Abstract

Historically, there was no such thing as Karnataka state. In the beginning of 20th century, unifying all Kannada speaking areas into one was still a dream. Except for Mysore, most of Kannada areas were under the administration of non-Kannadigas, where Kannada language and culture were facing an extinction. This had historical causes. After the fall of Vijayanagara empire, Kannada was the official language only in Keladi and Mysore. After Keladi kingdom was annexed into Mysore in 1763 A.D., Mysore became the sole representative of Kannada. Even in Mysore Samsathana, Kannada was elbowed by other languages, especially by Marathi. Infact the prominence of Marathi was so high, that, there used to be ‘Double Daftar’ by which official papers were kept in two languages, namely, Kannada and Marathi. Though it was abolished by the English Commissioner, Mark Cubbon. With the ascendancy of the English in Mysore, Marathi gave way to English. Even though, Mysore’s administration was handed over to the Wodeyar ruler in 1881, Kannada did not get its rightful place, due to the predominance of the outsiders, particularly from administrators of Madras Province origin. Yet, Kannada managed to survive with the help of the life-support System in Mysore, which remained the core Kannada state. But the condition of Kannada in the remaining vast Kannada speaking areas was pitiable.