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The Miller Committee Report (1918) and the Vokkaligas :

A Study of Aspirational Changes - Dr. Nandini Kalegowda, Bangalore

The fall of Tippu Sultan in 1799 prompted the British to instal the original native
royal family on the Mysore throne. This restoration of the Wodeyar royal family barely
lasted decades as the consequence of the disturbance of 1831. The administration of
the Mysore State was assumed by the British East India Company under the subsidiary
alliance treaty of 1800.

For the next fifty years Mysore was under direct colonial administration. The British
rulers introduced many changes in the State administration. Most important of
them perhaps were changes in the land revenue policy and introduction of modern
administrative machinery.
administrative machinary. The latter change was brought about as a new element in
the socio-administrative of the State. Since Mysore State during the colonial rule was
under the control of Madras Presidency, the British invited a large number of English
speaking Tamil Brahmins into Mysore administrative service. So this was opposed by the
local Brahmins and anti - Madrasi Brahmin movement gained considerable strength after
1881 when the Rendition of the Wodeyar family took place.

The changes introduced by the colonial rulers in the land revenue administration
facilitated the emergence of land owning Vokkaligas, the most prominent caste of the
State. The agitation of the local Brahmins demanding a larger slice of the Government
jobs and also the improving economic conditions of the Vokkaligas prompted them to
toe the line of the local Brahmins. This was the situation towards the end of the 19th
century where the local Brahmins, the Vokkaligas and other communities were vying
with each other to garner as many Government posts as they can.

This was also the phase during which the Vokkaligas realised that education and the
knowledge of English was an essential value addition required for their advancement.
They realised that the Brahmins who hardly constituted 4% of the State population
had managed to hold on to more than 75% of the Government jobs. This was a point
for the Vokkaligas to start demanding jobs in relation to their total percentage State
population.
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