The White Kannadiga

A Britisher, he was born in Bangalore and he is today fondly remembered as the grandfather of archaelogical research of Karnataka. His magnum opus is a compilation, study and research of  nine thousand inscriptions or epigraphs of old Mysore region.

Apart from being an epigraphist of note, he was also an educationist and he took education to the village and introduced what is called the “hobli system” of education which is followed to this day.

At home in Kannada, he was also a master of Hindi and Sanskrit. Since he was a Britisher, English was his mother tongue.

Though scores of epigraphists have followed him and conducted path breaking research, his contribution still stands the test of  time and it is rated as one of the best works of its kind.

He built a house in Bangalore and it exists today, a tribute to the European style of building. He called it “Pen Rhiw”, which in Welsh language means “Top of the hill”. This magnificent house is situated on Sankey Road in Bangalore. It was built in 1873.

The house once belonged to the  B. Lewis Rice or Benjamin Lewis Rice (1837-1927) who is better known as Lewis Rice or B. L. Rice). He went to England to study and returned in 1860 with a degree in arts. The Mysore Government then appointed him as Principal of Bangalore High School, which later became the  precursor to Central College.
His industrious nature and dedication soon earned him a promotion and five years later, he was appointed as Inspector of Schools for Mysore and Coorg. He then became the Director of Public Instruction in Mysore and Coorg in 1868. It was during this period that he introduced the “hobli system” of education, whereby schools were started in important hoblis and this was the first attempt to bring education to the rural folk.

The Mysore Government then made him the Chief Census Officer in 1881 and Secretary to the Department of  Education in 1883.
Rice was a natural at learning languages. A year after becoming principal of Bangalore High School, he took the higher secondary examination in Kannada, Hindi and Sanskrit. He also learnt Tamil and Sanskrit. He was also one of the few foreigners to learn Grantha, a form of ancient script that is primarily used to write Tamil and Sanskrit texts.

As Inspector of Schools, he set Kannada question  papers for students of  Bangalore High School. His high degree of proficiency in Kannada can be gauged from the fact that in one of his reports he wrote about the rather low standard of Kannada of some of his students. This is remarkable for an Englishman whose mother tongue was English and not Kannada.

However, Rice’s fame rests not on these achievements but on his  epigraphical records. As Inspector of Schools, he traveled far and wide and visited nook and corner of  Mysore State. During these tours he came across many Kannada inscriptions in the vicinity of schools, temples and old buildings.

The inscriptions slowly aroused his interest and he began taking more interest in them. Coincidentally, the then Chief Commissioner of Mysore, L.B. Bowring, commissioned someone to take photographs of 150 inscriptions, most of them lying across several places in north Karnataka. Some of these photographs were given to him as he was considered to be an expert in Kannada. Thus began Rice’s tryst with epigraphy. This was in 1872.

Rice began deciphering the epigraphs. However, he was faced with one problem. Several of  the inscriptions were in Hale or old Kannada and neither Rice nor any scholar he knew understood it. Rice took the help of a scholar and set about deciphering the inscriptions.
In 1879, he brought out the first volume of Mysore inscriptions and subsequently several other volumes followed. Among all these volumes, experts rate the one on Shravanabelogala the best. Then came his magnum opus-Epigraphia Carnatica-which is a compilation of nine thousand inscriptions spread across Karnataka.

Epigraphia is the first such intensive and systematic survey of inscriptions in India. The works doe not merely have translations but it has complete transliterations and transcriptions of inscriptions.

Even to this day. the Epigraphia volumes are usually the most frequently-consulted books and it is a must for all epigraphists.
Unfortunately, Rice’s work on epigraphs slowed down as the government burdened him with the task of preparing Gazetteers for the State and for every district. This led to another masterpiece-the Mysore Gazetteer.

The first gazetteer was published in 1876 and the second in 1897.  Like Epigraphia, the Gazetteers are classics and both are reference books for students, teachers, scholars and bibliophiles.
In 1885, Rice was made part-time Director of Archaeological Research. Here, he spent 215 days scouring 654 towns and villages for historical relics. He then visited several taluks on his archaeological expeditions. He undertook these tours on his faithful white pony.

Rice had other works to his credit. The first work of his was ‘An Introduction to Sanskrit in 1868’. He then published a ‘Report on the 1881 Census, Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in Mysore and Coorg, and the Karnataka Bhasha Bhushana, a work on grammer.

In 1892, he discovered three inscriptions inscribed in rocks, carrying the same text of an edict of Asoka. In 1906, before retiring from service, he completed six volumes of ‘Bibliotheca Carnatica’, a collection of all major literary texts in Kannada, Sanskrit and other languages

Rice was married to Mary Sophia Garrett, the daughter of another missionary in Bangalore. The couple had ten children and lived in a large, beautiful bungalow on Sankey Road, which today houses an upmarket boutique. This is Pen Rhiw and Rice was perhaps its most famous occupant.  
Though Rice went back to England with his wife in 1906, he never forgot Kannada and Kannadigas. Once Rice came across a Kannadiga at an exhibition in in London in 1924.

Initially, Rice was circumspect as an Englishman would be. However, the ice melted soon and he burst out at the Kannadiga...   “Ayya, Kannadadalli matanadonave? Muddada Kannada kiviya mele bhidu tumba dinagaladuvu.”

Is this not remarkable. Look around you today and you find young people in Bangalore talking in half-baked English. Some of them seem to be ashamed of talking in Kannada. Here, we have a White man who spoke, wrote, translated and earned fame in Kannada. Truly, he is a White Kannadiga.

The Lenkarus of Bachihalli

Several centuries ago, it housed a huge Brahmin colony and, therefore, came to be known as Agrahara. Today, it is a small and sleepy village called as Bachihalli in Krishnarajpet taluk of Mandya district.

There is nothing extraordinary about the village. It is a human settlement as any other. There are a few temples and inscriptions. So what, you might ask. Such temples are there in almost every village in India.

On inscriptions, you might turn around and say that there are a “dime to a dozen” and what is so special about them. Yes, I would like to bring to light some lesser known facets of history that are buried in these inscriptions.

But first let me tell you about the village.

This is just six kilometres north-east of Krishnarajepet. The village and even the taluk are famous for pillar inscriptions-history that is written on pillars. These pillars may either form part of temples or stand in isolation.

The pillars tell a tale and those of Bachihalli have a special tale to relate. Many of the pillars have beautiful sculptures on them. They are an outstanding example of the Garuda tradition that was prevalent in the Hoysala period.

The Hoysala Emperors ruled over large parts of south India with their capital at Dwarasamudra in present day Hassan district. Some of the finest examples of Hoysala art and architecture can be found at Belur, Halebidu, Somanathapura and other places.

The Hoysala Emperors introduced a unique system of bodyguards called Garudas. These Garudas were exclusively devoted to guarding the Emperor and other members of the Royal family.

These Garudas enjoyed high position and they were totally dedicated to the cause of protecting the Emperor. They did not hesitate to even sacrifice their lives.

The Garudas would have slipped away into the realms of history but for these pillar inscriptions. The pillars at  Bachihalli stand mute testimony to the role of these magnificent warriors. Yes, they were primarily warriors who acted as the elite bodyguards.

Bachihalli has several such pillars and it was in ancient times a part of Kabbahu Nadu.

The first mention of the village as Bachiyahalli in an inscription dated 1244 A.D and as Bacheyahalli in 1251 A.D and 1291

A.D.

The village is an epigraphists’ delight as eight Hoysala inscriptions have been reported from here.

Apart from the Hoysala inscriptions, the Huniseshwara

temple is a typical Hoysala structure with a garbhagrtha, antarala, navaranaga and a mukhamantapa.

The temple is on an elevated place located at the centre of the

village and houses a Linga in its garbhagriha and Nandi in its antarala The main entrance of the temple and the central ceiling in the navaranga are attractively carved. The garbhagriha has a Dravidian shikhara.

On the outer wall of the navaranga, are sculptures of devakoshtas. There are three entrances to the mukhamantapa with steps.

There is a hero stone to the left of the temple. Near by are five

other hero stones in the form of memorial sculptures of heroes who died during different skirmishes or wars.

To the south of the Huniseshwara temple, there are three inscribed pillars of about fifteen feet height. These pillars were constructed  during the reign of Hoysala kings Ballala I and Narasimha III (1100 A.D.-1291A.D) in memory of the heroes or Garudas who

self immolated by sacrificing their lives for the welfare of the Hoysala kingdom and Hoysala kings.

These pillars poignantly depict the valour of seven generations of Garudas, belonging to Mugila sect of the Bananju family of Bachihalli in Kabbahu Nadu.

The carvings on these pillars represent Garuda Nayakas with their

queens and servants (Lenka-Lenkiti) travelling on an elephant to embrace the Garuda with utmost enthusiasm.

If you are an epigraphist or a person interested in the history of Hoysalas, then you are sure to find these pillars interesting. Some of the inscriptions refer to the Garudas killed on battlefield, trying to protect their Kings.

What is astonishing is that the inscription of  1256 AD deals exclusively with only one family and its sacrifices through generations. I am not sure of any other such epigraph anywhere else, at least, in Karnataka.

This unique pillar gives you the heartrending tale of Garudas commencing from Yereyanga to Someshwara. History says the Mugilu family were initially merchants. They ruled over Kabbahu Nadu before they took up arms in the Hoysala Army.    

By then, they had taken up the task of protecting this Agrahara and other surrounding villages in present day Krishnarajapet taluk. The Hoysalas let them be and inducted them in their Army.

The Mugilus then developed a  highly efficient and almost fool-proof system of protecting the villages and ensuring the safety of people. Subsequently, they began working as bodyguards to the Hoysala royal family.

They became so fiercely loyal to their employers that they preferred death to defeat and disgrace. They were so unquestionably loyal that when they died while on duty, their family and friends too died along with them-a “samuhika sati papampare” (collective sacrifice of lives involving family and relatives) unheard of anywhere in mediaeval India.

Even the wives of  these valiant men at arms sacrificed their lives at the altar of their husband’s funeral pyre.

The importance of the 1256 AD pillar is that it records for posterity the sacrifice of  the genealogy of all those bodyguards from the Mugila family: Gandanarayana Setty and his wife Nayaki Maravve, Hoysala Setty and his wife Nayaki Machavve, Koreyanayaka and Maravve, Shivaneyanayaka, Lakkeyanayaka and his wife Gangadevi, and Kanneyanayaka.

Over a period of time, these bodyguards also came to be called as Lenkaru, They were classified by villagers as war leaders who perpetuated the family tradition of  a class of Kannadigas who sacrificed their lives for their masters. It is these people who were allowed by the Hoysalas to administer the Kabbahu Nadu comprising Krishnarajapet and surrounding areas.  A few inscriptions here testify to this fact.

Therefore, the Garuda Kambas or Sthambas found here are better known as Garudahovudu and dedicated to the life and sacrifice of Lenkarus.

By the way, the village is all not history. The Shiva, Channakeshava and Bore Deva temples in the village all are Hoysala temples. They have been renovated. There are temples for  Bachalamma, Maramma, Mahalakshmi, Ningamma,  Sanideva and others. They are all recent in construction and are of no historical relevance.

There is a big ancient tank near the village. It is very picturesque.

Bachihalli is six kms away from Krishnarajepet which is well-cponnecetd by road from both Mandya and Mysore