Lansdowne Building, a British landmark in Mysore

During the British rule in India, many British officers either occupied important positions or visited Mysore on one occasion or the other.

While they were engaged in wars against Hyder Ali Khan and Tipu Sultan till 1799, subsequently they played significant role in the administration of Mysore State during the reign of the Maharajas almost till the last days of Independence in 1947.

The Maharajas built buildings or named important places in their honour in the then State of Mysore. In Mysore city, we have the Lansdowne Buildings, Curzon Park, Dufferin Clock Tower, Albert Victory Road, Irwin Road, Daly Avenue (Thandi Sadak, which is now within the Zoo), Sawday Road, Gordon Park, Mission Hospital etc.

Though we are familiar with these places or structures, we knew little about these Britishers about their visits to Mysore or their contribution.

Lansdowne Building, constructed in 1892, is a landmark structure in the heart of the city. It was built in honour of Lord Lansdowne, 5th Marquiss of Great Britain, when he visited Mysore as the Governor-General of India that year.

Born in a family of Barons and Baronesses and Earls and Viscounts, Lansdowne was the great grandson of British Prime Minister Lord Shelburne, who was the first Marquess of Lansdowne, a title in the peerage of Great Britain. Lansdowne was the fifth successor to this title.

Born in 1845 in London, and after his education at Eton and Oxford, Lansdowne was appointed as the Lord of Treasury in 1869, and after about three years of service, was made the Under Secretary for War, which position he occupied for two years.

Subsequently, he was transferred to India as Under Secretary in 1880. He was posted to Canada in 1883 as Governor-General. Returning to India, he occupied the post of Viceroy and Governor-General in 1888. He remained in this position for around six years.

After his return to England, Lansdowne aligned with the Conservative Party and British Prime Minister Salisbury appointed him as the Secretary of State for War in 1895. He subsequently became the Foreign Secretary.

Following the victory of the Liberal Party in 1906 general elections, Lansdowne became the leader of the Opposition of Unionists in the House of Lords. In 1915, he joined the wartime coalition cabinet as a Minister without portfolio. Lansdowne, whose full name was Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, died in 1927 at the age of 82.

An highly intelligent and able administrator, Lord Lansdowne brought about several changes and reforms during his tenure as Viceroy and Governor-General of India.      

He also toured many States, including Mysore. His visit was  in November 1892, two years prior to his retirement as the Viceroy and Governor-General. To mark his visit and welcome him, a series of celebrations took place in Mysore, and the construction of the Lansdowne Bazaar was among them.
In his address, he hailed the administration of Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar as “an able one.”  

"He has proved himself," said Lansdowne, " an intelligent and upright ruler, who has, from the commencement of his reign, shown himself alive to the duties of his position. His Highness has received an education which has enabled him to profit by the culture and wider political ideas of the West, but he has not lost touch with his own people, or forfeited their confidence.”  

He went further and said, “There is probably no State in India where ruler and ruled are on more satisfactory terms, or in which the great principle, upon which His Highness has insisted, that government should be for the happiness of the governed, receives a greater measure of practical recognition.”

During the administration of the Maharaja, he said, much progress had been made in the construction of irrigation works, and on the Mysore State Railway alone he has spent no less than Rs 150 lakh.

"In many other directions," to quote Lansdowne, "the Maharaja has shown himself mindful of the best interests of the people committed to his charge. Good progress has been made with the important work of revenue settlement, which was only half completed when His Highness succeeded; new roads have been constructed; hospitals and dispensaries have been opened; attention has been paid to the improvement of the breeds of cattle; the enterprise of the miner and the planter have been encouraged.”

“Last, but not least, the State has liberally encouraged educational institutions; and I may refer with special interest to the schools for girls, with which the name of Her Highness the Maharani will always be honourably connected," he said lauding the establishment of the Maharani’s School by Vanivilasa Sannidhana.

It was one of the best tributes paid to the administration of the Mysore Maharajas by a top British officer.