During the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, King Yaduraya Wodeyar (1399–1423) gradually gained independence, eventually ousting the Vijayanagar governor at Srirangapatna.
The position of Mysore improved considerably during the rule of King Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, who increased the value of the Treasury to 90,000,000 pagoda (a unit of currency).
[citation needed] Chikka Devaraja (1673–1704) founded the Attara Kacheri, a central secretariat consisting of eighteen departments.
[2] Under Hyder Ali (1761–1782), a large booty of gold looted from the Nizam of Golconda funded Mysore's expansionary policy.
[9] The office of the commissioner had eight departments; revenue, post, police, cavalry, public works, medical, the animal husbandry, judiciary and education.
Mark Cubbon is credited with the construction of over one thousand miles of roads, hundreds of dams, coffee production and improvements in the tax and revenue systems.
[12] In 1881, following a strong lobby favouring rendition, the British handed back the administration of Mysore to King Chamarajendra Wadiyar X (1868–1894).
C. V. Rungacharlu, a native of Chennai, became the Diwan while the Representative Assembly of British India, consisting of 144 members, was formed in 1881.
Taluk boards were formed with decentralised authority, the Mysore Civil Service examinations were held for the first time in 1891, and the geology and agriculture departments were established in 1894 and 1898, respectively.
Other notable achievements include the construction of the Vanivilas Sagar dam across the Vedavati river, the initiation of the Shivanasamudra hydroelectric project in 1899 (the first such major attempt in India), electricity and piped drinking water in Bangalore, the first edition of the Archaeological Survey of Mysore in 1890, and the Oriental Manuscripts Library.
He started the Legislative Council in 1907, the Central Co-operative Bank in Bangalore, aided the Vokkaligara Sangha in 1906 and created the Mysore News Paper Regulation Act of 1908.
[15] The Mysore Economic Conference was expanded into three committees: industry and commerce, education, and agriculture, with publications in English and Kannada.
Ismail founded the Brindavan Gardens (Krishnaraja Sagar), the Mysore Medical College, and the Kaveri high-level canal to irrigate 120,000 acres (490 km2) in modern Mandya district.