1947 – 1948
DocumentedKodagu's soldiers in the new republic's first war
K. M. Cariappa commands Indian forces on the Western Front in the 1947–48 war; K. S. Thimayya commands in the same theatre.
Chapter six
Independence and Coorg State
For six years after the Constitution came into force, Coorg was a state of the Indian Union in its own right — one of the smallest — before being merged into Mysore in the reorganisation of 1956.
1950
A Part C State
DocumentedThe Constitution of 1950 classified Coorg as a Part C State, administered by a Chief Commissioner with an elected legislative council and a council of ministers.
Elections were held for a small legislature, and C. M. Poonacha headed the government as chief minister. The state's revenue came largely from coffee and forest; its administrative machinery was inherited almost intact from the colonial province.
Coorg's leaders were divided over its future. One current argued that a district of this size could not sustain statehood; another held that separate status protected a distinct language and land tenure. Both arguments were made in public and both are documented — the question of what Kodagu lost or gained in 1956 remains a live political argument rather than a settled historical judgement.
1956
The States Reorganisation Act
DocumentedSources & Further Reading
- Parliament of India, The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 (Act No. 37 of 1956), 1956
- Parliament of India, Mysore State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1973, 1973
- The Hindu, Coorg and the reorganisation of states, 2013
- Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, District Census Handbook: Kodagu, Karnataka (Census of India 2011), 2011
Figure
The chief minister of a state that lasted six years
1910–1990
DocumentedC. M. Poonacha
Chief Minister of Coorg State
Headed the government of Coorg State, the small Part C State that existed from 1950 until its merger into Mysore State in 1956, and later held office in Karnataka and at the centre.
Chronology
Events after 1947
15 January 1949
DocumentedCariappa becomes Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
K. M. Cariappa takes over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief, serving until 14 January 1953. He is later promoted Field Marshal.
26 January 1950
DocumentedCoorg becomes a Part C State
Under the Constitution of India, Coorg becomes a Part C State of the Union with its own legislature and Chief Minister.
1952 – 1956
DocumentedC. M. Poonacha, Chief Minister of Coorg State
Chepudira Muthanna Poonacha serves as the first and only Chief Minister of Coorg State, later becoming Union Railway Minister and a state Governor.
1 November 1956
DocumentedCoorg State merges into Mysore State
The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 dissolves Coorg State; the territory becomes Coorg (later Kodagu) district of Mysore State.
7 May 1957
DocumentedThimayya becomes Chief of Army Staff
K. S. Thimayya, DSO, heads the Indian Army until 1961, after commanding the UN Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission in Korea.
Sources differ on whether he was the third or fourth Chief of Army Staff, depending on how the Commander-in-Chief era is counted.
1 November 1973
DocumentedMysore State is renamed Karnataka
Kodagu district becomes a district of Karnataka, its present administrative identity.
Sources & Further Reading
Full bibliography2011 Census
Documented113,857 recorded speakers of Kodava
The 2011 Census of India records 113,857 Kodava speakers. The language is widely described as endangered.
Sources & Further Reading
- Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, Census of India 2011 — Language: Abstract of Speakers' Strength of Languages and Mother Tongues, 2011 (published 2018)
- Wikipedia contributors, Kodava language (Kodava Takk)
- UNESCO, Kodava — UNESCO World Atlas of Languages