Baramahal

Today's districts of Tamil Nadu - Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Tirupattu and Namakkal - were clubbed together in one huge district under the Madras Presidency, known as SALEM post death and defeat of Tipu Sultan in the last Anglo-Mysore War of 1799. The aftermath of the battle lead to numerous loss of territories from the former Kingdom of Mysore that was distributed among the East India Company, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas. With history unfolding its pages, most of these territories still find familiar names. For others, the names got wiped out from general masses and is now relevant to only a few. One such territory was - Baramahal (बारा [12] महल) which occupied today's northern portion of Salem district. The interesting reason behind a Hindustani name in a Tamil speaking land is all credited to Tipu Sultan's Islamic governance that had few more such names such as Azimnagar (Azam Nagar, in Belgaum, Karnataka) and Hydernagar (or Bidanore, today's Nagara city in Shimoga district of Karnataka) among several others. 

Baramahal consists of 12 mahals, namely - 

1. Krishnagiri (also spelled as Kistnaghery on old maps)
   
2. Jagadevagarh (Jagadevi fort or Jagadevidurgam or Jagdeo)
   
3. Varanagarh (Virabhadradurgam fort)
   
4. Karalgarh
   
5. Maharajgarh (Maharajakadai fort)
   
6. Bujangagarh
7. Kotagarh
8. Thirupathur
9. Vaniyambadi
10. Ganganagarh
11. Sudarshanagarh
12. Thattakallu

These territories were under the Palayagar (or Polygar; feudal title for the Nayaka rulers of south India) of Chennapatnam (Channapatna, in Ramanagara district of Karnataka), the Nawab of Cuddapah (in Andhra Prdesh) and Raja of Mysore before it came down to British hands. After the death of Tipu Sultan, the British took over the territories of Canara, Coimbatore, Waynad, Dharapuram, coastal areas of Mysore kingdom along-with Baramahal. This was a historic victory as it ended the centuries old Islamic rule in Mysore and crowned the Hindu Wodeyar dynasty that still are ruling as titular legacy in the region. 

Baramahal was particularly a multi-religious region with Hindus, Muslims and newly converted Christians living together. It was even multi-lingual where people speaking Tamil, Telugu, Kananda and even Marathi resided harmoniously. Krishnagiri served as military headquarter for Salem, Dharmapuri (Darampoory), Sankagiri and Rayakottai (Ryacotta) towns. Baramahal played a prominent role in maintaining economic balance by producing silk and cotton clothes which had markets in foreign countries as well. Prior to the British, Baramahal produced various armories and weaponry such as spears, swords, daggers, shields etc. But soon after the end of Tipu's rule and takeover by the British, Baramahal suffered heavy economic losses. Apparently, the economic and manufacture system of Baramahal disappeared (along with its name) as the British no longer needed such equipment. 

While economically Tipu Sultan had helped Baramahal being a major manufacturing hub, he didn't pay much attention to its overall development. Roads connecting Baramahal with neighboring towns were absent and the British had to cross Kaveri and Bhavani rivers (a total of 173 kms) from Trichinopoly to reach their destination. Although a formal annexation of Baramahal took place in 1799, it had technically deteriorated in early 1790s itself. Agriculture sector was also in dire need of help and Baramahal started to decline, particularly because of the negligence of Tipu Sultan towards it, since post 1792 he would be busy battling the British till his death in 1799. Also, the harsh treatment of Tipu over tax offenders lead to migration of peasants from Baramahal to nearby town of Arcot. Soon, after the capture of Mysore by the British, Baramahal's name was also wiped out and the district of Salem was created. 

Here's a map showing the location of Baramahal highlighted in fluorescent. The map dates 1800, one year after Tipu Sultan's death. The areas marked in red were already European occupied (British, French and Danish). The areas in pink were territories acceded to the British after the war of 1799. Mysore is shown in green. The texts boxed in red are the current names of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka's districts.