Ursu Community Education System in the past Century.
Ursu Community Education System in the early 1900s
Mysore kingdom and the rulers came into prominence after the down fall of Vijayanagara Kingdom , as a model state with keen interest in modernisation of the state with lot of its natural mineral wealth and tax paying capacity to the British, who entered into ruling Mysore indirectly after the fall of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan who had usurped the reigns of the Mysore. It was the British who kept the state under their rule, when the Mysore maharaja was very young.
The importance of modern education was well understood by the rulers all over India. In this category, you can very well note the princely Kingdoms of Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bhavnagar, were foremost, and they were more keen that their princes get educated with good command of English and other subjects and join the local or the British Army with nothing less than a Kings Commission. Education was one of the crucial British policy which was used to control Indian princes. The earliest institutions which started as the School/College for the Princes and Nobles of India, were: Mayo College, Ajmer, Rajasthan. (founded October 1875); Daly College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh (since 1870); RajKumar Coleege, Rajkot, Gujarat ( since 1870) . In 1901, military training was extended for the first time to the Raj’s Indian subjects, in the form of the Imperial Cadet Corps (ICC). The ICC was a failure. It was resurrected as the Prince of Wales’ Royal Indian Military College, founded in 1923 as a preparatory school for Indian cadets proceeding to Sandhurst; and after 1932, to the Indian Military Academy. One of the Mysore Ursus(ಅರಸು) wrote the ideals of the Urs as 'we cannot simply boast that our ancestors were fighters, warriors and a martial race. We should , in addition, cultivate the nobler instincts of the human race'. The aim was to become a cultured, educated with noble manners to be called an Ursu Kshatriya. They wanted to be at par with all the elite princes of the Rajputana area. The Mysore royals wanted to imbibe modern education to the city and village residing Ursus as well. One of the objectives of the Urs community educational policy was to make the Urs community significant and influential in public sphere in Mysore, not by their numbers but by their cultural capital. Being noble, no matter what it signify exactly, became the core of their caste identity.
The Wodeyar rulers of Mysore are kshatriyas. All the royals and close relative Ursus were all living around the Mysore Palace inside the fort till about 1900s.. Ursus mostly lived in Mysore city and scattered in the adjoining districts , and the rural group practicing agriculture, mostly in Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar areas. The Urs follow Vaishnava, Shaiva and a small group Jainism. Whatever religious practices were followed by the ruling Mysore king, usually spread to the Ursus following the palace customs. Urs has broadly three groups: Palace Ursu (ಅರಮನೆ ಅರಸು ) and the Bahadur(ಬಹದ್ದೂರ್) or Kumar(ಕುಮಾರ) Ursu, and Village Ursu (ಬಡ ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಅರಸು ) . Both had different following/grouping which was known as" manetana" or your origins and area of influence. There were 13 and 18 "manetana"( ಮನೆತನ) respectively. The first 13 were direct descendents of the Maharaja through his officially recognised, religiously conducted marriages. As you know, the Wodeyars and princes were polygamous, and had several wives from the first 13 and other 18 groups, and at times going beyond the 31 also. The official public- witnessed marriage decided who the Maharani is . Her male progeny alone could claim the throne and not the other males from the 31 ” manetana".
The modern education system indirectly enforced by the British on north Indian Princely states, was also accepted by the Mysore palace for its clan of rulers, its own close circle of relatives and the other Ursu caste members. The Mysore royals wanted to imbibe modern education to the city and village residing Ursus as well. For this purpose, palace established boarding schools for all the Ursus and the full boarders were from poor and village living groups and the city dwelling elite and rich Ursus were day scholars only.
English education was started in the year 1833 when Krishnaraja Wodeyar III founded a free English school at Mysore on the suggestions of Col. Fraser, the then British Resident. (this was the first established English school in the year 1833, the school could not make much progress for want of much taste for English education on the one hand, and of proper supervision on the other. This institution did not flourish for a long time. Only a very limited boys took advantage of it. In the year 1840, Maharaja handed over the school to the Wesleyan Mission.) After the death of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, Col.J.B. Malleson was sent to Mysore as a guardian of the young Maharaja Chamarajendra Wodeyar, who was then 6 years of age. Most of the British Officers who came to govern Mysore Princely State, were with the Army ranks and with discipline and obedience etched in their careers, which they wanted to implement wherever they go, much before studying the local history, culture and religion. They certainly were not educators, but, some of them did good jobs no doubt.. When Malleson arrived in Mysore, he found that young Maharaja had no external exposure and his education could hardly be said to have begun. Within two months of his arrival, Malleson started the royal school for the young Maharaja, sons of the nobles, state officers and important Ursus, of Mysore city. His task, however, was not simply to arrange and organize suitable educational measures for the Maharaja and the young royals, but , to instruct if necessary.
The newly established royal school was mainly run by two highly educated Brahmins, both of whom were in their twenties. Apart from education in history, geography, dictation and arithmetic taught by the Brahmin school masters, field sports, such as cricket and riding ponies, were regarded as important part of the young Maharaja’s education. Traditionally, mathematics was considered to be unnecessary for Kshatriya classes. In fact, seven year old Chamaraja Wodeyar was struggling to learn arithmetic, which was his weakest subject. A faction in palace officials consisting of a former minister, the influential priests, and two maharanis dominated the affairs of the palace, and resisted modern education. Malleson reported to the Commissioner of Mysore, to appoint an European school mistress for the education of the women of the palace( may be that he wanted Maharanis also in this group). The subjects taught in the Maharaja’s classes during the year 1900- 1901 when he was sixteen years old, were history, political economy, English, science, mathematics, Kannada, Urdu, drawing. The history taught to the young Maharaja was all derived from books written in English by British authors. In addition to these subjects of general education, the Maharaja had two hours a day set aside for the study of so called special subjects like basic elements of state administration, legislation, the taxation system and other aspects related to general administration. Besides the general education, the tour was another important component of Maharaja’s education. In the year 1900-1901 Maharaja of Mysore was on tour for 26 days to provincial places and for 44 days on a foreign tour to Burma. After he became Maharaja in 1902, he spent even more time on tour.
In the year 1918, the future Rajarshi (ರಾಜರ್ಷಿ ), Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV ordered a survey to be conducted of Urs caste members living in villages. This was performed by three Ursu royals, visiting a number of villages in Mysore State and in the Coimbatore and Salem districts in Madras Presidency. They made enquiries, collected statistics from 112 villages, and submitted a report to the Maharaja about the economic and social condition of Urs caste members. The survey indicated that most of the Urs community people lived in villages as poor agriculturists (ಬಡ ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಅರಸು ) struggling to survive. Following the 1918 survey, by the initiative of some enthusiastic elderly Urs, the first caste association, entitled the `Urs Sangha' (ಅರಸು ಸಂಘ ), was formed. The inaugural meeting was held in 1920 in the house of Diwan M. Kantharaj Urs, maternal uncle of the Maharaja. But, the Urs Committee,(formed under palace management in 1916) , seemed to have become a more authoritative body, determining very largely the social and economic life of the community. This committee, presided over by the Huzur Secretary (the superior palace officer - non-Urs in most cases), consisted of several Urs from distinguished families of Urs Proper. They discussed questions such as grants and the transfer of stipends, the grant of loans for agricultural and other purposes, adoption in the community, grants of presents and honours for marriages and other functions. Since there were few Urs who could claim a direct blood relationship with the Maharaja's family, they received substantial stipends equivalent to a higher officer's salary, about Rs. 500 per month, the bulk of stipends was made up of small allotments as low as Rs. 10 per month in the case of Town Urs, going down to Rs. 2 or even less in the case of Village Urs. They also discussed to reform their social and cultural customs, and abolished certain rituals, for example the "Kasi Yatre" (ಕಾಶಿ ಯಾತ್ರೆ) during the marriage ritual, which seemed unnecessary and wasteful.
The predecessor of the Chamarajendra Urs Boarding School was the Royal School established within the palace by the former Maharaja, and renamed following his death in commemoration. The original purpose of the Royal School was to provide lower primary education to little Maharajas and royals, Urs boys from distinguished families, and Brahmins and Muslim boys from respectable families in the city. When the Royal School was replaced with a scheme of private education for the Maharaja in 1892, the" Chamarajendra Urs School and Home" was opened in Nazarbad, outside the Mysore Fort . The Urs student home was renamed the "Chamarajendra Urs Boarding School" sometimes in the late 19th century. After the government lower secondary examination was started in 1895, the Urs boarding school established five forms( class levels) leading up to this examination. In order to elevate the Urs community, the Maharaja admitted the sons and daughters of these rural Urs community students to boarding schools in Mysore city and sanctioned scholarships to village pre-primary school children who could not be admitted to hostels in Mysore. In 1913, the Vani Vilas Girls School was established by the order of the Maharaja and given a dormitory building in 1915. Despite the fact that most of the Urs girls living in Mysore city were still practicing further, the Maharaja was very keen on educating Urs community girls. It is interesting to see here that giving education to the girls and keeping girls behind purdha not apparently opposing ideas. The purpose of girls education was still mainly to create healthy house-wives who were capable of looking after the household. The Urs community members who lived in villages took full advantage of the boarding school and also avail the scholarship benefits extended by the Maharaja.
In February 1919, the Chamarajendra Urs boarding school authorities decided to introduce ragi(ರಾಗಿ ) at breakfast time on every Saturday in order to give variety to school meals. Certain students were discontented with this decision, and misbehaved by doing such things as throwing ragi mudde (ರಾಗಿ ಮುದ್ದೆ)at the walls of the dining hall.( boarders may have misinterpreted the decision and felt disregarded or discriminated against by the fact that they had to eat ragi even after they came to the city, the denizen of rice eaters). The authority took this incident seriously and made a decision to dismiss nine students from the school and demoted two students from boarders to day-boarders. Ragi , the millet which is even now widely consumed in rural areas in southern Karnataka. It is grown on land that is too poor or dry for the cultivation of rice. The area around Mysore and Mandya districts where most of the Urs community people live, is the richest area for rice production owing to its modern irrigation system and abundant water resources. However, even in rural area where people cultivate rice, it is ragi which is mainly consumed, rather than more costly rice, which is exported to cities. Therefore, white Akki (rice) and black ragi (millet) are the very metaphor of city and village. Considering this, the reason why the boarders of Urs boarding school, most of whom were from rural areas, misbehaved seemed to be more complex than simple conclusion of school authorities that this was simply a sign of loose morality of inferior students.
In September 1926, 27 students were dismissed from the school for having misbehaved in defiance of the school authorities (the precise offence is unclear) and instigated others to do the same. The students made statements about this incident at the request of the authorities. Due to the fact that some of them never apologised, the school authorities concluded that they were instigated by outsiders. While the authorities continued to investigate this incident by hearing students' opinions, in January of the following year, they determined that four students were the main instigators and rejected their request for readmission. The remaining students, who apologised, were readmitted and their scholarships were restored It is apparent that there was an obvious difference between 'the haves' and 'the have nots' in the Urs Boarding School . Day-scholars were Town Urs who came to the school in their own cars with a driver and whose families had sufficient wealth to afford private tutors for their children after school. On the other hand , the boarders from the villages were Bada Urs (poor Urs) and they had to leave the school if the authorities increased the hostel fee or stopped their scholarship from the palace. Among the Urs Boarding School committee members, British officer T. Denhain, who had been president of the committee, regarded this economic inequality as an important matter. He was often offended by the fact that even the students from well-to-do families would receive palace scholarships and that no effort of any sort was made to allow for or correct the difference between them and the poorer students. For the Urs, this difference between Urs Proper (or Town Urs) and Bada Urs (or Village Urs) was fundamentally a social and cultural difference rather than simply economic . This perception of social and cultural difference is clearly demonstrated by the very efforts made in more recent times by wealthier Bada Urs to raise their status by establishing marriage relationships with Urs Proper . The Urs, who occupied important positions such as the village head, were closer to the conception of a gentry class in its original connotation. But the tendency of Bada Urs youth was to aim for better paid appointments as officers or clerks in the city following their graduation, rather than return to the village . What was expected of Bada Urs youths who studied in the school was the restoration to the villages and rural areas of a new moral way of life. The contradictory desire of the Bada Urs youths to become clerks and to continue residing in the city, amounted to a failure of the boarding school and scholarships project as it was conceived after 1920.
A bit of Statistics is shown below:
In 1892, the Boarding School had 3 Forms (class levels) with 30 students; in 1930, 5 Forms ( class levels) and 145 students; in 1942, 8 Forms (class levels), 114 boarders and 13 day-scholars, total 127.
In the Vani Vilasa Girls School, in 1913 , 4 forms, 20 day scholars; in 1941, 9 forms,89 boarders, 73 day scholars totalled 162.
Higher education of students from the Chamarajendra Urs Boarding School was as follows:
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The statistics to update
to the present level, is not available. (Any uptodate information may kindly be sent for updating.)
It is concluded that the introduction and acceptance of western education was not a simple process of imitation. It was a process entangled with local culture and social elements and their caste members.
(References: Internet web pages, Shodhganga,Thesis of Dr. Aye Ikegame)
In 1918, Nanjaraja Bahadur Educational Charity Fund Boarding Home was started for those Ursu children from the Mysore City and village areas, for their basic education. Here, some boys have completed their graduation also. The grants were founded by Lingajammanni Avaru and the interest on the funds were paid from the Palace Office, since the beginning. They did not have their own building as such. But, they were operating from rented accommodation for all the boarders. The Institution was gifted with dry and wet lands for supporting the boarders by donors who cared for the development.. Those Ursu children who were not boarders, were given educational scholarships, such as exemption of tuition fees etc, in the government and private educational institutions, at Mysore and mofussil areas, as advised by the Palace Office.
The Institution got a site in KR Vanam, Mysore, somewhere in the early fifties, when Col. D.C. Nanjaraja Bahadur, was the President of the Institution. Later on, with the donations from benevolent members of the community, a few rooms were built for living space for the scholars and kitchen. When the management of this Institution became difficult to manage, the Place Office transferred the responsibilities to “Shri Rama Seva Arasu Mandali” and this body is looking after the management.This gradually became larger and spacious, when Shri B.N.Bahadur of USA, as Patron, gave lot of funds to build a community hall in memory of his father, Late. M.B.Basavraja Bahadur, which served as a community hall for performing marriages etc.,. The space was rented out to outsiders when there was no occupation by the community members. Even now, scholars are allowed rooms for their stay, but, boarding is not provided.
This institution, has been giving for the past more than two decades, yearly educational scholarships to students from Matriculation level to Graduation and Post Graduation levels in all the streams. They also gave scholarships for those who took up technical courses like Diploma in various branches and Graduates in Engineering and medicine too. They have supported a Doctoral Student of Engineering also. They have special scholarships for those who score the highest marks in Mathematics and in Grand Total for Matriculation, PU levels and above. Apart from these, they have given yearly help to handicapped and other unsupported aged rural Ursus.
Recently, in 2018, the Institution celebrated the Centenary with HH Yaduveerji as the Chief Guest. The Institution plans a Centenary Hall and the plan is in action now in 2020.
(Any uptodate information may kindly be sent for updating.)
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