464 
M 
S 
trails. With regard to their government, it was notal- 
‘ ways monarchical; for no mention of their kings occurs 
till the Argonautic expedition, though fome authors fup- 
pofe they had them long before that time. After the 
deftruftion of Troy, and difperfion of the Trojans, the 
Myfians took pofleflion of a great part of that country, 
which they held till they were conquered by Crcefus, king 
of Lydia. Anc.Un.HijL vol. iv. 
M YS'IA, was alfo a fmall country of the Peloponnefus, 
in which, according to Paufanias, there was a temple de¬ 
dicated to the Myfian Ceres.—Alfo, a town of theTroade, 
placed by Strabo near Adramyttium.—Alfo, a town of 
Parthia, which Ptolemy places between Parbara and 
Cherax. 
MYS'IA, a feftival in honour of Ceres, and fo called 
from Myfius, an Argian, who dedicated a temple to her, 
in a place about ten if ad ia diftant from Paliene, in Achaia ; 
or, according to Phurnentus, from pva-iuv, “ to cloy, fa- 
tisfy, or be well fed,” becaufe Ceres was the firft who 
taught men how to ufe corn. The feftival continued for 
feven days, upon the third of w'hich all the men and dogs 
were fhut out of the temple, whilft the women, together 
with the bitches, remained within, performing during the 
night the accuftomed rites; on the following day, they 
returned to the men, with whom they paffed away their 
time in jefting and laughing together. Putter's Arcliceol. 
Grcec. lib. ii. c. 20. 
MYS'LOWITZ, a tow r n of Silefia, in the lordfttip of 
Plefz, on the Brzemfa : fifteen miles north of Plefz. 
MYSOL', a ifland in the Eaftern Indian Sea, of a trian¬ 
gular form, about one hundred miles in circumference, 
governed by a rajah. Lat. 20. S. Ion. 129. E. 
MY'SON, a native of Sparta, and one of the feven wife 
men of Greece. When Anacharfis confulted the oracle, 
in order to know w'ho was the wifeft man in Greece, he 
received a reply, “ The perfon wdto is now ploughing his 
fields.” This was Myfon. 
MYSO'RE, or Mysoor, [contrafted from Makefh- 
afoor, or “ the buffalo-headed monfter.”] A province of 
Hindooftan, which takes its name from a town fituated 
about ten miles fouth from the river Cauvery, formerly 
governed by an Hindoo prince. What is called the king¬ 
dom of Mylore, includes the Myfore Proper, the coun¬ 
tries of Bednore, Coimbetore, Canara, and Dindigul, 
with fome others; the whole forming an extent of near 
500 miles from north to fouth, and near 300 where broad- 
eft from ealf to weft, though in fome places it is hardly 
100, and towards the fouth narrowed almoft to a point. 
Myfore on the north is bounded by the countries of Vifi- 
apour and Golconda ; on the eaft by the Carnatic; on the 
fouth by Madura, Travancore, and Cochin; and on the 
weft by the Indian Sea. 
The romantic origin of the houfe of Myfore, as Col. 
Wilks terms it, (hall be given in his own words. We 
mult premife that the tribe of Yedava, of which mention 
occurs in the following extraft, is defcribed to be a tribe 
of herdfmen and warriors. “ During the period that the 
dominion of the rajahs of Vigeyannuggur extended, 
really or nominally, over the greater part of the fouth of 
India, (probably then about the middle of the 15th cen¬ 
tury,) two young men, of the tribe of Yedava, named 
Vigeya and Kriltna, departed from that court in fearch 
of a better eftabliftiment in the louth. Their travels 
carried them to the little fort of Hadana, a few miles from 
the prefent fituation of the town of Mylore ; and, having- 
alighted, as is ufual, near to the border of a tank, they 
overheard fome women of the Jungum left, who had come 
for water, bewailing the fate of a young maiden of their 
tribe, who was about to be married to a perfon of inferior 
quality. The brothers entered into the circumlfances of 
the cale, defired the women to be comforted, and offered 
their fervices in defence of the damfel. She was the only 
daughter of the Wadeyar, (or lord of thirty-three vil¬ 
lages,) who was afflifted with mental derangement; and 
in this unprotected ftate, the chief of Carroogully, a per- 
M Y S 
fon of mean cafte, had propofed to the family, the alter¬ 
native of immediate war, or the peaceable poffeffion of 
Hadana with this damfel; and to the latter propofition, 
they had given'a forced and reluftant conlent. The offer 
of the ftrangers. was made known, and they were per¬ 
mitted to examine the means which the family had of 
averting the impending danger. In conformity to their 
advice, no change was made in the preparations for the 
marriage-feaft ; and, while the chiefs of Carroogully 
were feated. at the banquet in one apartment, and then- 
attendants in another, the men of Hadana previoully fe- 
creted for this purpofe, headed by the two brothers, 
fprung forth upon their guefts, and killed them, marched 
inftantly to Carroogully, which they furprifed, and re¬ 
turned in triumph to Hadana. The damfel became the 
bride of Vigeya, who changed his religion (from a difci- 
ple of Vilhnou, to one of the Jungum feft), and became 
lord of Hadana and Carroogully." 
In 1524, the dominions were divided, and one branch 
feated at Myfore. Shortly after, as the family had become 
more powerful by conqueft, we find them becoming dila¬ 
tory in their payment of tribute to the viceroy of the 
Vigeyannuggur empire, refident at Seringapatam ; which 
empire was at this time fully occupied in attempting to 
refill the Mahometans of the Deckan. At length, in the 
year 1610, Seringapatam itfelf was fubjeft to the houfe of 
Myfore. The method by which this great acquifition was 
obtained, is varioufly ftated ; fo much fo indeed, as to 
preclude the chance of unravelling the true tale with 
hiftorical precifion. Moll of the manufcripts, which have 
been confulted, concur in defcribing the occupation as a 
peaceable one. Raj Wadeyar, who occupied the throne 
at this period, contributed in all furrounding quarters to 
the enlargement of his hereditary Hates; and he is indeed 
confidered as the founder of the kingdom of Myfore. 
Raj Wadeyar died in 1618, and was fucceeded by his 
grandfon, who firft built a fort on the ifland of Serino-a- 
patam; he died in 1638, and was fucceeded by his Ion 
Immerie Raj, who died without iffue; and a male rela¬ 
tion, named Rama Canterwa-Narfa-Raj, was chofen. 
This rajali improved the fort of Seringapatam, built the 
pagoda of Narfuma-Samy, coined the gold fanams, named 
after him Canteria orCanterwa fanams, and made feveral 
conquefts : he died in 1660. His grandfon Chick-Dewa 
Raj extended his dominions ; and, from taking nine forts 
in one day, was called Nou-Kottah-Narna. The king of 
Delhi, having heard of his fame, fent him the title of 
Rajah-Juggah-Deoo. He conftrufted two great aquedufts 
in the vicinity of Seringapatam, for the purpofes of cul¬ 
tivating the land, whofe total length is fuppofed to be 
not lefts than ninety miles: he died in 1705. During the 
reign of Chiaurn Raj, who was elefted in 1733, the go¬ 
vernment was managed by Dewa Rajahiah, the delaway 
or prime minifter, and the rajah was confined like a pri- 
foner: the fame circumftance happened in the following 
reign, wdien Chick Kifna Raj became rajah, and Nunda 
Raj became delaway ; during this time Dewanhully and 
Dindigul were added to the dominions of Myfore. In 
1759, Hyder Ali uliirped the government, and befieged 
Nunda Raj in the fort of Myfore-; and, at length con¬ 
trived to inveigle him into his power. The latter would 
not come till the former had bound himfelf, by the moft 
folemn oaths, not to injure him. Nunda was, however, 
feized and imprifoned immediately. It was then revealed, 
that the fplendid cover on which the oath had been taken 
enveloped only a blank-paper book; “ and it was thus,” 
fays Mr. Wilks, “ by a folemn mockery of the religion 
which they both profeffed, that Hyder and his cafuilts re¬ 
conciled to themlelves the double crime of a falfe oath and 
a falfe Koran.” From this time the rajah became a ftate 
prifoner, and died in 1766 ; and his fon was placed on the 
throne by Hyder’s command. On the death of Chiaum II. 
in 1796, Tippoo Sultan did not nominate nor acknow¬ 
ledge a fucceffor. He had indeed, immediately upon 
the death of his father Hyder Ali, in the year 1782^ (the 
1 beginning 
