When Ganjam lost its sheen

It was once a prosperous City that Tipu Sultan, the                          tiger of Mysore, founded. It was on the banks of the Cauvery. No, it was not Srirangapatna but a suburban town that Tipu built when he conquered Sira, near Bangalore.

After the sacking of Sira and the defeat of its ruler, Tipu forced the people of the once thriving town to migrate to another town, many miles away. This was the town of  Shehar Ganjam that he built on the outskirts of Sriranapatna.

Tipu ensured that Shehar Ganjam was well-populated. The city was planned well and it was adjacent to Daria Daulat, his summer palace on one side and Gumbaz, where his father was buried, on the other.

Ganjam had four major roads and it was bisected by smaller roads. Tipu grew several fruits and flowering plants and trees around the town and also encouraged gold and silver smiths. Soon, Ganjam came to be known as the foremost jewellery centre of south India and it rivaled Hyderebad in the design and production of jewellery.

The tradition of jewellery became so synonymous that people called it by the name of the City-Ganjam. The royal patronage endured that artisans and gold and silver smiths apart from jewellery designers flocked to the suburb of Srirangapatna.

There are records to indicate that much of  Tipu’s gold and silver jewellery and the jewellery at the royal treasury came from Ganjam. Of course, there were also spoils of war. But the royal treasury and also the jewellery and ornaments of the high-ranking nobles and courtiers came from Ganjam.

At its peak and this was during the heydays of Tipu, Ganjam was peopled by 12,000 artisans. Ganjam then was also known for its clothes, paper and manufacture of stringed musical instruments.

Ganjam suffered a serious setback in 1799 when the marauding British and Nizam forces set camp at Gajnam and at Karighatta hill. They destroyed the fort of Ganjam and also hacked the magnificent garden and orchards developed by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.

Many people, including traders and jewelers fled from Ganjam. After Tipu died in 1799 in the fourth and final Anglo-Mysore war, the gold trade of Ganjam received a setback. When the Wodeyars were handed over the Kingdom of Mysore and the sons of  Tipu imprisoned in the Vellore fort, there were fears that Ganjam would lose its importance.

For some time, this proved true as the political uncertainty of the Mysore Kingdom led to a decline in the trade. However, once the political situation stabilised and the Wodeyars shifted their Kingdom to Mysore from Srirangapatna, the trade in gold and jewellery picked up again.     

Over time, the artisans of Ganjam made the jewellery so famous that it rivaled the reputation of Surat. Thus if Surat came to be known for its trade in diamonds, Ganjam earned famed for its signature jewellery.

The intricate design and the many patterns of Ganjam jewellery made its stand out against jewellery from other centres. During the Wodeyar rule from 1799, Ganjam once again regained its prominence as the primary manufacturing and trading centre of jewellery.

Ironically, the final nail in the coffin of Ganjam came after India attained Independence from the British-the very dream that drove Tipu to battle the British. The modernisation of the jewellery making process and the sophisticated equipments used in the manufacture of jewellery and the mechanisation of its process sounded the deathknell of the Ganjam jewellery industry.       

The local jewelers and designers slowly but surely went out of business as orders became far and few. Imitation jewellery and import of gold coupled with high prices of gold and lack of Government support routed the once prosperous small-scale industry.

Where Ganjam once had hundreds of artisans and designers, none survived. Today, it is hard to spot even a single jewellery shop in Ganjam and of course of the designers and makers there is none.

Today, Ganjam survives only as the name of jewellery shops. Of the once thriving trade and commerce centre, there is not a whiff. All we can see is the Gumbaz and the Daria Daulat and sandwiched between them is the village of Ganjam.

Today, thousands of tourists make a beeline to Ganjam to see the Sangam, the Daria Daulat and the Gumbaz. Very few of them know the Ganjam as a prime jewellery manufacturing and designing centre which brought name and fame.     

Ganjam is just two kilometers from Srirangapatna, 17 km from Mysore and 127 km from Bengalore. It is easily accessible from Srirangapatna. 

Guavas of Ganjam

The small village of Ganjam or Shehar Ganjam near Srirangapatna was several decades ago known for its fruits and vegetables.

Ganjam today is more famous for housing the Daria Daulat-the summer palace of  Tipu, the Gumbaz-where Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan are buried and the Gosai Ghat and Sangam apart from the Nimishamba temple.

Bur just a few years ago, Ganjam was known for its high quality fruits and people of Mysore and surrounding areas literally went gaga over some of the fruits such as guavas.

There are many guava orchards in and around Ganjam and most of the yield was sent to Mysore, Srirangapatna and surrounding towns and cities, including Mandya and Malavalli.

Apart from guavas, Ganjam was also known for rearing good quality jackfruits and even figs, which were first introduced here by Tipu Sultan sometime in 1780. The orchards and fruit gardens in Ganjam received royal patronage from Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan.

The guavas of Shehar Ganjam, the city founded by Tipu, are better  known as Kabul Benne. They are known for their high-quality pulp.

The Ganjam guavas have a distinct taste and flavour. This gives them an edge over other varieties, especially those with the pink pulp. The Ganjam variety has less seeds and its pulp is highly tasty. They are, therefore, much sought after by agro-processing industries.

Many of the guava plantations are anywhere between 15 acres to 20 acres in area.

Once on the decline, the Ganjam guavas seem to have made a comeback what with bumper harvests. The unique taste has led traders and wholesale merchants from Kerala and Tamil Nadu to come to Mysore and place orders for this fruit.

Guava is native to tropical America where it occurs wild. It was introduced in India in the seventeen century. The area under guava cultivation in India increased by 64 per cent  from 94,000 hectares  in 1991-92 to 155000 ha. in 2001-02 whereas the production increased by 55 per cent from 11 lakh tonnes to 17 lakh tonnes. Major guava producing states include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh

Guava  is a good source of vitamin C, pectin, calcium and phosphorus. It is used for the preparation of processed products like jams, jellies and nectar.  Guava jelly puree is very popular for its attractive purplish-red colour, pleasant taste and aroma. Leaves of guava are used for curing diarrhoea and also for dyeing and tanning.

Once considered a forbidden fruit, as per the Philippian mythology, guava is an essential part of a weight loss diet. In fact it also has more Vitamin C than in an orange and makes it to the list of super fruits.

According to the Karnataka Directorate of Economics and Statistics, guava is grown in almost all the districts in more than 4,200 hectares. Kolar alone produces over 30 per cent of the annual 23,000-tonne harvest in the State.

Generally,  Bangalore gets its guavas from Nelamangala, Hoskote, Magadi, Yelahanka, Doddaballapur and Devanahalli. The Allahabad Safeda and Lucknow 49, also known as Sardar are the most widely grown varieties in Karnataka.

Today, the guavas of Ganjam are also sold in Bangalore, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Mandya, and Dakshina Kannada.

Located just two kilometrs from Srirangapatna and to the east of the historic island, Ganjam gets its name from the Persian ‘Ganj-i-am’ meaning granary of the world.

Guava which is called the Apple of the Tropics or poor man’s Apple, is the sixth most cultivated fruit in India. It is today commercially cultivated in more than 60 countries across the world.