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, ruled by the British directly, or the Hyderabad princely state ruled by the Nizams. In all those parts of Karnataka, despite Kannada being the primary lanugage of the people, Marathi was the language of instruction in Schools. Deputy Channabasappa 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 also ran a monthly Magazine "Matha" in Kannada to promote the language.

Second, Brajendra Nath Seal. He is the reason for the Mysore state being the first in the country to enfranchise women. Interestingly, he was 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 adopted and passed the recommendation in 1923.

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