Mysore Travel Guide — History & Tourist Information

Mysore takes its name from Mahishasura, a buffalo-demon of Hindu mythology said to have been slain nearby by the goddess Chamundeshwari — a legend still celebrated in the city's Dasara festival. The Wadiyar dynasty established their rule over the region in 1399, initially as feudatories of the Vijayanagara Empire, and Mysore grew into their capital as Vijayanagara's power declined through the 16th century.

In the mid-18th century, real power shifted to the Wadiyars' military commanders, Hyder Ali and then his son Tipu Sultan, who ruled the Kingdom of Mysore in all but name and famously resisted British expansion through four Anglo-Mysore Wars. Tipu Sultan was killed defending his capital, Seringapatam, in 1799, after which the British restored the Wadiyar family to the throne as rulers of a princely state under colonial paramountcy.

The current Mysore Palace, one of India's most visited monuments, was rebuilt in Indo-Saracenic style between 1897 and 1912 after a fire destroyed the old wooden palace, commissioned by the Wadiyar royal family with British architect Henry Irwin. The Wadiyars ruled until Indian independence, and their patronage — including a grand Dasara festival tradition dating back centuries — still shapes Mysore's identity as Karnataka's cultural capital.