He continued his predecessor's expansion by conquering Maddagiri, thereby making Mysore contiguous to the Carnatic-Bijapur-Balaghat province administered by Venkoji, the Raja of Tanjore, and Shivaji's half-brother.

[3] The unusually high taxes and the intrusive nature of his regime created wide protests in the ryots which had the support of the Jangama priests in the Virasaiva monasteries.

[4] According to (Nagaraj 2003), a slogan of the protests was: "Basavanna the Bull tills the forest land; Devendra Indra gives the rains;Why should we, the ones who grow crops through hard labour, pay taxes to the king?

The payment for Bangalore was consequently made to Qasim Khan, the Mughal Faujdar Diwan of Sira and, through him, Devaraja Wodeyar II "assiduously cultivated an alliance" with Aurangzeb.

[6] In response, in 1700, the Mughal emperor sent the Mysore maharaja a signet ring seal bearing the title "Jug Deo Raj" (literally, "lord and king of the world"), and permission to sit on an ivory throne, and also a sword from Aurangzeb's personal regalia, a firangi, with gold etching on the hilt, to be used as a sword of the State by the Mysore maharajas, while seated on the ivory throne.

"[6] When the maharaja died on 16 November 1704, his dominions extended from Medigeshi in the north to Palni and Anaimalai in the south, and from Kodagu and Balam in the west to Baramahals in the east.

[9] Similarly, in addition to receiving a signet ring and a sword described above, a consequence of the embassy sent to Aurangzeb in the Deccan in 1700 was a formal subordination to Mughal authority and a requirement to pay annual tribute.