P.T. Bopanna - Rise and Fall of the Coorg State: Kodagus Loss, Karnatakas Gain

Excerpts from an article written by Hilton Brown, ICS, in Blackwoods Magazine, titled The Astonishing Land of Coorg published in November, 1922. Brown was the District Magistrate in Coorg in the 1920s.

There is just one disconcerting feature about the Coorgs their ready willingness to be dominated by the outsider. If an Apparanda or a Kodandera or a Nadikerianda or any other of the fine old Coorg families should chance to read this, he will probably buckle on his Odikatti, his war-knife, and set out for my blood. For the Coorgs profession is all to the contrary, but the fact remains.

I have made mention of the odd history of the Coorg Rajas how they, being foreigners of a different country and caste, succeeded not only in raising themselves to the throne by ousting the indigenous Nayaks and chieftains, but even in imposing on the people of the country a despotism of terror which must be very nearly unequalled in civilized history.

.I have seen and heard a fourth rate Madarassi Vakil talk over an assembly of Coorgs, any one of whom was worth a dozen of him. But they (Coorgs) give in and were dominated; he (the outsider) opened his mouth and they (Coorgs) were dumb.The Coorg (Kodava) can think for himself, and he ought to; but very often he wont.

I thank Mr C.M. Ramachandra, former Editorial Representative of The Hindu at Bangalore, for agreeing to write the foreword for this book. In fact, he had also written the foreword for the Kannada edition of my book Discover Coorg.

Mr Ramachandra is probably the most suitable person to write the foreword for this book because he was the Coorg Correspondent of The Hindu in the early 1950s and had a ring-side view of the developments which culminated in the merger of the Coorg State with the erstwhile Mysore State.

I made an unusual request to Mr C.P. Belliappa, renowned author, to write a chapter for this book. Mr Belliappa is the son of Mr C.M. Poonacha, who was the Chief Minister of the Coorg State, and had played a pivotal role in the dramatic developments leading to the merger of Coorg. Mr Belliappa has written an insightful overview of the developments. He has recalled how his father was caught in a catch-22 situation in the run-up to the merger.

I thank Dr Sandeep Shastri, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Jain University, Bangalore, and a well-known political scientist, for contributing a chapter to the book, on the issue of statehood for Kodagu.

I am grateful to Boverianda M. Chinnappa and Dr Boverianda Nanjamma Chinnappa, writers and researchers, for going through the manuscript of this book. The couple had also gone through the manuscripts of my book Discover Coorg and its Kannada edition.

My special thanks to my young friend Franz Mendonsa for designing the cover page for this book. Franz has since left for the United States to pursue his masters in entertainment technology at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University.

I wish to thank Mr Pattamada Sundar Muthanna, writer, for his valuable suggestions on packaging the book and for the catchy blurb on the back cover page.

Ever since the merger of the Coorg State with Karnataka in 1956, there has been a blame game in Kodagu as to who were the leaders or leader responsible for the sell-out. It is not the purpose of this book to engage in any such blame game. Being a journalist, I have tried to analyse objectively the circumstances leading to the merger and its aftermath. My task was made difficult due to the fact that not much of written records were available on the unfolding drama resulting in the merger. As none of the dramatis personae in the drama wrote their memoirs, there have been many grey areas in documenting the developments, culminating in the merger.

In the circumstances, I invited C.P. Belliappa, well-known author and son of C.M. Poonacha, the Chief Minister of the erstwhile Coorg State to write a note in this book on the merger issue.

I echo the sentiments expressed by Belliappa in his note on the merger which states: It is for the reader to decide whether there were betrayals, back-room dealings, and opportunistic decisions; or was it all in the larger interest of the newly formed nation.

Even more than 50 years after the merger of Coorg with Karnataka, many people in Kodagu, especially the Coorgs (Kodavas), feel betrayed by the loss of statehood and the step-motherly treatment being meted out by successive state governments to their native land.

In the circumstances, I requested an outsider, Dr Sandeep Shastri, an academician, to give his opinion on the merger of Kodagu with the larger state of Karnataka and the effects of the merger on Kodagu. In his note, specially written for this book, Dr Shastri discusses on the present feasibility of seeking separate statehood status for Kodagu. He has also prescribed the ideal road map for political action by those demanding separate statehood.

I have tried to highlight the neglect suffered by Kodagu after the merger with Karnataka. This book could serve as an alarm bell for the authorities to take remedial actions and put Kodagu back on the developmental path.

P.T. Bopanna

When my esteemed friend, Mr P.T. Bopanna, professional colleague and author of this book, invited me to write a foreword for this well documented publication, I was both thrilled and elated because of the opportunity I got to recall with nostalgia the glorious four years I spent in Madikeri savoring the lavish beauty of the land and lasting friendships with a cross-section of the people, one of the finest among the Indian demographic mosaic, which had given meaning to the fresh democratic life it enjoyed as a Part C State. My stay in Coorg, now Kodagu, was almost co-terminus with the career of the Lilliputian State, enriched my personal and professional equipment.