The
Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of
southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of
Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the
Wodeyar family, initially served as a
vassal state of the
Vijayanagara Empire. With the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1565), the kingdom became independent. The 17th century saw a steady expansion of its territory and during the rule of
Narasaraja Wodeyar I and
Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, the kingdom annexed large expanses of what is now southern Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu to become a powerful state in the southern
Deccan.