Dewan of Mysore

Dewan of the Kingdom of Mysore
Dewan of the Kingdom of Mysore
ದಿವಾನರು
Style	The Honourable Dewan Bahadur
Status	Abolished
Reports to	Maharaja of Mysore
Seat	Mysore, Kingdom of Mysore
Appointer	Maharaja of Mysore
Term length	4 years or at the pleasure of the Maharaja
Precursor	Dalvoy
Formation	1782
First holder	K. Purnaiah
Final holder	Sir A.R. Mudaliar
Abolished	1950
Succession	Chief Minister of Mysore

The dewan of Mysore (sometimes spelled diwan) was the de facto chief executive officer of the Government of Mysore (now Government of Karnataka), ex officio chairman of the Dewan's Council (now Cabinet), and the prime minister and royal adviser to the maharaja of Mysore. The role evolved in title and duties since the foundation of the fiefdom of Mysore in 1350 and its proper reformation into a kingdom in the following centuries until the kingdom's full abolishment in 1950. With the constitution of India into a republic in 1950, the position was replaced by Chief Minister of Mysore (later renamed Chief Minister of Karnataka).^[1]

From offering minor political advice to the monarch as amatya (Sanskrit for minister) like in the Vijayanagara Empire to later acting as a major military chieftain as dalvoy^[2] (Kannada for military chief) like in other southern kingdoms to being the head of the government as dewan (Persian/Urdu for accountant or chief adviser) like in the Ottoman Empire, the role has transmuted in powers over time.

From being handpicked by the monarch to being elected through popular suffrage, the mode of appointment and appointer also changed.

^ The statesman's year-book : statistical and historical annual of the states of the world for the year 1957. S. H. Steinberg, Palgrave Connect (94th annual publication, rev. after official returns ed.). London: Macmillan. 1957. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-230-27086-2. OCLC 609408233.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ Dallapiccola, A. L. (July 1997). "Mysore royal Dasara. By Swami Sivapriyananda, photographs by Gajendra Singh Auwa pp. 160, 137 col. illus. New Delhi, Abhinav Publications, 1995. Rs 1800". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 7 (2): 306–307. doi:10.1017/s1356186300009044. ISSN 1356-1863. S2CID 162104644.

[:0-1] The statesman's year-book : statistical and historical annual of the states of the world for the year 1957. S. H. Steinberg, Palgrave Connect (94th annual publication, rev. after official returns ed.). London: Macmillan. 1957. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-230-27086-2. OCLC 609408233.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

[2] Dallapiccola, A. L. (July 1997). "Mysore royal Dasara. By Swami Sivapriyananda, photographs by Gajendra Singh Auwa pp. 160, 137 col. illus. New Delhi, Abhinav Publications, 1995. Rs 1800". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 7 (2): 306–307. doi:10.1017/s1356186300009044. ISSN 1356-1863. S2CID 162104644.

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