 Although their own histories date the origins of the Wodeyars of Mysore ( also " <unk> " , " <unk> " , " <unk> " , " <unk> " , or " <unk> " , and , literally , " chief " ) to 1399 , records of them go back no earlier than the early 16th century , and according to Subrahmanyam 2001 even the late sixteenth or early 17th centuries . These poligars are first mentioned in a Kannada language literary work from the early 16th century . A petty chieftain , Chamaraja ( now Chamaraja III ) , who ruled from 1513 to 1553 over a few villages not far from the Kaveri river , is said to have constructed a small fort and named it , <unk> " Buffalo Town " ) , from which Mysore gets its name . ( See Map 5 . ) Th Wodeyar clan issued its first inscription during the chieftaincy of Timmaraja ( now Timmaraja II ) who ruled from 1553 to 1572 . Towards the end of his rule , he is recorded to have owned 33 villages and fielded an army of 300 men . 
