MYSORE STATE, or MAISUR, a native state in Southern India, lying between lat. 36' and 15* 2' N. and 74° 38' and 78° 36' E Its area is 29,433 square miles; the greatest length north and south being about 230 miles; east and west about 290 miles. It is bounded by Madras districts on all sides except on the northwest where it is bordered by two Bombay districts and toward the southwest where Coorg intervenes. It consists of an undulating table land, much broken up by chains of rocky hills and scored by deep ravines. Its form is that of a triangle with the apex to the south at the point where the western and eastern eat ranges converge in the group of the Nilgiris. The general elevation rises from about 2,000 feet along the north and south to about 3,000 feet at the watershed which separates the basin of the Kistna to the north from that of the Cauvery to the south. Isolated rocky peaks called adroogso appear on all sides at an eleva tion of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. The drainage of the country finds its way east to the Bay of Bengal and there are three great river systems; the Kestna on the north, the Cauvery on the south and the Penner, Ponnaiyar and Filar on the east. None of these is navigable, but they are sometimes used for floating lumber. They support an extensive system of irriga tion by means of channels formed by immense dams, these channels tracing a course of more than 1,200 miles. There are no natural lakes in Mysore, but by embanking streams, tanks or reservoirs of all sizes are formed numbering some 30,000. Mysore is divided naturally into two regions: the hill country or Malnad on the west —a picturesque mountain land, with fine forests — and the open country on the east comprising the greater part of the state, known as Maidan or Bayalshime, where the towns are located. The products of the country vary with the water supply and nature of the locality. The level plains of black soil in the north grow cotton or millets; the tracts in the south and west are covered with plantations of sugar cane and rice; the lands irrigated from tanks yield coco-nut and areca palms; the red soil in the east produces ragi and dry crops; the central parts covered with areas of coarse grass relieved by shady groves, are good for grazing.
The principal mountain ranges besides the Ghat ranges are the interior range, from 10 to 20 miles wide running between and 30' E to the frontier; and a corresponding range in the west. The highest point is Mulainagiri, at an elevation of 6,317 feet. Granites and granite gneisses of the Achman occupy the greater por tion of the state and traversing these are metamorphic schists of Pre-Palteozoic Age. There are other more recent deposits, Granite exists in large irruptive masses. Wild animals and reptiles are abundant in the forests and streams of the south. Large fish are found in the west.
There are three seasons, rainy, cold and hot. The country is visited by two monsoons, the southwest, from June to November, followed by the cold season. The temperature ranges from 64° to 84° in the rainy season; and from 51° to 80° during the cold season. In the hottest season it ranges from 66° to 91°, rarely reaching 96°. The rainfall varies from 19 inches in the north centre to 360 inches on the crest of the Western Ghats.
Mysore yields 95 per cent of the gold of India. Iron is found in small quantities and asbestos is an undeveloped industry. The manufactures consist of fabrics, silk and car pets, gold ornaments, copper vessels. Sandal wood carving is extensively carried on. Coffee, cotton-ginning, bricks, tiles, etc., are also among the manufactures. A system of railways radi ates from Bangalore; the length of the rail way open to traffic in Mysore is about 500 miles. For postal services, Mysore is now part of the Madras circle. There are Mysore state savings banks and life insurance companies. Famine, due to lack of rainfall, has often car ried off many oi the people, but measures have been taken to alleviate this condition, such as the extension of railways, irrigation and plans for relief work.