Coorg Agricultural Society ( The Coorg Zamindari Association )

Coorg Agricultural Society to the Coorg Zamindari Association

1909 – Coorg Agricultural Society

with  the efforts of Rao Bahadur Codanda Madaiah  and Biddanda Ganapathi  it was establised. The organisation emerged at a time when agriculture and coffee cultivation were central to Coorg’s economy and cultivators were facing increasing economic and administrative difficulties.

The Coorg Agricultural Society provided an early organised platform through which agricultural concerns could be discussed and brought before the government. Issues affecting farmers and coffee planters, including economic difficulties and the condition of agriculture in the district, became important subjects of discussion.

1912 — Coorg Zamindari Association

In 1912, the organisation evolved into the Coorg Zamindari Association, marking a broader phase in its activities. Maneyapanda Muthanna became its president, while Biddanda Ganapathi served as its secretary. The Association continued to represent agricultural and landholding interests but increasingly became involved in wider public and political questions.

The change was significant because the organisation’s concerns gradually moved beyond agriculture alone. It became a platform through which questions relating to land, agriculture, administration, political representation and the future of Coorg could be discussed.

Historical Background

Land and Society in Coorg

Landholding in Coorg developed within a distinctive system of hereditary and customary tenure. One of the most important forms was Jamma tenure, under which agricultural land was held hereditarily by families and their successors.

The Jamma system was particularly associated with wetland used for paddy cultivation and adjoining Bane land, which traditionally supported the requirements of the family holding. Historical accounts associate many Jamma holdings with grants made by the Haleri rulers, often in recognition of military or other service. These holdings were generally subject to revenue obligations and were passed through generations.

For the Kodava community, land was not simply an economic possession. The ancestral holding was closely connected with the Okka, the extended patrilineal family, and the Ainmane, the ancestral home of the family. Land, family identity, inheritance, social responsibilities and customary practices were therefore closely interconnected.This historical relationship between land, Okka and Ainmane is important for understanding the significance of land-related organisations in modern Coorg.

From Land Interests to Political Awareness

Although the Association began with concerns relating to land and agriculture, its activities gradually expanded into broader social and political issues.

The early decades of the 20th century saw growing political consciousness throughout British India. Questions concerning representation, administration, taxation and self-government increasingly entered public discussion.

In Coorg, the Zamindari Association became one of the organisations through which these issues were discussed. Its evolution reflected a wider transformation in Coorg society, in which traditional landholding communities increasingly engaged with modern political institutions and nationalist ideas.

The Association therefore should not be regarded simply as a farmers’ organisation. It became part of the emerging organised public life of Coorg.

The Kodagu Newspaper

An important development associated with the Association was the establishment of the weekly newspaper Kodagu in 1920.

The newspaper was launched by Maneyapanda Muthanna and other office-bearers of the Association. It addressed social, economic and political issues affecting Coorg and helped bring public affairs and political developments to a wider readership.The newspaper later became associated with Pandyanda Belliyappa, a prominent Congress leader and journalist from Coorg. Through Kodagu, political ideas and discussions concerning the freedom movement reached a wider section of the population.The newspaper thus became an important instrument in the development of political consciousness and nationalist sentiment in Coorg.

Association with the Indian National Movement

The Coorg Zamindari Association did not formally become a political party. Its significance lies instead in the gradual political involvement of its leaders, members and associated institutions.As nationalist politics spread across India, the Association became connected with the wider political awakening in Coorg. Its leaders raised local economic and administrative concerns while also participating in discussions about the political future of the country.

The Government of India’s historical repository identifies the Association and the efforts of Maneyapanda Muthanna as important to the growth of nationalism in Coorg. His work in representing farmers and using Kodagu to educate the public helped create an informed political environment in the district.

The 1926 Zamindari Conference

The political evolution of the organisation became particularly visible in the 1926 Zamindari (Landlords’) Conference in Coorg.The conference adopted a resolution supporting the merger of Coorg with the Kannada-speaking areas of Karnataka. This brought sections of Coorg’s organised political leadership into the wider Karnataka Unification Movement, which sought to unite Kannada-speaking territories.

Land, Identity and Political Change

The history of the Coorg Zamindari Association cannot be separated from the importance of land in Coorg society.Under the traditional system, land was associated not merely with individual wealth but with family continuity, the Okka, ancestral homes, inheritance and customary responsibilities. The preservation of an ancestral holding could therefore mean the preservation of an entire family’s identity and social position.

The transition to British administration brought increasing formalisation of land records, taxation and revenue administration. The Coorg Land Revenue and Regulations Act, 1899, provided a statutory framework for land administration, while revenue records increasingly documented rights and obligations relating to land.

 

References

1. Government of India, Ministry of Culture, Digital District Repository — material on Maneyapanda Muthanna, the Coorg Zamindari Association and the growth of nationalism in Coorg.
2. Mahesh Ramaswamy and Asha S., Caste Politics and State Integration: A Case Study of Mysore State, discussing the 1926 Zamindari Conference and the Karnataka Unification Movement.
3. Historical accounts of Coorg’s Jamma land tenure and land administration.