VYSORE DISTRICT. 115 13 tuskers. Tigers and bison are also numerous, but the annual number of deaths from wild beasts has now been reduced to a low average. The other wild animals include bears, leopards, símbhar and spotted deer. The principal winged game are pea-fowl, jungle-fowl, and bustard History. —The history of Mysore District is mainly identical with the general history of the State. The banks of the sacred Kaveri (Cauvery) abound in legends, associated with every rapid and island, some of which refer back to the times of the Mahabhárata. The earliest mention of Mysore is found on a tablet of the Buddhist monarch Asoka, 245 B.C., but the identification is somewhat doubtful. The first authentic record refers to the city of Talkad on the Káveri, near the eastern portion of the District, which was the capital at one time of the Kongus or Gangas line of kings, who ruled in Southern India from the 3rd to the 9th century A.D. The Kongus or Gangas were succeeded by the Cholas, in their turn overthrown by the Hoysala Ballála dynasty, who have left monuments and inscriptions throughout the District. The chief cities at this period were Talkad, Nagarapura, Dorasamudra, and Somnathapura. In the 14th century, the Hoysala Ballála line came to in end, and the Vijayanagar sovereigns became paramount throughout the South. Their viceroy, known as Srí-ranga-ráyal, from his residence at Seringapatam, levied tribute from the surrounding country so far as it did not fall under the dominion of semi-independent feudatory chiefs. Among these feudatory chiefs the Wodeyars of Mysore gradually rose into prominence. The family cannot boast of any great antiquity. The first of the name is said to have arrived, from Dwarka in Kathiáwár, as an adventurer at the little village of Hadanáru in the 14th or 15th century, and to have won the hand of the heiress of the local pálegár by his chivalrous conduct. It was not till 1524 that the fort of Mysore was built, on the site of a village formerly named Puragere, and named Mahesh-úru, buffalo town, from Mahesh - úsura, the buffalo-headed monster whose destruction is the most noted exploit of the goddess Káli. The Wodeyars henceforth rapidly grew in power, until in 1610 they obtained possession of Seringapatam from the last of the Vijayanagar viceroys, whether by force or stratagem is uncertain. From this event may be dated the foundation of the Hindu kingdom of Mysore, which continues to the present day. The Wodeyars appear always to have remained on good terms with the Muhammadan invaders, who about this time came down from the north. The Bijapur armies under the Marátha Shahjí did not advance so far as this remote corner ; but when these arinies were ov by the Mughals, the Wodeyar of Mysore contrived to obtain his share of the plunder. In 1687 he purchased from Kasim Khán, the general
