Characters from Karnataka History

2026-07-27

I've been reading about late colonial history of Karnataka (the state I grew up and live in) and here I mention a couple interesting characters I encountered.

First, Deputy Channabasappa. During the british rule, most of modern day Karnataka were either part of the Bombay presidency which was ruled by the British directly, or were part of the Hyderabad princely state ruled by the Nizams. In all those parts of Karnataka, even though Kannada was the primary language of the people, Marathi was the language of instruction in schools. Deputy Channabasappa had made it his life's mission to promote the use of Kannada as the medium of instruction in schools. This involved creating a curriculum, training teachers, and advocating for policy change. He was widely successful in his mission. He also ran a monthly Magazine "Matha" in Kannada to promote the language.

Second, Brajendra Nath Seal. He is the reason why Mysore state was the first princely state in the country to (see here) enfranchised women. Interestingly, he was also close friends with Narendranath Datta (also known as Swami Vivekananda). Seal headed a committee whose report recommended the removal of sex as a criterion for voting rights. The Mysore Legislative Council, under Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, adopted and passed the recommendation in 1923.

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