated during the Gupta period. The KGF operated with modern machinery for over 120 years and produced approximately 25 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 15.9 g/t.             

Your Gods are made here

Who have not seen or at least heard of the breathtaking Hoysala temples of Belur and Halebidu and the magnificent Vijayanagar temples of Hampi. Many people are aware that some of the most Hoysala temples were sculpted by Janakacharya and his son Dankanacharya.

But did you ever wonder what happened to the descendents of these two great sculptors. Or what happened to other equally eminent artistes of rock and stone. Well, you can meet some of them, including the descendents of Shilpi Janakacharya and Dakanacharya at a small village near Bangalore.

What is likely to warm your heart is that the descendents along with several hundred others are still engaged in the task  of making sculptures, carving images and dressing stones. Yes, their profession is sculpting.

The small village of  Shivarapatna in Mallur taluk of Kolar district is home to the sculpture village where nearly 350 families are actively engaged in the profession of designing, sculpting and carvings images and idols.

One of the members of the sculpting families in the village is that of Basavalingacharya.

Basavalingacharya was the grandson of Shilpi Jakanacharya and it is believed that he settled down here. One of the reasons for the mass migration of sculptors to Shivarapatna was that it was very near to Kolar, which the capital of the early Gangas. The Gangas were master builders and they encouraged sculptors. It was due to this reason that Basavalingacharya settled down here.

His descendents still stay here and they also continue with the family vocation of sculpting.

The village of  Shivarapatna is named after the Ganga Emperor, Shivaramara. The village still boasts of the beautiful Shiva temple which was designed by Jakkannacharya and Dakanacharya. This later came to be known as Virdharaya Swami Temple.

For centuries, artistes here have been sculpting idols and statues. The sculptors are experts in both stone and metal carvings.

The Hindu deities are the main source of inspiration for these artistes or rather artisans.

 Since sculpting is a hereditary vocation, the business of sculpting has passed down from father to son. The skills to have been handed down by the older generation and there is no school of sculpture here to train people. These sculptors say they are descendents of Vishwakarma, the architect of Gods or Devas.

A majority of the sculptors belong to the Brahmin community.

They generally use granite, soapstone and sandstone for sculpting figures of gods and goddesses. The sculptors look at a stone and decided what figure they can carve on it- male, female or neuter gender. They decided on this by closely examining the sound quality of the stone.

The stones are procured from Heggadadevana Kote (HD Kote), Mysore, Chikajala and other places. Many temples in and around Bangalore and other cities have statues sculpted in the village such as the Ranganatha Swamy temple in Bangalore, the Sarvagna statue in Kolar, both of which were carved by the late Shilpi Sridharacharya.

Besides, the statue of  former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi  at the international airport in Delhi was sculpted here. The idols of many temples in Madurai, Udupi and Tirupathi have been sculpted here.

Shivarapatna is about 50 kilometres from Bangalore and the Government has declared it a heritage village.

By the way, Jnanpeetha awardee  Masthi Venkatesh Iyengar had his early education in this village.

The Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation (KSHDC) has taken up a project to encourage sculpting. It is already working on a project in this regard.

The Union Government too has declared Shivarapatna as one of the cluster villages producing near similar products and facing common opportunities and threats. It has also defined an artisan cluster as geographically concentrated household units producing handicraft/handloom products.

It has classified the Shivarapatna  cluster as able to form 100 plus artisans and  twelve self help groups (SHG) supporting the strong work force. It has aid that the mobilisation is gaining momentum day by day.

The two Tirupathis of Karnataka

There is only one Tirupathi and that is in Andhra Pradesh but did you know that there are two other towns by the same name and with the same deity in Karnataka. These towns are  Bangaru Tirupati and Chikka Tirupathi.

Both these towns are in Kolar district and they are near Bangalore. The Bangaru Tirupathi temple has been closely modeled on the original Venkatehwara Temple in Tirupathi.,

This temple is built on rocks and it dates back to the period of Brigu Rishi. The peculiarity of this temple is that the darshan of the Lord is through a window with six holes in the sanctum.

The hillock leading to the temple is about 40 metres in height. At the base the hillock is a image of Garuda, the Vahana or vehicle of Srinivasa.

The first thing that strikes a person when sees the temple is the beautiful Gopura. 

July and August (Shravana Maasa) are particularly busy months here as there are several festivals.

The temple is located in the small village of Guttahalli, 29 kms from Kolar.

The temple also has a idol of Padmavathi. The priest says it was installed sometime in the mid 19^th century.      

Is located 29 km from Kolar in place called Guttahalli. This is a very famous temple which resembles the famous Sri Venkateshwara Temple of Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh.The temple is built on rocks which dates back to Brigu Maharushi's days.At Guttahalli, you'll find the temple on a hillock that is about 40 metres high. Just below the hillock is Garuda, Vishnu's vehicle. The small Kalyani or water tank is sight to behold.

Another Tirupathi in Kolar is the Chikka Tirupati in Malur taluk. This is 40 kms from Bangalore.

It has a beautiful temple of  Prasanna Venkatesha. Here too he is standing with his consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi.

The right hand is in Varada hasta (the hand that grants boon to devotees). 

There is a beautiful legend that is associated with the deity. The Sthala Purana says that the main idol of Prasanna Venkatesha was consecrated by Agni,  the God of Fire.

The story of the temple is told in the Kandava Dhana Kanda of the Mahabharata. It says at the end of Dwaparayuga, Agni developed severe stomach pain and indigestion after accepting “Havis” (offerings) from yagnas performed during those days.

Agni came to Arjuna and Lord Sri Krishna and sought their help.
Arjuna asked Agni to eat the medicinal herbs in the Kandava forest.

Agni ate the entire medicinal forest. While Agni was devouring the forest, both Arjuna and Krishna stood guard so that the fire would not be extinguished. Unfortunately, Takshaka, the King of snakes, was trapped in the inferno and got injured.

When he came to know that Agni was the cause of the fire, an angry Takhsaka cursed Agni who suddenly lost his tejas (brightness).
Agni then approached Shiva from help. Shiva, in turn, advised Agni to pray to Vishnu for solace. Agni prayed to Vishnu who helped him regain the tejas.

A grateful Agni then consecrated the idol of Vishnu, or prasanna Venkatesha here. The idol is made from Krishna shila (black rock) and it is about three-and-a-half feet tall.

The right hand of the idol is held up towards the sky in what is called Aabhaya Hasta,  while in Tirupathi  the hand is pointed towards the Earth.

Each of the two temples is unique in its own way and you can visit both of them in a single day. Chika Tirupathi is just 45 kms from Hoskote.
If you are in south Bangalore, take the St John’s Road, Sarjapur Road and town and after the buys stand turn left for Chikka Tirupathi. You can also take the Whitefield, ITPL, Hope Farm Circle to the temple.

Both these temples conduct poojas and perform seves as per the practice at Tirupathi. The best occasion to visit the temples would be on Vaikunta Ekadashi which is a very specials occasion for Vishnu.