The unmarked battlefield of Karnataka's Kailancha

During my many journeys from Ramanagara to nearby Sri Revana Siddeshwara Hill for trekking, the bus would always pass through a village named Kailancha.

On one such journey, a co-traveller mentioned about the village having a unique masti kallu (Sati stone), an engraved stone erected in remembrance of a wife who burns herself on the funeral pyre of her husband. Curious, I decided to explore Kailancha and got down at the village bus stop.

After walking a short distance, I came upon a large open courtyard in front of a few small temples. The Basaveshwara temple was the most prominent, with a Nandi at the entrance.

On one side of the courtyard stood two large, gaudily painted platforms made of heavy stone slabs. Some of these slabs bore interesting carvings. What instantly caught my attention, however, was a tall Sati stone next to one of the platforms. It too had been painted heavily, masking its intricate details.

Yet, the large hand symbol of Sati stood out. The raised right hand was adorned with bangles, blessing the world as she (Sati) immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.

I then examined the platforms more closely. Could these have been the sites of the funeral pyres where Sati was performed? I enquired locally, but no one could offer an explanation.

At another end of the courtyard, closer to the Basaveshwara temple, I noticed several worn-out stones of varying sizes and shapes embedded deep in the ground.

Though eroded, they bore faint carvings. On one of them, the Linga and Nandi were clearly visible at the top while the lower portion revealed the head of a hero and a horse. These were clearly herostones. 

On my way back, I wondered whether Kailancha derived its name from the Sati stone with its striking hand symbol. Kai means hand in Kannada and lancha may be a shortened form of lanchana meaning symbol or emblem.

A search through archival material confirmed that Kailancha had once been a battlefield. The Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department for 1941-42 (ARM) briefly mentions the ‘Battle of Kailancha’ fought between the forces of Dalvoy Devaraje Arasu (Devarajayya) of Seringapatam (Srirangapatna) and seven Sardars, the first of whom was Kasim Khan.

The Basaveshwara temple at Kailancha.

The Historical Sketches of the South Indian History Vol 1 (HSSI) written by Colonel Mark Wilks in 1810 records vivid details of the battle fought in the year 1737. The Nawab of Arcot, Dost Ali Khan, ruled over much of southern India, except Mysore.

The riches of the Seringapatam treasury continued to attract his attention. He assembled a ‘well appointed army’ under Kasim Khan and Murad Khan, ‘who marched with confidence of certain victory’ and camped at the extensive field of ‘Keilenchee’ (Kailancha) in December 1736.

On hearing this, Dalvoy Devarajayya set about ‘making grand preparations for the defence of Seringapatam’. In January 1737, Devarajayya ‘marched out at the head of a well-equipped army’.

As per the archaeological report, Dalvoy met the invading forces near Kailancha and posed a fierce fight. The ‘Khans were suddenly attacked’ and ‘were slain’. It adds that Devarajayya returned in triumph to Srirangapatna with ‘all their treasure, elephants and horses’.

C Hayavadana Rao, in History of Mysore, Vol 2 (1946), points to another cause for the war, noting that Mysore had long been a thorn in the side of the Nawab. During 1735-36, the Mysore army was active in Malabar and the south, and was even engaged with the kingdom of Madura (Madurai). 

Lewis Rice, in Mysore and Coorg: A Gazetteer Vol 1 (1877), states that the Navabs (Nawabs) of Arcot eyed with jealousy the rights of the Navabs of Sira to receive tribute (payment given by a ruler to a more powerful ones to secure peace) from the wealthy State of Mysore. 

Standing there, I could imagine the ‘extensive field of Kailancha’ where this bloody battle once took place.

The riches of the Mysore kingdom had attracted not only the Nawabs but also the Nayaks of Madurai, leading to a series of conflicts through the 17th and early 18th centuries. Today, Kailancha is a quiet village, its eventful past largely forgotten.