Mysore district

Mysore District (: ಮೈಸೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ) is an administrative located in the southern part of the state of,. A tourist's paradise with varied attractions from to ; this district has a prominent place in the history of. was ruled by the s from the year 1399 till the independence of in the year 1947. Mysore's prominence can be gauged from the fact that the state was known previously as  state.

Origin of Name
Mysore district gets its name from the city of which is also the headquarters of the district. A statue of, after whom the city is named, and a temple dedicated to on the top of  near  city, relate to the legend of its origin.

History
The earliest known reference of rulers in Mysore district are the who during the rule of King Avinitha (469-529 CE), moved the capital from  to  on the banks of the river  in the  Taluk Talakad remained their regal capital till the end of the Ganga rule in the early 11th century. ruled over a greater part of Mysore district, then known by the name of Gangavadi. In the end of the 8th century, the Rashtrakuta king defeated the Ganga king  and wrested Gangavadi from him. Gangavadi came under the governorship of Kambarasa, the son of. Gangas who were overthrown from Gangavadi, had to wait till their king Nitimarga Ereganga (853 - 869 CE) won a victory against the Rashtrakutas at Rajaramudu. Seeing the increasing might of the Gangas, the Rashtrakuta King gave his daughter Revakanimmadi in marriage to the son of Ereganga,  who became the ruler of Gangavadi. Gangas ruled over Gangavadi till the Ganga king, Rakkasa Ganga (985-1024 CE) was defeated by the s. In the year 1117,, the great king of dynasty seized Gangavadi and its capital  from the Cholas. To commemorate this achievement, built the Keerthinarayana temple at. Gangavadi was ruled by the s till the death of their last ruler, after which Gangavadi became a part of the. In 1399, Yaduraya established the Wodeyar dynasty at. It remained as a feudatory to the owing allegiance to the Vijayanagar kings and the Vijayanagar representative at, till the fall of the  in the year 1565 CE. In the vacuum that got created, Raja Wodeyar I (1578-1617) established control and became the first major ruler of the Wodeyar family. He defeated the Vijayanagar representative in a battle at Kesare near Mysore, shifted his capital from Mysore to in 1610 AD. The Wodeyars continued to rule over Mysore till the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II (1734-1766), when Khan and his son  became the virtual rulers of Mysore. Though there were Wodeyar kings during the rule of and, they were mere figureheads. With the death of in the year 1799 under the hands of the, the Wodeyars were reinstated to the throne of  and the capital was also shifted back to. Prince Krishnaraja Wodeyar III who was just 5 years old was installed on the throne of Mysore in 1799. Wodeyars were the subisidaries of the and had to pay annual subsidies. During the rule of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, the British took the kingdom back from Wodeyars in the year 1831 under the pretext that the Wodeyar king did not pay the annual subsidy. Commissioners were appointed to rule over the Mysore kingdom. Mark Cubbon (Cubbon Road and Cubbon Park in city are named after him) and L. B. Bowring (Bowring Hospital in  city is named after him) were the prominent British Commissioners who ruled over Mysore. However, the Wodeyar kings raised a plea against this with the British Parliament who gave a ruling favour of the Wodeyars. In the year 1881, (son of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III and Wodeyar king since 1868) was given back the reins of the Mysore kingdom from the British. The Wodeyars continued to rule over the Mysore Kingdom, till the rule of who in the year 1947, merged his Kingdom into the new dominion of independent. He remained as a Maharaja till became a republic in the year 1950 after which he was anointed as a Raja Pramukh (a constitutional position) as the head of the [Mysore] state till 1956. In 1956, after the reorganisation of Indian states, the state was born and  was made as the governor of this state; the position which he held till the year 1964.

Geography
Mysore district is located between latitude 11°45' to 12°40' N and longitude 75°57' to 77°15' E. It is bounded by to the northeast,  district to the southeast,  state to the south,  district to the west, and  to the north. It has an area of 6,854 km² (ranked 12th in the state). The administrative center of Mysore District is City. The district is a part of. Before 1998, Mysore district also contained the.

The district lies on the undulating table land of the southern plateau, within the watershed of the, which flows through the northwestern and eastern parts of the district. The reservoir, which was formed by building a dam across the, lies on the northern edge of the district. lies partly in Mysore district and partly in adjacent District.

Climate
The temperature in the district varies from 15 deg. C in winters to 35 deg. C in summers. Mysore district receives an average rainfall of 785mm.

Geology
The types of soil found in this district are red soils (red gravelly loam soil, red loam soil, red gravelly clay soil, red clay soil), lateritic soil, deep black soil, saline alluvo-colluvial soil and brown forest soil. Some of the minerals found in this district are, , , , , , , , , , , siliconite and

Economy
is the backbone of the economy of this district as it is with the rest of. Though the agriculture is highly dependent on the rainfall, the rivers and  provide the irrigation needs required for agriculture in this district. According to the 2001 census, about 3,25,823 farmers are involved in cultivation in this district. In the year 2001-2002, Mysore district yielded a foodgrain production of 608,596 Tonnes which is a contribution of 6.94% of the total food grain production in the state for the year. Some of the important crops grown here are, , , , , , , , and. is another area contributing significantly to the economy; especially the production in  Taluk.

Industries
Industries in Mysore district are mainly concentrated around the cities of and. Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has established six industrial areas in Mysore district to encourage Industrial Development of the district. These are located at Belagola, Belawadi, Hebbal (Electronic City), Hootagalli, Nanjangud and Thandavapura.

Some of the major industries located near city are:
 * Vikrant Tyres Ltd. - Manufacturer of tyres
 * Automotive Axles Ltd. - Manufacturer of axles
 * Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML) - Manufacturer of heavy machinery
 * Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC) - Manufacturer of silk garments
 * TVS Ltd. - Manufacturer of motor vehicles and parts
 * Larsen and Tubro Limited (Manufacturer of medical equipments and Electronic meters)

Some of the major industries located in are:
 * India Ltd
 * AT&S India Pvt Ltd.
 * TVS Motor Company
 * Bannari Amman Sugars Ltd
 * South India Paper Mills
 * S Kumars Reid & Taylor
 * Raman Boards
 * Jubilant Organosys
 * Bacardi Martini India Ltd.
 * Max Pharma

Information Technology
Mysore is proving to be the next IT hub in after the phenomenal success of. The Government of has recognised  as the numero uno among the 20 Tier II cities of  for thr promotion of IT industry. Currently, all of the IT related industries are concentrated around the city. The Software Technology Park (STP) in was inaugurated in  in the year 1998 by the  of,. As of Aug-2006, there are 42 companies registered with the Mysore STP. Software exports from Mysore are expected to double to about Rs. 850 crores in the financial year 2006-07 from previous year's exports of Rs. 400 crores. Some of the major IT Companies located here are:
 * Infotech
 * WeP Peripherals Ltd. (earlier known as Wipro ePeripherals Ltd.)
 * Technologies
 * Software Paradigms (India)
 * Infotech (L & T)

Tourism
Tourism is another big industry in. The importance of as a tourist destination was evident when it was selected as the venue for the Karnataka Tourism Expo in the year 2006. Though city is well known as a tourist place, other parts of Mysore district are yet to see growth in tourism. However, the tourism department plans to develop other areas in Mysore district like Bettadapura, Hedathali, Kapadi, Mudukuthore Betta, Mugur, and  as tourist places.

Divisions
Mysore district is divided into three subdivisions,, and. The Mysore district administration is headed by the Deputy Commissioner who also has the additional role of a District Magistrate. Assistant Commissioners, Tahsildars, Shirastedars (revenue official at Tahsil level), Revenue inspectors and Village Accountants help the Deputy Commissioner in the administration of the district. city is the headquarters of the district. It lies on the north eastern part of the district and is well known for its beautiful palaces and also for the festivities that take place during.

Mysore district consists of the following seven Taluks:

Mysore district elects 11 members to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Karnataka. The 11 assembly constituencies are:
 * Chamaraja, Krishnaraja, Narasimharaja, Chamundeshwari (belonging to city)

district also elects 1 member to the, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. The Mysore Lok Sabha constituency consists of all the Assembly constituencies mentioned above except for, and  which belong to the  Lok Sabha constituency.

Demography
Mysore district has a population of 2,641,027 (2001 census), of which 1,344,670 (50.91%) are males and 1296357 (49.09%) are females. The district population is 37.19% urban and 62.81% rural. The literacy rate of the district is 63.5% with 71% of males and 56% of females being literate. 82.8% of urban population and 51.8% of rural population are literate.

s constitute 87.44% of the population with s making up 8.87% of the population; the remaining part of the population is made up by, and other religious groups.

is the dominant language in this district.

,, Paniya and Panjari s and s are some of the ethnic groups found in Mysore district. Their population is mainly concentrated in the and  Taluks; in and around the region comprising the  National Park.